Sweetbeaks

I was away for meetings, morning and afternoon, in the windy, chilly sunshine.  At breakfast the male red belly ate seeds while the downy had suet.  Blue jays focused on barkbutter balls.  A brown thrasher also visited the glass dish of  barkbutter balls.  The song sparrow stayed busy under the feeders.  White throats were up and down, to the feeders then foraging under them.  

At lunch time a mockingbird headed for the grape jelly dish.  I started offering grape jelly the first time I saw an oriole, but now warblers snack on it and even the mockingbird has discovered its sweetbeak.  A Carolina wren perched on the chair by the window.  Bluebirds ate seeds.  Doves foraged and flirted on the ground.  A crow had something way up on a tree limb.  

 

Chilly

Today looked lovely but it was cold to the touch.  I had meetings morning, afternoon, and evening so I only saw birds at mealtimes.  K kept them fat and happy with mealworms and barkbutter balls.  

Green

The storm went with the night and morning was full of sunshine and birds.  The temperature had dropped to 40, not the predicted freeze.  

Brown thrasher

Surfaces were wet and the sky overcast, though the sun occasionally found a tear in the clouds.  Because of the predicted storm, K left the dish feeders covered.  That didn't bother the seed eaters, though the white throats missed their barkbutter snacks. The song sparrow foraged on the ground with a squirrel and bluebirds ate seeds at the feeder trough.  But a brown thrasher was left with nothing but the suet.  It gamely tackled the suet block but was almost too big to get both feet and beak on the cage.  

At noon the air was quite warm and surfaces had dried so I scattered some barkbutter balls on the ground under the dish.  A crow and some sparrows were happy to find them.  Bluebirds lunched on seeds.  Several white throats took a bath on the pool cover.  Rain began shortly after 1pm.  The wind was gusty but not fierce.  The rain trailed off after an hour then returned after another hour.  It was off again at supper time.  We got no hail and no strong winds, just a good soaking.

The Ides but no murders

It was a typical March day with the usual birds.  Bluebirds showed up first.  A dove drank from the pool puddle.  A Carolina wren dug into the barkbutter balls.  A myrtle warbler was next.  The yellow long haired cat hung around bothering the birds.  Blue jays wanted their barkbutter balls.  The myrtle warbler cleaned up what fell.  The song sparrow looked for fallen suet crumbs.  Both Carolina wrens returned for second helpings.  A couple of chickadees shared the seed feeder.  

At lunch time a white throated sparrow tried to bully a warbler off the glass dish but the warbler held on.  The sparrow flew to the seed feeder instead.  A blue jay got a drink from the pool puddle.  A starling came for lunch.  Two doves foraged together.  One acted horny but the other didn't catch on.  Some violets bloomed.  A crow poked through the mulch.  

 

Warmer

We began with sunshine and somewhat warmer temperatures.  Bluebirds came for breakfast.  Carolina wrens shared barkbutter balls.  White throats wanted them too.  We were gone for the middle of the day but the bluebirds were still there when we got back.  A male downy came for suet.  Blue jays snatched barkbutter balls.  Clouds thickened during the afternoon. 

Steaming creek

I think the water was warmer than the air at sunrise.  My breath smoked too, when I went out with bird food.  A Carolina wren tackled the suet.  A myrtle warbler sat on the seed feeder perch but ignored the seeds.  It doesn't really have the right kind of beak for seeds.  On the ground beneath, a song sparrow hunted fallen seeds.  The song sparrow didn't get along with the white throats.  A pine warbler showed up, the first in some time.  But the myrtle warbler got to the barkbutter balls.  Dogwood buds popped open.  

The male red bellied woodpecker peeked around the post and chose seeds.   Blue jays were faithful to the barkbutter balls.  Bluebirds wanted them too but were willing to eat seeds.  The male oriole was still here, polishing off some jelly.  A white throated sparrow took a turn with the barkbutter balls.  A starling wanted suet.  Then a brown thrasher argued with starlings over the barkbutter balls and mealworms.  Sunshine spangled the starlings.