Hungry birds

At breakfast,I saw no evidence that any snow fell overnight, but K said I should have looked in the front yard.   Some fuzzy clouds floated in sunshine, but by 10am we had overcast.  The birds were glad to find all the feeders open.  Bluebirds went after the mealworm barkbutter mix but so did white throats, pine warblers, and Carolina wrens.  The pileated pair were only interested in suet.  The male evicted the female.  A bold (or hungry) downy tried to share with the red belly but the red belly decided on seeds.  Later he scared a warbler off the suet.  A song sparrow came a-foraging with the white throats.  Blue jays picked over the barkbutter balls.  

The great blackback gull was back.  A small flock of buffleheads paddled around the dock most of the day.  I spotted a female hoodie among them.  A handful of vultures kept circling over the water.  Several pelicans fished and one perched on a piling.  A ring bill gull flew by.

At lunch, the birds brightened the dull light.  A myrtle warbler joined its pine cousins.    First a white breasted nuthatch then a brown headed showed up.  Bluebirds, white throats,  and wrens returned.  I missed a shot at a male oriole but two females were more cooperative.  I could tell them apart because one was a darker orange than the other.  A mockingbird watched from across the pool patio but didn't come to eat.  A brown thrasher, however, dug right in.  

 

Fog

Happy Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras.  At breakfast a light fog grayed the distant pines. It didn't seem to trouble the pelicans flying low over the creek.  Gulls, too, were fishing.  The committee of vultures took to the trees.  The two mourning doves returned.  Downy and red bellied woodpeckers came for the feeders.  So did a wren, a pine and a myrtle warbler, a brown headed nuthatch and starlings.  Blue jays flew past but returned for breakfast.

The sun finally got through at 10am.  Then a junco appeared on the seed feeder.  Where was it during the bird count?  Bluebirds enjoyed the sunshine.  A goldfinch also wanted seeds.  The pelicans kept on fishing, apparently with success judging by the splashdowns.  Cormorants had the same idea.  

 

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. 

A committee of vultures

A little rain dotted the windows in the morning.  A flock of seven black and turkey vultures  landed in the back yard, wandered around, and drank from the pool puddle.  I was surprised to see they have white legs.  All this was closely observed by a great blue heron, maybe the one that chases away other herons.  Meanwhile pelicans flew over the creek watching for fish.  

Because of the rain, we left the dishes covered which frustrated the bluebirds.  The wren shared suet with a downy.  A bluebird moved on to the seed feeder so the wren did too.  White throats  and a song sparrow just stayed on the ground.  A myrtle warbler poked around the defunct watering can.  A white breasted nuthatch shared the seed feeder with a myrtle warbler.  Then a titmouse wanted seeds.  A bedraggled pine warbler aimed for suet but a wren was already eating.  The warbler grieved over the covered barkbutter and mealworms.  It finally got some suet.  

The sky cleared at mid day and I uncovered the dish feeders.  A brown thrasher soon showed up.  Bluebirds followed, then white throats.  Across the creek, a heron was on watch.  I ran around on errands after lunch.  I saw people in shirtsleeves, the day was so warm.  

Undertakers' converntion

The red bellied woodpecker was up early for suet.  Out on the creek, herring and ring bill gulls were fishing along with one bufflehead drake.  Pelicans flew over and the resident GBH chased another away.  Bluebirds ate seeds while a white throat complained that the barkbutter dish was empty.  Myrtle warblers got aggressive.  Clouds moved in.  A flock of vultures settled in the trees.  Bluebirds ignored them because I had refilled the dish.  Carolina wrens were pleased too.  A white breasted nuthatch ate seeds. The downy ate suet.  

What died?

A myrtle warbler was an early riser.  Quarreling house finches were right behind.  Then I had to get ready for a presentation.  I glimpsed a great blue heron flying behind me reflected in the computer screen.  At lunch a white throated sparrow ate barkbutter balls.  The work continued on the creek though the tide was very low.  The sky had been blue at breakfast but clouds blanketed it intermittently during the day.  Four vultures circled over the lake in front of twisted clouds.  One was much higher and I thought it might be a black vulture.  

Afternoon rain

Overnight rain had left everything wet.  The crow returned but there was no fallen food because the dishes were still covered.  More rain was predicted.  Meanwhile the sun shone and a bluebird sang.  The brown headed nuthatch (which has a very pale head) also returned and claimed the perch from bigger birds.  Chickadees got into a fight with each other but did not challenge the nuthatch.  I spotted a bird circling very high that I believe was a black vulture.  

Lots of skinks were out but only a couple posed.  One climbed around a window.  Another actually ran between my feet, too close for the camera.  A dark paper wasp with yellow legs harvested wood pulp.  A white breasted nuthatch came for seeds and a Carolina wren for suet.  Soon the brown headed nuthatch was back.  

