Sunshine!

It is a beautiful Valentines Day, albeit windy.  It's also the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count, so I counted for a half hour after breakfast.  Results: a pair of finches, four hooded mergansers, a flock of about fifty unidentified songbirds, two Canada geese, two chickadees, a pair of cardinals, a cormorant, a great blue heron, three ruddy ducks and a robin.

Later the white throated sparrows showed up.  A couple of egrets flew downstream.  Lots more ruddy ducks paddled and dove in the sunshine.  But really, I saw far fewer birds then earlier in the week.  It seems like this happens every GBBC - wind discourages the birds. 

The sunny day ended fairly warm with a full moon.  How romantic!

Cold mist

Last night the temperature rose and the snow turned to rain.  It appears we're in for an all day rain.  It is gray and misty, but individual drops are making rings in the birdbath.  We lost power for about three hours during the night.

The birds got a late start.  For a while, all I saw was ruddy ducks and cormorants on the creek and gulls and crows in the air.  By mid morning, the feeder got lively.  White throats were everywhere.  A female towhee took over the feeder while two female cardinals watched.  Later chickadees and titmice came for brunch.  I'm noticing that finches have become scarce this winter. 

Very cold

We are starting with sunshine and a cold blue sky, though nastiness is predicted for the afternoon.  A female towhee was first on the feeder but took off when she saw me.  Both kinds of sparrows are hungry and a warbler, so puffed out that it was hard to recognize, scurried around.  A female cardinal hung back and watched.

There is ice on half the creek. Hooded mergansers are racing around where the current keeps the water open. 

Clouds have moved in. The female cardinal is now up in the dogwood keeping watch over her feeder.  A large dark bird soared in circles over the creek.  I sought help identifying it from photos and it was either a juvenile eagle of a black vulture. 

Snow began in the late afternoon, big clumps of flakes that are sticking to the roads, not just trees.  It looks very pretty falling.  Supposedly it will turn to rain and disappear by tomorrow.

And it has turned to rain.  Amazing!  

Still cloudy

This time it was a female towhee that disputed the feeder with a female cardinal.  As I edged toward the camera they both left.  Sparrows took over. 

I saw a big lump in the top of a tall tree on Lynnhaven Parkway.  Hundreds of birds were screaming from another tree.  All I had was the phone and in those photos it is way too tiny to even be sure it's a bird, alas.  I was thinking it might be a great horned owl. 

At home, a buzzard circled and a robin paused in the top of the redwood.  The ruddy ducks keep fishing and a few egrets and herons tried their luck. 

Cold

The sky is still cloudy white.  Herons continue to line the creek while egrets hang out under the dam.  Ruddy ducks are still fishing.  Chickadees are on the feeder and white throated sparrows forage below. 

Snow flurries began at lunch - not enough to stick, just big multi-flake balls that disappeared on contact.  But it brought out the "bread and milk" urgency in the birds.  Titmice appeared, as did a wren, a song sparrow, and the regulars.  A cardinal drove off all other feeder birds, including a persistent white throat.  A red bellied woodpecker hiked up the oak, then tried a dogwood, and finally a pine.  Blue jays flew across the yard and one found something of interest at the flagstone steps. 

Around 4pm, the snow had ceased with no effect.  A male towhee appeared and disputed the feeder perch with a cardinal.  The ruddy ducks, cormorants, and herons kept fishing. 

White sky

The moon was bright last night, fattening past first quarter, but this morning there is cloud cover.  Ruddy ducks are still fishing and mallards and geese are paddling around.  Titmice started on the feeder, then white throats, a junco, and a finch arrived.

There was some sunshine around noon but the sky stayed white.  Great blue herons were having turf battles along the creek and a few egrets passed by on the way to the lake.  A cormorant surfaced between a couple of ruddy ducks, to their consternation.  The Carolina wren came for lunch, along with the sparrows, squirrels, cardinals, and chickadees.

Finally, mid-afternoon I saw the first pelican since the snowstorm and creek freeze.  Then some pale ducks with dark heads started diving among the much smaller ruddy ducks.  I believe they were canvasbacks.  Gulls and buzzards watched from the sky while two herons continue to chase each other.

Sunset was tinged pink. 

Chilly and gray

I didn't have time to look till late morning.  Ruddy ducks are still all over the creek, mixing with buffleheads and hooded mergansers.  An egret stopped in but had no luck. 

A female towhee joined squirrels in foraging while white throated sparrows jockeyed for a place on the feeder with the usual suspects. The towhee felt the need to fluff out her feathers. 

After lunch, a great blue heron landed on the edge of the patio with a sizable fish, but startled when I moved toward the camera. It flew off with another heron in pursuit. 

The sky cleared in the middle of the afternoon.