Oriole in the hood

Packed for my trip today. I am pretty exhausted at this point and I haven't even left yet. Nothing in the gas tank of late. I am undergoing a procedure soon that will hopefully get my heart rhythm back on track. Afib can just knock the crap out of you.

Anyway, things should be fine, maybe we dodged all the floods and tornados and cardiac events and can now expect nothing but clear sailing. I usually get a second wind when I get on the interstate. Get to the event and remember all my old dance moves.

I drove up my driveway this afternoon and saw a familiar flash of yellow on the electric line. An oriole. I grabbed the nikon and took a few perfunctory shots and said oriole quickly flew away.

They usually stick around. I decided to canvas the neighborhood and finally saw him high aloft in my sequoia sempivirens, one of the two huge redwood trees on my property.

Couldn't remember if it was a bullocks or hooded oriole so I had to consult the book. He is the latter, one of the west's prettiest songbirds.



Leslie says this guy has been hanging around for a month. If he has I sure haven't seen him. We used to have a large washingtonia filifera in the front yard and the orioles loved that, they use the coarse sisal of that palm for their nests.

The hooded oriole is one of the more handsome creatures in the landscape. A pastiche of yellow and orange with the body tastefully accentuated by a black face and tail. Not sure if I will be getting many shots this trip. Not planning on taking any big zooms. Will see what turns up.