Melting

The snow has slumped enough that squirrels are willing to hop through it.  Yesterday they stuck to the aerial paths through the trees and bushes.  Cardinals and sparrows came for breakfast without the urgency of yesterday.  The paper says yesterday broke a temperature record for cold, though the snow depth was not a record.

In the late morning, titmice and chickadees came to the feeder.  Then a song sparrow took over.  The wren finally found the peanuts I put out.


Another pink sunset.  I just read Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard written and illustrated by Annette LeBlanc Cate which is a Silbert Honor Book. 

Sun on snow

Let the melting begin!  Today began with song sparrows.  Then finches, cardinals, the wren, and white throats arrived.  The male towhee showed up.  Finally, as I was doing dishes, chickadees and titmice appeared.

There is a lot of dripping which will probably mean ice tomorrow morning.  In the afternoon, the chickadees got their fill at the feeder.  Gulls and egrets flew over the creek but other water birds stayed away.  The sun made the snow blinding.

But today I didn't see any of the juncos that were all over yesterday.  Was it the sunshine?

I caught the final glow of pink clouds after sunset.  A planet trailed the sun.  The new moon was not visible. A low of 6 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at the airport beating the previous record by 4 degrees. 

Snow birds!

It looks like there is about 6" of snow on the chair seats and table tops.  Elsewhere there is drifting.  The creek looks like milk that's gone off - a muddy, greenish white.  I think the dog across the creek fell in.  There was much shouting, a human lay down on their dock, then dragged the dog uphill by the collar. 

White throats and juncos were up first, the the trio of usuals.  A hawk dived at the feeder but didn't catch breakfast and sat in the dogwood for a while to recover. 

I tossed some more seed on the snow.  After a while the birds came back, including a song sparrow, a Carolina wren, a male towhee, and a dove.  One male cardinal refused to let another come to the feeder.  I saw three female cardinals.  A mockingbird sat in the oak for a while.  Flocks of birds went by and a gull played on the wind.  The snow is blowing rather than falling.

At lunch a brown thrasher hung out in the hickory while the other birds kept eating. 

It's snowing

I'll post some phone photos tomorrow from my train trip.  What I wish I had captured is the way the snow looks at night falling through a streetlight's glow.


Left is from the trip North and right is from the return.

I did see some ducks in an estuary, maybe of the Chesapeake.  They were dark with flashes of white on the wings when they flew.  I remembered the phone camera too late. 

Snow!

The ground and small objects are covered.  Sparrows are up to their feathers under the feeder but closer to the house there's crunchy ice.  K dumped some seeds there for the ground feeders.  Sparrows and the usual trio have been busy at the feeder.  A pelican checked out the creek which has floating skins of ice and open water.  It's windy but the sun is bright.  Gulls are playing and I saw one do a sideways roll.  Geese paddled upstream. 

K saw a female towhee but I missed it.  In fact, all the birds disappeared.  Then I saw a big hawk flying away, and the birds came back.  There are three female cardinals and they do not like each other.  I also saw a song sparrow. The Carolina wren took up its post on the grill hose.  A dove found the snow too unpleasant to hunt for seeds. The other birds seem to sit right into the snow, maybe keeping their feet warm? 

Later, juncos appeared and struggled in the snow.  Two male towhees came back and one took over the feeder, something I've never seen before.  The birds are really fighting for food this morning.  A chickadee tried to get at something behind the roof icicles. Pelicans continue to fish and there are egrets blending into the snow on the dam. A mockingbird visited the beauty berry bush. 

Early birds

Chickadees, sparrows a Carolina wren, and a dove beat the sun.  A pelican was floating on the creek and an egret soared over it.  The sky is hazy though the sun is shining.  That didn't last.  Cloud cover has muted the sunlight. More pelicans tried their luck.  Some finches joined the sparrows. 

The morning was more sunny than not and fairly warm.  Several egrets prowled the far bank and one promenaded on the dock.  Hooded mergansers paddled around.  Pelicans fished like there was no tomorrow.

Then clouds swept up from the SW and the temperature plummeted.  And I came inside.  The wren, chickadees, sparrows, finches and a cardinal descended on food like they'd heard the weather report.  I put more than the usual peanuts out to get them through the storm.  So, now let it snow. 

Wrensday

All morning, the only bird around was a Carolina wren.  It waited quietly on the grill hose for over an hour.  Then it got excited and began bouncing and chirping and fanning its feathers.   I have no idea what this was all about.  It left and a squirrel crawled all around the grill, then mountaineered up the brick wall by the bedroom window.  During all this time there were no other birds, not even gulls and crows. Thin cumulus clouds creep slowly East in a sunny sky but the wind in the trees is gusty.

The wren came back and stayed through lunch.  Finally chickadees started visiting the feeder.  A male hooded merganser paddled upstream and then the pelicans arrived.  At least three swooped and plunged right in front of us. 

The day has been warm and this evening a moth came to the window.  And snow is predicted for this time tomorrow!