And two more

I never got a swim yesterday and I didn't see much either.  A Carolina wren greeted us at breakfast.  The goldfinches soon arrived.  It looked like they were pecking out seeds from the gladiolus.  I tried one and didn't see anything that looked like a seed.  The two pairs of goldfinches squabbled over the sunflower.  And apparently after breakfast I didn't see anything more. 

Today was much more satisfying and, like yesterday, it was not so hot.  The goldfinches were back. The last bud on the hibiscus opened and, with no undamaged foliage, I don't expect we'll see a second flowering this year.  Morning glory vines waved tendrils in search of support.  The sunflower stalk decided to make one more small flower.  

A bluebird in the top of the redwood had something in its beak.  The mockingbird had its beak open and a little later I saw it pursue a crow.  I picked blueberries which meant crawling inside the patch to get to the only big berries.  I saw a trashline spider's trashline but not the spider. 

The mountain mint was busy as ever.  I identified a cellophane bee, I think, Colletes inaequalis.  I thought it was a wasp but on close inspection, it was hairy.  Something I thought was a dragonfly circled low over the grass.  When it finally landed, it was a green June beetle.  A skink ambled past me as I watched the mountain mint show.  A fiery skipper was late to the party. 

I saw both brown headed and white breasted nuthatches.  A hummer came to the feeder but didn't stay.  And that sugar water was fresh today.  Two Carolina wrens in the dogwood might have been parent and fledgling.  A pine warbler visited at supper time.  So did a bluebird. 

There were dragonflies in the afternoon but they refused to perch.  I think I saw a Carolina saddlebags and I'm sure of a window skimmer.  There were others with clear wings.  I actually managed to capture quite a few, but not sharp enough for identification.