Overcast

The morning was dull but quite warm.  A lone male hooded merganser paddled about. I didn't even see a downy woodpecker till lunch. 

After lunch I went out to enjoy the warm air, though it was damp and breezy.  The sun was visible but muffled in clouds. It was very quiet till finally I saw some ducks - several mallards and a male bufflehead.

Then the songbirds began to fly around me and whistle.  Goldfinches always seemed to be silhouetted against the gray sky.  White throated sparrows were in the shrubs and on the ground where juncos joined them.  I also saw a red breasted nuthatch and a Carolina wren. A female oriole joined the male in the camellia. 

Later, I glimpsed a kingfisher out the window.  As dusk was falling, four egrets perched on the dead snags above the lake.

Fierce wind

I had to get up early and already it was warmer than yesterday.  Sunrise colored the clouds yellow but then it was gray.  The sun could be seen dimly through the clouds.  No birds were stirring when I got home.  By lunch time the wind gusts were whipping leaves off the trees but there was some occasional sunshine.  Large, dark bees bumbled against the window.  A red breasted nuthatch and a downy woodpecker ventured out to the suet and chickadees and house finches to the seeds and water.  The oriole returned for mealworms and jelly. 

The rain finally began to fall around 4pm.  I saw white throats, juncos, and doves foraging in the mulch downhill.  The tide was already quite low, both from the new moon and the South wind.  What a difference from yesterday.  At supper, I looked up and there, in the dark, under the feeder was the feral cat.  I hadn't seen it for a while and dared hope it was gone for good.  The rain had mostly stopped by then. 

White sky

The morning was sunny but hazy.  The pair of downy woodpeckers came for breakfast.  I saw a kingfisher way downstream diving from a perch on a channel marker. A little before 10am, I was on the computer without the camera when a thump on the window made me turn.  Two pine warblers squabbled on the window sill.  And a flock of bluebirds zipped among the tree branches.  Juncos were in the grass and two blue jays chased each other.  Nuthatches seemed to be on every limb.  Very frustrating.

  I ran for the camera but the bluebirds were gone.  This pine warbler seemed curious for a moment.  Then I discovered a green spider on the window. 

When I went to lock the back door before leaving, I discovered the birds were around the feeders and birdbath.  A brown headed nuthatch had joined several red breasted nuthatches.  Goldfinches and bluebirds clustered around the birdbath.  A pine warbler found the suet.  So did a titmouse.  White throats stayed further away under the bushes.  And the camera battery needed to be changed in the midst of all this.

By noon the haze had become a layer of cirrostratus cloud.  Robins had joined the gathering and were tearing into the beautyberries.  I spied a sapsucker on a pine in a neighboring yard.  A grackle got a drink and sadly contemplated the feeder it was too heavy for.  A blue jay came back for more mealworms, then a Carolina wren.  A yellow rumped warbler showed up at the birdbath.  And finally, the oriole reappeared and discovered the grape jelly.  It too had some mealworms. 

As I was downloading all these photos, I glanced behind and caught a female kingfisher sitting on the dock bench whaling the mess out of a fish.  It looked like a baby flounder and it nearly choked her. During the afternoon the clouds thickened to the SW while the NE was almost blue.  But the cloud cover spread, leaving only a streak of open sky by the time of the cormorant commute.

Cloudless blue

Wind and sun dominated the morning.  The birds got up late and I saw nothing to compare with yesterday.  Even though I put out grape jelly for the oriole it never appeared.  Two of the goldfinches came back.  So did juncos and a white throated sparrow.  A Carolina wren got some mealworms.



The downy woodpeckers were busy all day.  Three doves met around the water cooler, aka birdbath.  The nuthatch came back and a chickadee took a bath.  I thought I saw a brown headed nuthatch but that may have been a chickadee. 


A drift of pink petals lay under the sassanqua camellia.  I glimpsed a great blue heron, a bufflehead, an egret, geese, gulls and cormorants, a couple of kingfishers chasing each other, and possibly a pelican.  There was still too much foliage for the camera to get most of the waterfowl. 

