Oriole Nest

Oriole Nest

One of the great joys of warmer weather is that we can sit out on our front porch and watch the neighbors jogging and walking their dogs, so we weren't surprised the other evening to see Mari and Harmon out walking their Dachshund, Hector.

What surprised us was the palm frond they had found lying in the street with the Oriole nest attached to it.

We were fascinated by the intricately woven nest constructed mainly of coarse palm fibers, some of which had been forced through small gaps in the frond to anchor the nest in place.

There were some small fluffy pads in the interior of the nest, but those were the only signs of occupation.  The chicks had evidently hatched and flown before the nest fell down.

We've seen Hooded Orioles in our backyard in the past, but they usually don't stay long since they prefer to eat nectars and fruit rather than bird seed.

We're always thrilled to catch a glimpse of these beautiful birds.