Out like a lion

The first day of March was lovely.  The last day, though warm, grew windy and ended in rain.  Menacing clouds filled the sky at 5pm and an hour later melted together to rain.  I was driving, not taking pictures.    In the morning, the downy woodpeckers queued up for suet.  Orioles seemed confused after starlings ate up all the food.  Blue jays were disappointed too. 

Brown headed nuthatches continued their steady depletion of sunflower seeds.  A chipping sparrow wandered the patio looking for goodies.  A junco did the same, but in the mulch.  A bluebird foraged on the steps. 

The gladiolus bulbs sprouted!  A black swallowtail egged the rue.  Turtles basked.  

Woodpeckers

At breakfast, the female red bellied woodpecker was on the seed feeder at the same time the male pileated woodpecker was eating suet.  But before I could focus, the dog disturbed them and they didn't return.  Then both male and female downy woodpeckers shared the suet briefly, and again I missed the shot.  I did catch a female oriole.

Despite the chilly air, turtles enjoyed the sunshine.  

Another red-bellied woodpecker

Pollen streaked the creek and the overnight rain left drips.  A female red-bellied woodpecker visited today but only for sunflower seeds.  She ignored the suet that the male devoured yesterday.  At least two brown headed nuthatches were after the same seeds.  

Bluebirds hoped for barkbutter balls but I was waiting for things to dry out first.  A junco foraged.  The leonine cat prowled.  Buffleheads bobbed on the creek.  

After sunset I admired the first quarter moon overhead. 

Seeds

There were starlings hanging around every time I looked so I never put any food out.  Of course there was the suet and the sunflower seed feeder.  The brown headed nuthatch was happy with those.  Blue jays, titmice, warblers, a robin, and other birds appeared to be eating oak flowers or maybe catching bugs.  I saw a junco foraging under the seed feeder.  The day was cooler, cloudy, and not so breezy.  

A myrtle warbler preened in the dogwood while waiting to defend the suet.  The pileated woodpecker returned and the warbler decided to retreat.  A downy woodpecker felt the same.  When the pileated flew away, he landed on a tree trunk opposite a squirrel.  The downy hustled back to the suet only to find a starling had got there first.  

A couple of doves wandered around the patio.  Bluebirds were not pleased with the lack of barkbutter balls.  The dog was feeling enough recovered to wander around the yard.  A white throated sparrow emerged from under an azalea bush.  The one dogwood once again made puzzle boxes of its petals.  The domestic cherry burst into bloom!  I begain planting seeds because rain is predicted for overnight.  

Astronomy

Money plants began flowering.  Bluebirds kept an eye on the feeders.  A male red bellied woodpecker ate suet, followed by a pair of downy woodpeckers.  Blue jays flew around the trees.  A clump of tent caterpillars built an nest in the wild cherry.  A brown headed nuthatch was thirsty.  The azaleas were not waiting for April to bloom.  

The yellow cat prowled around the pool.  Brown headed nuthatches ignored it.   A rumpled, molting oriole ate barkbutter balls.  Turtles enjoyed the pleasant temperature and didn't mind the rain.  The redwood began to leaf out.  The dog was very sick and we feared for him but a vet was reassuring. 

By evening the sky was hazy and streaked with clouds but they formed a gorgeous sunset.  An egret or heron flew over head. As twilight darkened, I was able to find two of the five planets that were supposed to be lined up.  I think they were Venus and Mars.  A black cat with white feet dashed past me.  We are getting overrun with cats. 

Warm again

The temperature came back up again, but it was windy.  I was in Norfolk and on the way home, the temperature climbed to 81.  Then raindrops started falling but hardly enough to clean the windshield.  Afterward, the thermometer settled in the 70s and the sky gradually cleared.  The sweet gum began to leaf out. 

Fickle weather

The early bird was a bluebird.   Hooded mergansers preened on the water.  I found a rose bud. 

At noon the temperature was 81° and by 1:30pm it was 65°. Turtles were out basking in the sunshine.  A male kingfisher perched on a neighbor's dock piling. 

 A white throated sparrow scampered about the patio. 

3 woodpeckers, 2 cats

The pileated woodpecker was back for breakfast Wednesday.   This frustrated a molting oriole.  Later a mockingbird came for a handout.  

A bluebird watched while starlings argued.  The pileated woodpecker came back mid afternoon.  Then a red bellied woodpecker showed up.  The pileated ignored the red belly which gave up and flew away.  It seemed like the pileated followed it. 

I also saw myrtle warblers, juncos, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, and the tuxedo cat. 

On Thursday, the black cat came up to see the birds.  This annoyed the visiting crows and starlings.  A blue jay made a speech from the top of the post.  I thought if might have been about breakfast.  

