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.