Overcast

Several geese families brought goslings to eat our new grass.  A brown thrasher preferred to toss fresh mulch.  A female hummingbird fed on rosemary and perched in the wild cherry.  The wrens continued to move in.  The female downy got seeds from the feeder, hammered some on the post and carried off the rest.  House finches gave way to her even though she didn't act aggressive.   And titmice slipped in whenever the other birds left the feeder alone.

The last time I saw a junco was on the 14th of April.  White throated sparrows hung around for another ten days. The winter migrant ducks were gone after the first week of April.

There was a bit of blue sky and a few moments of sunshine in the afternoon.  An osprey flew over but kept going.  A titmouse stuffed itself with seeds at suppertime.  The cardinal pair were courting again.  They both looked very round this evening.

Mist

A male goldfinch came to the feeder but was intimidated by a female cardinal and disappeared.  A female downy woodpecker got seeds from the feeder to hammer on the post.  A titmouse slipped in to get seeds when no other bird was looking.  The house wren continued to be busy with the wooden birdhouse.  Blue jays circled through the shrubbery and poked through the mulch.  The geese repeatedly tried to bring their goslings up to the pool level, probably to eat grass seed.  The dredge motor made a lot of noise and annoyed egrets. 

The goldfinch pair were back at lunch.  So was the downy.  The geese continued to hang around with their four goslings.  Blue iris blooms replaced the fading wood hyacinths.

The geese settled in at the edge of the spartina and were very reluctant to leave.  At supper, titmice and the female downy shelled sunflower seeds while the male cardinal fed the female. 

Overnight rain

The female downy woodpecker was back for seeds to hammer against the post.  A pair of blue jays were around and one perched on the post.  It looked like it had gotten muddy.  The two Carolina wrens debated whether to eat mealworm soup.  Later one got in a fuss with a house wren when it ventured too close to the other birdhouse.  A brown thrasher foraged under the red cedar.

A crow and a gull found something of interest at the dam outfall.  Whenever it rains birds are attracted to that spot.

As I was getting ready to leave, a goldfinch pair came to the feeder.  While I was out it rained again.  I saw a mockingbird and a robin along the road. Two geese were waiting by the driveway when I got home.  I out-stared them. The afternoon grew colder and misty.

Open windows

I finally got a photo of the wren that's moved into the old birdhouse in the camellia.  It's a Carolina wren.  So the two old, repaired birdhouses have tenants but not the fine new birdhouse outside my office window.

It was warm and sunny at lunchtime.  Afterward I went outside.  I heard wrens and other birds but only saw cardinals.  A small green wasp was hauling a de-legged spider as big as itself - it couldn't fly, only hop.  I found a black swallowtail caterpillar on the rue and saw both black and tiger swallowtails in flight.  Also a pearl crescent, I think.  Dragonflies zipped around but never perched.  A bee fly was sitting on the rosemary.  The dredge was working downstream from the water tower.

By 4pm the sun had disappeared behind thick overcast and the temperature had dropped.  I ran around shutting the windows.  An egret stalked along the bank in the early evening.

Hot wind

A strong wind from the Southwest stripped the flowers off the azaleas.  I was away most of the morning, but during the brief time home in between, I discovered that wrens were building a nest in the old plastic birdhouse I stuck in the camellia outside the kitchen window.  As I was getting ready to leave around 9:30am, I saw an adult bald eagle pursued by a flock of screaming crows.  The eagle was headed ESE toward the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven.  I was too surprised to think of the camera.

By afternoon the temperature had climbed to the 80s and the wind had gotten fierce.  A few butterflies stayed low but the dragonflies were everywhere.  A male Eastern pondhawk perched where I could photograph it.  Big carpenter bees and wasps were too.  Overhead, swallows chased more bugs.  A blue jay perched on a dead oak limb.  Several skinks scurried around the patio.

 In the late afternoon, a little green heron flew under the dock.  By the time my brain realized it was not a crow it was out of sight.  I suppose the support crossbeams make a good fishing perch.  The wind drove the tide low so there was plenty of clearance.  Things kept knocking on the new windows but they've all been bugs that I have seen.  At sunset as the light began to fade, dark fliers went zipping past the window.  They seemed to large for bugs and too small for birds - bats?

