Gray

The downy woodpeckers pretended to ignore the warblers, and sometimes each other.  But the female orioles cleared them all off.  A flock of crows descended and tried to carry off the tub of bark butter again, but my rubber bands foiled them.  They only succeeded in dumping the whole thing on the ground.  Nuthatches went for seeds now that the suet was a nubbin. 

The creek was still except when birds took off or landed.  A few hoodies and buffleheads paddled around in the morning.  Three or four pairs of mallards were out on the water in the rain in the late afternoon. I went to Virginia Wesleyan for a meeting and took a couple pictures of asters still blooming.  I hope to visit on a nicer day. 

When I finally got home, a light rain was falling and a junco was foraging in the wet mulch.  The light was insufficient for the camera.  The orange crowned warbler worked on the remnant of suet.  I need to put an new block of it out tomorrow.  A downy and three orioles also tackled the hard to reach suet.  The orioles had a tussle over the suet cage so pine warblers slipped in.  One warbler moved over to the dish of bark butter and jelly.  Finally a myrtle warbler showed up.  A few white throats poked through the mulch but photography was impossible.