The afternoon climbed to over 70° and the warmth brought out the turtles and bees.  The breeze was even warm and pleasant in the shade. The West turned crimson at sunset.  

Frost

There was a pretty rime of ice on the money plant and mountain mint leaves but I don't think anything was killed.  The creek was glassy in the early light and the day warmed pretty quickly.  The sky was intensely blue though there were contrail streaks.  Male flowers on the pines joined the oaks in gilding surfaces with pollen.  Money plants formed buds and violets bloomed.  Azaleas began to flower but the blueberry buds would not be rushed. 

I spotted a pied-bill grebe on the creek but it dived and anyway vegetation fooled the camera focus.  A great blue heron supervised the turtles on the lake.  A great egret fished below the dam. 

Starlings took over the dish feeders.  A mockingbird drank from the birdbath.  Orioles savored the jelly.  in the bushes across the pool, two brown thrashers chased each other but I got no pictures.  Bluebirds eventually got some food.  A myrtle warbler foraged in the birdbath which had dried out during the day.  Then it hovered to peck suet.  Strange bird. 

Bees inspecting the rue for flowers were disappointed.  A black swallowtail only cared about the rue leaves that would feed caterpillars.  

Cold equinox

Yesterday, I was at Engage Norfolk in an echoing underground hall so I missed the middle of the day and came home hoarse.  The pileated woodpecker came to breakfast, followed by a pine warbler.  A white throated sparrow scavenged beneath the seed feeder.  A blue jay stuffed its beak with barkbutter balls.  

When I got home, a moth-eaten oriole wanted mealworms.  The pileated came back.  Then the cat showed up.  

Today, the pileated was back for more.  A song sparrow scoured the patio in search of crumbs.  The dog begged to go out and settle matters with a handful of crows but I was otherwise occupied.  A brown headed nuthatch got some seeds. 

I saw a pelican afloat and then taking off.  Gulls were also swooping around the creek.  The black and white cat sat outside my window till I startled it.  Later the yellow cat circled the pool.  I saw the muskrat or nutria swim to the neighbor's dock but vegetation hid it from the camera. 

Azaleas put out tentative flowers.  A myrtle warbler and a junco hunted around the patio, but the song sparrow poked through the mulch.  Starlings hoped for a handout.  A downy was evicted from the suet by a red bellied woodpecker.  I went to the nursery and bought way too many seeds plus four pimento peppers.  

In the newspaper Saturday, there was this, "In our area on Monday afternoon, at precisely 5:24, the sun crosses the celestial equator. This marks the spring equinox and ushers in astronomical spring...There’s no doubt that, at least technically speaking, winter is officially over. However, with the past two months of record warm weather on the books, weather prognosticators now predict a return to winter for the last couple weeks of March." And sure enough, the forecast is for frost tonight. 

Too many cats!

I don't know if people are being careless with their pets or if they are purposely dumping cats here, but this winter there have been cats I'd never seen before.  One is all black and the other yellow and long haired.  And the resident feral tuxedo cat showed up today too.  Fortunately the two new ones don't seem to be birdwatchers.  

Morning was cold, wet, and gray which didn't stop the downy woodpeckers.  The rain washed pollen onto the pool cover and made strange patterns, but it didn't fill the birdbath.  A white throated sparrow ventured out anyway, and I glimpsed a song sparrow.  Starlings were back - why doesn't the cat watch those?  

On the lake, shovelers were doing their carousel paddling trick to stir up the bottom.  It was too cold for turtles.  Down on the creek, a lone female bufflehead paddled upstream.  Three female hoodies passed two mallard drakes headed downstream.  

At lunch, the silly myrtle warbler was hovering at the suet again.  A Carolina wren inspected everything till an oriole bullied it off the barkbutter balls that I put out when the rain stopped.  The oriole filled her beak like a blue jay.  A few juncos poked through the mulch.  The sky gradually cleared.  A pine warbler wanted barkbutter balls too.   

Sunshine brought the turtles out.  The household that built the new dock next to the dam finally set the purple martin birdhouse up but I don't think they mounted it high enough or in a good spot.  A flock of red breasted mergansers fished up and down the creek and back again.  I saw six females and one drake.  Hoodies were also paddling around but diving less.  Then a female kingfisher appeared.  I might have stared too hard because she took off.  

Two more days

I seem to have fallen into an every other day habit.  Wednesday dawned bright and quiet.  The reflection in the creek looked like a glossy photo.  Orioles and bluebirds breakfasted from the hanging feeder dishes while a junco foraged in the mulch.  Blue jays queued up for barkbutter balls.  

