Still warm

The fog finally cleared by lunchtime (which was earlier than last week because we are saving daylight).

Overcast

Occasional sunshine and more frequent wind gusts punctuated a mostly overcast day.  I saw 78° on the thermometer again.  The pileated woodpeckers made repeated visits to the suet.  White throats polished off some barkbutter but there was plenty for a pale pine warbler.  

Daffodils were in full bloom, not just the dwarf clumps.  Other bulbs were sending up leaves.   A pelican flew upstream past the silent dredge equipment.  I noticed that the Argiope egg sack looked deflated so perhaps the spiderlings took advantage of the warm wind to spread out.  

The male red bellied woodpecker returned but spooked before he got any suet.  Then the female pileated showed up, so maybe that's why he left.  A cormorant paddled past the dredge barge.  Others flew to their roost under heavy clouds.  

 

Fog

Yesterday evening's mist was thick fog by this morning.  A starling showed up early.  A myrtle warbler lurked at the edge of visibility.  White throats foraged in wet mulch and a song sparrow got up on a dead vine for a better view.  A Carolina wren ate barkbutter scraps.  A goldfinch just observed.  Bluebirds were around in the fog but I only got photos once the sun had cleared the vapors away.  I heard a pileated woodpecker calling and saw it land but I was in another room.

 

Spa time

Morning was sunny.  The male pileated was an early visitor.   To my surprise, a mockingbird partook of the jelly.  Bluebirds and Carolina wrens wanted barkbutter balls.  Later, so did a myrtle warbler, then a blue jay, then a white throat.  Meanwhile other sparrows took advantage of the warmth for a bath.  One was a song sparrow.  

A starling looked beautiful in the sunlight, even if it was eating way too much.  The sky was hazy and clouds came and went.  Cardinals also wanted a bath.  A brown headed nuthatch just wanted seeds.  The female pileated got a turn at the suet.  A dove searched through the mulch.  In the afternoon, the temperature dropped and the sky got gray, then misty.  

 

Even warmer

The early bird was a myrtle warbler.  I was glad to see the song sparrow foraging.  A Carolina wren went straight to the barkbutter balls.  Two starlings picked through the barkbutter balls.  Bluebirds followed them.  Then a white throat ate some.  The dredgers brought in a two-story work boat for some reason I couldn't figure out. The sky was hazy but sunny and the temperature reached 78°.  The pileated swooped in for some suet.  A brown headed nuthatch slipped away before I had the camera ready.  

 

Very warm

A mockingbird breakfasted on barkbutter and mealworms.  A white throat was next.  The sone sparrow stayed on the ground.  Then a brown thrasher took over the glass dish.  A crow stalked around the patio.  I saw 73° on the outdoor thermometer so I went out to make some vitamin D.  Dwarf daffodil clumps were blooming.  A myrtle warbler kept an eye on me.  A squirrel got a drink from the ant moat.  A Carolina wren had some barkbutter.  

 

Damp

Damp morning air grayed out the distances.  A couple of mourning doves poked through the mulch under the seed feeder.  Both song and white throats foraged alongside them.  A female bluebird tried to find something to eat in the glass dish.  After I took more food out, the male appeared too.  A white throat and a Carolina wren were tempted by the fast food, but not the song sparrow.  It did get up on the dead moonflower vine, but no closer.  

There was a brief sprinkle around mid day, right after I had refilled the glass dish.  The birds gobbled the barkbutter and mealworms fast enough that I doubt the food got wet.  Starlings, blue jays, and a mockingbird argued about it.  A myrtle warbler waited till the bigger birds left.   The male red belly visited the seed feeder.  A female junco wandered around the steps.