Starling invasion

Cold made the birds crave suet.  Yellow rumped and pine warblers, bluebirds, and four female orioles argued precedence, but deferred to a female red bellied woodpecker.  The downy woodpeckers had to wait.  Then three or four starlings attacked the suet and each other.  They were the first to find their way back here this winter. 

White throated sparrows stayed below.  A red breasted nuthatch darted in for a sunflower seed.  Carolina wrens hunted suet crumbs on the steps.  So did a brown thrasher so I guessed there were no barkbutter balls.  When I refilled the cup, the blue jays arrived.  A starling tried the balls but preferred suet.  A mockingbird was willing to eat both.  So was the dark orange oriole.  The creek was quiet except for a female bufflehead and reflections. 

Gray

A gray overcast  reduced the light and blurred many pictures.  The male red bellied woodpecker took a turn at the suet.  I wonder if they are incubating eggs already?  A pine warbler refused to budge for the much bigger bird, but a female oriole decided it was time to move over to the barkbutter balls.  She came back for suet when the woodpecker was full, but then the aggressive mockingbird flew in like a missile and scattered all the other birds.  Then it got in a fight with another mockingbird.  Blue jays stuck to barkbutter balls, as did a brown thrasher.  Several white throats foraged.  The butterbutt was visible.  The cat was back.  

A great blue heron faced the wind perched on a dead snag over the lake but I didn't see any other lake denizens.  Cormorants and pelicans fished on the creek but I saw no ducks.  I spent too much time on computers again. 

Quiet

There was some sunshine but a lot more cloud, it seemed to me.  Early in the day, the creek was flat and reflections were sharp.  An egret landed below the dam.  A hooded merganser drake floated alone. 

I restocked the barkbutter balls twice thanks to the greed of blue jays.  Brown thrashers kept showing up when it was empty.  Carolina wrens and that bandit-masked, yellow-rumped warbler joined me for breakfast.  One wren poked through the sunflower seeds, but whether for broken bits or for bugs, I don't know.  I'm fairly sure its beak isn't able to open an intact seed hull.  White throats were busy in the mulch as usual.  They certainly can crack seeds.  

The male Baltimore oriole joined the females for suet.  A male cardinal posed in the dogwood.  The cat spent some more time birdwatching which soon meant there were no birds to watch.  

Chilly even in the sun

The sun returned and the birds apparently found food elsewhere.  A song sparrow poked through the mulch.  Clouds made the sunlight flick on and off like a kid playing with the light switch. 

I saw a kingfisher alight on a dock piling so I hurried to a better window.  I suppose it was the male that's been around for months, but it kept its back to me so I couldn't be sure.  Four or five crows scared it off. I wondered if they were the same gang that I saw on the bench the other day.  I also wondered whether they were American or fish crows.  I didn't get a photo this time as they kept flying back and forth between docks.  

While I was there, a hooded merganser drake paddled past, headed upstream.  Turtles congregated on their log in the lake to enjoy the sunshine.  Pelicans flew by and one plunged and caught a fish.

The yellow rumped warbler with the leftover mask landed in the tree above the window. A mockingbird worked on the suet by this window.  Then some other bird flew at it and banged into the window but kept going.  It made me jump and I didn't get a good look.  A pine warbler watched from a twig.  Then a red breasted nuthatch brought a seed to a pine branch to hammer open.  

My peppers are ripening in the house.  They didn't get very big but there's something so satisfying about eating food you grew.  K is keeping the plants healthy.  In the afternoon a female oriole came to the patio suet feeder.  She was a deep orange which is supposed to indicate an older bird.  The one yesterday was more of a lemon color on the breast and white on the belly.  A Carolina wren got a drink.  A female hooded merganser paddled upstream.  

 

Gray gloom

Even when it wasn't raining, the air was misty.  The mockingbird blended right in.  The downy woodpeckers had a lot of competition for suet.  Female orioles moved right in on a downy.  Pine and yellow rumped warblers went back and forth between the suet and the barkbutter balls.  I saw one yellow rump with a mask and one without, and pine warblers in all gradations of yellow. 

