Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Bullock's Oriole - Nest

During the spring of 2010, I saw my first Bullock's Oriole. It was at TRNWR and I got some pretty good looks as it harvested spider nests off the visitor's center. It would gather and then fly off into the giant Oaks only to return a few minutes later. I saw it one more time at the very top of one of the Oaks a few weeks later.
Back on June 29th of this year, I saw both a female, like last year, and a male in the Oaks. They were very active and I noticed that they were focused on one area. After some careful observation, I finally found the nest they were tending. The lighting was difficult, the birds somewhat elusive and I was out of time so the pictures I got were just average. I returned a couple of days later and saw them again briefly, but was shut out of any pictures. What with all my travel, I never did get a chance to take advantage of this find, but I learned from one of the staff there that they have been nesting there for seven years now, so maybe I'll get another chance next year.
Anyway, notice the interesting variety of yarn and string woven in the nest.

No comments:

Post a Comment