Cold equinox

Yesterday, I was at Engage Norfolk in an echoing underground hall so I missed the middle of the day and came home hoarse.  The pileated woodpecker came to breakfast, followed by a pine warbler.  A white throated sparrow scavenged beneath the seed feeder.  A blue jay stuffed its beak with barkbutter balls.  

When I got home, a moth-eaten oriole wanted mealworms.  The pileated came back.  Then the cat showed up.  

Today, the pileated was back for more.  A song sparrow scoured the patio in search of crumbs.  The dog begged to go out and settle matters with a handful of crows but I was otherwise occupied.  A brown headed nuthatch got some seeds. 

I saw a pelican afloat and then taking off.  Gulls were also swooping around the creek.  The black and white cat sat outside my window till I startled it.  Later the yellow cat circled the pool.  I saw the muskrat or nutria swim to the neighbor's dock but vegetation hid it from the camera. 

Azaleas put out tentative flowers.  A myrtle warbler and a junco hunted around the patio, but the song sparrow poked through the mulch.  Starlings hoped for a handout.  A downy was evicted from the suet by a red bellied woodpecker.  I went to the nursery and bought way too many seeds plus four pimento peppers.  

In the newspaper Saturday, there was this, "In our area on Monday afternoon, at precisely 5:24, the sun crosses the celestial equator. This marks the spring equinox and ushers in astronomical spring...There’s no doubt that, at least technically speaking, winter is officially over. However, with the past two months of record warm weather on the books, weather prognosticators now predict a return to winter for the last couple weeks of March." And sure enough, the forecast is for frost tonight. 

Spider

The pileated woodpecker spooked before it got any suet.  The first violets opened.  I took the scallop shells down to the creek to throw in and there I found a spider in an orb web on the dock.  I couldn't get close enough to be sure it was alive but the web looked fresh.  

Hoodies paddled downstream and a kingfisher zipped by too fast for me.  An egret took over a post on the new dock beside the dam while a great blue heron occupied the turtles' log.  Pelicans and cormorants flew past.  I saw the muskrat or nutria or possibly otter swim to the neighbors' dock leaving a wake but with only it's nose above water.  

February scorcher!

I saw 81 on the thermometer and the National Weather Service claimed a record.  The Southwest wind kept the humidity low and raised worried about wildfire.  More hyacinths bloomed.  So did a leucojum - will I ever finish pulling them up?  The dog sniffed a squirrel and sent it up the oak.  Later he rolled over in the grass which I thought he'd gotten too old to manage.  A blue  jay scolded from the fence line. 

The wind may explain why pelicans came up the creek despite the warmth.   Next I spotted a ruddy duck, maybe the same one as a couple of days ago.  A hoodie drake paddled upstream and a female headed in the opposite direction.  The kingfisher was back.  I think I saw a muskrat or nutria leave a wake as it headed toward the dock across the creek.  The turtles were out enjoying the tropical day. 

A flock of small birds flew over the dam in the evening.  The leonine cat sprawled on the dock like a dead thing.  Then it lifted its head so that's one worry removed.  A mystery animal's wakes made strange patterns in the water. 

Drama

When I got up, the sky was gray and threatening, but little rain fell overnight and the clouds began to break up shortly after breakfast. The usual domestic squabble between pileated woodpeckers entertained me as I ate. Afterward, a bluebird and a house finch complained that the second suet cage was empty.  By mid morning turtles had climbed up onto their log.  

Then I noticed a crow climbing about in the saltbush  The reason for this puzzling behavior revealed itself to be  a black rat snake.It too was climbing the bush and slowly made its way, bush by bush, to the dock where it dropped out of sight.  A male towhee supervised from the grass.  A muskrat or nutria swam past the commotion.  

Black swallowtails flitted around the yard looking for nectar or mates.  A mockingbird mostly contented itself with suet crumbs.  A female red bellied woodpecker arrived to make more crumbs.  That attracted a second mockingbird.  Two brown headed nuthatches shared the seed feeder perch. 

In the afternoon I spotted a pied bill grebe on the creek.  It raised its wings repeatedly or flapped them and seemed to be preening.  There were enough clouds to catch sunset colors and turn orange.