Friday, May 14, 2010

Baltimore Oriole

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For the past three days, I have had the pleasure of a visiting
Baltimore Oriole(Icterus galbula),
a nice treat as they are not very common in Cape Breton.  
I took a flurry of photographs, but few came out worth keeping.  
However, here were a couple that barely passed muster.







After gorging himself at the suet feeder for the duration of his visit,
he's apparently moved on, as I have not
seen him today.

In spring, the Baltimore Orioles come to North America
from the tropics to breed.  The Baltimore Oriole's name, 
wrote Mark Catesbyin his eighteenth-century book 
Natural History of the Carolinas "
comes from the Lord Baltimore's coat of arms."  
The lord, Sir George Calvert, was governor of Maryland
 in the early 1600's, and the coat of arms 
was the same colors as the bird's plumage.
(Source:  100 Birds and How They Got Their Names, Diana Wells)


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11 comments:

Just Ramblin' said...

He looks just like a bird I took a picture of while at the ponds the other day. Sad to say when I got home you really couldn't see him. I was hoping to come home and identify him. Will have to check and see if they are common to our area.

ksdoolittle said...

Oh, Nola, good luck with that. I believe you'll find they are common in your area in the summertime. frequent wood edges, orchards, and shade trees. Glad you stopped by!~karen

Kay Baughman said...

Karen, how lovely! And the goldfinch is beautiful, too! Maybe they both will stay awhile.
We are at last on our way home from our vacation in Florida. I'm eager to find out what's in the yard. I'm sure the migrating orioles are long gone . Enjoy yours. --kay

FAB said...

A brief but very colourful visitor Karen. Have a great weekend. FAB.

DeniseinVA said...

I have yet to see one of these birds. Your photos are lovely.

KaHolly said...

Hi Kay. Glad you dropped in! I hope your vacation was wonderful and you'll post about it.

EB, I was just tickled that he hung out for a few days! Such a beauty!

Thanks, Denise!

EG CameraGirl said...

I dream of capturing a Baltimore oriole with my camera lens! The best I have done so far is photograph an oriole nest. :)

Dianne said...

birds are so hard to photograph! I love his pose :)

christopher said...

That's quite a gorgeous feeder...no wonder why these birds love to visit.

And capturing the Oriole's true color and eyes...more than passes muster I'd say.

Daniela said...

He is so beautiful and colorful :)

Anonymous said...

Those Orioles are quite amazing Karen, thanks for posting.