Orioles

If you are a baseball fan, you might already be familiar with the Baltimore Oriole.  But there are other orioles besides the Baltimore that can be found in the United States - the Streak-backed, Bullock's, Hooded, Orchard, Altamira, Spot-breasted, Scott's, and Audubon's.However, only the Baltimore and Orchard are found eat of the Mississippi River (Sibley, 2000).  Of the two, the Baltimore is considered to be fairly common in Connecticut and the Orchard uncommon (Hanisek, 2008).

According to Hanisek (2008), the Baltimore Oriole breeds in Connecticut from late May to early July where as the Orchard Oriole breeds here in June.  From this it is easy to see why the Orchard is less common - the Baltimore Oriole gets here sooner, establishes territory sooner, and nests and breeds sooner causing the Orchard Oriole to be out competed for resources in open woods where both are found.

So here are two pictures - the Baltimore Oriole on the left and the Orchard Oriole on the right.  I need to point out that the Baltimore Oriole (May 27, 2013) was photographed in very good lighting where as the Orchard Oriole (June 2, 2013) was photographed in dim light.  Both were about the same distance away from me, but you can see just how dark the Orchard Oriole is compared to the Baltimore Oriole.  The Orchard is more of a reddish/brown/rust and not the bright orange of the Baltimore Oriole.

Baltimore Oriole

Orchard Oriole

Sources

 Hanisek, Greg. "Connecticut Birds by the Season." The Connecticut Warbler 25.1 (2008): 12+. Print.

 Sibley, David. The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. Print.

May 27, 2013 - Memorial Day Loop

Red-Shouldered being chased

Flicker

Last year on Memorial Day, I did about a 7 mile loop in Woodbury as I was working on my Hometown Big Year.  So even though I am not doing a Big Year, I thought it would be good to repeat the loop and see what's out there.


Basically, the loop was from my house down Cat Swamp Road to Tuttle Road to Trolley Bed Road then back to Route 64 to Old Sherman Road to Bacon Pond Road to Ash Swamp Road to Middle Road Turnpike then home.

Mockingbird

Hawk and Red-Winged Blackbird

The highlights were:  Red-Shouldered Hawk being chased by Red-Winged Blackbirds, a Broad-Winged Hawk, Eastern Kingbird, and a Prairie Warbler (heard that ascending buzz).  In all, I saw 35 species.

Turkey Vulture

Northern Oriole

SPECIES:  Canada Goose (6), Wood Duck (male), Turkey, Turkey Vulture (2), Red-Shouldered Hawk, Broad-Winged Hawk, Mourning Dove (7), Chimney Swift, Red-Bellied Woodpecker (2), Hairy Woodpecker (2), Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe (4), Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay (3), American Crow (6), Tree Swallow (4), Barn Swallow, Black-Capped Chickadee (3), Tufted Titmouse (4), Eastern Bluebird (male), American Robin (6), Gray Catbird (7), Northern Mockingbird, European Starling (2), Yellow Warbler (2), Prairie Warbler, American Redstart (2), Chipping Sparrow (2), Song Sparrow (3), Northern Cardinal (female), Northern (Baltimore) Oriole (male), and Red-Winged Blackbird (7)

Oriole

Turkey Vulture

DATA:  9:14 am - 1:30pm; 54F/64F; clear; sunny; slight breeze; low humidity