Suet drama

Except for a gusty wind, it was a perfect Spring day.  Of course the cat had to spoil it.  Fortunately it soon gave up and left.  Then a male oriole came out of hiding. 

K put a new block of suet out.  A Carolina wren got a bit before the brown thrasher took over.  It spent more time watching for trouble than eating.  Eventually the female pine warbler got a turn.  Bluebirds and a blue jay went for bark butter balls instead. The grape jelly I put out for the oriole was licked clean by a squirrel. 

An osprey used the wind to soar over the creek.  Gulls flew lower.  The choppy water didn't bother a female bufflehead. A tiger swallowtail, a black swallowtail, and a cabbage white defied the wind.  I saw a skink mosey along the edge of the retaining wall.  The turtle log was full. 

One hickory was way ahead of the other.  The hackberry put out flowers and leaves.   I found a little brown mushroom next to the front walk.  A rusty-colored bracket fungus had grown into a juniper branch.   The coral honeysuckle was loaded with flowers, just waiting for an early hummingbird. 

A male downy confronted the brown thrasher on the suet.  It did not go well.  But then the male red bellied woodpecker did the same thing to the brown thrasher.  The female red belly expected a turn.  And then the downy was back.  A male pine warbler watched and yearned for suet.