Friday, September 21, 2018

Clear sky

An orange butterfly  flew up over the house.  My impression was fritillary, not monarch.  I also glimpsed a red spotted purple.  Only one of the big caterpillars was still visible.  But the Argiope caught a milkweed bug.  Curiously, the grown-from-seed tropical milkweed has been bug free thus far.  And the aphids were gone from it as well.  Only crickets and beetles needed rescue from the water, but there was a drowned skink in the skimmer. 

Other skinks were safe on dry land.  A fungus popped up at the base of the oak, same as last year.  The beauty berries looked luscious.  Mallards were bathing on the creek.  Cormorants flew over.  A hummer visited the feeder but did not stay.  Crows were up in the oak and I suspect they were snacking on acorns.  They may have intimidated the blue jays because those were absent.  Two chickadees seemed to have a feud - siblings? 

The moon was stuck in the trees, but Mars, I think, was visible to the South over the house.  I found a really cool website with sliders to show where each planet would be according to the time.  As the centaurs would say, "Mars is bright tonight." 


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