I saw a report of a Bullock’s Oriole in Sturgeon Bay, it had only been seen once yesterday, Sunday. The Bullock’s Oriole is a western bird that typically does not come this far east. It was so exciting to hear of this bird in the state, it’s a beautiful young male. I needed this for a life bird for the state, so I really had to try for this bird, I made the decision to go. The homeowner did not even know what species the bird was and posted it in a Wisconsin bird group to try to find out. Jack C worked with the homeowner to get it recorded, a location and the homeowner agreed to let birders come to see it too. Leaving the house at 4:00 am, I arrived about 7:00 am, just getting some light. One birder arrived before me. Slowly there were 7 of us waiting for the bird. Almost 4 hours had passed and we were all getting a little, like, the bird was not going to show. I was in my car on the phone and spotted the bird in the bushes behind the feeder. I jumped out of my car, the other birders were just standing around talking bird talk, I said, there is the bird! At that point we all got great looks of the bird. First on the heated bird bath, then on the feeder chowing down, I’d say close to five minutes it ate. After that it took to a few trees around the yard area, gave more great views and then took off across a field. What an exciting moment it was for all of us today! A big thank you goes out to the homeowners who were very kind to let us in and share their great bird with the birding community. It was cold, 15 degrees, but we all could see the feeder from our cars so that was not too bad. Getting out was to socialize for a few minutes and stretch. Life Bird #357 for the state of Wisconsin. Another beautiful bird that made a showing at their feeder today was a Pileated Woodpecker, homeowner said a pair visit daily. Images were taken on December 15, 2020.
The Bullock’s Oriole, a young male
Leaving a branch…
The Bullock’s Oriole perched in a close by pine tree for about a minute…
Another nice pose by the Bullock’s Oriole!
The Bullock’s Oriole flies out of the bushes and to the heated bird bath…
Bullock’s Oriole spent much time chowing down seeds, could have been for 5 minutes…here with a Pine Siskin…
