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Young titmice tried to drink from the ant moat. Hummers drank their feeder dry.  An egret fished below the dam and later another rested on the dock.  A blue jay snatched some mealworms but the female bluebird was more discriminating.  A profusion of dragonflies kept the patio mosquito-free.  I saw something struggling in the pool and thought it was a skink.  But when I went to rescue it, all I found was a beetle larva.  In the course of the morning, I also saw but did not get a photo of a male goldfinch, palamedes swallowtails, and other butterflies.

I did glimpse a skink later but a squirrel came along and the lizard disappeared.  Another skink was on the concrete at the far end of the pool,but it saw me too.  A male common whitetail landed on the patio briefly.  I hauled beetles, wasps and spiders out of the water.  A couple of spiders, one big and one small, faced off on the pool ladder, but I think both survived.  One spider was carrying her spiderlings and refused all help.  I didn't see her anywhere after I got out of the water, a slightly creepy thought.  Blue dashers, assorted skimmers, and a Halloween pennant perched around the yard.  A skimmer with spotted wings patrolled about ten feet off the ground.  An amberwing lurked in the parsley. 

Osprey and eagles flew circles high overhead while swallows just zipped past.  A young Carolina wren came to the patio but apparently didn't see anything to eat.  A night heron hunted along the dam.  The moon was, again, blurred by thin clouds.  Fireflies blinked while cicadas buzzed.