Blue sky

It was chilly especially in the shade and wind.  But I saw spider threads catch the sunlight.  Bumblebees were all over the jessamine but a few worked on the blueberry flowers. 

Titmice came for seeds, as did white throats, on the feeder and under it.  I had a running battle with squirrels over the mealworm dish  They won.  But the butterbutts got some too.  A wren was interested but the squirrel was in the way.  A blue jay helped itself.  A starling was blocked by the squirrel.  Another squirrel was doing back-flips off the cedar trunk again.  And a male cardinal proclaimed from high up in the oak, among the flower strings like a ruby set in gold.

A few mergansers, both red breasted and hooded, but all female, paddled around on the creek.  I saw a male bufflehead early in the day. 

The yellow daffodils, including the dwarfs, were finished but the "fried egg" narcissis started to open.  To my amazement, one of the money plants was already in bloom!  A pine twig fallen on the ground was embellished with ruffles of lichen. 

Rainy

There were showers before lunch and again before sunset.  The rest of the day just looked like it was thinking about raining.  But it was the wind that kept the wildlife out of sight.

After breakfast I saw a female red breasted merganser on the choppy water.  A female red bellied woodpecker worked on the nubbin of suet.  Four white throated sparrows and a female junco scouted around the patio.  The male cardinal took his favorite perch in the dogwood. I spotted a yellow rumped warbler in the cherry.  It then sampled the mealworms. 

A squirrel, sex undisclosed, also went after mealworms despite the load of cayenne-flavored peanut butter I garnished them with.  I chased off the rodent who then perched in the dogwood to keep an eye on me and the food. Later, rain made the wire hanger slippery and frustrated the little robber. 

Hot!

The temperature may have hit 80°F but juncos, butterbutts, and white throats were still around.  I tested my new batch of bark butter and attracted four crows!  The strange blue ball hung around the dam.  A cabbage white butterfly tempted me into wasting shots - one reason to appreciate digital cameras. There were polistes wasps and big, bumbling bees as well. 


Corrugated rows of cumulus cloud passed off to the East.  The wind and water interacted to produce fractal patterns.  The sky had grown cloudy by evening and sunset made it blush.  The moon was visible but haloed and fuzzed by the cloud cover. 

Very warm

The temperature rose all morning.  The oak flowers emerged.  Confederate violets bloomed.  The money plants began to form flower stalks.  Daffodils and hyacinths were looking old.  Insects were flying, especially around the Carolina jessamine.  Some blueberry flowers were ready for bumblebees. 

The grebe continued to be very hard to photograph.  Turtles were out on logs enjoying the warmth.  I saw a few shovelers in the water nearby.  Only a few mergansers of either species were visible.  Maybe the others were out on the bay.  I did see a couple of osprey but missed the shot.  A big blue ball came bobbing upstream as I was leaving.  When I came back after dark, it seemed misty and there was no sign of the moon.

Gray

Dawn was a bright orange glow reflecting off thin flat clouds, but by mid morning the sky was overcast. I got home around 11am.  Juncos and white throats scurried around in the mulch.  A blue jay scolded from the oak.  Downy woodpeckers squabbled in the dogwood.  The sun peeked through a rent in the clouds and a white throat seized the moment for a short bath.  I battled with a squirrel that wanted to eat all the mealworms.  When it wasn't sitting in the dish, a yellow rumped warbler managed to eat. 


A light rain fell toward the end of the afternoon.  Waterfowl became abundant.  Buffleheads and red breasted mergansers dived from the surface while osprey, gulls, and pelicans plunged from the air.  Cormorants spent most of the time sub marine except when they perched on snags by the lake to dry out.  They fussed over who got what spot on the log.  Northern shovelers ignored them, as they were busy straining the lake water for food.  No turtles today.  The grebe continued to play hard-to-get in a photo. 

I glimpsed the female bluebird putting nesting material in the birdhouse.  Titmice and chickadees hammered their seeds in the trees outside my window.  The reddish squirrel at leaf and flower buds while a mama squirrel collected nesting material.  When I closed the feeder, the moon was visible, but very fuzzy behind a layer of cloud. 

Cold

The sun was bright but the wind peeled all the warmth away. Nevertheless, the turtles came out to bask.  Northern shovelers pinwheeled around the lake, feeding.  A great blue heron watched the creek below the dam.  Pelicans cruised over the creek, occasionally plunging into the water.  Buffleheads, red breasted and hooded mergansers were after smaller fish.  Curiously, I saw no female shovelers or male mergansers. 

