The birds are back!! Canisteo River Valley comes alive!

Orioles, grosbeaks, eagles, and more fill feeders and the skies in Cameron Mills NY

A photojournal by Janie Ferguson,

It was sprinkling a bit when I went to put my bird feeders out this morning. An ethereal view awaited me as I looked up to see two majestic bald eagles, waiting for their breakfast, above the Canisteo River, much to my delight! They are the national bird of America, and a symbol of freedom and democracy. Always a special blessing to see in the wild!

It’s been a week full of colorful, spring, beauties showing up for us to enjoy here. The solid-black, vibrant orange, and a bit of white on its wings, male Baltimore oriole, is surely the star of the show! There are two shown here, along with an immature female, too. They come to my feeders to enjoy the navel oranges that I put out for them. This always draws them close to be able to photograph them, so others can enjoy them, too, each spring. What a delight to see them again this year!

Also this week we’ve enjoyed the striking, red, white & black rose-breasted grosbeaks. I enjoy seeing both the male and female together feasting on sunflower seeds. A fun fact about the grosbeak is that it has the ability to crack cherry pits, and eat the nutritious kernels inside. They are known to live thirteen years in the wild.

I dutifully bring in my bird feeders each night and put them back out first thing in the morning. As we have had deer, raccoons, and an occasional bear come through that like to eat our suet and sunflower seeds, too. Currently we’ve had a raccoon climb up our front porch, and he emptied my hummingbird feeder that was hanging there in the center of the ceiling. His tell tale, sticky paw prints, gave him away as he left them behind as evidence. Here is a FB link to my security camera video that shows him climbing in the middle of the night. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17brG1ULSM/