Can I Attract A Baltimore Oriole?

I decided to become more diligent in feeding the birds through out the year.  I'm hoping to attract Baltimore Orioles this year.  Since I've never seen any in my area, I did a little research.  Oranges and grape jelly are favorites for these beautiful birds.  The Oriole is the Maryland state bird.  I'm across the Maryland line, about 20 minutes, so the chances of me being able to attract them seem favorable. 

I love homemade items, so I decided to make a feeder until I can find one that I like.  The feeder that I made is simple.  Disregard the peppers in the background.  They will soon be turned into pepper flakes.   You will need the following items.   

• wire hanger
• 1 orange
• yellow or orange ribbon
• *grape jelly (optional)

Bend your hanger until it looks like S.  Cut the end with a pair of wire cutters, and spread the 2 pieces apart.  Cut the orange into slices.  Cut a wedge out of each slice.  You will use the smaller pieces for spacers.  Alternate an orange slice and than a spacer.  You can smear grape jelly on the orange slices too.  Spread them apart as much as you can, so the bird can perch and enjoy the treat. Tie on your ribbon and hang in a spot where you can bird watch.  Try placing the feeder where the bird can perch from another branch and reach the slices if you're unable to get enough space between the slice.  You can rearrange them once you hang the feeder if necessary.  Refrigerate extra slices.  Slices should be checked every 2 - 3 days and changed if they dry out or start becoming moldy.   

Things are sprouting from my winter sowing.  Not as much as I would have liked, but I did have some success.  These are Velvet Queen sunflowers that need to be repotted.  For some reason, I placed more than 1 seed in the jug.  I added 3 of them to other jugs last night and put them back on the deck.  They look healthy.  I have 8 that have germinated so far.  This is the most success that I've had with my sunflowers.  The last 2 seasons I have tried to direct sow without success.  I guess the birds enjoyed the seeds, hehe.  I've tried sowing Lemon Queen and Mexican seeds along with the Velvet Queen.  The Lemon Queen is doing well, not so much with the Mexican.  I may try to germinate a few inside if I can find space.  Now there's a challenge.   The Dahlias started out on a good note, but have fizzled out.   I have lettuce, dill and bush beans that seem to be doing pretty good.  Nothing from the tomatoes.  Thank goodness, I started some inside.

Are you a bird watcher?  What's your favorite birds?  What's happening in your garden?  Leave a comment and I'll stop by.  Happy Gardening!