Brown creeper!

I was gone during the rainy morning.  At lunch I saw a Carolina wren and a white throated sparrow.  During my early afternoon meeting flying egrets reflected on the computer screen.  A great blue heron perched on one of the dock pilings.  I also saw a little bird hopping up the trunk of the redwood, and yes, it was a brown creeper!  It investigated a knothole.  Some birds only like a dull gray day.  

Speaking of herons, one landed on the dock with a quite large fish.  It tried its best to swallow the thing, but the fish was too big.  Meanwhile, a pelican paddled beside the dock.  I don't know if the heron robbed it or if it was hoping the heron might drop the fish into the water.  The pelican gave up and the heron did drop the fish, but on the dock.  The heron left it there and went stalking along the water's edge.  

Hummer visit

A bluebird came to breakfast.  A brown headed nuthatch followed.  There was a flurry of birds at lunch but I missed them all.   The weather continued humid and cloudy

Pool Poem  

A spider, a beetle, and a mosquito went for a swim.  

I rescued the spider and beetle but I pushed the skeeter in. 

As I was getting out, I saw a hummer on the feeder.  Good thing I put out fresh this morning.  But of course I did not have the camera.  It looked dark like a male but that may have been wishful thinking.  I saw a fish jump in the evening, then rain fell at dusk. 

Gone fishing

A Carolina wren greeted the morning. One junco was still foraging with the white throats.  A goldfinch visited the seed feeder and ran into trouble with the aggressive butterbutt.  I only saw one mockingbird, or maybe one at a time.  The Baltimore orioles were unhappy that the jelly dish was on the ground.  We don't know how that happened.  The male oriole checked the ant moat since it is also red.  Today was so much colder -- 31° when I got up -- that I was unwilling to deal with the dish feeders.  Anyway, there were starlings.  A white breasted nuthatch got some seeds. 

At lunch, the red belly returned.   A wren wanted to share the suet.  I could see hoodies and ruddy ducks on the creek but foliage kept interfering with the camera focus.  One hoodie hen got a fish.  A pine warbler was bullied by the butterbutt.  A bluebird watched for a long time before landing on the feeder. 

I saw more gulls today than all winter.  A young eagle snatched a fish in front of me.  A great blue heron watched.  A few cormorants dived after fish.  I spotted a shoveler on the lake.   Even a crow got a fish but I think another bird dropped it.  Something zoomed around on the surface of the creek and the eagle went after it.  

Some snow

There wasn't much snow and it turned to rain before I got up.  The white throats ran around trying to decide where the seeds were hidden.  Little was left of the suet and the dishes were still covered to keep the rain out.  The creek was iced with an odd crosswise break.  During a morning meeting online the clouds broke apart and sunshine melted more slush.  

By lunch, the suet was gone.  I took the lids off the dish feeders and K replaced the suet.  Warblers were right on it.  The yellow cat scared the birds away.   Soon a brown headed nuthatch was back at the seeds.  A starling noticed the suet.  Blue jays heard the call of the barkbutter balls.  

Buffleheads fished on the creek though the ice wasn't all gone till late afternoon.  A Carolina wren sunned on a dogwood branch.  A myrtle warbler did the same on a higher perch.  Near sunset, a kingfisher used the dock bench to tenderize her supper.  Certainly that was hard on the fish.  

West wind

The six monarch caterpillars will need more leaves soon.  I hope I can buy a plant.  I saw butterflies, dark ones, a sulphur, and the ubiquitous cabbage white.  An American snout perched on a dragonfly stake.  A field cricket hopped around on the concrete.  A paper wasp circled over the pavement.  A blow fly rested on a leaf.  

There were no clouds to show the gusty wind's direction but it brought warm air that emptied out the creek.  A buzzard flew across the intensely blue sky.  The kingfisher was back on the post.  It dived once and caught a small fish.  

Bright sunshine

At breakfast, the creek was a glowing mirror.  A mockingbird scowled from the hummingbird feeder hanger.  Maybe its loose feathers itched.  I did not see a hummer this week.  The feeder might attract a migrant but the local nesters must have have gone South.  The adolescent male cardinal was still begging food from his poor tired mother.  

