Suburban Wildlife

There are several larvae munching away on milkweed and growing rapidly.

This year I plucked the leaf or leaf cluster that the egg was on and have kept the stem in water. The hope is to keep the milkweed leaves fresh.

 Three days after hatching, they're about 1/8" (3mm) long.

This morning we spotted a different bird in the yard out the breakfast nook window. I scrambled for the camera and got this shot.

Then we grabbed the bird guide and determined it was a first-year female Baltimore Oriole.

A couple of hours later, just by chance, I was walking by the window and looked out and saw a male land on the shepherd's crook of the finch feeder.

I wonder if they've nested nearby or are just passing through.

Since we stopped putting sunflower seeds in the feeder, we haven't had grackles. Sadly, there haven't been many chickadees, house finches, or cardinals either. However yesterday I spotted a mated pair of cardinals and their drab fledgling. So they are still around. The American goldfinches continue to pig out at their dedicated feeder.