A flock of Baltimore Orioles descended on my yard in early August. There were no males, only females, and they spent several days enjoying my birdbaths.
I usually see one or two orioles in the spring, but this was the first time they’d ever visited my yard in summer. I enjoyed their visit until all that “swimming” worked up an appetite. The hungry gals poked quite a few holes in my tomatoes.
In early September, I noticed a pair of Black-throated Green Warblers in the Blue Spruce next to our driveway. I don’t ever see warblers in summer or fall, just during spring migration. And while quite a few different species of warblers pass through my yard each spring, the Black-throated Greens have only appeared twice in fifteen years. It was especially exciting to watch these little birds because they were so close to the ground. Usually warblers stay high up in the tree tops, and you need binoculars to follow them.
During our recent stretch of Indian summer weather, there was an interesting bird call wafting through my open window. I was deep in concentration, so it took me awhile to snap out of it and turn around to greet a Tufted Titmouse. He was sitting on one of my birdfeeders whistling “Peter-peter-peter!”
A Tufted Titmouse has appeared in my backyard briefly in each of the last three years, but I’ve never heard one sing. Now if I could just get one of them to stick around for longer than a day…
