More fishing

The red breasted mergansers were back.  The coot was with them.  So were some female hooded mergansers.  One male red breasted merganser was surrounded by perhaps 20 females. Gulls and mallards were also out on the water. 

A downy woodpecker earnestly pecked at the suet.  A white throated sparrow moved up to the seed feeder.  I glimpsed a warbler that might have been a female pine warbler or some other kind.  Then the warblers moved up into the top of the redwood to catch flying insects. 

Beautiful day

Sweater temperature in bright sunshine.  I was gone all morning.  In the afternoon, the turtles were out and so were the mergansers. Juncos fed in the grass. 

Rain

A pileated woodpecker teased us at breakfast.  It made several fly-bys and landed on the post once, but bolted without eating any suet.  I never got even a bad photo. The downy woodpeckers were fine with the new suet arrangement, but the red bellies were more dubious.  Eventually they got it.

Juncos, sparrows, and a Carolina wren foraged for fallen bits.  A yellow rumped warbler wanted suet but hadn't figured out how to get it.  Blue jays, and starlings went for bark butter balls.I saw a thrush at the far end of the pool, but rain, low light, and distance limited the camera. It probably arrived on the South wind along with yesterday's oriole.

Red breasted mergansers and gulls fished. Light rain started and stopped repeatedly during the day.  The sky stayed overcast all day. 

Gray

The day was warm but mostly overcast.  Not much happened in the morning while I cooked.  The starlings were frustrated by the suet so went for the bark butter instead.  A pine warbler was also unhappy with the suet arrangement.  Hooded and red breasted mergansers paddled on the creek. Rain fell very briefly around 1pm.

A female oriole appeared in the dogwood right after the rain.  She landed on the suet while the female downy was eating.  The downy made a threat display and the oriole flew away and never returned, even though I rushed grape jelly to the scene.  A squirrel helped itself to the jelly.  Titmice joined the regulars at the Sunflower Cafe.  White throats popped up all over.  Blue jays wanted bark butter.  A yellow rumped warbler investigated the empty feeder outside my office. 

The red bellied woodpecker seemed unsure of the new suet arrangement even though she easily ate previous suet blocks from beneath.  I counted five female hoodies on the creek, and later saw a drake.  Three buffleheads, one male, were in the vicinity.  I'm not sure if there was more than one red breasted merganser.  And there was one coot.

Then a wood duck pair came up the creek, perhaps looking for a nest site. There were turtles out on the log by the lake, but not nearly so many.

Hot again

No birds at breakfast, no suet either.  I bought some cheaper suet which I hope will discourage starlings.  The trick is to leave it in the plastic tray with the open side facing down.  We will see.  The dwarf daffodils opened while the larger ones danced in the wind.  Wild cherry leaves began to sprout. 

After lunch the Canada geese were feeling horny and not because they honk.  One was angry with another goose and rushed through the water with head and neck level and just above the surface.  A female hoodie paddled alone but at least four female red breasted mergansers fished together. 

A butterbutt did not seem to understand the new suet arrangement.  It or another moved to the front yard feeder.  A female red bellied woodpecker was more put off by me.  A titmouse also kept a watchful eye on me but the chickadees and house finches didn't care.  I saw a few white throats. 

Wasps, bees, moths and butterflies, and unidentified insects were all flying. A dozen or more turtles basked on logs along the lake.  I am no longer surprised that one fell in the pool a year ago.  I saw quite a few periwinkles on the old marsh grass.  There were lots of fresh crab burrows in the mud.

The 80°F high this day was not a record because the temperature hit 82° in 2012.  And still the deniers deny. 

Fog

A cold front moved through overnight dropping the temperature into the 40s and making a thick mist.  The first bird I saw was a pileated woodpecker.  It saw me going for the camera and flew off.  But it came back repeatedly and brought its mate.  I finally got pictures through the window over the sink. 

In between, we had red bellied woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers, and of course starlings.  Blue jays emptied the dish of bark butter balls.  A flock of juncos joined the white throats on the ground.  The yellow rumped warblers yearned after the suet and chased each other away. A Carolina wren showed up very late in the day.  And a pine warbler also slipped in late. 

On the creek I saw gulls, red breasted mergansers, and pelicans.  Cormorants and shovelers were up on the lake. Later I saw a coot. The mist which had thinned out in the afternoon returned in the evening. 

Humid

The sky was overcast and the windows were fogged at breakfast because the outdoor air was so warm and damp.  Thus I could not get a picture of the white breasted nuthatch that made only one visit to the sunflower seeds.  Despite its repeated visits to the bark butter balls, a blue jay also escaped the camera.  Downy and red bellied woodpeckers competed with starlings for suet.  One of the yellow rumped warblers switched to the front yard suet. Titmice joined chickadees for seeds

A bug of some sort overnighted in a daffodil. Turtles were back on their log. Forsythia was in bloom. The sky cleared by mid afternoon and moon was well up by then.  It was balmy even in the shade when there was a breeze.  But winter isn't over and the suet disappeared too quickly, thanks to the starlings. 

Another 79°F record!