Happy Birdday

The last time lots of birds showed up on a quiet, gray day, a friend suggested I call it that.  And since this followed my birthday, why not. I was up early and saw cormorants fishing and a GBH lurking. 

Up on the patio songbirds began to assemble.  Downy woodpeckers, titmice, and a Carolina wren each sought their preferred food.  A flock of robins darted around in the trees but didn't come close.  Then the cat showed up, but gave up quickly and moved on.  Unfortunately, so did the birds.

After a while, Juncos popped up.  A couple of pine warblers ate and argued.  At lunchtime the can came back but this time the birds didn't seem to notice.  Perhaps it was the number  of birds, but something made them testy.  They mostly refused to share and the house finches got into a fight.  The oriole came out for a moment but found it all too much. 

A female bufflehead paddled upstream  Surprisingly, I saw a few yellow jackets around the camellia.  Then the blue birds arrived, but why I don't know because they only watched. 

A red bellied wood pecker took a turn at the suet until he was kicked of by  a downy half his size.  The final visitor I saw was a song sparrow.  It reminded me that I had not seen any white throats

Colder

A pine and an orange crowned warbler breakfasted on suet before they were startled off.  The downy woodpeckers soon arrived.  I saw a Carolina wren on the bark butter feeder.  A hooded merganser drake paddled upstream through choppy water.

In the afternoon, I blamed the feral cat for keeping the birds away till a hawk whooshed across the yard.  I couldn't see it where it landed up in a neighbor's pine, but a crow found it.  The crow called all kind of names while barnstorming with hovers and dives and rolls in midair. Finally the hawk lumbered into the air and flew away, still with the tree between me and it.  It left an impression of large size and a creamy underside so I'm guessing red tailed.

After that the pine warbler and the chickadees showed up.  The cat sauntered off after a scratch-stretch on the cedar tree.  Mallards, geese, and cormorants paddled on the gilded water.  Yesterday's wind stripped the maple but the dogwoods and even the neighbors' birch trees still had leaves.  Like the oak, the blueberry bushes finally turned color.  It was too cold for insects. 

Windy sunset

Mallards disturbed the creek's surface at breakfast.  Downy woodpeckers were back for more suet. The regulars had seeds and white throats picked up what they could find.   Leaves continued to fall and even the oak turned color. 

We celebrated the day with a sort of paella which was delicious.  Afterward, a Baltimore oriole helped himself to bark butter balls.  The wind got fierce about the time we started work repotting the vines on the front patio trellis.  I thought that would be a sheltered nook, but it was very chilly.  Thanks to K, we got it done before sunset.  I hope they survive.

Cormorants flapped madly to get home against the wind.  I thought I saw a pelican but I'm not sure.  So I went down to the dock to see if anything else would fly over.  Canada geese and mallards were out on the water but I didn't see any birds flying.  The sunset was so spectacular I forgot everything else.  And it was very cold. 

Raining leaves

The overcast sky began to rain about mid morning. There wasn't much wind but leaves kept drifting down. 

I saw a Carolina wren on the bark butter. Downy woodpeckers and white throated sparrows came for lunch.  Several herons and a pelican flew over the creek.  Crows chased a hawk. 

The rain stopped in the afternoon and surfaces began to dry though the sky stayed overcast.  Sunset finally lit them from beneath.

Sunshine

It was a pretty day and quite warm, but I was up early for two morning meetings and then several long calls.  So I didn't see or do much.  I saw only the regulars at the feeders.  Wasps were flying around the camellias.  Turtles were taking their ease on a log. 

A downy woodpecker sneaked up on the suet.  White throated sparrows foraged for fallen seeds.  As the light was failing, I noticed a kingfisher on a dock piling.

Warm sun

The placid creek reflected sunshine from the trees on the far side.  Since this was the dark of the moon, low tide was quite low.  Buffleheads, mallards, and geese disturbed the reflections.  When buffleheads preen their bubblegum-pink legs come out of the water. 

Songbirds seemed to be taking it easy.  Cardinals were the first to arrive. White throats kicked some mulch to uncover breakfast.  In the afternoon, I noticed a Carolina wren working its way up a pine trunk.  Something dropped a periwinkle by the pool.  The shell looked inhabited so I threw it as close to the water as I could get.

A squirrel with "chipmunk cheeks" was tucked in on a sunny branch.  Turtles basked in the sun on the lake.  Wasps were active, especially yellow jackets around the camellia.  A yellow kneed wasp tried to get into the outdoor grill.  I found some blooming witchhazel though I didn't see any pollinators there.  The black eyed susan was still in flower, and making seeds.  Leaves continued to drift down though the breeze was light. 

Sunset left a warm afterglow, but it wasn't even five o'clock.  And there's still a month to the solstice.

West wind

Enough rain fell last night to fill the birdbath and drown the bark butter.  A song sparrow and a white throated sparrow foraged in the mulch at breakfast but there wasn't enough light.  The wind kept feeder birds to a minimum.  Also there were predators.  

A gust of wind sent a cloud of leaves swirling around the feral cat.  It had been sitting in the sun on the pool cover and I was getting ready to take a photo when the wind blew it away.  Later a hawk lumbered off over the yard headed for Saw Pen Point.

I saw great blue herons flying over the creek and mallards and geese feeding in the water.  A little flock of hoodies paddled upstream. Some insects battled the wind to get to the camellia flowers and one looked like it spent the night.