Sunny morning

The creek is very reflective this morning and the sky pure blue.

An early jay patrolled the patio. A whole flock of juncos and some white throat sparrows were feeding in the back yard. A flock of crows has been harassing something up and down the creek. A kingfisher twice fled the racket. A lone buzzard sailed in circles downstream and a couple of great blue herons flew upstream. The geese are on the far bank today. A flock of red wing blackbirds landed in the neighbor's phragmites. The mallards are pairing off.

The forsythia is confused - the leaves are turning red but it is also blooming. The goldenrod is mostly gone. Large clumps of fluff are coming off the saltbush. The beauty berry is still loaded.

A praying mantis appeared on the porch ceiling near where the argiope used to hang out. The stinkhorns are attracting flies and I wonder if that attracted the mantis? The photo is right side up, the mantis is upside down.