New Years Eve

Things outdoors looked wet when we got up.   Pine warblers and a wren were already competing for the suet.  A white breasted nuthatch suddenly joined them. I ran an errand and when I came back, a yellow bellied sapsucker was torturing the pecan tree. 

A mallard pair and several male buffleheads paddled around on quiet water. There was some rain mid day.  A red breasted nuthatch looked unhappy.  A red bellied woodpecker, a bluebird, and a blue jay escaped the camera.  The cloud cover made it hard to get enough light for closeups. 

I think I counted three female orioles.  They worked on suet in between jelly binges.  Downy woodpeckers evicted the warblers from the suet. A tufted titmouse and house finches showed up for seeds, along with chickadees and cardinals. A female flicker stayed in the trees.  After dark, the cannonade began because, of course, we cannot change calendars without noise.  And thus endeth 2018. 

Chasing starlings

Today was much cooler and mostly cloudy, but not windy.  There was considerable competition for the feeders.  A pine warbler and a downy woodpecker tried to share.  The nuthatches were up earlier than usual.  Even the white throated sparrows were up on the feeder.  The three orioles were around all day. One female tried to take over the suet.  Then the starlings arrived and they did take over.  I spent too much of the morning chasing them away.  They posted sentinels in the trees to watch for when I wasn't looking.  I think a robin was helping them. 

A flicker preened up in the oak where it was unfortunately back-lighted.  Lighting was a problem for much of the morning, mostly not enough of it.  The same thing happened with a blue jay.  A pileated woodpecker landed on the post but then spooked and never returned.  Myrtle warblers joined competition for suet.  Late in the day, juncos and titmice finally appeared.

A bufflehead drake fished on the glassy water.  A pelican cruised by but the camera missed it.  Downstream, but nearer than the dam outfall, a great blue heron waited for fish but all I saw was a little brown duck. 

Pleasant

The warmth lingered longer than the rain and wind. There wasn't much to see on the creek, except boaters, probably because the mild weather made the bay more attractive.  Early in the morning a few hoodies and a bufflehead paddled around the dock across the creek then disappeared.  The feeder birds, however, hung around. 

Bulbs were pushing sprouts up.  Something took very small bites out of the leaves on the azalea at the deep end of the pool.  They were smaller that the leaf cutter bee's work, so perhaps ants?  Honeybees were busy on the fatsia flowers, a testimony to the temperature.  I saw yellow jackets and flies as well. 

All the warblers visited.  And all three orioles appeared at once, the male and two females.  Nuthatches dashed to the feeder and away.   One female is much more brightly colored than the other.  The Carolina wren popped up all over the yard and managed to get some quality time on the suet.  And of course the downy woodpeckers showed up.  A male red bellied woodpecker lurked in the trees.  Four doves tromped around the birdbath while white throats dodged around them.  And very late in the afternoon a pair of juncos pecked around the patio. 

Heat wave

Rain in the night left everything wet, but the morning was just overcast.  The wind was strong and gusty out of the South, bringing both warmth and wet.  The wind also roughened the creek.  One of the myrtle warblers was up early.  The female downy soon followed.  Then the female oriole took up watch over the dish where her jelly was supposed to be.  I hastened to refill it.  A red bellied woodpecker worked its way up the redwood trunk.  There were bees on the camellia. 

A light rain began before noon and continued intermittently for the rest of the day. The male oriole came for lunch.  A Carolina wren poked its beak everywhere. White throated sparrows seemed happy with the wet mulch.  A flock of blackbirds landed in the sweet gum but took off again almost immediately.  A red breasted nuthatch hung head down from the feeder perch for five minutes.  Pine warblers continued their assault on the suet.  A house finch pair paid a visit to the seeds.  Then the lurking red bellied woodpecker ventured away from the cover of the trees to get some suet.  It wasn't long before he fled back to cover.  

I got a quick glimpse of a pair of hoodies on the creek.   A mallard pair and geese made up the rest of the day's waterfowl. There were occasional moments when the sun got through, but I saw no rainbows.  In the early evening, a band of hard rain came through.  I saw a moth on the kitchen window after dark. 

Frosty morning

The birdbath was frozen.  The birds got off to a slow start. Warblers and Carolina wrens had a late breakfast. 

Geese were grazing below the pool close to the water.  A red tailed hawk shot across the yard above them.  This made the geese uneasy and they soon left.  Meanwhile crows came after the hawk.  When it finally gave up and left, the songbirds erupted out of the trees headed for the feeders. 

A couple of turtles were basking on a log on the lake.  A trio of mallards paddled by - a drake, a hen, and trailing behind a drake in eclipse. 