Windy

It was gloomy when we got up and had apparently been raining not too much earlier.  By 10am a strong wind from the Northwest pushed the clouds away and brought fresh winter birds.  Gusts peeled the leaves off trees making it a bit easier to spot birds but reducing what has been a very colorful fall.  Downy woodpeckers were the only feeder birds active.  Before the gloom departed I spotted the first bufflehead of the season - a female.

As I was peeling sweet potatoes I saw a Baltimore oriole in the camellia outside the kitchen window.  It was poking into flowers but I don't know if it was catching bees or eating the flowers.  A blue jay helped itself to mealworms and then so did the oriole.  Between them they emptied the dish.

A titmouse tried out the suet.  The nuthatch was back on the feeder with the chickadees.  It even landed while K was tending the grill. A white throated sparrow joined a pair of juncos and a small flock of robins around the birdbath.  The robins flitted everywhere and tried the beauty berries.  One robin's back was spotted with white.  Then four goldfinches in winter drab appeared. 

Hoodies paddled around the geese and mallards on the creek while first a great blue heron, then a great egret, flew overhead.  A flock of crows pursued a red tailed hawk, the sight of which dispersed the songbirds.  Finally, the sun sank into a purple cloud bank as waterfowl commuted home. I thought I was done for the day, but then I discovered a cobweb spider housekeeping indoors in the corner of the window. 

Changeable weather

I woke to overcast and a trace of mist, not quite fog, and no wind.  Not much was stirring and everything was still wet.  The overcast began to break apart after breakfast.  By 11am when I was cooking, the birds were beginning to get lively.  Blue jays zoomed around all day.  The downy woodpeckers came for brunch.  A Carolina wren checked out the rehydrated mealworms.  The red breasted nuthatch came back with a half dozen chickadees.  I could not tell if there was more than one.  And the sun got through at last.

By noon it was quite warm out, though the air felt damp.  Sunshine was intermittent.  Leaves drifted down, pretending to flutter like birds.  A couple of buzzards circled.  A blue jay raided the mealworms.  The regulars were around though the cardinals didn't come to the feeder.  The chickadees squabbled over precedence at the feeder.

Honeybees were busy in the camellia flowers.  Apparently the rosemary is only popular when nothing else blooms.  A small flock of juncos scurried around the patio.  A titmouse came for seeds and stayed to poke through the drifted leaves.

I went outside to digest lunch and enjoy the warmth.  And I solved the mystery of the bird with a black face - it was a butterbutt with summer plumage still on its head.  Then bluebirds appeared and fussed at each other.  On nibbled at a pine cone, or something on it.  White throats mostly stuck to cover.  I saw a freshly bathed wren in the dogwood.  There were lots of songs and calls I didn't recognize. 

The sun went in and so did I.  A brown thrasher poked through mulch under the cedar.  But the other birds apparently felt like I did that the good weather was gone.  At some point earlier in the day I saw hoodies but got no photo.  The clouds continued to move through from the West and they tinted a little at sunset. 

Wet

We woke up to overcast and a gentle, soaking rain began to fall at breakfast.  Although the wind had ceased, the birds were scarce in the morning.  Downy woodpeckers were lured in by the suet.  Mallards didn't like the rain.  I spied a kingfisher downstream through the trees. 

Around 2pm bands of blue sky began moving through and the clouds were gone by mid afternoon, though everything dripped.  Steam rose off the pool cover.  A great blue heron stalked along the creek beyond the dam.  Geese and mallards paddled around.

A mockingbird fed on beauty berries. A couple of blue jays called and fussed up in the pines.  Juncos popped around tree branches.

At sunset, about 8 or 9 egrets settled in a tree by the lake, but apparently there were too many because half flew away before I could find a gap through the foliage to take a photo.

Still sunny and cold

A titmouse showed up early but did not return.  Chickadees followed.  A couple of doves drank the hot water I poured into the birdbath to melt the ice.  I glimpsed crows pursuing a hawk across a corner of the sky visible through the window.  A hoodie left a streak across the creek water-mirror. 

Around 10:30am, there was a big run on the seed feeder.  A female red breasted nuthatch joined the chickadees.  A male house finch showed up.  Meanwhile, a male downy woodpecker had suet.   A junco hurried across the steps to the birdbath. 

At lunch time the nuthatch was back.  I got a lot of photos of her rear end, and of an empty feeder perch.  Two Carolina wrens came for mealworms.  The female downy appeared. 

