Frigid

The temperature never got up to 32 though the sun melted the ice on the pool cover and the current did the same for the creek. I figured the birds needed food, and they agreed.  The orioles packed on the calories between suet, bark butter, and jelly. Oddly, the female oriole with the most colorful feathers is not high in their pecking order. The warblers also went for the first two, and added seeds.  Downy woodpeckers were single-minded about suet.  At least two red breasted nuthatches also wanted seeds. 

Doves soaked up sun on the pool cover.  Other birds tried to get a drink despite the ice.  I saw warblers, orioles, robins, and bluebirds.  That caused me to put out some mealworms, but I don't think the bluebirds got any.  I also melted the birdbath again.  White throats hurried around the patio.  Two blue jays visited the bark butter.  Later a Carolina wren went back and forth between bark butter and suet.  The wing caught the wren's feathers and flared them out. 

There were a few ducks out on the ice-free parts of the creek.  The lake appeared to be completely frozen.  Sunset  was very orange but the clouds to the Northeast turned pink.

Sunny

In the morning, there were ice crystals in the birdbath.  I saw pelicans and buffleheads but didn't get pictures.  A female hoodie paddled out of sight on the lake. 

Life on the patio took my attention.  Pine warblers searched everywhere for food.  Myrtle warblers seemed uncertain how to get a share.  The male and three female orioles squabbled a bit over jelly.   A blue jay checked out the bark butter.  White throats stayed with the mulch.  The downy woodpeckers wanted the suet all to themselves. 

A flock of blackbirds worked its way along the yards across the creek and finally came over to my side. After lunch, a Carolina wren joined the buffet line. 

Civic duties

I left before sunup and returned long after dark.  And as I was the driver, there was no opportunity for pictures on the way.  All I saw was a hazy third quarter moon and several buzzards.  The only wildlife at the Capitol was political.  Rain began some time after lunch and followed me home. 

Gray

A flock of crows came hunting handouts and overturned the jelly dish and broke the rubber band on the bark butter dish. A half dozen white throats dashed around the patio.  One took a bath.  A myrtle warbler went around from suet to steps where the fragments land to bark butter dish, and back to suet. 

Pelicans flew by frequently, but never where I could get a clear shot.  Oh well, yesterday's excursion provided plenty.  Then, after lunch, one caught a fish in plain view of me. 

In the afternoon, a pine warbler and a Carolina wren competed for bark butter.  Then the orioles came.  There were at least three, all female.  A robin watched from the dogwood. 

Boat excursion

Again everything was frosted and the birdbath a bowl of ice when I got up.   Since yesterday's Winter Wildlife trip was on land, I picked water for today.  At 8am, a fishing charter boat took about two dozen people out to the tunnel islands of the CBBT.  There was heavy equipment on the first two where a second tunnel is under construction.  The Northern pair of islands were less disturbed. The sea was quite calm. 

The sun was bright but it was freezing when we started.  The temperature rose and clouds formed as the morning progressed.  Gulls and cormorants perched all over the rocks.   A few ducks bobbed in the water.  I recognized the buffleheads but the long tailed ducks were new to me.  Gannets were impressive in flight.    When we came back by the Southern islands, a deck hand tossed fish heads into the air over the wake to attract the birds.  Several pelicans appeared. 

At home in the afternoon, the sun was gone and it seemed chilly even though it was much warmer.  Maybe I was still chilled?  Downy woodpeckers, titmice, warblers, juncos, a nuthatch, and the seed feeder regulars visited.  They scattered frequently as though a hawk was around.  A goldfinch popped in but didn't see anything to suit a vegetarian.  Pelicans fished on the creek.

Winter Wildlife Festival

The mulch was frosty and the birdbath solid ice, but there was open water on the creek.  The water at dawn mirrored the sun on the far bank.   White throats were undeterred by the frost as they kicked the mulch to reveal fallen seeds.  The female downy was already eating suet.  Titmice must have been hungry because they started raiding the feeder earlier than usual.

Blue jays came to see if there was more bark butter, but pecked at the leftovers.  Some robins just wanted water.  A myrtle warbler experimented with seeds.  A heron fished below the bend in the creek. 

Another heron waited for a fish in one of the shallow ponds around the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge office as I embarked on the Back Bay/False Cape Terra-gator and Tram Tour.  The bigger impoundments had geese and tundra swans.  Our ranger said they were Canada geese but they were silhouettes to me.  I saw a turtle sunning on a limb fallen into the ditch, but it slid into the water before I could focus.  Taking pictures while riding in a tram on a dirt road wasn't easy. 

