Breezy

Leap Day was shirtsleeve weather with passing clouds.  The squirrels continued their activities - courting and acrobatics.  I chased starlings off the suet repeatedly.  Carolina wrens were into everything, as usual.  Several doves came by but were startled off when I fussed at the starlings. 

Buffleheads fished around the dam outflow.  A heron flew in and landed under the dock across the creek, (the tide was out) and another heron came flying downstream and chased it away.  A turkey vulture tilted on the wind while gulls played in the air. 

At lunch I saw a cabbage white, possibly two!  An odd little bug was silhouetted on the glass.  Other than that it was mostly downy woodpeckers and the jealous warbler.  An egret fished downstream from the dam, an area that became visible when the pool repair work included pruning.

Warming

A pair of squirrels looked like they were going to set up housekeeping in the crumpled pool cover.  Meanwhile another had acrobatic aspirations and kept nearly falling out of the trees.  The warbler was on duty but unable to discourage starlings or woodpeckers.  A pair of juncos and a couple of doves foraged but I did not see sparrows.  The wrens eluded the camera. 

Cold sun

The birds were fewer.  Carolina wrens, yellow rumped warblers, the usual woodpeckers, house finches and a glimpse of a sparrow were all the morning visitors.  Hoodies and buffleheads fished on the creek along with cormorants and pelicans.  Herons and egrets stalked the banks.

The day continued bright and cold.  Geese, mallards and the heron hung about the creek.  Sunset was gold and clear.  A peculiar smell in the house turned out to be a blossom spike on the corn plant. 

Quieter weather

A couple of tufted titmice got up before the warbler and visited the feeder.  The red bellied woodpecker was another early riser, as, alas, were a couple of starlings.  The downies came later.  Song and white throated sparrows, juncos, robins, and finally Carolina wrens foraged on the ground.  Three blue jays quarreled in the trees.  I also saw all the seed feeder regulars - cardinals, house finches, and chickadees. 

I was photographing buffleheads on the creek when a pair of wood ducks paddled swiftly upstream.  I only got the male in the rear.  While it was mostly buffleheads, I did see a hooded merganser.  And, of course, mallards, cormorants, and geese floated, while gulls flew over.

When I went out to hang mended birdhouses, I was cussed out by a flicker.  Daffodils, hyacinths, and a lone leucojum were blooming.  There was a lot of testy songbird behavior this morning.  Finches squabbled and then the warbler chased them.  Squirrels, on the other hand, were feeling romantic.

The feeders were pretty quiet at lunch and after.  Out on the creek, mallards dabbled while buffleheads, cormorants and pelicans fished.  Motion in the shoreline reeds caught my eye and eventually revealed a crow foraging in the mud.   The sky was clear right through sunset. 

Windy and bright

Yesterday, the birds ate everything in sight and they were nearly hysterical this morning.  The warbler tried to defend the empty suet cage.  Both downy and red bellied woodpeckers, and starlings came to see if it was really empty.  A few juncos and a song sparrow looked for breakfast on the ground.  The huge flock of red winged blackbirds, robins, cedar waxwings, and who knows what else was still around.  I saw a blue jay.  House finches and cardinals came for seeds. K refilled both feeders. 

A Baltimore oriole landed on the feeder hanger.  When I jumped up to fetch out the grape jelly, a raccoon trundled up the slope and went down the pool steps.  I caught it coming back.  Then I put out the jelly but did not see the oriole again, alas.

The wind swung around to the West since yesterday but it was still very gusty. On the creek, I saw a pair of buffleheads and a pair of hoodies hanging out together.  Pelicans, cormorants, and egrets battled the wind.  The great blue heron was back in its favorite spot on the dock next to the dam, but it was all hunched like Quasimodo against the wind.  Around mid morning that wind blew in fresh cloud cover. 

I had a meeting in the afternoon in a room with a window wall.  The clouds outside were highly dramatic but rather difficult on photographs of what was going on inside.  On the way home I took some pictures. 

Warm, wet, and windy

House finches, titmice, and chickadees came for seeds while downy woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, and the warbler wanted suet.  Two blue jays flitted around the perimeter of the pool.  A song and a white throated sparrow paid brief visits.  It had rained overnight and rained again around 9am. The wretched feral tuxedo cat put an end to festivities.

