August came to a sticky end

The storm last night dropped the temperature but kicked up the humidity till it was a misery.  We consulted with a shoreline restoration expert about getting our marsh back.  So we all stood down by the water and dripped sweat, or at least I did.  The dog had an attack of FOMO (fear of missing out) and insisted on joining K.  Then he explored the mud which, fortunately, was fairly firm.  There was no sign of the Argiope down there but I found one right outside my window and wondered it it was the same spider.  It had a huge web compared to the one in the little nook beside the rue.  Plenty of wasps and bees returned to the mountain mint.

The rain made porridge of the barkbutter balls but that didn't stop the birds.  A brown thrasher was too hungry to care about my camera.  Later I saw a Carolina wren on the feeder.  The cardinal papa was still feeding his offspring. 

I found two frogs in the skimmer and a skink swimming.  The smaller of the two frogs had wedged itself into a corner right under the lid so when I removed that, there it was, blinking.  The bigger frog had buried itself under the leaves and when I pulled the leaves away, it leaped back into the pool. I ignored it while I dealt with all the debris that the storm had blown into the water.  

Then I found the skink but it apparently thought I was a worse fate than drowning.  Eventually I caught it and as I swam back to the steps, I noticed that the frog had gotten out of the pool and was sitting on the concrete.  After giving me a chase, the skink decided to play dead, but eventually it ran away.

Storm in the night

I found the green bee again and the mantis.  I thought the Argiope had gone missing but it reappeared.  Since there were still some buds on the hibiscus, I neem-oiled it some more.  In doing so, I discovered a scary form hanging in the rue. I believe it was the shed exoskeleton of an assassin bug, possibly a wheelbug.

After dark, I heard thunder, wind, and rain.  That won't be good for the neem oil,or the barkbutter balls.  Because the birds disappeared, i put out barkbutter balls in addition to the suet.  I saw a Carolina wren make off with one of those.  Hummers found their feeder, eventually, after an inspection of the barkbutter balls.  

 

Green bee!

A male cardinal fed a fledgling that still had a dark beak.  I got both birds separately but not the tender moment.  I went after spider mites with neem oil and surprised a small brown mantis on the lavender.  I wonder if it was eating them?  

A cicada was floating on its back and when I fished it out, it proved quite alive and clingy.  My best guess is Megatibicen auletes.  It's the largest N. American cicada and I know I've heard them. I also evicted a frog.  A palamedes swallowtail teased me but never landed.  A summer azure flitted past the mountain mint and kept going.  

But then I found a bright green bee on the mountain mint. Because of the spider mites, I cut away a lot of the mountain mint flowers and I also sprayed neem oil on some that remained.  I don't know if the bees and wasps will forgive me.  One flew around my head urging me to go away. 

A flicker of movement revealed an amberwing dragonfly in the grass.  The Argiope by the rue still seemed prosperous.  Because a thunderstorm was in the forecast, I put out a fresh block of suet.  Despite that, I didn't see much in the way of birds except for chickadees.  The day seemed hot and muggy, especially while I was cutting mountain mint, but it wasn't as warm as it has been and the fitful breeze came from the North.  

 

Late summer

A couple of Carolina wrens showed up at the start of another hot day.  One threshed the sunflower seeds while the other tucked into the barkbutter balls.  

The hibiscus was about finished. An aster had a new flower.  Spider mites were suddenly all over the mountain mint.  That didn't seem to bother the bees and wasps but I bet they won't like my attempt to treat the infestation.  A pokeweed plant growing beside the feeder pole began to bloom.  A bracket fungus came up in the same spot as last year, growing on the dead roots of the oak we lost, I hope, and not on the living maple.  There were buds on the saltbush, hinting at autumn.  The mystery plant was covered with buds too.

For a while, a low, dark sheet of cloud worried me but it thinned into froth.  The Argiope next to the rue still seemed happy with its location.  I believe it has grown.  However, I could not see the other one down by the shore.  

I found a metallic blue-green bee in the skimmer and fished it out for a picture.  To my surprise it began to revive.  Meanwhile a honeybee fell into the water.  And a bold Polistes exclamens wasp got a drink right beside the mouth of the skimmer.  I heard a hummer's wings but didn't see it.  I did see some skinks, all living thankfully. 

