Back to Spring

The heat wave dissipated and normal Spring temperatures returned.  There weren't a lot of birds but a mockingbird managed to get a snack without me getting a photo, twice.  White throats didn't care how many pictures I took.  A Carolina wren posed nicely.  

Storm

Just down the street on the way to church we saw a rabbit.  Blue jays and white throats visited the glass dish while cardinals and house finches ate seeds.  A squirrel foraged underneath.   By 3pm a storm was blowing our way from the West.   It got dark and windy before the short deluge.  

A hot week

Yesterday was still hot.  A pine warbler considered the barkbutter balls.  Then blue jays arrived, and white throats.  K spilled some on the patio for a crow.  The pines and oaks shed pollen.   Flower bud spikes appeared on the wild cherry.  

Today was supposedly the last of the heatwave.  Azaleas opened but jonquils withered.  A cabbage white flitted through the vegetation.  A white throat checked to see if the dish had been refilled.  Two more hopped around in a dogwood.  Another perched by the fence.  Blue jays noticed when I refilled the dish.  

Insect season

The heatwave persisted and again the temperature was well into the 80s.  We ate outdoors and afterward I saw bees, wasps, butterflies, and an uncooperative dragonfly.  The butterflies were a cabbage white and a tiger swallowtail.  I couldn't identify the dragonfly.  I heard blue jays bud didn't see them.  The long haired yellow cat tried to catch a squirrel.  The squirrel was outraged and I hope I embarrassed the cat.  Azalea buds began opening.  

Windy

March ended with a blast of wind and heat.  At breakfast there was a brown thrasher.  I was away tabling at an event most of the day and came home too tired to think.  I do remember that I saw an egret and a mockingbird at the event.  I think something bit me too because I had a welt next day.  The tide was way out thanks to the wind and nearly full moon.  

While I was recuperating, the red belly came for suet.  A dove wandered around.  White throats, blue jays, and a mockingbird ate barkbutter balls.  The mockingbird had to wait for a cardinal to finish.  Then a bluebird got his  I must still have been tired today because I don't seem to recall seeing anything except the dredge.  The temperature beat the old record by two degrees.  

Black swallowtail

At lunchtime the swallowtail was checking flowers for nectar but I think most of them had already been visited.  The red belly came for suet and sparrows for barkbutter balls.  Fierce-looking clouds passed over but did nothing.  The day was hot and windy.  

Nuthatches

Lots of birds arrived at breakfast while my fingers were sticky.  I think one was a brown thrasher but I didn't see it again.  The first one that I caught on camera was a white breasted nuthatch.  White throats were everywhere, on the ground, on the feeders, in the pool puddle.  A myrtle warbler also looked for a drink there.  Bluebirds defaulted to seeds because starlings emptied the suet and barkbutter.  A titmouse investigated the empty dish feeder.  The male red belly ate seeds.  I put some mealworms out hoping the starlings would be less interested.  A crow didn't see anything worth its time.  

Azalea buds began to open as the day warmed up.   A pine warbler foraged for fallen food.  A chipping sparrow made a brief visit.  The mockingbird pair discussed the menu and decided on jelly.  Cardinals were courting.  A brown headed nuthatch tried to grab a seed.  When I put out more barkbutter balls, blue jays showed up immediately.  Bluebirds and white throats were right behind.