Nesting and courting

I woke up to sun, but around 9am clouds rushed in and the wind gusted.  Before that, a hummer visited.  The house wrens came and went frequently.  A brown thrasher found something of interest in the rosemary.  A hopeful squirrel discovered I had not put out any mealworms.  I bagged five black swallowtail caterpillars to send to a friend.  Yellow jacket queens were still scouting nesting spots. 

The sun, clouds, and wind have been variable, as meteorologists like to say.  Presumably Tropical Storm Ana is affecting the Virginia coast.  A skink basked during a moment of sun.  A Carolina wren visited the sunflower seeds. A squirrel climbed up into the camellia.  I don't know if it was after the thrashers' nest, but the thrasher certainly thought so.  A lot of thrashing ensued, the squirrel descended with the thrasher close behind, escorting it off the premises.  So that's how brown thrashers earned their name.

During our late lunch we were treated to a demo of how to court a skink.  There had been a couple of chases down the steps today that I'm guessing were one male running off another.  Then a red headed male cosied up to a brown headed (presumably) female.  After getting no response to his attentions the male sauntered off.  The female wagged her tail tip suggestively and he came back.  Then the two went off and "got a room" under the rosemary.  I'm pretty certain these were five lined skinks.

Later in the afternoon it rained, then the sky cleared again.  After sunset, Venus was bright in the West.  The third quarter moon won't rise till after midnight.