Fierce wind

I had to get up early and already it was warmer than yesterday.  Sunrise colored the clouds yellow but then it was gray.  The sun could be seen dimly through the clouds.  No birds were stirring when I got home.  By lunch time the wind gusts were whipping leaves off the trees but there was some occasional sunshine.  Large, dark bees bumbled against the window.  A red breasted nuthatch and a downy woodpecker ventured out to the suet and chickadees and house finches to the seeds and water.  The oriole returned for mealworms and jelly. 

The rain finally began to fall around 4pm.  I saw white throats, juncos, and doves foraging in the mulch downhill.  The tide was already quite low, both from the new moon and the South wind.  What a difference from yesterday.  At supper, I looked up and there, in the dark, under the feeder was the feral cat.  I hadn't seen it for a while and dared hope it was gone for good.  The rain had mostly stopped by then.