Very warm

I left before sunrise for a meeting and got back around 9am.  A squirrel behaved very strangely at the far end of the pool.  It fondled and bit pieces of pinebark at the base of the dogwood.  It rolled around like a cat on catnip.  Sparrows were active.  Titmice, nuthatches, and warblers were all after the remnant of suet.  Wrens and the song sparrow preferred mealworms.  Ruddy ducks were still around.  A pelican flew over the creek.  The sky was clear at first but then cumulus clouds blew in. 

After lunch I went outside to see what plants thought it was Spring.  Most of the bulbs were in bloom.  Buds on the oak were swollen.  Leaves and buds were showing on the blueberries.  Birds mostly stayed out of sight though I caught a glimpse of a kingfisher.  Only one turtle was out on a log today.  The clouds kept filling in and building up till the sky was overcast.

Warming

A sheet of cloud moved across the sky on a West wind.  That pattern repeated much of the day - overcast clearing and returning.  At breakfast, a blue jay got away with a load of mealworms. The yellow rumped warbler dropped suet crumbs which the sparrows pounced upon.  The song sparrow went for the mealworms.  Downy woodpeckers also tackled the suet remnants.  Then the female red belly moved in.  A male red bellied woodpecker appeared! 

At lunch, titmice and nuthatches showed up.  In the early afternoon, turtles hauled out on the fallen tree trunks along the lake.  Pairs of shovelers and ruddy ducks paddled on the lake. Down on the creek, mallards dabbled and cormorants dived.  The tide was way out, between the wind and the new moon.

First osprey

The temperature was back in the normal range, but it did not appear that much rain fell overnight.  That bad little butterbutt chased off a male pine warbler and a pair of red breasted nuthatches before I could get pictures.  And later a crow harassed the osprey.  I did however see a junco as well as a wren, a titmouse, and many sparrows. The red bellied woodpecker lurked in the dogwood. 

Nuthatch and titmouse were still hungry at lunch.  The red belly got some suet and scattered more.  Ruddy ducks floated below the dam. A pelican flew past.  A great black backed gull stood on the dock for a long time.  Despite the chill, turtles basked on the snags by the lake.  A heron stalked by the dock next to the dam.  A Cooper's hawk paused in the brush. 

Windy

Today continued the warm spell, and the sunshine interspersed with cumulus clouds.  At breakfast, I could see a heron on a dock downstream, with many tree limbs between us.  The wren was an early bird.  The mealworm dish was covered in dew. 

After lunch, a cabbage white paused to drink from the rosemary flowers.  A couple of ruddy ducks were barely visible downstream from the dam.  The sparrows were out in force, both song and white throat.  Two buzzards played on the wind, but why did they keep circling over our yard?  The warbler still wanted suet, but the oriole may have departed.  Downy and the female red bellied woodpeckers were after suet too.  Red was a very messy eater which made the sparrows happy.  Eventually titmice got a turn at the suet. 

Leaves popped out on the wild cherry.  And there are pink peach blossoms in the woodsy corner.  Sunset was gold rather than rosy. But there was an ominous darkness to the North.  Soon we began to see lightning.  However, the storm stayed North and swept across Cape Charles and out into the Atlantic.  Meanwhile the temperature dropped back to February expectations.

Very warm

A female red bellied woodpecker came for breakfast, but I am not sure it was our regular visitor.  A wren was after mealworms and then a bath.  The yellow rumped warbler wanted suet.  Lots of white throats skittered around the patio. I saw an amazing behavior by a great blue heron that dropped into the middle of the creek to catch a fish.  Taking flight afterward was a struggle.

The day began bright but while I was gone in the morning, big cumulus with dark bellies appeared.  When I got home at noon, insects were flying.  I saw the first bumblebee of the year.  Honeybees and a cabbage white were also flying between flowers.  Later I found a ladybird beetle with a lot of spots, the Asian kind released as a biological control.

Gulls were everywhere and one hovered like an osprey before plunging toward the water.  Geese were tipping their tails in the air as they fed below the surface of the creek.  A red breasted nuthatch had lunch on the suet, then snatched a seed without the sparrow on the feeder noticing.  That white throat was busy driving off its own species.  The song sparrow preferred mealworms.  Then I noticed three flickers clinging to the redwood trunk.  They were silhouetted most of the time. I got a glimpse of the brown thrasher that's been avoiding me all winter. 

