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. 

4 & 20 blackbirds

A pine warbler caught the light at dawn on this icy cold day.  A myrtle warbler sat on a chair soaking up rays.  A Carolina wren stayed in the shadows to eat suet.  Then starlings began to arrive.  Blue jays found the barkbutter balls left from yesterday.  A handful of robins stayed up in the trees.  Three or four white throats rushed around.  

The creek was well iced except where the current runs under the bulkhead.  The female downy had seeds.  Bluebirds argued with a female oriole over the barkbutter balls.  She won and the bluebirds decided to eat seeds.  She moved on to the jelly.  Back at the barkbutter dish, it was bluebird versus pine warbler.  Other warblers focused on suet.  

The female red belly opted for barkbutter balls instead of her usual.  Or maybe it was a different bird?  The male downy wanted suet.  Meanwhile egrets and perhaps other birds flew over the creek.  Brown headed nuthatches  were thirsty and hungry for seeds.  I glimpsed a white breasted nuthatch making off with a barkbutter ball.  

Red winged blackbirds and brown headed cowbirds added to the blackbird count.  They ornamented the trees and then spooked.  The wind grew gusty and the tux cat showed up.  Starlings didn't care.  An oriole gleaned barkbutter dust from the emptied dish.  The red belly went back to seeds.  A mockingbird made a late visit.  A mourning dove wanted a drink but the birdbath was still a solid block.  

Birds in the mist

The cool, misty air and gray light seemed to encourage birds.  White throats scurried around the mulch.  Pine warblers seemed famished.  They were joined by an orange crowned warbler.  A couple of male bluebirds wanted seeds.  A little flock hopped around in the trees but the light was too poor to identify them.  At least one was a robin but another might have been a house finch.  The female red bellied woodpecker took over the seed feeder.  

Muted colors were reflected by the flat creek surface.  Mallards slept on the water. A chipping sparrow joined the white throats.  A flicker explored a branch stump on one of the dogwoods. The male pileated was back for suet.  A mockingbird poked through the crumbs in the barkbutter dish.  A Carolina wren poked at the mulch.  A brown headed nuthatch tried to get past bigger birds to the seeds.  Even a goldfinch dropped by.  

Seeds

There were starlings hanging around every time I looked so I never put any food out.  Of course there was the suet and the sunflower seed feeder.  The brown headed nuthatch was happy with those.  Blue jays, titmice, warblers, a robin, and other birds appeared to be eating oak flowers or maybe catching bugs.  I saw a junco foraging under the seed feeder.  The day was cooler, cloudy, and not so breezy.  

A myrtle warbler preened in the dogwood while waiting to defend the suet.  The pileated woodpecker returned and the warbler decided to retreat.  A downy woodpecker felt the same.  When the pileated flew away, he landed on a tree trunk opposite a squirrel.  The downy hustled back to the suet only to find a starling had got there first.  

A couple of doves wandered around the patio.  Bluebirds were not pleased with the lack of barkbutter balls.  The dog was feeling enough recovered to wander around the yard.  A white throated sparrow emerged from under an azalea bush.  The one dogwood once again made puzzle boxes of its petals.  The domestic cherry burst into bloom!  I begain planting seeds because rain is predicted for overnight.  

Another two-fer

I had to change the password and didn't have it on the laptop yet, so I couldn't open Blogger yesterday.  But it was a good bird day.  Wind roughed up the creek but that didn't stop pelicans.  A great blue heron used the floating dock. 

A couple of feathers were snagged on a mountain mint stalk.  The orioles were still here.  A pale pine warbler sneaked past the boss butterbutt, but not for long.  A female red-bellied woodpecker discovered the suet.  Juncos came to forage.  Starlings came for everything.  

The newspaper began publishing the pollen count - happy Spring!

Today I burned through a whole lot of pixels.  The gray sky refused to release much rain.  Brown headed nuthatches kept the sunflower feeder busy.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet and other treats.  Expecting rain, I put out no jelly so the orioles ate barkbutter balls.  So did starlings and bluebirds.  The butterbutt monitored the feeders from a tree branch.  Juncos and the pale pine warbler returned.  Robins hung out in the trees. 

Pelicans coasted above the creek while a handful of buffleheads bobbed on the surface.  The water wasn't as rough as yesterday.  Egrets and herons fished the shallows.  One heron roosted up in the pine.  A half dozen hoodies came along in the late afternoon.  A herring gull, I think, floated around the end of the dock.  It was paler than the typical herring gull but didn't look like any other species.  

