Chilly

Bands of rain slammed into the house during the night but morning was quiet.  A little sun leaked through, early in the day.  The birds were few and skittish.  Myrtle and pine warblers came for the bark butter, as did a female oriole.  Three or so white throats darted around in the mulch.  A pelican flew past without stopping.  The downy woodpeckers had a falling out over whose turn it was at the suet.  He got there first but she refused to give in.

I was gone for the middle of the day which just got colder and grayer.  Nothing was happening when I got back.

Dreary

A fair morning was overtaken by a sheet of clouds that occasionally dripped. The third quarter moon was near zenith when I got up.  White throats were foraging but the light was insufficient.  Myrtle warblers ate bark butter.

A couple of nuthatches came to lunch.  An odd group gathered on the lake. A great blue heron, a cormorant, and a big dark ball on toothpick legs with two white spots.  I think it may have been the muscovy.  A titmouse sat in the dogwood tree and sang.

Just ducky

I left at dawn which was a lovely glow in the rear view mirror.  When I got back, the sapsucker was very busy in the pecan tree,   The colorless myrtle warbler was eating bark butter.

The temperature had shot up from near freezing to pleasant for sitting.  That's when I missed the kingfisher - nothing but his cackle remained. The tide was way out, very low for a third quarter moon.  A nuthatch defied me to get to the seeds which it took to a favored spot in the dogwood to hammer.  Turtles basked on a log in the lake. 

After lunch, I saw the Carolina wrens.  The bark butter seems to be their favorite.  I went back outside and upset a little flock of hooded mergansers.  Some of them retired to the lake.  A titmouse perched in the redwood and ran through its repertoire.

 A couple of bufflehead drakes paddled and dived. Then I saw a pair of ring neck ducks.  I'd never seen a female before.  I had my first osprey sighting of the year, but no photo.   A pair of mallards nibbled at something on the underside of a bulkhead beam exposed by the low tide.  Then a wood duck pair did the same thing.  Well, he mostly guarded her while she nibbled.  It was getting chilly so I came in.

Windy

It was sunny all day and the temperature was mild, but the wind stripped the warmth off exposed skin.  A Carolina wren greeted me at breakfast.  White throats were busy as well.  A half dozen cormorants fished their way upstream.

The warblers, myrtle and pine, came for lunch as did a lone red-winged blackbird.  A red breasted nuthatch once again got seeds without getting photographed.  The goldfinch watched from the pine tree.  Crows played with the wind.

The house finches had a little drama - one of two males brought the female a gift.  He was allowed on the feeder perch with her, but not the other male.  A titmouse just wanted a seed but got caught up in the play.

I went out to weed which naturally upset the birds.  I found a nice clump of pincushion moss Leucobryum glaucum.  There were some robins in the trees and I think I saw a cedar waxwing.  I definitely saw a pied bill grebe.  And by then I was half frozen and came in.

Weather drama

Morning continued dreary and wet, though not actually rainy.  It was warm for February.  A pelican coasted upstream on the wind.  A nuthatch visited the feeder.  White throats foraged. 

By lunchtime, wind gusts made the trees thrash and leaves rise from the dead.  Crows appeared to be windsurfing. Myrtle warblers found the fresh bark butter.  Pine warblers tried to avoid them.  The two female downy woodpeckers got into another fight.

Two Carolina wrens got along much better.  A couple of titmice didn't share but didn't fight either.  A crow got a big bite of bark butter but found it too awkward to eat more.  (I have the bark butter very securely fastened.)

Around 3pm the overcast began to blow apart and soon there was sunshine.  The wind was too much for waterfowl, but the feeders were busy. A goldfinch paused on the seed feeder hanger.  The wind blew a cardinal's crest straight up and rumpled a downy.

More rain

A female oriole tried the suet in the morning, chasing off a downy woodpecker.  At lunch time, I saw pine and myrtle warblers.  A couple of Carolina wrens were attracted by the suet.  A nuthatch came for seeds, as did chickadees and cardinals.  White throats never stopped foraging because of the rain, just for predator alerts.  A bufflehead floated on the rain-cratered water.

