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.