Hot

Overnight rain washed much of the pollen away.  It coated the creek in swirls till the wind roughened the surface.  The morning was dull but the sky gradually cleared enough for sunshine.  I heard a towhee and a wren and saw cardinals, house finches and downy woodpeckers. 

At lunchtime, two black swallowtails were laying eggs.  I kept busy chasing off starlings and mallards.  Finally two drakes took a snooze on the dock.  Then a pair of Canada geese arrived and spied me waiting and left noisily.

Wasps continued to peel thin layers of wood off the bench to make their nests.  The Polistes exclamans kept elevating their abdomens like dragonflies do when trying to cool off.  There are similar photos in BugGuide.  A skink apparently found me in the way and lost its mind, scrabbling all over the green bag that held the pool cover.  Finally it hid underneath and peered out at me.  It was close enough I could see its sides flutter. 

The clouds returned over the course of the afternoon, muting the sun.  It was a very warm day.