Wrens

Morning was sunny and windy. The house wren was busy with twigs and the Carolina wrens with mealworms.  One Carolina had a bit of nesting material too.  White throated sparrows were up with the sun.  A female goldfinch stopped by very briefly and a blue jay hid in the shrubbery.  The cardinal males had another staring contest.  Then a male tried to join a female on the feeder perch but their combined weight closed the feeder.  One of the squirrels had a patch of white fur in the middle of its back. 

At lunch, a blue tailed skink roamed the patio.  Cabbage whites flitted around.  A titmouse visited the feeder.  The house wren continued to seize twigs that were way too big for it.  I toured the landscaper's work and saw flies or bees that seemed interested int the mulch instead of the flowers. The sky grew hazy and then white in the afternoon. 

Goslings already!

Three adult geese brought three very young goslings up to walk across the pool cover for no reason that I could see.  They marched right back down and paddled away.  Later a flock gathered in the water off our yard but I didn't see the goslings with them.  There seemed to be some speed dating involved. 

A female goldfinch drank from the hummer feeder's ant moat.  The regulars came to the seed feeder and the house finches courted there.  The two cardinal pairs fussed at each other, and not just the males either.  Two titmice shared the feeder. The house wren was still busy. I also saw a skink, a dragonfly, a crane fly, the male downy woodpecker, a crow harassing a buzzard, and an osprey passing over headed toward the bay.

A Carolina wren came for mealworms in the afternoon.  A cabbage white flitted among the wood hyacinths.  A snowy egret was apparently catching something at the dam outfall.  And the goslings were back but the family stayed close to the water.

Later there were four goslings, and they were after our grass seed.  Where did the fourth one come from? I sent them and their adult escorts running downhill, but the adults tried to sneak back several times.  Somewhat later, I saw a couple of brown thrashers under the oak.  I don't know if they were after grass seed.   A hummer appeared just as the light was fading.  And there were white throated sparrows under the feeder.

Sunshine

Everything was wet but the sun was shining.  Clouds blew down from the Northwest.  The creek was placid and there was only a light breeze.  An egret hung around the dam outfall, but the tide was out and there didn't seem to be any overflow from the lake. 

House wrens were moving into the wood birdhouse.  I haven't seen any activity at the plastic house.  A couple of titmice visited the feeder.  The white throated sparrows were still around.  A goldfinch popped up onto the hummer feeder for a second.  A downy woodpecker came to see if the suet had returned.  It had not.  A cardinal pair began to get romantic when the other cardinal pair showed up.  There was much chasing around the yard that apparently spoiled the mood. 

At lunch time the wren was scurrying around collecting twigs.  A small skink ran past the window on the retaining wall.  Bees and wasps congregated around the flowers. 

The clouds gathered in the afternoon and sprinkled around 4pm, but the thunderstorms passed to the West. Sunset was colorful. 

Earth Day

The morning was partly cloudy, but the afternoon was rain, rain, and then some more rain. Two titmice came to breakfast.  At lunch time a few sprinkles of rain fell.  A black swallowtail flattened out on the grass. 

The rain got very heavy around 4pm. 

First humingbird!

The creek was still under a white sky.  Down by the dam it looked scummy, probably with pollen.  The fresh mulch did not deter the white throated sparrows, but it did hide fallen seeds.  A Carolina wren ate mealworms out of the dish feeder.  The regulars came for seeds though a male cardinal hopped around on the pool cover as though chasing something. A starling had a look around but didn't find anything. 

On the way back from the pool, I saw a brown thrasher across from the school.  At home I heard a house wren trilling but couldn't see it.  The clouds clumped up so sunshine came and went.  And then, the female hummer arrived.

In the afternoon, an egret stalked along the bulkhead.  A trio of bachelor Northern shovelers paddled on the lake.  As the day wore on, it got windier.  And the sun set behind a smear of cloud.  Titmice came for supper.

