Time slipped by

I took pictures but I didn't make time to look at them till now.

July 2: A black swallowtail found the parsley despite the dragon(fly) guarding it.  Mallards had their vacay on the dock.  The sakaki bloomed and hummed with bees and rained spent flowers.  Gladiolus sent up more spears to replace the flowers broken by the rain.  Some wild cherries were ripe.  I think I saw a brown thrasher feeding on them.  The male bluebird posed in the late afternoon sunlight.  I did not get a picture of the two little green herons along the shoreline that K flushed. 

July 3: I went out a little after midnight to look at the night sky.  Jupiter trailed the moon.  At lunch, I saw a blue jay preening.The butterfly milkweed started blooming.  No sign of a bud on any of the other milkweeds.  Papa bluebird was hanging around again.  I rescued what I thought were a couple of assassin bug nymphs but was to late for several more, also for two skinklets.  Matching photos suggests the bugs were leaf-footed bugs, Acanthocephala terminalis.  To me they look like qheuens, an alien species in David Brin's Uplift series.  I also saved a firefly.  A squirrel got into the wild cherries and I found a patch of eggs on a cherry leaf.   

July 4: Another hot, sunny day brought out a few butterflies.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a cabbage white, and a red admiral.  Blue jays came for bark butter balls.  The orange double daylilies joined the daisies.  While in the pool, I noticed an orange bluet damselfly on the concrete.  A blue jay left a small, bright feather. Illegal fireworks reigned from dusk to about 10:30pm.  I did see the rising moon and Jupiter.