Happy Halloween

Sun's up. Looks like it will be nice, if cold. Blue jays are out and about. I need to refill the feeder. A lone chickadee "occupied" it yesterday.

Bald eagle sighted soaring downstream! Winter's birds are showing up since the change in temperature. A wren is exploring the window sill.

It has mostly clouded over and the sun is behind a veil. Two mockingbirds got into a dispute in the front yard. Meanwhile a jay sorted acorns. The stinkhorns are still disgusting.

A mallard couple cruised downstream followed by three bachelors. Then several ducks flew upstream, the trailing one had white underwings, maybe a muscovy crossbreed. Geese are feeding on the opposite bank.

This morning glory vine with its creepy-looking seedpods seems to fit the holiday. Seed fluff from the saltbush is blowing on the wind.

The zombie infestation has passed and rain has begun.

Cold wind with sun

In spite of the wind, the water is fairly reflective this morning. The salt bush is still white with its flower/seed fluff. One of the steps is covered in smart weed with tiny pink flowers.

Some kind of woodpecker was calling from a pine tree. Its size and shape suggested a red bellied woodpecker but it was black against the sky. Crows were having a loud conversation around the creek but I couldn't see them. At noon, the first pelican sighting of the coming winter!

Hard rain

Nasty weather but at least the snow is supposed to stay north of us.

The rain has raised, and then hammered, a crop of stinkhorns.

A cold, wet wind at nightfall. Brrrrrr.

Chilly and gray

The meteorologists were right - what a surprise. An occasional raindrop hit the windshield. The uniform gray has separated into distinct clouds but is still a thick overcast.

The tide is quite high as well. I just learned that this is known as a King Tide in some parts of the world.

By evening it was quite cold and wet.

Summer's last hurrah

It is sunny with a breeze. The temperature is predicted to reach 79 today and then drop down to the fifties tonight. Indeed, the thermometer touched 80 this afternoon! It is quite windy and most birds seem to be waiting for calmer air. A flotilla of geese swam down the creek and later a kingfisher flew upstream making its characteristic squawk all the way. It was flying higher than usual, maybe on account of the wind?

Nothing much is blooming now except camellias, and the rosemary which has attracted honeybees today. I wonder if this means the worst of colony collapse disorder is past? Only the dogwood, the hickory, and the redwood are turning fall colors and the dogwood is more brown than red. A few oak twigs have gone gold but overall, everything is a dusty and threadbare green. Oh, there is one rosebud and a lovely, golden rose hip.

Camellias are blooming

Summer temperatures remain. The roses, lantana, and crape myrtle look done for the season, though roses often bloom into December.

The red camellia in front actually started blooming earlier in the month. It's the pink camellia on the North side of the house that greeted us on our return. The white camellia in front blooms in late winter.

Beautiful day

Cloudless skies are delightful but not interesting to photograph.

I saw some gull-type birds on the Cape May Ferry which I did not recognize. They are small, have a black beak with some dark red, eyeliner, black webbed feet, gray wings and black on the tails. Some - juveniles? - have chestnut on the wings.

I've been trying to ID the birds and the best I can say is maybe they are Common Black Headed Gulls in winter plumage, but if so their feet are much darker than they're supposed to be.

Placid and sunny

It's been warm since the storm, with glorious sunrises. The water in the bay has been quite calm.
I saw cabbage butterflies on Sunday at the bench dedication. But I had no Internet access till now.
No rainbows in New Jersey this time, but I did see three deer browsing on a highway embankment toward evening.

Gorgeous weather

Sunny and hot on Thursday and Friday. I've never been this warm on the Cape.

Very low tides and just a sliver of moon before dawn.

Dreary drizzle

With wind. All is gray. The trees have not turned on the Cape but some have lost most of their leaves, maybe from wind. The flower gardens are still lovely. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer.

After dark it got really nasty - very windy and wet. We got soaked just walking one block to supper.

Sky red at morning

Used to be a warning to sailors. We will see. Yesterday began cloudy with no sun till nearly 10 am but then cleared and was warm and cloudless. This was around 7am today.

The day turned bright and warm till clouds moved back in around five pm. A lone monarch butterfly and many bees enjoyed the potted mums outside the hotel.

Intermittent rainbows

The skies on our trip have been dramatic and a huge rainbow arched across New Jersey Saturday. I took a great many photos from the moving car. This was the final one. I could not get both sides of the arch into one shot.

Woodpecker and nuthatch

A female downy woodpecker paused to rap on the trees. I'm guessing downy by comparing its size to a dogwood leaf. Chickadees are busy on the feeder, but the titmouse left when I came outside. A male finch in muted color was around earlier. Gulls are circling and maybe an osprey. A big flock of geese came barreling down the creek's airspace.

It's warm and humid but there's a breeze. The sun is playing peek-a-boo with wet-looking clouds. The tide is quite high again.

At lunch a brown headed nuthatch showed up to compete with the chickadees. They're about the same size. First it pecked at the feeder post, then it took seeds at the feeder. It came back a couple of times, but I did not get a good photo.

