I was afraid it was an emerald ash borer but it matched the red-legged metallic wood boring beetle, Buprestis rufipes. Wood boring beetles are often beautiful and destructive but this one apparently prefers dead wood. I suspect it might have come from the oak limb that fell in the storm. Several blue mud daubers,Chalybion californicum, fed on the rue. They seemed smaller than usual. Paper wasps bustled all around the flowers and plants. I saw honeybees on the mountain mint, and leather wing soldier beetles, of course.
Blueberries began to ripen and the recent rain made them big and fat. I picked quite a few of only the largest. On my way, I found raised ridges in the grass and especially in mossy areas. One of them moved as I watched, which was kind of creepy. I suppose they were dug by moles.
At lunch, a mockingbird attacked a crow. The mockingbird kept up its harassment until the dog noticed the crow and scared off both birds. I suppose the crow got too close to the mockingbird nest. A brown headed nuthatch slipped in among the chickadees to get a sunflower seed. A hummingbird decided to risk my presence.
I need to report that the goose excluders failed. I had to chase four geese out of the spartina planting. A yellow crowned night heron preened on a dock post. Vegetation hid the bird's head.
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