Idalia

"The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for Thursday for Hampton Roads and the surrounding areas, forecasting gusts of 40 to 50 mph from Tropical Storm Idalia."  "NWS issued coastal flood warnings for the areas south of Wachepreague including the lower Chesapeake Bay, James River, and York River."  This storm track was unlike any I remember, hitting Florida at the top of the peninsula, then slicing across Georgia and returning to the Atlantic near the border of North and South Carolina where it's predicted to arc to the South, then hook around over Bermuda.  We are somewhat sheltered behind the Outer Banks, but getting plenty of wind and rain.  Despite that, a Carolina wren was back trying to get into the dish that usually holds mealworms.  The hibiscus flower was blown nearly inside out.  High tide flowed over the dock but not as high as I feared.  A white breasted nuthatch ventured out after the rain stopped.  Even though the sky began to clear late in the day, it was hard to get the camera to focus through the rain streaks and the tree detritus on the windows. 

 

Many birds

While I was in the pool, I shooed a skink out of harm's way.  The green frog perched on a stick I'd wedged for insects to rescue themselves from the water.  It looked so cute, I left it alone.  But it didn't wait for me to get the camera.  The only insect was a persistent in-my-face mosquito.  I went a little overboard with the camera after swimming.  The hibiscus put out a bud that I fear will be ruined by tomorrow's storm. 

 A black swallowtail made the rounds of the yard and even tangled with a hummingbird.  A fiery skipper nectared on the mountain mint along with bees and wasps.  Several other skinks wandered about. 

The female goldfinch ate at the seed feeder.  Flies got into the hummingbird feeder.  I replaced it with the one that seems to do best in rain.  One female hummer chased off one or more other hummers.  Crows flew across the yard. 

The sky became overcast in the afternoon.  Occasional sprinkles fell after 1pm, but didn't amount to anything.  Blue jays scrounged in the dish feeders.  One had molted into a zombie look.  Fledgling bluebirds also wanted mealworms.  The two youngsters were still sharing.  They were watched by a ragged parent.  An equally ragged pine warbler followed on the mealworm dish.  

I closed up the feeders early and spotted a distressed Carolina wren puzzling how to get to the food.  I had dumped it on the ground but the wren wasn't catching on.  Tonight's full moon was the second in August and also a "super moon" because it coincided with perigee, the closest to Earth portion of the Moon's elliptic orbit.  The moon rose at 7:47pm but there was nothing to see, thanks to the rain clouds.  

Humid

At breakfast, the windows were fogged which was strange because the temperature was the same inside and out.  I guess the air was so humid that it wet every surface.  As the outside temperature rose, the glass cleared.  The young cardinal photo-bombed a picture of a Carolina wren.  Wet-looking clouds passed over but no more rain fell.

In the afternoon, I covered myself in bug repellent which may have worked because all I encountered was a mosquito attracted to my face.   A blue dasher dragonfly watched from a high twig on the wild cherry and later a slaty skimmer used one of my perches.  Bees and wasps and one cabbage white bustled around the mountain mint.  A few honeybees came back.  A black swallowtail passed through without showing interest in parsley or rue, so I figure it was a male.  Ants crisscrossed the patio but one seemed to move oddly.  Sure enough it was a spider, a small woodlouse hunter. 

A couple of white breasted nuthatches took turns at the seed feeder, in between finches and cardinals.  Hummers visited the fresh juice.  The balding blue jay ventured to eat mealworms while I sat outside dripping.  Another watched longingly from the dogwood.  A female goldfinch checked the sunflower for any forgotten seeds. 

I saw several skinklets hustling across the patio.  Why do they think they need be over there and then a few minutes later over here instead?  I was surprised in the evening to see two fireflies blinking under the maple.  It seemed very late in the season for them. 

Deluge

Morning was gray with sprinkles.  Carolina wrens cleaned up the crumbs in the dishes.  Waves of rain passed through in the afternoon, ponding on the roads and soaking me as I juggled umbrella, cane, and bag.  Two and a half inches of rain squashed the temperature which drove up the humidity. 

Hummingbird wars

I got up late and the mockingbird and blue jays were already eating.  One of the blue jays was getting bald.  A great crested flycatcher hunted through the trees.  The camera did not want to focus on that bird.  

