Frosty

The frost paints the dock white and outlines each chunk of bark in the mulch.  Ice skins the creek on the near side but the current keeps the water open on the North.  The sky is clear except for a few cloud bars on the horizon.

A pelican flew over the creek and a cormorant paddled in it before the sun came up.  As the sun began to touch the tops of the pines, six egrets flew in. Three picked our pilings for perches and two landed on the branch under the bulkhead across the creek.  Then three hooded mergansers landed by the ones on the branch and paddled around.  A great blue heron swooped in and took possession of the branch.  Eventually all the egrets left.  Then another heron landed on the dock.

It was pretty late in the morning when a pair of house finches appeared.  Eventually white throats and a cardinal visited around noon.  The creek stayed busy with gulls, herons, egrets pelicans, and cormorants.  I also saw some mallards.  A buzzard also took an interest.  Squirrels got to the peanuts first.

A couple of pelicans basked and preened on the boathouse in the late afternoon sun.  Chickadees, doves, a Carolina wren, and a song sparrow made it to the feeder before evening.  The fishing birds kept going past sunset.