Summer Visitors…

Every spring a banner day is The Day the Baltimore Orioles Arrive! It means that cold weather is gone for good, or at least until the following September or October. A number of years ago a large Baltimore landed on my Hummingbird feeder, about 13” from where I was standing at our kitchen sink. Obviously, the kitchen window separated us, but I was so startled, I yelped! This scared him off, but pretty quickly (thanks, Google!) I knew how to attract these beauties and keep them coming back. Grape Jelly. Yep, that simple. They drink from our fountains and gobble jelly, fresh berries and oranges, all summer long.

Their colors inspire me. Their gorgeous shape inspires me. And their personalities inspire me. The males land on my jelly feeders and LOUDLY call to the females that they have procured a safe place to eat. By late July and into August the fresh babies are at the feeders, too. They are little, very lightly colored, and still have some of their fluffy downy feathers. By the middle of September, they will be winging their way south for the winter, but I enjoy every day that they are here in Michigan.

Beth