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Baltimore Oriole



Hi folks,

A Baltimore oriole came to a friends feeder in Durham on Sat a.m. 
Other than that not a single migrant for me yet!

Thanks to the guy on the bike in Umstead Park who told me about 
Hemlock Bluffs nr Cary and the cooling ponds at the power station: 
I'll make a trip down there in a couple of weeks for the 
black-throated blues etc.

In a posting last week, someone mentioned a brown-headed cowbird in 
the context of migrants: I thought these were residents (Sibley). 
I've had one hanging around my feeders for about a month now. Is this 
unusual?

Also, an amazing encounter with a flock of cedar waxwings on Duke 
campus: 30 or so birds landed in a large evergreen bush to feast on 
the red berries (I have no idea what type of bush, sorry) literally 5 
feet from me. They gorged themselves for about a minute, completely 
ignoring my astonished gasps and the 50 or so demonstrating students 
shouting and waving placards nearby. Then they left as quickly as 
they came; I could feel the breeze from their wings as they flew off! 
I see at least as many birds most mornings perching in the trees 
around RX parking lot (extension of La Salle Str) if anyone wants to 
get a good close-up look before we lose them until next winter. They 
seem fearless now and will tolerate you walking right up to the trees 
they are in.

Steve Perry

Receptor Biology lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham NC

stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu