Windy

Juvenile titmice were everywhere all day, acting naive and silly.  An egret hunted in the dam outfall.  A blue tailed skink ran from the rosemary to the azalea, then back, then across the step to the birdbath, then who knows where.

The hibiscus was loaded with flowers and the canna began blooming.  The calendula was gone to seed, making me think its a biennial.  Gladiolus and the sakaki bush were finished blooming.  The double orange day lilies were taking their turn. The beautyberry was in flower.  And it looked like the blueberries came and went while I was away.

I husked corn I picked up from the farm stand at the library and dislodged a corn ear worm that appeared about ready to pupate.  There were dragonflies and butterflies, but they struggled with the wind.  It was hot enough to make the dragonflies obelisk.  Something left a nasty sploge of vomit or feces on the lower patio which engaged the attention of a cloud of flies.  I rescued the usual spiders and beetles and saw a water strider and a bristletail in the act of molting.  I caught aglimpse of a damselfly with a blue thorax in the mulch beyond the deep end.  A golden digger wasp was too late to get much from the rue, but bumblebees were even later. 

A cardinal landed on the windowsill and gawked at me but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.  A little green heron alerted me by squawking and I saw it fly to the bulkhead across the creek.  A brown thrasher picked wild cherries, as did a squirrel.  Hummers made regular visits.  Both male and female bluebirds came for mealworms but wouldn't wait for a picture.  Even more shy was a red bellied woodpecker that landed on the maple. 

The wind piled up clouds in a thin layer, then blew them away.  They made herringbone patterns that looked fractal.  More clouds arrived at dusk. 

More sunshine

A small bluetailed skink was up early.  Female great blue skimmers tussled over perches.  The day got away from me somehow. 

Lovely day

I sat outside for a short while when I first go up, but the breeze was chilly.  Titmice and a goldfinch came to the feeder.

The pool had gotten rather green but it brushed up easily.  Lots of spiders and beetles had fallen in, along with chunks of bark mulch.  I saw dragonflies perched all around.  Snout butterflies guarded their favorite perches. I heard a little green heron squawk as I moved the screen off the pool steps.  But I only saw egrets.

Titmice, cardinals, chickadees, and house finches worked on seeds, mostly in peace, but a couple of hummers argued over their feeder.  I glimpsed a brown thrasher taking a dust bath.  Wrens were around but I couldn't be sure which kind. A mockingbird flew out of the pecan. 

Home at last

Traveling was a lot harder than it used to be.  Chicago was surprisingly chilly for summer.  But I got home about 4:30 and saw the regulars, a downy, and a titmouse at the seed feeder.  The short tailed squirrel foraged below and a skink waved its long blue tail before disappearing into the rosemary.

A female hummer got some juice and a blue jay snatched a mouthful of mealworms,  Other birds flitted around.  Herons and egrets fished below the dam.  At one point, a great blue heron and a yellow crowned night heron were side by side.  Cumulus clouds blocked the sun frequently but did not make weather.  After dark, a crescent moon descended in the West, trailed by a bright planet. 

Gray sky

Leaves dripped from rain overnight.  Hummers came for a drink. Titmice and the regulars wanted seeds. A downy woodpecker did too.  The cardinals were courting again.  The squirrel who developed a taste for mealworms was back.  I chased it away and put out some bark butter bits. Those mealworms are for birds.  I think another squirrel was digging up the sunflower seeds I planted.   We'll see.

As I was leaving, I saw the female bluebird fly to the nestbox.  The sun burned through the overcast and heated the day but the sky stayed gray.  Dragonflies enjoyed the humidity.  A pimento began to ripen. 

Something troubled the creek surface from below.  At dusk, there were patches of rose-tinted clouds.  Fireflies were out. 

Very windy

Cumulus clouds flew across the sky under a high haze and wisps of cirrus.  Titmice worked on hulling seeds.  A squirrel got up into the mealworm dish and folded over to eat what he was sitting on. 