After lunch there was another crow pursuit of a hawk, and this time I was ready.

Shortly before sunset clouds covered the West and headed our way.  The light dropped quickly.  Homeward bound cormorants were reflected in the creek. 

Freezing

The water in the birdbath had become ice this morning but when I poured in hot, it didn't refreeze.  The wind was still driving the tide out despite the third quarter phase of the moon.  Two kingfishers squabbled over perches on the pilings.  I saw a female red breasted nuthatch but didn't get a shot.  A male downy visited the suet.  Beneath, a white throated sparrow scurried between doves.

We spent the rest of the day out - lunch and a matinee - and got home just at sundown.  Mallards were skimming the creek.  Cold as it was, a little beige moth rested on the window.  After dark, we went back out for a music session.

Cold

The tide was way out in the morning, maybe from the wind.  A downy came for breakfast, then three doves.  A male cardinal was into the beauty berries.  Chickadees appreciated the hot water I poured into the birdbath.  Apparently cold makes them thirsty.  White throats stayed in the shadows.  Later egrets were flying around but without all the other birds that show up when there's a school of fish. 

At lunch, several dozen egrets flew in and lined the creek below the dam.  They looked like spectators along a parade route.  Carolina wrens popped up while I was watching the egrets.  One chickadee actually took a bath despite the cold.

A few hoodies were out on the water along with mallards and geese.  Later in the afternoon, a male kingfisher returned to his spot on the boatlift.

Windy!

Last night's menacing clouds were gone.  The wind roughened the creek so it glittered instead of reflecting.  Hoodies were out early.  Later I saw egrets and cormorants. 

Two Carolina wrens came for mealworms.  An unknown small bird showed up with the chickadees and I only got a shot of its back but I think it had a black patch over its eye..  The female downy was back.  A white throat poked through the leaves under the shrubbery.

I was busy much of the day.  On the way home around Willoughby Bay I saw a huge flock of crows to the NE and a huge red sun sinking in the SW.  Clouds were painted rose in front of us.  I got home as the last afterglow faded from the sky.

Warm and windy

There was a downy woodpecker at breakfast, then I missed the rest of the morning.  As I was returning a large flock of crows circled and landed in a tree just down the street.  The temperature got up to 76 today, not quite a record. 

At lunch, I was amazed to see a monarch butterfly battling the wind. I don't know if the butterfly came migrating from further North or hatched out here from the warmth. And oddly, it seemed more interested in red leaves than milkweed flowers directly beneath.  A cabbage white crossed the yard without pausing.

Trees gained a lot of color in the last couple of days.  A female downy came back for more suet in the late afternoon.  The sky was cloudless till sunset when a  few small fluffs caught the glow.  Then, as a female cardinal got her bedtime snack, thick dark clouds raced in from the West.  A dove landed only to be scared off by K gong to "brick the feeder."  And then it was pitch dark. 

Sunny and warn

The feeders were ignored except for a downy at the suet.  I glimpsed a hoodie but then a fleet of geese came along and the duck disappeared.  All the action was in the hackberry instead!  Lots of little birds were flitting around.  When I looked at the photos, I discovered they were ruby crowned kinglets apparently attracted to the hackberry berries, or possibly bugs on the berries. 

A white throated sparrow poked around under a dogwood and nearby I spotted the first junco of the season.  Two blue jays swooped past my window.  A mockingbird pranced along the windowsill studying me.  Then I had to leave, but as I locked the door, I startled a red breasted nuthatch among chickadees.

I saw the mockingbird, or another, at lunchtime working on the beauty berries.  After lunch, I went outside.  A paper wasp fed on the milkweed.  I heard a grasshopper stridulating but could not see it.  Small moths and bees flitted around.

The trees were getting quite colorful but the frostbitten morning glory still had blossoms.  A squirrel took a siesta on a small oak branch.  A brown thrasher popped out of the azaleas briefly.  The crows never let up calling. The new neighbors like to fish.  After they left their dock, a male kingfisher perched on the boatlift across the creek, until a returning boater scared it away.  The boater left quite a wake. 

