Black-vented Oriole (lifer)

We wanted to take the tram ride this morning and Mark wanted to walk on the trails a little bit. They have been opening up more trails this week that have finally dried out. We didn’t get very far before time ran out and we had to get back for the tram ride. There is a movie that we watched first then we got on the tram. Jane and Lynn were the tram drivers today. There is a lot of information that Jane talked about while we were riding. When we got to the cemetery Lynn took over and walked us to the cemetery. He talked about the people buried there and pointed out some of the different trees and shrubs. Back on the tram we turned around and went back the way we had come. With the flooding, some of the roads are still closed so the tram can’t make a loop. It’s an out and back trip.



Old Cemetery

About 3:45 we drove to Benson to see if we could find the Black-vented Oriole. It has been seen at Benson Palm Village RV Resort. We parked at the Birding Center and walked down. We first stopped at the office to let them know we were there to see the bird. They gave us a map and were very nice. As we left the office we walked by a gentleman in a golf cart. He told us we had about 15 minutes and that the gate is locked at 5:00. We walked as fast as we could to the place the bird was being seen. There were several people there. We had heard that it was seen at 10:30 this morning. One woman said she had been there since noon and hadn’t seen it yet. About 4:45 the gentleman in the golf cart came by and told everyone they had to leave. We turned around and took about 5 steps when someone yelled ‘there he is’! We were able to watch him for about 10 minutes before we started walking back to the car. The gentleman in the golf cart was very nice about letting everyone see the bird. We walked out about 4:59!






Black-vented Oriole