Dog and birds

Another hot day energized the hummers - two streaked across the yard, one in pursuit of the other for daring to drink at the feeder.  Live skinks were moving fast, as well, but unfortunately I found three drowned ones in the skimmer.  I also found a live frog.  

There were sawflies all over the hibiscus - I hope they all get caught in the Argiope's web.  The basilica spider had an egg pearl hanging from an extra thick strand.  Some first instar swallowtail caterpillars munched on rue nearby.  Fruits on the dogwood were full grown and turning red.  A black mud wasp had to fly circles around the mountain mint every few minutes. Spidermites infested it.  A monarch flitted around but didn't land on the milkweed, so I suspect it was a male.  Instead, I found a cricket nymph on the milkweed.  

A Carolina wren was bold enough to seize a barkbutter ball while I sat nearby.  But a hummer buzzed around me and then left when I sat near its feeder.  The birds were more wary of Andy the dog than of me.  Andy, however didn't express much interest in them.  He did take notice of a cardinal, but that was it.  On the other hand, he ran off barking at something he smelled, maybe a rabbit or squirrel.  

Sick peppers

I was so busy, I didn't remember seeing anything.  But apparently I did get a photo of a lovely male Eastern pondhawk that landed on the concrete.  

Something turned two young, green peppers white and flabby, as though they had been attacked by a vegan vampire.  An Internet search left me puzzled.  Sunscald could have affected one pepper but not the other. Soft rot seems to affect old fruit, not young, growing peppers. The condition of the peppers reminded me of a fungus that attacks camellia leaves, but apparently it doesn't care for peppers.  

Sweltering

At breakfast I noticed a big cicada on the window screen.  K said it was there last night.  

I didn't get outside till after lunch, which made me nervous because it was prime time for a greenhead attack.  But none occurred.  I found another minuscule monarch caterpillar and moved it to the butterfly milkweed.  

There was a dead skinklet in the skimmer and a live one swimming.  I also rescued a wasp and several crickets.  Surprisingly few dragonflies were around but a Carolina saddlebags flew reconnaissance overhead. I saw a tiger and a black swallowtail. A hummer fed.  The young bluebirds kept watch on the empty suet cage. 

Skinks

The Argiope seemed very content in its cul-de-sac and by suppertime had dinner all wrapped up.  Wasps visited the rue as well as the mountain mint.  I found a teeny monarch caterpillar on the milkweed that always seems to be the butterflies' target and i transferred it, leaf and all, to the butterfly milkweed.  Not much later, a monarch visited the same milkweed and i suspect left more eggs.  I also saw black and tiger swallowtails.  A skipper joined the throng of bees and wasps on the mountain mint.  A robber fly appeared to expire while clinging to Andy's water bowl. 

Then I found a skink swimming.  It found me too and climbed my swimsuit out of the water.  It didn't want to leave my hand for dry land.  A frog in the skimmer did its best to elude me but in the end I got it out.  Another skink tried to wedge itself under the fascia board on the house.  A skink, possibly the same one, came down the wall beside the downspout and scared off a hummer.  

The suet cage was empty but it seemed each bird had to convince itself.  The fledgling bluebirds were particularly hardheaded.  A Carolina wren hunted in a red cedar. I heard a goldfinch flying over the yard.  Some hummers insisted in looking in the old locations for their feeder but at least one knew where it was.  A brown headed nuthatch sounded quite annoyed by the empty suet cage.  

Sunny all day

I didn't see anything of note till I got out of the water.  Then I startled a couple of skinks, one big, one small.  The small one darted into a hole then popped back out and frantically sought a different hole.  I guess the first one was occupied.  The big skink froze for a moment, then slipped into a crack.  A few minutes later, a small bluetailed skink sauntered across the patio. 

While waiting for yet another meeting to start, I looked out the window and saw a yellow crowned night heron hunting crabs at the water's edge.  Unfortunately a boat came by and the heron decided to relocate.  I got a glimpse through the foliage of turtles sunning on logs on the lake.  

