Bright sun

September ended in a really beautiful day, but not quite warm enough to swim, especially as it was quite breezy.  There were a black and a tiger swallowtail, a cloudless sulphur, and a duskywing skipper.  A bit of slime mold and some tiny mushrooms popped up in the mulch and I found two figs.  Wasps were still hard at work on the mountain mint.  Beetles rafted on the water.  A couple of skinks were out mid day.  

Summer requiem

Soft dawn clouds were tinted at breakfast.  Unfortunately, there was more plastic trash than birds on the creek.  I spent much of the morning in a book discussion of Chesapeake Requiem.  I finally got back outside mid afternoon but the rain soon started.  Since I was in the pool, I tried to ignore it till I was done.  I rescued a little frog from the skimmer and many beetles floating around the pool.  Most were ground beetles but there were a couple of scarabs and one sidewalk tiger.  There were also many glass snails afloat.  I didn't know if they needed rescue but I fished them out anyway.  I didn't have the camera on account of the rain, so use your imagination.  

Fresca!

Fresca is an Italian word I heard in a swimming pool at a hotel on Lake Garda.  A large man was bobbing in the chilly water and shouting "Fresca!" at what I presume were his wife and the next generation, all of whom looked very dubious at the idea of getting wet.  Sunshine today raised the air temperature to about 80°, and the pool water to 72°.  It was indeed fresca and I was hesitant to actually swim.  But then it wasn't too bad once I got used to it.  This may have been my last chance.    

The wildlife were lively. I saw a dragonfly and a sulphur and a red spotted purple that all got away.  

So busy

I hardly got outside.  And it was a wet, gray, unattractive sort of day anyway.  Little bumblebees replaced the mammoth carpenter bees on the mountain mint.  I have to clip off more of the spider mite infestation.  An ant nest was sending out its winged queens.  They ignored a millipede hurrying past.  A spider walked on water.  I rescued a couple of ground beetles. 

Off-and-on rain

It was a zebra sort of day with stripes of sunshine and raincloud.  Several times the rain clouds were overhead while the sun shone underneath at an angle.  Gray or bright, the creek mirrored the sky. 

The new daylily bloomed.  A brown thrasher breakfasted on bark butter rain mush.  When the day warmed, a skink ventured out.  A Carolina wren tried to snatch a meal from the seed feeder.  Downy woodpeckers showed up when I put out a fresh tub of bark butter. 

The usual wasps and a few bumblebees were on the mountain mint.  Unfortunately the spider mite infestation kept spreading during the rainy days.  A skipper, a hairstreak, and a black swallowtail took advantage of a sunny interval.  And a black swallowtail caterpillar munched parsley.  Then I spotted wheelbugs mating!  A damselfly lurked near the pool.  I rescued crickets and leafhoppers and one beetle.  A very small spider seemed to be creating a fairly large web under the dogwood.  I hope I remember to check in the morning. 

And in the pool were two frogs, one medium and one quite small.  I evicted the little one but the water was too cold (70) to encourage me to chase the other one.  Later I saw the small one sitting on the pool ladder while the big one still fled when I attempted to scoop it up.  

 

Wet and gray

The hibiscus put forth what I expect was its last blossom.  A glass snail wanted to cross the patio for some reason.  I moved the praying mantis which appeared to still be alive though something had been chewing on a fore-wing. 

The meteorologists said the rain was the remnant of Hurricane Beta. The rain wasn't heavy and there wasn't much wind, but it just felt dank like an old cellar.  The birdbath only got half full.  Tides returned to normal and the creek was still between the bands of rain that dimpled the surface.  The cloud cover had thinned enough at dusk to show the moon.  First quarter was last night so it was overhead and waxing gibbous this evening.  

Dreary

The overcast sky began to drip in the afternoon.  It was not enough rain to water plants, just enough to wet the patio furniture and discourage insects. I did find the praying mantis lying on its side, still moving a little.  I wonder if it ate a caterpillar full of rue and was poisoned.   

A beach ball or balloon floated downstream.  A great egret fished from out floating dock and almost fell in. 

A mockingbird feasted on beautyberries while a brown thrasher went for the dogwood berries just a little higher.  Two Carolina wrens snatched bark butter balls.  Then a red bellied woodpecker took over the bark butter feeder.  Pine warblers wanted some too.  A titmouse slipped in for a share.  The downy woodpecker wasn't going to be left out.  But then they all disappeared. 

