A friend recently told me all about the Baltimore orioles they had been observing, complete with a cell phone picture of the oriole feeding on a half an orange at their feeder.Most everyone is familiar with the Baltimore oriole, but it might surprise you that North Dakota has three species of orioles. The Baltimore oriole and the orchard oriole range over much of the state. The orchard oriole is darker with the orange being less prominent. The bullock’s oriole may be found southwest of the Missouri River. It is a chunkier oriole with brighter coloration, and unlike the Baltimore oriole which has a dark head, the bullocks head is orange with a black cap and eye stripe.

If you like watching falling stars, you are in for a treat. We are already into one of the best meteor showers, and with a little luck, it could turn out to be the best show of the year.The Perseids Meteor Shower began on July 17 and will run through August 24 with the peak viewing period coming up on the night of August 12th and early morning hours of the 13th with perhaps up to 60 meteors or more per hour. There is a new moon on August 8, and the moon will be waxing toward a crescent moon which will set during the early evening hours during the peak viewing period. That is all good news for viewers! Now all we need is a clear sky!

There are a lot of cottonwood tree leaves lying in an area on the Lake Metigoshe hiking and biking trail. All of them are green with a large round growth, or gall, on the leave stalk or petiole. It made me wonder what was going on. So I had to do a little investigating.

Poison ivy occasionally comes up in conversation. The conversation is generally on how to identify this infamous plant. Perhaps a little refresher on identification might be helpful.

Have you been hearing this bird song this summer? We have been hearing these calls frequently this summer emanating from a small thick stand of aspen and shrubs. It sounds like there are several birds in there. But occasionally we get the opportunity to see the source, which is a catbird, or gray catbird to be more precise. No doubt some of you recognized the song.

I suspect that when most people hear of Devils Lake they may think of all the tremendous fishing the lake provides. But do not forget that the Devils Lake area is a great place to observe the flora and fauna of our region as well.

These warm summer nights are good times to get out and do some star gazing and perhaps learn some new constellations. We are heading toward a new moon on July 8, so if the sky is clear, the viewing should be quite good for several days.

I have heard about someone getting quite excited recently about seeing a scarlet tanager in Turtle Mountain. Scarlet tanagers, as the name implies are bright red with jet black wings and tail. They are also known as black-winged red birds, and have been described as “red with a capital R” or “blindingly gorgeous.” In size they are a little larger than a sparrow but smaller than a robin. If you are familiar with eastern bluebirds, they are close in size.

Summer will officially arrive this Sunday. The summer solstice will occur on Sunday, June 20, at 10:32pm CT. The summer solstice, of course, is when the northern hemisphere will be tilted furthest toward the sun than at any other time of the year. And it will also be the sun’s highest arch at midday for the year. It is all because of the earth’s angle of rotation and orbit, and for people of higher latitudes it is a special time. In the Southern Hemisphere of course it marks the first day of winter.

We have had a red-bellied woodpecker in the neighborhood. It is hard to say how long it will stick around, but I have managed a good look at it a couple of times.