New Years Eve

Things outdoors looked wet when we got up.   Pine warblers and a wren were already competing for the suet.  A white breasted nuthatch suddenly joined them. I ran an errand and when I came back, a yellow bellied sapsucker was torturing the pecan tree. 

A mallard pair and several male buffleheads paddled around on quiet water. There was some rain mid day.  A red breasted nuthatch looked unhappy.  A red bellied woodpecker, a bluebird, and a blue jay escaped the camera.  The cloud cover made it hard to get enough light for closeups. 

I think I counted three female orioles.  They worked on suet in between jelly binges.  Downy woodpeckers evicted the warblers from the suet. A tufted titmouse and house finches showed up for seeds, along with chickadees and cardinals. A female flicker stayed in the trees.  After dark, the cannonade began because, of course, we cannot change calendars without noise.  And thus endeth 2018. 

Chasing starlings

Today was much cooler and mostly cloudy, but not windy.  There was considerable competition for the feeders.  A pine warbler and a downy woodpecker tried to share.  The nuthatches were up earlier than usual.  Even the white throated sparrows were up on the feeder.  The three orioles were around all day. One female tried to take over the suet.  Then the starlings arrived and they did take over.  I spent too much of the morning chasing them away.  They posted sentinels in the trees to watch for when I wasn't looking.  I think a robin was helping them. 

A flicker preened up in the oak where it was unfortunately back-lighted.  Lighting was a problem for much of the morning, mostly not enough of it.  The same thing happened with a blue jay.  A pileated woodpecker landed on the post but then spooked and never returned.  Myrtle warblers joined competition for suet.  Late in the day, juncos and titmice finally appeared.

A bufflehead drake fished on the glassy water.  A pelican cruised by but the camera missed it.  Downstream, but nearer than the dam outfall, a great blue heron waited for fish but all I saw was a little brown duck. 

Pleasant

The warmth lingered longer than the rain and wind. There wasn't much to see on the creek, except boaters, probably because the mild weather made the bay more attractive.  Early in the morning a few hoodies and a bufflehead paddled around the dock across the creek then disappeared.  The feeder birds, however, hung around. 

Bulbs were pushing sprouts up.  Something took very small bites out of the leaves on the azalea at the deep end of the pool.  They were smaller that the leaf cutter bee's work, so perhaps ants?  Honeybees were busy on the fatsia flowers, a testimony to the temperature.  I saw yellow jackets and flies as well. 

All the warblers visited.  And all three orioles appeared at once, the male and two females.  Nuthatches dashed to the feeder and away.   One female is much more brightly colored than the other.  The Carolina wren popped up all over the yard and managed to get some quality time on the suet.  And of course the downy woodpeckers showed up.  A male red bellied woodpecker lurked in the trees.  Four doves tromped around the birdbath while white throats dodged around them.  And very late in the afternoon a pair of juncos pecked around the patio. 

Heat wave

Rain in the night left everything wet, but the morning was just overcast.  The wind was strong and gusty out of the South, bringing both warmth and wet.  The wind also roughened the creek.  One of the myrtle warblers was up early.  The female downy soon followed.  Then the female oriole took up watch over the dish where her jelly was supposed to be.  I hastened to refill it.  A red bellied woodpecker worked its way up the redwood trunk.  There were bees on the camellia. 

A light rain began before noon and continued intermittently for the rest of the day. The male oriole came for lunch.  A Carolina wren poked its beak everywhere. White throated sparrows seemed happy with the wet mulch.  A flock of blackbirds landed in the sweet gum but took off again almost immediately.  A red breasted nuthatch hung head down from the feeder perch for five minutes.  Pine warblers continued their assault on the suet.  A house finch pair paid a visit to the seeds.  Then the lurking red bellied woodpecker ventured away from the cover of the trees to get some suet.  It wasn't long before he fled back to cover.  

I got a quick glimpse of a pair of hoodies on the creek.   A mallard pair and geese made up the rest of the day's waterfowl. There were occasional moments when the sun got through, but I saw no rainbows.  In the early evening, a band of hard rain came through.  I saw a moth on the kitchen window after dark. 

Frosty morning

The birdbath was frozen.  The birds got off to a slow start. Warblers and Carolina wrens had a late breakfast. 

Geese were grazing below the pool close to the water.  A red tailed hawk shot across the yard above them.  This made the geese uneasy and they soon left.  Meanwhile crows came after the hawk.  When it finally gave up and left, the songbirds erupted out of the trees headed for the feeders. 

A couple of turtles were basking on a log on the lake.  A trio of mallards paddled by - a drake, a hen, and trailing behind a drake in eclipse. 

The wren did not approve of my fastening the bark butter & grape jelly dish to the hanger.  And I did not see any orioles.  The wren moved on to the suet and shared with the downy woodpecker. 

We wuz robbed!

Ice in the birdbath and frost on the mulch.  A pine and a myrtle warbler shared suet.  A Carolina wren also wanted suet. White throats enjoyed the variety of Christmas seeds.  The male Baltimore oriole wanted jelly.   A blue jay paused long enough for a picture.  A heron landed across the creek, behind vegetation. 

 A female oriole showed up in the afternoon.  Wrens and sparrows hung around and one sparrow even bathed, right in front of a squirrel.  A titmouse wanted to know what the fuss was about.  Nuthatches just wanted seeds.  The female oriole drank some water while a wren watched.  The male took the opportunity to eat some more jelly.  The downy woodpecker finally got a turn at the suet.  

I went elsewhere for a half hour and when I got back, a crow was prowling around and the entire plastic tub that held the bark butter, and jelly, was gone.  I put out the other one and this time fastened it to the glass dish with rubber bands.  That should keep it from being carried off.

Clouded afternoon

The day was chilly, but certainly not a white Christmas.  Birds arrived in waves.  In the morning, it was mostly downy woodpeckers, pine warblers, and nuthatches.  This one was making its getaway but the camera won.  The creek was choppy but the sky was blue. 

At lunchtime, wisps and curls of cloud spread across the sky.  When we got home, I went out with a plunger to see if I could unplug the sink on the dock.  An egret waited under the dam.  Cormorants stretched their wings and ran on water.  A female and a male bufflehead kept their distance.  A kingfisher fled screeching up the creek as a little boat rounded the bend below the dam. Some water trickled out of the sink but the clouds got much thicker and I felt really cold so I headed back.

I sat on the patio briefly and caught a myrtle warbler with very yellow wingpits.   As soon as I went inside the parade began - at least six pine warblers argued over the suet.  The orange crowned warbler slipped in at one moment.  The female downy seemed astonished that the pine warblers would dare take over her suet. 

Meanwhile a female oriole took possession of the glass dish with bark butter and a bit of grape jelly.  The male wanted a share but something startled him and he didn't come back.  White throats tried to avoid all the fuss.  A Carolina wren scuttled around finding bits that others had overlooked.  (I had scattered the Christmas seed packet from Wild Birds Unlimited.)