Cooler

White throated sparrows and titmice joined the feeder regulars.  It looked like there was some activity at the birdhouse.  First a chickadee peered in at the front, then a house wren inspected the repaired rear. A male cardinal hopped around in the cherry as though it was trying to catch bugs.  Then it or another shared food with a female under the feeder.

At the library drive up window a mockingbird flashed me right beside my car.  I snatched up a camera, but the bird got wary and flew off to a sign post.  The landscape people were working most of the day so the wildlife went elsewhere.  I did see a tiger swallowtail.

When we got out of the last meeting, the almost full moon was bright in a deep sapphire sky.

Hazy

The creek was still again in the morning.  The pileated woodpecker returned and couldn't quite believe there was no suet.  A Carolina wren seemed disappointed too.  A male goldfinch chowed down on sunflower seeds.  White throated sparrows poked through the mulch.

The day got very hot.  I was running around to various meetings and didn't see much more.  Just the usual egrets. 

Very warm

The creek reflected gently wavering images under a blue sky.  White throated sparrows were still here.  Titmice and the regulars ate sunflower seeds.  A male downy checked for suet, but unlike the female, didn't try the seeds.  A couple of starlings walked across the patio. The tux cat prowled through a couple of times.

When I opened the garage in the mid morning, in flew a bird.  Of course I didn't have the camera.  I went in and got it, but by then the bird was about to leave.  When I got home, I saw the first house wren of the season as it scuttled under a patio chair.  After lunch, we potted a pepper "pod."  The rose next to the driveway was covered with aphids.

Osprey circled over the creek in the afternoon.  A blue-tailed skink slithered through the mulch.  Bees and wasps sought nectar.  A huge carpenter bee kept looking in withered azalea blossoms.  A bee fly basked on a sunny ivy leaf.  Cabbage whites flitted around and at one point I saw a dragonfly. 

Later in the afternoon a squirrel climbed up to nibble on the hickory buds.  The pecan was beginning to leaf out.  A sunflower seedling started below the feeder.  Unfortunately, poison ivy also put out leaves.  Wild columbine was in bloom.  A couple of small blackberry brambles had blossoms.  Even moss was beginning to put up spore stalks.  Quite a heap of fallen tree limbs was piled up by the fence.  The last time I looked they were still hanging off the trees, though dead and rotting.

At supper the cardinal was feeding his mate.  Another bright moon in a clear sky followed the simple sunset. 

Breezy

There was blue sky all morning.  The wind was not as strong as last week.  White throated sparrows and squirrels were up early.  The regulars all put in an appearance at the seed feeder.  In between two titmice shared the perch.  Carolina wrens were more interested in the mealworms in the glass dish.  So was a squirrel.  There was a low-speed courtship chase involving two squirrels.  A downy woodpecker took seeds but hammered them on the post, not the perch.  I saw a dragonfly zipping along the retaining wall.  A queen yellow jacked looked for a suitable place for a nest.  Bees were out all over the yard.

In the late afternoon there was less wind.  A dove foraged in the mulch.  Titmice, white throats, and the regulars were hungry.  Out on the creek bachelor mallards paddled upstream.  Someone was fly fishing down by the dam, with a kid in tow.  A heron soared overhead, going North.  The wild cherry began to bloom.  I found the honeybees in the azalea.  The moon was up and easier to photograph in daylight.

Still windy

As usual, an egret fished at the dam outfall.  White throated sparrows mostly stayed on the ground while titmice and chickadees worked on the seed feeder.  The Carolina wrens discovered the mealworms I'd put in the glass feeder.

The first rose opened up.  Unfortunately it was on a diseased plant.  finches twittered in the trees and I heard a kingfisher on the creek.  A great black backed gull circled like an osprey.  And soon an osprey did the same.  I saw a damselfly, after it saw me.  A cabbage white and several orange butterflies challenged the wind.  Bees argued over the azaleas. 

The clear sky made a quiet sunset.  A white throated sparrow was the last bird still hunting supper. The waxing moon was bright at twilight.  Jupiter was bright enough to photograph, if only I could have held the camera steady long enough.