Some of the "female" orioles looked like they were transitioning into male feathers.  According to All about Birds, "Young male Baltimore Orioles do not molt into bright-orange adult plumage until the fall of their second year."But it was the appearance of black head feathers that I noticed.  

I spent most of Thursday going to and from Richmond to tell the Air Board to stay in RGGI.  A great blue heron flew over the car but I was driving.  Then Friday I had online meetings.  I saw a myrtle warbler early.  The food I put out disappeared.  K hung a fresh block of suet.  Turtles lined their log because it was quite warm, though mostly cloudy.  A wall cloud was visible to the North in the evening, but hard to photograph.  According to Ken Spencer who writes the gardening column in the newspaper, "Friday, we crossed the Rubicon: 12 hours plus 38 seconds of daylight." 

Two spring days

The wind blew cold on Tuesday.  Bluebirds and orioles came to the feeder early.  A dove and a starling wanted a drink.  A myrtle warbler foraged on the ground but a pine warbler insisted on barkbutter balls.  A brown headed nuthatch got a seed and a white breasted nuthatch.  A red bellied woodpecker was too shy to come to the feeder but not the pileated woodpecker.  

On Wednesday, the male oriole returned for a photo session.  A bluebird was rather put out by the oriole's greed.  The crows descended and ate every bit.  Even the suet block was almost gone, though I can't blame that on the crows.  The sunny-side narcissus began to open.  

Rain

The pileated woodpecker was not deterred by the rain, but few other birds showed up.  That might have been because there were no barkbutter balls or mealworms slowly disintegrating into rain soup.  I think I saw bluebirds in the pecan tree when I came home.  I hope they've been building a nest in the birdhouse.  

A flock of buffleheads fished in the afternoon.  I saw an egret briefly.  Later, the sky must have cleared because sunset lit up distinct cumulus puffs.  

Hawk strike

Titmice were bold when I put out mealworms for their breakfast.  Two gulls floated on the creek, one the herring gull, the other immature and flecked with brown.  

We took the dog for a walk at the botanical garden.  The daffodils were part their peak, just as at home.  The most interesting flowers were weeds in the grass, including an escaped grape hyacinth.  Birds were scarce except for the Canada geese to which the dog made objection.  

Back home, I noticed the reflection of a pelican that was perched on a post.  I saw a red bellied woodpecker hiking up tree trunks, but vegetation messed with the focus.  Then a blue jay popped up.  A bit of forsythia survived and bloomed.  It will have to come out, like the leucojum.  

As we ate lunch, a flicker showed up in one of the dogwoods.  After it flew, the red bellied woodpecker landed in the same spot.  Two white throated sparrows reappeared after several days' absence.  Then the song sparrow followed.  Then a chipping sparrow landed on the feeder but something spooked it.  The female orioles were back.  So were juncos and bluebirds and warblers.  And starlings.  

In the afternoon while I was in the living room I heard a very loud thump, then a somewhat softer one.  I hurried to the back and was in time to see the disappearing tail of a Cooper's hawk with a smaller dark bird in hot pursuit.  I don't know if the hawk got anything, but the dish feeder with the mealworms was swinging wildly.  I went outside to see if the hawk had stopped around the corner of the house, but no.  I did see a female hoodie on the creek.  And I felt drops of rain on the rising wind so I gave up and went back to my email.  By supper time everywhere was quite wet but the rain still seemed very light.  

Strong, cold wind

The pileated woodpecker was back for breakfast.  Then I moved to the back room to run Zoom and noticed some activity on the creek.  A great egret prowled the shoreline while a herring gull floated further out.  Its wings were darker than the one yesterday, unless it was a trick of the light.  A pelican landed to see if the gull had anything good to catch.  Later two egrets hung out together by the dock.  The wind nearly pulled their feathers off.  The water surface was churned till it looked like pea soup.

At lunch time, I was joined by bluebirds, juncos, titmice, orioles, a Carolina wren,  and of course warblers, both pine and myrtle.  A blue jay ate barkbutter crumbs because that was all that was left.   A female red-winged blackbird enjoyed suet then posed for me.  The feral cat curled up in the sun until I went out to prune.  I didn't work long because the wind was too cold.  

Another two-fer

I had to change the password and didn't have it on the laptop yet, so I couldn't open Blogger yesterday.  But it was a good bird day.  Wind roughed up the creek but that didn't stop pelicans.  A great blue heron used the floating dock. 

A couple of feathers were snagged on a mountain mint stalk.  The orioles were still here.  A pale pine warbler sneaked past the boss butterbutt, but not for long.  A female red-bellied woodpecker discovered the suet.  Juncos came to forage.  Starlings came for everything.  

The newspaper began publishing the pollen count - happy Spring!