March wind

The wind was stronger a couple of days ago, but I really felt it today.  It didn't seem to bother the pileated woodpecker.  After he left the suet, he interacted with a flicker up in the oak.  Bluebirds wanted fresh barkbutter balls.  As soon as I put out more the orioles came back, then blue jays. 

A robin just wanted water.  A female house finch puffed up so much I thought I was looking at a different bird.  A handful of red-winged blackbirds came to forage.  A white breasted nuthatch wanted a turn at the seeds.  A brown headed nuthatch had an easier time of it. 

Something small floated on the creek, keeping the same spot despite wind and current, but I couldn't get it in focus.  The feral black and white cat made itself comfortable on my chair.  Fortunately, the dog was ready to go outside.  It took him a minute to home in on the cat but then he was off like a rabbit. 

The wind was really fierce on Tuesday.  I hardly saw any birds.  Toward evening as the light was failing, a white breasted nuthatch was frustrated by a cardinal that had taken over the seed feeder.  

Spring fever

This early Spring has made me lazy.  Yesterday slipped away without a post and it wasn't for lack of photos or interest.  Both days were sunny with a nippy breeze, especially Saturday.  The oak, peach, and redbuds flowered, the wild cherry began to leaf out, and buds burst on a dogwood.  Sweet gum buds looked ready to pop and I found fig leaves!  Buds were visible on the blueberries but not yet open.  Fortunately there were early bumblebees. 

The female orioles remained and a male showed up.  At least two bluebird pairs visited the feeders.  Myrtle warblers fussed over pecking order.  Blue jays stuffed their beaks.  Downy woodpeckers were faithful to their suet.  Starlings scattered food everywhere.  Red-winged blackbirds were much better behaved.  A few robins remained from the flock in the pecan. 

Pelicans fished on the creek but I never got a good shot. The sun reached a lot more of the patio and flowerbeds.  The moon was well up and looking fat by the time I took my library books back on Saturday.  

A mockingbird greeted the Sunday sun.  Then a blue jay wanted breakfast.  Orioles started arriving, then bluebirds.  Robins came back to drink.  The female orioles were much more assertive with the male than they were a month ago.  He definitely ate last.  Red-winged blackbirds briefly returned.  And of course there were starlings.  

I saw a junco.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet than seeds. The first grackle I've seen in years popped up but didn't stay long.  And a cedar waxwing accompanied a robin to the birdbath!  

Gray day

The rain began about half an hour after I got up, just individual drops in the birdbath at first.  Birds only showed up after the rain started.  A myrtle warbler seemed overwhelmed by a barkbutter ball.  A white breasted nuthatch sampled everything, and for a moment, there were two of them.  Bluebirds were more picky.  Female orioles pecked at the remains of yesterday's jelly. 

K told me there was a flock of birds in the pecan tree out front setting up a racket.  I couldn't be sure what they were, silhouetted against the sky, but there were hints of redness and I'm guessing they were robins.  I had hoped for cedar waxwings but I saw no sign of crests. 

After lunch, I spotted a song sparrow in the mulch around the birdbath.  Juncos had foraged their earlier, as had a dove.  A cardinal brooded on the seed feeder perch.  

I glimpsed an egret and a pelican in the morning.  In the afternoon, a couple of hoodie hens paddled upstream.  A great blue heron huddled on the neighbors' floating dock and another watched the lake.  Shovelers, I think, flew toward the dam.  

Still warm

Thermometers showed 76° but it wasn't quite a record.  That was 77° in 1990.  The butterbutts expended a ridiculous amount of energy chasing other warblers away from the food.  Even the bluebirds were a bit testy.  The orioles enforce their queuing order. 

A little flock of red-winged blackbirds poked around in the grass, mostly turned to straw in the last freeze.  One robin accompanied them.  It was a mostly overcast day.with a streaky orange sunset.  

Shirtsleeve weather

The turtles were back on their log.  Pelicans flew over the creek even though it must have been quite mild out on the bay.  The sky was streaky and hazy blue.  I was taking a picture of flying cormorants when a large flock of small birds bombed my photo.  I could not guess what they were.

There was still a bit of suet left for the downy woodpeckers.  Warblers weren't so sure about hanging upside down to eat.  Bluebirds stuck to barkbutter balls.  Juncos stuck to terra firma.  A robin watched from the far side of the mountain mint stalks.  The brown headed nuthatches were only interested in sunflower seeds and a drink from the ant moat.  Orioles liked everything in dishes.  