Since birds were scarce I took a lot of photos of vegetation, especially when we got out and walked in False Cape State Park.  Some fellow travelers found an owl hairball full of bones including a jaw I believe belonged to a muskrat.

Then we boarded the Terra-Gator and came back along the shore.  Alas the windows were filthy and also picked up fragmented reflections.  There were great blackback gulls and I think lesser as well, herring and/or ring bill gulls, some kind of sandpiper, and I believe terns.

Sunset came soon after we got back.  It was all glow and cloudless.  The derth of birds in the woods illustrated a point form last night's lecture - that suburbs have far more species of birds than nature preserves, at least in the temperate zone.

Lovely day

Myrtle and pine warblers and downy woodpeckers took advantage of the sunshine on the suet.  White throats and juncos sneaked up to the seed feeder perch.

The reflections in the creek showed how still the surface of the water was.  Buffleheads and geese briefly disturbed it.  Pelicans flew over the water and, at sunset, turned colors to match the clouds.

In the evening I went to a lecture by John Marzluff about his book Subirdia.  This was the start of the Winter Wildlife Festival. 

Rain

A gusty South wind drove bands of rain.  At first, it spared the North windows and I saw a wet warbler and a dripping downy.  There wasn't enough light to get a picture of the white throats.  Then the rain hit the glass.  A titmouse and a nuthatch visited the feeder but the rain streaks distorted their images.  I had to rush off to a string of appointments.  The rain  flooded the ditch at the end of our street and the wind rocked the car.  It was blinding on the expressway.  But when I started back the rain was nearly finished.  Dark bars of cloud lined up South to North, but didn't do anything.  During lunch there was another period of rain which ended just before we left.  The horizon was rimmed with cumulus but there was sunshine. 

When I got home, most of the action was on the creek.  Buffleheads, mallards, cormorants, and pelicans were feeding.  Some herons flew past.  I counted one female and three male buffleheads.  There were at least two pelicans. 

The myrtle warbler had dried out.  I dumped the flooded jelly dish and bark butter ball dish and put out some jelly dusted with cayenne. A downy was silhouetted on a hackberry limb. 

I enjoyed the sunset colors that bounced off clouds to the Northeast and reflected in the creek.  (The light rays were playing pool.)  Buffleheads continued to fish in the twilight.  A dark bird I think was a grebe paddled by.  Two pelicans reappeared and plunged after fish.  Unfortunately there were tree limbs in the way.  And when there weren't, the light was gone.

Dandelion winter

The day began with a frozen birdbath and ice on the creek, but the melt set in quickly.  A downy woodpecker was already at work.  A myrtle warbler popped up next.  White throats followed. 

I put out jelly for orioles and a squirrel got into it.  Blue jays went for the bark butter balls.  Starlings noticed that my clever upsidedown suet had slipped to merely leaning.  I fixed that.  A pine warbler had a tough time with the repositioned suet.  A female oriole did finally come to eat (the second serving of) jelly.  It was a lemon yellow one, not the female with the richer, darker yellow-orange,

Robins drank from the pool which was not iced over.  A junco looked at seeds frozen in the birdbath.  The Carolina wren investigated crannies. 

An egret prowled along the bulkhead at low tide.  Herons flew along the creek - I think the one behind was chasing off an interloper.  I saw some pelicans but got no pictures. 

During lunch, a flock of red breasted mergansers chased fish upstream. Hoodies and buffleheads joined in. A red breasted nuthatch finally sat still for a portrait session.  After looking in every direction, it leaped to the post and peeked around. 

When I went out to run an errand, I noticed dandelions blooming along the road.  They take advantage of every warm day. They are so adaptable, they will probably survive our species. Toward evening, the tide sank very low.  A cormorant wrestled a fish that seemed far too big.  The bird dived so I don't know who won. 

All day trip

I was glad to be on a bus and not driving!  To avoid congestion, the driver circled around and took the MMBT instead of the HRBT.  The sun had not quite risen when we crossed the James River.  It was a beautiful day, very cold but not windy.  The return trip got me home at sunset which was spectacular, but alas. the camera was in the back seat.  The only wildlife I saw was gulls over the water. 