The hummer feeder was empty. When I refilled it, a male swooped in, but the juice was still refrigerator cold to his disgust.  A little later it was warm enough for females to fight over.  The hibiscus made a second flower and the canna also put out a spike of flowers, as if to advertise the hummer feeder.  One hummer found the hibiscus to be a convenient perch for guarding the feeder.

Again there was no rain nor thunderstorm though the afternoon clouded over.  In the pool, I rescued one mama spider with countless babies, two winged female Camponotus pennsylvanicus ants, a skink, and a green frog.  A little skink crossed the patio one way and a cricket went the other.  A bar-winged skimmer used one of the dragonfly perches. 

One or more white breasted nuthatches made regular visits from mid day on.  Carolina wrens ate whatever wasn't being eaten by a different bird.  Both found the house finches annoying.  The tux cat took up bird-watching again. 

Hibiscus flower!

Despite the depredations of sawflies and Japanese beetles, the hibiscus began blooming again.  A white breasted nuthatch was up early but still had a frustrating time getting seeds because of the cardinals and finches.  Carolina wrens scraped up the dust at the bottom of the mealworm dish.  The goldfinch pair didn't find anything they wanted.  Hummers were pleased with a fresh feeder.  I think I counted three of them.  The mockingbird looked less ragged today, but still molting.  Blue jays showed up after I refilled the feeder dishes.  I glimpsed a green heron fly across the creek and a sulphur and a tiger swallowtail flit through the trees.  A stubborn green frog kept getting back in the pool after I caught it three times!

Hot

A mother cardinal fed a reddish fledgling, maybe a male.  This must be a different bird from the fledgling that's been taking care of itself.  Probably it's the offspring of the less dominant pair.  It watched her get seeds but seemed clueless about copying her.

The tux cat showed up and gazed at its reflection instead of bird-watching.  I suppose it was thirsty, not narcissistic.  Bluebirds and Carolina wrens ate what was left in the feeder dishes.  

A molt-fuzzed titmouse hammered a seed on the feeder hanger.  Molting left a blue jay looking tattooed.  Another was losing its crest.  A white breasted nuthatch wanted seeds for lunch.  Hummers drank their feeder dry. 

The temperature climbed back up into the 90s.  It felt humid and buggy to me, but the wind came back in the afternoon.  The coral honeysuckle bloomed again and the hibiscus produced a bud.  I saw butterflies while swimming, red spotted purples, I'm guessing.  Also, I evicted two green frogs from the skimmer.  

Cloudy and buggy

A Carolina wren came for breakfast.  Blue jays were fashionably late.  Bluebird fledglings wanted a share but were wary of the blue jays.  I didn't see the white breasted nuthatch till afternoon.  A house finch and a bluebird fledgling appeared to be anting on a high oak limb.  I couldn't see any ants that far away, but I could see the birds were holding their feathers apart. 

The clouds sometimes looked like froth or suds.  I was immersed in water except for my head when something bit me right under my ear.  Where I cut back the mountain mint, it put out new flowers and attracted more bees. 

Pleasant

It was still windy and cool for August.  The redwood was beginning to get a copper edge and dogwood berries were turning red.  A frumpy Carolina wren was the early bird.  Then a starling came for food but didn't linger.  A female goldfinch made do with the seeds in the feeder.  A female hummer was satisfied that the sugar water was ant-free.  Later, a hummer investigated the red cedar.  A titmouse tired to preen away its molting fluff.  Blue jays lurked, waiting for me to be distracted. 

I saw a red banded hairstreak but got no picture.  One of the tiny, trash-camouflaged caterpillars climbed a mountain mint leaf.  Tiger and black swallowtails flitted slowly but were still hard to photograph.  A fiery skipper spread its wings on the mountain mint.  I spotted a summer azure but it flew away.  A duskywing was less wary. 

A blue dasher rode the topmost twig on the wild cherry to watch for prey.  A megachile bee harassed a carpenter bee twice its size.  I wonder what that was about?  I rescued a small, all-scarlet insect with black wings and eyes.  I think it was a smooth-headed mummy wasp, Aleiodes politiceps. it flew before I cold get a photo showing how very red it was underneath.  A skinklet darted into the shrubbery. 

