Snow

I got up in the dark to go to an early meeting.  There was snow on vegetation and mulch but not on pavement and water was not iced.  When I got home some birds had ventured out: cardinals, white throats, a woodpecker, a warbler, and one junco.  K scattered granola she didn't like, but the white throats did.

Around 9:30am fat flakes drifted down but melted on contact with the patio.  The flurry was over before 10am.    Pelicans flew up and down stream.

At lunch there were no birds at all.  And then we saw why: this juvenile Cooper's or sharp-shinned hawk was just sitting, waiting in the redwood.  The clouds began to break up and sometime before 2pm the sun came out. Then the snow began to disappear though some was still left at sunset.  Tomorrow morning may be icy. 

In the late afternoon, great blue herons and gulls flew over mallards paddling on the creek.  A white throat checked out the suet.  Up in the oak, a robin glowed with color.