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.