Brown thrasher

Surfaces were wet and the sky overcast, though the sun occasionally found a tear in the clouds.  I glimpsed a bufflehead on the creek.  Because of the predicted storm, K left the dish feeders covered.  That didn't bother the seed eaters, though the white throats missed their barkbutter snacks. The song sparrow foraged on the ground with a squirrel and bluebirds ate seeds at the feeder trough.  But a brown thrasher was left with nothing but the suet.  It gamely tackled the suet block but was almost too big to get both feet and beak on the cage.  

At noon the air was quite warm and surfaces had dried so I scattered some barkbutter balls on the ground under the dish.  A crow and some sparrows were happy to find them.  Bluebirds lunched on seeds.  Several white throats took a bath on the pool cover.  Rain began shortly after 1pm.  The wind was gusty but not fierce.  The rain trailed off after an hour then returned after another hour.  It was off again at supper time.  We got no hail and no strong winds, just a good soaking.

Lamb-like weather

A little googling suggested that the proverb owed as much to constellations in the zodiac as to weather prediction.  However that may be, the month began with soft, warm air under a sunny sky.  Bluebirds made the feeder rounds.  White throats did too, and also foraged on the ground.  The song sparrow stayed on the ground.  A myrtle warbler wanted what was in the dish.  Another white throat took a bath in the pool puddle while a dove walked around the edge.  Starlings made repeated forays but spooked easily.  Blue jays were wary but got their share of barkbutter balls.  So did a white breasted nuthatch.  I saw a brown headed nuthatch but it was too quick.  A crow investigated.  

I refilled the glass dish.  A mockingbird must have been watching.  A couple of bufflehead drakes dived and a couple of pelicans flew over the creek.  A Carolina wren finally arrived.  Then a brown thrasher showed up.  Baltimore orioles visited.  Three female brown headed cowbirds picked over the mulch.  I think they wanted the stale popcorn.  More daffodils bloomed.  The temperature cooled as the day went on, there were some wind gusts, and clouds moved in.

Hungry birds

At breakfast,I saw no evidence that any snow fell overnight, but K said I should have looked in the front yard.   Some fuzzy clouds floated in sunshine, but by 10am we had overcast.  The birds were glad to find all the feeders open.  Bluebirds went after the mealworm barkbutter mix but so did white throats, pine warblers, and Carolina wrens.  The pileated pair were only interested in suet.  The male evicted the female.  A bold (or hungry) downy tried to share with the red belly but the red belly decided on seeds.  Later he scared a warbler off the suet.  A song sparrow came a-foraging with the white throats.  Blue jays picked over the barkbutter balls.  

The great blackback gull was back.  A small flock of buffleheads paddled around the dock most of the day.  I spotted a female hoodie among them.  A handful of vultures kept circling over the water.  Several pelicans fished and one perched on a piling.  A ring bill gull flew by.

At lunch, the birds brightened the dull light.  A myrtle warbler joined its pine cousins.    First a white breasted nuthatch then a brown headed showed up.  Bluebirds, white throats,  and wrens returned.  I missed a shot at a male oriole but two females were more cooperative.  I could tell them apart because one was a darker orange than the other.  A mockingbird watched from across the pool patio but didn't come to eat.  A brown thrasher, however, dug right in.  

 

Bird buffet

Morning began with a pileated woodpecker and blue jays.  Three starlings visited but were unsatisfied and didn't stay.  A white throat pecked at the residue in the barkbutter dish.  A Carolina wren got inside the dish.  Meanwhile a goldfinch landed on the suet with a pine warbler.  The goldfinch must have realized its mistake and joined the house finches for seeds.  House finches are bigger.  

The overcast sky developed blue rents.  A pair of buffleheads drifted on the creek.   Lots of little birds use the azalea by the side window as a launchpad for the feeders, but it is very hard to get photos of them.   White breasted and brown headed nuthatches picked out seeds.  I refilled the glass dish with a mix of mealworms and barkbutter balls.  The pine warbler was pleased.  A downy sampled the suet.  The song sparrow found what I dropped (deliberately).  Bluebirds noticed that the dish was refilled.  The female oriole had jelly and a drink.  

Pelicans and gulls were very busy on the creek but the only ducks I saw were the bufflehead pair and another female.  A great blue heron stalked along our shoreline.  By then the sky had cleared but the light was going.  

Waterfowl

A wren dug into the seeds for breakfast.  So did a downy. I saw a goldfinch, but it got away.   A brown headed nuthatch also collected seeds.  K put our a fresh block of suet and the warblers found it.  The clouds lifted as time passed. At high tide, I spotted the orange cat perched on a stump at the water's edge.  