Gray and wet

Nothing to see at breakfast, but by lunch, the rain had stopped long enough for the pavement to dry.  A goldfinch landed and left.  Myrtle and pine warblers and a downy woodpecker came for suet.  Squirrels bullied and cowered. 

After lunch, I went outside to weed leucojum sprouts, hoping the rain had loosened the bulbs.  I heard birds but the only one I caught on camera was a titmouse.  A heron stood on the dock.  Pelicans flew past.  Later mallards and geese fed on the water.  Rain began again about 5pm. 

Surprising weather

Morning was gray and dripping and cold.  A myrtle warbler looked for food, but everything was wet.  At lunch, pelicans fished.  I saw nuthatches, but they got away. 

I had an afternoon program to attend and the sun came through during it.  The temperature rose too.  Unusual cloud patterns had formed. 

When I got home, I spied a pileated woodpecker way up in the neighbors' oak.  I tried to get a photo but it was too far away for the snapshot camera I had with me.  The sapsucker was busy in the pecan.  Other birds (warblers?) perched in the pecan and flew out to catch mid air bugs.   The downy woodpecker stayed in the back yard with the suet. 

The cat came back as the birds were fueling up for the night.  Sunset colored the clouds gold. 

Missed day?

Yesterday was very full of robins.  White throats foraged in the morning sun.  A nuthatch almost escaped the camera.  Unlike the downy woodpeckers, the male red bellied woodpecker was very wary. 

A flock of blackbirds showed up, spooked and fled, returned and repeated the routine.  There were red wings and brown headed cowbirds.  The red wings and robins drank form the pool cover.  The cowbirds were more interested in sunflower seeds. 

A squirrel got into the jelly.  Can squirrels get cavities?  The tide was quite high and I think the moon was full.  The creek surface was rough.  A male bufflehead indulged in self care while a couple of hoodies paddled purposefully upstream.  Pelicans fished in the afternoon. 

The warblers came for lunch.  And a female oriole dropped in before the jelly was quite gone.  Then something scared all the birds off.  The downy just froze and relied on its camouflage, which was not effective on thee post.  Meanwhile, clouds congealed across the sky.  A Carolina wren was hungry for bark butter. 

*     *     *

Yesterday's clouds made rain today.  The light was poor even when the rain didn't streak windows.  White throated sparrows and downy woodpeckers were unfazed.  The blackbird flock returned along with their robin camp followers.  This time there were a few starlings and a grackle with them. 

Titmice and nuthatches came for seeds.  I saw both red breasted and brown headed nuthatches on the feeder, but they were fast.  Pine warblers brightened the gloom but myrtle warblers just bullied them.  The male red bellied woodpecker returned.  Even a junco appeared. 

A great blue heron watched the creek.  Another landed on our floating dock.  Pelicans flew past.  I went out for errands. In the front yard, as I backed my car out, the sapsucker was at work on the pecan.  A shoveler pair were feeding at the far end of the lake.  I saw female hoodies and a huge flock of cormorants on the lake. 

The daffodils bowed under the weight of rain.  Maple tree buds were beginning to open.  And of course the feral, invasive callery pears were about to bloom. 

Surprisingly sunny

Morning was wet but the clouds slowly blew away. My final GBBC report: 17 species (+2 other taxa) total in 1 1/2 hours at lunchtime.  I spent the last half hour outside and the wind was cold.  I saw a downy woodpecker, doves, robins, myrtle warblers, a blue jay, a male red bellied woodpecker, pelicans and cormorants.

Crows chased a hawk all over the sky, but always behind trees.  Squirrels kept stealing my bird bribes.  A starling tried but the glass dish seemed very difficult for it.  A myrtle warbler ate something from camellia flowers. 

Good birding

I took out all sorts of bird bribes after breakfast.  A female oriole and a female downy did not want to share the suet. The lurking red-bellied woodpecker revealed himself as a male.   Juncos returned from wherever they hid out during the warm spell.  A female chased off a male that got too close to her seeds.

