Gathering clouds

The sun is shining but the sky is smudged.  The usual birds - cardinals, finches, chickadees - are on the feeder.  Squirrels are active.  Geese are noisy on the creek and a few ducks are with them. Something crashed into a window, but I could not find any bird or evidence by the time I got there,  Is nesting territoriality under way?

Mid-morning, the juncos, nuthatch, and Carolina wren arrived.  Three male house finches competed for the feeder.  The winner tolerated chickadees and nuthatches, but not other finches.  Both song and white throated sparrows scurried around the squirrel and juncos.  A pelican and a heron flew upstream.

A smallish hawk with a long striped tail swooped past the feeder while we were eating lunch.  It was eithee a sharp shin or a Coopers, but it moved too fast for certainty.  After a while the birds returned and this time titmice joined them.  There is a spot on the patio where the wind spins, making a dust devil, more of a leaf devil actually. I should take a video instead of a still.  It has gotten rather gray.

After dark, rain began.  

The usual suspects

The sky is clear this morning.  Cardinals, finches, and chickadees visited the feeder early while squirrels and sparrows fed below.  Now nothing.

After lunch, I added water to the birdbath.  That brought out a wren, juncos and doves.  

As the light faded into evening, sparrows and a cardinal came for a late snack. 

The bright planet is still hanging in the West when I go to bed.  

Oddities

When K opened the blinds, a raccoon was sitting on the feeder.  I missed this, but it left hull litter on the roof.  Squirrels are feeling frisky: hanky-panky up in the oak.  The great blue herons are up to something.  At least four are swooping around.  Gulls too, but I don't see any fish being caught.  The sky is overcast but there is little wind. Some finches have visited.

Mid-morning, everyone arrived!  A male red-bellied woodpecker inspected the dogwoods. Robins and blue jays also hung out around the edges of the yard. A small flock of four pairs of hooded mergansers paddled downstream, accompanied by cormorants. Herons and egrets kept watch on the water. 

The feeder was mobbed.  Unusually, a white-throated sparrow landed on the perch with a house finch.  Nuthatches, juncos, goldfinches, titmice, chickadees, a Carolina wren, and cardinals all competed for a perch while doves tried to figure out how to get at the feast. Finally, a yellow-rumped warbler landed to see what was going on. 

This evening the clouds made a red sunset.

Pale sky

The sunlight slid under the clouds at dawn but now the light is diffuse and shadows are blurry.  Finches were on the feeder and a squirrel was busy beneath.  A blue jay passed through.  What I believe is a juvenile eagle flew upstream, then came back a few minutes later.  It was bigger than an osprey, mottled brown and white, with a white tail. 

The Carolina jessamine has a blossom!  Around lunch time, a titmouse, a nuthatch, cardinals, chickadees, and a few juncos, came to the feeder.  On the ground, both species of sparrow, more juncos and a female towhee foraged.

At class this morning, I saw a woodpecker in the magnolia outside the window.  It was in silhouette so I cannot be sure which species it was - mid-size, no crest.  But that reminded me that I haven't seen many woodpeckers so far this winter.

A mackerel sky gave way to a muted gold sunset.

Cloudy with sunshine

When I got up, the sky looked like dirty cotton stuffing.  The clouds have thinned and the sun is shining.  A hawk flew out of the pines.  A male cardinal and some white throated sparrows poked at the mulch.

By afternoon the clouds were speeding East, looking very painterly.  A cormorant was paddling and diving on the creek.

There were birds in the camellia but I think they were just queuing up for the feeder.  The pink flowers have gotten darker, more of a rose color.  In front of the house is a red camellia that blooms in the fall and a spring white camellia that has started blooming.  But the pink camellia by the kitchen window is the star.  There are robins around. 

In the mulch and on the feeder I saw cardinals, house finches, chickadees, nuthatches, Carolina wrens, juncos, and sparrows.  The nuthatches and chickadees are fast, seizing a seed and off.  The Carolina wren prefers to root around and toss bits away.  That makes it easier to photograph. 

Groundhog day

Lots of sun casting shadows even if no groundhogs live in this area.  It is cold and the creek is half iced.  Egrets are patrolling the far side where the current flows.  Little ducks left a wake.  The feeder is empty and we are out of seed.

Clouds moved in during the morning.  K refilled the feeder.  Sparrows were busy beneath.

The birds got very busy at lunch.  Robins came for a drink.  Juncos, wrens, doves, white throat and song sparrows explored the leaves K swept over the mulch.  A cardinal, finches, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches fed on the refilled seeds.  A pelican soared overhead instead of over the creek.  A hooded merganser paddled upstream.

By late afternoon the clouds had shifted from the North to the West. The Pennsylvania  rodent is alleged to predict an early Spring. 

Dancing water, then snowfall

No reflections this morning - the wind has the water all stirred up and sparkling in the sun.  No feeder birds.  A buzzard soared among the clouds in a mostly blue sky.  Earlier, the clouds were very pink, and last night there was a spectacular sunset.  Around midnight a bright planet was in the West and when I got up, the waning moon was in roughly the same spot.

Now (8:30) it has clouded up.  The wind is still fierce. And now it looks like a storm. It's snowing! But it didn't last long and it wasn't cold enough to stick.   Some cold robins waited it out in the oak.

Apparently birds are panic shoppers when they see snow.  Doves and white throated sparrows scrounged below the feeder.  Wrens and a nuthatch came to the source.  Lots of wrens and sparrows are hanging out in the rosemary.  Meanwhile egrets are fighting the wind.  After the snow, the clouds started to break up and a sunbeam just found an opening.

At lunch, blue sky was back and a song sparrow was doing the can-can with the mulch. Later afternoon is cloudless.  Geese are paddling downstream.