Heat wave ends

Another glorious sunrise was punctuated by egrets and cormorants flying South.  The creek was a perfect mirror at dawn though the wind roughened it later.  A Carolina wren came by at first light.

Mid morning brought song and white throated sparrows and more wrens.  Clouds filled the sky, then blew away. 

Lunch was exciting - the FoS pine warbler visited the suet.  Out on the creek, hoodies and a bufflehead fished. A goldfinch in winter drab paused briefly in the dogwood.

The afternoon got cooler and grayer and it was raining by 4pm.

Humid

Sunrise was a dramatic pink because the clouds were thicker than yesterday.  The sun still penetrated and brightened the day.  I startled two doves when I went out to photograph the sunrise.  A great blue heron and several cormorants flew through the pink sky.  A slug left a trail from bottom to top of the French door window.

Chickadees kept the feeder busy at breakfast.  A downy woodpecker visited the suet and a white throated sparrow ran across the patio.  Later a Carolina wren came for mealworms, but all this was dimmed by the fogged-up windows.  I spied a mockingbird through a gap in the moisture.

In the late morning I was watching a squirrel clean up under the feeder when it suddenly dashed under a chair where it stood quivering.  I looked everywhere but couldn't see the red tailed hawk till it swooped across the yard with two crows in hot pursuit.  As soon as it was gone birds literally tumbled out of the bushes.  Two male cardinals popped out of the azalea at the far end of the pool. Downy woodpeckers and chickadees came back to the feeders while song and white throated sparrows foraged below.  A Carolina wren joined the squirrel at the mealworms.  And a mockingbird flew from bush to bush, I don't know why.

Hooded mergansers and the first bufflehead I've seen this fall paddled on the creek.  Meanwhile, the clouds thickened, turning the sky white, and the day grew dull.  Later, as we ate dinner, a blue jay flitted through the bushes.  Cormorants and egrets followed a school of fish downstream.  By sundown, the overcast shaded imperceptibly into night. 

Hot!

If the car temperature sensor is to be believed, it got up to 80°F.  Since this was the last weekend of car access to Mackay Island Wildlife Refuge, we made an expedition South to N.C.

People were out fishing and photographing in the glorious weather.  Turtles abounded in the waterways, particularly Northern red bellied cooters  (Pseudemys rubriventris) and yellow bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta scripta).  Insects were flying and the car gathered several mosquitoes.  A female kingfisher perched in a dead tree.  Ducks, coots, geese, and swans paddled and fed.  A large flock of white ibis hung out on and below a dead tree.  This was a new bird for me.

We had lunch at Blue Pete's on the way back, a nice opportunity to visit a place too far for usual days.

When we got home, a Carolina wren was waiting. A buzzard circled in the hazy sky.  Downy woodpeckers visited the suet while a female red bellied woodpecker stuck to the trees.  Chickadees and other birds scooted between bushes.  A great blew heron flew upstream and cormorants flew and paddled in the creek.  But the daylight was all too short.

Stars glittered in the night sky, untroubled by cloud or moon.  The day set a record with an official temperature of 77°F. 

Still sunny and warm

There was a glorious streaky pink sunrise with gulls and cormorants flying.  The two Carolina wrens arrived soon after.  Fortunately I had just scattered mealworms and they went to work on them.  A female and a male cardinal came to the feeder.  A song sparrow and a white throat foraged in the mulch.  The female downy came for suet. A great blue heron flew upstream.  Mallards and hooded mergansers made ripples in the creek.

Fog into sun

The fog was heavy at dawn but dissipated quickly.  Before that, three egrets flew toward the Southwest, an ethereal white on white fog. There is a bit of weather folklore that a "January fog will freeze a hog," but today was warm enough to dispense with a coat. 

The creek was smooth except when a flock of cormorants came downstream.  Sparrows showed up before there was enough light to be sure which kind they were.  Fuzzy photos show one was a song sparrow and later I definitely saw a white throat.  Chickadees came early to the feeder.  As I was leaving, a mockingbird landed in the crape myrtle.

Unfortunately, I was stuck inside for way too much of a beautiful day.  When I came home in the late afternoon, that mockingbird again flew to the crape myrtle, but when I tried to photograph it, it was off to the porta-potty, and then gone.  At twilight, the sparrows were busy in the mulch again, and a female cardinal sat on the feeder.  Sunset was streaks of pink.

The warmth brought out one of those T-shaped plume moths which I saw on the window after dark.  I'm afraid I will not be eating home-grown peppers this winter.  Although two blossoms got fertilized and the plant set tiny peppers, the stress of moving into the drier air indoors caused them to drop off.  I think the plant will live through the winter. 

Warm and sunny

I was away much of the day.  I saw a leaf-footed bug on the East wall of the doctor's office, and a couple of song sparrows in a bush.  Afterward I located Kings Grant Lake which was full of ducks, but I had no time to see what they were exactly.  At home, chickadees and woodpeckers were on the feeders.  A mosquito clung to the window.  Geese and a great blue heron were out on the creek.  I did a walk-about the yard and looked at the construction damage.  Sunset was streaky again. 

Beautiful day

Everything was still wet from yesterday and there was a bit of mist over the creek.  A squirrel chased a dove through the trees till the bird finally flew over to the patio.  The pair of Carolina wrens tackled the suet.  Then the downy woodpecker pair wanted their turns.  White throated sparrows came next.  Then a squirrel dug up something beside the birdbath and another squirrel tried to bully it away from the first one.

A great blue heron perched on one of the pilings.  I saw ducks on the glassy creek, but never where I could clearly identify any but mallards. 

The afternoon stayed beautiful, but I didn't see any more activity.  The evening got quite chilly again.