At lunch, five doves foraged under the feeder. A couple of white throats joined them. Chickadees commuted between the feeder and bushes. I saw the hermit thrush down by the far end of the pool. A flock of robins traded branches in the front yard. 
Dawn was streaked with pink clouds but gray clouds gradually covered the sky. A breeze kept leaves twirling down. A flock of cormorants were out on the creek before it was fully light. They didn't seem to be fishing, just paddling downstream. There were slug tracks on the patio. A Carolina wren found the mealworms and pigged out, returning for more throughout the morning.
Then I saw something totally unexpected - a hummingbird trying to get nourishment from the camellias. It was gone before I could get the camera on it so I have no proof. Meanwhile, the hermit thrush sat on the grass beside the sakaki. Egrets and geese were out on the creek.
The downy male came for breakfast. All this time I thought it had lost its mate but All About Birds asserted that the sexes separate in the winter with the male hogging the good stuff. My sympathies were certainly misplaced! Chickadees and squirrels arrived later along with an LBJ that stayed under cover of rosemary. Hooded mergansers paddled around the glassy creek. The air was cool and very still. There was a hint of mist early on and some sun through breaks in the clouds.
At lunch I saw a white throated sparrow. A couple of vultures circled over the creek. Chickadees were back. After lunch we went up to Pleasure House Point. The sky was dramatic with mackerel clouds. I saw yucca and prickly pear had escaped into the sandy ground of the nature preserve. We walked between ponds out to Pleasure House Creek but saw no marsh birds, just a couple of robins. Periwinkles and what I think were oysters were abundant. 
A white throated sparrow and a dove showed up at breakfast. Later, lots of chickadees were joined on the feeder by a titmouse. Finches and cardinals hung around, along with a blue jay. Squirrels frisked and chased. Geese disturbed the creek.
There was a heavy dew overnight and the air stayed damp with no wind, so surfaces didn't dry out. Nothing ate the mealworms I put out yesterday and they may have gotten soggy. When I went down to the dock in the late afternoon, the bench felt damp and cold. On the way down hill, I played with some puffballs trying to capture the green smoke. 
Mallards and hooded mergansers were out on the water and cormorants flew over the creek. There were five males and two females. I saw one male catch a fish. Two goldfinches in winter drab hopped around a branch overhanging the creek. A muscovy duck hung out with geese in the neighbors' yard. When I came back up, the male downy was on the suet make soft keening cries. I hope he finds a mate! Streaky clouds obscured the sinking sun but I didn't stay to see it set.
We slept in for Thanksgiving. The creek was a wavering mirror until the geese broke it. Cormorants flew over. Chickadees came to the seed feeder. A female yellow-bellied sapsucker worked on the dogwood. The bees were back. Squirrels dug up nuts. I think this year's crop of acorns was small. 
In the afternoon, we went to see Stumpy Lake. Wild roses were loaded with red hips. Duckweed lined the shore. The cypress trees were beautiful but all the birds I saw were a heron, egrets, gulls, cormorants, mallards and an LBJ. I thought I glimpsed a turtle but I couldn't find it after we parked.
There was frost overnight again but morning was sunny and still. A different cat, a tabby, prowled the back yard. Chickadees and the male downy flitted to the feeders and away. Cormorants commuted to their day jobs. The sun gilded the pines.
The construction noise at lunch was deafening so it's not surprising we saw no wildlife. I went outside to get away from it and found the back yard much colder than the front. Despite last night's frost, a grasshopper was alive and lively in the sun. Muddy paw prints on the pool cover showed that at least one raccoon paid us a nighttime visit. And a hermit thrush appeared, poking through the leaf litter at the far end of the pool.
The temperature touched 32°F in places - I saw a frozen puddle in the shadow of an underpass and frost on grass at the neighborhood park. I left for a meeting at dawn and when I returned, I stopped at the park. There were geese in the playground and on the lake, hooded mergansers and mallards. It was still very cold despite the bright sun. 
Then a great blue heron appeared under the bulkhead across the creek. It behaved very oddly, promenading back and forth over about three yards at low tide. All the while it held its beak pointed straight up and it did a little waltz when it turned to go the other way. Some of the time it held its wings half out too. It did pause once for a quick bite at something in the water. All About Birds says, "Great Blue Herons defend feeding territories from other herons with
dramatic displays in which the birds approach intruders with their head
thrown back, wings outstretched, and bill pointing skyward. Gulls and
even humans may also be a target of this defensive maneuver." 