Bluebird house

Morning was overcast with everything wet and low light.  The female kingfisher caught a fish for breakfast and was whacking it on the dock bench while we ate.  She had swallowed it by the time I got up to take pictures, and the light was not good.  Also breakfasting were downy woodpeckers, song and white throated sparrows, and the butterbutt.  A few forsythia flowers joined the daffodils and jessamine - all yellow. 

As I was getting ready for my lunch meeting, I saw the red bellied woodpecker but she scrammed before I could get to the camera.  The sky began to clear then, and that's when we installed the birdhouse.  We put it in the front yard where there could be more open space around it.  When I returned around 4pm, the sparrows and the woodpeckers were still at work.  A chickadee chased off a nuthatch before I could get a photo.  I sat outside for a bit though it was chilly in the shade of the house.  And while I was out there, this bluebird zoomed over me in the direction of the new house.  Fingers crossed!

Damp day

The overcast had blue rips during the morning but the afternoon sky was dark and a mist or thin drizzle fell.  I got almost no pictures but I did see numerous white throated sparrows, a wren, a yellow rumped warbler, a red breasted nuthatch, a titmouse, and a downy woodpecker.  Ruddy ducks and a bufflehead were on the creek and I saw a great blue heron and a pelican fly over.  The air was warm, if damp, and buds popped on the Carolina jessamine. 

Hazy

The yellow rumped warbler was up early as was the Carolina wren.  White throated sparrows dashed around.  A male bufflehead paddled on the creek.

Ruddy ducks napped and preened at noon.  One spun in circles while working on a feather.  A dove also napped, but on a tree branch.  The song sparrow was thirsty and hungry.  The jessamine had flowers.

At supper, a male pine warbler sampled suet and mealworms.  Some of the oriole's jelly was gone so he must have visited when I wasn't looking.  The haze made a smudgy sunset with a few rose-colored streaks.

Colder

It was sunny but closer to average February temperatures.  Geese and one male hoodie disturbed the creek surface.  A Carolina wren watched from the cherry.  A white throated sparrow was up for breakfast.  Some of the buds on the Carolina jessamine were about to pop open. 

When I got home, a downy woodpecker and a chickadee were on the feeders.  I also saw a small flock of hoodies below the dam and behind too much brush.  Then, a bald eagle circled over the creek. 

After lunch, I went outside.  The wind was chilly though the sun was warm.  Both the dwarf and the full size daffodils were blooming.  Robins flitted among the trees.  The oriole perched high in the oak, as did a titmouse.  Downy woodpeckers were all over the oak and the dogwood.  A nuthatch on the suet tried to ignore me.  Three doves landed in the oak and started courting.

A female bufflehead paddled by.  Then a hoodie pair came past.  Then the chill drove me inside to submit my last observations to the GBBC.  I noticed when I bricked the feeder that the oriole had not eaten the jelly.  A bright planet hung in the West. 

Still warm and sunny

This weather has defied my winter prediction that warm means rain and sunny is cold.  I counted birds again when I finally woke up. The butterbutt was still trying to hog the suet but a couple of starlings usurped the feeder and I chased them away.  Later a titmouse slipped in and got breakfast.  White throats foraged beneath.  A great black back gull plunged after a fish.  The grebe was back.  A pair of hoodies fished below the dam.  The female kingfisher rested on a dock post. 

The song sparrow enjoyed the birdbath at lunch time.  A Carolina wren and a white throat tried to share access to the water.  Then the wren feasted on mealworms.  The titmouse was back. The oriole finally came for jelly.  A midge rested on the window - a good sign for insect eating birds.  Then something scared the birds and the wren hid under the grill.

An hour later I saw crows chasing a hawk again.  I wonder what attracts the hawk to this  area where the crows are so thick?  A band of clouds rose up from the North and moved across the sky while I counted birds.  A chickadee and a red breasted nuthatch finally made it to the feeder.  There have not been nearly so many of either of them recently.

There were squirrels all day but one in the afternoon only had half a tail.  A second hawk chase was past my field of view too fast for the camera.  A male kingfisher dived but came up empty, perched on the boatlift, then came across the creek to sit in one of our trees.  The female red bellied woodpecker showed up in the late afternoon.  A pair of hoodies floated and preened.  As the light was fading, a male pine warbler came for suet and mealworms. About eight egrets came flying together over the dam, then wheeled and went back up the lake.

Spring-like

This time I started tracking birds as soon as breakfast was ready.  The creek was gorgeous in the early sunlight, but geese, a couple of cormorants, and a mallard drake were all that floated on it.  A pair of hoodies flew upstream almost too fast to identify.  A heron perched on our dock piling.  A pelican patrolled the creek and a gull sailed across the sky.

