I woke up to a spectacular sunrise and a crescent moon. And then the sky turned heavy gray for the rest of the day. It was very warm, over 70°, and humid with a light breeze from the Southwest. The creek was rough at dawn but calmed later. I think all the waterbirds were out in the bay since the day was so mild. A goldfinch visited for a drink from the icky ant moat. In winter drab, it wasn't nearly as gold as the pine warbler that followed. Then a turkey vulture landed on a branch and the song birds decamped. Three more vultures arrived and they all sat on posts and branches, waiting for what? Most of them flew away but one lingered for a long time on a downstream dock. Later, there was some conflict over the suet between pine warblers and a downy woodpecker. A butterbutt stayed out of it and just watched. Bluebirds cleaned me out of barkbutter balls. I got very frustrated trying to photograph the brown headed nuthatches. A red bellied woodpecker stayed in the trees. A Carolina wren popped up amid the camellia blossoms. I got a photo of a bird I didn't recognize in the cherry tree. It appeared to have a solid brown head and breast and two white wing bars. Nothing matched that description but if the brown look was caused by bad lighting, it could have been a female Baltimore oriole or a male pine warbler. I thought it was more warbler sized but there wasn't anything to compare the size against.
After dark, a lacewing landed on the window. I guess the warmth brought it out, but I doubt it will last very long. Although with climate change, who knows?
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