Also arriving on the same rainy day as the Baltimore Orioles was the Orchard Oriole. At first I thought it was just a darker Baltimore Oriole but when I did a little research, it was definitely an Orchard Oriole. What a treat! Two different species of Orioles at our feeder on the same day! (Click on link for another photograph.)

Orchard Oriole “adult males are black above and rich reddish-chestnut below. They have a black head and throat, with a reddish-chestnut patch at the bend of the wing. Females are greenish yellow with two white wing bars and no black. Immature males look like females, but have black around the bill and throat.”

You can see the difference between the two Orioles by scrolling back to Sunday’s post.

It’s amazing how a pouring rain Sunday can turn into such an awesome day!

We put the grape jelly out a few days ago in anticipation of the Baltimore Orioles arriving back on the Cape for the summer. They usually come sometime in the first week of May. They arrived yesterday… in the pouring rain.

I sat by the window and just watched them for a long, long time, taking a few photographs through the rain-spattered windows, and watching them “inhale” the grape jelly from Phil’s custom-made Baltimore Oriole feeder. We learned a few years ago that the Baltimore Orioles prefer to eat upside down, hanging onto something. Here they hang on to a long screw. The beauty of this feeder is that the Baltimore Orioles have no problem eating from it, while no other birds around here eat upside down and have long enough beaks to eat the jelly.

They are such an exquisite bird, don’t think? Have they arrived at your home yet for the summer?

We seem to have an abundance of Bluebirds here in our yard and we are loving it! There is always someone to watch, whether they are eating at the feeders, scrounging for food on the ground, getting a drink or taking a bath. And then, they love to perch high in the tree in the sun.

This Bluebird was so pretty. What do you think?