Light rain

An osprey hovered like a hummingbird over the creek, though its wings flap much more slowly.  It circled downstream then it or another returned.  Titmice were first at the feeder, followed by white throats, then finches.  Squirrels are running around.

The rain was heavier for a while mid-morning. It has been alternating in waves.  No birds are venturing out except crows.  A mallard pair walked around on the pool cover, then left.  A squirrel has been at the oak flowers and dropped some.  They lie like heaps of gold dust on this dull day. 

Sunshine on the usual suspects

That is, year around, cardinals, house finches, and chickadees, along with white throated sparrows in the winter.  It is chillier today despite the blue sky. 

The clouds came and went all day and by late afternoon the sky was overcast.  The only other birds I saw were osprey, cormorants, and crows. 

K sent me an interesting article on genders among animals that called the two morphs of the white throated sparrow different genders, that is, white stripe males, tan stripe males, white stripe females, and tan stripe females.  I had already read that each morph prefers to mate with the other, but this claimed there were behavioral differences as well as color.  I haven't seen it, but they don't breed here. 

At bedtime, a fuzzy first quarter moon was visible behind the overcast as it descended in the West. 

Money plant blooming

 In 2012 it bloomed in late March, but given the winter we've had, I was surprised to see the flowers when I got up.  The sun is bright and there are some small puffy clouds.  I wonder if we've had the last frost - nothing below the 40s is predicted for the next week. 

Titmice came early, then sparrows and the regulars.  This titmouse is hammering its seed on the blossoming dogwood.  Two squirrels have been carrying on about who gets to forage under the feeder.  One leaped over the other like a circus act. 

Around 9am it suddenly clouded over or about 10 minutes.  I got worried for nothing - the sun came right back. It is warm, except when a cloud cuts off the sunlight and the wind picks up.  Bumblebees are out hunting flowers.  The poor sad rosemary has nothing for them.  I believe I heard a kingfisher. 

An osprey circled over us at lunch.

The regulars and the sparrows were back at supper, with warblers darting out of the trees after bugs.

Warm, with mammals

Just the regulars and the sparrows have shown up so far.  A warbler flitted in the distance and a crow proclaimed in the pine tree.  An osprey plunged but I couldn't see if it caught anything.  Broken overcast gave way to sun.  One dogwood is blooming but the others are behind. The squirrels were having a chase when they ran into me. 

In the shopping strip parking lot two crows discussed half a green apple in front of my car.  A mockingbird flew purposefully in front of me at the library, where all the trees are in bloom. And I saw a yellow sulphur. 

At lunch time a gray fox visited the front yard.  K took this photo. The fox paid us no attention till I tapped on the window, and then it just gave me a dirty look.

Around 6pm the creek was bright and still.  Then it got windy.  Cormorants flew every which way while the occasional osprey tried to fish.  Towhees hung arounf the yard, never venturing over to the feeder where the sparrows and the regulars were feeding.  Other birds that I couldn't identify flitted around the trees. Ah, a photo reveals one was a Carolina wren and another a butterbutt. 

Bright morning, dull afternoon

A junco poked through the mulch alongside the sparrows.  Cardinals and chickadees hogged the feeder.  The sun is shining but the sky is lightly veiled and dotted with small cumulus.

It clouded over at lunchtime.  I saw a pelican and an osprey and many geese.  I played with the new camera - it's powerful enough that I could see any feathers that were out of place.  But the birds mostly disappeared leaving me little to practice on, but flowers. 

At supper, we saw warblers flying after bugs.  Sunset was streaky with clouds. 

Quiet

A titmouse and a junco, white throats and regulars came for breakfast.  Ospreys are fishing for theirs.  Geese disturbed the creek's mirror.  Broken overcast muted the sunlight, but the March wind seems gone.

I saw a yellow mylar happy face balloon trapped in the trees at the hospital.  More plastic.  

It is shirtsleeve warm this afternoon. At bedtime, the crescent moon was gold as it sank behind the pines. 

April at last

Titmice and juncos were back with the white throated sparrows and the regulars on the feeder.  The glassy creak glowed gold in the early sun.  The sky is blue except for wisps and contrails.

By afternoon, the sky had clouded over.  All the trees have burst into bloom, even the redbuds down the street.  Then later, as I drove West the sun glared down.  And at 8pm, it was chased below the horizon by a silver sickle moon.