Warming up

Both the creek and the feeder are busy. Gulls, herons, pelicans, and I thought I glimpsed an osprey, but maybe not.

Drama on the feeder: the male cardinal evicted the chickadees and then chased off the white-throated sparrow. The female again watched from the shrubbery. When the cardinal left, the sparrow returned and it too rejected the chickadees and titmice. I noticed the sparrow also visited the birdbath for a drink. Some birds, like chickadees, don't seem to need water.

By lunch, all was gray and windy. It certainly no longer seemed warmer.

Warm and sunny

Open water all day with herons and pelicans. Not much activity in the yard though, just squirrels scarfing up the excess muffin crumbs. (Shh! I don't do that very often.)

Sunshine on frost

White rime on the leaves in the mulch. A great black-backed gull rested on the frosted dock facing the iced over creek. A male cardinal hunkered on the feeder while a female watched from about 20 feet away. The cardinal sits on the feeder perch and snatches a seed then turns around to monitor for threats while eating the seed. Chickadees and titmice swoop down, pick up a seed, and return to a tree or bush to shell it.

The ice is back

But hopeful pelicans still flew up the creek. Maybe there is a warm outflow that's ice-free?

More moments of sun than predicted, but a little rain too. Not much activity.

Breakfast with squirrels

It's a soft-looking morning. The cloud cover is thin enough to pick up muted sunlight, vaporous cumulus, not high ice clouds. Just under 40F.

The squirrels are all over, perching on the feeder, sitting in the flowerpot, keeping an eye on us breakfasting. Our gray squirrels have a lot of rust along their sides. The backs of their ears are white, as are the side edges of their tails, a ring around their eyes, and their whole undersides .

Also visiting the feeder is a white-throated sparrow, chickadees and titmice. That's the first definite white-throat this year. Usually they are common in winter. A blue jay passed through.

On the creek, three herons kept shifting place. A pelican was followed upstream by a kingfisher. Seems to be good fishing today as the pelicans are splashing down regularly. They do not land gently.

Rain

The rain stopped mid-morning then picked up again after lunch. At first it was very fine, but mid afternoon came a drenching. This did not stop pelicans from cruising the creek which is now ice free. And I saw a great blue heron, fish in beak, perched on my neighbor's roof-over-the grill. It looks a bit like a wishing-well roof, not where I'd expect to find a heron hanging out. I saw some black and white ducks on the creek, mergansers and buffleheads probably.

Misty, moisty and warmer

It was foggy at dawn on the creek and the ground was wet. A great black-backed gull was swimming around the pilings across the creek and seemed to be catching something. The water is open on that side where the current rubs the bulkheads. Later some geese paddled by over there. Weak sunshine has not melted any more of the creek. I glimpsed the eagle headed over the lake toward Witchduck Road.

At the feeder, only chickadees and titmice. Bird shadows pass overhead, probably gulls or crows. The predominant gull species here is the ring billed, not the herring gull. Great black-backed gulls come up the creeks in the winter and return to more open water in the spring. Laughing gulls replace them for the summer. The ring bills are year-round, along with occasional herring gulls.

Gray again, with skins of ice still floating on the creek. A pelican just went paddling upstream over where the ice is gone.