Real rain

Gusty wind from the North spotted and streaked the windows, making photography difficult.  The rain filled the ant moat to overflowing and gave a surprise shower to the red bellied woodpecker that landed hard on the suet.  A brown thrasher came for barkbutter or mealworms only to find the dish still covered against the rain.  Pelicans and gulls passed over the creek.  

Bird buffet

Morning began with a pileated woodpecker and blue jays.  Three starlings visited but were unsatisfied and didn't stay.  A white throat pecked at the residue in the barkbutter dish.  A Carolina wren got inside the dish.  Meanwhile a goldfinch landed on the suet with a pine warbler.  The goldfinch must have realized its mistake and joined the house finches for seeds.  House finches are bigger.  

The overcast sky developed blue rents.  A pair of buffleheads drifted on the creek.   Lots of little birds use the azalea by the side window as a launchpad for the feeders, but it is very hard to get photos of them.   White breasted and brown headed nuthatches picked out seeds.  I refilled the glass dish with a mix of mealworms and barkbutter balls.  The pine warbler was pleased.  A downy sampled the suet.  The song sparrow found what I dropped (deliberately).  Bluebirds noticed that the dish was refilled.  The female oriole had jelly and a drink.  

Pelicans and gulls were very busy on the creek but the only ducks I saw were the bufflehead pair and another female.  A great blue heron stalked along our shoreline.  By then the sky had cleared but the light was going.  

Waterfowl

A wren dug into the seeds for breakfast.  So did a downy. I saw a goldfinch, but it got away.   A brown headed nuthatch also collected seeds.  K put our a fresh block of suet and the warblers found it.  The clouds lifted as time passed. At high tide, I spotted the orange cat perched on a stump at the water's edge.  

Pelicans fished along our stretch of the creek.  A variety of gulls fished too - herring, ring bill, and black back.  The sight of a great black back gull with a fish attracted a young pelican still in brown plumage.  A great egret flew upstream.  A cormorant photo-bombed a picture of a gull.  I saw another red breasted merganser.  A great blue heron stood watch below the dam. A mallard pair paddled across the water.  A female bufflehead dived.  

Very gray

Overnight rain continued into the morning and gradually became mist.  The temperature slowly dropped all day.  A flurry of birds arrived early but found nothing but seeds.  Even the suet was gone to the consternation of downy, red bellied and pileated woodpeckers.  I saw pelicans and a bufflehead on the creek.  A white breasted nuthatch was content with seeds.  Three juncos also ate seeds.  So did bluebirds.  Sparrows and warblers foraged on the ground.  A mockingbird gave up.  

At lunch, a Carolina wren settled for seeds.    By late afternoon the mist was becoming fog.  A pair of buffleheads were the lone occupants of the creek.  

Very warm

The day was overcast and windy but the temperature rose into the upper 60s.  That often means that birds have other food besides the feeders.  At breakfast, a pileated woodpecker came to finish off the suet.  A blue jay checked on the barkbutter balls. At lunch, a flurry of birds arrived, including a perky chipping sparrow.  A male oriole found the jelly.  I also saw a Carolina wren, bluebirds, warblers, and a mockingbird.  Then something spooked them and I saw no more birds.  

 

Fog

Happy Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras.  At breakfast a light fog grayed the distant pines. It didn't seem to trouble the pelicans flying low over the creek.  Gulls, too, were fishing.  The committee of vultures took to the trees.  The two mourning doves returned.  Downy and red bellied woodpeckers came for the feeders.  So did a wren, a pine and a myrtle warbler, a brown headed nuthatch and starlings.  Blue jays flew past but returned for breakfast.

The sun finally got through at 10am.  Then a junco appeared on the seed feeder.  Where was it during the bird count?  Bluebirds enjoyed the sunshine.  A goldfinch also wanted seeds.  The pelicans kept on fishing, apparently with success judging by the splashdowns.  Cormorants had the same idea.  

 

Gray

We held off on the open dish feeders in case the rain was not finished.  That was just as well since starlings investigated the menu.  The towhee returned for breakfast.  I saw what I think were bufflehead drakes.  Pelicans flew by all day and the dredge apparently observed the holiday.   The red belly ate both seeds and suet but the downy only wanted suet.  Nuthatches came earlier than usual, both kinds.  I also counted a blue jay, a mockingbird, a pair of bluebirds, two kinds of warbler, and a wren before 8:30am.  Later in the morning there were titmice and the song sparrow.  Except for a crow, the lunchtime birds were repeats even though they now had jelly and barkbutter balls.  The temperature only rose a couple of degrees from just under 40 to just over. Plus, the wind was gusty.  I was glad to be inside to finish the GBBC.  I did twelve checklists and counted 37 species, one of which was new.  This year I posted more photos too.