The wren did not approve of my fastening the bark butter & grape jelly dish to the hanger.  And I did not see any orioles.  The wren moved on to the suet and shared with the downy woodpecker. 

We wuz robbed!

Ice in the birdbath and frost on the mulch.  A pine and a myrtle warbler shared suet.  A Carolina wren also wanted suet. White throats enjoyed the variety of Christmas seeds.  The male Baltimore oriole wanted jelly.   A blue jay paused long enough for a picture.  A heron landed across the creek, behind vegetation. 

 A female oriole showed up in the afternoon.  Wrens and sparrows hung around and one sparrow even bathed, right in front of a squirrel.  A titmouse wanted to know what the fuss was about.  Nuthatches just wanted seeds.  The female oriole drank some water while a wren watched.  The male took the opportunity to eat some more jelly.  The downy woodpecker finally got a turn at the suet.  

I went elsewhere for a half hour and when I got back, a crow was prowling around and the entire plastic tub that held the bark butter, and jelly, was gone.  I put out the other one and this time fastened it to the glass dish with rubber bands.  That should keep it from being carried off.

Clouded afternoon

The day was chilly, but certainly not a white Christmas.  Birds arrived in waves.  In the morning, it was mostly downy woodpeckers, pine warblers, and nuthatches.  This one was making its getaway but the camera won.  The creek was choppy but the sky was blue. 

At lunchtime, wisps and curls of cloud spread across the sky.  When we got home, I went out with a plunger to see if I could unplug the sink on the dock.  An egret waited under the dam.  Cormorants stretched their wings and ran on water.  A female and a male bufflehead kept their distance.  A kingfisher fled screeching up the creek as a little boat rounded the bend below the dam. Some water trickled out of the sink but the clouds got much thicker and I felt really cold so I headed back.

I sat on the patio briefly and caught a myrtle warbler with very yellow wingpits.   As soon as I went inside the parade began - at least six pine warblers argued over the suet.  The orange crowned warbler slipped in at one moment.  The female downy seemed astonished that the pine warblers would dare take over her suet. 

Meanwhile a female oriole took possession of the glass dish with bark butter and a bit of grape jelly.  The male wanted a share but something startled him and he didn't come back.  White throats tried to avoid all the fuss.  A Carolina wren scuttled around finding bits that others had overlooked.  (I had scattered the Christmas seed packet from Wild Birds Unlimited.) 

Still beautiful

Two pelicans flew upstream.  I caught a glimpse of a hoodie.  And of course there were geese.  But most of the action was up by the feeders. A Carolina wren worked on the suet before the sun was up.  White throats were a bit late this morning.  A female oriole defended the grape jelly from pine warblers that probable only wanted bark butter.  Then the pine warblers had an aerial squabble.  Red breasted nuthatches wanted sunflower seeds.  The squirrels were still flirting. 

Just before lunch there was another fishing frenzy.  A squirrel appeared to be gnawing chips of bark of a pine tree, not to eat because I could see the pieces fall.  Was there something in a crevice that the squirrel wanted? 

A Carolina wren checked out the bark butter feeder, with no objection from the oriole because the jelly was all gone.  I put some more out later.  White throats continued to forage all day.  Downy woodpeckers got their share of suet. 

After Christmas eve service I admired the just past full moon.  But there were no flying reindeer silhouettes. 

Beautiful day

The creek was untroubled at breakfast.   White throats foraged at dawn.  I saw a gorgeous red tailed hawk sitting in a tree along I64 on the way to church.  No camera, of course.

Pine warblers joined us for lunch.  A myrtle warbler looked around for an easy meal.  Downy woodpeckers traded turns on the suet.  Nuthatches and titmice grabbed seeds-to-go. 

Two male buffleheads fished on the channel side of the creek.  I went outside and discovered I was not dressed warmly enough.  Nonetheless, I went down to the dock to see if I could spot more fishing birds.  However, a neighbor decided to do some fishing himself and all the birds left.  I did see a heron up in a tree way downstream. 

After I gave up and climbed back up to the house, gulls and cormorants must have found a school of fish.  They followed it, plunging and diving, back and forth from the dam outfall to some point upstream the at I could not see.  An egret was attracted by the commotion.  More came, including a heron. 

After I went indoors, juncos foraged in the mulch.  Pine warblers worked on the suet while a female oriole came back for more of that good grape jelly.  Two of them visited the birdbath till a dove scared them off.  White throats and a wren reappeared when the light faded.  I spotted a sapsucker in the hackberry, apparently after berries. 

Reynard!

