Sun's back

The sky is clear for now with a cold breeze.  In the bushes, I saw a tiny patch of white moving, maybe the underside of a leaf?  Then suddenly with more movement a chickadee materialized around its cheek.  Interesting visual illusion.  Three doves showed up early.  I could hear a female cardinal which finally came out from under the vegetation and flew up to the feeder. 

A bank of clouds moved up from the South around 8am.  When I returned at noon, they had broken up.  Some kind of raptor was circling near Mt. Trashmore.  My best guess is a juvenile eagle.

The sky really cleared late in the day but it stayed cold.  Juncos stayed busy under the feeder.  A pelican flew downstream.  I was afraid the wind would strip the trees but so far most are blazing yellow and red.  

A change in the weather

A cold front is predicted, with temperature dropping throughout the day.  The sky went dark as a cloud roared out of the North around 7:20.  Wind picked up leaves and blew them everywhere as fast as birds.  A squirrel galloped down the steps in a furry streak.  And all the birds suddenly needed a snack!  A female finch ruled the feeder, driving off chickadees and titmice.  The darkness made it hard to be sure what birds were in the mulch, sparrows and juncos for certain. The cloud front passed and left rain behind.  This cardinal has a peculiar tail, I think it is still growing feathers. 

Mid afternoon, the rain let up and the feeder birds came back.  On the way back from the library, I came past Witchduck Lake where I saw a flock of a dozen wood ducks.  Behind them are hundreds of cormorants.  More keep flying in all directions. 

Fog didn't last

A layer of fog hung overhead but burned away by 7:30am.  Sparrows, juncos and cardinals on the ground, finches, chickadees and (I think) titmice on the feeder.

Leaves are blowing everywhere and I can smell them.  One leaf turned out to be a sulphur butterfly.   Something (probably a raccoon) has excavated the yellow jacket nest and the yellow jackets are busy with repairs.  Other bees and wasps are still at work. 

More juncos and cardinals at lunchtime.  Again, I hear the kingfisher.  The temperature is lovely but the breeze has picked up.  Cumulus clouds are streaming NNE while much higher cirrus wisps are slowly moving East.  The crows chased another hawk all over the sky.

Towhee returns

A female rufous-sided towhee was poking through the mulch when I got up.  Chickadees and the nuthatch were visiting the feeder.  Sparrows and doves and the squirrel with the white mark were also active. Then they all went away.

I can hear the kingfisher.  The temperature is lovely and the breeze is gentle.  The redwood has become copper.  The maple planted last December is beginning to turn.  The hickory sapling is butter and brown and the dogwoods have been turning since September.  But the oak and sweet gum are still quite green. 

Little birds

Chickadees were joined by the nuthatch and a wren on the feeder.  It is sunny and cold and the creek is a mirror.

Then the cardinals and finches arrived and squabbled over the feeder.  Doves, juncos and a white-throat foraged below while a mockingbird and blue jays worked the berry bushes.  A couple of herons passed by headed upstream.

At lunch, crows pursued a raptor - not sure what, but very creamy on the underside.  At least one kingfisher was working the creek.  I was just thinking how greatly reduced the insect population was post-Sandy when a cabbage butterfly appeared.  Of course bees and wasps are still around but spiders have disappeared. 

The day warmed up nicely and stayed blue.  Sunset gilded wisps of cirrus cloud.

Bright and windy

A junco was poking around the mulch. Later, a white throat took over mulch duty.  A pelican patrolled the creek.  On the feeder, house finches and chickadees were joined by the nuthatch and a goldfinch in winter drab. 

The nuthatch came back for lunch.  It seems to have settled here for the winter.  Of course, today was considerably warmer.  

Waiting for sunshine

Cardinals and chickadees and a titmouse on the feeder and a sparrow in the mulch. Sunshine is visible thought the sky to the North is gray.  The nuthatch reappeared and joined a cardinal on the feeder.

The sky cleared all but some thin clouds like eraser smudges.  I went out on the dock and got cut off by the rising tide.  We're just past third quarter so I don't know why the tide is so high.  It is windy, but switching direction constantly, though that may be because of the trees lining the creek.

But while I was out there, I saw a great blue heron, kingfishers, many Canada geese, two female mergansers, and many cormorants.  The water is all dusty from the blowing seeds. 

No sooner had I waded back and climbed up to the house than a whole flock of cormorants came diving and splashing upstream, around and even under the dock.