Later in the morning, two doves foraged in the mulch while finches occupied the feeder.  A timid tufted titmouse came for lunch and that brute of a butterbutt chased it away repeatedly till it gave up.  The female red bellied woodpecker showed up briefly.  A female towhee was screened by twigs. A few juncos hid in the trees. 

Around 2pm a tornado watch was posted.  The wind was gusty here but that didn't discourage a flock of blackbirds and robins.  There was at least one cedar waxwing in the flock.  I saw a bufflehead and a cormorant on the creek but the light was going.  There was lightning, and then a lot of wind and rain coming sideways out of the South.  And then about 4pm some blue patches appeared, very briefly, among the clouds speeding North. I heard doves cooing again. 

I looked at weather maps and I think that everything was spinning around a low over Ohio.   West of there snow was being dragged South, but much more slowly than rain was passing North over us.  It was an impressive storm - there was a tornado a few counties to the West. But when I went to bed the waning gibbous moon was bright, making passing clouds glow. 

Fog

I had a dawn meeting and wasn't home till afternoon.  Meanwhile, mist turned to fog with sporadic rain.  While driving I saw a flock of gulls hovering over schoolkids waiting for a bus.  I also passed a flock of robins in a yard.

The Carolina wren had no fear of the downy woodpecker, but the warbler was wary of both.  Here the jealous warbler watches the wren chow down in the rain.  House finches were busy with seeds.  I saw a bufflehead briefly, but even the waterfowl seemed to dislike the weather.

Cooler

The rain must have stopped early in the night because everything had dried out when we got up.  The front that brought the rain also dropped the temperature.  The sky was mostly cloudy and there was a breeze.  Out on the creek gulls, hoodies, buffleheads and pelicans fished.

A starling was on the suet when I got up but it didn't stay.  The warbler continued to defend the suet against titmice and house finches.  I think it drove all the chickadees away.  The finches argued while the titmice sneaked in.  A goldfinch also got past the warbler once.  The downy warblers and Carolina wrens ignored it.  Song and white throated sparrows stuck to the mulch.  A blue jay was busy around the beauty berry.

The warbler must have been away at lunch because two titmice got to the seed feeder.  Two wrens explored the crumpled pool tarp.  The sun came out and the clouds became very soft and edge-less.  I heard doves cooing. 

Warm

Pelicans and cormorants fished in the morning.  House finches tussled with the yellow rumped warbler while the downy ignored the little bird. A song sparrow foraged and a wren put in a brief appearance.  Then the feral tabby cat scared them all away. 

Later in the morning there was some hot mallard action.  K saw the drake bobbing its head and asked if that was courting behavior.  Apparently so.  A couple of days ago (2/17), I saw a female mallard "Nod-Swimming" and wondered what that was all about. The sky clouded over while this was going on.

The day was very warm (for February), so after lunch I sat on the dock.  Not much happened, but I heard a bird with a melodic rattle somewhere across the creek.  I could not see it.  The sun kept disappearing as bands of cloud passed through and there was a bit of wind.  I found a blooming hyacinth. I also saw an isopod trundling through the grass and some flying insects.  Later in the afternoon, a half dozen hoodies paddled around before disappearing upstream. The GBH was not at its usual post but I saw a heron take off from the bank on our side of the creek.  Rain started around 5pm. 

Good fishing

Pelicans and cormorants filled a dock downstream.  Others paddled on the creek.  Meanwhile, back at the feeders, the warbler was again frustrated by a wren.  House finches paid no attention.   The sky was mostly white but muted sunshine leaked through.

By late morning it had gotten very windy.  Gulls circles and buffleheads and cormorants were out on the creek.  The woodpeckers were on the suet.  The great blue heron was in its favorite spot.  The Carolina jessamine has started to bloom during each warm spell and then gotten frozen flowers.  Today's warmth had it trying again. 

Sunset was a burning eye in streaky, smudgy clouds.  After the sun dropped out of sight, the clouds became pink.  A nearly full moon was bright in the East.

