Juncos!

Once again, the clouds thickened and the day went from sunny to gray.  Carolina wrens were early birds on the suet.  The cat showed up and pretended to leave but hid. Birds stayed away and the cat gave up.  Downy woodpeckers ignored it.  House finches were starting to court!

The myrtle warbler was very frustrated by the competition for the suet.  A goldfinch visited but didn't eat anything.  Hungry titmice were bolder than usual.  A female oriole challenged the warbler too.   White throated sparrows stayed busy on the ground.  A couple of male pine warblers visited.  The red bellied woodpecker was big enough to discourage all the birds.  And finally, we had juncos.  More of the daffodils were blooming and the last pink camellia still held on.   A brown thrasher tried to slip by unnoticed and snatch bark butter balls. 

Below the denuded dam, a great blue heron fished.  Hooded mergansers floated by.   A female bufflehead was with them.  I think a grebe was out there but it dove just and the camera snapped. 

Cold wind

I saw two red tailed hawks circling in the sky.  Were they courting? 

Like yesterday, the sky clouded over in the afternoon but the sun reappeared and set the West afire as it sank below the horizon. 

Chilly

White throated sparrows were thirsty.  Downy woodpeckers focused on suet.  The block was almost gone and hard to reach.  The yellow rumped warbler was frustrated by the bigger birds on the suet.  Then the red bellied woodpecker took over the suet and frustrated them all.  Peculiar bars of thicker cloud seemed to radiate from the North. 

Doves were courting.  The Carolina wren pair don't interact much but they're almost always together.  A song sparrow watched from the dogwood by the pool steps. Then red-winged blackbirds landed for a drink  Robins were with them. 

A flock of hoodies floated upstream.  And a buzzard flew over. 

Dull day

The obnoxious butterrbutt continued to protect the suet.  I didn't see much else in the morning.  Clouds gathered on the horizon when we wen out to lunch and when we came back, the sky was covered.  The creek was quiet all day.  A pair of Carolina wrens checked out everything on the patio. 

As I headed into Norfolk, the edge of the overcast lifted in the West and the sun blasted through, stopping traffic.  Once it sank, the sky glowed rose and gold for a long time.  After my meeting, the crescent moon was sharp and clear so the clouds must have rolled away. 

Four-and-twenty blackbirds

The creek seemed polished as it reflected the sunlit tree trunks.  Clouds started out wispy.  Downy woodpeckers made the suet disappear.  Then a flock of blackbirds swooped in.  A red-winged blackbird replaced the downy only to be shoved off the suet by a starling.  Meanwhile a blue jay had been making off with bark butter balls.  But they all left when the cat came up the steps.  I told the cat to scat, but the birds stayed away.

Lovely weather

I was in virtual meetings morning and afternoon, but at breakfast I saw blue sky with wispy clouds and placid water reflecting sunlit trees.  The yellow rumped warbler continued to defend the suet from any bird it could intimidate.  That did not include the downy woodpeckers who also believe the suet belongs to them.  

A gray squirrel sunbathed on the pool cover.  White throated sparrows poked around in the mulch.  Leaves from bulbs were popping up through the pine bark and I found a couple of daffodils blooming.  I thought I glimpsed an osprey flying upstream.  The clouds got thicker and darker after lunch.  I went outside and tried to be inconspicuous, but the woodpeckers and a Carolina wren were not convinced.  A turtle also came up for some sun.  A pied bill grebe swam upstream, mostly under water. 

Wet morning

The bully butterbutt actually chased a female oriole twice its size.  On the other hand, the Carolina wrens and downy woodpeckers just ignored the greedy warbler.  But the titmice were  somewhat intimidated. 

I put out a fresh cup of bark butter and dumped the rainwater out of the barkbutter balls dish.  But I didn't put any more in the dish because rain still threatened. White throated sparrows foraged in the wet mulch. 

The sky began to clear before noon and the afternoon sun was reflected in the pooled water on the streets.  Drips spangled the rue which put out a small flower cluster.  Just as I was leaving, the red bellied woodpecker took a turn at the suet.  I was gone from late morning to late afternoon.  And I didn't see any wildlife when I got home in the hour before twilight.