The day got really hot.  Dragonflies were everywhere.  I saw the bluebird's head in the nest box hole but she ducked back inside.  Blueberries were starting to ripen.  A male common whitetail perched briefly on a bamboo stick.

A blue jay flew across the yard, as did several birds I never got a good look at.  A blue tailed skink believed it was hidden from me.  I saw the first sidewalk tiger beetle of the year.  The sakaki began blooming and the air was fragrant. 

 A dark cloud passed over and was well gone when the rain from it landed. I found a glass snail floating in the water.  Then the sky went overcast and I came inside.  The geese attempted infiltration but I caught them at it.

Breezy

It was nevertheless quite warm and humid in an un-air-conditioned church. Titmice came for breakfast.  I saw a head filling the hole in the bluebird house so they moved back.  The female has been making quick forays to the mealworms. I spotted a song sparrow on the feeder. 

I startled a blue tailed skink and saw the tail disappear into the mulch under the rosemary.  Lots of spiders and beetles were in the pool.  A frog had drowned.  I saved a huge queen ant.  There were lots of blue dashers around.  Larger dragonflies cruised the edge of the creek.  Two immature female Eastern forktail damselflies fussed at each other, then settled about a foot apart.  I had just spotted a widow skimmer when a sudden rain shower had me hurrying to get the camera indoors. 

Pridefest

Town Point Park was spongy from all the rain.  In in the midst of a whole lot of colorful characters, a confused bird looked around.  A heron and many laughing gulls flew over us, as did two drones.  Dragonflies were busy protecting us.  The weather was dramatic - thunderstorms rolled over us and we were evacuated twice.  But there was also hot sun some of the time, and humidity.  The wind was not reliable despite being on the waterfront.

I finally left around 6pm.  When I got home, titmice were busy with seeds.  The female bluebird appeared but alas the dish of mealworms was empty.  I sat outside at sunset.  The sky was mostly gray, but there was color in the North.  An egret and a dragonfly flew over me while fireflies blinked all around.  And a cicada sang in the treetop. 

Humid

When I first went out to give the birds breakfast, it was already warmer than yesterday.  After my breakfast, an osprey landed in a pine tree next door, I think to eat something.  Its head would dip down out of sight then come up.  Hummers visited.  The sky cleared during the morning. 

The bluebirds showed up at lunch, both looking wet.  A Carolina wren landed on the hanger for the hummer feeder.  Something about it suggested a young bird.  The dark female hummer appeared quite hungry.  A blue jay snatched a mouthful of mealworms.

I finally got outside just as clouds were beginning to move in. Lots of blue dashers were posted around the yard.  A small bluish butterfly evaded me.  A little green heron screeched and flew off downstream.  A yellow crowned night heron hunted in the spartina.  I rescued a wasp.  Soon thunder began to rumble.  I got out of the water and sat to drip off.  A male hummer visited the feeder but there was no sun to light up his throat. 

After about half an hour of distant thunder, rain and lightning began.  The light dropped too much for photography.  Titmice were hungry and came out in the rain.  A hummer followed.  The rain fell quite hard for a while and put an inch in the ant moat.  When it slacked off, I saw a great crested flycatcher land in the top of a pine.  The rain stopped in the evening and fireflies began signalling. 

Cool and gray

It might have felt warm but the wind and humidity combined to chill.  The mulch came in the morning and sent everyone into hiding for a while.  Surprisingly, not much of it got into the pool.  Instead, dead roaches and live spiders floated on the water.  Titmice returned to the feeder.  At lunch time, a female bluebird spent time with the mealworms.  Later a blue jay snatched some and rushed off.  A skink rested on  the wood step frame.  I had not seen any for a couple of days. The hummer feeder was empty so I put out fresh, but I did not see any hummingbirds return to it. 

Donner und Blitzen & downpour

A hummer showed up after breakfast.  So did several titmice.  The titmice and chickadees tried to drink from the small well in the center of the hummer feeder.  Apparently the water in the big ant moat above was out of reach.  Three squirrels disputed over who got to hunt seeds under the feeder.  A blue jay and a female bluebird visited the mealworms. 

