Another hot day

Not quite as warm as yesterday -- the sky was overcast, the wind blew hard, and the thermometer only reached 80°.  A bluebird escaped my camera.  White throats continued their foraging.  A very molty myrtle warbler ate suet.  A Carolina wren studied the suet.  A female red bellied woodpecker visited the barkbutter balls.  A blue jay followed.  I snapped an LBJ and it turned out to be a ruby crowned kinglet! 

The volunteer domestic cherry bloomed.  Leaves emerged above the oak catkins.  The maple  flowers had gone to seed.  Several cabbage whites pollinated the money plant flowers and I thought I saw a swallowtail on the jonquils.  Bees and wasps bustled around.  

Cold and windy

The thermometer said 31° and the birdbath was frozen.  Songbirds were hungry and there was no suet.  Barkbutter balls disappeared quickly.  Pine and myrtle warblers and titmice wanted calories fast.  Blue jays were afraid the barkbutter balls would run out.  Starlings intended to make that happen.  White throats avoided the competition by foraging on the ground.  Two female orioles did compete and burned energy chasing each other.  A mockingbird was not pleased to find the birdbath solid ice.  I wondered if the ant moat was frozen too, but at least it was in the sun. 

Egrets lined up below the dam to catch the rising sun. A great blue heron perched in a pine tree in the sun.  In the afternoon, I saw a female bufflehead on the wind-roughened creek   Then a pied bill grebe paddled downstream.  It paused for a good scratch.  A cormorant surfaced and a pelican landed.  Then a whole flock of hoodies came swimming and diving up the creek.  In the late afternoon, egrets gathered along the sunny side of the lake. 

I poured hot water in the birdbath and it froze again.  That disappointed a bluebird.and a couple of goldfinches.  I also refilled the barkbutter dish.  A brown headed and then a white breasted nuthatch collected some seeds.  K hung a fresh block of suet which immediately attracted a warbler.  Then a red winged blackbird showed up and tried the barkbutter balls and the suet.  One of the orioles got a drink right above the blackbird.  (They are cousins, but I don't think there's much family feeling.)  Warblers and then a downy got some suet. 

Three doves foraged under the seed feeder.  Several starlings returned for suet.  One warbler boldly ate suet right beside a much bigger starling.  I spotted a flicker up in a pine but mistook it for a red belly till I saw the photos.  A downy found the second suet feeder.  A Carolina wren hopped around the trees. A little bird flitting among the saltbushes was a ruby crowned kinglet!  

 

Brrrrrr

I wanted to put the fresh suet out early, but the suet appeared to have melted and was stuck inside the package.  I was doing this outdoors to avoid a mess and it was so cold my fingers were fumbling.  Then the birds just stared at the suet and I worried that it had gone bad.  But I guess they were taking time to adjust to change because lots of birds that have been missing decided to return.  Anyway, the mockingbird took the lead.  Then a white breasted nuthatch began visiting.  There may have been more than one.  

The red bellied woodpeckers had no doubt about the suitability of the suet.  A ruby crowned kinglet and a Carolina wren slipped in while the bigger birds were digesting.  All the Baltimore orioles returned.  Even a pine warbler put ion an appearance, until the yellow rumped warbler pounced.  A brown headed nuthatch came for seeds but couldn't resist the suet. 

My extraction of the suet from its package left lots of crumbs on the patio so the white throats got a bonus.  A starling with a leg problem was also happy to help clean up.  Its right leg was sticking out sideways, almost like a dislocated hip.  But it had no problem flying so there was no hope of catching it and I'm not sure a wildlife rescue would take an invasive species.  A few juncos also came to forage.   Even the white breasted nuthatch joined the birds on the ground.  And, of course, the brown thrasher liked having food that wasn't in the air. 

Blue jays sulked till I put out some barkbutter balls.  Bluebirds sampled everything when they could.  So did the butterbutts.  A song sparrow showed up at the seed feeder.  When I didn't see it the last few weeks, I was getting concerned that it had been caught by a cat.  Today, I chased off the feral cat and later the green collared cat sauntered past the feeders.  The juvenile eagle circled overhead a few times.  And there were bird alarms when I didn't see a cause. In the afternoon, a red breasted nuthatch made a beeline for the seeds, unlike its cousins.  Titmice, cardinals, and chickadees also came for seeds. 

