Gale

I went for a walk down the street and the wind was so loud we could not talk. The temperature peaked at 88°F, a record, but the wind kept it from feeling oppressive.  The wind also grounded many birds.  And the wind-pollinated oak tassels certainly had all the help one could ask for.  I wonder if that will mean a big crop of acorns?  Last Fall's was meager.

The weather map had the same deep U-shaped loop of a front with cold air inside and high winds along the edge that I saw back on February 7th.  The inside will arrive tomorrow, no doubt. Despite the wind, I saw a couple of butterflies that were moving too fast to identify.  The paper wasps stuck with their work, harvesting wood to make paper nests  Flowers opened on the cherry that grew from pits I saved.   The money plants were bolting.

Red bellied woodpeckers were not happy that I sat outside.  A blue jay got up the nerve to snatch bark butter balls.  Downy woodpeckers took advantage of the larger birds' caution to help themselves to suet.  Once both red bellied woodpeckers landed on opposite sides of the same branch and fussed at each other.

The crows got up a mob to harass a buzzard so when I heard them again, I didn't pay attention at first.  But the second time they were after a hawk.  I tried to snapshot it but missed.  My sense was of a big bird so probably a red tailed hawk. 

As it got toward evening, I saw a sparrow that looked different.  The camera wanted to photograph dogwood blossoms instead so my evidence was blurry, but it was a chipping sparrow.  I added it to my eBird list.