Yard bird # 36 - Baltimore Oriole

Imagine my delight when I saw this handsome bird fly up and perch a mere 15 feet away from me this morning!  I managed to get off 3 shots before he flew back up into the trees and, presumably, away.  I know I just posted a Baltimore Oriole a few days ago, but this one counts towards my yard birds for the year and, besides, he's a younger bird and therefore somewhat different in appearance.  The mature male I posted before had much more defined plumage and was a deeper orange with crisp black trim.  This bird, probably hatched last year, is younger and hasn't gotten his big-boy plumage yet.  

I was scheduled to meet up with my naturalist group this morning but the forecast was for rain so I decided to skip it.  Kind of glad I did since the action in our yard was very good.  Not only did I see this lovely oriole, but I heard the first wood thrush of the summer singing in the woods, and had a nice look at the brown thrasher that's been skulking around the last few weeks.  A good morning, all in all.  And, now, it's pouring rain outside.  Yuck.

Update on the mealie-farm - all of the beetles succumbed, sadly.  However, Sefferdog is determined to turn me into a Mealworm Rancher and is sending off a fresh batch of darkling beetles.  This time, I'll make sure they don't bake sit in the mailbox for any length of time on delivery day !  Hubs, on the other hand, is threatening to put them in the freezer if he gets to them first.  My poor long-suffering husband...

I posted three other pics on Flickr, starting HERE with none-other than P-Hummie!

Happy Friday the 13th, people.

Debbi