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.