Many birds

The male hummer came early, possibly to avoid being chased by a female.  He was followed by a female downy woodpecker who gave the hummer feeder a harsh stare.  The bird thinks the suet should be there.  Rather than leave empty, she nibbled some barkbutter.  Then a bluebird did the same.  A female goldfinch drank form the ant moat.  Then a female red bellied woodpecker imitated the downy.  Brown headed nuthatches arrived and split up, one for seeds and the other for barkbutter.  A male pine warbler also wanted barkbutter. 

 I didn't take the camera to pick figs, but all I saw were a mockingbird and a bald-faced hornet.  There was a light breeze through the side yard and it wasn't as hot as I'd feared, but a sprinkle of rain convinced me to go back inside.  A black swallowtail drank from the butterfly milkweed.    A five lined skink was well camouflaged on the step.  The usual bees and wasps, and a fiery skipper, covered the mountain mint.  A female slaty skimmer used the perch by the steps, but moved when I walked past.  I saw an amberwing but it flew away.    

I found a frog in the pool skimmer.  It shot out the opening and tried to hide in my swimsuit.  I later caught it in the deep end.  There were seedpods on the butterfly milkweed.  After swimming, I ran out of battery and when I swapped, the other battery had no juice.  I must have forgotten to charge it.  So naturally, that's when another wave of birds arrived.  A mockingbird helped itself to a barkbutter ball.  Brown headed nuthatches came in pairs, that is, I only saw two at a time but I think there were four.  A female bluebird also craved a bite of barkbutter.  The woodpeckers and the pine warbler returned.  And a little after 5pm the rain began in earnest. 

So humid

At breakfast, the windows were fogged and everything dripped.  Hardly any air movement mitigated the misery.  Why did I ever want to explore the Amazon?  Fortunately, as the day warmed, the humidity dropped.  The brown headed nuthatch joined the usual seed eaters.  Hummers objected to the main feeder but found the little one.  Sawflies defoliated the hibiscus because I couldn't spray during rain spells.  Spider mites went to work on the mountain mint and the rosemary.  I glimpsed a dragonfly in the morning.  Another used one of the perches.  A red and black fly sat on one of the outdoor chairs.  I chased a frog around the pool.  Skinks scampered across the patio.  Cicadas sang.  

First frog

K picked figs so I picked blueberries till the sweat ran into my eyes and dripped off my nose.  But I got more than a quart before I gave in and threw myself into the water.   A smallish green frog was in the pool skimmer.  I had left the camera in the house because of predicted thunderstorms.  I managed to carry the frog to the door but when i tried to transfer it to my left hand, it wiggled free and belly-flopped to the concrete.  I got a couple of pictures while it recovered.  This episode convinced me to keep the camera with me.  That meant that when the rain began, I had to make a dash to get the camera indoors.  A yellow crowned night heron also dashed for cover in a pine tree.  I sat in the rain for a while but the temperature was falling, the wind was rising, and the lightning was coming closer.  We lost power briefly while I was showering the leaves and twigs out of my hair.  A second storm blew through around 7pm. 

Very hot

Early in the day, a cicada killer came bumping wt the glass, and then flew on about its business.  A hummer objected to the sugar water in its feeder so K hung a fresh batch. I very carefully rescued a large black bee and some brown beetles.  But I saw a skink dash after something in the air, maybe a jumping cricket?  As I dripped dry, a skink sunbathed on the step.  Turtles gathered on their log.   An egret fished under the bulkhead.  A four spotted pennant used one of the dragonfly perches. Then a slaty skimmer took possession  The underside of  black bee's abdomen collected pollen.  And it was still over 90 after sunset. 

Skinklet

I almost didn't see the tiny skink in the water.  It looked like it wasn't long out of the egg.  It squirmed out of my hand but tried to hide between my toes.  Fiery skippers competed with bees and wasps for mountain mint nectar.  The humidity fogged the camera lens.which created some eerie photos.  K picked the first batch of figs.  A squirrel went out on a limb to indulge in wild cherries. A tiny pale jumping spider hiked along the railing.  I would have said it was a magnolia green jumper if it had been green.  I appear to have lost the battles against spider mites and hibiscus sawflies.  

Yellow birds

A pair of goldfinches came for a drink and a look around.   Later a rumpled pine warbler checked out the barkbutter balls as they turned mushy in the rain.  A black swallowtail looked very small but it was an illusion because the pattern that outlined the wings blended in with the rue.  Rain came in waves all afternoon.  