Breezy

A Carolina wren showed up for mealworms and a white throated sparrow poked around the birdbath.  Chickadees and finches ate sunflower seeds.

And that was the last of a beautiful day for me. 

Warmer

A couple of great blue herons argued about fishing spots along the shining creek.  The kingfisher perched on the dam spillway.  Chickadees and a downy woodpecker came to the feeders and a dove landed on the patio.  Other birds flitted around the margins of the yard, staying concealed by leaves.  At least one was a bluebird. As much as I hate to see the leaves fall, it will improve visibility. 

On my way home in the late morning, two bald eagles were circling over our street.  All I had was the little snapshot camera. Afterward, I walked around and then saw a flock of cormorants come upstream fishing.  So I went down to the dock.  I saw two kingfishers, two great blue herons, and too many geese.

After dark, a small moth was attracted to the window. 

Sunshine

A heron flew downstream but there was no flock of fishing birds while I was watching.  Just mallards and geese.  K may have seen a bluebird.  I glimpsed a wren and possibly an eagle.  A titmouse joined the chickadees but I didn't get a photo of any of these..  A male downy woodpecker was more cooperative. But overall, it was a better day for squirrels than birds. 

The past full moon was still very bright as I drove home. 

Rain

When I got up, a kingfisher was already fishing.  While we were eating breakfast a fish drive came around the bend in the creek down by the dam.  As the birds flowed past us, I saw two great blue herons, at least a half dozen great egrets, several gulls, and innumerable cormorants.  The rain began about the same time.  Several hooded mergansers paddled around afterward, chasing and displaying.  Downy woodpeckers and chickadees were the only birds visiting the patio. The whole fishing circus came through again about 9:30am.

Around 3pm glimmers of sunlight got through, temporarily.  The kingfisher sat on the dock bench to eat her fish.  I blinked and there was a crow sitting there instead, enjoying the fish.  Mallards paddled by skimming whatever they eat from the water. When the hoodies returned so did the clouds and made the light too low for photos. 

Frost!

Three doves came to breakfast.  Then I saw a flock of hooded mergansers on the creek, disturbing the reflections.  They were joined by geese and mallards.  The morning glory leaves were frostbitten and the dock was white. 

Around noon, a female downy woodpecker fed on the suet.  Carolina wrens ate mealworms.   I saw honeybees on the rosemary. Other fliers that were not birds glinted in the sun.  The male downy showed up in the mid afternoon.

Then a female kingfisher perched on one spot after another around the dock.  It was nice to have her in full sun after so many times in twilight.  The tide was very low.  A great blue heron fished under the dam. 

This month's full moon was closer to Earth than it will be again for many years.  Technically, the full moon falls on Monday morning, but the sky was predicted to cloud over after midnight.  Appropriately, it's called the frost moon. 

Windy

Chickadees were thick on the feeder, joined by occasional finches.  A white throated sparrow foraged below.  It looked like the same one as on other days - a white morph.  Mid morning, I got a couple of blurry photos of a brown creeper on the wild cherry.  A golden crowned kinglet dangled from cedar twigs hunting bugs, I suppose. 

A pelican flew up and down the creek several times.  The wind probably drove it from more open stretches of water.  The creek itself was very rough. Only chickadees showed up during lunch.  Afterward I glimpsed something at the mealworm dish, probably a wren. 

But when I went back to my computer, a great blue heron was stalking along the creek edge.  It passed under the dock and out of sight, but a second heron was watching for fish from the neighbor's dock.  That one jumped into the water up over its belly (low tide) and moved around under that dock.  Movement caught the corner of my eye and I discovered a kingfisher with its lunch on the dock bench.  It didn't stay.

More sunshine

A great blue heron flew upstream over the glassy creek.  A Carolina wren came for mealworms.  A white throated sparrow kept to the shade under the azalea.  I swapped out the suet block and put the old one in the new hanger I bought for the front patio.

At lunch time a smaller flock of cormorants fished, but not with the frenzy or other birds of the last several days. Mallards were out on the creek along with geese. 

Later a katydid landed on the window.  I also saw bees on the rosemary.  The pine trees are loaded with cones.  I wonder if that will attract different birds?  Toward evening, a kingfisher dived several times from a piling.  A male hoodie paddled around with the cormorants and geese.