March wind

A white throat started the day with barkbutter balls.  A blue jay was next, then a Carolina wren.  And then the voracious starlings showed up.  The wren moved over to the suet.  Chilly and gusty wind didn't discourage the starlings, alas.  Eight or ten of them attacked the suet, the barkbutter balls, and each other. White throats ate what fell.  Cardinals courted, doves foraged, and orioles ate jelly.  

Some of the white throats were a molting mess.  The pine warbler was back for more suet.  A downy ate seeds as did bluebirds.  A myrtle warbler also indulged in jelly.  The suet nearly disappeared during the day but a wren found a few bites.  Lots of money plant flowers opened so that's something for hungry nectar feeders.   

 

Downhill weather

Morning was very warm and my car was well dusted with pollen.  A Carolina wren carried off a barkbutter breakfast ball.  Clouds came in and dropped the temperature.  The red belly chose suet this time.  Unfortunately, so did starlings.  A female bluebird ate seeds.  By supper it was chilly and birds seemed frantic to pack in some calories.  But the light was too poor for photos.  Thus a brown thrasher got away without paying for its meal.  

Pairing up

It looked like the cardinals were getting in the mood to nest.  An egret flew upstream and I believe I also glimpsed a great blue heron.  A pine warbler ate suet.  The two doves returned.  I chased off the short haired yellow cat which was trying to hide behind an azalea.  Starlings bathed alongside a white throated sparrow.  The male red belly came for seeds, but still no sign of a female.  The day was sunny and warm though clouds thickened toward evening.  

Orioles

Three orioles showed up at breakfast. A female had barkbutter while the male went straight to the jelly.  Then another female shoved him off the jelly.  A mockingbird also enjoyed the jelly.  Blue jays, bluebirds, and a brown thrasher wanted the mix of barkbutter and mealworms that K had restocked. So, alas, did a half dozen starlings.  Bluebirds seemed flustered  by the battling starlings and mostly stuck to seeds.  All the sparrows appeared to be white throats.  At lunchtime a pelican flew upstream.  

 

Junco

I saw a male oriole eating jelly at breakfast, but I don't know if it wintered here or was just passing through.  I only got pictures of its rear, unfortunately.  A Carolina wren didn't find much in the glass dish.  A bluebird did better at the seed feeder.  A pine warbler came for suet.  A mockingbird helped itself to suet at lunch.   A myrtle warbler visited the jelly.  A brown headed nuthatch came for seeds.  White throated sparrows ate at feeders and under them.  

Later in the afternoon, a junco appeared.  Perhaps it was migrating North?  The feeder perch gave the bluebirds some trouble by twisting underfoot.  They looked like logrolling lumberjacks.  A blue jay drank from the pool puddle.  A starling tried to get some suet.  The mockingbird switched to jelly.  

 

End of the hear wave

A myrtle warbler breakfasted on barkbutter balls.  Then three starlings argued about who would eat first.  A white throat headed for the mulch to look for seeds.  A blue jay followed the starlings.  A different myrtle warbler tried the jelly.  One white throat appeared to be molting and looked a mess.  I saw an orange butterfly about the size of a cabbage white.

The sun was still bright at lunch.  Afterward I took the camera to the front yard.  Pollinators were busy around the jessamine but too fast for me to photograph.   The bumblebees buzz-pollinating the blueberries were a little slower.  Clouds rolled through and the wind made 70° feel a little chilly.  

I spotted some money plant flowers.   The birds stayed away while I was outside but showed up as soon as I came in.  Bluebirds and the red bellied woodpecker scarcely waited for the door to close.  A mockingbird came but by then the barkbutter dish was empty so it headed for the jelly.  I hadn't refilled the barkbutter balls because rain was predicted.  Around 4pm the sky darkened and the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping.  A rain shower passed through around 5:30pm but hardly wetted the birdbath.  A very red sunset glowed through the trees.  

Warmer

A blue jay demanded breakfast.  The song sparrow hunted for its own meal.  A starling arrived after the dish was empty.  A white throat posed flaunting its field marks.  A downy worked to extract the last morsels of suet, but dropped some.  The sunshine felt warm but the breeze did not. 

The temperature sneaked above 70° at lunch before dropping back to the upper 60s.  While I only saw a bumblebee, I expect the birds found more insects to eat.  The regulars visited the feeders but didn't seem especially hungry. The male pileated wanted some suet but little remained.  Annoyingly, a brown thrasher on the barkbutter dish kept its back to me.  A pair of doves perched in the oak.  Bluebirds ate seeds.  They like something in the mix I bought from WBU.  A crow hoped to find something tasty.  