As we were making breakfast, K noticed a red fox sniffing around the squirrel sculpture.  By the time I saw it, the fox was trotting down the path behind the pool, headed to the creek.  It soon came back up and we next saw it going downhill again, this time on the far side of the fence.  I'm guessing it was working its way downstream.  I never got a photo as there was always too much vegetation in the way.  It could have been still hungry, or a youngster looking for a territory of its own, or looking for a mate.  The morning was not frosty, but the folk song came to mind. As did the character from folk tales. 

In other news, I put grape jelly out in the low feeder as soon as I got to the kitchen.  Not two minutes later the oriole came for breakfast.  White throats squabbled in the mulch with pine warblers.  Then a Carolina wren took over the suet.  A nuthatch swerved in mid air when it saw a cardinal was already on the seed feeder. This was all before the sun was strong enough for good pictures, and before the fox.

Out on the creek, a couple of buffleheads fished among the geese.  I saw herons, egrets, cormorants, and a pelican fly past the birds on the water.  The kingfisher was back with another fish. 

By mid afternoon, the sky was intensely blue.  The downy woodpeckers worked industriously on the suet.  The orange crowned warbler got a turn on the suet.  And the myrtle warbler finally showed up near sunset.  Then they all disappeared as the feral cat appeared. 

Solstice

The rain quit by breakfast leaving the air warm and wet.  Sunshine came and went with the broken cloud cover. The oriole returned and brought a female along.   I saw nuthatches, goldfinches, a titmouse, downy woodpeckers, a wren, pine warblers, and white throated sparrows.

A flock of robins and red winged blackbirds landed. The robins flitted through the trees while the blackbirds walked around the pool.  Then they took off and I saw about thirty blackbirds.

A male kingfisher perched on the dock bench to whack the life out of the fish it had caught.  The bird kept it up for at least a quarter of an hour.  

An afternoon meeting took place high up in the Westin with an impressive view.  The clouds lined up in rows and took color from the sun.  But by the time I headed home there was overcast again with the moon almost hidden.  Of course I hadn't taken a camera. 

Rain

Birds came to feed during the lulls in the rain. The oriole came back but the light was bad and the glass rain-streaked. At lunch, a wren got curious about nooks and crannies.  A white throat and a downy were just interested in food.  A brown thrasher sat on a cherry limb and watched.  A flicker hopped around the pool. I saw the nuthatch but it was too fast for me.  Then a flock of starlings and robins swept into the yard, along with at least one cowbird. 

A bufflehead and the ubiquitous geese paddled around on the water.  A wet blue jay perched briefly. As night settled in, the wind picked up strength and even though the rain was only a sprinkle, it was coming sideways.  But the temperature was in the low 60s according to the car.  It did not feel like that to me.  I hope the wind blows the rain away so we can have some sun for the solstice, and perhaps some full moon for the longest night.

Oriole!

Morning was frosty.  Downy woodpeckers were too hungry to wait for the day to warm up.   Soon a pine warbler appeared.  Then a Carolina wren. 

In the afternoon, at least four pine warblers argued over the suet.  A male oriole popped up a couple of times during lunch.  Eventually I got outside with a spoonful of grape jelly.  A pair of  juncos foraged in the mulch.  They were joined by a myrtle warbler. 

A male red bellied woodpecker scouted for grubs in the trees that surround the pool.  In the evening the white throated sparrows hunted fallen seeds.  A glorious moon was just a couple of days short of full.  Cormorants flew every which way home. 

Beautiful day

It began cold but warmed up nicely.  I saw three pelicans fly upstream, come back and turn to fly up the lake. Trees were in the way.  A pine warbler and that wren escaped the bird paparazzi.  Also red bellied woodpecker in the cherry tree was faster than the camera.  Only the downy stayed put.

Yesterday I took so many photos that I haven't had time to label the keepers, but today I only took nine all day.  I was running around or else working on stuff.  There were enough streaks and contrails in the West to make sunset colorful.  I saw a heron flying down Independence Blvd.  I assume it was making use of heat rising from the road.  When I got home, white throats were foraging under the feeder but there wasn't enough light. 

Caught the wren!

White throats were up with the sun.   The myrtle warbler was not far behind.  And then the downy woodpecker arrived, and the pine warbler.  I caught a couple of crows eating bark butter balls from the feeder outside my window.   A heron perched on a lake snag while another stood on the dock next to the dam.


I finally got that Carolina wren to stay put where I could get some pictures.  A flock of crows went one way, then another.  I saw a female hoodie down by the dam outfall and later a male up our way.  Egrets gathered in the dead trees toward evening.  A myrtle warbler found the bark butter balls, but the light was bad for my photo.  The moon was bright and getting round.  It should be full for the solstice. 

