Osprey

Bright sunshine didn't warm the cold air.  The dwarf daffodils started blooming anyway.  A red bellied woodpecker looked very zebra-like up in the redwood.  I only glimpsed the pileated today.  But the downy woodpeckers made many visits to the suet.  The Carolina wren pair were perky as usual as they looked into every nook for food.  The bullying warbler continued to drive off more interesting birds.  

Cold made the birds thirsty.  A wren drank at the birdbath, but a bluebird preferred the more distant pool puddle.  So did a junco.  A myrtle warbler went to the clean water in the ant moat,  A mockingbird got the last of the barkbutter balls, I think, but I did see a brown thrasher there too. 

An egret stalked slowly back and forth along the water's edge below the dam.  Mallard drakes got up to something that involved a lot of splashing.  A parade of white objects was revealed to be goose rumps.  But there were some hoodies as well.  I saw an osprey land in a pine across the creek. It stayed put so I was able to get some pictures even though I was focusing through intervening twigs.   

There were white throated sparrows on the ground around the birdbath.   Chickadees stayed busy with the sunflower seeds and cardinals visited occasionally.  I thought I saw a brown headed nuthatch but that darned warbler was too fast to chase whatever it was.  It also chased the pine warblers.