Around the feeders I saw two Carolina wrens, a butterbutt, a female cardinal, the red bellied woodpecker and a downy woodpecker, and house finches.  A song sparrow and one of the white throats bathed, enjoying the mild temperature.  Four crows flew low over the songbirds.

At lunch time I saw a fly and later a cabbage white.  The oriole, a chickadee, and a titmouse showed up.  A pine warbler ate suet till the butterbutt chased it off.  Then a downy woodpecker got some.  The two Carolina wrens stuck with mealworms and emptied the dish.  A gull and three buzzards circled high in the air.  Two doves mated on the walkway across the pool, until they froze to avoid a predator. 

When I went out after lunch, the butterfly was still around and honeybees worked on the rosemary.  Clouds inched across the sky, thinning the sunlight, and a breeze began to chill me.  Crows chased two red tailed hawks across the sky repeatedly.  That might explain the doves' behavior.  Gulls, a heron, and a pelican also flew past.  Several pairs of mallards paddled on the creek.  A flicker perched in the very top of the oak and a cardinal sang his heart out.   Both woodpecker species were around, but anxious over my presence.  I glimpsed song and white throated sparrows and the oriole. 

There were shovelers, mallards, and woodducks around the snags on the lake in the late afternoon. Maybe wigeons, ring necked ducks, and others as well.  And some turtles had hauled out onto a log.  An egret perched on a dead tree and watched. I got a couple of bad photos of a pied-billed grebe on the creek. 

GBBC Day 1

The birdbath was frozen again and the sky clouded over at first.  Two pelicans passed each other over the creek.  At breakfast I saw a Carolina wren, a titmouse, a nuthatch, a yellow rumped warbler in the camellia, the oriole, white throat and song sparrows, a downy wood pecker and the regular three: cardinal, house finch, and chickadee.  The wren has taken to chasing away sparrows that get too close to the mealworms.  Afterward, my hands were free and I was ready to count.  So, where did all the birds go? Eventually they began to reappear.  I counted a great blue heron, 3 mallards, a pelican, a downy, a cormorant and 3 crows.  Humpf.

Then, while the sky cleared, I was gone till lunch.  I didn't wait till I finished eating this time.  The female red bellied woodpecker, a titmouse, and the oriole came for their treats.  White throated sparrows foraged.  A buzzard circled over the creek and then 6 crows flew over.  A heron was in its usual spot on the dock by the dam.  A pelican flew upstream.

In the afternoon I tried watching from the office window.  A couple of crows were stationed outside.  A Carolina wren sat in a bush.  I think I saw a flicker but there was too much vegetation in the way.  A pair of mallards, a female bufflehead, 7 geese, and 2 herons were on or around the water.  One heron was on the snag on the lake, the other on its favorite piling on the creek.  Then a flock of cormorants came through driving a school of fish right past the heron on the post.

This was not an exciting start to the GBBC. 

Bluebirds

Clouds cleared early but the temperature was low enough for ice on the birdbath.  The feral cat made its presence known and birds were late arriving.  Finally a downy woodpecker ventured to the suet.  Then a flock of white throats showed up along with the butterbutt and the oriole.  A titmouse and the red bellied woodpecker also sought suet.  Cardinals argued with the sparrows over sunflower seeds.  A couple of doves wanted to see if the birdbath had melted.

Then a female bluebird landed on the seed feeder and couldn't understand why other birds wanted anything there.  She then tried the suet and was not impressed.  But, like Goldilocks, the third try was a success as she discovered the mealworms.  Soon the male joined her.  A song sparrow also wanted mealworms and they all went back and forth on the dish.  Maybe it's time to get the birdhouse installed? 

More fishing went on at lunch.  A pelican floated on the creek.  Herons and egrets and a few gulls flew over.  The bluebirds did not return but the song sparrosw had to contend with the oriole.  Later in the afternoon, the Carolina wrens wanted their share of mealworms.  A couple of robins wanted a drink. 

Rain

It was wet when I got up and rain started again mid morning.  It was nearly impossible to take pictures between rain on the glass and low light.  I saw a red breasted nuthatch, titmice, the oriole, and sparrows - both song and white throat. 