Windy

The day grew steadily colder and the clouds made me think of snow. I was gone all morning.  In the afternoon, the wind gradually cleared the sky.  Brown headed nuthatches managed to get fed despite the bigger birds.  Blue jays and bluebirds were delighted when I finally restocked the dish feeders.  Orioles felt the same about the jelly.  An oriole with a beak full of grape jelly looked quite bloodthirsty. 

The warblers wanted some of everything, even jelly for one myrtle warbler.  A Carolina wren scavenged whatever fell.  Juncos and white throats also foraged on the ground.  A brown headed cowbird joined them.  Three robins flew over him.  A couple of red winged blackbirds stayed in the trees. 

A big raptor circled but my only photo was fuzzy.  I saw buffleheads on the creek.  

Spring signs

A film of ice sealed the water in the birdbath when I got up, but soon melted.  While I didn't notice wind, the creek surface was not still.  A myrtle warbler was the early bird.  These warm days persuaded bulbs and similar vegetation to send up shoots.  The Carolina jessamine began blooming.  It all put me in the mood to shop for seeds.  

Bluebirds monitored the feeders from the top of the redwood.  The orioles definitely liked the mealworms along with the jelly.  It's a good thing they are satisfied with cheap grape jelly.  A block from home a flock of robins poked in the grass.  I don't understand why they so rarely visit us. 

During the day the temperature sneaked up to 58, but started to drop as the sun descended into a layer of thin cloud. I spotted a faint sundog.  Returning from the library, I went past Witchduck Lake which was full of ducks and cormorants.  I identified hoodies, shovelers, and wood ducks.  

One half of the moon hung overhead as the sun set.  

Damp

It was warmer and wet in the morning.  A flock of robins fund something desirable in the trees.  Orioles, nuthatches, sparrows, bluebirds, and warblers were back.  The sky began to clear ing the afternoon, but then changed its mind.  I pruned part of the mountain mint.  

Sweaty

We had a lovely May Day, but I dressed too warmly for an excursion to the Botanic Garden.  Before that, I had little luck with the back yard.  I missed skinks, bluebirds, red bellied woodpeckers, and more.  At NBG, Irises and spatterdock bloomed in ponds.  

I spotted a chipping sparrow on a construction fence.  A robin ran down a path.  One pond was full of turtles and a mallard pair.  The loop trail I picked was longer than I expected.  Combined with the heat, I was well melted.  I thought I took a lot more pictures than I came home with.  Strange.  

Cold

This was a good day for #GBBC bird counting -- cold, sunny, and not much wind.  I started right in at breakfast with a butterbutt.  A junco, a couple of blue jays, a pair of cardinals, and another of house finches showed up the first hour.  Then white throated sparrows, doves, bluebirds, a Carolina wren and a brown headed nuthatch all wanted food.  

A red bellied woodpecker tried to out-glare starlings over the suet, but gave up.  A song sparrow foraged around the birdbath but a brown thrasher only wanted a drink from the puddle on the pool cover.  On the creek I saw a mallard and a cormorant, and flying over a gull. 

We had lunch late but the birds kept coming.  The temperature had gone up ten degrees but it was still nippy.  The bluebirds, house finches, sparrows, juncos, blue jays, doves, woodpeckers, wrens, and warblers were still around  A mockingbird and a titmouse joined in.  The brown headed nuthatch tried again for seeds but had to forage in the mulch.  What a come-down.   A female oriole stayed up in a tree. 

I spotted a hoodie pair on the creek.  Pelicans and cormorants fished.  I glimpsed an egret below the dam.  A robin hopped around briefly.  A crow harassed some bird I couldn't see.  House finches found something in an azalea.They make a commotion of thrashing branches. A sleepy squirrel soaked up sun nearby. 

Warm

The temperature climbed past 60° today, but the warm air brought clouds.  The creek was an almost perfect mirror.  One of the myrtle warblers got belligerent and began driving off all the other warblers, both pine and myrtle.  The mockingbird ignored it.  White throats foraged in mulch instead of snow.  There was a brown thrasher too but I didn't get a picture. 

The blue jays that dote on barkbutter balls didn't even bother to come and taste the barkbutter in little tubs.  But the bluebirds love the stuff.  I think six bluebirds have been coming to the feeders.  They don't sit still to be counted.  Speaking of thrushes, the other kind showed up - a small flock of robins flew among the trees.  One pale female foraged under the maple.  

