Windy, cold, and drying out

Pelicans and an egret flew past us.  White throats were everywhere, hanging on the suet, pushing finches off the seed feeder, scurrying around the patio and mulch.  A yellow rump got some suet when the white throat gave up.

On the way home in the late morning we saw a fox trotting nonchalantly across the neighbors' front yards.  At home, the back yard was lively.  A pine warbler was on the suet feeder.  K put out some granola and the white throats got greedy.  Titmice came to the seed feeder and a male downy to the suet.  Meanwhile egrets flew around the dam.

At lunch, a female junco showed up.  A squirrel worked on a nest high in the red cedar.  A half dozen ruddy ducks paddled upstream and one came back down.  A crow chased a gull in circles above the creek.  Then the crow promenaded along the bulkhead to the boat lift.  The creek appeared very green today.

After 4pm the sky began to clear, but the wind was very cold.  Ruddy ducks were still paddling around and songbirds were still feeding. Herons flew over the dam but one stood on a dock downstream.

When I got back from the library, the black sky was very crisp with bright stars.  And it was cold.