Another lovely day

It was cold overnight!  The sky was cloudless but more hazy than yesterday.  The tide was high again, but not quite as high as yesterday or the day before, probably because the wind was no longer fierce.  But as the day warmed, turtles were out on the lake logs.  I saw a few small skinks. 

Blue jays came for breakfast.  At lunch I spotted a mockingbird in the cherry tree.  Later, I think I glimpsed a brown headed nuthatch.  A Carolina wren was definitely watching me in return. 

A red spotted purple posed.  It was missing quite a few nips from its hind wings.  The bees were back with the wasps on the mountain mint.  

I found the praying mantis again.  It appeared to be ill or dying, or possibly trying to lay eggs.  It's wings were distended and it couldn't even hang on to a rose stem. 

Autumnal equinox

It was a gorgeous day, still a bit on the cool side, but a crystal blue sky full of sunshine.  The wind was down to a stiff breeze, but the tide still ran high.  The tail-less wren was up for breakfast. 

We went shopping at the garden center and came home with a purple celosia plant that had been covered with butterflies including a painted lady and several skippers.  The butterflies at home didn't react to it.  Oh well, it's pretty.  

There were butterflies at last.  A red spotted purple spent time on a daisy leaf.  Then it moved to the pool step and I thought I'd have to rescue it but it didn't fall in.  A sliver spotted skipper was interested in a rose.  A fiery skipper preferred the aster.  A monarch just kept going. 

Lots of young skinks scurried around.  I spotted one in the pool that had no tail.  It let me lift it out with no fuss.  The loss of its tail transformed its shape and may have made it harder to swim. 

A praying mantis lurked in the rue.  The usual insects sipped mountain mint.  A jumping spider was hanging out on the pool railing.  I admit I harassed it a little to see it jump.  I fished out a leaf that had an earwig drowning on it.  

The saltbush buds were about to open.  I believe we had a bald eagle fly-by.  

Wind and tide

The wind-driven high tide still rose higher than the dock though we passed the new moon peak three days ago.  A couple of birds prowled the far bank of the creek where the bulkhead was almost completely submerged.  My best guess is they were solitary sandpipers.  A  downy woodpecker came for bark butter balls.  A honeybee had the mountain mint mostly to herself. 

Still blowing cold

The wind did do us the favor of clearing the high-level smoke haze.  It drove the tide over the dock and brought some threatening clouds that passed by harmlessly.  Why several buzzards were swooping low over the creek, I do not know. A mallard pair dropped into the pool but I sent them away.  Later I saw a mallard have difficulty getting out of the water onto the dock.

I put more bird food out thinking a wind from the NNE might be carrying birds South.  But all I saw were year-around locals, and not a lot of them.   A blue jay and a brown thrasher got away without a photo.  The Carolina wren pair visited the bark butter balls together.  One lost its tail, hopefully just molting.  The downy woodpecker pair defied the wind, but they don't fly very high. 

It was way too cold with that wind-chill to get wet, so I tried to clean out the wind-blown leaf litter with a net.  That enabled me to rescue a skink and several beetles.  I glimpsed a red spotted purple but it blew away before I could aim the camera.  A big dark insect landed on the water and then flew off.  I was thinking carpenter bee or even cicada, but the photo suggests a horsefly.

I went outside at just the right time to catch the new moon with enough illumination for the camera.  

 

Chill wind

The mid day high tide washed over the dock.  Four geese and a wood duck pair walked around on the underwater boards.  The wood ducks paddled off along the water's edge, essentially over the grass in the yard. 

Hungry insects defied the wind to reach the mountain mint nectar.  Wasps and bees joined the gray hairstreak. 

To avoid the wind, I went to the front yard.  So did the dragonflies apparently.  The bracket fungus by the bedroom wall reappeared.  The wind wasn't as fierce, but the clouds thickened and without the sun I was still cold.  I retreated indoors.  

 

Wind

By morning the pool was brim full but the rain soon came to an end.  A fierce wind out of the North replaced it, blowing pine needles and leaf shreds into the water.  Thanks to the new moon and the wind, high tide washed over the dock.  Three female mallards rested on the highest part.  I saw a buzzard nearly blown out of the sky.  Most animals were hunkered down, bees clung to the undersides of the mountain mint.  I heard blue jays but didn't see them.  I put extra food out.  At supper, a couple of Carolina wrens made a quick run for bark butter balls.  The sky stayed overcast but there were glimmers of sunlight in the afternoon.  