A male flicker prowled around the far side of the pool.  Two blue jays came down for bark butter balls. I also counted a red breasted nuthatch and a white breasted nuthatch, pine and myrtle warblers, and white throated sparrows.

During lunch, the creek got more attention.  A couple of great blackback gulls fished along with pelicans and cormorants.  Mallards paddled on the placid water.  Crows and great blue herons watched. 

After lunch I went outside and immediately the rain began so I was glad to watch through the window. A Carolina wren and a titmouse showed up.  The camera struggled with the low light even though there weren't rain streaks.  Soon the cormorants were commuting home.

Cold rain

I had a breakfast meeting but I had time for coffee and a little birdwatching first.  Very little, as it turned out.  I put out treats, but no takers.  Downy woodpeckers stuck to the suet.  A pine warbler slipped in when the woodpecker took a break to digest.  Pelicans and cormorants came to fish.  The light was really bad though the rain had not yet begun.

The rain only seemed heavy because of highway speeds but it was more than the forecast drizzle.  By the time I got home and got my lunch, it was mid afternoon.  On my way in, I saw a young sapsucker torturing the pecan and a couple of plump birds in the dogwood.  I wonder if they were bluebirds.  The dogwood buds were distinctly pink and swelling a little.

Downy woodpeckers were still pecking at the suet. Pine and myrtle warblers were still hungry.  And the white throated sparrows were still poking through the mulch.  A blue jay stayed in the trees, looking peeved at the rain. 

One of the myrtle warblers had very prominent yellow wing-pits but the other had almost no yellow there.  They didn't get along. One chased the other off whenever it tried to get food, even when that food was fully occupied by a woodpecker.  Speaking of which, a red bellied woodpecker was lurking in the trees but every time it came into view, something happened to startle it. 

House finch males glowed with mating colors, but their behavior had not caught up - they were rude to the female.  And one male had to wait for the other to finish.  Red breasted nuthatches showed up as the rain dwindled.  And the nuthatches rushed in where the house finches didn't dare. 

A few mallards and buffleheads were out on the water. The temperature dropped through the day and that finally drove off the rain.  The sky began to clear as the sun set and the cormorants commuted home.  A mama squirrel carried a mouthful of leaves up to her den. 

GBBC Day 1

Too windy!  There were waves on the creek and all I saw was the feeder regulars.  A red breasted nuthatch was screened by dogwood twigs.  So was a downy woodpecker.  When a pine warbler landed in the dogwood, it was much more cooperative with the camera.  A dove up in the oak was also easier to see.  The birds later posed on the feeders, but I was trying for more natural settings. 

A white throated sparrow perched in the camellia.  A squirrel also perched in the camellia to eat its frostbitten flowers.  Daffodils took the warm weather as a license to bloom. Turtles climbed out on the logs in the lake.

I sat outside which frustrated the hungry birds.  A pine warbler played peekaboo around the post to make sure I wasn't up to something.

The moon was clearer than last night, but maybe less interesting. Here's the link to my ebird records:  https://ebird.org/gbbc/myebird  which, of course, is useless without my password. 

Beautiful Valentine's Day

The wind calmed and the temperature was moderate under a bright sun.  I put out something for every bird. A blue jay noticed.  A myrtle warbler was pleased.  And then that wretched cat showed up.  A pine warbler visited the suet. 

Toward evening, clouds moved in.  The moon was blurred but visible when I got the mail. 

Windy

It was overcast at first, but a brisk wind blew the clouds away.  I was late and a chickadee was waiting for me on the feeder.  Soon it was joined by cardinals and titmice.  White throats, downy woodpeckers, pine and myrtle warblers all came for their respective breakfasts.

Bright sun spotlighted a male kingfisher whacking a fish as hw sat on the back of the dock bench.  Once the fish was in his tummy, he lightened his load in three squirts.  The wind caught his breast feathers and, for an instant, I thought it was the fish squirming inside.

Around lunch time, a pelican dropped in - to the creek.  The two female downy woodpeckers got into a fight all through the trees.