When I checked on the other suet cage a male pileated woodpecker was dangling from it.  Soon the female appeared on a tree trunk, acting as though feeding on the tree was the only thing in her head.  I believe I saw a brown headed cowbird in the trees.  A goldfinch came to see if there was anything for a vegetarian. 

The pelicans were thick despite the warm temperature and light wind.  I guess they followed fish up the creek.  One turtle climbed up into the warm air.  The male kingfisher was back, perched on what appeared to be a broken limb. 

When I went to turn out the kitchen light before bed, there was a moth on the window!   

Sunny

Bluebirds and white throated sparrows were early birds.  I saw a male townee but it hopped down the steps and out of sight.  A pair of juncos cleaned the patio.  A mockingbird took over the suet.  But then the red bellied woodpeckers began to visit.  A brown thrasher checked on the barkbutter cup.  So of course then the blue jays had to see.  A pair of robins rested in the pine tree.  Yellow rumped warblers hung around for a chance at the suet.  Crows acted suspicious, but they always do. 

On the creek, three female hooded mergansers paddled upstream.  A dozen turtles soaked up morning sunshine.  A kingfisher flew past too fast to think of getting a photo.  Thankfully, pelicans were slower.  The sky went through a variety of patterns from bars to veils as the wind continued to blow.  Oak buds burst and those long stringy flowers began to expand.  

Big birds

The masked butterbutt got up early to have some suet before the boss warbler arrived.  But the next visitor was the male red bellied woodpecker.  Then the bluebirds came, and then the downy woodpeckers.  I spotted a robin up in the hackberry.  Five blackbirds arrived to despoil the suet, one starling and four cowbirds, I think. 

At lunch, the local brown thrasher was showing a guest around.  I hope that will mean baby birds in a couple of months.  (There may have been two of them around all along, but this was the first time I saw more than one, and there is no obvious difference between male and female.)  The afternoon wasn't as windy but it felt mighty cold.  The sky was cloudless and the creek surface had smoothed out.  I found a blooming daffodil and a Spring camellia blossom.  

A flock of cormorants fished all day.  Crows harassed the eagles' child.  A feamle hoodie I never noticed showed up in a photo.  Several pelicans cruised over the creek in the morning, but the young, brown pelican was alone while I was on the dock.  Well, alone except for the cormorants that kept popping up all around it.  A couple of buzzards circled over the scene.  And just ad the pelican finally caught a fish, my battery died. 

Nice change

A warm sunny day, though it clouded over before sunset. This was one of the early mornings when the creek is still in shadow reflecting sunlit trees.  It wasn't long before the yellow rumped warbler discovered the suet.  I had a Zoom to wrangle so it was late morning before I got another look outside.  A bee was flying around the camellia.  Titmice packed away the sunflower seeds.  

By lunch time, wispy transparent bands of cumulus began to appear.  I saw a blue jay in a pine tree but it wasn't interested in anything but barkbutter.  A bluebird also watched from the trees. The warbler was still eating suet in between downy woodpecker visits.  A red bellied woodpecker tried for some suet but was interrupted by starlings.  A mockingbird didn't want to take on the starlings either.  Carolina wrens and white throated sparrows cleaned up below.  

When I went outside the sky was intensely blue.  A couple of female buffleheads fished together.  A turkey vulture circled and landed in a nearby tree.  It seemed curious about me.  The warbler and the starlings kept watch on me from the trees.  I spotted a robin in the redwood and a grackle in a pine.  Bulbs were beginning to send up shoots.  Turtles were out on the lake logs.  Thicker bands of cloud blew East and muted the sunshine, so I went inside.  

Birdfull

A brown thrasher showed up for breakfast but the bark butter ball dish was empty.  I refilled it but it was empty again at lunch and I never saw who emptied it.  However there seemed to be a lot of crows hanging around.  The new moon tide ran high, but against the wind. 

At lunch, two pine warblers visited the suet.  A house finch lay in the sunflower seed trough to frustrate the little birds.  A white throated sparrow poked through the waste hulls beneath.  I've only seen a tan morph so it may be the same bird.  Robins cavorted up in the cherry trees.  A Carolina wren had a turn at the suet.  

There were fresh flowers on the paperwhite.  I found a morning glory still blooming in the late afternoon in the middle of November.  The fungus looked about the same.  

It was sunnier in the morning while I was stuck in a meeting. The afternoon got overcast, then cleared somewhat.  Clouds made a fierce orange sunset.