Frigid

When I poured hot water into the birdbath, it practically froze on contact. The wind was the reason the creek wasn't frozen too.  I saw a couple of hoodies on the water.  Later there were buffleheads.  The "king tide" had already peaked.  Bright sunshine lasted all day.  The afternoon low tide was very low because the wind helped the tide. 

A downy woodpecker was up early to enjoy some undisturbed time with the suet.  White throats were out and about.  A myrtle warbler pecked at the ice in the birdbath.  I put out some jelly and saw one female oriole.  A red breasted nuthatch nearly eluded me as did a Carolina wren. 

"Super Blood Wolf Moon"

Morning was warm and gray, but very little rain fell.  The tide was quite high thanks to the full moon and carried too much trash, thanks to humans..  At least six buzzards continued to visit the airspace over the creek and dam.  I could not see anything to interest them.  Three bufflehead drakes dived and paddled all day.  A pair of hoodies paddled sedately upstream.  The downy breakfasted on suet.  Five white throats came for Sunday brunch.  The West wind chased the clouds and we had blue sky and a bit of sun mid morning before the rain cloud arrived around noon as the wind flipped from West to North. 

Appropriately for the Wolf Moon, the howling gale tore dragged the temperature from balmy to frigid.  Egrets, herons, pelicans, cormorants, and buzzards struggled with the wind.  One gust stripped the camellia of thousands of petals and made a momentary pink blizzard.  Warblers (pine & myrtle) finally got hungry enough to venture out.  I think a hawk was hanging around off and on, and later I glimpsed an eagle.  Two female downy woodpeckers wanted turns at the suet.  The clouds lingered after the rain stopped and made the light level a problem for the camera. 

Around sunset the wind began to clear the sky, fortunately for moon watching. The moon seemed huge as it rose behind the trees.  Later,  I froze my tootsies and watched the eclipse until almost midnight when I came in to thaw out and write this.  The icy gusts from the Northwest managed to find me through the open side on the Southeast.  Also, the moon was getting too dim for the camera, which is still on daylight savings and therefore insisted the photos were taken was tomorrow.

Gray

It was warmer than it looked or felt.  Pelicans were flying at breakfast, but I didn't see any again until evening.   The downy woodpeckers had to work for their suet but they didn't have to cope with so much competition.  Nuthatches still had to compete for sunflower seeds though.  Hoodies on the creek were hard to see in the low light. 

When I got home, there were more kinds of birds visiting.  A pine warbler wanted a drink and a share of the suet.  But the female downy pecked at it no matter from which direction it tried to approach.  White throats minded their own business.  So did juncos.

I pruned some upstart azalea twigs and on one a tiny spider scurried up its dragline.  A great blackbacked gull captured something too red to be natural.  A half dozen buzzards kept returning to circle over the creek as though they could see something floating that they couldn't reach.  I believe I also saw a hawk and an eagle while I was outside. 

Once I came back inside the songbirds came back, first warblers, then orioles.  A goldfinch stayed up in the cherry. 

It was really hard to see what was moving around on the lake - what I thought might be a turtle turned out to be a guano streak.  But I think I saw a woodduck pair and then some shovelers pinwheeling.  The odd muscovy duck was still flocking with the geese.  Something popped up at the water's edge just below me that I think was a female bufflehead.  Certainly there were a couple of drakes around. The water was mostly quiet but wind gusts sandpapered it.  The clouds broke apart before sunset and turned orange. 

Too much time inside

I saw lots of birds while the camera was at the other end of the house: a goldfinch and a pine warbler, white throats, and a downy woodpecker at breakfast.  During lunch, a myrtle warbler, a Carolina wren, a robin, a blue jay, and a female oriole checked out the sparse offerings.  Sparse because I'm still discouraging the starlings and crows. Two pelicans flew low and close upstream.  Bufflehead drakes sparkled on the creek. As I was leaving in the afternoon, I saw a nuthatch, but it got away un-photographed.  Only when I got home at sunset did I get any pictures.

Clouds on the horizon were strongly colored. The moon was near enough to full to show much of its face, but still angled enough for shadows to show the craters.  Cormorants flew North to their roost.  A great blue heron watched from the neighboring dock.  Pelicans continued to fish into the twilight.  A diving duck popped up in the water but it was too dark to say which kind.  The sweet alyssum was still blooming and the Carolina jessamine started a few flowers. 

Warmer

It turned out that the crows were quite willing to sit on the table to gobble jelly right in front of me.  A great blue heron stood on the end of the dock.  Another perched on a fallen log in the lake. 

