Icy

The creek was thinly iced and the thermometer read 31° at breakfast.  The male pileated was an early riser, wanting suet.  A mockingbird showed up next and complained about the empty barkbutter dish.  Then the female oriole headed to the jelly dish for some quick calories.  A couple of goldfinches tried to get a drink but I think the ant moat had frozen.  

White throats picked through the mulch.  After the woodpecker left a pine warbler worked on the suet.  When another bird investigated the jelly, the oriole came shooting in to take possession.  Bluebirds ate seeds.  A chipping sparrow came back and ate seeds.  The red bellied woodpecker did too.  A blue jay peered into the dish but found no barkbutter.  Three doves foraged in the mulch.  A butterbutt ate suet.  

A starling came for lunch, maybe because I finally refilled the barkbutter balls.  Buffleheads widened the open water where the current flowed under the bulkhead.  Blue jays queued up in a stream for the barkbutter balls.  A white breasted nuthatch ate seeds and bluebirds returned for more.  

Wintry

I saw no ice but the temperature was below freezing when I got up and I never saw it get higher than 35°.  There was a lot more cloud cover than predicted.  The cold made the songbirds very hungry so I took too many photos.  A pine warbler and a Carolina wren argued over the barkbutter crumbs.  Then a bluebird took over but the warbler didn't give up.  A chipping sparrow looked at the barkbutter balls and a second chipping sparrow appeared to dispute possession.  A pine warbler evicted them.  

Meanwhile, a downy was contending with warblers on the suet.  A white breasted nuthatch preferred seeds.  Blue jays grabbed the last of the barkbutter bits.  A titmouse had a little of everything.  The female red bellied woodpecker chose seeds over suet.  A mockingbird also scrounged barkbutter crumbs.  Three pine warblers all wanted suet so the downy ate seeds.  Of course there were white throated sparrows, chickadees, house finches, and cardinals.  

I didn't see activity on the creek, unlike the busy feeders.  At lunch, the poor downy was still afflicted with warblers. The female oriole finally showed up.  Three bluebirds tried barkbutter crumbs and weighed down the seed perch.  A brown headed nuthatch got some seeds and a drink.  Then at least two myrtle warblers arrived.  I wondered if they were new migrants as there hadn't been any for weeks.  The wind blew feathers awry.  A mockingbird came to the window.  

I stopped then because I was afraid I'd taken more pictures than I could deal with.  

Winter solstice

The short day was sunny and cold but not as windy as I expected.  The creek was coated with leaves so maybe the wind blew in the night.  A bufflehead drake floated among dock pilings with their barnacles exposed.  White throats scrounged for seeds.  Blue jays picked at barkbutter crumbs.  The female oriole returned but didn't cooperate with the camera at first.  

Crows and a gull flew back and forth across the creek.  The oriole returned at lunch and posed.  A Carolina wren hopped around.  A pine warbler noticed that I had refilled the barkbutter dish.  I noticed something white way up in a pine tree across the creek.  Just as I was about to give up on identifying it, it revealed itself as a great blue heron's beak.  K harvested the last pepper and brought the plants inside. 

Birds in the mist

The cool, misty air and gray light seemed to encourage birds.  White throats scurried around the mulch.  Pine warblers seemed famished.  They were joined by an orange crowned warbler.  A couple of male bluebirds wanted seeds.  A little flock hopped around in the trees but the light was too poor to identify them.  At least one was a robin but another might have been a house finch.  The female red bellied woodpecker took over the seed feeder.  

Muted colors were reflected by the flat creek surface.  Mallards slept on the water. A chipping sparrow joined the white throats.  A flicker explored a branch stump on one of the dogwoods. The male pileated was back for suet.  A mockingbird poked through the crumbs in the barkbutter dish.  A Carolina wren poked at the mulch.  A brown headed nuthatch tried to get past bigger birds to the seeds.  Even a goldfinch dropped by.  

Chilly

After a brief moment of sun at dawn, thick clouds covered the sky while a gusty North wind ruffled feathers. Pale birds, gulls or pelicans, wheeled over the creek.  The pileated female was back at breakfast.  Then the male showed up and took over the suet.  She was not happy and gave him no peace.  I thought she might win, but not this time.  Meanwhile, blue jays got their barkbutter breakfast.  White throats looked for anything on the ground.  Around 9am the clouds began to clear.  

Mallards occupied the dock while buffleheads and a cormorant dived.  Geese paddled down to a sunny spot on the bulkhead.  A mockingbird watched from a dogwood.  

Morning fog

The pileated woodpecker was not deterred by the fog. After the fog dissipated the day grew very warm.  White throats came to forage.  The car thermometer registered 73°. 

Warm

White throats were up early.  Blue jays waited for the sun.  A pine warbler didn't stay long.  And a mockingbird was so fast it escaped the camera.  A Carolina wren looked for spills.  A brown headed nuthatch investigated the barkbutter balls but preferred seeds.  The female pileated woodpecker returned and found I had put out fresh suet.  The day was a mix of sun and clouds and the temperature rose into the upper 60s.   Toward dusk the clouds thickened.