On the front patio, a cypress vine and (I hope) a moonflower vine twined up the trellis but showed no sign of blooming.  A rain lily bloomed at the foot of the dry creek bed and a late daylily flowered.  Several peppers were growing.  

The moon looked like a first quarter but this was two nights short of a full lunar week. 

 

Gusty wind

A monarch visited in the morning.   For some reason is landed on the chewed up hibiscus leaves.  Eventually it relocated to the butterfly milkweed.  I couldn't find the monarch caterpillar so I suppose it is pupating.  

A mockingbird noticed that I had put food out.  It was in the midst of a ragged molt.  The fledgling bluebirds soon followed.  Seeing two of them share strikes me as very uncharacteristic since altricial baby birds are each others' worst competitors.  Adult bluebirds seemed to be keeping watch on the fledglings.  

Again, a female goldfinch visited.  The juvenile cardinal tried to get mama to fetch dinner.  A molting blue jay was late to the party and found the dishes empty again.  I glimpsed a hummer on feeder I replaced. Ants had gotten in the other one.  

In the afternoon, a mostly overcast sky admitted occasional sunshine but on other occasions looked about to rain. Despite a temperature in the low 80s, the wind was cold on wet skin.  The pool was full of pine needles and leaves, but nothing of interest.  Butterflies were undeterred bu the wind.  A couple of tiger swallowtails were actually slow enough that I got photos.  A red spotted purple drank from the pool, but my photos were over exposed.  

 

Hot and hazy

Again, a female goldfinch came to breakfast, quickly followed by a Carolina wren.The sky was a hazy abstract of cloud wisps and contrails. 

In the afternoon, the blue jays demanded more food and I gave in.  One did the feed-me shivers up in the cherry tree.  But clearly, the parent birds are done with that.  I think I might be able to hand-feed these blue jays, though I don't know if that's wise.  I saw hummers but got no photos. 

A colorful little bug was sitting on the chair arm, so I immortalized it.  A fat monarch caterpillar munched on the butterfly milkweed.  A blue dasher obelisked atop a leafless twig on the wild cherry.  A duskywing skipper fed on the mountain mint.  The bees and wasps mostly left it alone unlike the smaller fiery skippers that they annoy.  

Hotter and humid

A female goldfinch was back but she couldn't find anything edible on the sunflower so she went off to try the wild cherries.  I wonder what's become of the males and whether there are young ones.  A Carolina wren was obscured by vegetation.  

The butterfly milkweed bloomed again and also had seed pods.  I checked the milkweed in the front yard - no flowers, pods, or caterpillars.  A swallowtail fussed around the rue.  A carpenter bee dangled from a morning glory tendril as though it were ensnared.  I evicted the frog again. 

At least four blue jays came after barkbutter balls.  They must be sibling fledglings, the way they behave together.  The fledgling cardinal was becoming quite red.  A female hummer fed but I suspect I should put out fresh juice tomorrow.  A Carolina wren poked through the trough of the seed feeder.  A dove foraged beneath.  Then the wren was joined by another on the barkbutter dish.  

Lovely day

Bright sun, low 80s, breezy - perfect weather!  I was online in the morning but got outside in the afternoon.  There were lots of butterflies, a sulphur, tiger and black swallowtails, something orange I think was a fritillary, and an orange skipper I think might be a dion skipper. Euphyes dion.  A female common whitetail dragonfly hunted low to the ground.  A cicada killer prowled the dogwood.  A dead skink floated in the pool, as did a live green frog.  A live skink rushed across the patio.  I also found a drowned centipede. 

Blue jays were so silly I'm convinced they were fledglings. They were very curious about the inside of the house.  A Carolina wren, a female goldfinch, and a mockingbird visited.  The molting mockingbird looked like a zombie.  A fledgling bluebird wanted barkbutter balls.  Through a window screen I saw a hummer feeding. 

 

Too much indoors

A Carolina wren breakfasted on barkbutter balls.  I put out fresh hummer juice and thought I glimpsed a visitor.  And that was the last moment I had to appreciate nature.  

Hawk!

It was still wet in the morning.  Blue jays were thick and not very skittish.  A dove plodded around the birdbath.  One of the fledgling bluebirds surveyed the scene, then two of them descended on the mealworms.  

