Four orioles!

A Carolina wren arrived first, but one of the orioles chased it away.  A female red bellied woodpecker landed on the post but left without trying the suet.  Then a female oriole popped up in the camellia.  After a little while, I realized I was seeing two of them.

A male oriole kept watch on the orange+mealworm+jelly feast but a mockingbird investigated the fruit. White throats and juncos scurried around and frequently panicked and disappeared to the bemusement of chickadees.  A blue jay hunted acorns in the fallen leaves.  Titmice eventually arrived along with cardinals and finches. 

A downy woodpecker and the female pine warbler both wanted suet.   So did a squirrel, but my strategy of leaving the packaging on one side defeated the rodent robber.

On the water, hooded mergansers hung out with Canada geese.  Their coloring is similar even if their size is not.  Mallards were out too.

Mostly gray

The feeders were not calling to birds at breakfast, and then I was called away.  I noticed the sun just glowed behind a curtain of cloud.  There was more to see after lunch, and even the occasional moment of sunshine.  I put out some jelly and mealworms and started an altercation between the male orioles.  The dominant one actually hid in the rosemary to guard his food supplies.  The poor newcomer got very little.  Red breasted nuthatches joined chickadees on the seeds and suet.  The downy woodpecker only wanted suet.  A few white throats scurried about.

I spotted one female bufflehead around midday.  Later a pair of hoodies paddled and dived.  An astonishing gathering of great egrets filled the trees on the lakeside. Cormorants and at least one great blue heron were also fishing in the lake.  Then they moved to the creek just below my window!  While I was downloading photos a kingfisher zipped past looking for a perch.  What with the overcast, the light was already going so I probably didn't miss a shot, but I couldn't tell if it was male or female.

The freeze ruined the milkweed flowers and burnt the lantana leaves.  Neither plant was completely done in though.  The loss of leaves on the trees made it a lot easier to see birds but there were still twigs in the wrong places to fool the camera focus.

Rain

Everything was wet when we awoke (late), but there were some blue tears in the cloud cover.  Birds took advantage to come for a hearty meal. An egret rested briefly high in a pine across the creek.  Later a pelican surveyed the creek.  Carolina wrens, orioles, red breasted nuthatches, and white throated sparrows were all busy with the smorgasbord we provide.

A little after 10am, as I was on the road there was a deluge.  It slackened in a few minutes, but I got pretty wet before ever getting into the pool. At lunch, titmice and a female pine warbler joined the others.  By then it had gotten quite warm for December.  Bugs were flying though I was not able to see any clearly. The clouds blew away leaving muted sunshine in a sky glazed with thin cirrus. 

I ran some errands and saw the resident mockingbird at the library and a buzzard flying low over the hospital.  When I got back, the two male orioles were having another dominance challenge.  one occupied the feeder while the other sulked in the camellia.  In the late afternoon, egrets and cormorants gathered at the lake.

Warming up, clouding up

We're into the winter weather pattern where bright days are cold and warm days are cloudy.  The day began with bright sun and a frozen birdbath which I thawed with hot water.  Birds were up earlier than yesterday.  The oriole visited all his treats in succession and even tried a bark butter ball.  Juncos, doves, chickadees, wrens, downy woodpeckers, white throated sparrows, red breasted nuthatches, titmice, a butterbutt and a blue jay all appeared before I finished a leisurely breakfast.

Then the feral cat tried to do some bird watching but they all left.  Most came back off and on throughout the day. A female pine warbler showed up a little before lunch.  The two male orioles had a standoff but I think the first to arrive was the winner.  Some fishing went on with pelicans, gulls, egrets, and cormorants. An old fish trap washed up just below the dam outfall, only exposed at very low tides, and an egret was taking an interest in it.  I hope there's no danger to the bird.

Freezing

The low last night was 27°F and I poured hot water in the birdbath several times today only to see it refreeze.  Cold makes critters thirsty -I was worried a squirrel was going to get its tongue stuck on the ice.  The creek, however was not iced even though it was placid.  A little flock of hooded mergansers glided upstream.  One of the male orioles got up around mid morning and had some jelly.  Seven crows escorted a red tailed hawk upstream but I missed getting a photo.  And that was it. 

After lunch there was more activity, especially among fishing birds.  I saw great blue herons and great egrets, gulls and cormorants.  They made several trips upstream and back.  But I did not see pelicans, diving ducks (except those hoodies at breakfast), or kingfishers. 

A clementine had a bad spot so K put the good half out for the orioles.  One of the males found it acceptable.  So, we are now feeding them mealworms, suet occasionally, grape jelly, citrus fruit, and flowers.  That should make us a five-star destination. Red breasted nuthatches, chickadees, finches, titmice, and white throated sparrows visited in the afternoon.

Later, a small flock of bluebirds dropped into the trees by my window.  A nuthatch did its trick on the redwood trunk. 

I spoke too soon about not seeing any kingfishers.  About a quarter after 4pm, I saw one land on a neighbor's piling.  Then it disappeared and I finally found it pretending to be a weathervane on top of the purple martin house across the creek.  One more wave of fishing cormorants passed.  Egrets settled into the dead snags along the lake.  I wonder how I could let the property owners know I appreciate their picturesque dead trees?

Bright and cold

A cold front dried out the air but the abundant sunshine did not warm it up.  The birdbath was frozen so I poured hot water in after breakfast.  At breakfast, we saw a Carolina wren, a couple of doves, a male oriole, and a white throated sparrow.  Mallards and geese skimmed their breakfast from the water.  As I drove past Pleasure House Point, a red tailed hawk flew in front of my car.

I got home a little before noon.  Several white throats were foraging. The downy woodpeckers took turns on the suet.  Red breasted nuthatches snatched suet and seeds whenever they could.  The half-blind male house finch took a bath.

A school of fish must have swum up the creek after lunch.  I saw a great blue heron chase an egret off a prime spot while pelicans cruised past.  Gulls and cormorants got in on the action but I did not see any fishing ducks.  A green drink bottle and a white bleach bottle floated downstream to eventually become part of the Anthropocene sedimentary deposits, I suppose.

In the afternoon a couple of titmice came to the feeder.  Juncos appeared and found the bark butter balls..  Pine warblers came for suet.  An oriole picked at the centers of the camellia flowers.  Then I realized that there were two male orioles, one on the mealworm dish and the other on the back of the bench.  They did not cooperate on getting into the same photo.  There were also two Carolina wrens with the same issue.

Sunset again colored clouds scattered around the horizon.  The commuting cormorants headed to every point on the compass. Visibility was certainly improved with the disappearance of so much foliage, even if the result looked rather barren. 

Misty

Not quite rain, and with none of the charm of fog, the wet air felt chilly even though there wasn't much breeze and the temperature wasn't that low.  I was away in the morning and saw no wildlife till noon.  Then white throats scurried under K's car in the driveway.  A Carolina wren was with them but the light level was too poor for the camera.

I spotted a hoodie pair on the creek.  At lunch, the male oriole, a red breasted nuthatch, and the regulars finally got hungry.  I restocked the oriole's jelly and the mealworms.

Finally in the late afternoon the sky began to clear.  Sunset was again streaky and the placid creek reflected the clouds to the NE.  I was just about to close up the feeder when a cardinal pair arrived.  And more white throats foraged below.  They certainly preferred low light today.