Downy woodpeckers ignored everything but the suet.  Two yellow rumped warblers didn't get along.  The female red bellied woodpecker finally managed the upsidedown suet.  White throats and doves foraged on the ground.

I went to the library and admired the lichens on the ornamental cherries.  When I came home the male bluebird was guarding the nestbox. 

Windy

The wind pushed clouds across the sun and ruffled the creek.  Few birds ventured out.  I put mealworms out very early, but all that attracted was a yellow rumped warbler.  The female red bellied woodpecker was afraid to hang from the suet cage.  A crow landed but didn't get far with the feeders.  A pine warbler perched briefly but was gone by the time I switched the camera on. 

Water flowed out of the lake, sparkling across the rocks at low tide.  But I only saw one red breasted merganser in that prime fishing area. A fuzzy waxing moon was visible after dark.  The cold wind roared. 

Long day

Buffleheads and geese were hard to see against the glittering, sunlit water.  White throats and juncos hunted for fallen sunflower seeds.  A blue jay looked for mealworms while an anxious red bellied woodpecker dithered about the suet.  And then we left.

When we came home 8 hours later under an overcast sky, the yellow rumped warbler was monitoring the suet.  It tried sunflower seeds but not for long.  A pair of bluebirds were indignant that the mealworm dish was empty. I refilled it but they did not return.  Instead, the warbler got its fill in between starling raids.  Downy woodpeckers continued to demolish the suet. 

Pelicans sailed above the creek and occasionally plunged, but there was always a screen of twigs in the way.  A pair of mallards got a drink from the pool cover.  The drake nibbled an itchy spot.  A female red breasted merganser rolled over in the water to get at an itch.  Female hoodies zipped past on their own business.  I caught a brief glimpse of a grebe.  It was after sunset the last time I saw a pelican plunge - how could it see into water?  No moonlight penetrated the clouds. 

Clear sky

White throats scampered under the azaleas.  A yellow rumped warbler quickly found the mealworms I restocked.  Later, when I was ready to leave, there were three geese on the pool cover.  On the way home I saw an oak tree in flower but our tree was not quite ready. 

The red breasted mergansers floated below the dam.  The surface of the creek was undisturbed except by bird wakes.  Downy woodpeckers worked on the suet.  A junco feasted on sunflower seeds. 

After our lunch a bluebird pair arrived for theirs.  A starling tried to take over the mealworm dish, but I scared it off.  The male bluebird has learned some trust that I am only after the starling.  Smart bird!  When the bluebirds were full, a warbler moved in.  The female bluebird watched from the dogwood. 

The red haired gray squirrel foraged along with its grayer relatives.  A pair of buffleheads preened together.  The drake was distinctly the larger.  By mid afternoon the creek had roughened.  Shovelers fed on the quieter lake.  A grebe passed a hoodie on the creek. 

Sunset was golden and there were scattered clouds.  When I went outside after dark the first quarter moon was sharp but I couldn't get a good photo. 

Sunshine

It was still overcast at breakfast but blue sky slid South  around 10am.  I saw two sparrows that seemed different - paler, no marking on throat or breast - but they flew before I got a good look, much less a picture.  Wrens and warblers seemed quite hungry.  A downy woodpecker clung to the post.  Bluebirds insisted on mealworms. 

Blueberry buds were popped but the flowers hadn't opened.  The Carolina jessamine was covered with flowers.  A bufflehead drake floated on mirror-like water.  A female red breasted merganser made waves as it fished.  A female hoodie sped past.  Two egrets landed in the neighbors' tall pines.  They appeared to be settling in for the night.

Sleet

We woke up to more wet gray skies and bad lighting for pictures. The creek was a gray mirror at breakfast.  Warblers and downy woodpeckers feeding under the suet benefited from its shelter.  White throated sparrows down in the mulch just got wet.  Carolina wrens as usual tried all the feeders.  I had drained rainwater out of the mealworm dish.  More buds were open on the dogwood. 

Titmice showed up at lunch.  A butterbutt actually tried the seed feeder.  And a brown headed nuthatch landed on the suet but left quickly as another warbler zoomed in.  I saw a goldfinch as I was leaving, midafternoon, but it got away.  The tide was very high and the creek was wind-roughened on the Northern half, but still smooth on our side.  A pelican cruised overhead and kept on going.

