Saturday, March 13, 2021

Cold again

The wind shifted around to the North and, after a warm week, seasonable temperatures felt cold.  The overcast thinned to let sunlight through now and then but the day was more cloudy than not.  Barkbutter balls lured yellow rumped warblers and made them thirsty.  Blue jays took more than their share but the male red bellied woodpecker got some.  A bluebird acted territorial and drove another away from the barkbutter balls.  Then he hung around in the dogwood just in case the other bird came back. 

A couple of white throated sparrows scurried around the patio.  A dove was slower. And a couple of juncos hunted for fallen food.  The male had a sprinkle of white feathers around his eyes.  The female had a bath.  Why did she wait for the temperature to drop? 

Buds were swelling and turning green on the sweet gum.  A male bluebird investigated the gum balls.  I observed before how much a sweet gum pod resembled a coronavirus but today I noticed a new candidate - the male pine flowers.  Can pollen be far behind?    

The juvenile brown pelican raised its wings when trying to swallow the fish it had caught.  Egrets were actively fishing.  When one landed near another I expected hostilities but they were warily tolerant of each other.  The low new moon tide exposed marine invertebrates.  Crows prospected in the mud.  In the evening, several clouds of cormorants flew downstream. 





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