Since the sun was still out in the afternoon I was able to get pictures of the web outside my West window.  The venusta orchard spider was active and its orange butt was unmistakable.  

Thunder

The bluebirds were back.  A Carolina wren joined the queue at the suet.  The hibiscus was still putting on a show but there weren't many buds left.  Both Argiopes were doing well.  I spotted a saddlebags dragonfly overhead when I got out of the water.  A soaring bird was hard to identify.  

A mockingbird in the midst of a bad molt tried to take over the suet from the bluebirds.  The brown headed nuthatches slipped past the commotion to get theirs. Then we had different woodpeckers show up.  The female red bellied dislodged a bluebird while the make downy was forced to wait.  

And then, around 2pm, thunder began cracking loud and close.  It didn't let up for over two hours though the rain cycled between light and deluge.  The bluebirds returned to the suet when the rain wasn't so heavy.  Finally, as evening was coming, on the storm ceased.  I went out to see if the hummer feeder had been diluted (it had), when several birds swooped across the sky chasing bugs.  I don't know if they were swallows or warblers.  I went back for my camera, too late, and was startled by a screech.  A small heron flew over as though it had an eagle on its tail.  

Dog and skink

A friend brought her dog over and Andy shed six of his twelve years to play with her.  At one point as they were romping outside,one of them startled a skink that shot across the patio in a blur.  As we sat and talked, all the birds came by to tease me for trying to be polite and not take pictures while entertaining company.  I saw three brown headed nuthatches, three or four bluebirds, cardinals, house finches, chickadees, and titmice.

After they'd gone home and I'd taken care of a promised article, I went swimming.  The first thing I saw was a big skink suspended vertically a few inches below the water's surface.  I assumed it was dead and took hold of it to dispose of it.  It wasn't dead and my touch brought it out of suspended animation.  In the air it wasn't quite as big, but it was full grown.  Since I'd left the camera indoors, I let the lizard run off.  

Multitudes of wasps and bees fed on the mountain mint.  I identified the large wasp with the red rear as Scolia dubia, the two-spotted scoliid wasp or blue-winged scoliid wasp, a predator on green June beetle larva.  I believe I saw a swallow.  I definitely saw a black swallowtail.  The usual mysterious rings of ripples appeared next to the shore of the creek.   And it looked to me like there were oysters growing on the bulkhead.  I got some pictures through the window of the venusta orchard spider.  A glass snail crossed the patio despite the heat.  A blue jay watched from the oak.  

Wet

The heat and humidity converged at 83 for a sticky, muggy day.  There was rain in the morning and again after dark. 

Distracted

What a rushed day!   I did get a swim and even verified that the figs are done.  But I didn't see much and remembered less.   We had a gloriously blue sky and I glimpsed a saddlebags dragonfly floating North.  The usual insects were abuzz on the mountain mint.  A green grasshopper nymph met me on the way to the figs.  

The spiders occupied their varied traps and I found a fine, new web spun by a venusta orchard spider outside my window.  

At supper time, brown headed nuthatches came for suet. 

Passing sprinkles

I found a morning glory blossom and the hibiscus was covered with flowers.  Juvenile bluebirds were still amusing, though they were learning how to behave.  Chickadees were thick and house finches and cardinals came for seeds.  A pine warbler got a little suet.  So did a Carolina wren.  

A goldfinch showed up to watch and get a drink. The brown headed nuthatches continued to come by for the free handouts.  A bald female cardinal took over the seed feeder.

The butterfly milkweed made three seedpods. The spiders all looked well fed.  I found a different caterpillar on the rue.  It might be a first instar giant swallowtail but that didn't look quite right. 

Humid

Morning humidity fogged the windows so I saw nothing at breakfast.  Then I had a meeting online.  When I looked outside, the creek seemed dusty but full of rings and mysterious surface commotion.  The shoreline Argiope had caught two meals.  I think one was a dragonfly.  

