A two-fer

I spent yesterday, from before dawn to nearly dusk, on a trip to Richmond.  A spectacular sunrise was followed by drizzle and an hour-plus traffic backup due to a crash.  Richmond was very warm with flickers of sunshine.  The temperature was still around 70° when I got back.

Today began mild and dropped from there, culminating in cold rain around 4pm.  The sky war full of clouds but it didn't become overcast till mid day.  The creek was rough all day.  I saw but got no photo of a brown thrasher, a blue jay, a red-bellied woodpecker, a pelican and a male kingfisher.  But I made up for that with other birds. 

The Carolina wrens were sticking together.  I'm pretty sure there were two song sparrows as well.  The downy woodpeckers and the myrtle warbler continued their power struggle.  A new element disrupted that dynamic: the white breasted nuthatch came back.  It shared with a downy and ignored the warbler after one ambush. 

The male oriole took a turn at the bark butter dish.  The wrens preferred suet.  Four squirrels also displayed their hierarchy.  A crow explored the bank beyond the pool.  The warbler chased titmice and chickadees.  White throated sparrows stayed focused on their foraging.