Freezing

The water in the birdbath was frozen. The temperature of the Chesapeake Bay has been rising and had already passed 50°F so it's no surprise that the creek wasn't iced. The day was cold but sunny and not so windy, so I got a lot of photos to sort through.  First up was a song sparrow wanting to know why the mealworm dish was empty.  Carolina wrens complained as well.  Then the dark faced butterbutt had to have a look.  They were all so pathetic that K went out and bought more mealworms. 

The titmouse and downy woodpecker stuck to the suet.  Nuthatches ate suet too but always left with a seed. The white throats were all over, as usual.  I missed a blue jay that was too fast for the camera.  And I got only a fuzzy glimpse of a brilliant yellow bird. 

Pelicans sought the creek and flew low.  A wood duck pair paddled around the creek instead of the lake.  An osprey was harassed by a crow.  The winter migrants: buffleheads, hooded mergansers, and ruddy were all out on the creek at different times.  I didn't see any ducks on the lake though there were turtles again.  A great blue heron monitored the creek from the North side.  A pair of mallards fooled me as they hid in the spartina.  A dark duck defeated my efforts to get a photo.  Gulls had a great time dancing in the air.