Hot again

At breakfast, the cat kept birds away from the feeders, or maybe they were catching bugs or building nests.  The cat will miss the pool cover come May.  An overcast sky provided directionless light for photography but colors seemed washed out.  Still, I photographed flowers since there was a lack of birds.  The temperature climbed up to 79°.

At lunch the barkbutter balls sparked some interest and I managed to get a brown thrasher.  A chickadee investigated the bluebird house until I yelled at it.  Actually, it didn't pay me much attention at first.  I got some seeds in the ground before the rain began around 6pm .  At supper a downy had suet. Then the rain fell harder.

Back to warm

A curious bluebird watched the barkbutter balls because a brown thrasher had taken over.  The brown thrasher moved to the suet and then to the birdbath.  The heat had nearly all the trees in bloom.  That included the domestic cherry that grew from a pit I planted many years ago.

Sunshine brought out a tiger swallowtail that, alas, I mistook for a leaf fluttering on the breeze until too late.  A white throated sparrow lurked in the camellia until it dashed out to retrieve a fallen barkbutter ball.  A row of turtles soaked up solar heating.  

Blue jays gathered after lunch.  I saw crows chase an osprey.  The tide went very low, a combination of wind direction and moon phase.  The goose with the bad wing was back.  A wood duck pair grazed on the hillside above the turtles.  

Chilly

The front that passed through in the night brought the temperature back into the normal range.   There wasn't much left of the suet.  A brown thrasher made an effort to reach the remainder.  As usual, blue jays went after the barkbutter balls. That's what the male red bellied woodpecker chose too. 

A yellow rumped warbler sat on the seed feeder hanger pretending it wasn't after suet.  A male bluebird surveyed the breakfast scene.  Below the feeders, the money plant was in full bloom.  A mourning dove puttered around the patio.  A young pelican flew upstream.  The white throated sparrow with the scarred eye was still around.  At supper, K hung fresh suet.

Thunder and lightning

Rain started up again early and turned into a thunderstorm before we finished breakfast.   When the rain ended, the temperature climbed past 80.  The heat had flowers opening or wilting.  The yellow daffodils were spent but the white narcissus with yellow centers opened.  A young pelican perched on a dock piling, apparently unconcerned about lightning.  A female hooded merganser paddled by. 

Both the oak and the wild cherry were leafing out.  Dogwood blossoms were open but still green.  A feral peach sapling was loaded with pink flowers.  And those flower spikes I discovered on the money plant had flowers today. 

A yellow rumped warbler visited the sagging suet.  (The heat got to it.)  Another watched enviously.  A gusty wind made whitecaps on the creek.  The wind  hustled the clouds along and tore holes for the sun to shine through.  I planted wildflower seeds and got very hot and sticky.  

Turtles crowded the basking logs.  Bees and wasps cruised around looking for the wherewithal to set up housekeeping.  A lone goose with one wing out of place cropped grass by the shoreline.  Another young pelican fished quite successfully.  The predicted storm held off till well after dark. 

Spring flowers

Morning was warm and sunny.  A bluebird greeted us.  Then a Carolina wren arrived, then blue jays.  A yellow rumped warbler considered its odds of getting some suet.  A mockingbird carried off a barkbutter ball.  A brown thrasher buried its head in the cup every time the camera clicked.  The cat tried to lurk but was discovered and sent away. 

In the early light, the creek mirrored the trees, but by mid morning the surface was crinkled.  An egret fished below the dam but otherwise the creek seemed devoid of waterfowl. A mallard pair napped on the dock.  The tide dropped very low in anticipation of the full moon.

I noticed the money plant by the feeder post had sent up flower spikes.  The redbuds were in bloom and some dogwood buds had opened.  The Carolina jessamine was loaded with flowers and smelled heavenly to bees as well as me.  Even the blueberries had buds. 

Clouds covered the sky in the afternoon.  K and I (mostly k) washed the windows that face the creek.  They'd gotten streaky with something.  I thought it looked like pine resin but K said guano.  K also leveled the birdbath so it holds more water.  There was quite a cavity underneath, but no clue what had excavated it. The window looked great but then rain fell in the evening.  A crane fly clung to the kitchen window. 

H O T

It's a wonder the suet didn't melt.  Nevertheless, at breakfast a red bellied woodpecker pecked away at it.  A brown thrasher was next, but it was awkward and made the suet spin around.  Meanwhile, the other brown thrasher went after the leftovers in the barkbutter cup.  

The immature eagle landed on a dock piling.  It seemed fascinated by something below it.  I wondered if it had dropped breakfast into a crevice.  I took too many photos of the bird.  Curiously, the crows left it alone. 

The temperature set a record of 84° and, naturally, the AC passed out.  Troubles like that favor Fridays, I've noticed.  "Finagle's law."  I got outside in the late afternoon and bribed the birds with a fresh cup of barkbutter balls.  A blue jay peered at me and calculated it's chance of making off with a snack.  A mockingbird went through the same silly routine.  So did a brown thrasher.  A bluebird was more nonchalant.  A yellow rumped warbler decided it preferred suet.  So did a bold downy woodpecker.  The breeze set the oak tassels flying.  

The moon was nearly full but rose before dark.  Skies had been cloudy in the evening for most of this lunar month so I enjoyed seeing the familiar craters. 

Suddenly summer

Yes, it was shirtsleeve weather by mid day.  The creek was placid and the air a bit misty at sunrise.  A Carolina wren chose a suet breakfast.  Somewhat later. the female pileated woodpecker was hungry for the same thing.  

By lunch time, common blue violets, Viola sororia, were blooming.  So were oak trees.  And a squirrel was up in the oak having fresh oak flowers for a late dinner.  I was thinking that each flower eaten meant one less acorn.  But I was wrong - the tassels are male flowers, so it doesn't matter.  And normally female oak flowers  require pollen from a different tree.  Now I want to see what a female flower looks like. 

A titmouse and a downy woodpecker were frustrated by my brief foray outdoors.  A commotion in the leaf drift by the fence turned out to be two brown thrashers a-thrashing.  A couple of polistes paper wasps were nibbling on the wooden bench.  I could see six turtles on the lake logs.  

Toward suppertime, the barkbutter cup became popular.  The two brown thrashers were bumped from it by the male red bellied woodpecker.  But they were soon back and the woodpecker moved on to the suet.  A female bluebird watched curiously.  

To cap off a bird-filled day, the male kingfisher settled in on one of the dock posts.