It was noon when I finally got in the pool, and then a big cloud sprinkled the patio and made shade for most of the next hour.  But that was all the rain there was.  I got a better picture of the basilica spider.  Black swallowtail caterpillars were all over the rue and two adult butterflies flitted around them.  One visited every herb, not just the parsley.  The rue had put out some fresh flowers, attracting paper and potter wasps, different from the wasps that prefer the mountain mint. 

I found a skipper on a daisy.  A monarch took note of the scrawny milkweed but not the butterfly milkweed surround by mountain mint.  Instead it investigated the hibiscus.  A blue dasher guarded the pool while a Carolina saddlebags patrolled the upper air. 

The fledgling bluebirds were wary of me but too hungry to stay away from the feeders.  They were followed by the squeaky, brown headed nuthatches.  Earlier, I observed a brown thrasher hunting bugs in the grass near the azalea.  A goldfinch male made a brief stop on a dead dogwood branch.  Then I got busy again

Molting season

I thought this would be the same pattern as yesterday but it wasn't.  An untidy brown thrasher breakfasted on barkbutter mush.  When I cleaned the pool today, I brought the camera, but there wasn't anything wanting a picture.  

After I got out, life got more interesting.  The usual bees and wasps twitched among the mountain mint flower heads.  A duskywing skipper wanted space on the mountain mint.  Then a black swallowtail wanted some too.  The confused swallowtail also visited plants that weren't blooming or suitable for caterpillars.  Clouds gathered slowly.    

A sidewalk tiger beetle posed, its legs looking impossibly thin.  It had a scary face.  The Argiope's web was a mess and it appeared to have caught something as big as itself.  Skinks basked in the intermittent sunshine or rushed about on important business.  

Hummers visited the feeder and I saw one on the canna, but I didn't get any photos.  The young bluebirds were enthralled with the fresh block of suet.  One bluebird caught a sawfly larva on the hibiscus!  They are welcome to all of them.  Papa tried to feed another fledgling on our roof, but it was awkward.  Then one fledgling bumped another off the suet.  They finally agreed to share. 

A messy-feathered mockingbird tried to decide whether to visit the feeders.  I think it was a fledgling but it could have been a molting adult.  Thunder rumbled, the camera battery died, and I took those as signs to come in.  A moment later, with a fresh battery, I noticed a beetle on the arm of the chair I'd just been sitting in.  It looked like a weevil of some sort.  I never saw any rain though K said the pavement got wet.  

Rinse and repeat

Today followed the same pattern as yesterday except that it was not unpleasantly hot.  Rain had ruined the hummer juice and the barkbutter balls.  The bluebird fledglings made many visits to the remaining morsel of suet, as did chickadees and titmice.   I saw a male goldfinch and a brown thrasher but they were too quick for me.  A disheveled, molting mockingbird was also interested.  Then three brown headed nuthatches took a turn.  

I spent most of my time in the pool cleaning up debris.  The only animals were a defunct centipede, a frog I evicted, and a few wasps, including a Polistes exclamans.   We ate lunch outside since the temperature was nice, but unfortunately, flies found our food irresistible.  Hummers were frequent visitors during and after lunch but some continued to look where the feeder used to be.  They also found the red hibiscus flowers attractive.  Blue jays flew among the trees but I was too close to the food so they stayed away. 

The temperature was just right for skinks, which found reasons to repeatedly cross the patio.  One crossed the step only to encounter another who was uninterested in company.  A duskywing and a fiery skipper joined the hymenoptera on the mountain mint.  I also saw a monarch and a tiger swallowtail.  The clouds thickened and covered the sky by mid afternoon again, but the rain didn't start for several more hours.  

The rains came

The hibiscus began its second round of blooming.  A female goldfinch got a drink from the ant moat.  Since rain was predicted, K picked what was probably the last harvest of figs.   I missed swimming in the morning and faced the almost shadeless mid day.  The first thing I saw was a small skink trying to climb out at the top step.  I gave it a little boost. 

