Rain began in the late morning and continued steady but not heavy through lunch. The hummer wars went ballistic with aerial dives and swoops. The loser retired to the dogwood to gather strength for another pass. Meanwhile a titmouse joined the regulars on the seed feeder. One hummer dive passed close enough to send the bigger birds fleeing.
A pair of doves poked through the mulch. A male goldfinch showed up and the female returned. Yellow butterflies - cloudless sulphur and tiger swallowtail - defeated the photographer as usual. A hairstreak was too far away. A damselfly hung around the pool till I tried to photograph it. A gray tiger beetle ran across the patio. I also glimpsed a young skink. A brown thrasher scuttled under the cedar. A squirrel ate dogwood berries. The hummer feeder ran out of juice.
While there was plenty of blue earlier, the sky clouded up in the late afternoon. I found the dragonfly nymph dead but may have seen another still alive. It appears to be a wandering glider (Pantala flavescens) or at least something in the Libellulidae family. The water was murky from my brushing algae so I cannot be sure about the second one. The algae had gotten so out-of-hand that it made biofilms and when I brushed them off the pool sides they made green veils in the water. I rescued a beetle and a wasp and found a feather. The brown thrasher and the hummer came back. Two wrens cussed at each other in a dogwood. The spartina has begun to bloom. 
It was very pleasant with blue sky and a light breeze. Hummers were awake and hungry. A variety of insect buzzes filled the air. Gulls cruised above the creek as usual. And a bug-eyed robber fly tried to peer in the window.
A couple of mockingbirds checked out the ripening dogwood berries, as did cardinals. Titmice preferred the sunflower seeds but perched in the dogwood. A hummer poked in the morning glories and hibiscus before moving to its feeder. The regulars were also busy with sunflower seeds.
The gray hairstreak was back for more mint. I did not see the dragonfly nymph. The water and air were chilly. A family of blue jays were more audible than visible. K finally heard a hummingbird "squeak."
The sun was out at lunch. A tiger swallowtail finally slowed enough for the camera. There was another hummer chase and the winner clucked loudly about it. A gray hairstreak visited the mint. Skinks slipped into their favorite crack in the lower patio. I found the dragonfly nymph but it was about four feet down and the photos are just blurs. The a gust ruffled the surface and filled it with leaves, and possibly lunch for the nymph. If not insects blown into the water, I wonder what it is living on? What lurks in the depths? 
There was a little drizzle in the afternoon and it never got hot. K called me to come see a dragonfly on the patio. This time it was a common whitetail male and not yesterday's widow skimmer. And it was not dead. But as I tried to follow it, I became aware of a large bird near the fence. Hawk! It plunged into the azaleas but I don't know whether it got dinner. All the birds went very quiet for about ten minutes, except for a hummer that cussed at me. Then cardinals and a brown thrasher resumed life. And mosquitoes found me. 
Overcast broke apart and reformed several times. A couple of skinklets and a larger skink scampered over the concrete. A hint of purple tinged some of the beauty berries. Apparently one of the squirrels was in heat because there was a massive
chase around the oak. At least four and maybe six were involved. One squirrel needed refreshment. 
Titmice were up early, joining the house finches while the moonflowers were still open. Some pale blue wild morning glories peeped around the sunflower stalks.
A buckeye butterfly enlivened lunch as it feasted on the mint. A black swallowtail tried to join in but the buckeye chased off the bigger butterfly.
Goldfinches visited the hummer feeder. So did hummers, though one hovered over the hibiscus. Titmice competed with the seed feeder regulars. And doves watched enviously, or so I assume. A small moth clung to the glass. The two pimento peppers looked healthy. However the hibiscus leaves were all eaten to lace which may mean the end of flowers. 
After lunch it was not very lively. I heard a jay and saw a brown thrasher and a mockingbird. That or another was practicing its repertoire of bird songs. A flock of six or eight small birds I didn't recognize flew overhead, darting and twittering. 
Small butterflies, a thread waisted wasp, a slaty skimmer, and large bumblebees flew in the sunshine. I caught a glimpse of something that turned out to be a hummingbird moth on the mint. The sky was a vivid blue with some wispy clouds. 
On the way home traffic stopped repeatedly. One of those times was by the Newport News reservoir. Other than that, I didn't get much from the opportunity to look around, even over the harbor. I did glimpse a dragonfly. Something with a lot of yellow body fluids kamakazied my windshield - the blur over the vines. That made me think how few bugs had splatted. I wonder what has happened to all the ones that used to die on cars. 
By lunch time the wind was strong enough to dry off surfaces. Hummers stocked up on juice to have energy to chase other hummers from the juice. Skinklets darted everywhere. Amongst the blowing yellow leaves were a goldfinch, cloudless sulphur, a tiger swallowtail, and a yellow sided skimmer. I also saw a black swallowtail.
In the afternoon, in a garden of zinnias I saw a monarch butterfly. Perhaps I should get some zinnia seeds. I took cell phone photos - I'll have to see if I got anything. The sunlight washed out most and the resolution is poor, but it's not often I see a monarch any more. 
It was very humid with condensation on the windows. Finches occupied the seed feeder. No hummers, probably their feeder is dry. A small yellow-orange butterfly paused on the rosemary, but not long enough.
Clouds gathered in the afternoon and by 3pm looked very dramatic. The thunder and rain on the roof of the library was loud but it stopped before the meeting was over. On my way home I realized that the storm fronts on every horizon meant the dark cloud was overhead. And sure enough, rain pounded on me half way home and traffic crawled. I got ahead of it and the storm arrived home a few minutes later. Afterward there was brief sunshine then the clouds gathered again and rain started up again with sunset. In the dry interval, birds were very busy. Hummers chased and fledglings squalled.
