Snow

When I left in the dark for a meeting, it was just misting, but when I started back the rain got heavier and began to make that clicking sound that I associate with freezing.  While I sat (and sat and sat) in the doctor's waiting room, the snow came down fairly heavily, but did not stick to the ground.  It did stick to my car, I discovered later.  By the time I got out, near noon, it had tapered off.  We had shorter and lighter flurries in the afternoon till around 3pm the clouds began to break apart, thanks to a cold wind.

The patio was full of juncos living up to their nickname, and hungry white throated sparows.  Several titmice were raiding the seeds and the suet.  A song sparrow discovered the suet but the butterbutt did its best to defend its property. 


I learned that mallards will eat rotting fish.  Hooded mergansers showed up with a female red breasted merganser who hung around while she groomed her feathers.  A couple of ruddy ducks also paddled around the creek.  A pelican flew by. A few cormorants and many gulls fished.  At least five herons were scattered along the creek.  

I got a glimpse of a blue jay in the cherry. Several doves huddled together on a branch.  Downy woodpeckers came for their share of suet.  Carolina wrens had a little of everything including the bark putter soup.  They did their best to annoy the downy woodpecker.  And then the red bellied woodpecker arrived and all the pests flew away. 

Towards evening, I discovered the feral cat prowling along the water's edge.