Clouds, sunshine and wind

A white blanket covered  much of the sky in the early morning.  It dissolved into stripss running East to West as the morning progressed.  A Carolina wren found mealworm bits left from yesterday in the rosemary. White throated sparrows flew up to the feeder rather than just waiting for seeds to fall.  Titmice joined the regulars on the feeder.  A blue jay appeared to be pulling dead twigs off the dogwood.  A male towhee scoured the ground for fallen food.  Apparently he liked the stale barley I tossed out for squirrels. 

It was windy at lunch and no birds came to feed.  The sky was hazy blue and white.  An egret fished at the dam outfall until a pair of geese came splashing through.  The egret flew up above the spillway and waited for the geese t get out of the fishin' hole.  I think the geese were doing their version of courting.

At supper, two titmice were chased off by a couple of white throats.  Sunset was pink cloud bars across a gold sky. 

Wind and sun

I've become very tired of wind.  An osprey hovered over the creek and a cormorant glittered on the water in the early sun.  Several white throated sparrows and a junco scurried around.  A squirrel excavated quite a hole beside the birdbath.

It was a very busy day with little opportunity to be quiet and observe.  The sky was clear and twilight was golden in the West, pale rose in the East.  The half moon was bright as was Jupiter. 

Wind & sun

First up was a goldfinch that drank from the hummer feeder.  Then a pair of house finches were billing, if not cooing, on the seed feeder.  He offered her a hulled seed and she fluttered like a fledgling. 

Later, in the front yard, a couple of mockingbirds seemed to be thinking along the same lines.  But while they were perched close together, they were ignoring each other.

Despite the wind, a tiger swallowtail was flying at lunch.  It seemed slow, but not slow enough for me to photograph.  Money plants are blooming. 

In the middle of the afternoon, a pair of doves started necking, literally.  Unfortunately they were behind a window screen.  Eventually a squirrel scattered them.  Then it was the squirrel's turn to be pursued.  Meanwhile, a Carolina wren inspected the patio and flew on.  A titmouse hammered seeds open.  A kingfisher was scared off by a boat. 

The female downy woodpecker has taken to the seed feeder.  But then she took each seed over to the post and hammered it there, just as though she were going after a grub under bark.  I saw this just as I was leaving for a meeting.  When I came home a half moon was headed West with a bright planet overhead following..

Rain

It was quite a bit cooler.  White throated sparrows scrounged in the wet mulch.  Titmice and cardinals and one downy woodpecker chose the seed feeder.  A male cardinal preened despite the wet.  An egret fished across the creek.  The low light interfered with photography. 

Warming

The newspaper thought it would be sunny but rain began before 9am.  At breakfast, we were visited by cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and white throated sparrows.  A chickadee chased a titmouse off the feeder.  I think titmice are the pacifists of the songbird order.  An egret hunted by the dam outfall. 

The sky began clearing an hour later and soon the sun was shining. The day grew very warm, but windy.  I have grown very tired of the went lately.  Titmice were eager for lunch.  Cabbage butterflies and crane flies were flitting around.  We were out much of the afternoon.  As is often the case, the last bird before dark was a cardinal.

Goodbye suet, hello hummers

It was still breezy but nothing like yesterday's gale.  The wind was predicted to shift from North to South before Monday, so it seemed time to put out a hummingbird feeder.  There was no frost overnight though it was down in the 30s.  The first sighting of the morning was a kingfisher making a catch and flying off upstream.  A little later, two birds came speeding downstream and disappeared.  This was all to fast to get on camera.  Then ospreys began circling and hovering, and I saw a couple plunge.

First starlings and then woodpeckers came for the suet that wasn't there.  They seemed to have difficulty believing the restaurant had closed.  One downy did sample the sunflower seeds since there was nothing better.

Two titmice, chickadees, and cardinals also came for sunflower seeds, and one female cardinal was unwilling to share. White throated sparrows and a junco poked through the mulch.  One sparrow was startled by a squirrel and shot up about 18" before coming back down in disgust.  Two blue jays foraged around the far side of the pool.  One picked up nesting material. 

The afternoon was much less interesting.  I saw a cabbage butterfly and a crane fly.  At supper, the cardinal pair were feeding each other.  Sweet!