Dark clouds began to overtake the sky in the mid afternoon.  Birds flew across the creek but I wasn't fast enough.  I think they were crows chasing a hawk.  Strange riffles appeared on the creek but I couldn't tell if they were caused by wind or a school of fish.  I did manage to catch some egrets.  Then the rain came in  and soaked the ground.  It was gone by the time I ate supper and that persistent nuthatch was back.  

Yellow crowned night heron

Great golden digger wasps enjoyed the mountain mint.  A black vulture circled high over the creek.  A black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and a fiery skipper visited.  But the monarch caterpillar disappeared.  I assisted a huge leaf-footed bug to escape the water. 

A yellow crowned night heron inspected the new shoreline.  A widow skimmer used the perch that the orchard spider had wrapped in sticky silk.   I wonder if the spider relocated?  A blue dasher obelisked on another perch.  

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Buzzards

The National Weather Service said, "WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST SATURDAY....Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph."  Songbirds were packing on the calories in anticipation of the coming storm. The brown thrasher stuffed itself full of barkbutter.  Then warblers got what was left.  I put out a fresh tub and the mockingbird dug in.  Bluebirds queued up for suet and barkbutter.

Some snow still lingered from a week ago.  Sparrows poked around in it for seeds.  A friend out West jokingly asked about our snow pack and I said it was modest but persistent.  The creek was a churning mess of ice and water.  Gulls were more interested in fishing than they usually are.  Pelicans passed repeatedly over the water.   An egret again stalked along the dam. 

Four vultures descended upon our trees and dock and hung around for at least an hour.  There were both turkey and black vultures.  I speculated that the cold reminded them of the winter when the fish froze and they feasted for weeks.  But maybe they'd spied a carcass in the water and were waiting for it to wash ashore.

Warblers and a Carolina wren worked on the remains of the suet outside my window.  Meanwhile, a white breasted nuthatch explored tree trunks.   The female red bellied woodpecker paused there on her way to the feeder.  

Sun came back

The windows were fogged again but blue sky was apparent.  K hung fresh juice for the hummers but none showed during breakfast.  Just the regulars at the seed feeder.  The saltmarsh fleabane was blooming beside the spartina.   

Thin, high clouds flowed East.  Skinks reappeared in appreciation of the sunshine.  A few dragonflies were still around.  I rescued a blue dasher male from the pool.  Also a yellow jacket and a few unidentified bugs.  A basilica spider built a web in the dogwood where I hung the birdhouse and already had two beads on its string-of-pearls egg case.  A funnel weaver built in the corner of the pool steps.  All sorts of butterflies were out: black, tiger, and palamedes swallowtails, a cloudless sulphur and maybe a sleepy orange, hairstreaks, red spotted purples, and the one I think may be a hackberry emperor.

A dove appeared unconcerned by our presence outside for lunch.  And the hummers kept drinking and chasing. But the goldfinches were too wary of us to come for seeds.  One bird I thought was a goldfinch turned out to be a great crested flycatcher hidden by leaves.  Two turkey vultures circled over the creek.  A Carolina wren scolded long and loud from the camellia.  I thought I heard a couple of blue jays calling, but the photo I got is of a mockingbird!  I also heard a woodpecker knocking and other sounds I could not identify. 

Home

I saw a road-killed deer this morning in New Jersey and many vultures all day which led me to muse on how roads have changed the ecology for scavengers.   I noticed that birds congregate on cell towers now.  But these were old-fashioned and stuck to power poles. 

When we got home, doves were pecking under the feeder. I guess the raccoons didn't empty it. 

Breezy with sun and clouds

An egret landed on the dock at breakfast.  Bumblebees got an early start.

I was running errands when I saw a black vulture in the street.  It seemed young and small and it was working on a carcase of either a squirrel or a young rabbit.  Big clouds are moving West.

Sunny morning

The creek is very reflective this morning and the sky pure blue.

An early jay patrolled the patio. A whole flock of juncos and some white throat sparrows were feeding in the back yard. A flock of crows has been harassing something up and down the creek. A kingfisher twice fled the racket. A lone buzzard sailed in circles downstream and a couple of great blue herons flew upstream. The geese are on the far bank today. A flock of red wing blackbirds landed in the neighbor's phragmites. The mallards are pairing off.

The forsythia is confused - the leaves are turning red but it is also blooming. The goldenrod is mostly gone. Large clumps of fluff are coming off the saltbush. The beauty berry is still loaded.

A praying mantis appeared on the porch ceiling near where the argiope used to hang out. The stinkhorns are attracting flies and I wonder if that attracted the mantis? The photo is right side up, the mantis is upside down.