Afterward, I checked on the Argiope and noticed that one hibiscus flower had been shredded while still in the bud.   While I was focused on the spider, a hummer came to the feeder.  I didn't want to startle it by turning to look, but the wing beats thrummed.  All sizes of bees and wasps continued to feed on the mountain mint.  Blue dashers guarded the pool.  Then I remembered to check on the other Argiope by the creek edge.  It's dorsal side faced the water while the spinnerets were what I saw from the land.  The basilica web looked fresh but the spider was hard to see.  A black swallowtail flitted around the rue and a fiery skipper worked on the mountain mint. 

Though the afternoon started as another scorcher,passing clouds got thicker and darker and thunder began a steady rumble.  Wind gusts threw pine needles and leaf shreds into the water.  By 4pm I saw occasional flashes of lightning but the rain still held off.  When the rain finally began around 4:30, it came down hard and lasted into an early twilight. Thunder continued to rumble for hours.  

Very hot and humid

When I sat beside the hummer feeder because I wanted to toss pistachio shells into the mulch, I heard the wingbeats of the hummingbird.  It did notsound like humming to me.  

 

Heat index = broil

I made potato salad and was late getting outside and running low on shade, so I left the camera inside and missed photographing the frog and an assassin bug.  It was very hot so wasps were delicately getting a drink from the pool.  When I thought I was sufficiently cool, I picked figs.  There were fewer rotting on the tree than last time, but sometimes I couldn't tell till my fingers sank into a nasty mess.  I expected a lot of insects and birds, but maybe it was too hot for them.  A fiery skipper worked on the spearmint.  Blue dashers surrounded the pool, obelisking.  

When I checked on the Argiope and it was still in its nook.  At lunch, a pine warbler braved the heat for some suet. It looked a bit moth-eaten, presumably molting.  A hummer reminded me that I had started to change the sugar water and never finished.  A slaty skimmer used the perch by my window even though I disturbed it on my way to the figs and back.  Another Argiope set up shop between spartina and saltbush at the water's edge. 

Some rosy cumulus drifted out of the West in the evening.  Haze made it hard to locate the crescent moon.  A hummer made a brief visit to the feeder.  

Dog days

Yes, at this time of year Sirius rises just before the sun, not that I plan to rise and see it. (Or the Perseids either)  But today marked the arrival of Andy in our household.  He is the first pet in 45 years.  I do not count my ill-fated attempt to raise pheasants decades ago.  

I rescued various bees and beetles from the water, including a sidewalk tiger.  A sycamore leaf had a crab spider and one of the multitude of brown scarab Junebugs rafting on it.  I put the leaf on the concrete but the critters did not believe they were out of the water and scurried around the leaf and over each other.  A large brown click beetle I rescued dashed back into the water.  I hauled it out again and after kicking the air for a while, it died.  Apparently there are a whole lot of plain brown click beetles and this one was only notable for its size so click beetle is as close as I could get.  

The Argiope was still in its space between plants.  A widow skimmer used the perch behind my room.  I saw a black and a tiger swallowtail.  Two hummers got into an aerial battle over the feeder but another still searched hopefully where it used to hang. 

A Carolina wren played peek-a-boo with me but eventually I caught it.  Three fiery skippers flitted around the lantana out front.  There were dragonflies out there too but they hid from me. Toward evening a swallow and some 12 spotted skimmers chased insects higher in the air column.  An egret landed under the bulkhead.  After sunset, but still 90° out, I got pictures of the crescent moon.  

Sweaty day

 A blue jay wanted a barkbutter breakfast but was nervous about actually landing on the dish.  

I felt it was time to spray Neem oil again but when I started to spray the lavender up popped a small brown praying mantis.  I scooted it to the side and tried to interest it in another location.  Nope.  Back it went to the lavender.  I learned that mantises too young to have wings can hop.  The mantis was excellently camouflaged.

The sun transformed a perched male blue dasher into a jewel.  A fiery skipper joined the bees and wasps on the mountain mint.  Then a duskywing showed up.  Several skinks hotfooted it across the concrete.  Two black swallowtails flitted around but only one laid eggs in the rue.  A female blue dasher perched on an old gladiolus spike. 

Hummers were very thirsty.  A pair of wrens investigated.  A swallow flew by, calling,or I would have missed it.

