Overcast

The morning was dull but quite warm.  A lone male hooded merganser paddled about. I didn't even see a downy woodpecker till lunch. 

After lunch I went out to enjoy the warm air, though it was damp and breezy.  The sun was visible but muffled in clouds. It was very quiet till finally I saw some ducks - several mallards and a male bufflehead.

Then the songbirds began to fly around me and whistle.  Goldfinches always seemed to be silhouetted against the gray sky.  White throated sparrows were in the shrubs and on the ground where juncos joined them.  I also saw a red breasted nuthatch and a Carolina wren. A female oriole joined the male in the camellia. 

Later, I glimpsed a kingfisher out the window.  As dusk was falling, four egrets perched on the dead snags above the lake.