More of the same

Unlike in LaFontaine's fable, the North wind has been defeating the sun.  In the afternoon, an egret prowled along the edge of the lake.  At dusk, first the female, then the male cardinal came for seeds.  And there you have it.  

 

Tired of wind

Both days, the sun shone and the air was in the mid 60s but a severe wind chill made being outside uncomfortable.  The creek was lovely yesterday.  Not so lovely were the pieces of trash caught in tree branches no longer hidden by leaves.  I saw a bird eating dogwood berries and snapped some photos.  Vegetation threw the focus off but I believe it was a robin.

The sky was hazier today.  Squirrels were more active than birds, leaping between the pine and redwood.   I harvested some milkweed seeds.  The purslane out front was still blooming a little.  I checked the goldenrod for bugs and found a tiny sweat bee with really long antennae.  The milkweed pods had mostly opened.  

 

North wind

The wind was not quite as strong but it was still chilly.  Sunshine could not push the temperature much above 60.  A stream of chickadees sought seeds.  A mockingbird visited the barkbutter balls.  A couple of great blue herons disputed rights to our section of the creek.  I found a spotted cucumber beetle on the goldenrod by the driveway.  The hickory leaves were toast but the wild cherry was still bright green.  

Still blowing

Yesterday I was away almost the whole day, so no photos.  Today the creek glittered in the early light.  Wind roughened the surface and scattered reflections.  The downy was back for more seeds.  More of the bright blue sky was visible as the wind had removed a lot of drought-damaged leaves and needles.  Leaves afloat on the creek pretended to be ducks.  There were still dogwood berries for the hungry. 

High winds

The wind tore apart the overcast and dried off surfaces.  It grounded most birds - all I saw were cardinals.  A squirrel was thirsty.  He appeared to have a warble on his neck.  The day stayed chilly despite some sunshine.  I kept expecting the wind to bring some migrant birds to eat those luscious-looking beautyberries.  

Rain and wind

The temperature slumped about 30 degrees between one afternoon and the next.  The chill, accompanied by strong North wind gusts and a good soaking rain, was no inducement to venture outside. Still, a female downy woodpecker was hungry for seeds.  A great blue heron blew downstream.  Evening brought some color to the clouds.  

 

Dragonfly

A Southwest wind made the temperature unseasonably warm but not record-breaking.  After lunch I spent time outside.  The pine cone humidity gauges indicated that the heat was not sticky.  The gull flock passed but didn't linger.  I heard some songbirds and caught some unidentified glimpses.  A blue dasher occupied a bamboo stake for a while.  Something small rooted around under the leaf litter beside the birdbath but never showed itself.  Mint moths flitted among the herbs.  But overall, the day was not very productive of photos.  After sunset I took some pictures of the crescent moon.