Hairstreak

I admired the flowers in the front since the day lilies and hibiscus finished in back.  The mountain mint had its usual complement of bees and wasps, plus a black and white banded sand wasp.  And a gray hairstreak butterfly Strymon melinus visited the mountain mint.  

The black swallowtail caterpillar hadn't gone far.  A dragonfly took the perch outside my window. A swamp cicada, Neotibicen tibicen, for some strange reason. clung to the patio concrete.  In the afternoon, the sky clouded over and threatened, but didn't deliver.  I swam anyway and rescued beetles and a mama spider.  The wind kept blowing needles and leaves into the water faster than I could clean up.  

Mountain mint

A little brown click beetle rescued itself.  The caterpillar was in the same place on the parsley which doesn't bode well.  A female slaty skimmer perched outside my window.  Later a blue dasher male took that perch.  

Mary Reid Barrow wrote about her mountain mint which seems to have the same insects as mine.  The bees' and wasps' little dramas of harassment never lead to harm.  The duskywing was back.  

Hummers drank the feeder dry, which is better than having the sugar water go bad.  I caught a goldfinch in flight!  A couple of half-grown mallards paddled by and a couple of egrets flew over the new dock downstream. 

There were still cherries on the tree but they shriveled in the heat.  I'm surprised that the birds haven't been as interested in the cherries this year.  

More dragonflies

I took some blue eyed grass seeds out to the front yard and it was like walking into a laundry, steamy with no breeze.  Speaking of laundry, the garage was more like an oven.  Then I decided I need more blueberries for the cobbler.  Fortunately they were in the shade but unfortunately there wasn't much more breeze.  My hair sweat till I got saltwater in my eyes.

Hummingbirds made frequent visits.  A snout butterfly discovered the mountain mint.  A lovely male Eastern pondhawk staked out a spot on the patio near the mountain mint.  I could not see what he was catching.  The bees and wasps ignored him.  There were several great golden digger wasps and some great black wasps.  A female slaty skimmer used the perch on the other side of the mountain mint and a female amberwing found the short stake that was supposed to hold the butterfly milkweed back from the steps.  I found a caterpillar on the bolted parsley.  

There was nothing to speak of in the pool except a spider and a few May beetles, and lots of wind-blown needles and other plant shreds.  When I got out, a  male slaty skimmer zipped past me leaving an impression like a huge black wasp.  I think it was using the perch further along the retaining wall.  High-flying twelve spotted skimmers not only chased bugs, they fought aerial duels amongst themselves.   Clouds frequently passed in front of the sun and some time after 5pm a really big, dark cloud streamed by overhead.  Finally, fat drops fell and I heeded their warning.  The thunder didn't start till I got to the garage, but by the time I had changed, the storm had become a gully-washer.  

Amberwing

A female hummer posed for pictures while feeding.  Why can't the male be like that?   A five-lined skink crossed the step and headed into the foliage behind the birdbath, then changed its mind.  The dog sunbathed for a short while. 

A male Eastern Amberwing dragonfly nestled among the mountain mint flowers but I don't think he was there to catch bees.  A blue dasher watched from the bird feeder hanger.  A couple of great black wasps joined the great golden digger wasps on the mountain mint  Both species act like they've had too much coffee.  There were no new kinds of bees that I could see, but a fiery skipper joined the feast.  

Raccoons had left their muddy paw prints all around the rim of the pool.  I rescued a wasp and a mama spider, very carefully.  Lots of plant debris blew into the pool yesterday but only a few beetles plus the wasp and spider.  The air seemed very hazy and I read later that the air quality was poor.  . 

Hot wind

Clouds blew rapidly to the Northeast and ground-level gusts were strong enough to blow spray in my face.  Birds mostly lay low though I did see one hummer chase another away from the feeder.  A pair of cardinals shared the seed feeder until they ate enough to trip the counterweight.  

The bee and wasp crowd at the mountain mint were not diminished, but some gusts carried off a cloud of bees that quickly returned to their dinner.  Two fiery skippers were among them, and a couple of twitchy great black wasps.  

Cloudbeams

I was up an hour early but the wildlife wasn't.  In the afternoon, wet looking clouds passed over but nothing happened except for the shadows they cast on the sky. 

The feather-shedding pine warbler wanted to know if I was going to refill the barkbutter balls.  A bluebird had the same question.  The hummers were hungry. 

Bees, wasps and the same tattered duskywing worked on the mountain mint and occasionally the butterfly milkweed.  I saw a monarch, but either it missed the milkweed or it wasn't interested.  In the pool I rescued a sharpshooter and a green Junebug beetle.  A sidewalk tiger beetle had drowned.  A damselfly blinked in and out of the sunlight as it cruised inches above the water.  Fireflies were still blinking in the twilight.  

