Hungry birds

A half dozen chickadees and several titmice all wanted at the feeder.  Cardinals and finches soon joined in.  A hummer ignored the freshly cleaned and filled feeder for the storm-battered lavender.  A Carolina wren explored the house crevices.  One brown thrasher sat on the nest while the other brought food.  And I could hear flapping as I picked blueberries. An idiot of a squirrel first climbed up to the feeder where the busy birds were too much for it, then tried to climb the sunflower stalk. 

At lunch time, I saw a fox cub with an itch.  A house wren hopped around the mulch.  Skinks hurried across the patio.  Then the female goldfinch returned to the feeder.  Later I noticed a brown thrasher dropping fecal balls near the pool's skimmer basket.  The brown thrasher also visited the wild cherries which are ripe and enticing many birds.  A female slaty skimmer used the dragonfly perch and a black swallowtail flitted through.  The mint blossoms attracted small scoliid wasps and a metallic green sweat bee. 

The rain held off all day though the sun looked watery through the cloud cover. But toward evening, the sky cleared to just tinted wisps of cloud.  And the fireflies appeared.  So did foxes - one ran across the yard, turned and went back, and then two raced back together.  Somewhat later, I saw one adult return.