Hazy

The first thing I saw was the dredge survey boat headed upstream.  It came back down around 10am.  The creek was quite placid with a few geese and a pair of hoodies and a pair of buffleheads. A gull was sitting on our dock and I saw other gulls land on the creek.   The great blue heron was down in its favorite spot on the dock with the bronze heron sculpture.  Then it plunged down into the creek.  I had never seen such a thing.  It looked very wet but fluffed up quickly. 

Up in the yard, the warbler continued to try to guard its suet.  A titmouse snuck in a visit to the sunflower seeds.  Two wrens took over the suet.  Later one serenaded the other from the dogwood.  Both downy and red bellied woodpeckers also visited the suet.  I saw a song sparrow briefly.

In the middle of the morning there was a loud bang on the new window and I turned around to see two birds in midair battle.  I suspect they were warblers but couldn't be sure.  But as I looked around, I noticed there were juncos on the ground right outside, a white breasted nuthatch in the cherry, and a blue jay making the rounds.

At lunch time there were lots of buffleheads on the creek diving.  A female cardinal visited the feeder and upset the warbler.  Two Carolina wrens explored the bunched up pool cover.

Bright sun

The birds were kind of late.  Sparrows showed up, then warblers.  And yes, there were two butterbutts - I'd begun to wonder if the one was chasing something else because they moved so fast.  A downy appeared as I was finishing the paper.  Geese were out on the creek and pelicans flew over them.  The creek was glassy at first, but that was soon ended by the wind. 

I went to downtown Norfolk and the wind off the Hague was cold.  Lots of gulls hung around the Chrysler Museum.  Sunset featured streaky pink clouds as I came home. 

Cloudy morning

There was rain overnight apparently, which surprised me because the sky was so clear last night.  Dawn was pretty but then the sun disappeared.  The downy pair and the two Carolina wrens continued to defeat the warbler's best efforts to protect "its" suet.  I think I saw it chase another warbler away.  A song and a white throated sparrow showed up, along with a junco.  Then the tux cat came to bird watch. 

The sky cleared in the late morning.  Geese, mallards, and buffleheads paddled around the creek.  I later discovered that odd behavior by the female mallard was a courting display called "nod-swimming."

The dredge survey boat came upstream in the late afternoon.  A couple of brown ducks paddled on the lake above the dam.

Windy, wet, and warm

A wild morning kept most birds away.  All I saw at the feeders were a male house finch, the warbler, and a downy woodpecker.  A few gulls teetered on the wind.  It was strong enough to blow over a mostly full garbage can.  The rain started up around 9am and was really pounding an hour later..  Every trace of snow and ice was gone.

While the morning was very wet, the sky began to clear at lunch and by mid afternoon, it was Spring!  The red bellied woodpecker showed up and a wren beat it to the suet. Juncos popped up.  A blue jay hung out in the trees. 

I cam home to a mixed flock of robins and cedar waxwings.  Doves were everywhere.  House finches were giving the warbler conniptions.  The sun shone and the wind calmed down.

There were just enough clouds to make sunset spectacular, but I was driving.  On the way home I noticed how sharp and bright the stars appeared. 

Overnight snow

This was the last day of the GBBC and snow was still falling at breakfast.  A Carolina wren was already on the suet.  A male towhee joined the throng where I'd scattered seeds and mealworms.  Two male cardinals disputed territory while a female watched.  Song and white throated sparrows and juncos foraged.  Both kinds of woodpeckers came for suet.  A goldfinch appeared but was driven off by the warbler.  Nothing stirred on the creek or flew over it.  The snow turned to rain before 8am and that seemed to discourage the birds.

At lunch, all the woodpeckers arrived at the suet, to the dismay of  the wren and warbler.  The wren tried to share with the red bellied female, but I think she made the suet cage move too much.  A junco hopped around.  The rain continued to turn the snow to slush.  It collected on the creek ice.

In the late afternoon, the rain stopped and the temperature rose.  Vapor also rose off the ice and turned to fog.

GBBC day 3

The sun shone on the frozen creek and a cold wind pushed fluffy clouds out to sea.  I poured hot water in the birdbath but it froze before a dove could get a drink.  I also scattered lots of protein.  The warbler continued its persecution of the titmouse.  The red bellied woodpecker and the downy pair came for suet, which caused the warbler to do a lot of frustrated beak wiping.  The Carolina wren explored the excavated pipe and came out the other end.  Juncos and sparrows poked through the mealworms. 


