Warmer

Summer blew out to sea with Matthew but the North wind finally abated.  It was still coming from the North, but only as a breeze.  Cardinals fussed at each other.  There were at least three of each sex trying to gain dominance.  Turbulent water continued to pour down the dam outfall but the creek upstream was glassy in the dawn light.

At least one catbird was hanging around, along with blue jays.  Chickadees joined the cardinals at the feeder but I didn't see any other birds there.  Carolina wrens fussed in the junipers by the trash cans but I couldn't find out what upset them.  A flicker hunted in the grass.  Egrets fished in the dam outfall where the tide was down to a normal level though lake water was still pouring out. 

The rain hadn't brought out any new mushrooms yet.  Some of the birds nest fungus had disappeared while others had matured.  A skink used the edge of the pool cover as a refuge. 

A spinyback orbweaver set up its web in the front shrubbery but I could not find the Argiope.  Another spinyback web was in place on the West side of the house with an orb above it.  I couldn't find a spider to go with the orb but it had a small patch of whiter threads in the center.  I saw a cloudless sulphur, maybe a tiger swallowtail, and a monarch. Bees visited the herbs and I saw a paper wasp. 

The sun was right in my eyes as I started toward my evening meeting.  It made a brilliant rainbow sundog on the North side, but I wasn't able to stop when I had a clear view.  The clouds got very colorful and then I saw the massing of the crows.  When I got home the waxing gibbous moon was overhead, flaunting its scars.