Overnight snow

It was just a dusting, but this time it did not melt.  A strong wind pushed fluffy cumulus down from the Northwest.  Down close to the creek the wind blew downstream.  The creek was only partly iced. 

Sparrows were the first to come for food.  Downy woodpeckers were a bit behind, as were the feeder regulars.  Yellow rumped warblers showed up around the same time.  They had difficulty reaching the remnant of suet.  A pine warbler arrived mid morning.  It had less trouble with the suet but more with the woodpeckers.  Juncos appeared in the late morning.

Around noon, squirrels courted under the feeder.  The male had a bloody tail. I read that when more than one male follows a female, the second male may attack the tail in front of him.  I'd never seen actual evidence before.  The female acted almost ready to mate but I did not see it happen.  

Geese, mallards, hoodies and gadwall helped to wear away at the ice on the creek.  The wind blew more directly from the West by lunchtime.  Egrets flew over while a great blue heron stood on a dock that has a heron statue.  Gulls also circled the creek. 

The woodpecker pair did not want to share the suet.  They went up the post and back and forth to the feeder, and generally the male won.  The sun continued bright into the afternoon. 

I returned home around sunset which was a tangy orange in the West and a pink glow under the rising moon in the East.  The moon was quite round but several days from full.