Rain

As usually happens in the winter, the temperature was higher along with the precipitation. But the wind destroyed any comfort in that.  Gray water flowed under a gray sky while gray pelicans sailed above.  They are "brown pelicans" but they look gray to me.  There were odd patches on the creek that I thought might be floating ice - it did get cold enough over night.  A great blue heron stood atop one of the dock posts watching them float by. 

Songbirds were too hungry to stay sheltered.  A Carolina wren was the early bird at the suet.  A mockingbird was disappointed with the wet barkbutter balls.  The orioles, two females and a male, were a bit more content with what was in the dishes.  Warblers annoyed the downy woodpeckers on the suet.  After lunch, a brown headed nuthatch stuffed itself on seeds.  Titmice carried off everything they could. 

A junco hopped around the wet mulch.  A few white throated sparrows came along in the afternoon.  The weather seemed more stormy with distances grayed out by the rain and bushes whipping in the wind.  Darkness arrived early.