The sleet began on my way home around 4:30pm.  A plank drifted downstream.  Red breasted mergansers fished alongside buffleheads and gulls.  A wood duck pair slipped through the fishing birds. 

Rain

It was wet enough that the windows had a sheet of water instead of streaks, so it was easier to see out.  In the night something large ate the grape jelly but left the orange peel cup which was getting soggy in the rain.  I know it was large because it bent over the feeder hanger.  The usual suspects, cardinal, house finch, and chickadee, jockeyed for space on the seed feeder. The rain stopped mid morning.  I saw yellow rumped warblers and white throated sparrows. 

At lunch, the red breasted mergansers paddled around on the high tide. A heron perched on a downstream dock. I thought the 21st was the vernal equinox but Google claimed it was today.  NOAA provided proof. 

Waterfowl

The butterbutt appeared to be cheer leading as it picked up a mealworm and waved it left and right, but I suppose it was just checking for threats.  The creek was quite glassy in the early morning, but that didn't last.  The sky clouded over and cleared repeatedly. 

A flock of juncos descended on the patio at lunch. A white throat did the cheer leading with a mealworm.  Downy woodpeckers continued their excavation of the suet.   A Carolina wren visited the mealworms in the afternoon. 

Wood ducks appeared briefly in different spots up and down the creek.  The red breasted mergansers hung around along with a few buffleheads.  A pair of crows stationed themselves on the arms of the dam outfall like sentinels.  Herons and pelicans kept watch for fish.  By the time a grebe appeared, the sky had become overcast and the light was going.  One merganser seemed considerably bigger than the others - I wonder if it was a common merganser.  Geese disrupted the duck feeding with a domestic drama.  An egret with flowing aigrette plumes looked like a ghost haunting the dead trees.

The first batch of daffodils were about done but the dwarf daffodils were going strong, as were the hyacinths.  Not only were dogwood buds opening, the twigs were blushing red. 

I put out some grape jelly in a dried orange peel cup which I stuck on the hook above the mealworm dish.  That disturbed the birds for a while.  I also cleaned the birdbath as best I could and hung the redecorated birdhouse in the camellia.   I tried to make bark butter.  Squirrels ate my test batch but they weren't enthusiastic about it and the cayenne made them drink water and wipe their mouths. One squirrel was quite reddish. 

Chilly

Everything was wet at breakfast.  But the sun soon brightened the outlook.  Between one thing and another I had little time to observe and saw little in that time. There were buffleheads and red breasted mergansers on the creek and a pelican flew by.  I put the last of the bark butter in the dish and a yellow rumped warbler enjoyed it.

Changeable sky

Apparently I didn't see anything of note during breakfast since there are no photos.  I was in a hurry to leave for Suffolk where I spent the day.  A very light sprinkle of rain welcomed me home around 4pm, but then the sky cleared.  It clouded and cleared a couple more times before dark.

A cardinal glowed with sunlight as it perched on the feeder.  Titmice dropped in for seeds.  A downy worked very earnestly at the suet, then a yellow rumped warbler did the same but kept losing its balance.  A song sparrow made a very brief visit.

Several white throats kicked mulch.  One had two bare patches on its belly and I wondered if that was the result of sex.  Certainly other critters were feeling their hormones.  Two doves bumped breasts, then air-kissed beside each other's head, then had an extremely short moment of sex.  He hopped on and then off immediately.  And with one last air-kiss, he left.  She wandered around the mulch seeming not quite satisfied.  The squirrels also were up to something. 

Herons stalked along the margin of the creek at low tide.  A pair of buffleheads bobbed on the water.  Female red breasted mergansers were everywhere.  A grebe paddled downstream.  An egret hunted along the dam. 

Sunny

The usual suspects visited the feeders titmice, butterbutts, downy woodpeckers.  One squirrel tried to break into the feeder and two others flirted.  Some turtles basked in the afternoon.  Pelicans, mergansers, grebes, a bufflehead, cormorants, and an egret all went fishing.  The feral cat looked like it was thinking about fish too.  Sunset was very red. 

Windy

 A yellow rumped warbler scraped the bottom of the dish for breakfast.  The grebes showed up in decent light for once.  I caught a downy in the cherry tree.  The mergansers stayed down by the dam during the morning. 

 At lunch time the fishing birds moved upstream, closer to us.  I saw read breasted and hooded mergansers, and gulls.  Titmice visited the seed feeder with their chickadee cousins. 

