September morning

The air is cool and breezy without humidity.  The sky is mostly blue with puffs.  The morning glories are bright and bees are feasting.  Five doves came to breakfast.  The cardinal fledgling didn't know what to make of them.  Then a squirrel arrived and they all went off in a huff.  Eager finches jockey for a place on the feeder with chickadees.  Fresh juice awaits a hummer.

A bird I think is a song sparrow has been hopping around.  It looks like its beak is damaged.  Later photos reveal a tumor like the one the eagle chick had a couple of years ago.  I'm assuming this is the result of avian pox.  I sent the information in for Mary Reid Barrow's column.

Cardinals, doves, and finches have been ubiquitous.  A palamedes swooped through the patio several times while my hands were full.  Other butterflies are busy over by the cherry.  I caught a glimpse of the tail of a skink. A red spotted purple and a hairstreak both defeated the camera. I think I saw a monarch as well. 

Lots of sky drama as clouds pass and make sunbeams.  It is quite windy and that along with the lower temperature is slowing the butterflies and keeping them lower.  I finally got an identifiable photo of an Eastern Comma butterfly.  A mockingbird started in on the beauty berries. 

The spartina is blooming, as much as grass ever blooms. Something across the creek upset the crows and a huge flock gathered, including some jays, to screech at whatever it was.  This went on for an hour.  I never saw what they were after but it was high up a tall pine. After I gave up and left the dock, a female kingfisher perched on a piling.