The sky was clear but very windy. Despite that, the creek was fairly placid until disturbed by a flock of cormorants, this time headed downstream. Later a flock of gulls circled over the dam outfall. Herons flew around the creek as well. 
Meanwhile, the patio was visited by two Carolina wrens and two white throated sparrows. I scattered some freeze-dried mealworms which the wrens liked, but the sparrows ignored. Instead the sparrows foraged under the seed feeder. The wrens also sampled some suet.
At lunch, we had house finches, chickadees, and more white throats, including one that tired of waiting for seeds to fall. I glimpsed other birds that disappeared into foliage before I could identify them.
Before breakfast, I startled an LBJ that flew off and never returned. Cardinals came to feed in the rain as did the downy woodpecker male. Geese flew over and I saw some ducks including one hooded merganser male.
Geese disturbed the creek at dawn. Somewhat later, cormorants, gulls, and egrets rushed upstream, driving a school of fish, I assume. After a while they drifted back down. Sparrows stayed under cover in the camellia and other shrubs.
At lunch, the male downy came for suet. When it flew off into the dogwood, a mockingbird popped up sending the woodpecker up into an oak. The mockingbird sat in the sun for quite a lengthy time. Then a squirrel ran up the trunk and out on the mockingbird's limb. The bird bounced but didn't fly. It just turned around. The squirrel descended and appeared to bury a dried-up black dogwood berry. The day was bright and clear and many of the leaves had colored. But it was chilly. 
The male downy woodpecker came before it was fully light and didn't stay long. Although the sun was bright, the wind eliminated any reflection from the creek and added to the chill. Geese paddled on the glittering water. Later, two Carolina wrens and three white throated sparrows foraged around the patio. I had dumped the dust and fragments from the trail mix and they loved that. Peanuts are clearly a favorite. One wren seemed much bolder than the other. It perched on the patio chair. 
The sparrows popped up throughout the morning. At lunch (which was late), a great blue heron perched on the dock bench. Redwood twigs made it impossible to photograph. A birdwing grasshopper appeared in the sunlight near the pool cover.
Everything was wet but not enough had fallen to make a pool in the birdbath. All the birds slept in. The air was quite warm under a gray sky.The sky cleared and the wind picked up mid morning. Thereafter clouds covered and uncovered the sky providing occasional sunshine. A heron labored upstream. 
At lunch, a bald eagle suddenly soared overhead, too fast for the camera. A dove and a white throat foraged in the mulch. Something scared them into stillness for a while. 
Three doves were up before me, foraging in the dark. They came and went all morning and annoyed a squirrel till he chased them. The woodpecker came early for suet. Other birds moved around the periphery of the yard without becoming clearly visible. Mallards were out on the creek and cormorants in the air.
Squirrels were busy in the afternoon burying and digging up snacks. The sun shone briefly and then there was a light rain. The wind picked up and leaves that had been dropping straight were tossed up into the sky. The moonflower still had buds but they didn't fully open and then wilted. The Carolina jessamine, however, thought it was time to bloom.
I startled a dove at dawn when I went to open the feeder for the day. That was the only bird that appeared through the end of breakfast, but the feral cat sauntered past. The reflections on the creek rippled but I could not see a reason. There may have been something in the spartina below my line of sight. The sunlight on the pines glowed on the water. It fascinates me that the creek can reflect sunlight when it is still in shadow. 
By midday bees were visiting the rosemary. One nice aspect of cooler days is that roses last longer. 
I think I spotted a male pintail at dawn but the photos were too fuzzy to be certain. The male downy arrived early for suet. Chickadees came for sunflower seeds. A handful of white throated sparrows scurried around the patio. 
The early action was on the creek. A kingfisher perched on a dock piling behind a window screen and branches. Geese, mallards, and a hooded merganser disturbed the reflections on the water. Later the male downy came for suet. Chickadees visited the feeder, then house finches.
At lunch, several titmice appeared and poked through the mulch while chickadees stayed up on the feeder. A robin sat in the dogwood, but when it tried to eat a berry a mockingbird showed up and drove it off. The mockingbird didn't stay, and soon a downy woodpecker landed on the dogwood trunk. More geese paddled by.
Another pink dawn but the only critter at breakfast was the cat. A dove foraged later. Lunchtime was more lively. A mockingbird came for a drink again. A curled leaf that landed on the pool cover turned out to be some kind of grasshopper. A white throated sparrow and a squirrel shared the mulch under the feeder. The morning glories lasted all day but yesterday's moonflower buds never fully opened. The male downy was back again. And of course there were geese out on the creek. A crow's shadow scared a squirrel that instinctively dashed for the feeder post. Climbing that would not have provided the same protection as a tree.