When I settled in for a late lunch, brown headed nuthatches did too.  Myrtle warblers also came looking for an afternoon snack.  I went out with friends in the evening, and since I wasn't in my car I had no way to photograph a spectacular sunset. 

Wet

It rained overnight and into the morning.  A myrtle warbler was too hungry to care.  But the bark butter balls were flooded so it had to compete with the downy woodpeckers for suet.  The white throats didn't care if the mulch was wet, they kicked it anyway. 

The rain turned to mist and dwindled to an end before lunch. Lots of trash washed into the creek.  A male cardinal posed in the dogwood. The woodpeckers mostly stayed where they were screened by twigs. A titmouse took its seeds to the dogwood but kept its back to me. 

Around 4pm, the sun found a break in the clouds.  Four cormorants dried their wings while perched on a snag in the lake.  A female hoodie drifted on the glassy creek.  Then a male appeared and slowly drifted over to her.  Despite the sunlight, the camera had trouble with focus. 

Rain

Low light and streaked glass.  Downy woodpeckers were sheltered by their suet.  At lunch, a titmouse and a red-breasted nuthatch came for seeds, but the glass was too spotty.  I saw a few pelicans and herons go by.

Gray

 Buffleheads were fishing early when the tide was low.  The birdbath was full of ice at breakfast.  The air warmed but the sky went gray.  I didn't have a lot of time to watch birds as I was tabling at Engage Norfolk in the afternoon.  As I left the event around sunset, a flock of crows streamed across the sky. They were headed North to a different roost than the one I know about. 

Chilly wind

 It was very quiet at first, but then the white throats popped out.  A female cardinal rudely shouldered one off the feeder.  The single-minded downy woodpeckers stuck to the suet.  A myrtle warbler seemed forlorn though there was food for it today.

 Then a flock of crows dropped in.  Some of them appeared to have spent the night on lower branches as their feathers were streaked with white that looked like guano.

A few daffodils began blooming despite the chill. Flowers were scattered around the Carolina jessamine.  There were four pelicans on the creek at one time but they were too spread out to get in one picture. The buffleheads were back.  An egret landed along the water's edge.  The weird muscovy that hangs out with geese was by itself. 

Pine warblers came back looking for a handout.  One female oriole showed up, briefly. A brown headed nuthatch joined the chickadees' rotation at the seed feeder.

I went to the library to return books.  The dwarf flowering cherries at the library have a thick coat of lichen but the other trees planted at the same time do not.  I saw ruddy ducks in the lake by Lynnhaven House, across the road and upstream from the lake behind the dam.  When I got home, a yellow bellied sapsucker was poking holes into the pecan.

Cooling off

A myrtle warbler scraped the sides of the empty bark butter dish.  Nuthatches found plenty of seeds in the feeder.  Downy woodpeckers had plenty of suet.  White throats seemed to find enough fallen food.

A pelican floated around on the creek which was rather choppy. Buffleheads and hoodies took to the water in the afternoon.  One bufflehead was very rusty on the breast making me hesitant about identification.  But it was with two females and a drake.  It may be a first year drake.

Turtles basked on the lake logs.  A female junco slaked her thirst on the pool cover.  Clouds built up and I thought it would rain.  Instead the temperature finally began to drop from a record high.  I stood up and startled a kingfisher I hadn't noticed. 

Still warm

A downy woodpecker tucked into the suet.  A blue jay had something round it didn't seem to know what to do with.  Another blue jay poked around the birdbath. 

I think i saw an eagle but didn't get a clear photo.  A flock of shovelers churned up the lake water.  Turtles basked on logs, but without sunshine.  Down on the creek, a small flock of hoodies relaxed.   There were pelicans, but I was never in the right place. 

A flicker was well camouflaged except for a brief visit to the ground.  Myrtle warblers had aerial battles over access to feeders.  Titmice and nuthatches slipped by them. 

When i went out for an errand, I saw a whole flock of starlings splashing in a puddle outside a "spa."  The sky cleared toward sunset, but the temperature dropped. 