Chilly

Today looked lovely but it was cold to the touch.  I had meetings morning, afternoon, and evening so I only saw birds at mealtimes.  K kept them fat and happy with mealworms and barkbutter balls.  A white throat sat on a chair arm until we got the point.  The red belly male just worked on seeds.  A white breasted nuthatch stopped me as I came in the door.  Bluebirds showed up at lunch.  A male downy ate seeds just like the red belly.  A starling wasted barkbutter balls.  

In the afternoon, a mockingbird couple checked out the menu.  Trying to get them both in the frame, I got overexposed blurs.  One monopolized the suet and the other seemed agitated.  Later The male pileated landed so it was a three woodpecker day, all males.  

Green day

The storm went with the night and morning was full of sunshine and birds.  The temperature had dropped to 40, but not to the predicted freeze.  Sparrows foraged with a couple of doves.  A Carolina wren ate barkbutter while a myrtle warbler waited.  A female bluebird chose seeds but a blue jay stayed with barkbutter balls.  Then the bluebirds wanted barkbutter balls too.  

The male pileated came for lunch.  I hope he takes some back to the female.  Then a starling found the barkbutter balls almost gone.  So it tried the suet the pileated was eating.  The woodpecker didn't seem bothered but the starling was taken aback, literally.  

The Ides but no murders

It was a typical March day with the usual birds.  Bluebirds showed up first.  A dove drank from the pool puddle.  A Carolina wren dug into the barkbutter balls.  A myrtle warbler was next.  The yellow long haired cat hung around bothering the birds.  Blue jays wanted their barkbutter balls.  The myrtle warbler cleaned up what fell.  The song sparrow looked for fallen suet crumbs.  Both Carolina wrens returned for second helpings.  A couple of chickadees shared the seed feeder.  

At lunch time a white throated sparrow tried to bully a warbler off the glass dish but the warbler held on.  The sparrow flew to the seed feeder instead.  A blue jay got a drink from the pool puddle.  A starling came for lunch.  Two doves foraged together.  One acted horny but the other didn't catch on.  Some violets bloomed.  A crow poked through the mulch.  

 

Steaming creek

I think the water was warmer than the air at sunrise.  My breath smoked too, when I went out with bird food.  A Carolina wren tackled the suet.  A myrtle warbler sat on the seed feeder perch but ignored the seeds.  It doesn't really have the right kind of beak for seeds.  On the ground beneath, a song sparrow hunted fallen seeds.  The song sparrow didn't get along with the white throats.  A pine warbler showed up, the first in some time.  But the myrtle warbler got to the barkbutter balls.  Dogwood buds popped open.  

The male red bellied woodpecker peeked around the post and chose seeds.   Blue jays were faithful to the barkbutter balls.  Bluebirds wanted them too but were willing to eat seeds.  The male oriole was still here, polishing off some jelly.  A white throated sparrow took a turn with the barkbutter balls.  A starling wanted suet.  Then a brown thrasher argued with starlings over the barkbutter balls and mealworms.  Sunshine spangled the starlings.  

Fog

Yesterday evening's mist was thick fog by this morning.  A starling showed up early.  A myrtle warbler lurked at the edge of visibility.  White throats foraged in wet mulch and a song sparrow got up on a dead vine for a better view.  A Carolina wren ate barkbutter scraps.  A goldfinch just observed.  Bluebirds were around in the fog but I only got photos once the sun had cleared the vapors away.  I heard a pileated woodpecker calling and saw it land but I was in another room.

 

Spa time

Morning was sunny.  The male pileated was an early visitor.   To my surprise, a mockingbird partook of the jelly.  Bluebirds and Carolina wrens wanted barkbutter balls.  Later, so did a myrtle warbler, then a blue jay, then a white throat.  Meanwhile other sparrows took advantage of the warmth for a bath.  One was a song sparrow.  

A starling looked beautiful in the sunlight, even if it was eating way too much.  The sky was hazy and clouds came and went.  Cardinals also wanted a bath.  A brown headed nuthatch just wanted seeds.  The female pileated got a turn at the suet.  A dove searched through the mulch.  In the afternoon, the temperature dropped and the sky got gray, then misty.  

 

Even warmer

The early bird was a myrtle warbler.  I was glad to see the song sparrow foraging.  A Carolina wren went straight to the barkbutter balls.  Two starlings picked through the barkbutter balls.  Bluebirds followed them.  Then a white throat ate some.  The dredgers brought in a two-story work boat for some reason I couldn't figure out. The sky was hazy but sunny and the temperature reached 78°.  The pileated swooped in for some suet.  A brown headed nuthatch slipped away before I had the camera ready.  

 

Damp

Damp morning air grayed out the distances.  A couple of mourning doves poked through the mulch under the seed feeder.  Both song and white throats foraged alongside them.  A female bluebird tried to find something to eat in the glass dish.  After I took more food out, the male appeared too.  A white throat and a Carolina wren were tempted by the fast food, but not the song sparrow.  It did get up on the dead moonflower vine, but no closer.  