Pelicans fished along our stretch of the creek.  A variety of gulls fished too - herring, ring bill, and black back.  The sight of a great black back gull with a fish attracted a young pelican still in brown plumage.  A great egret flew upstream.  A cormorant photo-bombed a picture of a gull.  I saw another red breasted merganser.  A great blue heron stood watch below the dam. A mallard pair paddled across the water.  A female bufflehead dived.  

Very gray

Overnight rain continued into the morning and gradually became mist.  The temperature slowly dropped all day.  A flurry of birds arrived early but found nothing but seeds.  Even the suet was gone to the consternation of downy, red bellied and pileated woodpeckers.  I saw pelicans and a bufflehead on the creek.  A white breasted nuthatch was content with seeds.  Three juncos also ate seeds.  So did bluebirds.  Sparrows and warblers foraged on the ground.  A mockingbird gave up.  

At lunch, a Carolina wren settled for seeds.    By late afternoon the mist was becoming fog.  A pair of buffleheads were the lone occupants of the creek.  

Gray

We held off on the open dish feeders in case the rain was not finished.  That was just as well since starlings investigated the menu.  The towhee returned for breakfast.  I saw what I think were bufflehead drakes.  Pelicans flew by all day and the dredge apparently observed the holiday.   The red belly ate both seeds and suet but the downy only wanted suet.  Nuthatches came earlier than usual, both kinds.  I also counted a blue jay, a mockingbird, a pair of bluebirds, two kinds of warbler, and a wren before 8:30am.  Later in the morning there were titmice and the song sparrow.  Except for a crow, the lunchtime birds were repeats even though they now had jelly and barkbutter balls.  The temperature only rose a couple of degrees from just under 40 to just over. Plus, the wind was gusty.  I was glad to be inside to finish the GBBC.  I did twelve checklists and counted 37 species, one of which was new.  This year I posted more photos too.  

 

Robins

There was a light frost and a skin of ice on the creek at first, but the sun quickly warmed everything.  A little flock of robins landed to drink from the pool puddle.  I was not surprised they were thirsty because there's been no rain this month and very little in January.  A different flock squabbled in the back yard across the creek.  It looked to me like one vulture had something that the others wanted.  They spread out their wings and danced around like boxers.  I saw one with a black head and several with red heads.  An eagle swooped past and kept going.  

At the feeders we had a red belly, a blue jay, a Carolina wren, a mockingbird, a bluebird, a pair of orioles, a pine and a myrtle warbler.  On the ground, the song sparrow joined the white throats.  A crow promenaded past the door.   The blue jay scolded me for letting the barkbutter balls run low.  

A brown headed nuthatch showed up for lunch.  Most of the breakfast birds returned.  I also saw through the trees an egret and a pelican and a duck I couldn't identify.   That made me decide to do a third bird count from a window with a better view of the creek.  I was rewarded with a bufflehead, a pair of hooded mergansers, and a red breasted merganser.  Pelicans were easier to photograph and I could identify the gulls.  One was a ringed bill and another was a great black backed gull.  At least four cormorants were fishing or drying out.  

I finally succeeded in accessing eBird on the laptop and using Merlin on the phone. 

Temperature dropping

A dusting of snow lay on the concrete, evidence that the ground was frozen.  Wind whipped the trees and passing clouds made the sunlight blink.  The birds went through a lot of food.  A Carolina wren woke up hungry.  Then a titmouse came for seeds.  White throats foraged in the frozen mulch.  Three bluebirds watched from the wild cherry.  

Out on the creek, I saw herring gulls and a hoodie drake.  A handful of buffleheads flew downstream and a pelican flew upstream and landed on the dock.  Of course there were mallards.  A great blue heron strutted by with its catch.  

The red bellied woodpecker joined us for lunch.   Bluebirds and white throats appreciated the barkbutter refill.  A mockingbird lurked in a dogwood, seeming upset at the competition.  Then a male Baltimore oriole brightened the jelly dish.  A blue jay drank from the pool puddle.  That water is the last to freeze.  A white breasted nuthatch ate barkbutter balls.  The female oriole showed up and made the male wait for jelly.  Two orioles and several warblers consume it fast.  A myrtle warbler wasted energy chasing other warblers away from food.  