Gray, mostly

The sun shone briefly at breakfast before clouds covered the sky.  White throats were the first birds up and then the last to visit, but were absent between dawn and dusk.  The Carolina wren continued to win our camera contest  Squirrels frisked around the birdbath, thinking about mating.

Toward noon the warblers appeared: pine, orange crowned, and yellow rumped/myrtle.  The downy woodpeckers also wanted suet.  The seed feeder regulars were joined by a titmouse and red breasted nuthatches. 

There were short interludes of sky clearing and sunlight. Buffleheads were on the water but always seemed to be behind vegetation.  Hoodies were more cooperative.  I saw a pelican early and a heron in the afternoon, both flying.  In the twilight, the egrets gathered with cormorants on the lake again.

Fog

The fog wasn't thick but it seemed to dampen all activity and soon it turned to rain.  I had to rush off to a meeting in the morning and a memorial in the afternoon, so lunch was the only part of a short gray day that I had to observe.  I saw a few buffleheads, but the only photo I got was of a piece of floating trash.  The mist was back when we came home from the service.  The sad weather was a good fit . 

Misty

I had to hurry out before breakfast.  The muted sun was visible in a mackerel sky.  There was light fog in the creek bottoms.   When I got home, pelicans were patrolling the creek. 
Now that the trees have grown up, the only photos I can get of a pelican are if it lands on the water.  The only one I got today was through the screen door.  A male and a female bufflehead weren't much easier to catch on the surface. 

The red breasted nuthatches tried to copy the elusive Carolina wren, but were too eager for sunflower seeds to pull it off.  The pine warblers, however, were quite nice about posing, at least when not being bumped off the suet by a downy woodpecker. I'm pretty sure that the warbler without wing bars was an orange crowned warbler.  Titmice joined the chickadees on the seed feeder. 

A couple of squirrels were flirting in the red cedar.  It got warm enough that I saw yellow jackets.  Goldfinches had some pool water.  Egrets assembled on the lake snags. The afternoon got progressively dimmer and harder to photograph birds in motion.  But there was no rain till after dark. 

Lots of birds

A bluebird and a goldfinch, three pine warblers, cardinals  and chickadees ornamented the feeder post at breakfast.  The goldfinch seemed to want suet but couldn't quite manage to abandon vegetarianism.  I wonder if it would be attracted to solid coconut butter?  Peanut butter might be simpler. And I was just thinking about how long it had been since I'd seen any house finches when a pair of them landed on the feeder hanger.

A lone bufflehead fished on the glassy creek all day.  Broken overcast let sunlight through sometimes.

A flock of birds flitted among the trees making it hard to tell what they were.  At least two of them were starlings that came for the hackberries.  Others landed in the pool puddle and revealed that they were robins.  Juncos joined them.  So did white throated sparrows. 

A myrtle warbler poked around under the feeder while a female cowbird ate seeds above.    Red breasted nuthatches darted in for seeds and suet.  A female pine warbler joined the male.  I finally caught the Carolina wren.  And then a brown headed nuthatch grabbed some suet!

In addition to the downy woodpeckers, a male red bellied woodpecker stopped in briefly.  A male bluebird took a bath in the afternoon when the temperature rose into the 50s.  A female was content to just drink.  But a male pine warbler decided to have a bath too.  That attracted the goldfinch. Eventually a mockingbird came for a drink.

A blue jay had a long preening session up in the redwood.  A robin with a partially white breast showed up.  K had dropped a pinch of rice on the patio and eventually a squirrel ate some.  The birds ignored the white stuff.  Amazingly the tropical milkweed was still blooming.  The blueberry leaves had turned red. The light was failing by 4pm and it wans night by 5:30pm.  One week till the solstice.

Ice on the creek

The cold brought out hungry doves and a white throated sparrow.  A downy woodpecker and a pine warbler tried to share the suet.  That Carolina wren managed to dodge every shot I tried.

In the late morning when the sun had reached the dead trees on the lake, a heron perched on a snag.  Like the creek, the lake was partly ice covered.

At lunch time, the wren was back and the nuthatches were up.  A myrtle warbler (aka a yellow rumped warbler) came for suet.

A flock of bluebirds zipped around in the middle of the afternoon.  By then the sky had gone white.  Some sort of woodpecker was up in the redwood.


Sunset was strange as the cloud layers created a ind of lens that split the sun's glow. 

Hungry birds

I saw several pelicans flying over the creek but didn't see any dive for a fish.  Buffleheads were out early.  And one turned out to be a female hoodie! 