The hackberry (sugarberry?) made berries this year but they were still green.  A squirrel went through gymnastics to reach the wild cherries.  I got sticky and bugged picking blueberries.  To each his own berry. 

Mysterious bubbles

The ragamuffin pine warbler was back.  The many varieties of bees and wasps returned to the mountain mint as did a tattered duskywing.  Blue dashers and a female slaty skimmer found perches while other dragonflies flew too fast for identification.  Twelve spotted skimmers patrolled the air at treetop height.  A sizable caterpillar munched bolted parsley under the maple tree.  I coaxed the unidentified bug onto my finger for a closer look.  I'm still thinking beetle, but... 

Seven mallards snoozed together beside the creek.  The males were in eclipse so they all looked pretty drab.  A yellow crowned night heron pretended to be a statue atop one of the posts on the new dock.  Something (methane?) made bubbled that broke the surface of the creek.  It looked like tiny underwater volcanoes.  The clouds that moved in during the afternoon finally began to drip around 8:30pm.  

Butterfly!

A Carolina wren greeted the morning.  A bluebird finally showed up in the middle of the morning.  A molting female cardinal had a punk hairdo.  I saw the male hummer but only got pictures of females.  A very molty pine warbler wanted barkbutter balls. 

When the sun reached the mountain mint, a buckeye refused to be dislodged from the delicious flowers, no matter how many bees and wasps buzzed around.  A slaty skimmer used a dried up gladiolus stalk as a perch.  Later in the day, a duskywing enjoyed the mountain mint.  Two great golden digger wasps joined the crowd.  I still haven't identified the odd black bug with a yellow patch on its back. 

A full grown skink scooted across the patio and under the chair.  In the late afternoon, I saved a nearly grown five lined skink that had fallen into the pool.  It was not very grateful.  

The sun was bright all day though clouds caused it to wink.  The South wind was hot but it managed to cool overheated skin.  A cormorant dried out on the neighbors' floating dock.  A great blue heron perched on one of the posts for tying up the boat we don't have.  

Poop!

Between flies and storms, I thought morning would be the safest time to be outside.  The sun was scorching but the water was refreshing.  Unfortunately, geese had pooped everywhere.  It took too much time in the sun cleaning up their mess.  I pried a June beetle off the skimmer handle and saw a couple of Japanese beetles and some sweat bees in the water, but mostly goose feathers.  The mountain mint was very busy.  A fiery skipper darted in then as quickly left.  But there were all kinds of bees everywhere.  Wasps were present but not as many as the bees.  When I sprayed the hibiscus I scared something away.It might have been a hummer or a hummingbird moth, or possibly a cicada.  

A tiny skink scampered into the shade.  Later I saw an adult.  So far I haven't had any in the pool.  A black swallowtail passed through without stopping at the rue, so I figured it was a male.

A female cardinal chased another that had the nerve to visit the feeder.  One of them chased something in the rue.  The brown headed nuthatch was back.  The male hummer was back.  I still haven't got a picture of his ruby throat catching the sun.  

Two-fer

A brown headed nuthatch and a hummer entertained at breakfast Friday.  Then I drove to Richmond and came back home Saturday.  Traffic was horrible in both directions.  

Additionally, close to Richmond Friday I encountered a white-out of a thunderstorm, including some hail.  I could see the wall of white ahead downhill and thought it was fog in the valley.  Then it began to bang on the roof and hood in a very un-foggy way.  Traffic slowed to about 10 mph and some drivers hid under overpasses.  I think it took me about a quarter of an hour to pass through the storm.  

While driving I also saw a fairy ring, a crow chasing a hawk, a buzzard soaring, and gulls around the HRBT.  A bug bounced off the windshield but later another bug splatted but the thunderstorm scrubbed the windshield clean.  Richmond, when I arrived, was dripping with humidity and puddled by the storm.  The sky cleared and the air got a bit drier toward evening.  There were birds but the only one I identified was an English sparrow.  

I didn't get home Saturday till nearly 7pm and clouds followed me.  Hummers told K that their juice had gone bad, but one used the wire hanger as a perch anyway.  

Humid

The rain made a dent in the temperature but compensated with higher humidity.  A few dragonflies feasted on the bugs the humidity encouraged.  They were after no-see-ums, not the bees and wasps frequenting the mountain mint. 

A juvenile yellow crowned night heron stalked crabs at the shoreline.

