Gray

There was only a little rain during the morning.  The turtle was still in the pool. A flower head appeared on the lantana and the coral lilies were blooming.  So was the oleander, the hot poker, and the yarrow. A rusty-colored squirrel harassed mama white-spot in the mulch. 

At lunch two titmice bullied the chickadees while giving way to the cardinals.  The wrens were in and out.  The turtle tested out the board but didn't crawl up it.  An osprey circled. 

K and I undertook a team rescue: K on the pole and me in the pool.  Between us we herded the turtle up onto the steps where I lifted it out.  Heavy!  And it put on an amazing turn of speed for the 10 yard dash to the creek.  I used the underwater camera to take this photos of the escape.  The water was 75 and felt warm compared to the air.

Afterward, I heard a very soft tse-tse every time a wren visited the birdhouse, so I think there's at least one hatchling.  I tried to get a photo of the parent using the underwater camera but there's no zoom. 

I believe our pool guest was a Northern Red-bellied Cooter.

Rain started up again in earnest around 7pm.  A chickadee fed a fledgling on the feeder hanger.  A male cardinal came to the feeder without realizing the other male was in the mulch below.  So they had words, again.