Fall's Journey South: September 10, 1999 Today's Report Includes: Hasta la Vista--Orioles! Now That's Cool! Phenology on the Fly What's Taking You So Long? Challenge Question #1 What Did You Do on Your Vacation? Team Effort How Time Flies--and Baby Birds Too! Would You Please Pass the Jelly? Get Ready to Track the Oriole Migration Next Spring! Hasta la Vista--Orioles! The orioles left my yard this Tuesday September 7, headed for Central America! Just that morning, right outside my office window, I saw the last orioles at my feeder, chattering at each other and taking their last few sips of grape juice. But by afternoon, they were gone, and there have been no orioles here since. Winter Home of Orioles Now That's Cool! The orioles left just ahead of a cold front that pushed its way through Minnesota. The front was bringing in a large cold air mass from Canada with the coolest temperatures that Minnesota has had in about four or five months. Ahead of the front, temperatures were in the 80's, but behind the front they were in the 60's, with some 50's and 40's too. Transitions from summer to fall like this one can leave the atmosphere a little cranky and unstable, and some storms did pass through this area on Tuesday. Cold Front Brings Cool Fall Canadian Air to North Central States Cold Front Wed., Sept. 8 Credit: The Weather Channel High Temperatures Tuesday, Sept. 7 High Temperatures Wed., Sept.8/9 Phenology on the Fly The orioles departed amidst many other seasonal changes too, including: Daylength is decreasing more noticeably (we've lost about 20 minutes since last week, and 2 hours and 42 minutes since the summer solstice); the first apples are ripe; monarch butterflies can be seen aggregating and flying south; more ruby-throated hummingbirds are coming to the sugar-water feeders and hosta flowers; sugar maples and sumac are showing color; and barn and other swallows are lining up in long lines on utility wires. Leaving On Schedule? Listen to the Oriole's Song Wait for download; 58 K file. Recording Courtesy of Lang Elliott It's not hard to tell when the orioles have left my yard on their journey to the tropics. I don't see their bright flashes of color anymore flying past my window. And it's quieter too. No more beautiful songs or early morning chatter filling the air. Here are the dates the orioles left my yard over the last few years. How does this year compare? 09/08/96 09/05/97 09/07/98 09/07/99 What's Taking You So Long? Lunar Landing Put one of these feeders outside your classroom window, and see how fast the orioles start coming! The feeder this oriole is perched on looks a little like Nasa's lunar lander from the Apollo mission. Over the past month, I noticed several changes at the oriole feeders which hinted that many orioles were on the move south. In the first half of August, Minnesota experienced some early whispers of cool fall temperatures. Nighttime lows dropped into the 60's and daytime highs only reached the low 70's. Many more orioles came to the feeders during that time--up to six orioles trying to drink from one feeder, and they were coming throughout the entire day! They looked like impatient shoppers waiting in line, squawking at each other as if to say "Hurry up! What's taking you so long?" Normally I would still have a fair amount of juice in the feeders at the end of each day, but on these cooler days, there was almost no juice left at all. Challenge Question #1: "Why do you think the orioles would want to drink more juice on a cool day than on a hot day?" (To Respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.) The number of orioles at the feeders slowly dwindled down after that, and I saw them less often during the day. Most recently, only one or two orioles would come, and there was a lot of juice left in the feeder at the end of each day. Until the last oriole was finally gone on the 7th What Did You Do on Your Vacation? Spring and summer are no vacation for orioles because breeding season is all business! For example, just a few days after the first female oriole arrived in my yard, she was already gathering string that I put out for her. I watched her carefully so that I might see where she was building her nest. Fortunately, she built it close by--about 50 feet up in a Basswood tree in my backyard, and only about 50 feet from the feeder. If I hadn't seen her take the string up there, it would have been very difficult to locate the nest, because it was really camouflaged amidst all of the leaves. I watched her everyday as she put the finishing touches on her nest, until one day, I noticed she wasn't flying as much. She was staying very close to the nest, and finally I saw her go into the nest. After that, I rarely saw the female outside the nest. Maybe she had laid the eggs, and was incubating them. Team Effort Whenever the male would approach the nest, he would call to her as if to let her know he was near, and that everything was all right (remember, she sits deep in the nest which is like a hanging pouch, and can't see much outside the nest when she's incubating). However, I did notice that she would leave the nest about once every hour to get a drink from the oriole feeder and then quickly fly right back up to incubate her eggs. How Time Flies--and Baby Birds Too! About 14 days after finishing the nest, both parents were very busy feeding their young. One week later, I could hear the oriole nestlings calling from the nest, and only one week after that they had fledged. They were already able to fly a bit in the neighboring trees, and they noisily let their parents hear where they were! Summers are short here, so the orioles have to make their families fast. Would You Please Pass the Jelly? In addition to the many, many insect larva that orioles find so tasty, orioles also have a sweet tooth. They seem to love sweets as much as some of us. And who can blame them? A bit of orange, or a sip of grape juice just can't be beat when your thirsty. Especially when you've just flown so many miles, and you're so busy. Even the young orioles caught on quickly and tried to get a treat. They would follow their parents to the oriole feeder and just observe at first. But as soon as their parents weren't feeding them as often, the fledglings were trying to figure out for themselves how to drink the juice. Get Ready to Track the Oriole Migration Next Spring! Remember, next spring you can join me and the many Journey North classrooms across North America as we all announce when the orioles first return from the tropics. Put out a feeder and then wait for them arrive. Just imagine, hundreds of classrooms watching outside their window for the orioles' return! Learn about their winter home in the tropics I'll be back next spring and will let you know just as soon as I see my very first oriole. Be sure to report to Journey North when you see your first oriole next spring too. Julie Brophy Journey North Victoria, MN (44.51N, 93.39W) Where to find an oriole feeder for your classroom: Check your local bird feeding store, feed store, or science museum. (Or call (800)981-BIRD or E-Mail lucy@birdwatchers.com) Ask for the Deluxe Oriole Feeder 36 oz. capacity. How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question # 1: IMPORTANT: Please answer ONLY ONE question in each e-mail message! 1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-fall@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 1 3. In the body of the message, answer the Challenge Question. The Next Journey South Update Will Be Posted on September 24, 1999 Copyright 1999 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. 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