A pair of downy woodpeckers alternated on the suet.  Nuthatches were pleased with the fresh sunflower seeds.  Titmice were too.  A titmouse, a nuthatch, and a pine warbler all arrived at once but they made each other nervous. 

A great blue heron perched on one of the snags in the lake to preen.  A mallard drake floated under the dam. 

The sky was clear all day and into the night.  The crescent moon disappeared before I got home, but I could see lots of stars. 

Eastern Shore

Before I left, there was a downy woodpecker on the suet.

On the way over the CBBT, flotillas of dark ducks bobbed on the waves near the tunnel islands.  The wind tore spray off huge waves where the currents met.  Others in the car saw dolphins riding the waves.  Bits of ice fell from the sky but didn't stick as the temperature was several degrees above freezing.

Our morning meeting went well. The sleet had stopped by lunch time but the wind was still rough.  We went to a seafood place where I had conch fritters.  But then the afternoon meeting was delayed an hour. 

As we returned home, the setting sun colored a thin streak of overcast.  I saw two deer but they were barely visible in the shadow of forest.  Gulls, mostly great blackbacks, rode the thermals off the bridge asphalt. I saw a lighted fishing trawler in the distance.   It was quite dark when we reached land and dispersed.

Northeaster

Curiously, the worst of the Northeaster hit Southwest of us, but the wind here has been very loud.  Most of the day was just rainy but the wind picked up in the middle of the afternoon as the rain tapered off.  I saw a bufflehead at breakfast, but not much else.  The duck kept diving and spent little time on the surface. 

After lunch, there was a flurry of bird activity as though they wanted to be well fed before the wind got too strong.  A pelican fished in the creek but I couldn't get a clear photo through the rain.   Then a pine warbler came for suet but it was intimidated by a downy woodpecker, and left.  Then a titmouse arrived.  Juncos and white throated sparrows foraged under the feeder.  Even the red breasted nuthatch showed up.  And when I opened the front door to let people in, a Carolina wren was dashing around on a porch crossbeam.  But the rain made it hard to get a decent photo of any of the birds. 

Cloudy

The creek glowed in the morning sun but no birds were up to see it.  At lunch we had a monochrome parade of chickadee, downy woodpecker, red breasted nuthatch, and tufted titmouse.  Granted the nuthatch was a bit rusty, but otherwise they were black, white, and gray. 

At lunch, a Carolina wren mooned me while digging into the bark butter.  The cardinal pair came for seeds and he was still bullying her.  He'll be lucky if she doesn't remember come Spring when he starts courting her. 

Squirrels were hungry and thirsty and wary of each other.  White throats foraged around them, carefully.  They all dashed for cover and a hawk flew over the yard, closely pursued by a half dozen crows.  The sun was gone and the sky white in the afternoon.  It was still cold, but not windy.  I only saw geese and cormorants on the water. 

Lost day

I'm not sure where the time went.  In the morning, I found a fat spider on the floor that was very lethargic so I scooped it up and put it outside to meet its fate.  I saw a nuthatch on the suet once.  The Carolina wren hopped around on the furniture outside at lunch time, but the door screen was in the way.  Sunset came so early that a cardinal and some white throats (I think) were still eating.

First frost

The birdbath froze, the mulch was frosted, and the dock was white.  A brown thrasher foraged in the leaves under the azalea at the end of the pool.

A bit later when the light was better, a couple of white throats hunted food in the same area.  A few cormorants were the only birds on the creek. 

After the day had warmed somewhat, a downy woodpecker brunched on the suet.  Well, that meant the nuthatches had to have some too.  Meanwhile the chickadees tucked into the sunflower seeds except one who grabbed a bite of suet.  All the birds acted like they were worried that the hawk would return.

The vivid, streaky sunset came so early, followed by another cold night, but at least we got the heat back on in the house.

Loooong day

I had to be across town by 6:30am to catch a ride to Richmond.   We were on the HRBT when the sky to the East lit up.The not yet risen sun was catching the overcast from beneath.  Thereafter the day was gray with occasional sprinkles.everyone at the meeting got excited in the late morning at reports of snow, but I didn't see any.  When I was back in my own car, the late afternoon sun found a crack in the clouds that I saw behind me.

The light was going when I got into the house and I thought I'd have nothing to show for the day.  Then a red tailed hawk swooped down into the oak.I only got two shots before it took off.  Immediately, a male cardinal shot over too the feeder to get sustenance for the cold night to come.  A cold night for us too as the heat was off in half the house.

Sunny

Early in the morning a Carolina wren poked into the mulch and hopped around, but it never came back.   After lunch, a female downy snacked on suet. 

