Cooler

Titmice were back for breakfast.  I saw a high-flying dragonfly when I refilled the mealworm dish.  A cloudless sulphur flitted past.  It seemed to be attracted to red flowers.  A squirrel seemed to have a pale tail.  I got back around noon and it was still sunny, breezy, and pleasant.  A hummer was visiting the lantana by the driveway, then shot over to the front feeder.  In the back yard, hummers fought over the feeder, except when goldfinches commandeered it for a drink from the ant moat.  Two male goldfinches actually shared access to it. 

A palamedes swallowtail visited the hibiscus.  A tiger swallowtail just flew across the yard.  A snout butterfly perched in the dogwood.  The cloudless sulphur continued to flit around.  A green lacewing landed on the window.  A cicada killer explored the patio.  And a blue dasher watched from the bamboo stake. In the afternoon, the lantana by the driveway was swarming with fiery skippers.  A slaty skimmer perched above them but must have been after smaller prey.  More skippers went for the herbs out back, along with honeybees and a hairstreak.

I glimpsed a skink on the patio at lunch but in the afternoon I caught one in the pool.  They swim quite well despite their undersized legs and unwebbed feet.  Mating saddlebags and 12-spotted skimmers flew overhead.

At supper the two male goldfinches returned.  At one point, a goldfinch, a hummer, and a Carolina wren were all around the hummer's feeder.