Two crows chased a hawk out of sight before I got the camera aimed.  A harsh wind encouraged me to stay indoors till mid afternoon.  By then it had pushed the tide very low.  I found a bumblebee on the patio.  It moved very slowly, between the cold and the wind.

Dogwood and blueberries were opening flower buds. Clouds obscured the sun more often than the prediction implied.  But by late afternoon, it was calmer and in the 50s.  Sunset streaked the North with pink. 

Lots of birds

I was busy before lunch and got no photos of all the pelicans fishing.  They were making spectacular dives.  The sky grew more cloudy.  At lunch, the butterbutt hung under the feeder and stuffed itself.  Then it kept an eye out from a twig.  A robin also watched. Downy and red bellied woodpeckers took turns on the suet.  One dove had lost the contour feathers from one wing.  Blue jays crammed a row of bark butter balls down the length of their beaks. 

The red breasted mergansers hung out by the dam except when fish were sighted elsewhere.  A heron and a pelican flew in together. At least seven shoveler drakes were out on the lake.  Late in the afternoon I saw a male hoodie. 

 K threw out some fancy rice that she had begun to cook by mistake.  Only the doves paid any attention. One squirrel seemed scared of the rice.  My guess is that the rice smelled faintly beafy.  One of the pesky starlings turned out to be a female red winged blackbird. Other starlings watched me hoping I would leave. 

A female oriole visited briefly.  I wonder if it was the same one I saw before.  Then bluebirds arrived.  White throats scurried around.  The female red bellied woodpecker kept trying to eat suet like a pileated, while clinging to the post, but she couldn't quite reach it  She licked the suet with a long tongue.

Sunshine

The snow did not stick but the wind continued to roar, softly, almost subsonic.  Hungry wrens, warblers, white throats, and titmice joined us for breakfast.  A wren was disappointed that the mealworm dish contained only water.  So I refilled it. The ducks were down by the dam.  Pelicans flew reconnaissance over the water.

In the afternoon, I saw a robin in the hackberry. A couple of turtles hauled out onto a sunlit log on the lake. Hoodies joined their red breasted cousins.  I saw two diving birds I think were horned grebes.  They definitely had red eyes.  A ring billed gull caught an eel while a great blue heron watched. 

Rain & snow

A North wind rain-streaked the windows facing the creek.  But all I saw at breakfast were gulls, anyway.

At lunch there was a flurry of birds.  Three woodpecker species made brief appearances: pileated, red bellied, and downy.  Yellow rumps and white throats didn't like the rain but they were hungry.  A junco got on the feeder instead of waiting for seeds to drop.  A Carolina wren worked on the suet.  I saw a titmouse but all the camera got was a vague blur. 

By afternoon, the wind was quite fierce.  But apparently the fishing had improved.  Pelicans and mergansers joined the gulls.  Getting any photographs was a challenge, between the lack of light and the water on the windows. 

Around 5:00pm the wind strengthened and began to howl.  Soon the rain changed to slushy snow which melted on contact with except on the mulch and grass.  The temperature dropped lower than expected.  I was relieved when K got home. 

Chilly

It was gray and boring at breakfast.  Things were a bit more lively in the afternoon. I saw a heron and a pelican as we walked in.  Red breasted mergansers were fishing and ring billed gulls were trying to "eat their lunch."  A line of mergansers formed by the dam. 

Up by the house, a downy worked on the suet.  The butterbutt kept watch on it.  A titmouse watched the seed feeder instead.  Carolina wrens were almost as agile as the downy and moreso than the warbler. 

Another gray day

I was gone for most of it. At breakfast, there were white throated sparrows, yellow rumped warblers, downy woodpeckers, house finches, and bluebirds!  Dogwood buds were just beginning to pull open.  Carolina jessamine has been blooming for weeks.

When we got home, there were lots of birds in the front yard.  Two went hiking up the pecan in a very woodpeckerish way, but I suspect sapsuckers.  One other bird was definitely a cheeping white throat.  In back, I found the butterbutt and a downy working on the suet in shifts.  Buffleheads disturbed the glassy creek.  Two squirrels needed a room!  A flock of robins, and possibly blackbirds, blew through.  A great blue heron landed on the dock but the light had dropped too low. 

Osprey!

An osprey landed in the pines across the creek right after breakfast. A flurry of gulls was followed by a great blue heron. 