Rain

The rain began about 8:30am and never paused all day.  It was never heavy, but it was really rain, not drizzle.  As if to prove the cliche about weather only a duck would love, a wood duck drake rested on the dock.  And that is all I saw today - a wood duck and rain.  

Chilly

The haze continued to block the sun's warmth.  A North wind didn't help.  And the feral cat paid an early visit.  A female bluebird checked out the back yard, then sampled the bark butter.  She was followed by a male downy woodpecker. 

A monarch found the regrowth of leaves on the butterfly milkweed.  It must have laid a dozen eggs.  The poor plant could barely feed one caterpillar.  I also saw a buckeye, several sulphurs, and I think a red spotted purple. 

Skinks dashed around.  One paused to soak up the thin sunlight. A younger skink popped up near the adult and froze.  I thought I saw a white breasted nuthatch, but I definitely saw a brown headed nuthatch on the seed feeder.  Hummers came around but did not like our sugar water.  Carolina wrens seemed to be everywhere.  

A gray hairstreak nectared first on the mountain mint then on the herb mint.  At least four of the huge carpenter bees stuffed themselves on nectar.  A fiery skipper found the asters.  A yellow-legged mud dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) rode a leaf on the water. 

A great egret waited on the dock bench.  The beautyberry was getting visibly purple. 

 

Strange sky

One Carolina wren looked like an old mop with molting feathers sticking out every which way.   Titmice eluded me.  The morning glories were slow to get pollinated. 

A monarch rested on the dogwood leaves.  The sky was strange - glazed with high haze while cumulus clouds flowed underneath.  Some sunshine leaked through.  The day was quite cool and breezy.  The newspaper explained that the strangeness resulted from smoke and ash blowing Eastward from the West Coast wildfires. 

We planted an aster in a patch of flowerbed that was packed solid with narcissus bulbs.  What we excavated filled the pot the plant had been in. In the pool, the skimmer was packed with needles and leaves that the wind had peeled off the trees.  It also contained a frog that tried to burrow through me to escape.  Later I was able to just lift the frog out of the water, so I guess it was pretty tired.  I also lifted a leaf-footed bug, but it was dead. The water magnified it but even on the patio it looked big.  

Dangerous liaison

The sun was shining in blue sky at breakfast but clouds moved in, first wispy, then thicker.  Fearing rain, I went swimming in the morning.  That was good fortune for a skink, beetles, a wasp, and a caterpillar.  I spotted a glass snail moseying across the patio.  Then a strong wind gust brought a sprinkle of rain that sent me inside. 

At dusk, K discovered a couple of mantises mating in the azalea outside the window.   They seemed quite small as they hung upside down from a branch.  The male was more brown while the green female was obvious with a swollen abdomen.  

Sunshine

 A couple of brown thrashers appeared to be plotting in the cherry tree.  Something got the crows into a hissy.  A disheveled Carolina wren fussed at me from the back of the bench.  

The all-day overcast rolled out of sight in the mid afternoon and the day became very pleasant.  I saw several skinks enjoying the sun, including one that popped up out of a big crack in the pool patio, like a prairie dog checking for danger.  It wasn't quite sure what to make of my head bobbing in the water eye-to-eye at the same level.  I rescued a wasp and some beetles.  

 A horsefly was on the concrete by the door.  It was on its back but I rolled it over to see what it was.  I used hornet spray to blow it away..  A black swallowtail was energized by the sun to seek the proper plants for eggs.  After the sun set, I saw fireflies again. 

Firefly!

The truce among bees and wasps on the mountain mint frayed and big carpenter bees rose above the plant to glare at each other.  Digger wasps did it too.  A huge blue mud wasp ignored it all.  The beauty berries turned color and the dogwood berries looked ripe.  

A small frog and a skink were both in the water.  I rescued that skink and later another.  The first skink ran off only to my towel in the way.  The frog didn't want to be rescued but I insisted. 

I don't remember ever seeing a firefly this late in the Summer.  

Wet

The day was just damp till about 2:30pm  Skinks came out for brief flickers of sunshine. A blue jay and a Carolina wren had a taste for bark butter. 

 

I rescued a thread-waisted wasp, very carefully.  

A loud plop in the water alerted me to the arrival of the bullfrog.  But he didn't stay.  I found a tiny portulaca blooming among the violets.  Then rain chased me indoors.  

Blogger has upgraded and made it much harder to use. 

