Not like a lamb

This was a very windy end to March and then in the afternoon it rained enough to fill the birdbath.  But the South wind was so fierce that surfaces had dried before evening.  The sky stayed overcast. The temperature rose into the mid 70s.  The only "bird" I saw was a swan (or goose?) decoy that had blown into the creek.  Even though the wild cherry leafed out first, the domestic cherry bloomed first.  

Frustrating

The day was mostly cloudy.  At breakfast I had seen the pileated pair, a myrtle warbler, and a bluebird, but just as I had settled in to take pictures a workman showed up.  The birds all disappeared when the man started caulking. Later I was outside just long enough to put up the UV window clings that are supposed to warn birds, and to stick my hand in the caulk.  I meant to go back out with a new block of suet because the suet cage was empty, but I never got to it.  In the afternoon, the wind picked up, again.  The small white gulls were back along with osprey and pelicans so I guess the fish were back to.  I wonder if they were menhaden?.  

 

Fish day

The bright sun didn't warm the air but, at least, it wasn't blowing like the last several days.  All day gulls and osprey were fishing for something too small for me to see.  Occasionally, I could see schools of the fish ruffling the surface of the creek.  I wasted an awful lot of shots on the flying birds - makes me appreciate digital cameras.  The pictures I got look like an all-white bird, but after looking at gull and turn photos, my best guess is that they were Bonaparte's gulls. 

Meanwhile, at the feeders, a brown thrasher visited warily.  Bluebirds were around but also cautious.  Starlings didn't care.  A Carolina wren flitted from feeder to feeder.  A myrtle warbler stayed in the trees.  The brown headed nuthatches were back.  The pileated woodpeckers continued their dating game on the feeder post and around different trees.  She seemed very interested in a spot on the magnolia where a large limb was removed.  He got down in the grass and carefully checked every exposed root. 

Low tide around 4pm exposed mudflats and narrowed the creek.  Except for one loner, turtles crowded their favorite log.  Cormorants, egrets, and a great blue heron rested around bale of the turtles.  A pair of wood ducks paddled past me.  I believe I saw an eagle too.  The great blue heron on the neighbors' dock apparently didn't belong there because another chased it upstream.  The victor returned but didn't stay. 

Sunny

At breakfast the air was still and the creek flat, but it didn't last.  A blue jay meditated on a branch.  A brown thrasher swooped right in for its breakfast.   A white throated sparrow was close behind.  Doves were more interested in getting a drink.  Two brown headed nuthatches made repeat visits but the camera insisted on focusing on the background.  

Then the female pileated arrived.  The nuthatches were braver than larger birds when confronted by such a big woodpecker.  Pretty soon the male pileated landed on the post and traded places with her.  She waited impatiently below and finally got her turn while he tried foraging underneath.  A myrtle warbler dropped in.  Big and little turtles basked in the late morning sun.  

When I got home, after 4pm, I saw ospreys circling, a pelican in the water and a heron on the neighbor's dock.  A crow chased away one osprey.  It was supposed to drop below freezing overnight but I don't think it did. 

Chilly

It was still windy though not as bad as yesterday.  I missed a mockingbird at breakfast.  A brown thrasher was more cooperative than usual.  The pileated woodpeckers, however, were hard to miss.   A cardinal thought so and left in a hurry.  I thought a red bellied woodpecker flew in but it was gone so fast I couldn't be sure. 

White throated sparrows showed up at lunch.  A pine warbler got some suet.  Two brown headed nuthatches tripped up the camera and me.  One tried the suet while the other went for seeds.   I chased a bluebird with the camera but only got a blurred backside.  Juncos found something to eat in the hackberry.  A molting myrtle warbler hoped for suet crumbs.  

Blue jays insisted on barkbutter balls.  The cabbage white butterfly was back.  No turtles, again, but I don't know if it was because of the wind or the clouds.  Of course  the clouds made sunset more interesting.  

Gusty

It wasn't windy at breakfast but by lunch the trees were whipping in all directions.  Old leaves blew up the steps, then back down or off to the side.  The creek surface wrinkled as wavelets ran in different directions.  With fewer obstacles, the clouds moved steadily East. The wind did not seem to bother the pileated woodpeckers, but smaller birds stayed low.  A starling landed on the suet, then a crow landed on the roof and glared at it and they both flew away. 

A cabbage white took shelter from the wind behind a clump of narcissus.  The hackberry began leafing out much earlier than usual.  Flower buds appeared on the wild cherry and the sweet gum.  And one of the pines looked about to burst into pollen.  The wind tore flowers off the neighbor's camellia and flung them on the dead leaves and pine cones under our trees. 

In the corner by the hose spigot, a Carolina wren popped up and disappeared.  A white throated sparrow foraged back there.  Then the cardinals shared a tender moment.  A male bluebird watched. A pine warbler got some suet without being bullied.  A female red bellied woodpecker went for the other suet block by the back window. 

Despite the intermittent sunshine, I saw no turtles.  However, I did see a pair of wood ducks land in the creek and paddle upstream.  Another bird in the water looked like the pied bill grebe but it had its back to me.  Four great egrets arranged themselves around the dam.  They were flaunting fancy breeding plumage but appeared more interested in fish.  A big one jumped beyond their reach.    A great blue heron flew in and disturbed their order.  

The clouds had been looking quite stormy and K said they were spitting rain.  Then the sun slipped below the cloud layer and lit up the far trees.  The remaining clouds turned peach, then rose while everything was bathed in a warm red light. 

Damp

While the day was quite cloudy, it didn't rain.  The air was warm but very damp.  A female pileated woodpecker at breakfast called my attention to the empty suet cage so I went outside and refilled both of them.  It didn't take too long for the woodpecker to return.  When it had finished, a flicker landed on the feeder post but spooked so quickly I could get no proof.  I had never seen a flicker come to a feeder before.  I also saw doves wandering around, pine and myrtle warblers, and the cat. 

 At lunch, a female cowbird landed on the seed feeder roof.  I wonder if it planned to follow some hapless bird back to her nest.  A female junco alighted on the seed feeder.  Since the closest place juncos breed is the Appalachian Mountains, it would be a long way for the cowbird to follow!  The female pileated returned.  A female bluebird got a drink and a barkbutter ball.  

Later, I glimpsed a male flicker under the leafless beautyberry bush.  A female red bellied woodpecker also wanted fresh suet, as did a starling.  A Carolina wren hunted for suet crumbs underneath.  Only one twig on the maple made seeds.  The purple iris bloomed.  Some azalea buds opened.