The yellow rumped warbler proved it could eat suet from the bottom.  It didn't like it and would flick one wing like a person on unsure footing. Eventually it turned to the mealworm dish. A white throated sparrow called my attention to the birdbath water that had turned to ice overnight. 


A downy woodpecker enjoyed an undisturbed lunch under the suet.  It found time to hammer on the dogwood where the buds were distinctly swelling.  Carolina wrens visited all three feeders plus everywhere food had fallen.  A starling took over the mealworm dish whenever my back was turned.  I could see it watching me from the redwood. 


The red breasted merganseers seemed to be well settled in on the creek.  Turtles came out on their log in the afternoon sun.  A wood duck paddled past.  I wonder if the people who live above the lake are aware of all the life on its shore.  The slope curves and may block the view from their windows. 

 Later in the afternoon a flock of gulls, two pelicans, and a scattering of mergansers had a fishing frenzy off our dock.  One of the pelicans got its fish jammed crosswise but with the other one hanging around it couldn't disgorge and try again.  It took the bird quite a while to swallow that meal.  I saw shovelers feeding on the lake again. 

Cloudy

A pileated woodpecker came to breakfast.  She was only there for two minutes but I managed to take 40 pictures.  A Carolina wren checked out the breakfast menu and found it somewhat lacking.  A yellow rumped warbler and a blue jay observed from the trees.  Titmice and chickadees crowded the seed feeder. The red breasted mergansers were still fishing. 

I was gone for the middle of the day and when I next looked out a window, a rather dark pelican floated on the creek.  A cormorant perched on a dock piling.  Three more used the dead snag on the lake.  At least nine shovelers on the lake pinwheeled to stir up tidbits.  Hooded mergansers joined the red breasted on the creek.  A great blue heron took up the post after the cormorant left. The large dark duck was back on the lake and I think it was a Muscovy.  By that time there were six cormorants on the snag. 

A male red bellied woodpecker was anxious about the suet.  White throated sparrows and yellow rumped warblers scurried around.  The clouds thickened during the afternoon and cut down the available light.  The ridges of cloud picked up a little sunset color.

Changeable

The sky was gray and everything was wet but the rain appeared to be over.  The water was calm and the air quiet.  Carolina wrens, juncos, and white throated sparrows were breakfast guests.  I startled a pileated woodpecker when I came back from the kitchen. Later a downy woodpecker ignored me as it ate suet. 

Red breasted and hooded mergansers plied the creek waters. I saw butterbutts flitting through the wet branches.  That made me notice that the volunteer peach was blooming.  Wood ducks prospected for nesting sites along the lake. The tide was very high at noon almost a week past full moon.

Afternoon could not have been more different - sunny, windy, and colder.  The lake was full of activity.  Shovelers were pinwheeling to stir up food from the bottom.  Three cormorants basked on a log.  One turtle had ventured out onto a different log.  The wood ducks were still around as was a dark duck I couldn't identify.  Even a goose passed through the jumble of snags.  Down on the creek it was all about gulls and mergansers.  The gulls fought over their catch. 

Toward evening, songbirds flitted through the branches, but they were silhouettes against the sky and I couldn't identify them.  A couple of female red breasted mergansers splashed and dived together in one spot for a long time.  I could not figure out if they were bathing or fishing or what.  A sizable flock of mergansers collected downstream from the neighbor's dock.  Puffy clouds took color from the sunset, 

Wet

There were only scattered clouds at first.  The air was cold enough to make my breath smoke.  A squirrel was acting squirrelly at breakfast.  It was doing backflips off tree trunks and other silliness.  Spring madness, showing off for an unseen audience, some kind of squirrel catnip?  Blue jays were happy I restocked the mealworm dish.  Downy woodpeckers appreciated the reduced competition for suet. 

On the creek red breasted mergansers continued to patrol and fish.  There have been more of them hanging around longer this year than I can remember. The redbuds were beginning to swell and turn pink.  I found some puffballs emerging through the moss and looking so much like feces I had to pry one up to be sure.  By mid morning the sky was overcast.

Yellow rumped warblers, juncos, and white throated sparrows joined us for lunch.  Then a light rain began.  Carolina wrens were not discouraged.  They even figured out how to reach the suet.  However the light grew weaker and the camera struggled.  I was amazed that a butterbutt picked such a cold, rainy day to bathe. 

