In the morning, blue jays carried off beak-fulls of barkbutter balls. (That would make a good tongue-twister.) Mockingbirds had the same desire but not the beak capacity. The mockingbird also appreciated the refilled birdbath, but for drinking not bathing. Next the bluebirds took their share of barkbutter balls.
The gladiolus leaves have been lush but finally flower buds appeared on one stalk. A lot of daylily buds looked about to pop open. The butterfly milkweed had clusters of buds, but they were still small and tight. The mountain mint looked about to make flowers. Buds like drops of white wax covered the sakaki but I think they won't open for a month. And there are still some buds on the yellow rose. I deadheaded both the yellow and the red in hopes of more flowers.
I saw a couple of skinks, one reg faced and ready for love, the other still with a blue tail. The juvenile skink got a drink from the birdbath. Soldier beetles mated on the bolted parsley. I got tired of waiting for the weather to warm up and got in the pool. The temperature of the air would have been ok if not for the wind, and the water was endurable. But the rest of the week is supposed to be cooler. This is the coldest May I can remember.
While I was reading outside, a wary white breasted nuthatch made several visits to the sunflower seeds. The pileated woodpeckers made several passes at the suet without landing. Apparently I was too close for comfort because not long after I went inside, the female landed and started consuming suet. A brown headed nuthatch ignored her and went straight to the sunflower seeds. So did chickadees.
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