Blue moon

Of course the only significance to two full moons in a month is what we label as a month.  There was a patch of ice on the creek this morning.  Early birds were downy woodpeckers, yellow rumped warblers, Carolina wrens, white throated sparrows, and blue jays.  The male red bellied woodpecker had a try at the dish feeder which held frozen, dissolved bark butter balls. Then the bluebirds arrived. 

It is certainly true that providing water draws birds just as well as providing food.  I poured hot water over the ice in the birdbath and many of the birds took advantage. 

In the late afternoon I noticed that a heron was having difficulty swallowing the fish it had caught.  The process took quite some time.  Around then some hoodies paddled past.  I also saw what I think was a red throated loon.  A flock of gulls came through like a circus, swirling over the creek. 

Sunset was fiery red.  Followed, of course, by moonrise. 

Snow

When I left in the dark for a meeting, it was just misting, but when I started back the rain got heavier and began to make that clicking sound that I associate with freezing.  While I sat (and sat and sat) in the doctor's waiting room, the snow came down fairly heavily, but did not stick to the ground.  It did stick to my car, I discovered later.  By the time I got out, near noon, it had tapered off.  We had shorter and lighter flurries in the afternoon till around 3pm the clouds began to break apart, thanks to a cold wind.

The patio was full of juncos living up to their nickname, and hungry white throated sparows.  Several titmice were raiding the seeds and the suet.  A song sparrow discovered the suet but the butterbutt did its best to defend its property. 


I learned that mallards will eat rotting fish.  Hooded mergansers showed up with a female red breasted merganser who hung around while she groomed her feathers.  A couple of ruddy ducks also paddled around the creek.  A pelican flew by. A few cormorants and many gulls fished.  At least five herons were scattered along the creek.  

I got a glimpse of a blue jay in the cherry. Several doves huddled together on a branch.  Downy woodpeckers came for their share of suet.  Carolina wrens had a little of everything including the bark putter soup.  They did their best to annoy the downy woodpecker.  And then the red bellied woodpecker arrived and all the pests flew away. 

Towards evening, I discovered the feral cat prowling along the water's edge. 

Cold rain

The wind shifted so the rain streaked the windows facing the feeder.  I couldn't take pictures, but I was able to identify a blue jay, pine and yellow rumped warblers, wrens, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, and cardinals.  Other birds were just LBJs.

All day rain

No doubt we needed just such a slow, gentle rainfall, but It certainly made a gray day. There wasn't enough light for photos at breakfast.  The female red bellied woodpecker was ready for suet.  White throats were foraging along with a song sparrow.  The yellow rumped warbler guarded the suet from smaller birds but the male downy ignored the warbler.  The yellow patch on the warbler's head got much more visible when the bird was agitated.

And then there was a commotion downstream with gulls flying every which way.  The riot spread upstream and eventually it became clear that they were feasting on the decaying fish.  Ruddy ducks engaged in real fishing, as did herons. 

The wren pair didn't mind that the bark butter balls were wet from the rain.  Titmice came for seeds and suet.  I saw a blue jay watching the feeders but it didn't come closer.  The female downy came for her turn at the suet.  The male pine warbler slipped in for some suet but the butterbutt always showed up to drive its cousin away.  The squirrel with only half a tail got very wet for lack of that fur umbrella. 


Around 4pm, I noticed there was fog over the lake.  It slowly spread to the creek and mercifully hid the decaying fish.  The gulls left at last.

Warm wind

 Morning was sunny and a male downy woodpecker took advantage of it to have some suet.  A blue jay and a squirrel discovered that I had put out mealworms.  Then a starling landed on the suet.  When it left, a male pine warbler hopped on.  It didn't take long for the yellow rumped warbler to chase the pine warbler away.  The feral cat sauntered along the patio wall which ended bird watching for a while. 

Schools of dead fish drifted downstream. Pelicans flew over the creek hoping to see a live fish.  They dived but I didn't see any successful catches.  Great blue herons also dodged dead fish as they watch for live fish.  Buzzards too were frustrated.  They wanted the dead fish but couldn't take them from the water.  And they were unwilling to land on the mud where fish had been left by the retreating tide. 

The female red bellied woodpecker took a turn on the suet.  A mockingbird came for a drink from the birdbath.  The kinglet showed up after the woodpecker was finished.  He shared the suet with a titmouse. 

That South wind caused the sky to cloud up in the afternoon.  Buzzards soared and circled in large numbers.  Turtles were out on their favorite log.  But sunset was just gray. 

Frosty

When we got up, every surface had a rime of white.  The birdbath was frozen and there was a partial skin of ice on the creek.  White throated sparrows seemed to match the mulch.  The Carolina wrens found the mealworm dish frosted like a fancy cocktail.  Buffleheads got the water moving in the creek.  Squirrels discovered there were mealworms in the dish. 

But the day quickly warmed.  The red bellied woodpecker female started in on the fresh block of suet K hung yesterday.  I kept trying to get a picture of the buzzards circling low over the creek.  The tide was very low and the dead fish were obvious.  They looked like they would have been eating size if caught alive.  About eight mallards snoozed on a floating dock downstream. I put out bark butter balls and a blue jay sang sweetly before making the usual raucous call and landing on the feeder. 

The kinglet showed up for lunch.  So did a downy woodpecker.  In the afternoon, pelicans and herons flew over the creek, landing to catch living  fish.  After dark the moon was quite bright. 

Chilly

Sunlit trees reflected in the still shaded creek ran like molten copper.  A pine warbler was up early, possibly to avoid its bullying kin, the butterbutt.

Downy woodpeckers had to compete with the tiny kinglet.  The red bellied woodpecker showed up a bit later.  Finally a Carolina wren got a turn at the suet. White throats pecked at the patio, the sunflower seeds in the feeder, and the mealworms in the dish, but left the suet alone.  A couple of blue jays also preferred the mealworms. 

A flock of buzzards haunted the dam.  A great blue heron stalked along the bulkhead.  Ripples revealed a bufflehead.  Mallards were on hand as usual.  One of the squirrels had noticeably bushier, white back-of-the-ears fur. 

Starlings and red winged blackbirds argued over the suet after scaring all the other birds off. I was gone all afternoon.