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.

Cold

The same wind that cleared the sky of clouds during the morning dropped the temperature in the afternoon.  Since the prediction was for 30s overnight, K brought some plants in.  The peppers were finally in bloom but we will have to see if they were fertilized.  There was a tiny green spider on the dahlia that hid from me, so it probably came in with the plant which was loaded with buds.  I hope they will open inside.

I did not see yesterday's junco but the white throat found a couple of friends.  Chickadees and cardinals came to the feeder but the sparrows stayed on the ground.  A blue jay crossed the yard.  And of course there were crows. 

Yellow jackets buzzed around the azaleas even though there were no flowers.  They acted as though they were gleaning something from the leaves. Sunset seems so much earlier after the end of daylight savings time last weekend. 

Snowbirds

It rained overnight and again during the day.  But in between, there were birds.  A couple of mockingbirds were having issues that involved a lot of chasing and some actual fighting on the roof.  I cannot imagine what that was about.

Then I saw a junco in the mulch!  Soon after a soggy-looking white throated sparrow appeared.  Cardinals joined the chickadees on the seed feeder.  later I saw an egret fly over the dam.  Moths and other insects were still evident.  More leaves blew down.

Weather thoughts

It was warmer and sunnier than expected, but with a gusty wind that peeled off leaves as soon as they turned color.  The cloud cover was thin and pleated or corrugated during the morning. This pattern doesn't seem to be predictive of any particular weather, but NOAA says there will be rain tomorrow.  My ad hoc humidity gauge, a pine cone, closed up tight in the damp air. 

A female downy woodpecker visited the suet, finally.  The seed feeder only saw chickadees so it was a black-and-white bird day.  A squirrel sat on a outdoor chair with an acorn in its mouth.  I could see lots of insects catching the sunlight as they zipped around, but only a yellow jacket that paused on the post was identifiable.

Silent fall

K went for a walk in the early morning and on return commented at the quiet and lack of bird song.  It was a gorgeous blue sky day, much cooler than yesterday though it did get into the low 70s.  I saw chickadees at the feeder, a flock of egrets in the lake West of Independence, and a flock of crows over a field being plowed down South of the air station.  I took Nimmo Parkway for the first time and saw the long bridge over the headwaters of West Neck Creek.

Hot!

It was election day and one consequence may be whether we address the cause of November days in the 80s, or slide into catastrophe.  The sun was hot as we stood in line to vote, and the humidity didn't help, but there was a breeze. 

A flock of sparrows checked out the holly bushes at the shopping strip where I had an errand.  I made a roundabout return and saw where all the egrets roost on Witchduck Lake.

From the backyard I can only see the tip of the lake.  a cormorant and one egret were bookends for a turtle. Rain started after I got home.  I hope it didn't dampen the voter turnout

Nada de fauna silvestre

A dull, wet, gray, but warm day.  Raindrops splashed in the birdbath.  Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

In-between season

According to Mary Reid Barrow's column, the summer birds have left but the winter birds are just beginning to arrive so there are actually fewer birds around at this time of year.  And of course there are seeds and berries for the year around birds so they don't need feeders. 

A mockingbird ate beauty berries while chickadees stayed with the sunflower seed feeder.  A cardinal booted them off the feeder but as soon as he left they were back.  A cormorant sunbathed on the lake and geese made the creek noisy.  I saw a little, pale butterfly (I think) hurry across the yard.  Saltbush fluff caught in spider threads that looked fresh.  But I saw no spiders.  The wind was chilly despite the sun, so I came in.

Chill wind

It was cloudy and gusty when I got up.  Cormorants flew over from their roost North of the house somewhere.  A couple of hours later, menacingly dark clouds blew out of the West.  An hour after that. the wind was coming from the North, the sky was clear, and the temperature had dropped.  Many trees were brightly colored against the blue sky.  I saw a mockingbird down the street. 

A monarch flew around the back yard during lunch, then rested on the redwood.  Yellow jackets and other Hymenoptera were still at work.  Chickadees came for seeds but the wind discouraged other birds. Thanks to the wind, the tide was very low as well.  And the salt bush released its seed fluff to ride on the wind. 

I went to an event in the new environmental sciences building at Virginia Wesleyan. The event had nothing to do with the environment but the landscaping around the building was lovely.  Retention ponds were being used as living laboratories with one ringed by bald cypress. I may have startled a frog. The sun was setting by then and the sky glowed gold in the West, pink in the East.

Wet

Overnight rain dampened all activity apparently because I saw nothing.  The air was warm under a gray sky.  We gave up on the hummingbird feeder and put out a block of suet.  Nobody noticed.

The sassafras turned yellow.  The creek was quiet. 

Windy

Finally I remembered to look for the moon while it was still overhead.  The sky was hazy and grew more so during the day.  A spider lurked on the threshold.

I finally got back outside in the late afternoon.  When I moved a chair, a monarch butterfly fluttered out from behind it.  I suspect it pupated in the azalea behind the chair.  The wind gave it a rough time.  I finally got it to let me move it to the scarlet climber where there were flowers if it needed to feed.  When I looked an hour later, it was gone.

There was a hatching of flying ants.  Something spun a silk nest in the money plant pods which kept me from removing the seeds.  A leaf footed bug peered in though the window.

The beauty berries were beginning to lose the brilliant magenta and turn a rusty red.  Only a few berries hung from the hackberry beyond the pool, unlike the one outside my window.  But that offers critters three flavors - hackberry, beauty berry, and dogwood.  There were far more trees turning yellow than red.