Warmer and sunny

A squirrel seems very pleased with the rearrangement of feeder and birdbath. Finches, cardinals and chickadees visited the feeder. Juncos and sparrows hunted on the ground. I glimpsed a mockingbird.

Now it's shirt sleeve time! Titmice showed up at the feeder, pelicans on the creek. Bees are all over the rosemary and drinking from the birdbath. Hyacinths are beginning to bloom. It is still quite windy. A squirrel was up in the oak eating the buds.

Still clear sky

But very cold - I poured hot water in the birdbath because it was frozen. No visible frost though. Geese, mergansers and mallards paddled in the early sunshine. Pelicans are busy cruising the creek and a cormorant swam by. Jays and grackles called from the trees. The wind is gusty and very cold.

I took the feeder down and scraped the muck out. Rain had turned the dust off the seeds into a nasty sticky mess. I left the open feeder in the sun for the wind to dry. First the female cardinal came to the window and fussed, then the male. So I obeyed them and refilled the feeder. Note the leucojum blossoms.

The sun has warmed things up Finches were busy with the feeder. More mergansers were out on the creek. An osprey perched first on this side then across the creek. Then it spotted something and circled and hovered. But the camera is still having problems with sky exposures.

Another gray day

It's cold too. Sunlight leaked sideways under the cloud cover briefly, but now it is just gloomy. I glimpsed a pelican. It rained off and on, and occasional patches of blue appeared.

Then in early evening it cleared off to the West. The disgusting Bradford pear trees are starting to bloom. Some oaks have visible buds. This seems to be about the same time as last year.

Steady rain

The newspaper says we are an inch behind on rainfall for 2012 but it has seemed like a very wet winter. A female cardinal ventured out briefly.

Around lunch, a titmouse tried the feeder. The blueberries have budded. Mary Reid Barrow's column recommended the eagle photos at this blog.

It may be clearing in the West to a faintly pink sunset, but heavy dark clouds persist in the Northeast.

Thundering rain

A long roll of thunder woke me at 5:30. The rain has fluctuated but came down in sheets at breakfast. A song sparrow and a junco ventured out briefly and a rabbit dashed past.

By noon the storm was retreating South. The feeder is nearly empty and damp, but a chickadee did visit. A crow called and I could hear a lot of other birds, maybe a titmouse and I'm not sure what else. A little grayish bird perched on a piling and darted off to catch bugs, very like a dragonfly. A returning swallow?

Henbit and dead nettle are creating purple patches and daffodils are out everywhere. I saw the first violet. It is still quite warm.

Bright morning

It is supposed to rain and to be cooler than yesterday, but so far the sky is hazy blue. Crows are calling. Last night a raccoon visited the feeder but did not get it open. I've glimpsed a sparrow and a titmouse. A pelican flew upstream.

The bumblebees are back at the rosemary but it hasn't warmed enough for honeybees, I think. I noticed yesterday that the honeybees stayed low while the carpenter & bumblebees preferred the upper flowers, perhaps because of the wind? Patchy overcast blows in from the West, then away.

At mid-morning the honeybees show up. Suddenly the feeder is popular with chickadees, titmice, and house finches. A junco, a song sparrow, a dove, and a cardinal are hunting lunch on the ground. The camera caught out-of-focus glimpses of a yellow rumped warbler flitting around the yard. The red rump on the house finch is getting conspicuous. Ah, Spring.

March wind and sun

It is very warm. The wind is banging the just-hung birdhouse against the tree trunk. A squirrel is picking up fallen seeds but no birds are attempting the feeder. The song sparrow was out on the patio for a while, followed by a junco. Blue jays were up in the redwood.

On the creek a lone goose and a male merganser were displaying the same colors in large and small. A mallard pair walked up into the neighbor's yard, perhaps looking for a nesting spot? But every photo I took was overexposed or out of focus. I guess I'll have to read the manual. And the blog must be content with this daffodil.

The day got amazingly warm and the wind finally calmed somewhat, after it blew the birdhouse down. The first quarter moon was quite bright overhead in late afternoon. Carpenter and bumblebees joined honeybees on the rosemary.