Sun's back

The first white throated sparrow has arrived.  A dove also poked around the mulch.  No one visited the feeder.  This is getting strange.

Chickadees did come to the feeder at lunch.  They were even joined by a titmouse.  But I have not seen a cardinal all week, and only a few finches.  Out on the water Canada geese continued to slurp something off the surface.

Gloom

Dark wisps hustled East under the overcast.  A cormorant paddled upstream.  Squirrels investigated the patio.

Rain fell in the late morning.  When it stopped around noon, chickadees flocked to the feeder.  A Carolina wren visited its favorite spots.  The birds still seem very wary so I suspect the hawk scared them while we were gone and the back yard was left to wildlife. Two buzzards circled in between bouts of rain. 

The rain returned in bands all afternoon and evening, clouds streaming East as though it were time-lapse photography. There was a brief clearing at sunset, but it did not last. 

White sky

The first pelican of fall sailed upstream at breakfast. Not much else happened in the morning.

In the afternoon, birds flitted all around the edges of the yard while only chickadees ventured out to the feeder.  A brown creeper hitched its way up and around the oak trunk.  It was two far to get a good photo of such a small bird.  A yellow rumped warbler landed among red dogwood leaves.  Mallards dabbled in the creek while a flock of cormorants came over the dam from the lake.  Gulls were wheeling over the lake as well. 

The ugly lump in the grass softened enough that I broke it open and proved it was a puffball. The day was warm but I felt chilled, perhaps by the lack of sunshine. The overcast showed pleating at times.  A basilica orb weaver left a strand of pearl egg cases dangling in a different dogwood. 

The nearly full moon looked misty as it rose. 

Fair weather for voters

Honking geese flew in and splashed down on the creek.  A honeybee sunned on the feeder post.  Gulls circled very high over the creek.  Egrets hung around the dock.  Mallards and friends paddled and dabbled in the creek. I think one was a Northern pintail duck.  I think I heard a kingfisher, but far off. 

At lunchtime a dove arrived.  Then four blue jays appeared and one tried the beauty berries.  A red bellied woodpecker investigated the dogwood.  A hawk hung around the creek.  A flock of cormorants drove fish upstream, then down. A great blue heron stalked around the dock across the creek - the tide was very low.  The heron caught at least one fish. 

The yo-yo temperature has the Carolina jessamine blooming.  I hope it saves some buds for spring!  Some small honey-brown mushrooms popped up since yesterday.  And a mahogany bracket is growing where the front yard oak was.  Some kind of big raptor sailed overhead, maybe a juvenile eagle?  Those ubiquitous little beige moths flitted everywhere.  The sky got fairly white as the afternoon wore on and the wind got colder. 

Cold and bright

Probably, I should have brought the flowerpot in.  But it's clear the portulaca seeds survive the winter so maybe I won't.  Little was stirring at breakfast. 

The afternoon was warmer so I walked around.  I found some puffballs in addition to the mushrooms I mentioned a few days ago.  There are a lot of black black swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley seedlings and one green caterpillar on the rue.   The dark ones seemed big for their color.  Gnats danced above my head and unidentified little bugs flitted around. 

Out on the creek a pair of mallards stalked a lone goose that finally chased them off. A squirrel buried a nut while keeping an eye on me.  And I saw my first yellow rumped warbler of the fall migration. 

Wind and rain on another gray morning

Canada geese paddled upstream.  The feeder was empty at breakfast, which admittedly was late because of the end of "daylight savings." 

The sky cleared before 1pm but the wind remained fierce.  Finches visited the feeder till a squirrel jumped on it and put them to flight.  Mallards joined the geese in the creek. They seemed to be eating something on the surface - windblown seeds? The first ruddy duck of the year joined them. 

November gray

The overcast was punctuated with a few sprinkles of rain.  The feeder had no breakfast visitors.  I wonder if that hawk has been hanging around all the time we were gone?  A peculiarly shaped roach came inside to be warm, and died for it.  Having mulch beds creates an environment for many non-pest species that are attracted inside in the fall.

Dreary rain.  Wary chickadees visited the feeder.  Mallards paddled in the wind-swept creek.  Blown leaves imitated birds.   On a windy day leaves are often the most common "birds."