I passed a larger slaty skimmer on my way to pick figs. There were plenty that had ripened since the rain, but even more fermenting, rotting,and growing mold .I didn't realize till I came back inside how hot I'd gotten. K said there was another praying mantis among the figs, but it was green. 

Frog and Skink are not Friends

The purslane (Portulaca) responded to the sunshine with an explosion of orange flowers.  But the bees and wasps and even a black swallowtail preferred the inconspicuous mountain mint flowers.  

I "rescued" a frog and a skink both of which did their best to evade me.  A honeybee, a cricket , a tiny black spider, small wasps, and beetles were more cooperative.  I made the frog and the skink pose.  

A few dragonflies were around, including a Needham's skimmer that never landed.  The beautyberry bush had little green berries.  The neighbor's elderberry was loaded with purple fruit.  A big carpenter bee pollinated the ground cherry's bell-shaped flowers.  The butterfly milkweed had a new pod.  The Argiope had a fine new web.  A couple of skinks went chasing through the mulch.  Later, one crossed the steps.  

The sun came back

The sky cleared around mid day.   At lunch K noticed a very small skink. The bees and wasps came back to the mountain mint.  An odd, yellow and black beetle joined them.  At first I thought it was some kind of soldier beetle, but my best guess is that it was an elderberry borer Desmocerus palliatus.  But I couldn't see the long antennae that is supposed to have.  The Horse guard wasp was back. 

 A mockingbird scouted the suet but changed its mind.  Bluebirds took over as the fledglings joined their mother on the suet.  A blue jay poked the knothole on the dead oak limb. 

Things that got away without a picture: a swallow flew right over me,  A brown thrasher went to the feeder while I was on the water.  A monarch butterfly grabbed a drink of mountain mint, but didn't pay any attention to the butterfly milkweed.  

Rain

A Carolina wren used the suet as shelter as well as brunch.  I picked my five pimentos and need to decide what to do with them.  The male pine warbler showed up quite frequently.  So did a brown headed nuthatch.  The suet cage was crowded!  

During a lull, I checked on the Argionpe.  It was pumping the web like a child on a swing, possibly to shake the water off.  While I was watching the spider, a blue jay landed on the suet and called me names for being too close.  I also noticed a glass snail, on a leaf for a change. 

A molting brown thrasher struggled to get its remaining feathers in order.  A black swallowtail fluttered around the rue.  Wasps joined the bees on the mountain mint, working through the rain.  During a lull, I went swimming and rescued a spider with a load of spiderlings. 

A second beautiful day

In the late morning I decided to pick blueberries.  The rain had revived them and I got nearly two pints, but many were mushy so those went into jam.  I saw some sort of bug zipping between trees.  An osprey sailed overhead.   Then a tiger swallowtail landed on a dogwood leaf in the sun.  It's had a rough life - there were nips out of its wings and one tail was missing. 

After lunch, brown headed nuthatches arrived.  So did downy woodpeckers.  A blue dasher kept an eye on things while I attended Zoom meetings.  Only one turtle soaked up sun warmth. 

 When I finally got in the pool, the water was still high and cool.  I had hoped the sun would have more effect.  A spider mother-to-be took fright at me and dashed across the water clutching her pearl full of eggs.  I had to rescue her before she got sucked into the skimmer.  I also rescued a sidewalk tiger beetle, a little brown click beetle, and a big green June beetle.  Then, in the deep end, I found a young skink swimming for dear life.  So I carried it back to the shallows and took some pictures.  I saw a brown thrasher, but I had my hands full. 

After I got out and dripped for a while, I spied a leaf in the oak that wasn't a leaf.  It was the hummer that can't find the feeder.  A blue jay checked out the knothole next to the woodpecker holes, the same spot the nuthatch investigated earlier.  Meanwhile, K had picked figs because rain was in the forecast. Bees were very busy with the mountain mint but wasps were scarce. 

I sat outside in the twilight and saw a bat!  There was no moon as the waning crescent will rise in the early morning, and haze obscured the stars.  There weren't any fireflies either, just crickets stridulating. 

Wheelbug

In the morning, the pine warbler had a few happy moments with the suet.  Then a Carolina wren took over.  A beautiful day followed that seemed more like early June than early August.  The temperature barely touched 80.  I saw two sizable skinks but wasn't quick enough to get a picture. 

