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.