Downpour

A very happy squirrel discovered where K had dropped some sunflower seeds while refilling the feeder.   A blue jay wanted barkbutter.  Hummers, including the male, found the sugar water acceptable.  A pine warbler visited the barkbutter, 

A dragonfly used one of my perches.  A blue dasher perched on a plant stalk and showed up as a surprise in a daylily photo.  A skink felt the need to crosss the steps

The sky was blue in the morning but after lunch clouds gathered in the South.  The light dropped and the storm thundered through. The sky was still overcast at twilight when I let the dog out.  He startled me when he discovered a duck in the pool.  The duck tried to ignore the racket  but when I showed up, she flew off.

Back to hot

There was a Carolina wren very early in the morning.  Among the bees and wasps on the mountain mint, I saw a big wasp with a black-and-white banded abdomen.  Later, I caught a glimpse of the hummer's ruby throat.  

Drying out

Hungry bees covered the mountain mint.  They were in constant motion.  Small wasps tussled with each other.  I couldn't figure out whether they were fighting or mating. 

A white summer azure butterfly visited the mountain mint.  A black and yellow insect sat on one of the mountain mint flower heads.  One of the black carpenter bees was half yellow with pollen. 

Skinks needed to cross the patio.  Hummers visited the new feeder. I rescued a brightly colored wasp with metallic blue wings and a red abdomen.  A tiny spider built a web in the rue and a second instar caterpillar rested on a leaf.  A twelve spotted skimmer chased insects high in the air.  

All day rain

The temperature dropped to the low 70s.  I think that made birds hungry because there were plenty of them.  A pine warbler liked the rehydrated mealworms.  A downy woodpecker preferred soggy barkbutter balls. Several titmice were willing to eat anything.  The cardinals felt the same.  

A chickadee and a Carolina wren landed on the barkbutter ball dish at the same time and managed briefly to share.  A female bluebird looked weather-beaten but she may have been just molting.  A red bellied woodpecker also settled for barkbutter mush.  

Rain at last

The male red bellied woodpecker showed up but, of course, there was no suet.  Eventually he settled for barkbutter.  Then a male pine warbler had some mealworms.  Titmice went for sunflower seeds.  

I saw several hummingbirds, at least one male and two females.  Ripe cherries dangled in long strings from the tree, attracting a mockingbird.  The osprey coasted into its favorite pine perch.  I glimpsed a wren scuttling under the mountain mint.  Then the rain began.  

Later when the rain grew more gentle, a yellow crowned night heron hunted along the shoreline.  The pine warbler eyed the soggy soup of mealworms and barkbutter.  

More humid

I wondered if a clumsy house finch was blind but the photo revealed a broken leg.   A chickadee clung to the post like a nuthatch.  The ripe wild cherries got attention from birds but foliage frustrated me.   There was nothing of note floating in the pool or trapped in the skimmer, just the usual beetles and spiders.  A persistent mosquito bugged me by flying at my face repeatedly as I tried to smack or splash it into the water.  My face was the only part of me not submerged. 

A duskywing skipper joined the throng of bees and wasps at the mountain mint.  Skinks were out and about today, and I missed every one.  I also missed photographing the goldfinch pair, a brown headed nuthatch, a mockingbird, a blurbird, and a blue jay. 

 

 

Still hot, still dry

I took a picture of the last gladiolus and it was photobombed by an insect arrowing on the flower.  A pine warbler joined us for lunch.  He was molting. 

A brown headed nuthatch  also paid a lunchtime visit.  The mountain mint continued to attract bees and wasps, and a gray hairstreak, Strymon melinus.  A bumblebee harassed the butterfly till it left.  

A juvenile yellow crowned night heron occupied our dock.   It looked hot, like it was panting.  I could almost see the pool evaporate.

Felt like a furnace

It was as hot as two digits can get but the humidity was quite low.   A black swallowtail hid behind a hibiscus flower and I only saw it when I looked at the pictures.  A fiery skipper enjoyed mountain mint along with all the bees and wasps.  Two brown headed nuthatches visited.  

Hot and dry.

The afternoon thunderstorm never materialized.  A hummer was thirsty.  Bees were too. 

I fished a ball of furious motion out of the water and it resolved into a bee and a robber fly.  The bee flew off ant the fly just sat still on the concrete.  I don't know if the struggle in the water was each insect trying to use the other as a float, or if the fly had attacked the bee.  I also fished out an assassin bug nymph but it was dead.  

Smells of gunpowder

There were far fewer insects in the water today, but I did save a bristletail, along with a few ground beetles.  The mama spider was holed up in the niche where the pool steps attach to the pool wall.    

