Windy!

Rain fell before sunrise.  Just like yesterday afternoon, clouds sped out of the Northeast.  Leaves whirled and rose before skittering across the ground and only stopping after landing in the water.  The hummer chases continued.  One buzzed another, apparently trying to lure it into a chase away from the feeder.  The regulars seem to catch the tension and squabbled over their feeder.

There were flickers of sun at lunch, but the sky was mostly cloudy.   A cloudless sulphur, a tiger and a black swallowtail battled the wind.  A hairstreak probed the withered morning glories.  Blue tailed skinks went about their business.    Meanwhile a brown headed nuthatch tried to slip past the regulars to the feeder. 

After lunch a red spotted purple rafted on a leaf and the wind plastered a butterfly to the glass.  Titmice and a female goldfinch visited the feeders.  The hummers kept up their competition despite the wind.  The fledgling male cardinal took over the seed feeder and drove all the other birds away.  A buzzard soared overhead. 

Toward evening the sky cleared as it often does.  Low clouds took a tangerine tint while the higher ones were still white.  The cloud cover thickened again once the sun was well below the horizon.