A mackerel sky

The day was mostly sunny with altocumulus cloud cover.  I saw the two species of sparrow, juncos, and the usual three.  On the creek, ruddy ducks were joined by the occasional bufflehead and merganser.  An eagle flapped upstream.

Clearing sky didn't last

Breakfast at the feeder attracted cardinals, chickadees, and both species of sparrow.  Something in the water attracted egrets and herons as well as buffleheads and ruddy ducks.  A great blue heron landed on the bulkhead after buzzing a great egret.  At least three herons kept trading locations.  The sun began to find gaps in the clouds by mid-morning. 

The sun disappeared after lunch and the sky became white again.  Weather predictions this week have been way off. Hooded mergansers showed up mid-afternoon.  So did a female junco. 

Misty

Canada geese paddled upstream and there were some ruddy ducks out on the creek.  The feeder was quiet.  An hour later, the wren was chirping on the gas hose.  Mallards crash-landed on the creek. 

Lunch brought birds and rain.  A female towhee and titmice joined the two sparrow species and the three regulars.  The titmouse and a cardinal tipped the feeder shut and sat there puzzled.  A squirrel dug something thawed & soggy, but apparently edible, out of the birdbath. Ruddy ducks and geese continued to paddle around. 

At dusk tonight I saw the flock of crows that swirls around the 64/264 interchange come to roost in trees just south of Leigh Hospital.  Later the first quarter moon appeared. 

Gray day

K refilled the feeder and the wren came right away.  Then juncos and sparrows appeared, then chickadees.  A huge flock of tiny diving ducks passed downstream flanked by a few buffleheads. I am convinced they are ruddy ducks. 

The rest of the day was lost to errands.  Rain began in the evening. 

Morning wren

When I came out to the kitchen, the Carolina wren perched on the chair arm and sang to me.  A squirrel was the only other patio visitor.  Geese flew past and a pelican finally checked out the ice-free creek.  The sky is gray but the sun is sneaking underneath the cloud cover to light up the pines.  Everything is damp.

Chickadees and titmice came later.  Then around 9am the rain began. It slacked off eventually and mid-morning brought lots of little diving ducks.  Cardinals and both kinds of sparrow joined the chickadees and titmice. 

A female towhee came for lunch, along with finches.  Out on the creek, a flock of ruddy ducks paddled and dived.  There was a flurry of splashing at one point, but I couldn't see why.  Cormorants were fishing too.  The rain comes and goes but never quite stops.  The squirrel with the white spot on her hip showed up.

Groundhog day

Despite a prediction of rain and a sky more white than blue, the sun is casting shadows.  Does it matter that no groundhogs live here, or any other animals that hibernate in burrows? A little googling informs me that this is the half-way point between the solstice and the equinox, celebrated as Candlemas, Imbolc, and St. Bridget's Day. 

Squirrels were hoovering up fallen seeds as they emerged from the snow.  Then the birds arrived: the ubiquitous trio, plus the wren, song and white throated sparrows, and a female towhee.  There is still ice on our side of the creek but Canada geese stuck to the water along with some ducks, probably mergansers.  Crows were busy.

The sparrows and others were back for lunch.  The birdbath emerged grom the snow.  A squirrel teetered on the wren's favorite perch on the gas hose like it wasn't sure why it had gotten up there.  Geese and mergansers paddled in the open water.  The ice now covers less than half the creek and no longer looks milky.

In the late afternoon, I glimpsed a junco.  Sparrows, and the wren joined the regulars.  On the creek, gulls fished beside hooded mergansers, buffleheads, and small brown divers - ruddy ducks?  The ice is nearly gone. 

Early squirrel

It found the peanuts.  A junco and a couple of white throats were also up.  The melting proceeded apace as the temperature rose twenty degrees during the morning.  I saw a field that was subliming directly into vapor. 

When I returned in the late morning, a haw flew swiftly upstream.  A flock of geese occupied the bulkhead.  Then another flock landed on the ice and made their way over to the open water along the bulkhead.  A couple fell through the thin ice and had some difficulty extracting themselves from their icy potholes. The two flocks did not get along, then the dog got out and chased them all joyously.  That revealed that hooded mergansers were also in the open water.

Then the Carolina wren appeared.  A flock of robins followed.  They were joined by grackles and blackbirds.  Finches, cardinals, chickadees, sparrows, and titmice flocked to the feeder.  A blue jay landed on the railing.  Later a dove did the same.  I also glimpsed a hairy woodpecker on the dogwood across the pool

By mid-afternoon, clouds covered the sky, proving once again that winter is only sunny when it is cold.   After dark rain began and the snow is turning into fog.