Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Dandelion winter

The day began with a frozen birdbath and ice on the creek, but the melt set in quickly.  A downy woodpecker was already at work.  A myrtle warbler popped up next.  White throats followed. 

I put out jelly for orioles and a squirrel got into it.  Blue jays went for the bark butter balls.  Starlings noticed that my clever upsidedown suet had slipped to merely leaning.  I fixed that.  A pine warbler had a tough time with the repositioned suet.  A female oriole did finally come to eat (the second serving of) jelly.  It was a lemon yellow one, not the female with the richer, darker yellow-orange,

Robins drank from the pool which was not iced over.  A junco looked at seeds frozen in the birdbath.  The Carolina wren investigated crannies. 

An egret prowled along the bulkhead at low tide.  Herons flew along the creek - I think the one behind was chasing off an interloper.  I saw some pelicans but got no pictures. 

During lunch, a flock of red breasted mergansers chased fish upstream. Hoodies and buffleheads joined in. A red breasted nuthatch finally sat still for a portrait session.  After looking in every direction, it leaped to the post and peeked around. 

When I went out to run an errand, I noticed dandelions blooming along the road.  They take advantage of every warm day. They are so adaptable, they will probably survive our species. Toward evening, the tide sank very low.  A cormorant wrestled a fish that seemed far too big.  The bird dived so I don't know who won. 

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