I thought it was going to rain all day, but it didn't.  Nevertheless, I waited till late afternoon to swim.  While I was out in the middle, I heard a little bird squeaking in terror.  It zoomed over me followed by a Cooper's hawk.  The chase circled around the dogwood and came back my way.  I yelled, Hawk! and startled the hawk so the prey escaped.  The hawk flew to a branch of the wild cherry to collect itself, then flew away.  A little later, I heard the crows harassing the hawk.  Of course, none of this was on camera.  But I did rescue a skinklet and insisted it pose for me.  

Cooler

This time the storm did lower the temperature, if not the humidity.  The white breasted nuthatches were looking for breakfast.  A male hummer came for brunch, soon followed by a Carolina wren, but at a different feeder.  I glimpsed a skink on the patio, then another on the wall, and later found one drowned in the skimmer.  

A slaty skimmer used one of my perches.  A dark butterfly fluttered close to the trees.  The discarded husk of a cicada was floating in the pool.  Two Carolina wrens shared a dead branch in the dogwood.  Sunset painted a peach tint on a bar of cloud that extended across the sky from Southwest to Northeast.  The cicadas and tree crickets were loud at dusk, but I saw no fireflies. 

Rinse and repeat

The day began hot and stifling.  Yesterday's rain did not bring relief to either temperature or humidity.  White breasted nuthatches were frustrated that cardinals and finches monopolized the seed feeder.  One nuthatch seemed to be pacing vertically on the post.  A Carolina wren was into everything. 

I had a hurried morning swim because I thought I had an 11am meeting.  While in the water, I saw where a hummer had perched to monitor the feeder.  But I could not find the right twig once I got out.  She swooped in several times to protect "her" feeder from other hummers but was too fast for me.  So was the only skink I saw and a dark butterfly that might have been a red spotted purple.  Clouds started piling up around 2:30pm. They cast some sunbeams and cloud shadows but nothing particularly impressive.  

Blue jays were motivated to gobble up the mushy barkbutter balls and mealworms even though I was sitting very close.  The young birds were less wary.  One blue jay caught what I think was a cicada.  An egret stalked downstream below the dam.  Bees worked fast on the mountain mint.  The wren prowled some more.  Despite the muggy, buggy weather, I saw no dragonflies. 

The sky grew very dark and today's thunderstorm arrived about 5pm.  Just before the rain began, a red spotted purple butterfly hid in the hackberry tree.  It was over less than an hour later, but for many minutes it was a real gully washer.  

Rain

Since Sunday's thunderstorm never happened, I picked more figs.  I did not find the missing spider, though the other Argiope by the bench was still present with a web full of noseeums. Nothing more interesting than crickets had fallen into the pool.  Well,except for the yellow ladybug with no spots which I think is an Asian species, Illeis koebelei, imported as a biological control.  

As I was dripping dry, a sulphur butterfly flew over the house.  When I looked closely,  it appeared that the tiny flowers on the mountain mint were getting scarce.  A skink slipped past the watering can.  The thunderstorm arrived around 6:30pm and made the dog anxious.  It probably put an end to fig picking.  Sunset gave the clouds a colorful rim. 

Too hot

A Carolina wren wanted an early breakfast.  It found some grapes I had discarded.  It didn't seem pleased.  I missed a shot at a hummer.  Fluffy cumulus clouds gave some relief from the hot sun.  I picked figs again but didn't take the camera.  The Argiope spider was gone an so were a lot of the fig eaters.  Hornets were still around.  While I was swimming, a blue dasher kept a lookout for mosquitoes.  The only skink I saw had drowned. 

The butterfly milkweed started blooming again.  I saw a female common whitetail but failed to get a picture.  A tiger swallowtail got away too.  A duskywing skipper fed on the mountain mint for hours.  I sprayed the rosemary with neem oil because something was making webs in it.  

The thermometer showed 99° and it felt like it.  Tiny insects danced on thermals from the pavement.  I could only see them in sunlight and the camera caught them as featureless dots.  The juvenile cardinal came back for sunflower seeds.  

New blue jays

A Carolina wren inspected everything.  A hummer investigated the new red leaves on the rose.  Eventually it found the feeder. 