Calmer

Breezy, the meteorologists call it.  It was a cold wind, I say. The yellow rumped warbler and the white throated sparrow were puffed up against the cold.  The downy and red bellied woodpeckers were insulated with suet.  Several blue jays showed up as soon as I put out bark butter balls.  One was disheveled by the "breeze." 

After lunch, a titmouse tackled the upsidedown suet. The cardinals were billing and cooing again.  I saw a junco up in the cherry.  A bluebird visited the mealworm dish. 

The red breasted merganser flock was back at the dam outfall.  Pelicans were all up and down the creek. A pair of buffleheads bathed and a few hooded mergansers paddled around the dock.

Sunset colors painted shreds of cloud, first gold, then tangerine, then rose, then smoke, as I drove West.  The horizon to the South was a luminous purple. 

Blue sky flood

 The yellow rumped warbler was still frustrated by the new suet arrangement.  But the downy woodpecker liked it.  Pelicans flocked to the creek to avoid the strongest winds. Two shared a downstream dock with cormorants.  A great blue heron stood on the bulkhead.  Red breasted and hooded mergansers fished in the creek. 

The Hague was way over its bank this morning.  It was a wind and tide flood, the wind having shifted to almost due North.  And it was considerably higher than the full moon tide on March 1st. 

A dozen female red breasted mergansers were accompanied by three drakes.  Crows landed on the pool cover to get a drink.  Three blue jays were disappointed that the mealworms had been gobbled up. 

Still windy

The sun was bright in a cloudless sky. White throated sparrows, Carolina wrens, starlings, red bellied and downy woodpeckers, and a blue jay came seeking breakfast. Fishing birds congregated at the dam outfall.  I saw red breasted mergansers, gulls, cormorants, and pelicans.  A charred log jammed against the dock. 

At lunch, a yellow rumped warbler gave up on the flat-hung suet and worked on the bark butter balls.  After lunch, a dead heron floated by in a raft of leaves and trash.  I couldn't tell if it was tangled in the trash or killed by the wind, or possibly something else.  Live gulls, mergansers, and a pelican fished further downstream. A lone goose stayed on the lake with the turtles. 

Later I saw a few hoodies among the red breasted mergansers. Some buffleheads were also attracted by the fishing. At times one bird tried to steal another's catch.  A live heron paced along the marsh grass.  The coot was after something along the edges of pilings and dock floats.  Algae or crustaceans?  Pelicans passed by repeatedly. A bit of cloud rimmed the sky at sunset. 

Howling gale

The March lion was a day late. The noise of the wind was constant all day even though it was gusty.  It was like being right beside a jet runway.  But there was more sunshine than had been predicted. At breakfast I saw starlings, yellow rumped warblers, white throated sparrows, a Carolina wren, doves, chickadees, cardinals, downy woodpeckers

The creek was very choppy and even the lake water was splashing.  Gulls and buzzards played with the winds. A couple of egrets soaked up sun above the bulkhead across the creek.  Below them in the water was a small flock of red breasted mergansers.

Before lunch, I tossed out a peanut that had fallen on the floor and the squirrel who found it was not content with one.  A larger flock of mergansers gathered at the dam outfall.  It included both hooded and red breasted.  Rafts of leaves floated on the creek.  A pelican landed on the water.  I had expected to see more of them here to escape the worst winds out on the bay. 

Sunset was fiery with storm clouds flying across the sky.  Homeward commute for the waterfowl was a struggle.  The coot reappeared just as the light fell too low for the camera. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel recorded 75mph sustained winds with gusts peaking at 84mph.  That is equivalent to a Cat. 1 hurricane. Yesterday was also a full moon, but the tide was not unusually high. 

Wet

The weather folklore was that if March came in roaring like a lion, it would depart as gently as a lamb. However, this March arrived more like a wet dog shaking himself off. Red breasted mergansers bathed and preened.  A few buffleheads, a coot, and numerous gulls were afloat fishing.  Later a heron used the floating dock to watch for fish.  Two cormorants perched on the lake snag but the rain was like fog for the camera. 


Despite the wet, there were feeder visitors.  Red bellied and downy woodpeckers took turns withe the suet.  The cardinals were courting again - she's a pretty high-maintenance bird.  I finally caught the white breasted nuthatch sneaking a seed.  Even the white throats got up on the feeder.  One starling was able to get some suet.  A winter-drab goldfinch joined a female house finch and gave me a good comparison shot.  Blue jays preferred the dish of bark butter balls but a squirrel got into the dish and ate the mealworms.