A cloudless sulphur flew past and a red spotted purple landed on a dogwood branch.  The purple had a notch bit out of one wing.  A kingfisher rested atop one of the posts on the neighbor's floating dock.  I accidentally caught a fish jumping as I photographed the bird!  

More rain

The humidity was a visible grayness in the air.  Alas, I was on the computer during the dry times. A mockingbird defied the wet to get barkbutter porridge.  The rain streaks made photography frustrating.  A nuthatch was drier underneath the suet.  In between showers, the male, then the female, pileated ate suet.  

A squirrel wanted some too, but close up, the secret ingredient warned it off.  A second squirrel foraged among the violets, popping up like a prairie dog to make sure nothing was creeping closer.  The two were wary of each other which makes me suspect the one on the post may have been a female not quite in heat.  

An ant explored the mountain mint but there were no sign of flowers.  The butterfly milkweed, on the other hand, had buds already.  The lavender was in full bloom.  Clouds streamed out of the South, but a higher layer moved slowly Northeast.  

I saw a disturbance just below the surface of the creek.  Lttle patches of roughness slid around near the shore and then fish jumped further out toward the middle.  Something dark was visible in the middle of the ripples.  Meanwhile, a honeybee fed on the rue.  A bluebird posed for me. 

House wren?

A little brown bird landed on the arm of a patio chair, but flew before I focused.  In the belief that it was a house wren, we got a birdhouse hung from a dogwood branch.  A brown thrasher also got away without contributing to my photo collection.  

The chilly breeze also brought bluebirds and blue jays, starlings, a Carolina wren, a pair of mockingbirds, downy woodpeckers, brown headed nuthatches, and chickadees to the feeders.  Warblers flitting through the wild cherry branches appeared to be feeding on something.  

The pair of pileated woodpeckers were still arguing about who got to eat suet first.  I saw no sign of romance, except that they spent so much time together.  At one point she extended her wings to flash the white patch. 

Buzzards soared and crows chased off something.  A small gull did some fancy flying.  An egret just coasted downstream.  One mallard drake was all I saw afloat but a big fish jumped three times like a dotted line.  I've no idea what it might have been fleeing. The overcast began to break up in the late afternoon.  I went down to the dock to pitch clam shells into the creek.  

Frustrating

The day was mostly cloudy.  At breakfast I had seen the pileated pair, a myrtle warbler, and a bluebird, but just as I had settled in to take pictures a workman showed up.  The birds all disappeared when the man started caulking. Later I was outside just long enough to put up the UV window clings that are supposed to warn birds, and to stick my hand in the caulk.  I meant to go back out with a new block of suet because the suet cage was empty, but I never got to it.  In the afternoon, the wind picked up, again.  The small white gulls were back along with osprey and pelicans so I guess the fish were back to.  I wonder if they were menhaden?.  

 

Fish day

The bright sun didn't warm the air but, at least, it wasn't blowing like the last several days.  All day gulls and osprey were fishing for something too small for me to see.  Occasionally, I could see schools of the fish ruffling the surface of the creek.  I wasted an awful lot of shots on the flying birds - makes me appreciate digital cameras.  The pictures I got look like an all-white bird, but after looking at gull and turn photos, my best guess is that they were Bonaparte's gulls. 

Meanwhile, at the feeders, a brown thrasher visited warily.  Bluebirds were around but also cautious.  Starlings didn't care.  A Carolina wren flitted from feeder to feeder.  A myrtle warbler stayed in the trees.  The brown headed nuthatches were back.  The pileated woodpeckers continued their dating game on the feeder post and around different trees.  She seemed very interested in a spot on the magnolia where a large limb was removed.  He got down in the grass and carefully checked every exposed root. 

Low tide around 4pm exposed mudflats and narrowed the creek.  Except for one loner, turtles crowded their favorite log.  Cormorants, egrets, and a great blue heron rested around bale of the turtles.  A pair of wood ducks paddled past me.  I believe I saw an eagle too.  The great blue heron on the neighbors' dock apparently didn't belong there because another chased it upstream.  The victor returned but didn't stay. 