 

Undertakers' converntion

The red bellied woodpecker was up early for suet.  Out on the creek, herring and ring bill gulls were fishing along with one bufflehead drake.  Pelicans flew over and the resident GBH chased another away.  Bluebirds ate seeds while a white throat complained that the barkbutter dish was empty.  Myrtle warblers got aggressive.  Clouds moved in.  A flock of vultures settled in the trees.  Bluebirds ignored them because I had refilled the dish.  Carolina wrens were pleased too.  A white breasted nuthatch ate seeds. The downy ate suet.  

Predators

The sun was back but a skin of ice floated on the creek at breakfast.  As usual, the chill made birds hungry.  A Carolina wren started with suet where it was joined by an orange crowned warbler.  Meanwhile, blue jays cleaned out the barkbutter balls.  The orange cat wandered through but didn't come close.  A goldfinch was tempted by the suet but didn't succumb.  The red belly returned.  A myrtle warbler scurried around the patio and finally got a chance at the empty dish.  The wren was disappointed too and glared at me.  Even a cardinal, a bluebird, and warbler had to see for themselves that it was empty.  

White throats stayed on terra firma.  A great blue heron landed in the pines.  Pretty soon another came along and chased it off.   A goldfinch tried mountain mint seeds.  A second Carolina wren joined the first.  I refilled the dish, this time with mealworms.  At lunch, we saw another Cooper's hawk.  It was sitting on the fence so I had a much better view, but of its back.   

Once the hawk flew, hungry songbirds returned starting with pine warblers.  Bluebirds followed.  Brown headed nuthatches went after sunflower seeds.  The female oriole was attracted by the mealworms.  A myrtle warbler looked into grape jelly.  One yellow rumped warbler had some yellow on its throat like it might be a mix of myrtle and Audubon varieties.  The red belly came back but he also went prospecting up the trunk of a dogwood.  

Bufflehead drakes bobbed up and dived in the creek after the ice was gone.  I think there were three of them.  They kept it up as the sun went down.  

 

Gloomy

The sky was gray all day.  A Carolina wren visited early in the morning.  I only saw pelicans when there were trees in the way but did catch one bufflehead drake.  At lunch birds flocked to the feeders but quickly flew off.  I saw but didn't capture a bluebird.  The pair of goldfinches were slower and seemed interested in the suet.  Pine and orange crowned warblers feasted on barkbutter balls.  The red bellied woodpecker focused on suet and scared a goldfinch.  

Hard freeze

The ant moats were solid ice but the creek flowed free.  A Carolina wren was hungry enough to brave the cold.  Soon a white throat arrived.  I had a meeting but kept an eye on the creek.  Gulls and pelicans flew over the creek and egrets prowled under the bulkhead.  Female buffleheads dived and the sun shone.  

The songbirds emptied the dish of mealworms but I waited till after lunch when the temperature had climbed to 32°° to dash outside.  It took the birds a little while to forgive me.  The wren took a barkbutter ball down to the concrete and hammered it into fragments.  The orange crowned warbler chose jelly and followed up with suet, then checked out the barkbutter.  Meanwhile a white throat was foraging under the seed feeder.  The wren decided that looked like a good idea.  

In the late afternoon, egrets congregated on the sunny side of the lake.  Pelicans returned to patrol the creek as the light faded.  

Fishing

The sun shone, but a cold wind kept me inside.  Small clouds drifted across the blue sky.  I glimpsed the first bufflehead of the Fall migration.  Unfortunately it was just passing behind a tree and it didn't reappear.  The feeders were busy.  Cardinals, chickadees, and titmice wanted seeds.  A pine warbler ate barkbutter balls and an orange crowned warbler ate jelly.  Then a female oriole had some jelly and a drink.  

A female kingfisher rested on the back of the dock bench.   A different yellow cat showed up on the patio.  It wasn't as long-haired as the other.  In the late afternoon, a fishing frenzy began with cormorants, gulls, and great egrets.  One great blue heron and a couple of crows followed the action.  I counted a couple dozen egrets resting in the pines after fishing.  Oddly, I didn't see any fishing ducks  

Water birds

The sunlight on the creek seemed a bit muted as though filtered by haze.  An early pine warbler tried to beat other birds to the food.  White throats were up early as well.  Blue jays discovered that I had refilled the barkbutter dish.  A myrtle warbler discovered the fresh jelly.  A mockingbird glowered at the seeds and a cardinal sampled the barkbutter balls. Then they switched sides.  

A mourning dove drank from the pool puddle and then foraged under the seed feeder.  The temperature rose into the upper 60s and the snow was reduced to one lump of shoveling.  The sky was cloudless though not a deep blue.  A Carolina wren ate suet.  Then a male red belly wanted suet.  An oriole visited the jelly.  