 A few leafcutter bees joined the honeybees on the mountain mint.  I do wonder whose hive I'm supporting.  A bumble-ish sort of bee preferred the butterfly milkweed.  The Argiope and the basilica spiders hadn't moved.  The digger wasps reappeared, both black and golden.  So did threadwaisted wasps. 

Between the rainwater and the cooler day, the pool no longer felt like bathwater.  A small wheelbug paddled genteelly in the water, but was happy to be rescued.  Several snails clung to the sides of the pool above the water. 

The oak limb that I speculated was dead had two big, recent woodpecker holes.  It will make quite a crash when it breaks and falls. 

Rain and fledglings

The low temperature and the wind combined with the rain to make a miserable, dank, chilly day for birds.  I think they needed lots of food to make up for the weather.  Fledgling bluebirds gathered around the suet.  One bird was soaking wet but others looked dry.  A downy woodpecker had to reassert ownership of the suet.  At least three brown headed nuthatches made repeat visits to both seeds and suet.  

A hummingbird could not seem to see its feeder.  Finally, it or another did find the larger, redder feeder that I had put out to try to get them retrained.  

A grumpy-looking Carolina wren worked on the suet in the rain.  A pine warbler followed.  Then a female red bellied woodpecker wanted some.  Meanwhile, chickadees, cardinals, titmice, and house finches ate sunflower seeds.  A brown thrasher stayed below.  Blue jays wanted barkbutter balls but I wasn't going to waste them in the rain.  

At lunch time, one fledgling bluebird got the hang of the suet cage, sharing with a wren.  But two others waited for Mama to bring them bites all of two feet away.  Nuthatches and the pine warbler also were willing to share the suet.  

After lunch, I checked on the hummer feeder to make sure the rain hadn't gotten in.  While I was there, I made sure the Argiope was OK.  It had made a very minimalist orb web.  Honeybees were busy with the mountain mint but native insects had better sense.  

By late afternoon the rain had slacked off though the humidity was so high it made little difference.  A blue jay decided that there wasn't going to be barkbutter and it might as well eat suet.  I think it was a young one as its black hood was more like gray.  A hummer went right to its feeder with no nonsense about former locations.  The wren was back and maybe the brown thrasher too.  

Gray

Sprinkles flirted with us all day and it was much cooler.  Before the showers started, K picked blueberries and I gathered figs.  A Carolina wren showed up early, then a female bluebird.  She was closely observed by a fledgling as she ate suet.  The wren and a titmouse tried to share the suet, but I think that made it swing too much.  Then a brown headed nuthatch went after the suet, followed by a downy woodpecker.  The pine warbler was back for more.  And a female red bellied woodpecker succumbed to the lure of suet. 

A male ruby throat looked for the hummer feeder where it used to be then gave up.  Later a female found it.  

Honeybees thronged the mountain mint but some of the natives stayed away.  I saw bumble and carpenter and leafcutter bees, scoliid wasps and digger wasps.  The Argiope spider seemed to be doing well between the hibiscus and the rue.  A basilica spider was nearby.  The fungus by the oak tree was massive.  

Hungry birds & bees

A blue jay and a brown thrasher discussed the empty state of the barkbutter ball dish.  A male pine warbler went for suet instead.  Then a female bluebird took over. The brown headed nuthatches seemed to be everywhere because they liked all the different foods.  Of course a downy woodpecker had to assert ownership. 

The blue jays came back after I refilled the dish.  I think they may have been fledglings.  I found a defunct cicada floating.  An osprey alerted me with its musical cries.  I also heard and glimpsed a swallow.  Honeybees were the most common insect on the mountain mint but I also saw a great black wasp, lots of golden digger wasps and scoliid wasps, bumble, carpenter, leafcutter, and other bees.

Rainy day

The rain ended around 4pm but the air was stiflingly humid, and full of mosquitoes.  

I learned from a friend's post that a wasp I've seen is called a  "horse guard" Stictia carolina because it eats greenheads Tabanus fulvulus!