Finally some sun

Happily, it was sunny and dry today. Yesterday, too. Cloudy with intermittent sun was a lot better than the rain that was predicted for yesterday, and today was just plain nice late winter weather (for the Southeastern US), with a high around 50°F.

I saw a downy woodpecker foraging for breakfast on my morning walk.

It was definitely nice enough to find me tidying the garden shed, poking around the beds, and doing some weeding.

Amazingly, the squirrels had left just enough radicchio to harvest and try roasting with garlic, olive oil, and herbs. Yum. It was totally different than the bitter leaves of warmer weather, and well worth trying to protect from herbivory in future seasons.

I also saw a flock of robins mobbing the fruits of hollies this morning. There are lots of holly fruits this year, and we're seeing robins in exceptionally large numbers.

The newspaper yesterday had an El Nino story as well as a piece about how we've exceeded rain records for December and January. Hmm, that was obvious!

And just as I was about to finish doing a post yesterday evening, the power went out (with a sudden 'snap'), leaving us to find our bed by candlelight.

Power returned sometime after 11 pm; perhaps a tree fell, or a line broke. It reminded me to make sure we have more backup candles and matches...

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Birds at the feeders

A goldfinch on the thistle feeder caught my eye from the study window.

When I went outside, I heard a woodpecker up in the oak tree, and saw him finally. Then, he dropped down to get some suet.

Then, looking back towards the feeders, I saw a male hummingbird, getting a long couple of swallows, then the male goldfinch back on the thistle feeder. Shortly after that, a female goldfinch came to the feeder, followed by another male. Then, they all flew off.

It was a lovely way to spend a few minutes in the garden.

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Downy woodpeckers

Downy woodpeckers are our smallest woodpecker, and common throughout North America, I'm just learning right now reading the account in Cornell's All About Birds. I put up a new cake of suet a couple of days ago, and this male has been avidly visiting.

He's not too skittish, so even on a grey morning with minimal light, I was able to get this shot, before he finally decided to retreat to the nearby dogwood, and fuss mildly. He did the 'whinny' call that you can hear on All About Birds.

The photo's blurry because the light levels were low and my lens isn't that long, but it's recognizable, thanks to the digital darkroom!

His bright red patch on the back of his head is an attractive contrast to his black and white feathers.

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