The creek had ice patches again but the pelicans didn't care.  A heron chased another.  I glimpsed some diving ducks but couldn't be sure which kind they were.  Pink sunset clouds reflected on water gone still while cormorants flew home.  But when I looked West, thicker clouds were flaming red.  Unfortunately, we don't have a good West view from inside, and I wasn't going out in the cold.  

Wet birds

I was trying to get to bed earlier and I must have skipped over Tuesday.  Maybe it was because I took too many pictures and couldn't cope?  Going by those photos, the day began with a goldfinch.  A yellow rumped warbler and a Carolina wren immediately followed, then a bluebird took the suet away from them.  The wren and the warbler moved to the mulch.  A female oriole replaced the female bluebird.  A male red bellied woodpecker was next.  A red breasted nuthatch was only interested in seeds.  A brown thrasher looked for suet crumbs.  And all that happened in four minutes.  

Soon a female downy woodpecker had a turn at the suet.  A ruby crowned kinglet followed another oriole and flaunted its tiny ruby.    Too bad the light was so poor and the kinglet so jittery.  A song sparrow was easier on the camera.  The mockingbird was wet as well as puffed up.  A pelican flew through the rain and then the cat prowled through the yard.  

Rain fogged the distant trees at lunch.  White throated sparrows poked through the wet mulch.  A pine warbler waited in the dogwood to share the suet with a bluebird.  Downstream, a great blue heron waited on a dock.  The wren brought its partner.  A male oriole displaced the female.  Then a male downy slammed onto the suet and sent the oriole flying.    A crow across the creek pulled something out of the grass, maybe a worm?  Mallards, hooded mergansers, and shovelers congregated around the dead trees on the lake.  Female buffleheads fished in the creek.  More pelicans flew over but must not have seen any fish.  

Icy

There was frost on the ground and ice in the creek.  The birdbath was a solid lump.  There was some sunshine at first but the day quickly became overcast.  The ice was soon gone and pelicans fished on the creek. Blue jays quickly emptied the bark butter balls.  A yellow rumped warbler stared accusingly at us.  I did refill the cup later. 

An early song sparrow looked for breakfast in the frost.  The white throats came later.  K refilled the seed feeder and kindly left some seeds on the patio for squirrels.  That seemed to lure them to the feeder to attempt to get more.  The feeder won. 

Two female orioles focused on suet.  So did the mockingbird and a a female red bellied woodpecker.  And the kinglet returned for more.  Pine and yellow rumped warblers tried to drive the larger birds off the suet cage.  The male downy just hopped onboard with an oriole.  Bluebirds were late to the party but they got a share of the suet. 

Territories

In the early morning, the creek was still in shadow but reflected the sunlight on the trees.  By lunch time, bright sunshine had not warmed the air very much.  The mockingbird was still being possessive about the suet.  Maybe that's why a lot of birds preferred to hunt for crumbs on the steps.  Unfortunately, that kept them out of sight.  A pine warbler and a Carolina wren were able to coexist on the dwindling suet.  Yellow rumped warblers also acted territorial.  The tiny but determined ruby crowned kinglet came back.  The male red bellied woodpecker got lunch and, of course, there were downy woodpeckers.  Female orioles were mostly peaceable for once. 

The brown thrasher almost defeated me till I caught it thrashing the dead leaves over by the hose bib.  White throats busily foraged in the mulch.  Three mourning doves joined the hunt.  A red breasted nuthatch made off with sunflower seeds.  Crows swooped through and scared the songbirds.  I think they may have been after a hawk.

On the creek, a lone female bufflehead fished while the Canada geese paddled around slurping up whatever it is they eat in the water.  The great blue heron that owns this stretch of creek was on our dock piling again.  Across the creek, three pelicans basked and preened on a boathouse roof.  A pair of hooded mergansers popped up by the bulkhead. 

Bright and chilly

I saw a big bird coming at me up the creek and thought it was a pelican until it landed on the dock and turned into a great blue heron.  There were pelicans, but my timing was off or vegetation was in the way or the camera didn't cooperate.  A female bufflehead kept diving in roughly the same spot on the creek.  Quite a sizable flock of hooded mergansers paddled upstream.  A high-flying bald eagle passed overhead to fast for me.

The bandit-masked butterbutt was still trying to be the boss of all warblers but some of the pine warblers had other opinions.  I wonder if the reason it still has summer markings might be an excess of testosterone?  Downy and red bellied woodpeckers and orioles ignored the warblers.  Carolina wrens tried to stay out of trouble and still get a good meal.  A ruby crowned kinglet gave up after being chased off the suet several times.  A goldfinch watched other birds on the suet as thought it had regrets about being a vegetarian.  A bluebird pair preened in the cherry while soaking up sun and watching the feeders. 