A white breasted nuthatch made off with a barkbutter ball.  So did blue jays and Carolina wrens.  The feral cat stayed a long time, just sitting on the pool cover watching.  A mockingbird visited the other suet cage by the Northwest corner of the house. 

A bufflehead drake hung around our section of the creek for over an hour.  He wasn't fishing or preening, just loitering.  Maybe he was sleeping?  Later a girlfriend showed up and the pair paddled around more of the creek.  Two larger ducks paddled away from me and one looked like it had a shoveler's bill.  If so, they were non-breeding males.  A great blue heron flew upstream. 

At lunch, the ruby crowned kinglet came to the feeders.  It got very frustrated trying to get a turn at the suet.  I got frustrated because it kept turning its back to me.  Because birds like to drink from it, we never took down the ant moat when we switched from the hummingbird feeder to the suet cage.  It also serves as an ad hoc rain gauge and today it reached overflow.  A couple of the larger birds got drenched when they hit the suet too hard.  Bluebirds must have weighed less because they were not more careful.  A female red bellied woodpecker landed on the post, but gave up before getting any suet. 

Several white throated sparrows and the song sparrow foraged in the wet mulch.  A brown headed nuthatch made several trips to the seed feeder, dodging a possessive house finch.  Titmice and chickadees also kept the feeder occupied.  A flock of blackbirds flew over several times and one red-winged blackbird landed on the post.  A female cardinal was visible in the bushes.  I think a flicker was sitting in the pine tree but is was silhouetted against the sky and behind vegetation, so it might have been a red bellied woodpecker.  

Warm, for winter

It was overcast and wet when I got up.  White throated sparrows preferred the suet crumbs the downy woodpecker dropped to fighting for a chance at the suet.  The two female orioles, however, took over the suet.  But warblers slipped in.  The male oriole came later. 

The mockingbird checked whether I had added bark butter balls - I hadn't.  Bluebirds were also disappointed, especially as the suet was almost gone.  Mid morning, after I was sure it wouldn't rain, I refilled the bark butter cup, the jelly dish, and the suet cage.  

The cat watched the birds, giving a new meaning to "Hope is the thing with feathers." The sky cleared mid day and we had sunshine for several hours.  A gentle South wind pushed the temperature over 60°.  A blue jay noticed that there were bark butter balls. 

Buffleheads paddled around the creek until a boat returned and scared them off.  A great blue heron chased another away and then grumbled to itself up in the trees where I couldn't see it.  The wind fluttered the plumes of an egret perched downstream.  By 3pm the sky was getting white again and soon the overcast was back. After dark there were more illegal, amateur fireworks banging, but nothing to see.  

More rain

Once again we were about 10" over normal for the year - about 20%.  I keep wondering how many years before "normal" is re-calibrated.  A great blue heron landed on one of the dock posts and stood there like a wet mop. 

The yellow rumped warbler in partly summer plumage was back for more suet.  So were the two Carolina wrens, pine warblers, and the mockingbird.  Bluebirds quarreled with each other and the warblers over it.

Then, to my delight, a ruby crowned kinglet appeared.  I even saw its ruby crown.  A blue jay tried to avoid being seen.  The brown thrasher was less cautious.  Eventually the orioles got a turn on the suet.  Juncos and sparrows and even titmice scurried around in the mulch.  Birds also hunted fallen crumbs from the suet but I couldn't see them because they were at the bottom of the steps.   A dove poked around on the ground.  

From the back room I could see a great blue heron on a snag on the lake. A cormorant paddled in the lake.  Down on the creek, a handful of female buffleheads and one drake fished.  Pelicans flew past.  A kingfisher alighted on a dock post but I think it caught sight of me because it soon left.  A couple of pairs of mallards nosed around the barnacle-encrusted pilings.  Three juncos hopped around outside the window.  The kinglet flitted around in the branches and showed me the red patch on its head.