The annoying teenage finch was still after his dad. Hummers visited.
The streak of amazing weather may have run its course. Titmice argued with hummers over the water well in the feeder that's supposed to keep out ants. Then a goldfinch showed up to get a drink. Meanwhile the house finch fledgling appeared to beg from a male cardinal! Maybe it just saw red?
One hummer tried out the rosemary flowers. Mockingbirds appeared with fledglings. A couple young grackles poked around the mulch. A family of four doves did the same. Then a molting male towhee poked under the feeder. A robin checked out the dogwood. Lots and lots of house finches tipped the feeder.
There were butterflies and dragonflies but no photos. A fat female skink ambled over to the rosemary. A blue jay feather spiraled into the grass. A drizzle began in the late afternoon but didn't amount to anything. 
Green June beetles were back annoying the ants. I saw a Carolina saddlebags cruising overhead and slaty skimmers on perches. Small dark butterflies did a mating dance while swallowtails bobbed above. I saw a hairstreak and a skipper as well. A few skinks ventured out.
We had windows open for breakfast - delightful. Lots of hummers competed for the feeder. Lots of butterflies were too fast for my camera. Goldfinches put in a brief appearance, as did a dove. A squalling youngster kept the house finches busy. Big bees fed on the second crop of sunflowers. I hope I got all the infested flowers in time.
Lots of skinks of all sizes were out, including one I rescued from the water. Slaty skimmers used the perches. A squirrel used the pool ladder. I saw a June beetle fly to the sunflower where it was surrounded by ants. It landed near their aphid farm. A birdwing grasshopper landed on the patio. An egret stalked the bulkhead across the creek. The hummer chases continued and one hummer took on a female goldfinch! 
A male goldfinch visited early. Hummers came for breakfast too. A squirrel methodically cleaned the mulch of everything dropped by the regular visitors. A female cardinal caught a caterpillar. 
The windows and the bird feeder were sweating. K hung the clean hummer feeder and hummers soon arrived, including a male! The regulars were busy on the seed feeder. An interesting diagram in Scientific American showed revised bird lineages based on DNA. Hummingbirds are most closely related to swifts. 
As the day warmed up, it dried out. Lots of butterflies were flying, from a hairstreak to a tiger swallowtail. A green June beetle buzzed me and I thought at first it was a bumblebee. It settled on a sunflower stem like the one from yesterday which was still there. A real bumblebee headed for the sunflowers. A female common whitetail landed on the patio. A cicada killer buzzed around bot front and back yard too fast for me to capture. Skinks ventured out cautiously.
A female pondhawk was hanging around the deep end. Depressions in the dirt around the maple looked like antlions. Tiny green geometer caterpillars landed on me. What I believe was a juvenile eagle swooped overhead then passed upstream behind a screen of trees.
It was cool for august and sunny. Goldfinches, two males and later a female, inspected the sunflowers I pruned yesterday. A dove poked around underneath. A hummer briefly visited its feeder. And of course the trio of regulars were out in force. This year's male house finches were beginning to blush on their chests. The hibiscus was still celebrating liberation from the shade of the cedar we had cut down. The moonflower twining up its stalks didn't seem to stop the hibiscus from blooming. I like seeing the big red and white flowers together in the evening. 
Dragonflies and butterflies appeared by lunchtime. A genuine bumblebee roamed among the flowers. The ants that have been farming aphids on the sunflowers grew very excited about a green June beetle. For that matter, the beetle also was active. Another hummer checked out the feeder and left, so K took it down. It was dry. Masses of cumulus clouds piled up to the South, but stayed there. 
A male goldfinch briefly joined the feeder regulars. A hummer paid a brief visit.
Everything was wet and periodically more rain fell, but lightly. A hungry hummer stuck to its feeder as the chickadees came and went for seeds.
The prediction was for sunshine but it was wrong. Clouds moved in all morning. The hummer took up position on a dead twig near the top of the dogwood where she could keep an eye on the feeder. A red admiral also liked that spot. A black swallowtail passed through without stopping.
In the back, a yellow sided skimmer had the pole position while a blue dasher watched from a dogwood twig. A skinklet sunned on a flat rock. I think it was already on its second tail. The hummer watched from perches in the oak and the dogwood. K and a friend were playing which meant that only the boldest birds came to the feeder. A titmouse stayed back in the shrubs. A squirrel used the pool ladder to get a drink. The moonflower vine had several buds and one was opening.
Both feeders were refilled under a bright blue sky. Butterflies went by too fast to identify. A female goldfinch tried to wrest seeds from picked over sunflowers. A female house finch huddled on the feeder perch. A mourning dove poked around the patio. 
At lunch a hummer visited. The male cardinals got into a fight. Tiger and black swallowtails and an orange butterfly flitted randomly, or so it seemed. A slaty skimmer clung to a perch. K said she saw a frog jump into the pool.
A yellow crowned night heron stalked along the spartina when I went out to deal with the pool. A red admiral flitted around the deep end. I startled a skinklet that dashed up the trunk of the cedar. The pool was more full of wind-blown vegetation than rainwater. Apparently the moonflower vine had a blossom last night but it had shriveled when I noticed it. 
A red spotted purple landed on the skimmer cover, possibly attracted by salts in the DE. Two dragonflies, one slaty and one bar winged, disputed over perch preference but eventually each settled on its own. A thread waisted wasp fed on the rosemary. 