I worked outside in the morning because a thunderstorm was predicted for the afternoon.  Dragonflies were thick, mostly blue dashers.  I did see one small, brownish butterfly, probably a snout.  The pool skimmer caught a mama wolf spider.  And just as I was wondering why I had seen no saddlebags dragonflies yet this year, one appeared.  It perched on the topmost candle of the pine tree. 

I saw a little green heron fly down stream.  Then a yellow crowned night heron came past and swooped down to land upstream of the dock, out of sight.  The next instant it fled back the way it had come with another heron in pursuit,  That bird landed on the dock and paced to relieve its agitation.  The interloper took a station in the dam outfall. 

I left around 6pm to go to a meeting and drove into the storm.  The car thermometer dropped from 92° to 73° in about 5 minutes as I drove.   It rained hard on the highway but not back home.  Fireflies were twinkling when I got back, but the clouds still looked thunderous.  Mimosas and crape myrtle were in full bloom.

Here there be dragonflies

A hummingbird visited its feeder and a female bluebird had a few mealworms.  The regulars, including titmice, ate seeds and the short tailed squirrel tried to get into the feeder.  Blue dashers obelisked in the sun.  One stayed all afternoon on the wire hook that we use to close the seed feeder.  It seemed not to notice us no matter how close we got.  A common whitetail female landed on light colored objects, often in the shade. I saw a Japanese beetle on the hibiscus.

In the afternoon the sky grew white and clouds looked threatening, but nothing came of it,  The day stayed hot and humid and the clouds blew out to sea.   

More heat

Titmice were up earlier than usual today.  I didn't replenish the food supplies fast enough and didn't the blue jays and hummingbirds let me know.  But they could only stay miffed so long with fresh sugar water and mealworms to be had. Dragonflies were obelisking before noon.  A yellow crowned night heron stalked lunch along the spartina.

The dragonflies were mostly blue dashers but I did see one female pondhawk.  Leaf miners started working on the hibiscus leaves.  I rescued a click beetle, a ground beetle, and a couple of fireflies.  When I picked up a floating oak leaf, the backswimmer darted away.  I fished out a buffalo treehopper but tossed it back to see if the backswimmer would eat it.  A damselfly rode a floating leaf.  Several half eaten mating-size ants lay around the patio.  Wasps searched the rue for the remaining flowers.

An egret and a great blue heron fished in the late afternoon.  I think at least two female hummers have been visiting, one with a dark tummy and one with a white. 

Hot

Morning and evening were very pleasant but mid day was distinctly hot. At breakfast a white breasted nuthatch tried to get to the seed feeder but the finches wouldn't let it in.  Blue jays got much bolder in their quest for mealworms.

A dragonfly obelisking after lunch was as good as a thermometer.  The backswimmer was back trying to hide in floating detritus.  I saw a swallowtail but didn't get a photo. 

The tide had not been particularly high at mid day but it was very low six hours later.  I guess the wind was pushing water out the bay mouth.  I distinctly heard a cicada in the late afternoon. I sat outside in the twilight watching fireflies.  Two swallows and a dragonfly zoomed overhead. and I think I glimpsed a bat.  Curiously, I saw no stars.

Blues

Blue sky, bluebirds, blue jays, blue butterfly and dragonfly, and a blue tailed skink.  The sky was hazy, with some clouds.  A blue jay glared at me when it found the mealworm dish empty.  I refilled it and the jay came back very quickly to gobble up the bugs.  The female bluebird was also very hungry and let me know it.  Titmice carried on at the seed feeder along with cardinals and chickadees. A hummer visited her feeder. 