Myrtle warblers scrounged for crumbs of bark butter.  Juncos found spilled seeds. So did white throated sparrows.  The downy woodpeckers figured out how to reach the upsidedown suet.  A titmouse watched from the cherry. 

Iced creek

The ice was strong enough for geese to walk on, but succumbed when they landed with a 'whomp.'  But then it refroze. The mulch was very white with frost and of course the birdbath was frozen, but not the pool.  . 

The crows made it clear they had first dibs on any bird treats.  So I hung the suet so that it can only be reached from below.  The downy had no problem but a starling eyed me pitifully.  And I put the jelly on the table hoping that's too close to the house for a crow to be comfortable.  But I never saw an oriole.  Only the seed eaters were unfazed. 

White throats ignored it all.  The myrtle warblers seemed lost.  A nuthatch got a seed without a photo.  I spotted a red bellied woodpecker in the dogwood with a seed to hammer. 

Late in the day when the ice was gone two bufflehead drakes appeared.  A huge flock of cormorants floated on the lake.  A few shovelers mixed in. 

A grebe-ous day!

White throats were busy breakfasting.   Then crows showed why we can't have nice things.  They ate all the jelly and stole the bark butter tub, dumping the dish and hanger on the ground.  Juncos stayed in the trees.  But blue jays came to investigate.  Warblers still had their suet.  Downy woodpeckers insisted it was their suet.  

I saw a pied-billed grebe on the creek.  it posed very nicely, showing its size relative to a mallard and even lifting a foot out of the water for proof.  The mallards were feeling amorous, at least the drakes were.  A great blue heron waited beside the dam.  Cormorants swam around and looked a bit like the grebe from the back. 

Indoors, I noticed there was spiderweb around the house plants.  I didn't see any spiders, or any prey either. 

Flocks

 A titmouse snatched a seed for breakfast.  The orioles and warblers had suet.  A Carolina wren went to the seed feeder and then to the suet.  But the female downy hopped on the suet cage and the pine warbler left.  So did the wren after a moment.  Then an oriole joined the downy.  Eventually the male oriole ventured out and the suet looked like a circus.  But the female oriole had a hissy fit and got the whole suet to herself, at least till another female hopped on.  White throats stayed on the ground.  A goldfinch made a brief visit but ate nothing, like a vegan at a barbecue. 

 A hoodie drake sailed downstream.  At least a dozen crows took over the yard.  Five lined the roof like a bad omen come to roost.  They took off and starlings arrived.  I scared them off and both flocks gathered in the oak.  I sat close to the glass to keep them away and saw red breasted mergansers and other fishing birds chasing a school of fish upstream, then back down.  They churned a path through the middle of the creek, but the vegetation kept throwing the camera focus off.  On the way back they were slower so I could plan for gaps in the twigs. Pelicans flew over their wake. 

I put out jelly in a separate dish from the fresh tub of bark butter.  It took the orioles less than five minutes to find the dish.  The clouds broke up and let the sun through in the afternoon.  But I decided I had to catch up with my responsibilities so what the birds did, I do not know.  The night ski was clear and the air was sharp.  Half a moon, stars, and a planet watched me get lost and retrace my steps in the dark. 

Cold rain

 At breakfast, the birds seemed monochrome through the rain-streaked glass.  Not only the titmice, juncos, and downy woodpeckers, but even the warblers and white throats seemed colorless.  There was so little light that taking photos seemed useless.  I think the rain brought my cold back. At church the fire alarm went off so we all stood, dripping, under a roofed outdoor space.  Then on the way home it became clear that the inside of my coat was wet. 


At lunch there was enough light, but the glass was still spotted and streaked because the wind came from the Northeast.  Two Carolina wrens ate some of everything.  This one had a stuffed crop. 

 I saw a great blackback gull afloat on the creek.  Buffleheads ignored the rain.  A few pelicans flew over though I wonder if they could see fish through the wind-ruffled, rain-pocked surface.

A starling got away with a meal because I was not going outside to chase it.  A crow swooped over the feeders and scared all the songbirds.  Orioles were too hungry to stay away, even the male.  The female downy was not happy.  First the male oriole scolded her, then a female really let loose. 

Cold and dull

An overcast sky gave insufficient light for decent photos during my hurried breakfast.  And what few birds I saw were scared off by the feral cat. I had appointments and errands all morning, but that included buying more bark butter tubs and suet. 

