Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.
As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”
On May 8th, I spotted a female Baltimore Oriole beginning a nest in a London Plane. I returned a week or so after that first sighting, but could see nothing. But then this past Monday, June 5, the wind was kicking up and I spotted what looks like a full nest. A male singing atop this tree suggests it’s active.
Oriolle nests are so well assembled that this one is likely to still be there after a winter full of high winds, wet weather and freezing temperatures. The incorporation of plastic strips into the nest probably secures it even better, but it won’t be reused. Other species will disassemble and reuse the materials next spring when most, but not all of the parasites still in the nest are dead.
Backyard and Beyond 
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