There was a brief sprinkle around mid day, right after I had refilled the glass dish.  The birds gobbled the barkbutter and mealworms fast enough that I doubt the food got wet.  Starlings, blue jays, and a mockingbird argued about it.  A myrtle warbler waited till the bigger birds left.   The male red belly visited the seed feeder.  A female junco wandered around the steps.  

 

Gray

A little sun, a short sprinkle, but mainly the day was overcast, and the wind more gusty like March.  A Carolina wren dug into the barkbutter balls.  Then a white throat seized a big one.  A pine warbler took a turn at the dish.  Then a starling grabbed some and scooted.  Meanwhile, a female and a male oriole ate jelly.  K hung another block of suet.  A male downy erected his tiny red crest as he ate the fresh suet.  

The song sparrow scampered around the steps.  A crow walked around but apparently did not find what it sought.  It stomped through the pool puddle for no reason that I could see.  A female bluebird pecked at the seeds while a male watched.  Buzzards soared in the gray sky.  A white breasted nuthatch visited the seeds.  I saw but didn't get a picture of the red belly.  The downy also had some seeds to vary his diet.  

Lamb-like weather

A little googling suggested that the proverb owed as much to constellations in the zodiac as to weather prediction.  However that may be, the month began with soft, warm air under a sunny sky.  Bluebirds made the feeder rounds.  White throats did too, and also foraged on the ground.  The song sparrow stayed on the ground.  A myrtle warbler wanted what was in the dish.  Another white throat took a bath in the pool puddle while a dove walked around the edge.  Starlings made repeated forays but spooked easily.  Blue jays were wary but got their share of barkbutter balls.  So did a white breasted nuthatch.  I saw a brown headed nuthatch but it was too quick.  A crow investigated.  

I refilled the glass dish.  A mockingbird must have been watching.  A couple of bufflehead drakes dived and a couple of pelicans flew over the creek.  A Carolina wren finally arrived.  Then a brown thrasher showed up.  Baltimore orioles visited.  Three female brown headed cowbirds picked over the mulch.  I think they wanted the stale popcorn.  More daffodils bloomed.  The temperature cooled as the day went on, there were some wind gusts, and clouds moved in.

Gray

The rain ended but the overcast persisted.  The pileated pair argued about pecking order. When they left a Carolina wren took over the suet.   A myrtle warbler pecked forlornly at the barkbutter crumbs.  A mockingbird was getting ready to do the same when a starling knocked it off the dish.  All that for nothing.  A junco foraged under the seed feeder along with sparrows.  

Out on the creek, a ring bill gull rested on a post.   A pine warbler watched from the feeder hanger while a wren chased crumbs in the glass dish.  Then a white throat had to have a look.  Then a bluebird and a starling.  The starling moved on to the suet.  Both wrens took turns on the feeders.  Meanwhile two female orioles queued up for the jelly.  

Warmer

Again, a sunny morning was reflected in the placid creek, but later the day turned cloudy.  Blue jays and pine warblers got excited about the barkbutter balls.  White throats pursued breakfast everywhere.  A female oriole tried the suet.  Brown headed nuthatches sneaked past the other seed eaters.  Turkey vultures continued to circle over the creek.  A Carolina wren found crumbs in the barkbutter dish.  Three starlings were disappointed.  

At lunch, the female pileated demolished suet.  A mourning dove roamed the mulch.  A warbler and a wren had a stare-off over the suet.  Pelicans were thick - I saw three in the air at once.  After I refilled the barkbutter dish, a myrtle warbler had some.  Blue jays came back.  Bluebirds also showed up.  The red bellied woodpecker landed on the post but then froze as though sensing a predator.  The house finches on the seed feeder did the same.  

Bird buffet

Morning began with a pileated woodpecker and blue jays.  Three starlings visited but were unsatisfied and didn't stay.  A white throat pecked at the residue in the barkbutter dish.  A Carolina wren got inside the dish.  Meanwhile a goldfinch landed on the suet with a pine warbler.  The goldfinch must have realized its mistake and joined the house finches for seeds.  House finches are bigger.  

The overcast sky developed blue rents.  A pair of buffleheads drifted on the creek.   Lots of little birds use the azalea by the side window as a launchpad for the feeders, but it is very hard to get photos of them.   White breasted and brown headed nuthatches picked out seeds.  I refilled the glass dish with a mix of mealworms and barkbutter balls.  The pine warbler was pleased.  A downy sampled the suet.  The song sparrow found what I dropped (deliberately).  Bluebirds noticed that the dish was refilled.  The female oriole had jelly and a drink.  

Pelicans and gulls were very busy on the creek but the only ducks I saw were the bufflehead pair and another female.  A great blue heron stalked along our shoreline.  By then the sky had cleared but the light was going.