What do yellow jackets find so delightful in the arbor vita leaves?  Actually I suppose I should say needles, but they look more like leaves.  And I was surprised to see the yellow jackets our in such cold air, even in a sheltered and sunny spot. The were also on the fatsia flowers which made more sense. 

The last couple of days stripped some trees and colored the leaves that had still been green.  The nuthatches were back or more suet.  And a goldfinch dressed for winter perched on the feeder hanger but did not feed. 

Warm morning

A nuthatch came for suet.  But most of the birds didn't seem interested in the feeders.  I discovered they were enjoying hackberries.  First I saw a bluebird silhouetted against the sky.

A dove was in the redwood.  Then a mockingbird wanted hackberries.  A Carolina wren scuttled along the flowerbed outside the window. 

The creek was still and the sky mostly overcast.  The clouds began to clear as the temperature dropped.  Cormorants crowded the lake and flew overhead. 

At one point the clouds looked like they had been scraped off the sky leaving a thin, streaked residue like a bad spackle job.  

Warm and damp

The birds slept in.  After lunch, a downy and a nuthatch visited the suet. A blue jay sampled the bark butter. White throats hid in the camellia while yellow jackets visited the flowers.  A couple of crows were interested in the fish-cleaning sink on the dock, not that any fish have been cleaned there in 35 years.  Mushrooms continued to pop up since there hasn't been a real frost.  The overcast started to break up and there were moments of sunshine. 

Kingfisher!

At breakfast, a blue jay flew in but refused to try the bark butter in a tub.  White throats foraged under the beauty berry bush.  A bufflehead floated past.  The air was much warmer and the sky was overcast. 

When we got home hoodies were out on the creek.   A male downy and a red breasted nuthatch tried to share the suet. A squirrel acted crazy chasing an itch. 

I saw a kingfisher zooming downstream as I stepped outside.  I think it had been on our dock.  The trees were losing leaves but staying colorful.  The tropical milkweed looked healthy.  Even the mum seemed to be adjusting.  I heard lots of birds but had trouble seeing them.  The sun bored through the clouds as I walked around.  But after dark, it rained. 

Wet

Clearly it had rained overnight. There were puddles reflecting a gray sky.  I  saw two herons, one after the other fly upstream.  A red breasted nuthatch visited the suet  Squirrels scampered and flirted. The rain began again mid morning. I went shopping for suet and let myself be talked into little tubs of bark butter.  My hope is that they will do better in the rain than the balls have.  When I got back, a pine warbler was eating suet.  

The rain quit in the afternoon and there were even a few moments of sunlight.  A "gulp" of cormorants perched all over the logs on the lake.  The clouds were disappearing by sunset.

Sunshine

At least three white throats scuttled around in the mulch.  A blue jay grabbed a bark butter ball but did not return.  Then a couple of red breasted nuthatches worked on the suet.

A crow found something other crows wanted but it did not seem palatable.  I couldn't tell if it was a flat fish, a bird's wing, or a piece of trash. 

A few hooded mergansers and mallards joined the geese on the creek.  A heron flew over them.  Later an egret hunted along the water's edge. 

Freeze?

The temperature was supposed to drop to 32 overnight, but I didn't see any frost.  And the portulaca appeared to have survived.  But I thought there might have been a skin of ice on the birdbath.  It was a pretty, sunny day, but I never saw any wildlife beyond geese and a buzzard.

Bright and cold

I left before dawn for an early meeting.  A bright morning-star planet and the waning moon followed me.  As the sun rose, I saw a huge flock of crows headed South toward downtown Norfolk.  When I got home, mid morning, I glimpsed a pelican flying downstream.  The sky was split with haze congealing to streaks in the South and clear blue in the North.

A few hoodies were on the creek.  A downy visited the suet.  A great blue heron stalked along the lake in the twilight.  There were sufficient little cumulus clouds to catch the sunset.

Morning rain

It was just gray at breakfast.  The rain started around 10:30am.  The nuthatch returned for more suet.  Buffleheads and hoodies fished on the creek.  A lot of trash had been swept into the water.  Yellow jackets were joined on the camellia blossoms by flies.

In the afternoon, some sun got through the clouds.  The rain had softened jelly fungus and popped up more honey-brown mushrooms. It greened the lichens and moss on the dogwood trunk, yes on the North side.  Parsley germinated all over the French drain, instead of in the mulch where I want it.  The tropical milkweed was still in bloom. 

Nuthatch irruption

I saw in Mary Reid Barrow's column that this was another winter when the red breasted nuthatches came South, but today I finally saw one.  That was the only winter migrant songbird today.  Chickadees and cardinals were the only others.

