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Carolina wrens anticipated the rain and went to work early.  A cardinal made a spot of color in the moist air.  Pine warblers ignored the rain to get a meal.  So did the red bellied woodpecker and the downy woodpeckers.  The white throated sparrow foraged in the mulch. 

Chilly

Enough rain fell yesterday to raise the pool level to the cover and create a puddle.  The day was cold and sunny and the birds came in waves.  A dozen or more would be everywhere then all would leave.  Pine warblers, Carolina wrens, bluebirds, and juncos mobbed the feeders in the morning.  The lone white throated sparrow stayed Earth-bound.  A red bellied woodpecker dominated the suet.  

At lunch, the pine warblers, bluebirds, juncos, and wrens were all back.  A squirrel appeared to be begging right outside the window.  Another raided the grape jelly.  The camera blew my only shot at a brown thrasher.  I'm pretty sure I missed a blue jay as well

Two pelicans flew by in formation.  Buffleheads popped up unexpectedly.  An egret and a great blue heron observed the lake which appeared empty except for a few cormorants.  As the afternoon progressed I saw a few hooded mergansers. There was another spectacular sunset.  

Nasty weather

The rain started at breakfast and never let up.  Though it was never really heavy, the air was gray with moisture.  Mid day, the wind gusts grounded the birds that had been given an appetite by the temperature drop into the 40s. A white throated sparrow looked wet and miserable.  On the creek, buffleheads'  feet were warmer than their heads as the water was still in the 50s.  The great blue heron perched on the neighbors' dock didn't look happy.  

Titmice competed with the house finches for seeds.  A goldfinch stopped in for seeds too. One red breasted nuthatch braved the wind for a meal. 

The red bellied woodpecker hated to get wet but wanted suet to stay warm. Pine and yellow rumped warblers were right behind him, followed by the downy woodpeckers.  Even a bluebird had some suet. 

Blue jays decided to feed on the ground.  A whole flock of juncos rushed around searching for food so I tossed them some millet.  

Quite warm

Overnight rain left things very damp but not enough fell to dissolve the grape jelly.  There were a lot of clouds all day but also plenty of sunshine.  The temperature rose to the high 60s so birds weren't very interested in feeder food.  They didn't need the calories to keep warm and there were bugs to catch.  But in the mid afternoon the Carolina wren pair came for some suet.  

The red bellied woodpecker wanted bark butter balls but it flew off almost immediately.  Meanwhile the wrens split up and one moved over to the seed feeder.  I potted a gardenia twig that we'd persuaded to grow roots.  I draped the roots over a rock but buried everything in soil with the intent to gradually expose the rock and have it look like some ancient tree growing on a rocky crag. We'll see. 

Quiet

I caught sight of a downy woodpecker up in the redwood.  Cormorants lined up along the lake while a heron flew past.  Turtles basked when the sun came out mid day.  Pine and yellow rumped warblers feasted on suet, followed by Carolina wrens.  

I spotted the male kingfisher on a piling at the end of the dock.  Then a great blue heron lurked along the shore.  

Warmer

A Carolina wren was the early bird, sampling every food.  Then there were warblers.  A brown thrasher was hungry enough to experiment and forage under the seed feeder where it was joined by a white throated sparrow.  The female oriole reappeared.  

Hooded mergansers and buffleheads paddled around and something larger sent ripples across the creek.  I saw a heron on the neighbors' dock. 

I think I saw at least three red breasted nuthatches at the same time but they zip around so fast there might have been many more.  One may have been this year's hatching because it did a feed-me dance, upsidedown.  Chickadees, house finches, and downy woodpeckers showed up as usual.  Then the feral cat arrived and a worried squirrel shot up the post.  

At lunch time I finally remembered to take a picture of an early Carolina jessamine blossom and my late peppers.  

Something interesting was up in the trees.  It may have been the song sparrow I saw later.  That was the first song sparrow in a long time, but not a winter migrant. 

Sun red at night

Again, there were lots of birds.  A Carolina wren was everywhere, mostly too fast for the camera.  Pine warblers were not picky about food but bluebirds got into a dispute.  That's the first time I've seen a couple of bluebirds go at each other in the air.  

A male Baltimore oriole showed up but my grape jelly dish disappeared.  A brown thrasher managed to get some time with the bark butter balls.  On the ground, a white throated sparrow seemed to find food.  

Sunset was spectacular!