Wet, then sunny

The rain had stopped before I got up but everything dripped.  A male downy woodpecker seemed dubious about the suet but finally ate.  Chickadees had no doubts and also alternated at the seed feeder with cardinals.  A tufted titmouse slipped in too.  A few white throated sparrows looked through the wet mulch.  A slug left a track on the wet screen. 

The sky began to clear around mid morning and the rest of the day was sunny, albeit flickering as passing clouds flipped the light switch.  The day also got quite windy.  Nevertheless, I moved the portulaca and the pepper to the new semi-enclosed patio in front of the house.

A drama unfolded at the dam outfall where a great blue heron battled a long, thin creature, maybe an eel, maybe a snake.  Even after swallowing, the heron seemed to be having some trouble getting it to go down.  Later, an egret fished from the same spot but the water was lower and it seemed to be catching only small stuff.  A cormorant and a pair of buffleheads stayed on the surface of the water. 

The regulars came to lunch and a tufted titmouse worked on the suet, as did a female downy.  A squirrel hung from the suet until I yelled at it. Crows harassed a hawk very high up.  Butterflies took advantage of the warmth.  I saw a black swallowtail, a hairstreak, and several cabbage whites, but none of them lit long enough for the camera.

An egret preened on the neighbor's dock and the wind caught its plumes.  At supper, we could see three egrets jockeying for the best fishing spot below the dam.  After dark,I saw Jupiter rising.