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An overcast sky was accompanied by strong gusts from the Northeast that also brought a drop in temperature.  Only mallards were out on the rough water of the creek but I counted six males and two females.

K hung the new fancy suet and it immediately attracted fans.  To me, the downy woodpecker seemed excited.  Later I saw a red-bellied woodpecker peeking around the downspout at the suet, but it startled and flew off instead.  Titmice and chickadees tried the new suet.  A butterbutt thought about it.  Meanwhile, song and white throated sparrows and Carolina wrens found plenty to eat on the ground.

In the late morning a flock of hooded mergansers paddled downstream.  Somewhat later a lone male appeared at the head of a flotilla of Canada geese as though it was leading them.  Since the duck and the geese are similar colors though greatly different in size, the visual effect was amusing.  A male bufflehead showed up around noon and fished back and forth around the dock.  Gulls played on the wind and a buzzard patrolled. The Carolina wren found the new suet and disputed ownership with the downy woodpecker.  Five doves joined the sparrows in the mulch.