CAROLINA WREN CHICKS, WARBLER MINI-FALLOUT

Exciting bird times around here!  Saturday AM, as we sat on the porch at dawn, we saw some Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We don't usually see the warblers, probably because we spend too much time looking at the feeder instead of the tree-tops!  Saturday was a three bird event day:  the yellow-rumps, our first hummingbird (Blake HATES it when he is on my lap and a hummer comes in to feed right above us!  I think he can't see it, but he hears the hum and it drives him crazy!), then later, we discovered that the Carolina Wren HAD laid eggs in the Christmas wreath nest!  
 

Mama Carolina at the entrance of the nest

Sunday afternoon, we came home, pulled the Subaru into her parking place and realized that there were birds everywhere in the trees in front of us.  Thankfully, Linda carries a pair of binocs in her car because it seems we were in the middle of a mini-fallout of Warblers.  We saw lots of the Yellow-rumps, a Magnolia Warbler, a Hooded-Warbler, a Palm warbler and something unidentified.  Very cool!  They swarmed all over the pine trees and the ground.

Meanwhile, the Carolina wasn't sitting on eggs, the eggs had hatched!  Monday I looked into the nest and there were two gaping mouths waiting for mama or papa to come with some food.  Yesterday there were four mouths, today five!

Carolina Wren chicks in nest.  The yellow is the gape (mouth).

Parent Carolina wren waiting to for me to leave to feed the younguns.

I've opened my summer office on the porch and today had a visit from the male hummer and our first Baltimore Oriole!  I called Carol to tell her that the oriole had visited and she brought over a half an orange.  Right now (15 minutes later), the oriole is happily chowing down on that orange!

 

Baltimore Oriole found the orange!