A mid-afternoon downpour was followed by brief showers. Then the West cleared just enough for a colorful sunset.

More of the same

Cloudy, warm and breezy. A fine mist is falling. Chickadees are busy on the feeder. The hibiscus bud opened. I took in the hummingbird feeder. The tide was very high this morning because the moon was full last night. By mid morning the mist was drizzle and by lunch it stopped.

An interesting thing has happened to the portulaca I bought back in June. The flowers were very red then but now they are half yellow as though it is slowly reverting to wild purslane. But another plant that seeded from it (as best I can guess) is still making red flowers.

A barn spider has moved in under one of the lights at the front of the library - unnoticeable by day but spotlighted after dark. The cloud cover is reflecting Norfolk's lights and giving the Western sky an ugly glow.

Gray and wet

Either sprinkles or a heavy dew has left everything wet, but without putting water in the birdbath. A few raindrops are falling under a gray sky. It looks like my head feels.

The hibiscus has a bloom and a bud. I don't remember it blooming this late in the past. The yellow rose finally has a bud too.

The moon is big enough to manage a glow from behind the cloud cover.

High haze

Early, it's sunny but there is a high, thin layer of cloud. Jupiter was not visible this morning. The creek was again smooth as glass. It is humid enough to fog the windows.

The sun is gone now and the haze is curdling into something thicker. Now it looks like rain may be coming, but it never quite arrived.

Heavy dew

Clear, cloudless and still. Cardinals and finches are out feeding.

The front porch is crowded with spiderwebs. The argiope web is still perfect and the spiders I thought were males are still around, as are the round black ones.

Here's the salt bush covered in white. I harvested wild blue morning glory seeds. The sunflower did not actually make any seeds as far as I can tell.

What I call salt bush is Baccharis halimifolia. It's also called groundsel or sea myrtle, and only the female plants have the white paintbrush-like flowers/seeds.

Jupiter at dawn

In the West before sunrise, Jupiter is very bright and obvious. The sky is clear and a few small clouds turned peach at dawn. The creek is smooth and even ripples hardly disturb reflections. Chickadees mobbing the feeder.

There's a breeze now and fair weather puffs of cumulus passing to the West. Mallards appear to be pairing up, paddling around in twos and threes. Jays and robins are busy in the trees and there are some doves around. I heard a kingfisher. A flock of geese descended on the opposite bank and after a while something upset them. They let the world know as they moved down onto the water. The morning and evening light is beautiful and the clouds have all passed on.

Mirror-bright creek

Beautiful reflections in the sunlight. Hours at the Suffolk peanut Fest and all I saw was one butterfly.

Back home, a potter wasp was drinking goldenrod nectar. The salt bush is covered in white, I think they are blooms, but may be seeds.

Cloudless and calm

Still no sign of the argiope though other spiders seem fine. It has gotten warm, but breezy. The goldenrod is in full bloom.

I don't think this is going to be a colorful fall. The dogwood leaves are edged in brown. I am reminded of Poe's Ulalume, "The leaves they were crisped and sere." I wonder if Poe ever visited the Dismal Swamp?

Missing spider

It disappeared some time yesterday before 9pm leaving a perfect, untouched web. Even odder, the two spiders I think are males are still around and still alive. It is cloudless and warmer today. Nevertheless, the pool is now closed.

Chill

Definitely not summer any more. The hibiscus is still blooming, as is the rose. Lots of red.

As I sat outside chilling in the wind, cardinals, chickadees, and a titmouse came to the feeder. Bumblebees are still busy with the rosemary. The blue morning glory has died back, possibly from the rust on the leaves, but the red morning glories are still blooming.

The pool is still open and various wildlife are falling into it. In bright sun, their shadows are fantastic. Despite being able to walk on water, this spider keeps trying to get out. A beetle was swimming and creating amazingly large ripples for its size. A caterpillar was swimming by bending into a ring and then straightening.

The wind has shifted around to the Northwest. Strange weather when North Dakota is warmer than South Carolina.

Back home

The cloud cover parted over the bay, but the skies around are full of drama. Cumulus are streaming out of the West, just as I did. It is definitely cooler than before, though warmer than Chicago. At 5pm it looked like rain any minute, but by 7pm the first quarter moon was shining in a clear sky.

The spider is still with us.

Henri Fabre's insects

I indulged myself by buying a used copy of The Children of Summer, Margaret J. Anderson's adaptation for children of Fabre's research. The book is now out of print. It's title is a metaphor for insects.

What made Fabre exceptional was that he observed the living insects and wrote about behavior rather than simply classification. He is part of the inspiration for this blog.

The last time we were in France, I tried to visit the Musée Harmas Jean-Henri Fabre in Provence, but it was closed for renovations so I'll probably never have another chance.

Dramatic dawn

Heavy clouds are still blowing through SW to NE, making dawn more colorful than usual. The yard doesn't have a good view to the East because of trees. The way the creek angles makes sunsets more visible. A cardinal was up early. It is quite a bit cooler - no more swimming I suspect.