Jumpy squirrels

White spot's fur looked wet this morning.  She was foraging with a male and flinched every time he got near.  They both ran when a crow flew over.  But then, apparently he got on her last nerve and she chased him around the upper patio, down around the lower, back up and around and off into the grass.  A little later he was back and following a different squirrel and clearly trying to mate.  And yes, it was pretty obvious he was male.

Meanwhile, birds were scarce.  Eventually cardinals, finches and a wren showed up.  Everything is dripping from the rain.  The sun is glaring behind clouds in a white sky. 

Just before lunch, an osprey landed in the trees on our side of the creek.  It flew off when K went out. A skink investigated the window frame.  A tiger swallowtail and a fritillary flew among the trees.  A mallard drake and a nursery of geese stopped in. 

We had several periods of rain, one heavy in mid afternoon.  Afterward, several blue jays came around and some robins flew through.  Chickadees and wrens have been busy.  This one took shelter under a table.

Enough light made it through the clouds to color them at sunset.  This egret is headed North.  I've always enjoyed the phenomenon of clouds in the East going pink at sunset, but tonight it occurred to me that they are the sunset clouds for people further East (sailors in this case), so naturally they would color up just like clouds to the West of me.  How odd to find I still had such a primitive me-centric world view lurking in the back of my mind.