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Post by nickinthegarden on Apr 28, 2020 11:48:51 GMT -8
This morning I was quite puzzled by this call I was hearing, I had heard it before but I just could not place it. Even when I thought of the bird I could not remember the name. I thought my hearing was playing tricks with me as I would hear it to the left and then to the right. I finally spotted a burst of color which dropped out of sight when I realized a Bullock's Oriole! I finally managed to get my eye on it as it was flying off to perch on a large dead snag. Then I heard the 2nd one, there were two male Bullock's Oriole and the 2nd was closer to photograph! Bullock's Oriole by Nick, on Flickr At the Matsqui Trail Park last year they were early and not to be seen again for a couple weeks. I checked Ebird and there are not any other reports close by so they must have got a fast wind to beat the rest.
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Post by imperialbirders on Apr 28, 2020 13:37:53 GMT -8
That is an very beautiful photo.
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Post by mevl on Apr 28, 2020 18:41:02 GMT -8
Nice!
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Post by Randy on Apr 28, 2020 19:57:22 GMT -8
Great photo and find Nick!
Hoping to get one at my place one of these days - every year I keep expecting one to pass through but no luck yet!
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Post by Gord on Apr 28, 2020 21:12:40 GMT -8
Randy, it will be only a matter of time I'm sure. You have good habitat there for them. Nick, great sighting and photo. That's about as early as they come. This afternoon at Cheam Lake I thought I heard a chirp and bit of a rattle and shortly after heard it again and was pretty sure. I texted Dave who I know was in the park and he came up. By then, it seemed to have moved across the parking lot but like Nick's birds that played tricks, it was actually two males in different spots. As I was about to leave Dave called me back over as he had spotted a bit of an eye-catcher. We believe it's a bright female Bullock's Oriole but I must say it's one of the brightest I've seen before. I got these photos but Dave managed some better ones from the front. 019_8081 by Gord G, on Flickr 019_8080 by Gord G, on Flickr 019_8079 by Gord G, on Flickr
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Post by nickinthegarden on Apr 29, 2020 4:10:17 GMT -8
In the last 7 years I have spent a lot of time studying and photographing them. I envy you you are very lucky your images are of a fully adult female, they seem to be so skittish and spend most their time deep in twiggy bushes. I have seen them rarely but what is more frequently seen are the 1st year females which are much more paler and tend to be seen more in the open. The first year males are also more pale and have less black. Bullock's Oriole (female) by Nick, on Flickr In early/mid summer this years young will be much more paler with some beige on them. Bullocks Oriole by Nick, on Flickr
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Post by nickinthegarden on Apr 30, 2020 8:51:34 GMT -8
Back to Matsqui Trail Park, Page Road End this morning and I found another male Bullock's Oriole singing right by the parking lot. I suspect this one is not one of the ones I saw a couple days ago as it had a different amount of black under it's beak.
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Post by kestrel on Apr 30, 2020 20:09:35 GMT -8
Great shots! I didn't think they'd be arriving back until early May.
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