Pelicans

The ice that lingered through yesterday had disappeared by breakfast.  Pelicans were fishing throughout a rainy, gray day.  Hoodies, buffleheads, cormorants, gulls, and a heron joined the fun.  

Between the wet and the warmth, songbirds were less enthusiastic about the feeders.  Plus I left the cover on the upper dish of barkbutter balls to keep out the rain.  And I brought the jelly dish inside for the same reason.  Still, I saw two kinds of warbler (pine & myrtle), two kinds of sparrow (song & white throat), bluebirds and blue jays, Carolina wrens, juncos, and brown headed nuthatches.  And those vegan goldfinches were entirely too interested in barkbutter.  They will, however, eat mountain mint seeds, it appears. 

During a lull, I scrubbed the windows to get rid of the flecks of debris that confused the camera's focus.  Yesterday, I finally downloaded a month's worth of photos the hard way.  I still need to decide which are keepers.  The cold damaged a lot of leaves and destroyed all the camellia flowers, but fresh buds were beginning to open.

Frozen creek

Even though it was a little warmer and sunny, I don't believe the creek ever melted today.  But that's nothing compared to some parts of the US. 

Still frozen

Not so windy and not quite so cold, but there was ice on the creek and I could not keep the birdbath thawed.  The camellia flowers were ruined but it remains to be seen whether the buds were damaged.  The day was sunny till late afternoon when streaks of cloud spread into a colorful sunset.  I was too cold to traipse down to the dock to get the best view.  

The paler female oriole enjoyed jelly. I didn't see either male or the darker female.  We were away much of the day so I probably missed a lot of birds.  I did see a white breasted nuthatch, juncos, and all the usual birds.

Frozen

Overnight was as cold as predicted but less windy.  I poured hot water into the birdbath twice and each time it refroze.  But while it was still fluid, it was popular with the songbirds.  The creek didn't freeze on account of the wind agitating the surface, I think. 

A female towhee came to eat the seeds I scattered.  So did a flock of cowbirds and red winged blackbirds along with one starling.  A crow flew to the post and scolded till the left.  There weren't many seeds left for the sparrows and juncos.  

A female red bellied woodpecker took the suet away from the downy.  Bluebirds and warblers alternated between suet and barkbutter balls.  Even the nuthatches took turns on the suet.  The Carolina wrens ate some of everything.  

Gale

"Winter Storm Elliott Intensified Into Bomb Cyclone With High Winds..." read an alarmist headline. Around 8:30am the clouds began to pull apart, the wind picked up, and the temperature headed down.  I hustled food out for the birds once I was sure the rain was finished and while the air was still moderate.  This is a NOAA image of water vapor but it seemed to me to show the shape of the storm more clearly than the wind map.  

Rain

After a couple of bright, sunny days, the rain arrived.  Unfortunately it's the precursor to a polar vortex of howling wind and a 40° plunge in temperature, according to the prognosticators.  The birds may also have foresight because they were not lulled by today's 58° high or by the rain.  They shook out their feathers and stuffed their wet faces.  I glimpsed a blue jay, a blackbird, and a mockingbird, but the sparrows, warblers, orioles, bluebirds, nuthatches, and downy woodpecker were as persistent as the house finches, cardinals, chickadees, and titmice.  Juncos made a brief visit.  

A pair of buffleheads cruised the creek while a great blue heron watched.  Egrets and gulls made a commotion on the lake just above the dam.  In the afternoon as the temperature began to fall, mist rose from the lake.  The waterfowl disappeared.  

Still cold

The chill makes birds hungry.  I've seen Carolina wrens, mockingbirds, pine and yellow rumped warblers, bluebirds, blue jays, a starling, goldfinches and house finches, titmice, chickadees, cardinals, a female downy woodpecker, brown headed and white breasted nuthatches, and mourning doves.  

A few hooded mergansers have joined the mallards on the creek.  Two crows chased off a hawk.

Cold

Lots of hungry birds showed up at the feeders.  The creek, however, was empty of any waterfowl except geese.  The sky cleared in the afternoon but the air did not warm up.

Bleak

The cold North wind, gray sky, and bare trees made the colors on the birds look flamboyant.  I think I missed the brown headed nuthatch but got pictures of the pine warblers, bluebirds, a blue jay, orioles, a mockingbird, goldfinches,

Eagles?

I was crows gathering so I was half-expecting a hawk.  But the three huge birds burst through the trees looked like eagles.  I saw the underside of one and it appeared to be an osprey but I'm not sure about the other two.  After they flew away, the songbirds came out - warblers and bluebirds.  Doves foraged through the mulch.  

Cold wind

The sun was bright as I drove East.  I missed the morning birds but they came back for lunch.  Male and female orioles couldn't leave the jelly alone.  Brown headed nuthatches intimidated chickadees.  I spotted an odd sparrow.  Warblers and bluebirds were thick.  A Carolina wren and a mockingbird were quick.  Clouds moved in but the sun got through frequently.  I glimpsed a kingfisher and a hoodie hen and a great blue heron.  The sky must have cleared because a big round moon shone like a spotlight. 

Plenty of birds

Orioles, white breasted and brown headed nuthatches, a Carolina wren, bluebirds, pine warblers, and the usual seed eaters arrived in a rush and, after a few minutes, scattered as quickly.  I suppose there was a hawk around.  Sunshine was equally as fleeting and the day was mostly gray.  I still haven't figured out how to download photos from the camera.  

Damp

It was warmer and wet in the morning.  A flock of robins fund something desirable in the trees.  Orioles, nuthatches, sparrows, bluebirds, and warblers were back.  The sky began to clear ing the afternoon, but then changed its mind.  I pruned part of the mountain mint.  

Baltimore orioles

The lady orioles enjoyed grape jelly today.  One had a very orange breast,but the other was more of a lemon yellow with a white belly.  

Many birds!

Saturday was wet and Sunday lived up to its name.  The winter weather pattern settled in, warm and wet or cold and bright.  I've taken lots of photos but haven't yer figured how to get them off the camera and into the computer.  From memory, there were bluebirds, orioles, pine and myrtle warblers, white breasted and brown headed nuthatches, a Carolina wren, juncos, song and white throated sparrows, blue jays, red winged blackbirds, goldfinches, a dove, and of course chickadees, titmice, house finches, and downy woodpeckers.  Hooded mergansers fished on the creek.  

Frosty

I saw a light coat of white crystals on weeds around the birdbath and longer crystals that didn't quite cover the water in the birdbath so I added hot water and put out fresh barkbutter balls.  A flurry of birds arrived including a mockingbird, a pine warbler, and a bluebird.  Later a brown headed nuthatch and a male oriole put in an appearance.

K walked me through the camera setup, but I don't seem to have the magnification I expected.  And I haven't figured out how to get photos off the camera.  I took pictures of the creek reflections, a little flock of hoodies, and cormorants flying across sunset-colored clouds.  I missed the kingfisher and the great blue heron.  

Black and white birds

Still no camera on a bright, cold day.  The neighbors' Japanese maple was on fire in the sun.  Our red maple was stripped of leaves by the wind.  I saw a pair of juncos but still didn't have the new camera ready.  Chickadees and a downy woodpecker completed the monochrome bird presence.