So many photos!

There were simply a lot of interesting sights today and I completely missed photographing the skink, the dragonfly, and the maple pinwheels.  The sky rotated through cycles of sunshine and clouds which kept the temperature in the 60s.  At breakfast, we were joined by the pair of mockingbirds, a brown thrasher, the female pileated woodpecker, and briefly a bluebird.  I spotted a yellow rumped warbler in the trees. 

The Solomon's seal popped up and immediately dangled flowers.I mean, the plants were not even visible on Wednesday.  Poison ivy shot up several tree trunks.  I think everything had leafed out except the hackberry.  The turtle log looked like a commuter train. 

Crows called my attention to an unfortunate fish lying many feet from the water.  I assume they had harassed an osprey or eagle, or possibly a heron, till it dropped the children's lunch.  The soft parts were gone and the crows picking at the fish were having difficulty penetrating the scales.  My best guess is that it was a spotted seatrout.  

The crows and fish attracted the attention of a green heron, the first I saw this year.  With a shovel I carried the carcass down to the water and dumped it for the crabs to enjoy.  It was beginning to smell pretty strong and attract flies.  Besides, the crows certainly did not catch a fish that size so they weren't entitled to it.  

Along with disposing of the fish, we hung the new birdhouse.  I owe K for the knots, but I believe it was a two-person job.   The birdhouses are assembled from sheets of recycled plastic printed by a company that called them Tweet Tweet Home.  I thought they were out of business but Amazon still listed some for sale.  Lots of negative reviews by idiots who expected wood or didn't have the gumption to hang it securely.  Harrumpf.  

I plopped down outside which frustrated the birds that wanted suet.  A mockingbird got bold.  White throated sparrows ignored me as they gleaned fallen crumbs.  A tiger swallowtail ignored my frantic chasing after it with the lens.  But the wretched tease would not land anywhere.  I had better luck with an odd bee, at least I think it was a bee.  It was small and black and appeared to have yellow pollen bags.  Wasps don't collect pollen.  

I went indoors and that brought the bluebirds, at least two males, and a starling.  A brown thrasher appeared to clean up the starling's mess.  A pale pine warbler and a goldfinch watched a bluebird eat suet.  And then a female hummingbird sailed in to the hummer feeder.  She didn't stay long because the blasted feral cat showed up.  (Where was it when the fish was lying in the grass, just waiting?)  

After the cat gave up and left, a brown headed nuthatch came for supper.  It couldn't get a seed because a cardinal was on the perch so the nuthatch had suet.  But as son as the cardinal left, the nuthatch abandoned the suet for a sunflower seed.  A couple of egrets fussed at each other for encroachment.  Great egrets invented social distancing. A blue jay hunted crumbs on the steps where occasionally I saw its head bob up.  And that was almost twelve hours after the beginning of this photo safari.