[mou] Cattle Egrets Orchard Orioles

[john c. nelson]

Brother-in-law reported observing 3 Cattle Egrets at the edge of his  
small marsh adjoining plowed field, east of Lura Lake in Blue Earth  
Co. Watched for an hour and saw them catch and eat 5 mice! They winter  
in south Texas and see them in numbers, but had no idea they travel  
morth. I had 2 PAIR of Orchard Orioles at the grape jelly yesterday  
along with the RBG,Northern Orioles, 3Indigo Buntings, 38 Goldfinches,  
and a Tennesee Warbler (grape jelly), a first for me. A note about the  
grape jelly.  The Orioles are fruit and nectar feeders by nature, and  
while there are some nectar flowers appearing, fruit will be hard to  
come by for some time. Protein from insects is quite available and  
based on the their numbers and appetites I shudder to think of the  
cost of feeding mealrooms in quantity. The scooped out oranges are  
geat jelly feeders and can last a surprisingly long time. On their  
side Frito-Lay dip jars are perfect and I've mounted several on top of  
upside-down suet feeders-both OO and NO used them immediatly. What a  
great spring it's turning out to be!
John Nelson
Near Beauford MN