Lamb-like weather

A little googling suggested that the proverb owed as much to constellations in the zodiac as to weather prediction.  However that may be, the month began with soft, warm air under a sunny sky.  Bluebirds made the feeder rounds.  White throats did too, and also foraged on the ground.  The song sparrow stayed on the ground.  A myrtle warbler wanted what was in the dish.  Another white throat took a bath in the pool puddle while a dove walked around the edge.  Starlings made repeated forays but spooked easily.  Blue jays were wary but got their share of barkbutter balls.  So did a white breasted nuthatch.  I saw a brown headed nuthatch but it was too quick.  A crow investigated.  

I refilled the glass dish.  A mockingbird must have been watching.  A couple of bufflehead drakes dived and a couple of pelicans flew over the creek.  A Carolina wren finally arrived.  Then a brown thrasher showed up.  Baltimore orioles visited.  Three female brown headed cowbirds picked over the mulch.  I think they wanted the stale popcorn.  More daffodils bloomed.  The temperature cooled as the day went on, there were some wind gusts, and clouds moved in.

First daffodil

The last day of February was quite warm.  A Carolina wren worked on the suet while a myrtle warbler picked up crumbs.  The song sparrow blended in with the mulch and pine needles.  A brown headed nuthatch waited on the feeder hanger.  Bluebirds made a late entrance.   

A mockingbird arrived for lunch.  The myrtle warbler tried to hover like a hummingbird at the suet.  This was not a success and it retreated to the barkbutter.  When I refilled the dish, I saw a flower on one of the dwarf daffodil clumps.  A pine warbler came quickly for the fresh barkbutter balls.  

In the late afternoon, a kingfisher landed on a dock post.  I think it was a male.  It changed posts and then flew off.  

Gray

The rain ended but the overcast persisted.  The pileated pair argued about pecking order. When they left a Carolina wren took over the suet.   A myrtle warbler pecked forlornly at the barkbutter crumbs.  A mockingbird was getting ready to do the same when a starling knocked it off the dish.  All that for nothing.  A junco foraged under the seed feeder along with sparrows.  

Out on the creek, a ring bill gull rested on a post.   A pine warbler watched from the feeder hanger while a wren chased crumbs in the glass dish.  Then a white throat had to have a look.  Then a bluebird and a starling.  The starling moved on to the suet.  Both wrens took turns on the feeders.  Meanwhile two female orioles queued up for the jelly.  

All day rain

K left the jelly and barkbutter covered so the menu was reduced to seeds and suet.  The pileated pair were fine with that.  A Carolina wren, a myrtle and an orange crowned warbler also ate suet.  Bluebirds just left.  White throats picked through the dead, wet vegetation. I glimpsed a junco and a song sparrow as well.  The male red bellied woodpecker hung under the suet.  Pelicans and gulls flew past the dredging that returned to our section of the creek.  

Busy

I was tied up with one thing and another and didn't start paying attention to the birds till around 4pm.  A red bellied woodpecker was chowing down on the suet while a pine warbler watched.  A myrtle warbler pecked at the barkbutter balls.  Then a Carolina wren took over.  Even white throats and chickadees demanded a share.  A female bluebird didn't stay long.  Finally a white breasted nuthatch had to have some of the barkbutter.  It was sunny and warmish, but the wind was gusty.   

 

Warmer

Again, a sunny morning was reflected in the placid creek, but later the day turned cloudy.  Blue jays and pine warblers got excited about the barkbutter balls.  White throats pursued breakfast everywhere.  A female oriole tried the suet.  Brown headed nuthatches sneaked past the other seed eaters.  Turkey vultures continued to circle over the creek.  A Carolina wren found crumbs in the barkbutter dish.  Three starlings were disappointed.  

At lunch, the female pileated demolished suet.  A mourning dove roamed the mulch.  A warbler and a wren had a stare-off over the suet.  Pelicans were thick - I saw three in the air at once.  After I refilled the barkbutter dish, a myrtle warbler had some.  Blue jays came back.  Bluebirds also showed up.  The red bellied woodpecker landed on the post but then froze as though sensing a predator.  The house finches on the seed feeder did the same.  

Hungry birds

At breakfast,I saw no evidence that any snow fell overnight, but K said I should have looked in the front yard.   Some fuzzy clouds floated in sunshine, but by 10am we had overcast.  The birds were glad to find all the feeders open.  Bluebirds went after the mealworm barkbutter mix but so did white throats, pine warblers, and Carolina wrens.  The pileated pair were only interested in suet.  The male evicted the female.  A bold (or hungry) downy tried to share with the red belly but the red belly decided on seeds.  Later he scared a warbler off the suet.  A song sparrow came a-foraging with the white throats.  Blue jays picked over the barkbutter balls.  

The great blackback gull was back.  A small flock of buffleheads paddled around the dock most of the day.  I spotted a female hoodie among them.  A handful of vultures kept circling over the water.  Several pelicans fished and one perched on a piling.  A ring bill gull flew by.

At lunch, the birds brightened the dull light.  A myrtle warbler joined its pine cousins.    First a white breasted nuthatch then a brown headed showed up.  Bluebirds, white throats,  and wrens returned.  I missed a shot at a male oriole but two females were more cooperative.  I could tell them apart because one was a darker orange than the other.  A mockingbird watched from across the pool patio but didn't come to eat.  A brown thrasher, however, dug right in.