Gusty

It wasn't windy at breakfast but by lunch the trees were whipping in all directions.  Old leaves blew up the steps, then back down or off to the side.  The creek surface wrinkled as wavelets ran in different directions.  With fewer obstacles, the clouds moved steadily East. The wind did not seem to bother the pileated woodpeckers, but smaller birds stayed low.  A starling landed on the suet, then a crow landed on the roof and glared at it and they both flew away. 

A cabbage white took shelter from the wind behind a clump of narcissus.  The hackberry began leafing out much earlier than usual.  Flower buds appeared on the wild cherry and the sweet gum.  And one of the pines looked about to burst into pollen.  The wind tore flowers off the neighbor's camellia and flung them on the dead leaves and pine cones under our trees. 

In the corner by the hose spigot, a Carolina wren popped up and disappeared.  A white throated sparrow foraged back there.  Then the cardinals shared a tender moment.  A male bluebird watched. A pine warbler got some suet without being bullied.  A female red bellied woodpecker went for the other suet block by the back window. 

Despite the intermittent sunshine, I saw no turtles.  However, I did see a pair of wood ducks land in the creek and paddle upstream.  Another bird in the water looked like the pied bill grebe but it had its back to me.  Four great egrets arranged themselves around the dam.  They were flaunting fancy breeding plumage but appeared more interested in fish.  A big one jumped beyond their reach.    A great blue heron flew in and disturbed their order.  

The clouds had been looking quite stormy and K said they were spitting rain.  Then the sun slipped below the cloud layer and lit up the far trees.  The remaining clouds turned peach, then rose while everything was bathed in a warm red light. 

Clear and cold

The birdbath was frozen.  I finally caught up with the brown thrasher, both of them, though I never got them in the same frame.  The Carolina wren pair were also loading up on calories.  Interestingly the brown thrashers and the wrens are about the same color, though very different in size.  Starlings also wanted some fat in their diet.  

In the afternoon white throated sparrows scampered around in the grass.  I spotted a myrtle warble up in a tree.  A pair of hooded mergansers fished under the bulkhead at low tide.  The male kingfisher perched on a pole on the neighbors' floating dock.  Surprisingly, four turtles came out to bask in the chilly sunshine. 

Later, a young eagle occupied the same dock where the kngfisher had been, but not up on the skinny pole.   I wonder if it's the same eagle as late last winter?   A daring, or stupid, pair of mallards paddled right around the dock.  Then the eagle hopped down to the lower level where it had a fish, so maybe the mallards knew they were safe.  

Last day of #GBBC

The creek was full of reflected light while still in shade.  The Carolina jessamine began blooming and the hanging pot of yellow flowers was still going strong.  K's rescue amaryllis put out four huge red flowers, indoors.  I had to take my car for inspection, so my bird count was in the late morning.  

I went outside because the temperature got up into the 60s and also for a better view of the creek.  My reward was a good view of an immature eagle.  It landed in the fork of a pine across the creek and was still sitting there when I went inside.  I got some pictures of the cocoon up in the hickory and was inspected by a queen yellow jacket looking for a nest site. 

Mallards, cormorants, and an egret were all the water birds I saw, unless I count the three crows on the neighbors' dock.  They had something I couldn't quite make out, maybe a clam or a fish.  What was fascinating was that one crow was clearly holding the object with a foot and inviting the others to inspect. 

I also recorded white throated sparrows, myrtle warblers, and a downy and a red bellied woodpecker.  During lunch, a female oriole arrived for grape jelly, which was very gratifying.  

Then the pileated woodpeckers came, first him, then her.  He wouldn't let her have a turn and took a big bite to make his point.  But he choked on it, and when he finally dislodged the chunk of suet, he dropped it.  She retrieved it from the crevice where it landed and had an appetizer while he continued to stuff himself.  It wasn't long before he flew off and she took over the suet.  And after her, a downy moved in.

A brown headed nuthatch tried to dislodge house finches and eventually got some seeds. Foraging white throated sparrows were joined by a song sparrow and a junco.  A pine warbler and a goldfinch drank from the pool cover even though I had cleaned and filed the birdbath.   