A pelican flew up the lake.  A flock of about ten hooded mergansers drifted around the dock.  The hoodies paddled off downstream which was when I got a count of them.  The drakes hadn't been visible before.  A female bufflehead popped to the surface and saw the other ducks disappearing.  She paddled after them as fast as she could, but soon resorted to flying.  Cormorants were silhouetted against the evening sky.  

Chilling

There was evidence of overnight rain but the wind blew hard and the temperature dropped steadily all day long.  As a result, we had bright sunshine and blue sky.  The female red belly wanted seeds but a male cardinal wasn't willing to move.  White throats did their can-can in the mulch.  Titmice and chickadees got some seeds.  A Carolina wren performed on the barkbutter ring.  A myrtle warbler perched on the chair arm.  I refilled the jelly and barkbutter dishes.  A blue jay approved.  

K rehung the suet at lunch after I slipped trying to do it.  While sitting on the steps I was an object of curiosity for a pine warbler and a brown headed nuthatch.  A myrtle warbler was more interested in the suet.  Soon a male oriole visited but didn't partake of our offerings.  Blue birds were happy to feast.  I counted three males and a female.  A mockingbird showed up after the barkbutter dish was emptied.  Two brown headed nuthatches shared the seed feeder perch.  A starling drank from the birdbath.  Brown headed cowbirds took over the seed feeder.  Like the cardinals, they are too heavy for two of them to share the perch.  They argued over which got to stay.  The male red belly visited in the afternoon for suet.  

Earlier in the day,  a great blue heron had been up in the pines.  A few buffleheads had paddled past.  Toward evening, I saw five egrets lined up under the dam. Two or three pelicans were still fishing.  The cormorants flew to their roosts.  The lake was empty of birds as it has mostly been this winter.  The convenient log the turtles used disappeared over the summer.  

Hazy

The creek was at last free of ice.  Pelicans fished throughout the morning.  They may have been avoiding the wind over more open water.  I saw quite a few buffleheads on the water.  Titmice were up early.  A mockingbird checked the barkbutter dish but found only dust.  Starlings raided the suet and fought with each other.  A myrtle warbler noticed there was water in the birdbath.  The male red bellied woodpecker came back for suet and argued with the mockingbird.  

We had nuthatches at lunch, first the white breasted, then the brown headed.  A pine warbler noticed that I refilled the dishes.  A very determined squirrel tried to break into the seed feeder.  Two others chased each other.  The sky was blue but hazy.  A whole flock of ruddy ducks paddled downstream, diving along the way.  

And cold again

Overnight, the temperature dropped back below freezing.  The sky cleared and the chill brought out birds.  A Carolina wren joined the white throats in the mulch.  The creek was still ice-free and a mixed flock of buffleheads and ruddy ducks paddled swiftly downstream.  I wonder if I missed a fish drive?  Bluebirds, blue jays, and warblers came for lunch. 

Crossing the HRBT, I saw a couple of gulls.  Further up the Peninsula, a hawk (I think) was perched in a tree.  It had a dark head and a cream chest and belly.  Another hawk-size bird flew across the road.  Several vultures soared on the road thermals.  

Drizzle

The rec bellied woodpecker appeared in the gray morning to sample barkbutter balls.  Pine warblers quickly followed. Blue jays got their share.  Even titmice and cardinals joined the parade.  A brown headed nuthatch only wanted seeds.  The orange crowned warbler was lured in by the barkbutter balls but then turned to seeds.  A Carolina wren left off scrounging with the white throats to have a barkbutter ball. 

The gray turned to drizzle mid day.  That didn't deter the bluebirds  or a myrtle warbler that flaunted its buttery topknot and wing pits.  The brown headed nuthatch booted a pine warbler twice its size off the seed feeder.  Out on the creek, pelicans and buffleheads appreciated the ice-free day.  

Arctic air persisted

This morning's creek ice was not a solid sheet as it has been for a week. Patches a few feet across were separated by threads of water.  A bufflehead took advantage to start fishing early.  The birdbath was unchanged.  A Carolina wren hunted suet crumbs.  A warbler went to work on the new block of suet.  White throats as usual poked through litter on the ground.  

At lunch there were brown headed nuthatches.  Three doves foraged under the seed feeder.  Too many starlings were everywhere.  Warblers fought over the suet which disappeared rapidly.  A mockingbird was too late for any barkbutter balls.  I chased off the starlings but they left sentinels that kept testing me.  I saw pelicans plunge into the creek but the only picture was a blur.