Frigid

We had a very cold, windy night below 20° and windy enough to prevent the creek from icing.  I wonder if I've lost any plants to this abnormally cold couple of weeks.  I read that a high over Greenland was blocking circumpolar winds and pushing them South.  Small birds need a lot of food in this weather.  Bluebirds arrived very early.  The female oriole was close behind.  A turkey vulture perched on the dock piling.  With no feathers on their heads, I wonder if they get frostbite?  I guess it was our day for big black birds - a crow foraged under the seed feeder.  Blue jays (also corvids even if not black) preferred barkbutter balls.  

A mockingbird came next, then a male oriole.  The female demanded another turn at the BBBalls so the male went for jelly.  Well, the female hustled over and evicted him.  She took her sweet time while he waited.  Meanwhile, the aggressive butterbutt kept ambushing other warblers and chasing them all over the yard.  And while it wasted energy, bigger birds ate their fill.  A brown thrasher took over the barkbutter feeder.  A Carolina wren finally showed up at the feeders, followed by a white breasted nuthatch, then a mockingbird, then a white throated sparrow.  

Across the creek, a great blue heron rested on the new bulkhead.  Dirt covered the yard behind the bulkhead and I noticed scrapes on the trees.  A herring gull found something in the water and a mallard drake had to investigate.  A crow watched from the dock.  I got a couple of glimpses of an eagle.  Like the eagle, pelicans were always behind twigs that threw the camera focus off.  A downy pecked at the suet.  I spotted a pine warbler up in the redwood, probably avoiding the mad butterbutt.  The male red belly had some seeds.  I noticed the sweet gum balls were sparse this year which might explain the house finch squabbling at the seed feeder.  Sunshine warmed the day up to 30°.  The orioles and warblers emptied the jelly dish.  K refilled the barkbutter dish several times.