Warm and full of woodpeckers

From breakfast through lunch, the pileated woodpeckers made several visits to the suet.  The male still hogged access, making the female wait till he was full.  She tried gleaning fallen crumbs but got bored and left.  That's why, when the male finally flew off, a downy tried to get a meal.  The female pileated noticed and hustled back for her turn.  At some point, a male red bellied woodpecker arrived but almost immediately panicked and flew away.  A starling slipped in briefly too. 

Other birds seemed intimidated too and only a brown thrasher ate barkbutter while the pileateds were eating suet.  Myrtle warblers watched from a distance.  A bluebird waited till the coast was clear.  Meanwhile there was some crow hanky-panky happening up in the trees. 

The temperature rose above 70° so in the afternoon I spent time outside without a jacket.  A strong south wind was pushing cloud shreds North while up where cirrus clouds form the wind came from the West.  It was gusty down where I was, so I was sometimes chilled.  That may be why the pelicans still came despite the temperature and sunshine.  

A squirrel found something to nibble that went from gray to orange as the squirrel worked.  I wonder what it was.  

Later in the afternoon, I saw the pied bill grebe.  Turtles covered the lake logs.  Two great blue herons kept their distance from each other.  But then one got into a staring match with a cormorant.  The cormorant expressed strong feelings at the heron and paddled away.  I think I saw a few dead fish washed up.  The barnacle incrustations on pilings appeared to have been scraped by the ice at the beginning of the week.  The full moon tide was so low that an egret stood well below the barnacle zone.