The Feeder Feed: “Wow… look at the colors” edition

I haven’t posted about the feeder recently.

Before any other shots, I caught this little Indigo Bunting on the Z-Cam today.Twitter

A very wet oriole, not content with its usual feast on grape jelly, went after the suet cage.

The mature Orioles may have already departed.  But there are lots of younger birds hanging around.

This may be one of the last adult males around.

Color change.  A very wet Blue Jay.

I had the most alarming sight the other day of 6, perhaps 7 Jay at the same time.

The Oriole and the Jay don’t see eye to eye where it comes to the use of the rain-infused grape jelly drink.

I mentioned lots of young Orioles.  I wasn’t kidding.

Color shift.  A member of Team Goldfinch.

More Oriole gluttony.

Meanwhile…

I must make an appeal for donations.  Some of these birds are gearing up, I believe, for migration.  Others, like the Goldfinches, nest late.  I filled the big feeder yesterday and they emptied it in a single day.  

I feed them only from donations. 

On Friday 30 July I will be taking a list, as I do periodically, of people who have used the donation button or who have sent items from the wish list, to Mass and I will remember you at the Memento of the living.  It is a duty and pleasure to pray for benefactors.

To paraphrase Preserved Killick, "Which tuppence a bag ain’t in it!"

Finally, an editorial from Team Goldfinch.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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7 Comments

  1. Glen M says:

    Father, of course you know the Orioles and Blue Jays are doing battle at the Rogers Centre in Toronto right now.

  2. wanda says:

    Keen observation, Glen M.

    Father Z., Thank you for the great photos. What a mob you have on your hands. What beauties, what colors! You must be doing all the right things. Thank you for sharing the pictures.

  3. Supertradmum says:

    Thank you so much for the lovely photos. God bless all these birds. The goldfinches have disappeared from our trees,and the barn swallows have left the eaves. We have not seen the blue jays, either. Robins and cardinals are still here, and the wonderful morning doves, which I love so much.

    We have huge locusts, which are flying around from tree to tree. I wonder who eats those.

  4. irishgirl says:

    Beautiful pictures of all the colorful birds!

    Wow, Father Z-you had a whole ‘team’ of Orioles!

    Supertradmum-I see-and hear-mourning doves all the time around my house. But they’re really dumb when I’m driving; they don’t fly till I’m almost upon them! I tell them, ‘Hey! Move, unless you want to become squabs!’

    That one Oriole is pretty ‘ticked off’ at the Blue Jay on his turf!

    Glen M-Ha! Your baseball comparison is funny!

  5. Martial Artist says:

    The birds are indeed beautiful. But anyone who quotes Preserved Killick, and particularly a priest who does so, deserves a hearty “Bravo Zulu” from me.

    Pax et bonum,
    Keith Töpfer, LCDR, USN [ret]
    _________________
    P.S. If you enjoyed O’Brian, you might also like C. Northcote Parkinson’s books, both those in the Richard Delancey series and his books on Royal Navy history.

  6. AnAmericanMother says:

    Our Blue Jays were hit very hard here in GA with the West Nile virus.

    We used to have dozens of them everywhere, then for 3-4 years I saw none.

    I was so happy to see one on our feeder this spring. He’s still hanging around, making rude comments as jays do. Hopefully he (or she) will find a mate and they’ll do their bit to restore the population hereabouts.

    We don’t see Orioles hereabouts. I don’t think we’re in their range this far south. They sure are pretty – much brighter than the Towhees.

  7. seanl says:

    We get lots of Blue Jays here in southern Alabama, but I have to say I’ve never seen one looking as depressed as that soaked one. Jays, Mockingbirds, a few cardinals, and the occasional woodpecker in the old wild cherry trees are common in my yard.

    More out of the ordinary are the occasional doves, such at the young one I spooked the other day. It was trying to set up a nest under my gardenia.

    Increasingly I can hear seagulls from my back porch, despite the fact I am half and hour to an hour from the coast. I have the new shopping center to thank for that.

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