At lunchtime, a painted skimmer dragonfly. Libellula semifasciata, used one of my stakes as a perch.
The temperature went over 90°, breaking the record, so I got in the pool which was only 72°. I rescued numerous black beetles and a few wasps. One wasp rescued itself, climbing the vertical pool liner. An earwig rafted on a leaf but I couldn't reach it. A black bee was alive when I rescued it but appeared dead when I checked on it later. As I stood there, a big skink popped out of the flower bed and then saw me . Instead of going back into the plants, the lizard sneaked around me along the edge of the the pool. The bee never did revive.
Two pairs of cardinals disputed possession of the seed feeder. Bluebirds also acted territorial, and one seemed to be panting in the heat. A red bellied woodpecker gave up on the suet to get away from the feuding cardinals. I heard a mockingbird run through its repertoire up in the pecan, but I never saw it. I did see a green heron that I startled.
I saw several spiders. The first was a jumper that I think had been rafting on the first beetle I rescued. Then I fished a crab spider out of the water and it menaced me. Finally, another spider was waiting at the door to the house. it scuttled off looking rather guilty, I thought. Apparently it was a "stealthy ground spider, Cesonia bilineata, so maybe I was right. I took a handful of photos of a silver spotted skipper on the money plant and not a single one came out right.
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