Opossum

As we were eating breakfast, a portly possum ambled across the lower patio.  A blue jay watched and a mockingbird ate suet.  Sometime later the possum returned and I went outside hoping for a clear photo.  We looked at each other but there was too much vegetation in the way for the camera.  The possum went downhill, then right between the bank and the creek, and out of sight. 

A bluebird watched from the post before settling in on the seed feeder perch.  A Carolina wren opted for suet but also grabbed a seed.  White throats continued their foraging.  A dove wandered around thee pool puddle.  It was a perfect day for turtles but they must have found somewhere else to bask.  A bumblebee pollinated the Solomon's seal.  I saw some flowers on the blackberry brambles by the dock. 

Still warm and sunny

This weather has defied my winter prediction that warm means rain and sunny is cold.  I counted birds again when I finally woke up. The butterbutt was still trying to hog the suet but a couple of starlings usurped the feeder and I chased them away.  Later a titmouse slipped in and got breakfast.  White throats foraged beneath.  A great black back gull plunged after a fish.  The grebe was back.  A pair of hoodies fished below the dam.  The female kingfisher rested on a dock post. 

The song sparrow enjoyed the birdbath at lunch time.  A Carolina wren and a white throat tried to share access to the water.  Then the wren feasted on mealworms.  The titmouse was back. The oriole finally came for jelly.  A midge rested on the window - a good sign for insect eating birds.  Then something scared the birds and the wren hid under the grill.

An hour later I saw crows chasing a hawk again.  I wonder what attracts the hawk to this  area where the crows are so thick?  A band of clouds rose up from the North and moved across the sky while I counted birds.  A chickadee and a red breasted nuthatch finally made it to the feeder.  There have not been nearly so many of either of them recently.

There were squirrels all day but one in the afternoon only had half a tail.  A second hawk chase was past my field of view too fast for the camera.  A male kingfisher dived but came up empty, perched on the boatlift, then came across the creek to sit in one of our trees.  The female red bellied woodpecker showed up in the late afternoon.  A pair of hoodies floated and preened.  As the light was fading, a male pine warbler came for suet and mealworms. About eight egrets came flying together over the dam, then wheeled and went back up the lake.

Very warm

The creek reflected gently wavering images under a blue sky.  White throated sparrows were still here.  Titmice and the regulars ate sunflower seeds.  A male downy checked for suet, but unlike the female, didn't try the seeds.  A couple of starlings walked across the patio. The tux cat prowled through a couple of times.

When I opened the garage in the mid morning, in flew a bird.  Of course I didn't have the camera.  I went in and got it, but by then the bird was about to leave.  When I got home, I saw the first house wren of the season as it scuttled under a patio chair.  After lunch, we potted a pepper "pod."  The rose next to the driveway was covered with aphids.

Osprey circled over the creek in the afternoon.  A blue-tailed skink slithered through the mulch.  Bees and wasps sought nectar.  A huge carpenter bee kept looking in withered azalea blossoms.  A bee fly basked on a sunny ivy leaf.  Cabbage whites flitted around and at one point I saw a dragonfly. 

Later in the afternoon a squirrel climbed up to nibble on the hickory buds.  The pecan was beginning to leaf out.  A sunflower seedling started below the feeder.  Unfortunately, poison ivy also put out leaves.  Wild columbine was in bloom.  A couple of small blackberry brambles had blossoms.  Even moss was beginning to put up spore stalks.  Quite a heap of fallen tree limbs was piled up by the fence.  The last time I looked they were still hanging off the trees, though dead and rotting.

At supper the cardinal was feeding his mate.  Another bright moon in a clear sky followed the simple sunset.