A day like a titmouse, with an unexpectedly loud whistle. Birds prefer days with no wind or shadows. A mockingbird came for a drink while I was eating my (late) breakfast, but it got away without a photo. Yellow rumped warblers were busy with the suet. Blue jays lurked in the bushes and chased each other. They began eating the hot pepper bark butter balls.
Down on the dock a crow played fetch with a pine cone. A
squirrel fell off the seed feeder while trying to raid it. Buffleheads
paddled around the creek.
A Carolina wren foraged, then attacked the suet. A half dozen doves also poked through the mulch. A male downy woodpecker followed the wren on the suet, which was getting quite small. The female then took her turn. White throated sparrows seemed to be everywhere. And one of them tried a bark butter ball. The female red bellied woodpecker showed up, seemingly with a flock of pine warbler attendants.
And then, a male pileated woodpecker scattered all the other birds. Despite his size, he was very shy. He sneaked up on the suet as though there might be a snake hiding inside. He was big enough that he could perch on the post, instead of clinging to the suet cage, and still reach his beak inside. But the lump of suet was so small, it kept sliding to the other side. Meanwhile a bold pine warbler got tired of waiting and tried to slip in for a beakfull. The woodpecker flared his crest and looked very imposing.
A small flock of bluebirds arrived, hoping for some suet. A blue jay and a bluebird posed together for me. Another warbler* got a chance at the suet though a bluebird objected. And then they all went away.
Toward evening, I saw a buzzard fly over and a bufflehead paddle downstream. Layers of cloud hung over the Northern horizon.
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*orange crowned? juvenile black poll? Or just a female pine warbler?
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