Oriole sex & curious deer

A mature male Orchard Oriole whistled  a bit of a merry tune high in a tree at the head of the marsh this morning and he then proceeded to mount a fluttering female for what could not have been more than a few seconds. The two birds then took off for parts unknown but I suspect that there is a nest somewhere around into she will lay her eggs. Or so I hope. It's a big year for Baltimore Orioles; maybe also for Orchard. I'll keep my eyes (and ears) open.

There was a big soaring Cooper's Hawk right over the house this morning and I think she (and I'm pretty sure it was a she) was accompanied by a slightly smaller soaring bird which may have been a male (I did't get a very good look at the second bird as they both disappeared behind the now fully leafed-out trees). This did not appear to be courtship as these birds soar mainly in migration. So my guess is that they were headed north -- admittedly a bit late for these short-term migrants whose range does not extend that far into Canada.

A small rodent-sized mammal came streaking across my path yesterday morning -- it could have been a rodent but given its silhouette -- kind of longish with a snout at the front end and a fairly short tail at the rear -- I rather suspect Short-tailed Shrew. A somewhat larger mammal, the White-tailed Deer, is (surprise!) fairly abundant in our woods but, since we arrived with a dog early in the month, they have tended to stay away from the open area in front of the house (there is plenty of browse for them further back). Yesterday, what appeared to be a solitary young first-year deer followed me on my walk all around the marsh, staying in cover but just a few feet away in the bushes between the marsh and the woods. This has happened before and it is a rather strange behavior. Lorna thinks that someone is feeding the deer but there is no question that the presence of people in a no-hunting area has made these deer very tame. This morning I saw a young male just starting to grow his antlers; he was on the far side of the pond, almost equally tame and watching me with an air of curiosity. Did he also expect to be fed or was he just checking me out.  

Eric Salzman