Dancing water, then snowfall

No reflections this morning - the wind has the water all stirred up and sparkling in the sun.  No feeder birds.  A buzzard soared among the clouds in a mostly blue sky.  Earlier, the clouds were very pink, and last night there was a spectacular sunset.  Around midnight a bright planet was in the West and when I got up, the waning moon was in roughly the same spot.

Now (8:30) it has clouded up.  The wind is still fierce. And now it looks like a storm. It's snowing! But it didn't last long and it wasn't cold enough to stick.   Some cold robins waited it out in the oak.

Apparently birds are panic shoppers when they see snow.  Doves and white throated sparrows scrounged below the feeder.  Wrens and a nuthatch came to the source.  Lots of wrens and sparrows are hanging out in the rosemary.  Meanwhile egrets are fighting the wind.  After the snow, the clouds started to break up and a sunbeam just found an opening.

At lunch, blue sky was back and a song sparrow was doing the can-can with the mulch. Later afternoon is cloudless.  Geese are paddling downstream. 

Wind and sun

The wind roared all night and pushed the last clouds east in the early morning.  A pelican came past, low to the creek.  Other birds were blown all over the sky.

The patio was very busy.  First the white spot squirrel dropped in.  Then a blue jay wanted a drink.  A robin perched on a chair arm, then the rest of the flock flew past.  A flock of goldfinches investigated the gumballs that had blown down.  As always, white throat sparrows and juncos kicked the mulch.  Carolina wrens joined them.  chickadees and house finches came to the feeder and I glimpsed a titmouse.   I am so glad to be home!

A flock of robins blew through at lunch.  A bufflehead and some geese paddled on the wind-blown creek.  Crows are up to something. 

Coast to coast

The only species I saw all week were humans and pigeons.  And there was no sun. Meanwhile, I missed the first snowfall since I began this blog.  Well, I guess Mt. Rainier ought to be enough snow for any reasonable person. 

Cold, seed balls

The creek is ice-free and a lone gull floated on its mirror-image.  I glimpsed some birds, but none settled in for a visit.  I need to thaw the birdbath.

I've been running around all day with no time to observe.  At lunch, great black-backed gulls were plunging into the creek after fish.  A few geese and buffleheads went by.  Nothing else to be seen.  I finally added hot water to the birdbath, but it may not have been enough to melt the ice. 

I think the cold got to my brain - I did not check the feeder when I filled the birdbath.  So, of course it has been empty all day.  K refilled it this evening.  Egrets have been working in sunny spots along the banks. 

So, for interest, here is a comparison of sycamore seed balls and sweet gum seed balls. Sycamore (top) are soft and pull apart into fluff.  Sweet gum (bottom) are spiky caltrops with holes for the seeds which the birds like. So, trees that grow their own ornaments. 

Chilly and bright

A beautiful dawn with a few cumulus cream puffs turning to butter.  But it is cold and gusty.  The birds came in a rush to breakfast.  First a red cardinal brightened the mulch. Soon sparrows and juncos joined.  A wren went for the feeder, then a female cardinal played queen of the hill, pushing titmice and finches and juncos off the perch.  This junco's counter-shading is very evident as it crunches a seed.  The demarcation between gray upper and white under makes me think of dying Easter eggs. 

Then they all left. Last to go was a white throat that often seems to stay behind.  I don't understand why they fight over the feeder then leave it alone then come back and do it all again.

An hour has passed and the sky has grayed over though the sun still shines.  It looks like the crows have found the hawk again.  Some doves stopped by briefly along with a lone white throat sparrow.  Then juncos showed up.  One pried very industriously at the seeds frozen in the birdbath.  A yellow-rumped warbler appeared and went to work on the rosemary.  It seems attracted to winter flowers, but I cannot tell what it is eating.  Carolina wrens came to the feeder. 

Bright and clear

Sparrows were out and about. A crow hammered away at something while perched on the fence.  Pelicans have been cruising by without success. 

Curiously, despite three freezes, parts of the lantana are still green.  The Carolina Jessamine seed pods have opened.  The seeds are like those in a pine cone - a little flat wing thickened at one end.  I distributed some in various spots around the yard.  The rose over by the fig has been blooming, presumably because all the pruning has given it more sun. 

A flock of juncos enjoyed puttering in the mulch, drinking at the birdbath, and occasionally flying up to the feeder.  A Carolina wren joined them.  Then a titmouse.  Then everyone disappeared and I too saw a hawk.

Late afternoon, I went out on the dock.  It was pretty warm but there was wind.   Three female hooded mergansers  scooted off to the other side of the creek.  The low sun turned their brown to gold.  A pelican was fishing very successfully.  I watched several go down the gullet.  Cormorants and gulls flew past and the moon rode high and bright. The mud bank is covered with raccoon prints. 

Warmer, still sunny

Pelicans and gulls are fishing our section of creek.  These are the great black back gulls that only show up in the winter.  Geese and ducks are also out there.  Sparrows and squirrels are busy on the ground.  Titmice, nuthatches, finches, and wrens have been to the feeder.  Juncos showed up mid-morning.  By then the streaky clouds at dawn were gone. 

It is very windy and that's keeping most birds away.  Only chickadees are venturing out to the feeder.  A flock of diving birds came driving a school of fish upstream and after a bit back down.  I saw red-breasted mergansers and cormorants for sure. The camera kept focusing on nearer vegetation so they are too blurry to post, but enough for identification.