On the creek there were some migrant ducks, but I didn't get any pictures so I'm not sure which species.  Cormorants were fishing when the light was low.  Crows were ubiquitous.  And it was a lovely day, warm enough for pollinators under a bright blue sky.

Rain

It was a bit warmer so naturally it was wet.  When I first got up, there was sunshine on the treetops but clouds covered the sky very quickly.  A male bufflehead dived in the creek while a heron perched on a lake snag.  The tide was up in the grass.

The rain began in the late morning.  Songbirds were busy when we got home.  A white throat took a bath.  A Carolina wren got away without a photo.  Chickadees and cardinals  dashed for seeds when the rain slackened.  A dove poked around underneath.

On the creek, buffleheads and hoodies fished in the rain.  I took the long way back from the library and saw a heron and mallards at the head end of the lake.  Across the road, in the upper lake, an egret waited and a couple of small ducks floated.

Chilly

I didn't see any sign of frost and plants didn't look blackened so we must not have dropped to 32 F overnight. The sunshine continued but there were more clouds.  An egret stood on a railing downstream.  A dove poked around.  A crow perched on the post.  By lunch time, the sky was overcast.  There still weren't any birds, just a couple of squirrels flirting. 

Cold

Thanksgiving was windy as well as cold so I did not go outside except once to pour warm water in the birdbath. But the cold made the birds hungry.  White throated sparrows foraged under the feeder.  A Carolina wren tried the suet and poked around on the ground.  Then a female junco took over the feeder.  House finches reappeared.  So did a titmouse.

The first bufflehead of the season, a female, was out on the creek.  A heron and a cormorant were on the lake snags.  Two female hoodies fished while the geese glided back and forth.  Then an entire flock of egrets gathered on the lake while cormorants watched from the water like periscopes. 

After a mostly sunny day, the moon was bright, but behind the trees.  Frost was predicted for overnight. 

Lovely day

I don't know if the birds were in a food coma or what, but I didn't see anything on an otherwise lovely day.  Blue skies, bright sun on colorful leaves, and nothing but a squirrel or two.  A downy did briefly land on the suet.  Some egrets passed high overhead but the creek was empty of all but reflections. 

Hackberry heaven

The day began with clouds pulling apart.  Hoodies were out on the creek.  A Carolina wren landed on the suet but didn't stay.  The sky cleared and the day warmed up nicely.  Bugs were out and I think I saw a dragonfly.  But I was rushed with things to be done and it wasn't till late morning that I realized birds were flocking to the hackberry trees.  Robins kept zipping around from tree to tree and branch to branch looking for easy-to-reach berries. 

Other birds joined the feast - I saw a cardinal and a couple of blue jays.  One blue jay had an odd beak, longer on the bottom than the top. 

Then a flock of blackbirds descended upon us.  There were red-wings and starlings, maybe others.  They weren't picky and ate everything from berries to suet.  White throated sparrows stayed on the ground and focused on sunflower seeds.  The female downy was back for suet.  A couple of crows were curious about what drew all the birds.  A great blue heron fished below the dam and another tried its luck in the lake. 

When the blackbirds flew over the house, I followed them to the front windows.  There I saw a Carolina wren poking around the iris roots.  A starling worked on the front feeder and a red winged blackbird tried to join it. 

In the late afternoon, an ugly cloud blocked the sun and covered the North and West.  But the moon pierced it and lit the edges.  And before long the moon was floating in a cloudless sky. 

Gray

A low overcast obscured the tops of taller buildings.  There were sprinkles at breakfast but then the patio dried so I put bird treats out.  I saw the first house finch in weeks, a female.  A flock of robins descended on the hackberry berries.  I think there may nave been other birds mixed in.  I know I saw a blue jay.

On the creek, four male hoodies performed for a female, circling her while one or another strutted. The male puffs his chest out and throws his head back with the white hood fully open.   Alas, a light rain began around noon so the bark butter, mealworms and jelly will be a noxious mess. 

Glorious sunset

The creek mirrored the morning sun on the trees under a hazy blue sky.   A great blue heron lurked under the dam.  Hoodies floated quietly.  White throats scurried under the bushes. 

I saw swirling, sun-gilded clouds in my rear mirror as I drove home. 

I hate shopping

I wasted far too much of a beautiful day inside stores. It was cold, but got just warm enough in the afternoon for yellow jackets to visit the camellia blossoms. There were more clouds than predicted, but the day was mostly sunny.  The creek was a mirror when I got up, but soon it got rough.  Hoodies showed up about then.  White throats scampered over the pool cover.  A blue jay visited the beauty berries.  A mama squirrel posed koala-style on a trunk.

