Overnight, the temperature dropped below 70°F again, but the air was drier and didn't leave heavy dew. The sun was hot in a cloudless sky, but the breeze from the North was brisk. It was still enough when I got up that I coated the hibiscus with neem oil. I noticed that the Argiope was gone. A grasshopper nymph was on the wall of the house. Somewhat later, the male cardinal went after it.
A Carolina wren breakfasted on bark butter balls. I snapped a photo of something on the cherry and learned it was a downy woodpecker female. Titmice alternated with chickadees. Hummers fed all day long, when they weren't chasing each other. One perched in the cherry to keep watch on the feeder.
A variegated fritillary played hard to photograph. Then it flopped on the wooden step wall as though exhausted. A female Eastern pondhawk perched on twigs around the mountain mint. The mountain mint also attracted golden digger wasps that battled over turf. The other, smaller bees and wasps on the mountain mint tried to make the golden digger leave. I saw a red spotted purple and a yellow butterfly I assume was a small tiger swallowtail. On a twig at the creek's edge a dragonfly looked golden. A bar-winged skimmer and blue dashers perched around the yard.
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