Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bullock's Oriole lands in Ohio!

A very rare western visitor to Ohio, the Bullock's Oriole, has turned up in a rural locale in Monroe County, in southeastern Ohio. Word just got out yesterday about the bird, and fortunately for the birding community, the landowners, Bob and Martie, are extremely gracious hosts. They have been welcoming interested birders and it has been a constant procession all day, I'm sure.

The bird is a male, and quite striking with its bold white wing bar and bright orange plumage. There have been only three prior Ohio records, and the last was about 20 years ago. Needless to say, it is a state bird for nearly everyone, myself included (#365 for Ohio, if anyone cares). I saw it early this morning, and obtained tons of what should be pretty good photos. I'm not in a situation to deal with the photos now, but will get some of them uploaded here tomorrow evening.

Thanks to this oriole, I am seeing lots of beautiful southeastern Ohio. First it was to Monroe County, then down to Pomeroy in Meigs County, for a conference (the bird made me a bit late :-) Now I'm in Jackson, and have to attend a meeting near here tomorrow morning. Can't complain about being out and about on such a beautiful day, though, especially when a Bullock's Oriole is involved!

4 comments:

Janet Creamer Martin said...

A truly beautiful bird, glad you got to see it. Congrats!

Michael Bartneck said...

Nice! Thats definitely a awesome ,striking bird that I've never seen around Hamilton county, thanks for the post,I'll keep a weathered eye!:)!

Jack and Brenda said...

Congratulations on your 365th find! Now you can finally do that yearly calendar with a different bird for each day!

Jim McCormac said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone, and now you can see actual photos of this gorgeous gem on my latest post!