Humid

The temperature would have been pleasant if the air had not been so dank.  The sky was most often overcast with thin patches and occasional sun.  The wind was definitely weaker and from the East instead of the Northeast.  But the prediction is for another gray week.

In the morning, cardinals and chickadees were joined by a titmouse.  I haven't seen much of the finches lately.  Bees and wasps were busy all day.  The small black wasp with white marks is a potter wasp.  A raddled orb web hung from the moonflowers, and a couple of black swallowtail caterpillars munched on the rue.  The basilica orb weaver still lurked in the dogwood. 

The saltbush began to bloom and the camellia put out its first blossoms.  The moonflower vines were loaded with unfurling flowers.  The mushroom under the oak was bigger than last week.  The tuxedo cat bird-watched from the safety of the neighbors' yard.  A blue tailed skink rushed along the retaining wall. Blue jays called from the oaks but hid behind the leaves.  I also heard a kingfisher and a heron, and of course geese.  Some bird became a meal, judging from a pile of gray down feathers.

I watched a squirrel deal with acorns to hide.  It waited on the trunk till it was satisfied it wasn't being watched.  Down it came and buried the acorn at the base, then patted dirt back just like a dog burying a bone.  Later, I went to see the result and found an artistically arranged leaf covering the disturbed dirt.  Another burial had a pine needle draped across.  The poor squirrel was badly infested with warbles.