I saw and heard this young male Orchard Oriole at the Children's Garden on the 27th, although it may have been around longer. It sang from the edge of the woods above the bike path below Incodema and moved north through the Children's Garden singing from tree to tree and continuing north toward Union Fields. Yesterday I heard one from my yard very close but did not see it. Perhaps it was the same bird. Today I heard and saw it again in the southern part of the Children's Garden and the trees to the west by the bike path. Dang, it can be hard to see a green bird in a leafed out tree, even from ten feet away when it is singing loudly.
But there's more: As I went north late this morning to Treman Marina I also heard an Orchard Oriole singing in the row of Sycamore/Plane Trees along the south side of the boat ramp parking lot. I looked and saw a young male - generally green, gray wings, whitish wingbars, and a black mask & bib. But, unlike the Children's Garden bird, this bird had a few brown spots down the middle of the breast which were the color of an older male. Then in the isolated woodlot north of the marina close to the mouth of Cayuga Inlet I heard an Orchard Oriole again, but this time I was not able to see it. After I had given up and left, and I was on the south side of the marina, I heard it again to the north. I wondered if it might have been the bird from near the boat ramp, so I went back to that row of Sycamore/Plane Trees by the boat ramp parking lot, and again I heard Orchard Oriole song. I saw movement at the source, looked up, and saw an older male, all black and brown! I even heard him sing. This third male Orchard Oriole then flew across the Inlet toward the SW corner of Jetty Woods. I did not hear any other Orchard Oriole there at that time. So, today there are at least 3, maybe 4, male Orchard Orioles in the area of Cass Park, Treman State Marine Park, and Jetty Woods. BTW, eBird reports 2 Orchard Orioles somewhere at Treman Marine SP on the 13th & 17th, 1 singing on the 28th, and 1 singing at Jetty Woods today, all of unspecified plumage, plus an adult male singing at Stewart Park's Swan Pond on the 20th. This is a lot for Ithaca, it seems to me. --Dave Nutter On May 31, 2016, at 05:00 PM, Sandy Podulka <s...@cornell.edu> wrote: This morning, a first spring male Orchard Oriole was singing vigorously from various trees in the Ithaca Children's Garden and nearby (the south end of Cass Park). It sounds a lot like a House Finch to me, but not so sing-songy and doesn't end on an upswing! Sandy Podulka -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
