Rain

It is still and the rain is falling straight.  Titmice joined chickadees and cardinals on the feeder.  Sparrows are keeping under cover in the peavine.  A mockingbird is defending the beautyberry. 

By noon the rain stopped, the sky cleared somewhat and there were flickers of sun and a breeze.  A male towhee strutted out then ducked into the peavine.  Two Carolina wrens inspected the patio.

But the sun didn't last - clouds are scudding East in advance of the cold front.

Later, mid-afternoon, it's back to featureless overcast.  But the pavement is drying.  Bot male and female towhee are foraging in the peavine jungle. I don't know why all the photos  came out fuzzy - water on the window? 

Quiet

Sun and clouds, but little wind.  The warmth is germinating seeds - a thumbergia has popped up along with a zinnia in the lantana.  A white throated sparrow bathed while we ate lunch.

I saw a few cardinals and chickadees on the feeder and many cormorants lying to all points of the compass while the cloud cover crept NE.

Fair weather for voting

Clouds pass headed East and the sun comes and goes.  A flock of blue jays is foraging and annoying a mockingbird.  I glimpsed a brown thrasher, a flicker, and a Carolina wren.  Both sparrow species, titmice, and the usual three are busy around the feeder.

The saltbush is nearly bare but I see lots of birds hunting along the water's edge, including a woodpecker. The redwood needles are getting copper edges. The "chicken of the woods" mushroom under the oak is getting more golden and a clutch of small brown mushrooms with smoky gills (possibly Hypholoma) popped up in the grass.

Tonight, the moon was a bright arced line in the West.  It was warmer today. 

Brrrrr

The wind is cold despite the sun.  Puffy cumulus are floating on a bright sky.  The sparrows are up and foraging.  An egret is stalking below the dam.  Today's morning glories are dark pink, yesterday's were a purplish blue.  I wonder why the plants alternate?  Later some of the blue opened, spoiling my hypothesis. 

At lunch, in addition to the sparrows, chickadees, finches, and cardinals came to the feeder.  A yellow rumped warbler and a woodpecker hung out in the dogwood.  Meanwhile, clouds filled the sky and turned the day gloomy. 

Sparrows and cardinals infested the peavine as afternoon turned to evening. Sunset caught me by surprise.  I thought the gray overcast would be impenetrable, but suddenly the Western sky blazed with color. 

Clear sky morning

My body does not understand daylight savings so I was awake at the usual time.  The sky is clear but there are trees to the East, so no eclipse view.  A couple of female cardinals and many sparrows came with the dawn. Top is a song sparrow and bottom is a white throat.  Now the sun is lighting up the pines across the creek.  It's a lot colder than yesterday and last week.

Chickadees arrived later.  The wind is gusty, tossing leaves across the sky.  A few shreds of cumulus blew past.  A third sunflower bud opened.  Morning glories are still blooming.  When I went to get the paper, I noticed the crape myrtle has gone yellow and is shedding leaves.  It was still blooming when we left for our trip.  On the other hand, the Carolina jessamine has opened some buds now instead of waiting for Spring.

Well, this is a reversal!  Around noon, big cumulus clouds poured out of the Northwest looking rain-heavy.  The sparrows, cardinals, chickadees and squirrels came for lunch.  They really like the peavine jungle. Now the clouds are less menacing and there is plenty of blue.

An explosion of birds

The cloud cover is breaking and there is sporadic sunlight.  A chickadee came for breakfast. Then around 9:30am, all the birds arrived.  Mockingbirds and blue jays flew all around the bushes.  A male towhee and both song and white throated sparrows scurried on the ground.  A male finch, many chickadees, and at least one titmouse came to the feeder.  Later a Carolina wren poked into everything.  One of my guests said she saw a cedar waxwing.  A heron soared by.  They kept it up all morning. 

The clearing hasn't continued though there are blue patches.  After lunch, the birds had left except for the sparrows. An assassin bug walked up the window. 

November sky

The overcast is heavy and wet-looking and there's a lot of wind.  But it is very warm and most of the leaves are still green.  Some twigs on the oak have butter-yellow leaf clusters but the tree is mostly green.  The hickory is going yellow with brown edges - very toasty.  Dogwoods are mostly bare, what's left is red.  One cherry has turned yellow and brown, but the other is green.  The sweet gum is getting reddish.  The saltbush or groundsel's white fluff is blowing everywhere. 

The rosemary is not blooming as much as it was but the bees are still busy.  Wasps are also everywhere.  I glimpsed a wren at dawn and a cardinal at noon.  An egret paced along the bulkhead. 

Drizzle arrived about 5pm.