While we ate lunch, the young skink explored around the top step.   Afterward an egret fished under the bulkhead.  I heard lots of birds that refused to become visible.  The people across the creek must have let their dog out because all the geese, protesting loudly, jumped off the bulkhead into the creek.  Some mallards accompanied them.  I saw a little blue butterfly that wouldn't stop for a picture.  A gorgeous young male Eastern pondhawk perched around the patio while a great blue skimmer occupied a more distant perch.  A male hummer flitted around the Mexican sage but I wasn't fast enough for a photo. 

We went to an outdoor wedding at the Hermitage on the Lafayette River.  The grounds were hosting a display of sculptures from Burning Man.  A brown thrasher hunted bugs in the grass where the cars parked.  It was a perfect day for an outdoor ceremony, with birdsong and a gentle breeze off the river.  Sunset was pastel but vivid.  And there were fireflies. 

Warm again

Lots of blue dashers hunting. I also saw two amberwings on an azalea bush out front.  I also saw Japanese beetles on the bush.  A blue jay gobbled mealworms and had a confrontation with a bluebird.  Titmice fledglings learned to eat seeds.  A hummer got fed too.  Goslings were starting to look like their parents. 

A basilica spider built its web in the rue.  The neighbors' husky was running loose again.  Thankfully, it did not go for a swim.  I did, and rescued a long legged fly.  The husk of a dragonfly floated on the water. The short tailed squirrel sat beside me till he realized how close he was.  I began to understand why he was missing the end of his tail.  Fireflies blinked at twilight.

Cold wind

A little rain spattered the glass but didn't do much else. I returned mid morning and was greeted by a male towhee.  A finch family was very busy with fledglings.  A squirrel tried very hard to rob the feeder. A snowy egret hung around the dam outfall. 

At lunch, first bluebirds, then a blue jay, came for mealworms.  Titmice and house finches stuck to sunflower seeds till a squirrel chased them off.

Around 4pm, breaks appeared in the overcast and by 5pm the sun was shining in a clear sky.  A hummer visited at supper time and the female bluebird was back.  She expressed her disappointment at the empty dish and flew off, but must have been watching because when I added some she came right back.

At 8:30pm small cottony clouds turned pink and the light faded.

Gray

The temperature dropped all day long as the wind blew from the Northeast.  A snowy egret watched the water flowing from the dam.  Titmice had fledglings to feed. 

A bit of mist showed on the windshield at noon but otherwise I saw no rain.  A hummer visited.  A little green heron joined the egret. 

I went outside in the afternoon and needed a hoodie.  The coral honeysuckle was covered with flowers.  I hope the hummers noticed.  A female blue dasher hunkered down out of the wind.  A blue jay was up to something.

The wind piled up the creek water and made the tide run high.

Cooler

The sky was hazy even where there were no clouds. Butterflies, dragonflies, bees, wasps, and beetles were thick.  Spiders too. I recognized a varigated fritillary and a snout butterfly, a blue dasher and a common whitetail dragonfly.  But the pool chemistry was finally in balance which discouraged the backswimmer and the frog. 

A female bluebird and a male goldfinch came to breakfast.  K changed the hummer juice because I saw a bug in it.  A hummer approved.  A blue jay performed right in front of me.  That's when I discovered I'd put the wrong battery in the camera.

I saw a cluster of flowers on the crape myrtle.  The gladiolus began blooming.  The white lily was still going strong.  Fat little bulbs were all that was left of the blue wood hyacinths - I thought at first they were mushrooms.  The yellow rose bloomed, but all the red roses were gone.

Rainy day

In the morning, the rain was confined to periodic sprinkles.  An egret fished below the dam.  Two families of geese came to the back door. When I went out to shoo them away, I decided to look for the backswimmer.  It was still hanging out in some floating litter but dived when I disturbed it.  I thought it had a companion, but that turned out to be a small wasp I was able to rescue.  Lots of other insects were floating too.  Later K was adding chemicals and found the bullfrog back in the skimmer basket. I was concerned about the hummer juice, but then I saw both male and female hummingbirds drinking.

In the afternoon there were several downpours with brief windows of sunshine between.  Titmice and the regulars took seeds whenever the rain let up.