Two mockingbirds continued their turf war over my yard.  A brown thrasher needed a drink.  White throated sparrows dodged squirrels as both hunted fallen seeds.  Red breasted nuthatches darted past the guardian house finches to get seeds.  Chickadees and titmice did the same.  

The hyacinth K brought home has bloomed already.  The three peppers were ripening.  

Cold and wet

Periods of rain punctuated the day which stayed cold.  As a result, I didn't put out any more bark butter balls, but some birds pecked at the mush that was left.  The warblers explored all options for food and fought with each other.  Carolina wrens tried to avoid the fuss. The light was terrible and the windows were spotted with rain, so a third of my pictures were washouts.  Thank goodness for digital cameras.

A female oriole joined a male downy woodpecker on the suet.  It was the male red bellied woodpecker's turn at the suet.  Bluebirds managed to get their share.  Despite those big, soulful eyes, bluebirds fought over access to suet, just like the warblers and mockingbirds. A brown thrasher joined smaller birds looking for fallen suet crumbs.  One starling returned and made plenty of crumbs.  They are messy eaters.  A white breasted nuthatch tried the suet.  The ruby crowned kinglet came back for more suet. 

Titmice and the white breasted nuthatch joined the chickadees, house finches, and cardinals for sunflower seeds.  Several white throated sparrows looked for fallen seeds.  Two female cardinals went at each other too.  A goldfinch popped in to see if there were any good seeds left.   A song sparrow pushed a brown headed nuthatch off the seed feeder, then went beak to beak with a house finch before retiring to the mulch. 

Gray gloom

Even when it wasn't raining, the air was misty.  The mockingbird blended right in.  The downy woodpeckers had a lot of competition for suet.  Female orioles moved right in on a downy.  Pine and yellow rumped warblers went back and forth between the suet and the barkbutter balls.  I saw one yellow rump with a mask and one without, and pine warblers in all gradations of yellow. 

A white breasted nuthatch made off with a barkbutter ball.  So did blue jays and Carolina wrens.  The feral cat stayed a long time, just sitting on the pool cover watching.  A mockingbird visited the other suet cage by the Northwest corner of the house. 

A bufflehead drake hung around our section of the creek for over an hour.  He wasn't fishing or preening, just loitering.  Maybe he was sleeping?  Later a girlfriend showed up and the pair paddled around more of the creek.  Two larger ducks paddled away from me and one looked like it had a shoveler's bill.  If so, they were non-breeding males.  A great blue heron flew upstream. 

At lunch, the ruby crowned kinglet came to the feeders.  It got very frustrated trying to get a turn at the suet.  I got frustrated because it kept turning its back to me.  Because birds like to drink from it, we never took down the ant moat when we switched from the hummingbird feeder to the suet cage.  It also serves as an ad hoc rain gauge and today it reached overflow.  A couple of the larger birds got drenched when they hit the suet too hard.  Bluebirds must have weighed less because they were not more careful.  A female red bellied woodpecker landed on the post, but gave up before getting any suet. 

Several white throated sparrows and the song sparrow foraged in the wet mulch.  A brown headed nuthatch made several trips to the seed feeder, dodging a possessive house finch.  Titmice and chickadees also kept the feeder occupied.  A flock of blackbirds flew over several times and one red-winged blackbird landed on the post.  A female cardinal was visible in the bushes.  I think a flicker was sitting in the pine tree but is was silhouetted against the sky and behind vegetation, so it might have been a red bellied woodpecker.  

More rain

Once again we were about 10" over normal for the year - about 20%.  I keep wondering how many years before "normal" is re-calibrated.  A great blue heron landed on one of the dock posts and stood there like a wet mop. 

The yellow rumped warbler in partly summer plumage was back for more suet.  So were the two Carolina wrens, pine warblers, and the mockingbird.  Bluebirds quarreled with each other and the warblers over it.

Then, to my delight, a ruby crowned kinglet appeared.  I even saw its ruby crown.  A blue jay tried to avoid being seen.  The brown thrasher was less cautious.  Eventually the orioles got a turn on the suet.  Juncos and sparrows and even titmice scurried around in the mulch.  Birds also hunted fallen crumbs from the suet but I couldn't see them because they were at the bottom of the steps.   A dove poked around on the ground.  

