Clouds and sun

It was breezy and pleasant for the holiday.  A goldfinch pair visited the hummer feeder.  So did the hummer.  The regulars came for seeds.  A great egret preened on a neighboring dock.  A black swallowtail egged the rue.

A palamedes swallowtail passed through at lunch.  The black was back. And a cicada rested on the feeder post.  The house finch clan was all over the feeder.  A hummer tried to drive off one that was sitting on her juice, but the finch wouldn't move even when the hummer charged at it. 

In the late afternoon I found an unusual caterpillar on the railing.  I assumed it had blown off a tree.  It was very small, maybe a centimeter long.  I thought from the colors that it might be a saddleback so I was very cautious.  But research revealed it to be a Schizura prominent moth, I think Schizura ipomoeae. The moth is nothing to look at. 

High tide was still over the dock.  As the tide dropped, more and more egrets gathered at the dam outfall until there were five at one time, both great and snowy.  When one caught something large, I lost camera focus unfortunately.  (The distance is at the extreme end of what this camera will resolve.)  It looked like a couple of snowy egrets were mating, or maybe just fighting.  Then near evening, they all lifted off and joined a flock headed North over the lake.

Hummers chased each other when not frustrated by the seed eaters.  A titmouse joined the regulars. One adult male cardinal shivered its wings like a fledgling while it fed itself.  A neurotic?  The sky grew overcast in the afternoon but he clouds colored up a bit at sunset.