Like yesterday

House finch and cardinal males made contrasting reds on the feeder.  Then a nuthatch visited.  The creek is glassy with low angle reflections.  A heron stalked the bulkhead.  One squirrel followed another around like a dog in heat.

Nuthatches and chickadees came for lunch.  One squirrel seems unduly interested in us, as though it's figured out the source of food.  A yellow tow boat pulled a speedboat downstream, looking for all the world like the tug boats in old picture book illustrations.  A blue jay hung around the edge of the yard.  Another squirrel had a dispute with a crow up in a pine tree.  Doves are also hanging about.  

Clear sky

Nuthatches were first today, then doves, then a house finch pair.  Meanwhile a squirrel munched below, joined by sparrows.  Something left droppings on top of the feeder.  The sky is clear and the creek is smooth but it is supposed to be cooler today.  A small flock of geese flew upstream. An osprey tried to hover but a crow interrupted. Cardinals are around.  A Carolina wren popped up.

I have just hung the new birdhouse.   I put a weight inside this year to see if that would keep it from blowing around as much.  K saw a Carolina wren on the Carolina jessamine. Here it is on the feeder.  A friend reminded me of Chaucer - "And smale fowles maken melodye,"  

No fooling

Juncos, nuthatches, and white throated sparrows are still here at the beginning of April.  The sky was dark and heavy at breakfast but by lunch it was clear blue and the sun was shirtsleeve warm.  The feeder was emptied again already!

An osprey circled its way upstream crying kee, kee.  Honey bees, bumble bees, big carpenter bees, and even halictid bees are making the rosemary hum.  A cabbage butterfly joined them.  A crab spider got inside the house and walked up the glass.

The maple we had planted a year ago is blooming. K refilled the feeder. 

Gray Easter

Sparrows and squirrels are up.  The male towhee appeared, then scurried for cover under the rosemary.  It is supposed to be a warm, wet day.

Rain began mid morning.  There were some moments of sunshine for our late lunch.  Chickadees and a nuthatch were on the feeder.

And more rain.  A Carolina wren inspected the propane tank on the grill.  

Sunny Saturday

There are bits of cloud but overall the sky is blue.  The sunlight is illuminating new leaves on the wild cherry against a shaded background.  Cardinals and nuthatches have visited the feeder.  Lots of white throated sparrows are kicking mulch.  Pelicans and cormorants are hunting.  A grackle went by with a beak full of nesting.  I can hear a titmouse singing peter, peter but I cannot see it.  As I was leaving the towhee pair showed up. 

There are mockingbirds everywhere but my backyard.  Bumblebees are visiting the jessamine and honeybees the rosemary, but the blueberry flowers aren't open yet.  Some oaks are beginning to blossom.  Two wrens were on the feeder when I got home. I hung the hummingbird feeder. 

Down on the dock, I saw cormorants, osprey, pelicans, and possibly a grebe.  The pelican got into a wrestling match with its catch.  It mantled its wings over the floating fish, and plunged at it several times.  When it finally got the fish in its beak, it was huge.   

Fish for Lent

The sky is smudged with white this morning but there is sunlight.  Sparrows and squirrels are busy in the mulch, chickadees and nuthatches on the feeder.  There are at least four squirrels around, one is a nursing mother.  Two got into a spat and became a ball of fur rolling over with two tails sticking out.

The clouds are thickening, leaving blue patches.  Pelicans, gulls, cormorants and ospreys are fishing.  It's convenient that the fish come up the rivers to spawn when people are supposed to be meatless.  (I wonder how many people realize that carnival means "goodbye meat.")  Meanwhile, the crows keep hassling the osprey.  It is hard to hover when you are being dive-bombed.  Do the crows actually mistake the osprey for a danger, or are they just practicing? 

Unlike the previous days, there were more clouds in the morning than the afternoon.  

Back to blue, then clouds

Apparently this week's pattern is clear mornings and afternoon clouds.  A nuthatch, a female towhee, juncos, and sparrows greeted us this morning. Later a male finch showed up.

When we got home from lunch, two Canada geese were standing in the middle of the pool cover, drinking the water that their weight was forcing up.  I gave them the bums rush.  But in so doing, I frightened off the feeder birds.  They did not come back for a long while.  Finally sparrows, chickadees, Carolina wrens, and cardinals returned. 

Meanwhile, out on the creek gulls and a pelican flew low and an osprey higher.  Crows attacked the osprey when it got too close to their nesting pine.  The clouds again took over the sky with occasional moments of sun.