Overcast became blue

A little rain fell in the early morning but the birds were singing when I got the paper.  "And smale fowles maken melodye," as Chaucer put it.  A red bellied woodpecker visited the suet scaring off a warbler. White throats foraged in the mulch.  A blue jay flitted around in the brush.  An osprey patrolled the creek. Just as I was leaving a downy woodpecker showed up. I was gone till lunch time. 

The wind switched 180 from NE to SW during the morning. An egret stalked along the bulkhead during lunch and an osprey hovered over the dam outflow.  A female junco and a titmouse visited the sunflower feeder.  Something pale blue-gray flitted around, but I couldn't be sure what it was.  I got a lot of photos of the spaces where a bird had just been.  But I did catch a brown creeper on the redwood. 

After lunch I sat outside.  The sun was warm but the wind was cold. A heron flew downstream, then a male kingfisher landed on the dock.  A buzzard flew over the creek.  I caught a squirrel in midleap with a nut in its mouth. 

Very warm and windy

The wind came back, blowing clouds in from the West.  Warblers, woodpeckers, and white throats were up early.  I heard lots of other songs from the trees.  Mallards were out on the creek and a heron flew over them.  Some dogwood blossoms opened and the Carolina jessamine finally decided to trust that Spring was here.

Despite the wind, lots of insects woke up.  Huge bumblebees and little black bees and wasps and at least one cabbage white butterfly flew back and forth, mostly without landing anywhere. 

A Carolina wren sang in a dogwood and later sat on a windowsill.  I saw a male and later a female junco.  I think at least one yellow rump is beginning to get breeding plumage. 

Placid dawn, bright moonrise

A beautiful morning started with a clear sky and mirror-like creek.  My breath steamed slightly at dawn.  Birds crowded the feeder: chickadees, cardinals, white throats, yellow rumps, downy woodpeckers, and a lone male junco.  Herons were out on the creek.

White throats foraged all morning.  The creek did not stay smooth.  Osprey fished despite the rising wind and troubled water.  A squirrel posed on the feeder post.  Woodpeckers and warblers had more suet and a finch finally showed up.  The sky lost its sharpness and got hazy. 

Sunset was pink and pretty.  The moon, while not yet full, was spectacular.  There is to be an eclipse Saturday morning mostly over the Pacific.  But we will probably be overcast anyway.

Glorious blue sky

We were off to the hospital before dawn and I really had no time to appreciate the beauty of the day till mid afternoon.  I sat outside for a bit but the wind was chilly.  Ospreys were having some luck fishing.  A pelican and a couple of herons went by, low over the water. The oaks are beginning to blossom. 

Chickadees were quarreling in the bushes and the butterbutts were at it too.  White throats were more interested in foraging under the feeder, which K refilled this morning before we left. A downy woodpecker prospected on the dogwood.  Then a hawk swooped past the neighbor's feeder and all the chickadees came streaking for cover behind me.  The woodpecker went very still and relied on camouflage.  I would have gotten a photo of the hawk but the camera argued about focus. 

When I went out to get the mail, I heard a lot of rustling under the azaleas.  I copied the woodpecker's strategy and pretty soon a male towhee emerged.  The sky stayed crystalline right through sunset when Venus was sharp and bright in the West and an oval moon was rising through the trees to the East. 

Really windy!

The kind of windy that is posted "No Open Fires" and that's after a good soaking yesterday.  Despite the wind, the day got quite warm and sunny.  The osprey and gulls rode the air currents hunting fish.  When I got home (after leaving before dawn) the first thing I saw was an osprey flying with a sizable fish in its talons.  Several more osprey hovered over the creek during the afternoon.  The yellow rump warblers were not deterred by the wind but it seemed all other birds stayed away.  I did see robins out along the street.

Windy

Rain freckled the pavement about an hour after dawn.  Yellow rumped warblers and chickadees worked on the remnants of the suet block.  Pelicans flew low over the creek while ospreys circled on high.

Later in the morning the rain got serious.  K installed the last block of suet.  The oriole (or another) returned. A downy woodpecker also worked on the fresh suet. An egret stalked along the bulkhead. 

About 2pm the sky cleared and the sun blazed.  K and I hacked some rooting branches off my favorite azalea and stuck them in dirt elsewhere.  I pulled up a lot of leucojum that had been loosened by the rain.  Then as I rested, a Carolina wren serenaded me.  In the distance I could hear another.  When I came in, the woodpecker rushed to the suet.  Despite the sun, the wind was cold.

Even more birds!

The water in the birdbath froze overnight.  Clouds in the East colored for sunrise then disappeared.  I saw a male oriole as I was making coffee.  If it was the same one as yesterday, it had cleaned the yellow off its face and it was willing to sample the seed feeder.  Later a female appeared, but didn't wait for a photo.  The oriole had lots of competition for the suet, mainly from downy woodpeckers and yellow rumped warblers, but a mockingbird got into the act.  A Carolina wren and a junco joined the white throats on the patio.  Around the trees I saw blue jays, doves, and titmice.

Herons and pelicans flew low over the water and competed for roosts.  One pelican just floated on the water for a while, not trying to catch anything.  Cormorants broke up the reflections. 

As I was making lunch, I saw a Cooper's hawk in the redwood.  It took some while after the hawk flew across the creek for the other birds to reappear.  Osprey circled over the creek.  Then I saw what I think was a phoebe, also in the redwood.  HRWE confirmed the phoebe.