The rain lasted into the afternoon, but some sun and blue sky appeared around 3pm. Geese and mallards were out on the water.  A squirrel had trouble with slippery branches.   Once the sky cleared, hoodies and a female bufflehead appeared.  A male kingfisher debated between perches on the boatlift across the creek and the tall post where the heron was yesterday. 

Sunset was spectacular.  A wedge of cloud pointing up was set to glittering by a huge red sun on the horizon.  Then, as the sun sank out of sight and the clouds turned smoky gray, the West glowed a bright fuschia.  Patches of the underside of the cloud caught the light and turned crimson.  I was driving and used the cheap camera at stoplights.

Warming

The cat came back.  It saw me and left the steps, but time passed before the birds returned.  The birdbath froze overnight so I poured hot water into it. The oriole didn't wait for jelly, but dug into the mealworms.  Both white throat and song sparrows foraged.  The song sparrow paid brief visits to the mealworms.  Wrens and the yellow rumped warbler also ate mealworms. 

I saw the female red bellied woodpecker at work on the dogwood while the downy woodpecker ate suet.  Then the butterbutt took over.  The morning sky was bright but a soft South wind brought clouds.  Hoodies and a female bufflehead hurried upstream.

A heron flew over the lake and later another landed atop a tall post on the neighboring dock. Two female buffleheads fished so close together their ripples made figure-eights.  Some sunlight escaped at dusk to color the Western horizon a pale melon. 

Back to winter

What a difference, about 40 degrees, in fact.  A cold wind from the NW kept the sky clear, even of contrails.  But yesterday's heat popped open daffodils.  The buds on the Carolina jessamine were still small.  The oriole popped up early.  Lots of sparrows ran everywhere.  The yellow rumped warbler came back to the mealworms, along with the wrens.  Downy woodpeckers latched onto the suet.  Titmice took seeds and suet. 

As I returned from an errand, an impressive flock of crows wheeled above the street near our house. At lunch, I saw the same feeder birds, including cardinals, finches, and chickadees.  Late in the afternoon, the female kingfisher sat in her usual spot to whack a fish and gulp it down head first.  I noticed a bufflehead but it was gone before I refocused.  Geese photobombed the kingfisher.

Hot!

It was a beautiful summer day in February.  My car thermometer showed 78°F.  I was away and busy and missed everything after breakfast.  As I drove home, I could see a huge red sun setting behind me and coloring cauliflower cumulus on the Northern horizon.  The rest of the sky was clear except for some streaks in the South.  But around 7pm the wind came up, the temperature plunged, and the rain slammed the windows.

During breakfast, I saw Carolina wrens, white throated sparrows, the yellow rumped warbler, and the female red bellied woodpecker.  The birds got off to a slow start, maybe because it was so warm.

New birds!

I didn't spend long in the morning because I had a breakfast meeting.  The butterbutt ate mealworms, then the oriole moved in.  Downy woodpeckers stuck to suet.  White throats visited the seed feeder when tired of poking the mulch.  Titmice were up early.  A blue jay also snacked on mealworms. 

When I got home, the cloud cover was tearing apart to the South.  I saw the oriole in the dogwood, on the suet, and at the birdbath.  Carolina wrens were eating mealworms.  The usual heron was in the usual spot.  A couple of female red breasted mergansers were out on the creek.  And then a pair of American wigeons paddled by a napping ruddy duck.  A dozen cormorants dried out on a dock downstream.  That dock looked quite nasty from the guano.  A flock of crows headed somewhere and a buzzard tilted in the wind.  Pelicans patrolled the creek.  Last night was the full moon so low tide was very low. 

It grew warm enough for flying bugs, though the wind was chilly over the water.  A ring-necked duck and a bufflehead were diving in the lake.  Last time I saw it (Jan. 15), I misidentified the ring-necked because it was so distant.  I thought it had a white breast but this time I could see that a curve on the side had fooled my eye. Sunset was a pale gold haze. 

Chilly

The wind was not nearly as fierce as yesterday but the birdbath was solid ice.  I poured hot water in and put jelly out for the oriole.  There were robins again.  A couple of blue jays squabbled over the mealworm dish.  A downy woodpecker worked on the last of the suet.  Carolina wrens slipped in for their share of mealworms.  And sparrows ran around everywhere.

When I got home, K had put a new block of suet in the cage and had pried out the ice in the birdbath and filled it with water.  The butterbutt was delighted with the new suet as was the red bellied woodpecker.  The sparrows appreciated the water. Titmice were more interested in seeds.  Pelicans and great black back gulls fished in the creek.  High cirrus haze gradually became a white sky.