Red bellied woodpecker

The trees were still when I got up but soon the wind shook them and threw leaves at the windows.  The temperature read 32° and the tide was very low -- below the barnacles.  (There was no frost.  Yesterday's humidity was down in the 20s!)   The mockingbird headed straight to the ant moat as there wasn't any water left in the birdbath.  White throats danced around it hoping to kick up a seed.  A very plumped-out bluebird surveyed the scene while a pine warbler pecked at the suet.  Then bluebird and warbler shared seeds.  

The barkbutter dish held nothing but some oats.  A Carolina wren made do with suet.  At lunch time the mockingbird feasted on jelly.  The creek had risen to cover the lowest board on the bulkhead but the surface was flat and shiny.  A pelican made a couple of passes over the water but I didn't catch it on pixels.  

When the temperature got up to 40° I went out and filled the barkbutter dish.  A squirrel drank from the ant moat.  A buzzard passed over the house and creek.  And at long last a female red bellied woodpecker visited.  She had eyes only for the barkbutter balls but I expect she'll notice the suet eventually.  A female cardinal bellied down on the seed feeder perch so her feathers covered her toes.  It took surprisingly long for the blue jays to show up for barkbutter balls.