There is a fledging family of Orchard Orioles on Charles Jordan Road in Cape Elizabeth – almost to the end, right across from (appropriately!) the orchard at the bottom of the second hill. I watched the male high in the trees trying to entice a very unreceptive fledging with a juicy caterpillar, but the kid just sat there looking bored. Wow, a teenager already? Baby chatter drew me to look very briefly at the nest, where one baby was still in residence. The nest is well concealed, but only about ten feet off the ground and hanging directly over the road. An elaborate bowl of ribbon-like dried grasses, more like a weaver’s nest than a BAOR’s tightly woven pouch. I didn’t stay long, as my being near it really agitated the male. Yesterday, I shooed a calling fledging out of the middle of the road, and the female got it to go deeper into the roadside grass. Looks like a successful little family so far.
Not so the Eastern Phoebe pair nesting under my eaves on the drain pipe. They fledged three young last month, but their second brood isn’t quite right. They are now killing themselves to feed a massive little cowbird!
Peggy Page
Cape Elizabeth
0 comments:
Post a Comment