May Flowers

No sooner had the apple blossoms opened across the creek than the first Oriole of the season appeared. It is hanging out several times a day with an ear-piercing cry every few minutes while feeding not more than 15 feet from the kitchen door at deck level. A bright flasher of orange, this is a welcome returnee.
Our resident egrets slipped in number to a worrying zero in mid-April, but they have settled at two a night for the last couple of weeks, and have a black-crowned night heron along most nights.
Today, as the sun had a chance to appear after many days of clouds, a pair of turtles hauled out on the snag that marks the halfway point of the west side of our pond.
Cowbirds are in abundance -- an unusual sight. There is at least one pair that return daily but yesterday seven showed up -- six males and a female. They compete with a couple of redwing blackbirds and two or three grackles in searching for seeds.
This past weekend also marked the return of catbirds. Absent since November, the first two or three are on scene and taking up residence in the usual spot, a stand of brush next to the creek outlet.