The male hummingbird was still hanging around.  A female perched on the wire holding the feeder.  A white breasted nuthatch visited the seed feeder but I'm afraid I startled it.  A young night heron perched on a post and slept. 

A nymph assassin bug lurked beneath the mountain mint flowers, rubbing its legs together like a villain in a melodrama.  I think the bees may have been too big for it because some came quite close before seeing the bug and darting away.  I saw sand wasps, mud wasps, and a common threadwaist and about six kinds of bee, including honeybees, also a leatherwing beetle.

A slaty skimmer used the bamboo stake nearest the mountain mint but was after much smaller prey than bees.  A twelve-spotted skimmer patrolled about 15 feet up and seemed to be catching lots of prey.  I had better luck than usual trying to take its picture.  Another dragonfly rode the topmost pine candle. 

The crescent moon was overhead in the afternoon and still above the trees at twilight.  Even more than the usual amount of illicit fireworks made continuous noise from 8 to 11pm.  But for all the booms and bangs, I saw no sparkles except for a few fireflies.  

Lots to see

Hummers started early and kept coming all day.  They've learned to rest on the wire hanger of the new feeder.  A house wren paid a breakfast visit to the mountain mint patch, presumably hunting for bugs.  The hibiscus was loaded with flowers.  

Many and varied were the bees on the mountain mint, plus several kinds of wasp and some flies.  Apis mellifera showed up.  Carpenter, leafcutter, and bumblebees were plentiful. I saw a great golden digger wasp, a sand wasp, and a common threadwaisted wasp.  

In the pool, I convinced a mama spider to take her brood to dry land.  A beetle rafted by on an oak leaf.  A green stinkbug scuttled away after rescue.  I had a difficult time trying to rescue wasps.  May beetles and a firefly were easier since I didn't need to worry about getting stung.  Although it was not windy like yesterday there were many more insects in the water. 

A male widow skimmer used the perch by the hibiscus and seemed to be finding plenty to eat.  A Halloween pennant clung to the topmost pine candle. 

In the middle of the afternoon, the predicted thunderstorm came South.  It was more noise than water, alas.  A male pine warbler snatched a quick bite before the storm.  Afterward, the sky cleared and I got a good view of the crescent moon.  Fireflies began to blink and humans made loud celebratory noises illegally. 

Hot wind

The wind gusts were a lot stronger than the weather service claimed.  And because the wind came from the Southwest, the water was pushed out of the creek.  Probably the wind was flooding Back Bay and Pungo. 

A brown headed nuthatch was up early to get a turn at the feeder.   The hibiscus flowers were already open.  I swapped out the hummer feeder but the hummingbird visits were very short, making me wonder if the sugar-water had gone bad. 

The butterfly milkweed produced more flowers.  Something big banged into the window, maybe a sphinx moth or a cicada killer?   At least four all-black carpenter bees fed on the mountain mint.  Leafcutter bees and others were there too.  A black swallowtail egged the rue.  A grown skink crossed the patio several times. 

I rescued a couple of click beetles, a firefly, too many brown May beetles and black ground beetles to count, leaf hoppers, and a half-drowned robber fly.   I also fished out a drowned stink bug and a damselfly.  A live damselfly perched on the pool rim.

Something yellow flew or blew up from the beautyberry into the dogwood.  I don't know if it was a tiger swallowtail, a goldfinch, or a dead leaf.  However, later the goldfinch pair landed on the ant moat.  They were gone before the camera was ready.  And I did see a tiger swallowtail yesterday.  

A beetle had gotten itself into the watering can.  I was able to extract it with a long grass-like leaf.  The overcast formed nodules of cloud in a pattern that looked like a botryoidal mineral deposit.  Tropical Storm Colin was not to blame because it dwindled to a depression and wandered off to sea. 

Still hot

A squirrel got up early to burgle the seed feeder.  When the robbery failed, the rodent hung out on the perch, keeping the birds away.   Petty!  I wondered if it was the same squirrel that fell off the other day. 

I spotted a hummer at the little feeder but I was on the wrong side of the hibiscus.  She flew away over the house.  A wren perched in the chainlink fence.  A blue jay scolded me for picking blueberries. 

Once it starts blooming, the mountain mint attracts an amazing variety of wasps and bees.  Skippers and other small butterflies like it, but not larger butterflies like the tiger swallowtail that sailed across the end of the pool. But because the individual flowers are tiny, the insects keep moving and make focusing hard.  I chased an interesting bumblebee around the stalks.  A dragonfly zipped past me as I was getting in the water.  I thought it was a pondhawk but couldn't be sure.  I noticed the beautyberry started blooming.