I went outside again because I thought I saw a hoodie but it was the rear end of a goose.  Then I did see a hoodie pair and what looked like a dead flounder.  Later on, a pine warbler and a myrtle warbler disputed possession of the barkbutter.  The butterbutt won but then the feral cat wandered through and we all gave up.

Fishing birds

It wasn't quite as cold but the creek was iced over anyway.  Of course it soon melted.  I saw bluebirds in every direction.  Warblers weren't hard to find either.  And house finches were constantly at the seed feeder.  A brown thrasher visited but I didn't get a picture.  A house finch, a sparrow, and a dove drank from the pool cover. 

An osprey circled and landed in a pine across the creek, unfortunately at a bad angle with a window screen in the way.  Then another arrived and startled the first.  I don't know if they were rivals or courting and I got nothing with the camera.  But then a kingfisher landed on the dock bench with his lunch.  He whacked it repeatedly on the wood.  I assume that was to keep the fish from struggling while he positioned it for a head first dive down his throat.  Maybe it tenderized the fish to.  

Gulls patrolled the creek along with pelicans.  I saw one ring bill paddling on the water.  There were cormorants, naturally.  I caught one taking off like a cartoon bat.  Toward evening, at low tide a great blue heron stood in about a foot of water, just waiting.  It was right below my window and I hadn't turned a light on.  Below the dam an egret did the same.  Mallards circled around the heron.  

Kingfisher

The forecast was for showers so I took one.  Chickadees and titmice monopolized the sunflower seeds in between "showers."  There were brief instants of sunlight and the ant moats didn't seem to collect very much water, but I thought the rain fell harder than a shower. 

In the mid afternoon I saw a white flash that turned into a male kingfisher as it landed on the dock bench.  Part of the white was a fish it was carrying.  The kingfisher kept trying to line up the fish to swallow headfirst and somehow the fish's tail would get in the way.  The bird shook the fish but it didn't seem to help as this happened at least four times.  I looked away and the bird was gone.  

So many photos!

There were simply a lot of interesting sights today and I completely missed photographing the skink, the dragonfly, and the maple pinwheels.  The sky rotated through cycles of sunshine and clouds which kept the temperature in the 60s.  At breakfast, we were joined by the pair of mockingbirds, a brown thrasher, the female pileated woodpecker, and briefly a bluebird.  I spotted a yellow rumped warbler in the trees. 

The Solomon's seal popped up and immediately dangled flowers.I mean, the plants were not even visible on Wednesday.  Poison ivy shot up several tree trunks.  I think everything had leafed out except the hackberry.  The turtle log looked like a commuter train. 

Crows called my attention to an unfortunate fish lying many feet from the water.  I assume they had harassed an osprey or eagle, or possibly a heron, till it dropped the children's lunch.  The soft parts were gone and the crows picking at the fish were having difficulty penetrating the scales.  My best guess is that it was a spotted seatrout.  

The crows and fish attracted the attention of a green heron, the first I saw this year.  With a shovel I carried the carcass down to the water and dumped it for the crabs to enjoy.  It was beginning to smell pretty strong and attract flies.  Besides, the crows certainly did not catch a fish that size so they weren't entitled to it.  

Along with disposing of the fish, we hung the new birdhouse.  I owe K for the knots, but I believe it was a two-person job.   The birdhouses are assembled from sheets of recycled plastic printed by a company that called them Tweet Tweet Home.  I thought they were out of business but Amazon still listed some for sale.  Lots of negative reviews by idiots who expected wood or didn't have the gumption to hang it securely.  Harrumpf.  

I plopped down outside which frustrated the birds that wanted suet.  A mockingbird got bold.  White throated sparrows ignored me as they gleaned fallen crumbs.  A tiger swallowtail ignored my frantic chasing after it with the lens.  But the wretched tease would not land anywhere.  I had better luck with an odd bee, at least I think it was a bee.  It was small and black and appeared to have yellow pollen bags.  Wasps don't collect pollen.  