99% humidity

The rain was mostly confined to the morning, though we didn't know that in time to be useful.  It came through in waves, tropical storm fashion.  Birds took advantage of the breaks.  A brown thrasher didn't wait.

A house finch finally sampled the bark butter.  Then a male downy woodpecker took a turn.  The bluebird pair visited, one by one.  Too many house finches crowded the seed feeder.  The bees and wasps returned to the mountain mint by mid afternoon. 

A mockingbird enjoyed the hackberries.  The sky even cleared, mostly, toward evening, as wood ducks glided on the creek.

Rain

I left the camera indoors for fear of rain, so naturally something strange happened.  As I  emptied the pool skimmer, a mockingbird, looking disheveled and possibly injured, landed beside me.  It drank from the puddle I had created, then slowly limped across the patio and huddled beside a chair for a while.  I didn't want to make it nervous so I didn't watch it all the time, and eventually it disappeared.  A red bellied woodpecker up in the hackberry feasted on the berries.  And the rain held off till nearly evening.

Small spiders have been in and around the pool, perhaps among the offspring of those mama spiders I rescued.  Big carpenter bees competed with the wasps on the mountain mint.  Honeybees were there too.  A black swallowtail even joined the nectar eaters.  The bird grasshopper was back on the hibiscus. 

The pair of Carolina wrens enjoyed the bark butter.  They were looking quite frumpy in their molt.  Between one shot and the next, the wren morphed into a brown thrasher.  Later a blue jay sampled the bark butter. 

A two-fer

I skipped a day because there wasn't much to say.  The mountain mint remained popular with bees, wasps, and skippers.  A yellow daylily rebloomed.  A blue jay almost got away. 

The wind swung around from the North to the East, warmer but wetter.  A week of rain was forecast.  Acorns fattened up and blue jays took an interest.  Dogwood berries ripened.  A titmouse dug into the barkbutter.  A night heron rested on a piling. 

Beautiful day

The blue jays won today's game of beat the camera.  The wind gusted at times and brought a message from the cold North, but the sky was pure blue.  Fiery skippers were thick on the mountain mint, along with a red banded hairstreak,  I also saw sulphurs flitting around and a black swallowtail egging everything.  A skimmer perched on a dried up day lily stalk. And no, the chrysalis had not opened.  The usual wasps and bees congregated on the mountain mint, and occasionally on the herb mint.

I found a dead skink in the skimmer but also saw several live ones.  A juvenile night heron came prospecting around the rim of the pool.  It appeared to catch a couple of insects.  A Carolina wren had a turn at the bark butter.  Hummers showed up frequently. 

And then the feral cat reappeared.   I think a hawk was hanging around as well.  

Windy

A gusty North wind kept the temperature cool but otherwise it was a lovely day.  The last chrysalis still did not open.  A black swallowtail caterpillar was on the same rue frond as yesterday so I poked it to see if it was alive.  It put out its orange horns so I guess it was OK.  The wind grounded most butterflies and dragonflies but the bees and wasps were undeterred.  The big blue winged wasp, Scolia dubia was back.  There were at least four of the huge carpenter bees. 

Hummers also ignored the wind.  A goldfinch and a house finch shared a drink at the ant moat, but the house finch was in front of all but the goldfinch's tail, ruining what would have been a cute photo. 

I rescued a feisty horntail and the camera chose that moment to die.  By the time I'd gotten a fresh battery the horntail was gone.  There were a couple of insects on the mountain mint that I couldn't identify.  One was a wasp but I thought the other was a fly. 

Late in the day the wind calmed and an attractive, small moth came to the mountain mint.  I was eating pistachios and tossing the shells into the mulch.  I have been known to toss a nut that hadn't cracked.Apparently a squirrel had acquired a taste for them.  It checked all the shells then came to about a foot of me but I didn't give it anything.  I don't need another critter with expensive habits.

Between seasons

Sunshine on the glassy creek spoke of Fall thought the heat and humidity belonged to Summer.  The third chrysalis still had not opened.  Black swallowtail caterpillars continued chowing down on rue. A Carolina wren speared a bark butter ball and wore it like a clown nose, alas out of focus.  Hummers started drinking early.  

At lunch, a squirrel flattened its belly against a cool patch of shaded patio.  A fiery skipper insisted on a place at the mountain mint.  Afterward, I saw a juvenile night heron hunting along the edge of the creek. 

