Damp

Enough rain fell overnight to fill the birdbath.  The morning sky was overcast occasionally pierced by the sun.  The creek surface was unmarred by wind or wildlife. 

I was trying to photograph a titmouse when a goldfinch pair appeared.  And, as I photographed them, a male red-bellied woodpecker scared them off. He got a seed before the counterweight closed the feeder.  Then he moved to the suet.  Yellow rumped warblers, white throated sparrows, and downy woodpeckers also came to breakfast.  Cardinals and chickadees showed up but house finches have not been so regular this Spring. 

Hot!

The day began with some mist and less than the usual birdsong.  White throats were out in force and warblers were battling over the suet.

The sun burned through by mid-morning.  At lunch time a black swallowtail and a cabbage white flitted around.  The swallowtail spent her time egging the rue as there isn't much parsley after the hard winter.  Canada geese had a commotion that involved a threesome.  The temperature aspired to summer heights.

The noon haze congealed into afternoon overcast with occasional moments of sun.  A gusty wind moderated the humid heat.  Even though it's been dry I found a mushroom.  I've never seen sassafras blossoms before, so here they are.   The red maple has gone to seed.  Money plant blossoms peeked out of the azaleas and violets poked up out of the grass.  Bees swirled around the Carolina jessamine.  Two kinds of paper wasp nibbled on the wood slats of the bench - red with yellow trim and black with red.  A yellowjacket looked for a nesting spot.  The wind grounded a black swallowtail, maybe the same one as earlier.

Downy woodpeckers got up the gumption to ignore me.  I saw a kingfisher streak by and heard it thereafter.  A flock of birds in the trees made a more musical rattle.  Unfortunately they were always back-lighted so all I know is they were dark birds with lighter beaks.  Then a little bluegray gnatcatcher started zipping around across the pool from me. 

There were lightning flashes after dark but no rain. 

Gray

It was raining when I got up but that soon stopped.  The usual suspects came for breakfast.  I was busy all morning.  After lunch, I saw a female hooded merganser on the creek. 

Wet

Rain caught me on the way to get the newspaper but had tapered off by the time I took the garbage out.  A mockingbird flashed me on the driveway.  The usual birds (cardinals, chickadees, butterbutts, downy woodpeckers & white throated sparrows) were joined by the goldfinch pair in the morning.  The woodpeckers take turns on the suet but sometimes the female gets impatient.

Fog gathered over water and pavement in the late morning.  At noon a titmouse showed up. 

Spring romance

When I went to un-brick the feeder, I found a very unusual bird on the dock piling.  I thought it might be a half albino cormorant but I've been told it's normal for a juvenile to get bleached like this.  It hung around for quite a while.  The sky was gray but the air was warm.  Flecks of rain spotted the feeder. 

The feeders soon attracted a great variety of birds while more hung out in the bushes.  A pair of goldfinches had dressed for summer.  They were courting on the feeder perch till a titmouse bullied them off.  Two Carolina wrens were everywhere and white throats also scurried around the patio.  The warblers and woodpeckers kept at the suet.  Two mockingbirds drank from the pool cover.  A blue jay, a towhee, and a brown thrasher flitted around the bushes. Bumblebees and wasps were out again as was that cabbage white butterfly. 

A couple of squirrels got very frisky right in front of me. 

Sun and clouds

I scattered some mealworms when I got up this morning.  I have been meaning to do that for days as I've heard that birds identify food sources in the morning then just return to their finds for the rest of the day.  The sky was streaked with cloud but the sun was out.  Reflections wavered on the creek but never broke up.  

The yellow rumped warblers were still competing for suet, but uninterested in the mealworms.  Titmice joined cardinals and chickadees on the seed feeder.  The downy woodpeckers bumped the warblers.  White throated sparrows were out foraging as were two Carolina wrens.  The wrens appeared interested in the mealworms.  A blue jay drank from the pool cover.  I need to clean the birdbath.

As we got lunch ready, a male towhee foraged beyond the pool.  A warbler decided I was no reason to stay off the suet.  When I came inside, the woodpecker came back.  By this time the sky was filled with fluffy, cotton clouds. 

After dark I saw the first lacewing of Spring on the window. 

Singing birds

Dawn was clear and still, but loud with birdsong.  I sat outside to listen till I got too cold.  The sun came up gold and the creek reflected the warm colors. Chickadees didn't wait for me to go inside.

When I did, warblers, woodpeckers, and white throated sparrows showed up.  A sparrow with a rusty cap and unmarked white tummy landed on the feeder but flew off before I could get it into focus.  Two warblers briefly shared the suet till a third chased them both away.  Then a brown thrasher appeared to dive on a downy on the suet, but instead the brown thrasher contented itself on fallen scraps.  It's one of the few birds that tolerates squirrels.  A couple of blue jays chased through the trees, courting or establishing territory?  Two Carolina wrens foraged on the patio.  They look younger and less grumpy than the grill inspector.

A carry-out carton sailed downstream on its own reflection.  At lunch the brown thrasher returned and settled in on top of the suet cage.  Then the male downy showed up and moved in.  They shared the suet for a while but the brown thrasher was first to leave.

In the afternoon, a wind from the WNW picked up.  Three female hooded mergansers fished up and back down the creek.  An osprey hovered overhead but didn't see anything and moved on.  The brown thrasher returned yet again.  Chickadees were everywhere.  One clung like a leech to the suet, even when joined by a warbler. 

I installed the hummer feeder on a sign hanger which I put across the steps from the other feeders.  It's very close to the ground so this may not work.  A curious chickadee hopped on but couldn't figure out how to make it dispense food.  I saw spider threads - eggs must have hatched.

Toward evening, a male kingfisher came to the same piling as yesterday.