Today I burned through a whole lot of pixels.  The gray sky refused to release much rain.  Brown headed nuthatches kept the sunflower feeder busy.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet and other treats.  Expecting rain, I put out no jelly so the orioles ate barkbutter balls.  So did starlings and bluebirds.  The butterbutt monitored the feeders from a tree branch.  Juncos and the pale pine warbler returned.  Robins hung out in the trees. 

Pelicans coasted above the creek while a handful of buffleheads bobbed on the surface.  The water wasn't as rough as yesterday.  Egrets and herons fished the shallows.  One heron roosted up in the pine.  A half dozen hoodies came along in the late afternoon.  A herring gull, I think, floated around the end of the dock.  It was paler than the typical herring gull but didn't look like any other species.  

Sun and wind

 Pelicans fished but the camera wouldn't focus.  I saw bluebirds and orioles after I put out food. 

March wind

The wind was stronger a couple of days ago, but I really felt it today.  It didn't seem to bother the pileated woodpecker.  After he left the suet, he interacted with a flicker up in the oak.  Bluebirds wanted fresh barkbutter balls.  As soon as I put out more the orioles came back, then blue jays. 

A robin just wanted water.  A female house finch puffed up so much I thought I was looking at a different bird.  A handful of red-winged blackbirds came to forage.  A white breasted nuthatch wanted a turn at the seeds.  A brown headed nuthatch had an easier time of it. 

Something small floated on the creek, keeping the same spot despite wind and current, but I couldn't get it in focus.  The feral black and white cat made itself comfortable on my chair.  Fortunately, the dog was ready to go outside.  It took him a minute to home in on the cat but then he was off like a rabbit. 

The wind was really fierce on Tuesday.  I hardly saw any birds.  Toward evening as the light was failing, a white breasted nuthatch was frustrated by a cardinal that had taken over the seed feeder.  

Spring fever

This early Spring has made me lazy.  Yesterday slipped away without a post and it wasn't for lack of photos or interest.  Both days were sunny with a nippy breeze, especially Saturday.  The oak, peach, and redbuds flowered, the wild cherry began to leaf out, and buds burst on a dogwood.  Sweet gum buds looked ready to pop and I found fig leaves!  Buds were visible on the blueberries but not yet open.  Fortunately there were early bumblebees. 

The female orioles remained and a male showed up.  At least two bluebird pairs visited the feeders.  Myrtle warblers fussed over pecking order.  Blue jays stuffed their beaks.  Downy woodpeckers were faithful to their suet.  Starlings scattered food everywhere.  Red-winged blackbirds were much better behaved.  A few robins remained from the flock in the pecan. 

Pelicans fished on the creek but I never got a good shot. The sun reached a lot more of the patio and flowerbeds.  The moon was well up and looking fat by the time I took my library books back on Saturday.  

A mockingbird greeted the Sunday sun.  Then a blue jay wanted breakfast.  Orioles started arriving, then bluebirds.  Robins came back to drink.  The female orioles were much more assertive with the male than they were a month ago.  He definitely ate last.  Red-winged blackbirds briefly returned.  And of course there were starlings.  

I saw a junco.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet than seeds. The first grackle I've seen in years popped up but didn't stay long.  And a cedar waxwing accompanied a robin to the birdbath!  

Gray day

The rain began about half an hour after I got up, just individual drops in the birdbath at first.  Birds only showed up after the rain started.  A myrtle warbler seemed overwhelmed by a barkbutter ball.  A white breasted nuthatch sampled everything, and for a moment, there were two of them.  Bluebirds were more picky.  Female orioles pecked at the remains of yesterday's jelly. 

K told me there was a flock of birds in the pecan tree out front setting up a racket.  I couldn't be sure what they were, silhouetted against the sky, but there were hints of redness and I'm guessing they were robins.  I had hoped for cedar waxwings but I saw no sign of crests. 

After lunch, I spotted a song sparrow in the mulch around the birdbath.  Juncos had foraged their earlier, as had a dove.  A cardinal brooded on the seed feeder perch.  

I glimpsed an egret and a pelican in the morning.  In the afternoon, a couple of hoodie hens paddled upstream.  A great blue heron huddled on the neighbors' floating dock and another watched the lake.  Shovelers, I think, flew toward the dam.  

Wood ducks!

Rain came down so hard before dawn that I thought I was hearing ocean waves.  It fell more gently during breakfast ans a pileated woodpecker ignored it to eat suet.

After the rain stopped, I refilled the dish feeders.

I saw a pelican, but didn't get a photo.

A pair of wood ducks roamed the creek looking for a nesting site, a sure sign that Spring is here.  

Not like a lion

March came in quite gently.  The only lion-like element was the long=haired yellow cat.  The oak tree burst into flower.