Chilly

Bands of rain slammed into the house during the night but morning was quiet.  A little sun leaked through, early in the day.  The birds were few and skittish.  Myrtle and pine warblers came for the bark butter, as did a female oriole.  Three or so white throats darted around in the mulch.  A pelican flew past without stopping.  The downy woodpeckers had a falling out over whose turn it was at the suet.  He got there first but she refused to give in.

I was gone for the middle of the day which just got colder and grayer.  Nothing was happening when I got back.

Dreary

A fair morning was overtaken by a sheet of clouds that occasionally dripped. The third quarter moon was near zenith when I got up.  White throats were foraging but the light was insufficient.  Myrtle warblers ate bark butter.

A couple of nuthatches came to lunch.  An odd group gathered on the lake. A great blue heron, a cormorant, and a big dark ball on toothpick legs with two white spots.  I think it may have been the muscovy.  A titmouse sat in the dogwood tree and sang.

Just ducky

I left at dawn which was a lovely glow in the rear view mirror.  When I got back, the sapsucker was very busy in the pecan tree,   The colorless myrtle warbler was eating bark butter.

The temperature had shot up from near freezing to pleasant for sitting.  That's when I missed the kingfisher - nothing but his cackle remained. The tide was way out, very low for a third quarter moon.  A nuthatch defied me to get to the seeds which it took to a favored spot in the dogwood to hammer.  Turtles basked on a log in the lake. 

After lunch, I saw the Carolina wrens.  The bark butter seems to be their favorite.  I went back outside and upset a little flock of hooded mergansers.  Some of them retired to the lake.  A titmouse perched in the redwood and ran through its repertoire.

 A couple of bufflehead drakes paddled and dived. Then I saw a pair of ring neck ducks.  I'd never seen a female before.  I had my first osprey sighting of the year, but no photo.   A pair of mallards nibbled at something on the underside of a bulkhead beam exposed by the low tide.  Then a wood duck pair did the same thing.  Well, he mostly guarded her while she nibbled.  It was getting chilly so I came in.

Windy

It was sunny all day and the temperature was mild, but the wind stripped the warmth off exposed skin.  A Carolina wren greeted me at breakfast.  White throats were busy as well.  A half dozen cormorants fished their way upstream.

The warblers, myrtle and pine, came for lunch as did a lone red-winged blackbird.  A red breasted nuthatch once again got seeds without getting photographed.  The goldfinch watched from the pine tree.  Crows played with the wind.

The house finches had a little drama - one of two males brought the female a gift.  He was allowed on the feeder perch with her, but not the other male.  A titmouse just wanted a seed but got caught up in the play.

I went out to weed which naturally upset the birds.  I found a nice clump of pincushion moss Leucobryum glaucum.  There were some robins in the trees and I think I saw a cedar waxwing.  I definitely saw a pied bill grebe.  And by then I was half frozen and came in.

Weather drama

Morning continued dreary and wet, though not actually rainy.  It was warm for February.  A pelican coasted upstream on the wind.  A nuthatch visited the feeder.  White throats foraged. 

By lunchtime, wind gusts made the trees thrash and leaves rise from the dead.  Crows appeared to be windsurfing. Myrtle warblers found the fresh bark butter.  Pine warblers tried to avoid them.  The two female downy woodpeckers got into another fight.

Two Carolina wrens got along much better.  A couple of titmice didn't share but didn't fight either.  A crow got a big bite of bark butter but found it too awkward to eat more.  (I have the bark butter very securely fastened.)

Around 3pm the overcast began to blow apart and soon there was sunshine.  The wind was too much for waterfowl, but the feeders were busy. A goldfinch paused on the seed feeder hanger.  The wind blew a cardinal's crest straight up and rumpled a downy.

More rain

A female oriole tried the suet in the morning, chasing off a downy woodpecker.  At lunch time, I saw pine and myrtle warblers.  A couple of Carolina wrens were attracted by the suet.  A nuthatch came for seeds, as did chickadees and cardinals.  White throats never stopped foraging because of the rain, just for predator alerts.  A bufflehead floated on the rain-cratered water.

Gray and wet

Nothing to see at breakfast, but by lunch, the rain had stopped long enough for the pavement to dry.  A goldfinch landed and left.  Myrtle and pine warblers and a downy woodpecker came for suet.  Squirrels bullied and cowered. 

After lunch, I went outside to weed leucojum sprouts, hoping the rain had loosened the bulbs.  I heard birds but the only one I caught on camera was a titmouse.  A heron stood on the dock.  Pelicans flew past.  Later mallards and geese fed on the water.  Rain began again about 5pm.