Still hot & windy

A house wren came to breakfast.  Only, I am not sure if it was pecking the suet or checking the holder as a potential nesting site.  The downy woodpecker knew what suet was for.  White throated sparrows were plentiful on the ground.  I think some arrived from further South along with the wren. A monarch butterfly fluttered around the birdbath and was gone.  But it and the wren indicate migration underway.  A squirrel and I had words over the mealworms.  As I was leaving, I was buzzed by a bluebird that then popped into the nesting box.  I was worried that they had disappeared, but there was no need.

Between the wind and the heat, water disappeared out of the birdbath very quickly.  En the late afternoon, a warbler drank for the pool cover.  I think it was in yellow rumped's summer plumage.  A cardinal did the same.  So I added water to the birdbath and a white throat bathed. By then the light level was dropping, and the crepuscular cat appeared.  (That sounds like something Edward Lear would say.) There were just enough clouds to make sunset interesting.

Hot!

Still too much wind for good bird watching. The white throats stayed low to the ground.  One of the white morphs looked very spiffy while a tan morph looked like it needed new feathers.  Downy woodpeckers didn't let the wind stop their visits to the suet. 

The money plants were blooming like mad and the azaleas started. The turtles were out basking.  Again, I saw two female red breasted mergansers hanging out together. I was away most of the day.  On my way across the HRBT, I saw a swallow gleaning insects close to the road.  On the way back somewhere around Lightfoot I saw what I think was an eagle.  In neither case could I take a photo. By the time I got home the light had gone.  The white throats were still scurrying around and a male cardinal was eating seeds from the feeder.

Warm wind

The mapped sightings of hummingbird migration suggested I'd better get the feeder out today. However, the wind was so strong, it grounded much larger birds and even pummeled crows.  Osprey tried to fish but I don't think they were very successful.

Chickadees and downy woodpeckers were better off under the suet.  I saw blue jays but mostly when screened by vegetation.  It's a wonder the trees were able to put out leaves with squirrels eating buds.  Red bellied woodpeckers were nervous but suet tempted them out.

The feral cat came around and lurked waiting for a white throat to come close enough.  The bird did, and the cat pounced, and I clicked, but I must have moved because this blur is what I got.  Plus it was twilight.

When I went out to close the feeder, moths got in.  I'd gotten unused to coping with insects at the door.  During the day there were lots of bees and other fliers.  At lunch, I also glimpsed a skink, but it was faster than I. 

Sunny day

Still cool but temperatures are predicted to go up after today.   Leaves emerged on the fig.  Buds were swollen on the hackberry outside my window.  The red bellied and downy woodpeckers were back at breakfast.

Osprey were fishing.  Squirrels were making out and nibbling hickory buds.  Turtles hauled out even before the sun lit their log. I guess that's the way to get a good seat.

At lunch, two doves spread their wings out to get as much sun as possible. But they quit before I got the camera ready.  A downy worked on the suet.  Then the male red belly showed up and took over the suet.

I caught a male kingfisher on the neighbor's dock but it quickly flew into the trees.  A few wisps of cloud caught the sunset and turned gold or pink. 

Gray sky

A female red bellied woodpecker breakfasted on suet.  Then the downy got a turn.  White throats foraged on the ground. A couple of female red breasted mergansers paddled and dived their way upstream. Telltale paw prints on the pool cover let me know a raccoon had visited, probably for a drink. Flower stalks emerged on the purple iris.

There were lots of busy birds in the front yard, but it was hard to get them to pose.  Cardinals stayed in the evergreens.  A yellow rumped warbler hopped past the car.  Another, much further along toward summer plumage, flitted from limb to limb in the juniper.  I saw a flower bud on the clematis.  And the chionodoxa was flowering.  Bumblebees were at work making blueberries.

Cloudy

A friend sent me a fascinating article about plants and animals falling out of sync in their responses to climate change.  We had a hot February and a cold March.  And high winds - a local article said osprey were having trouble nesting because of the winds.  At breakfast, a downy woodpecker worked on the suet from beneath while a very ragged butterbutt perched on top.

The mallard pair were dozing by the creek again after lunch.  I weeded more leucojum and verified that the purple flowers were spindly money plants.  Turtles were out on the logs again despite the lack of sunshine. Toward evening, a great blue heron perched on the back of the neighbors' dock bench.  A titmouse teased me by flitting around outside the window.

Sunny, still cold

White throated sparrows were not cooperating at breakfast.  downy woodpeckers and chickadees were willing to be photographed, but they always are.  I saw a couple of osprey flying over Broad Creek on the way to church.  A blue jay landed almost beside me, though outside the window I was inside, but when I tried to get the camera going, off it flew. Despite the cold, turtles were soaking up the sun in the afternoon.  A cormorant pretended to be a figurehead on the prow of the log. 

A pair of mallards napped by the water's edge in our yard. The Muscovy was still hanging out with the geese only on the other side of the creek.  Toward evening, I saw something that looked like a kingfisher take off from the neighbor's dock.  Red breasted mergansers were still diving in the creek.  In the twilight, a great egret was visible at the dam outfall.