Blue sky

A myrtle warbler and some white throats poked around at breakfast.  I replenished the jelly and water. A robin preferred drinking from the pool cover to the birdbath. Normally I would rejoice in a warm, sunny day in February.  However, I was driving West in the afternoon. When I reached Richmond it was very warm.  It stayed warm through the night and the next day.  In fact it was well into the 70s by noon.  I cannot recall seeing even street birds, or buzzards and gulls on the trip.  Just politicians.  Clouds gathered and sprinkles of rain fell sporadically on the way back.  A very orange sunset was streaked with smoky clouds when we got to the HRBT.  And on the East side there was no rain.

Breezy

It was not as warm as yesterday and the wind drove the point home.  Pelicans preferred the creek to open water. The woodpeckers had a fresh block of suet, thanks to K.  White throats kept cleaning up what other birds let fall.  A myrtle warbler had more trouble finding food it could eat.  The house finches were looking very red.  The mallard drakes followed a hen who tried to stay just out of reach.  Nuthatches and titmice came to the feeder. 

On my way into Norfolk around sunset, I looked for the flock of crows that gathers each evening around the intersection of 64 and 264, just South of Leigh Hospital.  They were distant flecks over the hospital instead of overhead.  This article suggests they are migrants rather than the resident crows. 

Warm

There was frost but it was soon melted in the sunshine.  The sky was hazy blue and the creek calm.  A mallard pair investigated the puddle on the pool cover.  A junco investigated the mulch and a white throat peered at the steps.  The male oriole tried to find some bark butter while a female worked on the nubbin of suet.  I glimpsed a goldfinch in the cherry.  A myrtle warbler was distressed at the empty bark butter tub.  The female downy replaced the female oriole on the suet cage, then a pine warbler had a turn. 

When we got back after lunch, it was still sunny but the haze was thickening into cloud.  Pelicans were fishing and the creek was still quite flat and the tide very low.  I went down to the dock where a light breeze made it seem cooler than it was.  A bluebird landed in the saltbush.  A hoodie pair came paddling downstream. 

Few barnacles survived the scraping ice last winter.  Three pairs of buffleheads dived together.  I spotted a very brown pelican perched on a dock upstream, and then noticed a heron stalking beneath. 

When I came back in, the feeder birds reappeared.  A nuthatch stayed on the feeder instead of flitting off.  An oriole found the bark butter balls acceptable.  Another joined a bluebird to get a drink on the pool cover.  A pine warbler landed on the cover but I didn't see it drink.  The cloud cover went pink at sunset. 

Busy

I was away from mid morning to sunset.  There were birds at breakfast but the only one I caught on camera was a myrtle warbler.

Although it was not about the environment, the meeting was at the Greer Environmental Science building on the Virginia Wesleyan campus.  The building is surrounded by man-made wetlands and interesting plantings.  I think the day got colder.  Anyway, the sky cleared and there was a lovely rose glow at sunset. 

Thawing

The temperature was still icy at breakfast and the birds were still hungry.  Pine and myrtle warblers were already at work on suet and bark butter.  White throats hunted seeds.  A junco went straight to the feeder.  The orioles, male and females, were after suet, bark butter and jelly, but the jelly dish was not only empty, it was on end.  I refilled it to their joy.  A downy finally woke up and wanted her suet. 

Robins were thirsty but the pool cover satisfied them.  I poured hot water into the birdbath.  A flock of red wings landed on the pool cover anyway. Later a blue jay drank there too.  Geese landed on the creek ice and plunged right through, making potholes of water that slowly refroze.

In the afternoon, a goose came for a drink.  Two Carolina wrens tried every feeder but the jelly dish.  Doves get amazingly puffy in the cold.  A myrtle warbler discovered the suet in the front of the house. 

Pelicans flew upstream and down and occasionally dived. Herons also flew past presumably to try other fishing holes.  Cormorants and hoodies paddled around.  Later a pair of hoodies pretended to be dabbling ducks.  A male kingfisher perched on a piling for a while, then moved to the purple martin house.  The tide was way out when a great egret came stalking along the shallows.  It was finding something in the water, but I could not see what.  The light and my battery failed around the same time.