We did some bird banding at Mr. Neil's this weekend. Lorraine did a great job of keeping the feeders going before hand so birds would be around and my buddy Amber and I arrived early and topped them off before the nets went up. Amber found an oriole and I asked if it looked disappointed that the jelly feeder was empty and began rummaging through the fridge looking for some grape jelly. She said it was spending a lot of time on the suet feeder.

We filled the jelly feeder, but all day long, the male Baltimore oriole ate off the suet feeders. A chill has joined the wind in our neck of the woods with a strong reminder that fall is just down the street. Insects are disappearing, so it makes sense that the oriole would prefer the cashew suet feeder. I'm not sure how much longer this male will be around, but it was nice to get one last look before he left. I just realized it will be a good 8 months until I see one of these guys return to the yard for nesting.