Spring Has Sprung!

A lot has happened since last July, but I am going to have to just jump in with the present and fill in the rest later, as time allows.  Because this morning I saw a brand new bird!  A Baltimore Oriole!  Being from the Maryland area originally, I was particularly excited.  Plus, we just hardly ever get new (to me) birds at the feeder.  I've pretty much accustomed myself to the usual cast of characters: chickadees, titmice, cardinals, the occasional house finch and blue jay, sometimes a woodpecker (red-bellied, downy, very rarely a hairy) or two. Oh yes, and mourning doves.  (That doesn't count the birds in the water...mallards, mergansers, Canada geese, mute swans, ring-billed and herring gulls.)

But there he was, startlingly different! Flaming orange chest, black on top with white on the wings...yep, Baltimore Oriole.  Fortunately, I happened to have the binoculars out and got a good look; unfortunately, he didn't stick around long enough for the camera.  It's usually one or the other; I can see why two partners, one with binocs and one with camera, work well together (Jane and Randy; Deanna and Wilfried).

But here are a few pictures I have managed to take in the last few days...yesterday was the first sighting of goslings:

And a few days ago, I observed a conversation between two seagulls, which turned into something more:

Which brings to mind a question: why do I never see little seaglets running around? Where do they keep them until they're grown? 

And finally, our old friend the cardinal, looking particularly dapper: