Chilly and gray

I didn't have time to look till late morning.  Ruddy ducks are still all over the creek, mixing with buffleheads and hooded mergansers.  An egret stopped in but had no luck. 

A female towhee joined squirrels in foraging while white throated sparrows jockeyed for a place on the feeder with the usual suspects. The towhee felt the need to fluff out her feathers. 

After lunch, a great blue heron landed on the edge of the patio with a sizable fish, but startled when I moved toward the camera. It flew off with another heron in pursuit. 

The sky cleared in the middle of the afternoon.