Warming

Again the birdbath was frozen at breakfast so I added hot.  The water attracted more birds than the food.  And I took way too many photos in the sunshine.  Robins and white throats wanted a drink right away.  A nuthatch had some suet first and a wren some mealworms.  The butterbutt got in everyone's way.  I got one photo of the back of a cedar waxwing before it took off and I saw no more.

Both woodpecker pairs - downy and red belly - breakfasted on suet.  A heron waded by the dam outfall.  Juncos were back.  The titmouse got a little bolder.  A flock of brown headed cowbirds descended on the birdbath.  Squirrels were still having romantic flings.  One of the robins sat in the birdbath and got quite hissy when any other bird came near.  Then a male red winged blackbird scared off the robins.  But they soon rejoined him.  And then a male oriole showed up.  I think it was the one we had a month ago.

Blue jays raided the mealworms a few times but never took much.  A pair of goldfinches came for seeds.  The male was molting into summer color but the female had not begun.  A female red wing also visited the suet. At lunch time, I caught sight of a flicker and a moment later a brown thrasher.  The song sparrow finally arrived. A large dark fly basked on the post.

After lunch I went outside.The wind was chilly though not as fierce as the last few days.  A brown thrasher sang its extensive repertoire from the top of the redwood.  A male kingfisher watched the water from its favorite post on the neighboring dock.  I found an opened leaf on the fig.  The purple witch hazel was blooming but the native was just beginning to bud.  The pine cones were really abundant this winter.  Two of the three redbuds were beginning to flower.  A carpenter bee was warm enough to feed on the rosemary.  I pulled out a lot of leucojum even though it was blooming - too invasive.  

After I came back in, the female red belly hopped onto the remnant of suet.  A starling tried to dislodge her and finally succeeded.  She called her boyfriend to the rescue and he dispatched the interloper.  The pine warbler watched all this from the post.  Better than television!

Around 4pm the sun went out and I realized the beautiful blue sky had turned to gray.  A midge landed on the window.  Warblers argued over the suet till a downy sent them both off.