I went indoors and that brought the bluebirds, at least two males, and a starling.  A brown thrasher appeared to clean up the starling's mess.  A pale pine warbler and a goldfinch watched a bluebird eat suet.  And then a female hummingbird sailed in to the hummer feeder.  She didn't stay long because the blasted feral cat showed up.  (Where was it when the fish was lying in the grass, just waiting?)  

After the cat gave up and left, a brown headed nuthatch came for supper.  It couldn't get a seed because a cardinal was on the perch so the nuthatch had suet.  But as son as the cardinal left, the nuthatch abandoned the suet for a sunflower seed.  A couple of egrets fussed at each other for encroachment.  Great egrets invented social distancing. A blue jay hunted crumbs on the steps where occasionally I saw its head bob up.  And that was almost twelve hours after the beginning of this photo safari. 

Damp

The rain overnight left the birdbath full and put maybe half an inch in the ant moat.   It was a mostly gray day with a few flickers of sunlight and a shower during lunch.  The female red bellied woodpecker was wary but hungry.  I was on the computer too much of the day. 

A Carolina wren was bolder after I put out barkbutter balls.  It also had some suet.  A fish crossed my view in three big leaps, headed upstream.  Was it fleeing something, or what?  I tried to get a photo of the final leap but the light was too poor. 

Drama on the creek

I was afraid the warm spell a few days ago meant the end of winter waterfowl, but the creek was busy today. At breakfast it was calm but later wind roughened the surface.  Mid morning, a bufflehead drake escorted two females downstream.  Around lunch time, I spotted two ruddy ducks, the first this winter.  One ruffled its feathers oddly.  

Then a pelican crashed into the water and the ducks disappeared.  The pelican was an adult in breeding plumage.  It turned in slow circles and then grabbed a huge fish.  For some reason the bird then left the fish floating on the surface.  A short while later a juvenile pelican spotted the fish and landed beside it.  It got the fish into its pouch and seemed about to swallow.  But the adult pelican returned and slammed into the juvenile's back, apparently dislodging the fish.  The juvenile sulked at a distance while the adult seemed to meditate over the fish.  Finally the adult got the fish mostly into its pouch and drifted behind a dock where I lost sight of it.  The juvenile gave up hope and flew away. 

A pine warbler came early again for suet.  Four crows explored the patio.  Turtles piled up on the lake, shells shiny in the sun.  And egret stalked below the dam and later another rested on a dead limb above the turtles.  A female hooded merganser fished near the returned ruddy ducks.  Two more paddled past. 

Eagle watching

The young eagle has gotten quite fond of the neighbor's pine tree.  It landed there several times today, with the usual crow posse in the morning.  When I looked at the photo, I could see a fish dangling from a talon - maybe that explains the crows?   Speaking of fish, the pelicans were hard at work though the low tide helped. 

Songbirds weren't quite sure of the eagle's motives.  Eventually bluebirds ventured to the feeders.  Blue jays kept watch.  Starlings attacked the suet.  Downy woodpeckers waited in the trees. And of course the boss warbler was never far away. 

The eagle sat for a while on the dock.  It showed a spiky collar of white feathers.  A pair of mallards drifted past without concern.  But a crow arrived and then the stupid cat came stalking downhill and the eagle took off.  Later, the eagle was back in the pines while we were outside finishing lunch.  It was very warm for early March. 

Chilly

A great blue heron waded under the bulkhead while we ate breakfast.  The yellow rumped warbler watched over its suet from the bench back.  Cormorants pursued a school of fish upstream several times during the day.  Pelicans flew over the diving cormorants. Then they all straggled back downstream.  Maybe the fish did too because I saw one jump in the wake of a returning cormorant.  

I finally remembered to bring out another bag of barkbutter balls.  A blue jay shoved a bluebird off the feeder.  A red bellied woodpecker waited in the dogwood for a break in the traffic.  

The vine I bought two Springs ago has been blooming.  Its flowers are similar to the Carolina jessamine which has also been blooming.  I discovered that the bulbs I tried to give away last Fall had sprouted so I planted some.  One intrepid turtle soaked up sunshine despite the chill.  

According to the gardening column in the newspaper, this winter has been slightly warmer than average, but less sunny and a lot wetter.  The article counts December with January and February which the calendar year statistics obscure.