Icterus galbula

 Icterus galbula is the scientific name for the Baltimore Oriole. The Baltimore oriole is one of nine species of orioles found in North America. Although they look similar to orioles from other parts of the world the North American orioles are all part of the genus Icterus which is a part of the Icteridae family which also includes blackbirds, cowbirds and meadowlarks. All of members of the genus Icterus are brightly colored, usually a combination of orange and black or yellow and black.

The Baltimore oriole has one of the largest ranges of all of the Icterus. There breading range stretches across most of the eastern United States and stretches up into central Canada. Theeir range overlaps the bullocks oriole in the central portions of North America. The two species where once considered one species called the northern oriole, mostly because of extensive hybridization where the ranges cross, but DNA testing in the 1990's led to the separation of the two species. One of the cool things of most of the orioles is their nest. The female builds a sock like nest that hangs down from the branches. The female above was in the process of building her nes when I photographed her.The top photo is a male, which have a deeper orange color and black head during the breeding season.

Baltimore Oriole

The Baltimore oriole is a new world oriole that nests in the eastern half of the United States and southern Canada. They winter in Florida, southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Although they look similar, new world orioles are genetically different then old world orioles and are in the family Icteridae, which also includes blackbirds, bobolinks, grackles, cowbirds and meadowlarks. They primarily eat insects during the summer, fruit, ripe fruit in the spring and fall, and insects, fruit and nectar on their wintering grounds. The Baltimore oriole is not named after the city in Maryland, however both the city and oriole got their name from the English Baltimore family who's crest was black and orange.

Baltimore Oriole at Old Cedar

Another colorful bird that I found near the Old Cedar Ave Bridge in the Minnesota Valley NWR is the Baltimore oriole. There are nine different types of orioles typically found in North America.
All the North American orioles are colorful, with some combination of orange and black or yellow and black feathers. These orioles where named for similar looking birds from Europe however they are actually part of the Icteridae family which includes blackbirds, grackles, and meadowlarks.
When researching Baltimore orioles I found that they are supposed to prefer open areas with many tall trees for habitat. However I found this oriole in the same area as where the redstarts were nesting. The area is not very open and has a lot of brush beneath the trees. I also have seen quite a few at Wood Lake Nature Center in heavily wooded areas. So I am not sure how much open area that they actually need or prefer. It has been my observation that they do like to spend a good bit of their time at the tops of the trees, which makes them more difficult to photograph.

The Day Before Vacation

Well I am back from vacation. It has been hard to get back to my normal life after spending 9 days shooting pictures for 10to 14 hours a day. I just began to make a small dent in going through the trip pics yesterday. With 120gb worth of pics it may take a while. I hope that you guys don't get sick of Yellowstone pics too quickly. I spent most of the day yesterday doing stuff around the house, like washing cloths, giving Misty kitten some much needed attention and then Michelle and I took in the new Narnia flick.

I do have one last group of photos that I shot the evening before we left on vacation. It was a Wednesday and it was supposed to be cloudy that day, since my new lens was already packed I brought my old lens with me to work and The Raptor Center and when it turned out to be sunny I could not help but stop off at Fort Snelling State Park on my way home.
I was really disappointed not to have my new lens, I have become spoiled very quickly, with so many warblers around. The AF with my old 100-400mm lens does not pick up small birds very well so I am often forced to use manual focus which does not work very well with small darting birds like warblers. So the pictures did not come out as well as they would have if I had brought the new lens. I followed this black and white warbler from tree to tree but was only able to get a few marginal pictures like the one above. I love how the black and white warblers act a lot like nuthatches, although I have not seen them walking down the tree like nuthatches like to do.
This magnolia warbler did not come out as well as I would have liked either.
The American redstart was a little more cooperative and gave me enough time to get a good focus.
Besides warblers there was also a few Baltimore orioles.
Although I am not sure who was watching who?

The fun part of shooting that night was the newly hatched goslings
I spotted 3 different pairs of Canadian geese with goslings. each had a clutch of 2 to 4.
When photographing something as cute as young goslings I guess it does not matter what type of lens that you use.
Too bad they have to grow up. The goslings are cute but adult geese can become a nuisance.
One of the adults decided that it did not want me taking any more photos of the babies and it started to hiss at me. It is all bluff and bluster, since there is not much that a goose can do to hurt a person, but I did not want to stress them so I headed home to pack. I guess that the goose did not want its little goslings to be stars but it was already too late. Anything that cute will always draw attention.

Warblers and Friends from Fort Snelling

Before we left on vacation I was almost sad to be leaving. With the spring migration coming late this year, due to the extended winter weather, the warblers were all over at home. They seemed to be holding up waiting for the weather up north to get better, but I figure by the time that we get back they will have moved on. I can't complain though because we have had a great time shooting out in Yellowstone. Here are some more of the warblers, and orioles, that I was seeing before we left.

Baltimore oriole
Tennessee warbler

yellow warbler
orange-crowned warbler

blackburnian warbler

black-throated green warbler

Maybe I will get lucky and some of the stragglers will still be around when I get back but for now I am going to go out and enjoy nature where I am, even with the couple of inches of snow that fell last night.