When I got home for lunch, it was still cold and gray, but the birds were feasting. A red winged blackbird was sitting on the suet, flaunting his epaulettes.  Warblers, both pine and myrtle, competed with the orioles and downy woodpeckers for suet. 

Two Carolina wrens examined everything.  Red breasted nuthatches hammered seeds in a blur.  Titmice mostly watched.  White throated sparrows foraged in the mulch.  Crows hung around but I didn't give them any more encouragement. 

The squirrels were in love, except when they spied something to eat.  Several pairs of hoodies were visible on the unruffled creek.  Later in the afternoon, juncos showed up.

Cold and bright

We're up to four female orioles, and the one male.  It was very quiet while I ate breakfast, then suddenly the feeders were crowded with the above-mentioned orioles, two red breasted nuthatches, one white breasted nuthatch, two Carolina wrens, warblers, downy woodpeckers, and cardinals.  Doves and white throated sparrows foraged beneath. 

A new duck

Morning was so cold, six egrets and a heron lined up under the dam to catch solar rays and shelter form the gusty wind.  I was beginning to wonder if I would see any winter migrants this year beside buffleheads and hooded mergansers.  Today, hanging out with the mallards and geese was a ring-neck duck.  The wind also drove pelicans and gulls upstream from the bay. 

The birdbath was frozen and a squirrel kept its tail tight against its back for warmth.  A blue jay landed in the dogwood but all I caught was tail feathers. White throats bustled about the mulch.  Orioles and warblers competed for the suet and flustered the downy woodpeckers.  Titmice and nuthatches got fresh sunflower seeds, courtesy of K. I think crows dumped both of the hanging cups that I'd filled with bark butter balls.  

The sky was clear except for a few thin streaks in the West at sunset.  They flared orange while the rest of the sky glowed gold.  A sharp pointed crescent moon hung above, following the sun. 

Windy

The sunlight was bright but the wind overcompensated. Orioles and downy woodpeckers craved suet.  Soon the warblers arrived. 

At lunchtime white throats scurried about while an oriole worked on the suet.  Pelicans cruised low over the creek.  Crows behaved oddly.  A pair of hoodies worked along the shoreline. 

Warm

The sky was mostly cloudy and the creek unruffled.  Orioles, a nuthatch, warblers, juncos, titmice, and downy woodpeckers entertained us.

It's odd how much like a giant pine warbler a female Baltimore oriole appears from certain angles.  I wonder also why one female is so much richer in color than the other two. 

A winter-drab goldfinch visited the sunflower seeds.

Squirrels were itchy, and horny.  They seem to wash their faces more when stressed or indecisive. 

Pecking order

Orioles were up early, including the male, but the light was poor.  Dawn was as pretty as a sunset.  A heron landed by the dam outfall to watch the tide rise. 

On the suet, a downy confronted an oriole, or was it the other way around?  It got a little physical but then they agreed to share.  Eventually the downy gave up, or else was full. White throats bustled about in the mulch. 

When I looked out at lunchtime the orioles were still stuffing themselves.  They tried sharing.  One even tried to pick up after herself under the jelly feeder.  And there was another argument with a downy over the suet.  A little flock of juncos appeared.  So did a handful of pine and myrtle warblers.  The usual seed feeder birds were joined by titmice.  For the first time, I saw a nuthatch down in the mulch. 

Several pelicans fished the creek.  A circling buzzard watched with interest.  A heron perched on a lake snag while Northern Shovelers paddled past.  The were the first I'd seen this winter.  A little hoodie drake paddled after them.  I saw the hawk again but couldn't get a picture. 

Clouds crowded the sky and then dispersed, then more came and repeated the cycle.  While most of the clouds traveled East, a few fluffs of cumulus at a lower altitude headed West. 

Predators

Yesterday's wind was no more.  The sun shone on a mirror of water.  The feeders were very quiet at breakfast.  A few white throats kicked mulch until they all suddenly flew off.  Then the reason why stuck its head up above the top step.  The feral cat was back, but it gave up on the empty scene.

Sometime later birds began to appear.  Female orioles were wise to keep a wary watch.  An immature cooper's hawk shot across the yard and landed in the redwood.  I only got one photo (through a screen) before it took off again.

