My friend, Mary Whitcomb, over Duxbury way sent me some nice photos of a lone Baltimore Oriole in her bird feeder this morning (top picture). The picture below that is from the internet - Mary said she wanted to be certain of what she saw, so she went on-line.

    Information from the internet explains that these birds are generally found in the tropics by November, but occasionally stragglers are found in northern states into December. When this happens, ornithologists believe most of them end up dying because of the severe winter weather.
     I think that is a lucky little bird to have found Mary's feeder. The warm/cold weather swings lately may have some birds confused so they miss the window of opportunity to head south before the food sources are gone.  I wonder if having Mary's feeder will sustain this straggler and Mary will have an all-winter boarder. Apparently they prefer insects or ripe fruit in their diet, so maybe you could find some meal-worms, Mary?  If the bird seems to be settling in for the winter, that is.  Perhaps it was on its way south. Thanks for sharing, Mary. Pretty bird - I hope it fares well this winter!
     We awoke to a completely white world this morning. We had two inches of new snow during the night, so no bare spots remain, and the trees are snow-covered. It's very pretty, 29 degrees, and no wind. There's still a little snow in the air, so we may have another inch or so by the end of the day. Some places in southern Vermont got twice what we did. I just took this picture - it looks gloomier than it really is - but it's starting to snow again.