Ice

Patches of ice are floating on the creek.  It is still and sunny.  A couple of squirrels came to look for seeds in the frosted mulch.  They couldn't get a drink because the birdbath is frozen again.

I poured hot water in, but still no feeder birds.  Meanwhile, the ice on the creek disappeared and a breeze kicked up leaves.  A procession went upstream on the creek:  mallards, the domestic duck, a pelican, then cormorants.  A while later a flock of hooded mergansers followed.  Pelicans cruised up and downstream above the water during lunch.  A crow landed on the dock with a snack. 


Toward evening, white throated sparrows, cardinals, and chickadees showed up.  There was some disagreement over the feeder perch.  The sky was still cloudless and the wind was still blowing.  The evening commuter crowd was sizable.