Another pink sunrise, but this one was followed by haze and clouds with intermittent sunshine. The male downy visited the suet before it was fully light. I saw him later in the dogwood. A throng of chickadees came to the feeder during breakfast, joined occasionally by a titmouse. A male house finch and a male cardinal blended with the red leaves. Geese landed on the creek and sent ripples through the perfect reflections. Leaves fluttered out of the trees. There was a heavy dew overnight because the temperature dropped considerably. 
As lunch was cooking I was surprised by a monarch butterfly feeding on the pink camellia flowers. It was followed by a cloudless sulphur and a silver spotted skipper. Bees competed with the skipper on the herbs. Meanwhile, a mockingbird sampled some dogwood berries and then took a long drink form the birdbath. The downy returned but I startled it. Chickadees came back too. Mallards were out on the creek which had gone ruffled from the wind gusts. 
Dawn tinted clouds pink and the creek mirrored them. As the sun gilded the pines, they too were reflected in the water. A dove poked through the mulch at breakfast.
Cirrus clouds made fantastic brush strokes across the intensely blue sky.
The day dawned warm and wet and still. I could see some sort of critters scurrying around but there was insufficient light to tell it they were birds or squirrels. And that was the last wildlife I saw at breakfast time.
I could hear two odd critter noises in the front yard, a two-note cough and a two-note squeak. The cough went to a woodpecker I finally saw hiking along the underside of a pecan branch. I never did locate the source of the eek-eek. A small beetle trundled across the driveway. Bees were out in the damp warmth. Later, a dove foraged under the seed feeder.
The gloom has gotten old, especially since low light makes photography difficult. Rain sprinkled at breakfast and again at lunchtime though there was a moment of sun in the late morning. The moonflower and morning glories were still blooming. The temperature rose somewhat which brought out the bees. The male downy that came for breakfast was the only bird to visit. Does that mean a hawk is hanging around? Clearly the birds do not appreciate the "wild bird seed" mix, even mixed with sunflower seeds - when they've picked out the sunflower seeds, the small stuff remains to clog feeder. 
Squirrels were burying and digging up nuts. Some had patches bare of fur from the warbles. Yellow jackets and bees were busy. Then I spied a mockingbird in the beauty berry. The male downy showed up in the dogwood, then hopped over to the suet. Four white throats poked through the mulch till something swooshed past and they scattered. As it got dark cardinals appeared.
The sky cleared and it got as warm as predicted, albeit very windy. A male downy visited the suet briefly. I saw a house finch atop the redwood. Mallards and Canada geese were out on the creek, especially after the dog across the water came out to chase them. The wind from the ESE hurried a few wispy clouds across the sky while on the ground the gusts came from every direction and the trees bent toward the North. 
We were out running errands and missed most of the afternoon. The overcast clumped up into dramatic clouds in the West while the East cleared. Bees were hard at work on the herbs. But at sunset rain began. 
A barge came upstream, I think to survey the creek for dredging. It was preceded by a flock of Canada geese. Mallards were also out on the creek. Bees worked on the herb flowers while those little moths or butterflies or skippers flew around the yard without landing in sight. The spider web caught a second leaf.
The clouds moved in, leaving only a rim of blue in the Northeast. But the cover was thin enough to allow some sun. Honeybees worked on the herbs while yellow jackets preferred the camellias. Remnants of spiderweb dangled from dogwood limbs. I hung a new block of suet and the chickadees quickly found it. Then a first-of-season pair of hooded mergansers appeared on the creek! 
Other small lepidoptera zoomed through the yard too fast to identify. When we got back from an errand, I went into the back yard to photograph a web-caught leaf and a hawk shot past me. I think I spoiled its aim. It landed in the oak for a minute, then took off upstream. 
The first white throated sparrow of the season appeared and seemed interested in the small seeds I'd scattered on the patio from the bag of bird seed mix. But the seed feeder was still unused. I don't know if that's because the previous batch of seeds spoiled or because in the Fall there are many other foods for birds.
At lunch a squirrel startled a sparrow into the air, but this time it was a song sparrow. It too ate some of the little seeds on the patio. Later, we returned from an errand and found finches and chickadees on the feeder. The song sparrow and the downy woodpecker were back too, but the light was too poor for photos. The rain, the overcast, and the return to standard time made this a very gray day indeed. 
