Breezy

One of the finches didn't look exactly like the others and turned out to be a juvenile bluebird.  Hummers arrived so steadily they sucked the feeder dry.  They also wasted energy chasing each other.  A pileated woodpecker shot across the yard and disappeared into the trees. 

Honeybees joined the throng on the mountain mint. I noticed spider mites were starting to spread among the flowers.  This year I know enough to get rid of the infected areas.  Four monarch caterpillars demolished the butterfly milkweed.  An adult monarch flew past and kept going, wisely.

When I lifted the skimmer basket, it was far too heavy.  The reason was a bullfrog.  It leaped out and I threw myself across the skimmer opening to keep it from going down the pipe and drowning.  The next I saw of it was eyes above the water in the deep end, but before I could do anything, the wind pushed the beach ball right at it.  That was the last I saw of the frog today.  While prowling around the pool deck looking for the frog, I startled a skink.  I did rescue some beetles and bees and a couple of young spiders.

Dragonflies occupied two perches.  Some others stayed on the wing.  I found two black swallowtail caterpillars on the rue.  They were still in the orange instar that looks a bit like monarchs.  The one that got eaten the other day had turned green.  Bad camera focus revealed an early black-and-white instar as well.

A male goldfinch made several visits to the ant moat for a drink.  Blue jays kept their distance. 

in the late afternoon, the cottontail returned to eat my morning glories.  At supper, a bird grasshopper sauntered along the top step, appearing at times to lay eggs.  Sunset was very orange.