Gray

It's overcast and quiet.  A sparrow was on the feeder before there was light enough to see which kind.  Nothing since.  No action on the creek.

Later, the Carolina wren hopped around and a chickadee perched on the dead hibiscus stalks.  I glimpsed some mergansers.  Cardinals, song sparrows, white throated sparrows, and chickadees came to the feeder.  I fed the white throats a peanut. 

New year, new moon

Chickadees, white throats, and a Carolina wren greeted the new year.  Gulls and egrets flew over the creek.  The sky is a faded blue and the sunlight is muted.

At lunch, pelicans were flying with the gulls and egrets.  And cardinals joined the chickadees and white throats.  A song sparrow visited the feeder. One squirrel built her nest in the fork of the biggest oak limb and now it is falling apart.  I think the nests need small twiggy branches for bracing. 

A pelican continued into the twilight while cormorants flew over in V formations.  Sparrows and a female cardinal competed for bedtime snacks.  The thin cloud cover obscured the new moon.

Fishing birds and a surprise guest

I counted eleven egrets and at least four great blue herons under a cloud of gulls as they moved up and down the creek.  They must be following a school of fish.  The tide is high and the light is low and shadowless.

The overcast broke up around 9am and slid out to sea.  The fishing birds were long gone, except for cormorants.  But the sun brought out the feeder birds.  In addition to all the usuals, there were sparrows, titmice, a wren, and a hairy woodpecker.

Around noon, under a mostly blue sky, pelicans, herons, egrets, gulls, and mergansers hunted for fish, but not very successfully.  Geese gathered all along the bulkhead.  Squirrels and white throats gobbled up the peanut hearts. There's a snowy owl irruption this winter but I doubt that treed suburbia will be to their liking.

The fishing continues.  Herons and egrets, pelicans and gulls keep flying over the creek. 

Getting cold again

About 6am I saw Jupiter in the West.  At 7, the whole sky blushed rose.  The clouds gradually became more orange, then soft gray when their undersides were no longer lit.  About a half hour later the sky was crosshatched with contrails that expanded and slid Northeast.  Then a white glaze of cloud came in from the West.

Meanwhile, egrets hunted a good fishing spot.  A couple of pelicans and a few cormorants flew past.  There's no morning cormorant commute as there is in the evening.  A mix of ducks, including mergansers and a ruddy, paddled by.  A white throat scurried and I heard other birds.  A squirrel came to the window and stood up to get a better look at me.  The Carolina wren checked on everything. 

At lunch, great blue herons and great egrets lined the bulkhead while cormorants and hooded mergansers paddled past and pelicans cruised above.  There must be plenty of fish.  The usual suspects, plus sparrows came to the feeder.  The cloud cover was heavier but it had texture, unlike yesterday's uniform gray. A blue jay hung around the edge of the creek and two buzzards soared. 

Gentle rain

The Carolina wren checked the spot where I've been leaving peanuts but found only soggy crumbs.  It sang a bit, then flew to it's favorite perch on the grill hose where it was sheltered from the rain.  Meanwhile, chickadees and cardinals visited the feeder and white throats scurried everywhere.  The creek surface is opaqued with rain and I don't see any fishing birds. 

Around 9:30, six pelicans floated on the creek in a circle fishing.  The group moved upstream, part paddling and part hopping into the air.  I heard gulls scream, unless that was the pelicans?   The rain continues to fall steadily. 

The rain became un-gentle around 11 and the wind fierce.  The clapper on the wind chime across the creek was swinging up past the pipes.  Clouds were driven North as fast as birds fly, but gulls played on the gusts. 

Pelicans continue to fish despite the wind and finches have joined the feeder queue.  At least three squirrels are also hunting a meal in between chasing each other.  I believe I'm seeing a couple of ruddy ducks out on the creek. 

3pm, the rain is pounding and it's quite gloomy. Fortunately that didn't last long.  And now, an hour later, I believe the sky is clearing.  The clouds are moving East where before they were going North.  The sun appeared just in time to set. Despite all the rain, the day has been warm. 

Freeze again

It's just like yesterday morning with frost and ice and sun.  Herons and egrets are scouting for fish.  But this morning some feeder birds are awake.  Sparrows were squabbling before sunrise.  Chickadees and a wren have been to the feeder.

The creek is in sunlight now and a flock of hooded mergansers have joined the egrets and heron. A pelican just soared upstream. Cardinals and finches have arrived. The mystery birds appeared in the afternoon.  Best guess so far is yellow rumped warblers. 

Both the feeder and the creek stayed busy all day.  The temperature climbed up, so rain is predicted though there was no sign of it at sunset. 

Frosty

The frost paints the dock white and outlines each chunk of bark in the mulch.  Ice skins the creek on the near side but the current keeps the water open on the North.  The sky is clear except for a few cloud bars on the horizon.

A pelican flew over the creek and a cormorant paddled in it before the sun came up.  As the sun began to touch the tops of the pines, six egrets flew in. Three picked our pilings for perches and two landed on the branch under the bulkhead across the creek.  Then three hooded mergansers landed by the ones on the branch and paddled around.  A great blue heron swooped in and took possession of the branch.  Eventually all the egrets left.  Then another heron landed on the dock.

It was pretty late in the morning when a pair of house finches appeared.  Eventually white throats and a cardinal visited around noon.  The creek stayed busy with gulls, herons, egrets pelicans, and cormorants.  I also saw some mallards.  A buzzard also took an interest.  Squirrels got to the peanuts first.

A couple of pelicans basked and preened on the boathouse in the late afternoon sun.  Chickadees, doves, a Carolina wren, and a song sparrow made it to the feeder before evening.  The fishing birds kept going past sunset.