Very warm

A Carolina wren visited early and often.  A titmouse sampled the suet.  A myrtle warbler foraged with the white throats.  It was molting and looked disheveled.  The song sparrow visited again.  A dove hung around for much of the day. 

It would have been hot except for the wind.  More of the orange and white jonquils opened during the day.  Pollen left bathtub rings on the pool cover.  The dogwoods on the North edge of the patio started to open. 

Frost

There was a pretty rime of ice on the money plant and mountain mint leaves but I don't think anything was killed.  The creek was glassy in the early light and the day warmed pretty quickly.  The sky was intensely blue though there were contrail streaks.  Male flowers on the pines joined the oaks in gilding surfaces with pollen.  Money plants formed buds and violets bloomed.  Azaleas began to flower but the blueberry buds would not be rushed. 

I spotted a pied-bill grebe on the creek but it dived and anyway vegetation fooled the camera focus.  A great blue heron supervised the turtles on the lake.  A great egret fished below the dam. 

Starlings took over the dish feeders.  A mockingbird drank from the birdbath.  Orioles savored the jelly.  in the bushes across the pool, two brown thrashers chased each other but I got no pictures.  Bluebirds eventually got some food.  A myrtle warbler foraged in the birdbath which had dried out during the day.  Then it hovered to peck suet.  Strange bird. 

Bees inspecting the rue for flowers were disappointed.  A black swallowtail only cared about the rue leaves that would feed caterpillars.  

Too many cats!

I don't know if people are being careless with their pets or if they are purposely dumping cats here, but this winter there have been cats I'd never seen before.  One is all black and the other yellow and long haired.  And the resident feral tuxedo cat showed up today too.  Fortunately the two new ones don't seem to be birdwatchers.  

Morning was cold, wet, and gray which didn't stop the downy woodpeckers.  The rain washed pollen onto the pool cover and made strange patterns, but it didn't fill the birdbath.  A white throated sparrow ventured out anyway, and I glimpsed a song sparrow.  Starlings were back - why doesn't the cat watch those?  

On the lake, shovelers were doing their carousel paddling trick to stir up the bottom.  It was too cold for turtles.  Down on the creek, a lone female bufflehead paddled upstream.  Three female hoodies passed two mallard drakes headed downstream.  

At lunch, the silly myrtle warbler was hovering at the suet again.  A Carolina wren inspected everything till an oriole bullied it off the barkbutter balls that I put out when the rain stopped.  The oriole filled her beak like a blue jay.  A few juncos poked through the mulch.  The sky gradually cleared.  A pine warbler wanted barkbutter balls too.   

Sunshine brought the turtles out.  The household that built the new dock next to the dam finally set the purple martin birdhouse up but I don't think they mounted it high enough or in a good spot.  A flock of red breasted mergansers fished up and down the creek and back again.  I saw six females and one drake.  Hoodies were also paddling around but diving less.  Then a female kingfisher appeared.  I might have stared too hard because she took off.  

Very warm

It was humid under a gray sky that did not completely block the sun.  The South wind brought the temperature up to the sweat zone. Last night three slugs crawled on the glass.  This morning a small one headed back down to safer spaces.  A white throated sparrow breakfasted on the seed feeder. A downy woodpecker hid in the dogwood.  When a blue jay visited the bark butter, a female cardinal shot out of the camellia and drove the jay away.  It was all to fast for me to get a picture. 

Pollen puddled on leaves and marbleized the surface of the creek.  It also coated the shore and made it look like a sandy beach.  I wonder if it adds nutrients to the water?  Skinks were out at lunchtime.  A couple of buzzards circled. 

The wind tore petals off the dogwood that was first to bloom.  Egrets fished around the dam.  A dragonfly landed on the patio, possibly because of the wine.  A single crow chased an osprey downstream.  Perhaps it was defending a nest.

Queen yellow jackets hinted suitable nesting sites.  The coral honeysuckle was a mass of flowers.  Beetles mated on the trunk of the cedar.  The rust-colored fungus was back on the cedar.  Mammoth carpenter bees also scouted suitable ground for nests. Buttercups, vetch, and bedstraw took over the front grass.  I planted cilantro and a very odd violet I found with just four petals. 

Rain

The patio was wet when we got up but there was a dry "rain shadow" by the door showing that the rain had fallen at an angle from the South.  The rain began again after breakfast, this time more strongly.  It stopped for a while mid day, but started again as soon as I went outside. After dark the sky cleared and bright moonlight replaced the sunless day.

Pollen coated the creek.  I saw an egret and a heron below the dam outfall but too much vegetation was in the way.  Chickadees visited the feeder. 

Wet everywhere

Gray sky. The overnight rain washed more pollen swirls into the creek. A disturbance in the yellow coating revealed a muskrat swimming. It's dripping from the blueberry blossoms but that doesn't deter the bees. The newspaper was late so we enjoyed birdsong.

Then at 7:45 there was a sudden rush for the feeder. First finches, then a female cardinal, then a chickadee and on the ground a chipping sparrow. A few minutes later a dove landed on top of the feeder.

The mist is getting thicker, almost fog. The far bank of the creek is fading. The pollen swirls have disappeared and the creek surface is no longer smooth. It looks very foggy but I can feel tiny raindrops falling. But the concrete is damp, not wet. And the fog has passed and visibility returned by lunch. Now waves of mist are flowing upstream. And that describes the rest of the day - rainy mist in waves.

Marbled water

The rain washed heavy pollen into the creak where it looks like the bath used to marble paper. Lots of bird song, but no feeder visitors. A squirrel made the rounds. Sunrise was very Easter-like with cream puff clouds. Now the sun is come-and-go.

Pollen is visible in the air as a golden haze. Egrets stalked the creek and an osprey hovered.