Time passed and a nervous male red bellied woodpecker landed on the feeder post.  But the suet must have felt too exposed because he flew away. A myrtle warbler ventured out, soon followed by a downy woodpecker.  Then the orioles returned.  Pine warblers joined them, the males looking a bit like shrunken female orioles.  Finally, a male oriole arrived, but only for a minute.

In the afternoon, a few buffleheads floated on the creek while a heron observed from a channel marker. The red bellied woodpecker circled through the trees.  A myrtle warbler and the orioles stayed up in the trees too.  The afternoon got warm enough to hatch a midge but I didn't see other insects.  A squirrel ate dogwood buds.  Sunset painted a pink blush on haze and thin pleats of cumulus.

Springlike

Dawn was lovely.  Gusty winds brought temperatures in the 50s and a stream of clouds that occasionally held sprinkles. The sky cycled from blue with puffs of cotton to dark and ominous, then back again in ten minutes.  The wind also brought pelicans inland.  Herons flew low over choppy water in the creek and two of them had a territorial dispute.  Only a few hooded mergansers and buffleheads were visible. 

Orioles, pine and myrtle warblers, and downy woodpeckers were glad to get a new block of suet.  They did not want to share.  But then a crow showed up and they all scattered.  The crow, however, wanted some grape jelly.   Red breasted nuthatches grabbed seeds and retreated to a tree limb.  The male oriole landed on the feeder hanger but spooked and never came back. 

Gray

The downy woodpeckers pretended to ignore the warblers, and sometimes each other.  But the female orioles cleared them all off.  A flock of crows descended and tried to carry off the tub of bark butter again, but my rubber bands foiled them.  They only succeeded in dumping the whole thing on the ground.  Nuthatches went for seeds now that the suet was a nubbin. 

The creek was still except when birds took off or landed.  A few hoodies and buffleheads paddled around in the morning.  Three or four pairs of mallards were out on the water in the rain in the late afternoon. I went to Virginia Wesleyan for a meeting and took a couple pictures of asters still blooming.  I hope to visit on a nicer day. 

When I finally got home, a light rain was falling and a junco was foraging in the wet mulch.  The light was insufficient for the camera.  The orange crowned warbler worked on the remnant of suet.  I need to put an new block of it out tomorrow.  A downy and three orioles also tackled the hard to reach suet.  The orioles had a tussle over the suet cage so pine warblers slipped in.  One warbler moved over to the dish of bark butter and jelly.  Finally a myrtle warbler showed up.  A few white throats poked through the mulch but photography was impossible. 

Rain

I saw a downy, a nuthatch, a female oriole, an orange crowned and some pine warblers on the feeders.  I put out a "lovin' spoonful" of jelly, which will probably dissolve.  A bufflehead drake fished in the rain.

A hawk swooped through and nearly got one of the birds.  I think it was a Coopers but the only photo was hopelessly blurry.  A Carolina wren enjoyed the bark butter.  White throats hunted supper n the mulch.  The low light ruined most of the pictures. 

Pungo

A gray day was enlivened by an excursion to the southern end of the city - a mix of forest, swamp, and farm fields.  We saw two hawks, one was red tailed and the other had a white rump and I believe was a Northern Harrier!  I was driving on a country road with cars behind me and ditches on the sides, so there was no question of a photo.   I did pull off at the foot of the West Neck bridge and my passenger tried to photograph some other birds  I think they were vultures. 

At breakfast there were white throats and pine warblers and a titmouse performing for a house finch.  A little sun got through but the creek was choppy and gray and empty of ducks.  When I got home, there wasn't enough light to photograph a cardinal.  But the creek was calm and, unlike yesterday, the temperature was seasonable. 

Very warm

What does it mean when the first day of the new year gets up to 70°?  Could it be climate change? Morning was quiet with only a few buffleheads out on the creek. I glimpsed a flock of hoodies right by the dock as I was hurrying to leave.  Later a half dozen mallards paddled around, accompanied by one female bufflehead.  The geese watched from a neighbor's yard.

Birds came after lunch.  White throats foraged, warblers tussled over the suet, female orioles gorged on jelly, and a red breasted nuthatch sampled suet but returned to the sunflower seeds.  Titmice and chickadees stuck to the seeds.  A titmouse cussed me out for sitting too close to the feeder. 

The clouds were spectacular all day until they merged into evening overcast.  Crows flocked to chase a hawk.  Turtles basked on a log on the lake.  I began to get chilly from the wind so I left the wildlife to their own pursuits.