At lunch time, a half dozen doves occupied the yard, along with squirrels.  A downy played peekaboo with me on the suet.  Lots of mushrooms popped up after the soaking two days ago.

After my second shopping excursion, I walked around the front yard to close the gate,  A handful of egrets flew over, catching the sunset light.  I only got the last to pass, fumbling with the camera.  The mahonia and the fatsia were blooming which might help some hungry bugs.  I couldn't resist a couple more moon shots.

Blue sky

I woke up to cold sunshine and fishing birds.  A flock of cormorants and a couple of pelicans seemed to have found a school of fish right off our dock.  They moved upstream and a heron rested on the dock.  At breakfast, hoodies showed up to catch what was left.  The winter weather pattern settled in: warm & wet, cold & bright. Yesterday's wind blew off the leaves that had turned, leaving trees either green or bare.  The beauty berries lost their magenta flamboyance and were merely red.  

After lunch the hooded mergansers came back.  One male had a terrific tussle with a fish.  The male cardinal rudely bumped the female off the seed feeder.  Half the year he courts her with seeds and the other half, it's like he turns into a beer drinking football fan.  Meanwhile, chickadees slipped onboard and got theirs.    The female downy woodpecker came back for more suet but something scared her into freezing on the post.

Speaking of freezing, I went out to prune a better view and thought my fingers would drop off.  The late afternoon sunlight caught birds roost-ward bound.    Other cormorants perched on the lake snags.

There were a few streaky clouds to take color from the sunset.  The first quarter moon was very crisp.

Nasty weather

Cold rain and gusty wind under a gray sky sent the tide higher than the moon phase warranted.  While I was eating breakfast, I saw a pelican on the creek. It left and did not return.  Chickadees and cardinals made occasional forays while I cooked.

As we ate lunch, the oriole reappeared.  Of course by then the grape jelly had plopped into the soup the rain had made of the bark butter balls.  And I couldn't get a picture between the rain streaks on the window and the bird's fast flits through the foliage.  I did take pictures of a soggy white throated sparrow.  

The temperature grudgingly climbed during the day and the rain stopped after dark.  There was "ponding" on the roads and the parking lot at the rec center was badly flooded. 

Brrrr

A gray day, stuck in the 40s, but full of birds.  The first sign was a pelican paddling upstream.  Then at lunch a sizeable flock of hoodies appeared.

But the real action was up by the feeders.  A crow landed on the post so I thought I'd put out some bark butter bites for it.  Yesterday's rain had turned the leftovers to soup. A few minutes later, a male oriole appeared. It sampled the bark butter but moved on to the suet.  Then a pine warbler wanted some.  A titmouse showed up as well. 

A downy woodpecker got some suet too, but a flicker stayed on the far side of the pool.  And in the camellia, maybe two feet from the window over the sink, I saw a male sapsucker.  A robin landed on the pool cover with another bird that may have been a starling.  Blue jays zipped across the yard

And then they all disappeared.  About an hour before dark, the overcast thinned and a little sunlight leaked through.  The first quarter moon was visible, if hazy,

Temporarily warmer

Still no wildlife except squirrels and the occasional chickadee.  I was up as night was fading - I won't call it dawn as the overcast prevented any hint of sun.  A goose and a cormorant were out in the water and crows battled the West wind.

There was a little sunshine mid morning and then sprinkles around noon. As I was doing dishes, a downy woodpecker came for suet.  But something scared it and it froze on the post.  A great blue heron hunched on a piling as the rain fell.  An egret and a half dozen or more cormorants perched on the snags on the lake. 

Dreary

The morning started fair and chilly with scattered clouds.  But there was no wildlife to speak of, just crows and chickadees and Canada geese.  A big flock of small birds flew past toward the West.  They seemed to be spaced too far apart to be starlings, so I guessed a mixed flock of blackbirds.  By lunch, the sky was overcast and the day grew steadily darker. Rain began before 4pm and was still falling at 9pm.  I hate days that just get darker as they wear on, like depression made manifest. 

More arrivals

Hooded mergansers appeared on the creek.  They soon flew off though.  Blue jays breakfasted on the bark butter balls but eluded me. Doves loitered but I ignored them.  I snapped a shot at something in the cherry which turned out to be a flicker. 

The white throats stayed under the shrubbery and never came close.  But a yellow rumped warbler and a pine warbler were tempted by the suet.  Then a squirrel ran up the post and the pine warbler took off. 

Parachute-equipped seeds were dispersing on the chilly breeze.  The chaste tree had a flower spike amid its seeds.  Witch hazel was in flower as well.  The camellia by my window had exactly one bud, on the wrong side.  A single leaf clung to the fig.