From the back room I could see a great blue heron on a snag on the lake. A cormorant paddled in the lake.  Down on the creek, a handful of female buffleheads and one drake fished.  Pelicans flew past.  A kingfisher alighted on a dock post but I think it caught sight of me because it soon left.  A couple of pairs of mallards nosed around the barnacle-encrusted pilings.  Three juncos hopped around outside the window.  The kinglet flitted around in the branches and showed me the red patch on its head. 

Two kings day

Morning humidity was 99% but the temperature climbed with the sun.  Every surface was covered with dew once again, fat drops on the chairs, fine beads on the vegetation. I think the humidity contributed to leaf color this year.  There were a lot more clouds today. 

Lots of turtles were out on logs soaking up sunshine.  The creek was dusty with leafmeal and groundsel fluff.  It caught the evening light.

The two kings were a kinglet and a kingfisher.  I saw the ruby crowned kinglet at mid day and the male belted kingfisher at dusk.   The feral cat sashayed through the yard.    

Kinglet

A few hoodies were out on the creek after breakfast.  It was a lovely, calm day with an unmarked blue sky. Fluff from the saltbush was snowing everywhere.  But I had to spend too much of it glued to a computer. On the lake, a half dozen turtles enjoyed the warm sun.  

I am beginning to think that the slime mold is actually a weeping conk, some kind of fungus anyway.  I first observed it on the 18th of October, three weeks ago, which is too long for a slime mold.

After sitting quietly for a while after lunch, I spotted a ruby crowned kinglet at the far end of the pool.  It flitted around so quickly and unpredictably that many of my photos had only part of the bird, or none at all.  

Ice

Long crystals covered the surface of the water in the birdbath at breakfast.  The sky was a cloudless robin's egg blue and the creek was full of wavy reflections. A Carolina wren was up before there was enough light for pictures.  A song sparrow was glad I scattered some seeds.  A white throated sparrow was able to get some before they were all gone.  Soon the downy woodpeckers arrived.  The red bellied woodpecker lurked in the trees before venturing to the suet.  A goldfinch seemed uncertain what was edible. 


By lunch time, the creek was no longer calm.  Clouds sped across the blue sky and occasionally blinked the sun.  A female oriole slipped in for a bark butter ball. A Carolina wren had the same idea.  The the male oriole had to have some.  The orange crowned warbler preferred suet.  And the ruby crowned kinglet went for the dish of bark butter.  A song sparrow waded in the cold birdbath water looking for dropped seeds. 

A female oriole tried to share the suet with a downy but it didn't last.  A hooded merganser drake bobbed on the water.  The sparrows, kinglet, and warbler hung around into the afternoon.  So did I but eventually I had to do other things.  The nearly full moon was up before sunset.  

Yellow birds!

And no cat, as far as I could see.  Instead, the male red bellied woodpecker came to breakfast, followed closely by the downy woodpecker pair.  A Carolina wren, or maybe two, popped up.  Several blue jays tried to snatch a meal without getting caught on camera.  I did catch a white throated sparrow and a titmouse.   A female Baltimore oriole visited the suet and bark butter balls.  A male pine warbler wanted suet.  A goldfinch landed on the suet but remained a vegetarian. 

A squirrel had a terrible flea that required great contortions to chase.   The same squirrel stretched out on the pool cover in the afternoon sun, just like a certain cat.  And then that very same squirrel raided the grape jelly I'd put out in case the orioles returned. 

A song sparrow appeared at lunch.  The ruby crowned kinglet visited the bark butter.  A white breasted nuthatch was lured by the suet.  It picked out and dropped bits it didn't like.  The downy woodpeckers weren't going to tolerate that.  The oriole came back, along with the male, before the jelly was all gone.  Another, paler female also appeared and had some jelly too.  A white throat and a wren also returned.  A myrtle warbler watched for a moment. I spotted a turtle on a log in the lake soaking up the afternoon sun.

The yellow birds:

Clouding over

At breakfast, a heron fished.  The water was calm but the sky was hazy with wispy clouds. 

A blue jay flitted around the edge of the yard at lunch.  Then the ruby crowned kinglet came for bark butter.  A white throated sparrow foraged but a song sparrow went after bark butter balls.  A downy woodpecker surveyed the yard.  A Carolina wren investigated the birdbath. 

