Chilling down

Windy too. A lone bufflehead was out on the creek in the early light. They seem to spend more time alone than other ducks and more time paddling than the mergansers. Crows were making a ruckus early.

I took the New Year's oyster shells down to the creek. The sun felt good, but the wind was cold. However, a dandelion popped into bloom despite the drop in temperature. Birds were plentiful: a male hooded merganser, a female bufflehead, mallards, geese, crows, great blue herons, cormorants, pelicans, and a herring gull. The pelican overhead appeared to worry the bufflehead which changed direction to avoid its shadow. But even the pelican's splashdown didn't disturb a nearby cormorant.

This day last year was my first firm sighting of the eagle, and I noted other birds were fishing. The feeder was busier, possibly because of the snowstorm, and I saw robins and a sapsucker in addition to the usual suspects. Not this year!