A female pondhawk guarded the rue while a bird grasshopper hung out on the hibiscus.  A sharpshooter was also on the hibiscus, but I was too close to it.  In trying for a photo, I disturbed the grasshopper who flew to the gladiolus leaves.  I saw a tiger and a palamedes swallowtail, and some sulphurs, but they didn't pause. A black swallowtail was more cooperative. 

I rescued a skink despite its best efforts to drown.  Many other skinks were out and about.  The rabbit hopped past me while I was in the deep end of the pool.  A female eastern amberwing dragonfly hung out with the wasps around the mountain mint.  Wikipedia claims that both appearance and behavior mimic wasps. 

We had to refresh the hummers' juice.  I heard a crow and then saw a red tailed hawk fly away.  After that lots more birds appeared.  Great crested flycatchers appeared to find plenty to catch in the trees.  A young mockingbird might have been after dogwood berries or hackberries.  Brown headed nuthatches wanted sunflower seeds and one made the ratcheting squeak for which they're known. 

I came in to shed my swimsuit and when I next looked, a brown thrasher and a downy woodpecker confronted each other across the barkbutter.  Then two squirrels chased madly up the feeder pole and back, disturbing a female bluebird.  After that, it got quiet again. 

Eclose

Two monarchs emerged, "eclosed" in the technical term, this morning. The humidity was so high, the camera fogged.  Unfortunately, one fell from its chrysalis and its wings never fully unfolded.  The other was fine and flew off.  The third chrysalis, which I thought would open first, will be last. 

A squirrel dangled from its toenails to get at dogwood berries.  Hummer wars were fierce today.  Usually one gives up quickly and flees, but not this time.

The pool pump gave out yesterday, so critters that fell in were not sucked into the skimmer.  I rescued two skinks, one big black bee, a black wasp, a horntail, and the sad crumple-winged monarch.  I was amazed that the monarch seemed no worse for its near drowning and I was sure the horntail was a corpse.  But when tiny ants tried to bite off bits of horntail, it made a remarkable recovery. 

One skink was tired and docile but the other tried to escape by swimming through my crotch. But eventually I was able to grab it and plop it onto the patio where it ran for cover.  Meanwhile the other was still catching its breath.

A delicate damselfly did not need rescuing.  I think it was an immature female Eastern Forktail, Ischnura verticalis.  A few blue dashers and skimmers were around.  

I went out after dark but before the moon was up and noticed two planets high in the South, Jupiter trailed by Saturn, I think. 

Fireflies

Blue jay greed is bottomless.  They took far more than their fair share of bark butter.  A mockingbird posed on the pool railing.  I think it had come for hackberries.

Clouds looked threatening at times and kept the temperature down somewhat.  One of the three monarch chrysalises had a tear that I hope was a sign of the butterfly about to emerge.  I could see faint wing markings inside the chrysalis of the other two. The big carpenter bees got into aerial battles. 

Skinks enjoyed the afternoon heat.  A male goldfinch came for a drink.  I expect the female was incubating eggs.  A brown thrasher hunted in the grass, then went to the trees for berries.  The mockingbird came back.  A female downy woodpecker preferred bark butter.

When I walked down to the dock I surprised a lot of scurrying on the mud but everything quickly disappeared.  Several male amberwings found perches barely above water.  A female jumped on the male I was photographing.  She then dotted the water with eggs which minnows promptly gobbled.  A great blue heron flew past and landed on the dam.

I spotted a mahogany green jumper on a canna leaf.  A couple of Carolina wrens made a fuss over the bark butter.  The sand wasp was back.  I took pity on a monarch caterpillar and moved it to a fresh plant.  In the middle of a zoom meeting I realized there was a male kingfisher on a dock piling.  After the meeting, I went outside in the warm twilight and discovered that there were still plenty of fireflies.  I couldn't see them from indoors.

Hints of Autumn

A male red bellied woodpecker did chin-ups for breakfast.  Then the bluebirds arrived, both looking a bit worn out from parenting.

I happened to look out a window mid morning, and there were geese pooping on the patio.  I hustled outside to run them off and surprised a juvenile night heron.  I don't know where it had been, but it flew up to the roof and I tried to get a picture but it flew away.  I found handkerchief spiderwebs in the grass, almost invisible without dew.

After lunch I went back out because I had a meeting later.  A very tattered skimmer clung to a bamboo perch.  The dogwoods were beginning to feel like Fall.  Blue jays were upset about something, screeching and carrying on.  I saw a black swallowtail, a tiger swallowtail, a monarch, and a sulphur, but only the black swallowtail lingered.