Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Temperature dropped

It is overcast and gusty.  Nevertheless, the hummers were up before me.  Chickadees followed, then squirrels.  The juvenile cardinal appeared, followed by the molting male and female.  Finally, finches.  An osprey circled and geese passed in formation.  I tied up the gladiola since the hummer seems likely to land on it. 

The hummer actually ran the other birds off their feeder.  Amazing!  It also got up in my face when I came too close.  The overcast clumped up and moved off the the East.  A yellow crowned night heron perched on a dock post just before lunch.  A tiny skinklet disappeared into a crack in the top step.  A big brown and yellow butterfly fluttered past the window.  I hope it was a giant swallowtail.  Smaller butterflies and dragonflies defied the wind. 

When I got home this afternoon, a goldfinch was up in a dogwood - I presume it was eating berries. The feeder was busy with finches, a Carolina wren, a brown headed nuthatch, chickadees and cardinals.  Hummers continue to chase other, bigger birds around the yard.  One also chased a black swallowtail.  A grown skink slipped along the hose.  One of the squirrels is blind in its right eye.  It's a male so I suspect it got bit by another squirrel, rather than damaged by a predator. 

Sunset was red with plenty of clouds for drama.  A firefly blinked.  The tree cricket chorus is in full voice though the cicadas have been scarce this summer. 

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