Mist and rain

It was often too dim for the camera.  A Carolina wren was busy early in the rosemary.  The downy woodpeckers came early for suet.  Sparrows followed.  Titmice were also lured out by the suet though they didn't object to the seed feeder either.  Then a handful of juncos kicked through the mulch.  Buffleheads and mergansers and the occasional cormorant fished, spending more time below the surface than on it.  Expanding ripples tracked their progress.  I went outside to make sure the seeds weren't clumping in the feeder and discovered a huge insect apparently dying from Monday's exterminator visit.

Toward noon, the mist became a downpour, then slacked off into steady rain.  The jelly in the new jelly feeder turned to grape soup.  The birds came back grumpy.  One dove bullied the others terribly.  Two song sparrows got into a dispute.  And the juncos kept making little rushes at each other.  Eventually the windows became too streaked for photos. In the middle of lunch we were startled by a pileated woodpecker.  It came to the suet but then flew off again.

By mid afternoon the rain had tapered.  The suet became downright congested with birds.  A pine warbler joined the feasting.  A cardinal pair stayed aloof in the beautyberry.

Rainfall for 2015 topped 50" which was about 3" over average.