Frigid

The birdbath is a block of white ice but the creek is open, probably due to the wind.  Gulls are playing and a chickadee came for fuel.  KVAVIRGI59, the weather station at Pembroke Manor says it's 16 degrees with a light breeze from the NW.  The sky is clear. 

Several egrets are working along the bulkhead.  I saw one pelican and a few hooded mergansers.  Juncos arrived along with sparrows under the feeder.  The temperature has risen to 20 by late morning. 

As we ate lunch, a mockingbird ate beautyberries.  Cardinals and chickadees have joined the sparrows at the feeder. A dove stopped in.

The day stayed clear and bright and cold.  It never got past freezing. 

Wild weather

The wind is swaying tree trunks.  It's very warm at dawn but supposed to plunge 40 degrees by tomorrow.  There are layers of clouds with occasional glimpses of blue.  The dark, low clouds race out of the Southwest.  The ground is wet but it's not raining.  Before sunrise, a towhee, sparrows, cardinals, and chickadees had arrived.  They mostly left as it got lighter.  The squirrel with the white spot on her hip came by. Gulls and crows are playing with the gusts while pelicans fly low.

Around mid-morning the rain began.  Squirrels were not deterred and, in a lull, a wren and sparrows competed with them for peanut bits.  One squirrel has a very short tail - I noticed because another was using its tail as an umbrella.  A flock of robins took brief refuge in the oak.  The clouds continue to stream past but I think the wind has shifted a bit and is more West to East. 

The clouds broke around 4pm.  A great blue heron basked on the bulkhead in the late afternoon light.  There was great sky drama, first with the sunlight on trees against the dark and stormy East, then a flaming sunset in the West.

Warmer

The sky was overcast at dawn but it has cracked up to the North and the edges are sunlit.  Down here it is all gray directionless light without shadows.  An egret flew downstream and some mallards and cormorants are out on the creek.  The wren is checking the patio for edibles. Cardinals, chickadees, and both kinds of sparrows have arrived. 

The sun appeared for a while but now it's all gray again. And so it went, all day, on a wind from the SW.  A blue jay flew through our airspace.  Gulls and crows flew up against the clouds.  Geese stayed on the creek.  A few bugs thawed out and flew around, including a mosquito. 

Now for the big arctic freeze tomorrow night. 

Ice on the creek

There is ice all the way to the bulkhead but I doubt it is thick enough to support a seagull.  I can see open water further downstream.  The sun is bright but nothing is stirring.  It is very cold. 

By the time I got home it was much warmer.  Pelicans, herons, and mergansers were busy on the creek.  Cardinals, chickadees, finches, titmice, song and white throated sparrows, and a Carolina wren all came to the feeder.  Squirrels were in pursuit of love and food. The one that had a sore elbow now has a white nose.  Clouds appeared mid-afternoon on a wind from the West. 

Bitter wind

It's freezing but the wind prevents ice, except in the birdbath.  The gusts are tossing birds in flight.  Gulls seem to enjoy it but a flock of little birds barely made it across the creek.  A lone cormorant is fishing.  The feeder is busy despite the wind with both song and white throated sparrows, cardinals, chickadees and house finches.  A Carolina wren scurried around the patio.  Leaves skitter and make me think a bird is there. 

A glimmer of sunlight slipped between the clouds for a moment.  The wind has blown some juncos in!  By 9:30 the clouds have definitely broken up and are sailing swiftly toward the Southeast.  The creek is high which I didn't expect with a wind from the Northwest.  At ground level the wind blows every which way.  The juncos have departed. 

By lunch, the pelicans were out.  A raptor of some kind swooped into the pines.  Geese and a bufflehead paddled.  A robin scuttled across the patio.  The feeder is busy.  The wind is still roaring but the tide has come down somewhat. 

Toward evening, the wind slacked off some.  Hooded mergansers were out on the creek and egrets passed on the way home.  The sky was cloudless and the moon was a bright sickle. 

Gray

It's overcast and quiet.  A sparrow was on the feeder before there was light enough to see which kind.  Nothing since.  No action on the creek.

Later, the Carolina wren hopped around and a chickadee perched on the dead hibiscus stalks.  I glimpsed some mergansers.  Cardinals, song sparrows, white throated sparrows, and chickadees came to the feeder.  I fed the white throats a peanut. 

New year, new moon

Chickadees, white throats, and a Carolina wren greeted the new year.  Gulls and egrets flew over the creek.  The sky is a faded blue and the sunlight is muted.

At lunch, pelicans were flying with the gulls and egrets.  And cardinals joined the chickadees and white throats.  A song sparrow visited the feeder. One squirrel built her nest in the fork of the biggest oak limb and now it is falling apart.  I think the nests need small twiggy branches for bracing. 

A pelican continued into the twilight while cormorants flew over in V formations.  Sparrows and a female cardinal competed for bedtime snacks.  The thin cloud cover obscured the new moon.