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.