Below the dam I saw egrets, a great blue heron, hooded mergansers, and geese.  A buzzard hunted for a frozen dinner and a couple of gulls flew over.  Later in the day, more geese landed and slid on the ice. 

GBBC day 2

There were clouds early, then the sky cleared.  There was snow on the ground and the creek was still frozen, except right at the dam outfall where geese clustered with a few mallards.

I counted birds through breakfast.  Chickadees got some seeds before the warbler woke up, but it chased off the titmouse again.  It also chased another of its kind.  Both kinds of woodpeckers had suet.  Four doves foraged and at least one strutted around looking for love.  Juncos and sparrows (both species) and a wren foraged where I had scattered seeds and mealworms.  House finches and cardinals stuck to the feeder.

After lunch, a mockingbird appeared.  Two wrens foraged under the rosemary, then one moved to the suet to the great frustration of the warbler.  A couple of buzzards flew over.  The woodpeckers, juncos, and song sparrows were back.  Sometime in the afternoon something made a path through the creek ice.  Geese on the bank across the creek chased each other.  Mallards and a lone male hoodie paddled in the bits of open water.  The sun shone and puffy clouds blew down from the Northwest. 

GBBC and snow

Today began the Great Backyard Bird Count, but an iced-over creek was not helpful.  I started counting at breakfast.For a while there was only one junco and a song sparrow.  Then everyone arrived.  2 song sparrows, 2 white throated sparrows, 2 yellow rumped warblers, the female red bellied woodpecker and the downy woodpecker pair, 2 juncos, and a cardinal pair.  There was some open water down by the dam and there I saw 2 egrets, 2 geese, 8 mallards, and in flight a great blue heron and a gull.  Clouds rolled out of the West.

I counted again in the late morning.  A titmouse tried to get seeds but the warbler kept chasing it.  4 white throats and a song sparrow joined 4 juncos to forage.  The red belly was back on the suet and the cardinal pair and a male house finch squabbled with sparrows and juncos over the seed feeder.  I saw a gull fly over several times.  The ice retreated a bit and the tide came up.  A junco and a warbler investigated the pool excavation. 

After lunch, I counted again.  This time a goldfinch, a dove, and a Carolina wren joined the others.  I also noticed a crow and a flock of blackbirds across the creek.  8 geese flew upstream, wheeled in front of us and headed back down. Shortly before 2pm the snow began.  It fell lightly but steadily for the rest of the day as birds stocked up.

The snow finally stopped after 5pm.  It coated the vegetation but not the pavement.  What had fallen on the ice was apparently absorbed and gradually the creek went from white to gray.  Cormorants commuted home under a gray sky.

Freezing in the sunshine

The pool was iced over but the creek was clear, perhaps because it was rough.  Out on the water I saw geese and mallards, buffleheads and hoodies, a ring billed gull, a cormorant, egrets and a great blue heron. 

The male and female downy woodpeckers tried to share the tiny remnant of suet.  Since I did not have treats out on the patio, everyone including a squirrel came up and eyed the breakfast window.  There were juncos, wrens, song and white throated sparrows, yellow rumped warblers, tufted titmice, and a dove. The birds mostly ignored Aaron who was digging up the French drain.  K hung a fresh block of suet for them.

In the late afternoon a goose behaved oddly, hunching over then flaring its wings at another goose.  Courting?  The heron was back at its post at the end of the dam.  Buffleheads fished.

Sunny

The creek was rough but buffleheads and hoodies were bobbing on the water.  Both kinds of woodpeckers, sparrows, wrens, titmice, and of course the butterbutt visited the feeders.  I put out treats on the patio.  A junco was poking around below the new window. 

The tide was really high again.  When I passed the Hague, the water was over the road on the far side and it was barricaded.  There was another beautiful sunset over the harbor.  And the new moon hung above, as thin as a nail clipping. 

Just past Lunar New Year

The tide was high because of the dark of the moon, but the surface was calm at dawn.  Hoodies and buffleheads were out on it.  I was rushed, but I saw doves, butterbutts, wrens, titmice, cardinals, downy and red bellied woodpeckers around the feeders.

The sun set into a bank of clouds over the harbor.  The colors reminded me that this was Mardi Gras. (Also the NH primary.)