Passing Through - Glad I Had My Camera

Over the fence - a quick look and picture

The evening bird activity seems to be the greatest I have seen in our backyard. There is a constant parade of the commons species that have been noted - waves of House Sparrows, Tufted Titmouse, and Black-capped Chickadees. The low-flying aerobatics are also noteworthy - birds flying through the yard at low elevations just above our heads, kind of like a 3D movie's special effects where you duck your head when your eyes are fooled by your brain;⁽¹⁾ a fair bit of hoovering behavior in mid-air; and even some duels between males jockeying for territories - Mourning Doves, American Goldfinches,  

 

Female Baltimore Oriole

and Northern Cardinals. There are also the transient travelers who seem to have little interest in our yard, much less the seed feeder - in particular, the Blue Jay lately, and other passer-by's who fly just over the trees. But while talking with our son on the phone, an unknown landed on one of the crepe myrtle trees - pick up the camera and a quick photograph, view slightly obstructed, but there was yellow on the chest of that bird; a seconds later, it flew across the fence and landed in a sweet gum tree, hiding among the leaves a bit, at times obscured - quick, another shot, followed by more, the view still not clear, but at least a few different perspectives. Out come the bird guides: a Yellow-breasted Chat - even though large, not one of the small warblers. Mystery not solved, so off for a walk around the the neighborhood, and then back to the house. A glass of ice water to cool down, another look at the photographs, more referencing on-line guides and photos, and then the thought: "Could that have been an oriole?" - a female Baltimore Oriole it is.⁽²⁾ This is the first oriole of any kind that I have seen in over five-and-a-half years of living only 35 minutes south of Baltimore. Meanwhile, the sun had set, the fireflies flickered, and the birds sang in the trees - all the while the fan in my mosquito repellent device whirled and hummed like a mosquito sounds when you are laying in bed after dark and it is about to land on your ear, but my legs were spared the bites.
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(1) See the effect at 7 minutes and 30 seconds.

(2) If I am correct with this identification, the picture of an oriole in my mind's eye is different than I had imagined based on the ones I have seen on Baltimore Orioles baseball caps and other memorabilia. It was the same way when I saw my first Northern Cardinal - it was smaller than I thought it would be - the large red bird perched on a yellow-colored bat that spans the broad chests of players like Albert Pujols in Saint Louis - another town with a famous bird name, but a long ways from Baltimore.