Nuthatches

Slack water on the creek was bright with reflected sunshine.  It seemed like every time I looked at the seed feeder, there was one of the nuthatches.  The white breasted nuthatch kept mooning me which I find embarrassing because their undertail coverts are spotted with rusty red.  The brown headed nuthatch had hardly any tail at all.  

The female red bellied woodpecker evicted the white breasted nuthatch.  The mockingbirds foraged for whatever they could find.  (I need to put out more food.)  Pelicans were back, fishing the creek.  The female pileated woodpecker came by for some suet.  I'd rather she ate it than the starlings.  A blue jay got a drink from the pool puddle.  

A different oriole

 Morning was lovely but chilly.  Reflections on the creek were dusted with pollen.  The red bellied woodpecker female breakfasted on seeds, lunched on seeds, and snacked on seeds.  A white throated sparrow ate seeds too, but only those that had fallen to the ground.  A brown headed nuthatch sneaked around house finches to get seeds.  Even the downy female ate seeds but that was because the suet was gone.

A mockingbird scraped the bottom of the barkbutter dish and then hunted suet crumbs beneath the empty cage.  Something carried off yesterday's jelly dish!  Pelicans made frequent passes along the creek all day, probably to avoid stronger wind on the bay.  It was plenty windy here.  

I put barkbutter balls out for the mockingbird but a crow took a big helping.  Soon the two mockingbirds were back to hunting for suet crumbs.  K hung another block of suet.  That attracted a couple of pine warblers.  A mockingbird kicked a downy off the suet. 

A white breasted nuthatch arrived in the afternoon.  A Carolina wren scurried around the mulch then flew away.  A hefty fly tried to come inside but it was moving slow in the cold wind.  The afternoon was much cloudier and windier.  A molting oriole inspected the dish feeders but they were empty again.  The oriole looked like a female turning into a male.  Maybe  young males look like females?

Oriole

The red bellied female was back for more seeds.   So was a brown headed nuthatch.  Just when I though all the orioles had left for Baltimore, a female popped up today.  I hustled some jelly out, but the bird didn't return.  A black swallowtail egged the rue. A huge bird silhouetted against the sky must have been a pelican. Either that or an eagle.  

Changeable weather

The creek was lovely at breakfast, but of course it didn't last.  The wind brought clouds and ruffled the water.  The mockingbirds bustled around looking for food.  The female pileated woodpecker reduced the suet to a nubbin.  Starlings helped.  White breasted nuthatches came for seeds and were soon followed by brown headed nuthatches.  

Bumblebees were happy with the money plant.  A cabbage white agreed.  An odd duck bathed in the creek.  I think it was a red breasted merganser but vegetation was in the way and the bird was twisting around.  A sudden shower swept through right at supper time.  It barely got the pavement wet before the cloud moved on and we had a pretty sunset.  

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Wet and windy

The morning rainfall was very light but it seemed to be keeping the birds away.  I wasn't going to refill the dishes only to have rain make mush of them, but that left seeds and suet. More of the dogwood trees started to bloom.  I was surprised when a pelican plunged into the creek right in front of us.  Maybe it was avoiding the wind over open water because the wind grew increasingly strong during the day.  That helped dry things out.  

A white throated sparrow came out at lunchtime.  A cabbage white imitated a fluttering dogwood petal.  The white breasted nuthatch came back for more seeds.  A blue jay watched the creek.  The turtle log was loaded with at least six big ones.  The cardinals were courting again.  And the mockingbirds were still going in and out of the sakaki.  The female pileated woodpecker came back.  Toward evening, sunset colors leaked through the overcast.  

Nest?

Early morning was foggy, or misting.  It didn't dissipate so much as lift and become overcast.  Sometimes the sun was visible but veiled.  The nuthatches were busy feeder visitors.  As was the female red bellied woodpecker.  I saw one white throated sparrow. The female pileated woodpecker returned for suet.  I was beginning to fear they would not come back.  A fuzzy pine warbler wanted some but wasn't going to argue with the much bigger woodpecker. 

 

 

The two mockingbirds made regular forays for food.  I noticed they were entering the sakaki frequently at one particular spot.  Did they build a nest there?

There were flower buds on the rue.  The dark purple iris continued to bloom.  The money plant flowers made a sea of pink punctuated by bumblebees.  A couple of buffleheads paddled upstream in the late afternoon.   One big turtle basked on the log. According to the map, it's probably time to put a hummingbird feeder out. 

Buffleheads

The early sun was overtaken by a sheet of thin white.  Sometimes we had sunshine in a hazy sky and sometimes the cloud cover was too thick.  A white breasted nuthatch was an early riser.  It visited the birdbath - first time I'd seen that.  Of course, it also ate seeds.  I hustled out with the bag of mealworms and soon a mockingbird was sampling them.  A bluebird had to see what was available.  The cardinals were still dating.  A brown headed nuthatch was next to appear.  A molting myrtle warbler had some suet.  

It was a very warm day and I was motivated to go shopping at the garden center.  But all I brought home were four packets of seeds.  Two mockingbirds were busy on the patio and one was flashing.  The male red bellied woodpecker was frustrated by a starling on the suet.  The white breasted nuthatch returned.  A blue jay caught me watching it watching.  Toward evening, I spotted buffleheads on the creek, three drakes and six females.