In the afternoon one turtle basked but the sun was often blocked by clouds.  Buffleheads and hoodies paddled on the creek. 

Morning fog

The fog was apparent when I got up, peaked around 8am, and burned off by 9am.  Birds were slow to appear.  A song sparrow ventured out to the seeds I'd scattered.  A white throated sparrow followed. 

The sun caught the male red bellied woodpecker at the suet.  The downy woodpeckers weren't having that so they came too. 

Two Carolina wrens wanted bark butter.  The squirrel with the  sore flank was being followed by another in a manner that suggests she's about to go into heat.

A pine warbler, a myrtle warbler (AKA yellow rumped, butterbutt), and an orange crowned warbler all wanted lunch.  The ruby crowned kinglet reappeared, seeking suet.

A couple of bufflehead drakes preened on the creek.   The sky was mostly clear but stratus clouds blurred the late afternoon sun. 

Two crowns, two kings

A song sparrow was up before there was enough light for the camera.   So was a downy woodpecker.   The blasted cat started to stalk something in the azalea but gave up.  The red bellied woodpecker had a suet brunch. 

Around noon, a ruby crowned kinglet dashed to the bark butter tub and hammered at it furiously.  Then it darted over to the suet.  That brought out the orange crowned warbler, but at no time did either bird show its crown.  The downy woodpecker eventually came back. 

There seemed to be a lot going on under the water as the tide dropped.  I saw a few buffleheads on the surface.  Pelicans flew up and down the creek frequently but I didn't see any plunge into our stretch.  A great blue heron rested on a dock piling.  Two mallard pairs dabbled under the bulkhead.

Then I realized a male kingfisher had landed on the dock bench.  Actually, it was his fish that caught my eye.  The kingfisher seemed constipated, if that's possible.  He lifted his tail many times before he got results.  I never saw him eat the fish but both birds were gone the next time I looked.  And soon after that the light was gone.

April fools

Morning was nice for Easter services.  The weather played some tricks as the wind shifted from the Southwest to the Northwest bringing chilling clouds in the late afternoon. Insects of all sorts awakened and emerged. I saw (and was too awestruck to photograph) a mourning cloak butterfly with its gold trim blazing in the sunlight.  A cabbage white, wasps, tiny moths and midges flew around me. 

A male downy woodpecker went to work on the suet.  The yellow rumped warbler made do with the mealworm dish.  I saw what might have been a least flycatcher.  A blue jay was busy with something at the base of the cedar by the dock.  Another was under the neighbors' feeder.  Then I definitely saw a bluegray gnatcatcher, maybe more as it never stayed put.  White throats hopped through the understory trees and bushes.  A house finch defied a cardinal and won, but eventually they compromised. 

The sunnyside narcissus opened.  The sassafras started to bloom only to have a squirrel eat the flowers.  The cherry had scattered flowers.  Some ajuga popped up where I thought it was long gone. Periwinkle snails were abundantly visible as the tide was blown very low.  It exposed the trap that worried me last year, but a couple of girls retrieved it.

More rain

At breakfast, a downy woodpecker ate suet while a blue jay had bark butter balls.  The bluebirds wanted some but were left with crumbs.  White throats just hunted fallen seeds.  Pelicans cruised over the water while gulls floated and squabbled.  As we were leaving I spotted a sapsucker on the pecan. 

After lunch, Carolina wrens inspected everything.  The bluebirds were back.  Titmice came for seeds.  One sang for its lunch.  The warblers continued their war.  And that made the kinglet raise his crown.  The starlings came back, frustrating the downy woodpecker.  Then the male red bellied woodpecker wanted the suet. The female came later. 

The gulls were still making a commotion over the rotting fish.  Several black back gulls were involved, as well as a horde of brown juvenile gulls.  I saw a pair of hooded mergansers briefly.

Gray

I was away until late afternoon.  There was some rain mid day and flickers of sun around 3pm, but mostly it was just overcast.  Wind from the South brought the warm, moist air.  The forecast is for a week of on-and-off rain but no frost.

When I got home the kinglet was feasting on suet.  A downy woodpecker took over the feeder and the kinglet retreated to the camellia.  When the downy left, out popped the yellow rumped warbler to retake possession of the suet.  Eventually a titmouse seized its moment. 

A female cardinal appreciated a bark butter ball. I saw a flicker up in the trees but it was backlighted.  On the creek, a male red breasted (or possibly common) merganser was just a blur to the camera.