Several blue jays seemed to me to be youngsters.  Their feathers looked clean and unworn and they didn't know how to land on the feeder dishes.  Then they were scared off by smaller bluebirds.  The young bluebirds had no trouble stuffing their beaks.

A fiery skipper joined the wasps and bumblebees on the mountain mint.   A hawk flew overhead.  A mockingbird landed on the feeder hanger and flashed its wings.  A grackle found the feeder dishes. 

Low angle light

At breakfast, tree trunks cast slanting shadows across the azaleas.  A juvenile male house finch (I think) perched near and adult male - father and son?  A juvenile bluebird surveyed the empty dish that should have held mealworms.  A white breasted nuthatch was determined to get to the sunflower seeds despite finches.cardinals, chickadees, and titmice.  A Carolina wren looked for seeds that might have fallen. Eventually the wren joined the nuthatch in the queue at the feeder.  

I startled a little skink that vanished into a pavement divider.  The only dragonfly I saw was a blue dasher.  A duskywing probed the daisies and I barely glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.  A great golden digger fussed around the mountain mint.  I saw a hummer chase another, but they were too fast.  Blue jays and a mockingbird were slower in their food raids.  The setting sun lit tree trunks and made forest magic.  

Cooling rain

The timing of my meetings was the same as the few nice moments of the day.  A male hummer came for breakfast.  A Carolina wren went over to see if there was anything tasty.  Meanwhile, a pine warbler descended on the barkbutter balls.  A female downy woodpecker checked to see if suet had happened.  It hadn't.  A female goldfinch visited the sunflower and the seed feeder briefly before retreating to a tree.  A white breasted nuthatch persisted, despite larger birds, and eventually got to the seeds.  

At lunch, a ragged bluebird and a fledgling wanted mealworms.  The fledgling cardinal felt bold enough to move up to the feeder perch.  It also threatened a house finch.  The female goldfinch was back.  The first rain shower passed through at lunch time and there were repeats till after 4pm.  Then the sun came out but the air was thick with humidity, especially since it had dipped below 80°.  

Fans of figs

The fledgling bluebirds were still sharing food.  A goldfinch checked the sunflower to see if there were any more seeds.  A Carolina wren scurried around.  An odd-looking starling visited, perhaps a juvenile not done changing feathers.  It weighed too much for the seed feeder. 

Argiope #2 was sitting on its zigzag web, waiting.   A fiery skipper probed a violet leaf.  I picked a lot of figs very carefully.  A blue jay and another bird might have been a brown thrasher ate figs that were out of my reach.  The wasps were easier photo subjects, especially the cicada killers.  June beetles and flies also enjoyed rotting fig.  I had to scrub fig mud off my shoes.

I discovered one of the tobacco hornworms had drowned in the pool.   Afterward, I watched the mountain mint while I dripped.  Another fiery skipper showed up.  A blue jay watched me.  A blue dasher hunted from a bamboo stake perch. 

Later, I discovered a slender bug on the door frame.  A black swallowtail kept returning to the rue.  Another dragonfly used a bare wild cherry twig as a vantage point.  I thought it was a Carolina saddlebags, but the photos look like a widow skimmer.  The sky was a clear blue background for twelve-spotted dragonflies. A tiger swallowtail did not hang around for a portrait.  A second blue dasher tried to dislodge the one on the perch but lost and retreated to a gladiolus stalk. 

A skink chased another across the patio.  A hummer objected to my proximity. A mockingbird grudgingly let a blue jay eat first.  Then more jays arrived.  And even a juvenile bluebird  cut in line.  But eventually the mockingbird ate its fill.  Seems hard to believe they chase crows but won't argue with a blue jay.  A white breasted nuthatch came for seeds.  

Green heron

A Carolina wren popped up at breakfast.   The canna put out a fresh flower spike.  Two squirrels streaked across the gap between the redwood and the hickory. 

I spent the day in virtual meetings and didn't get outside till after 5pm. Two baby skinks were in the water, one alive, one not.  I also rescued another mama wolf spider.  The mosquitoes were still hungry.  I looked for the hornworm caterpillars with no luck, though I did find a spider web trap.  Instead, I spotted a little green heron on the dock bench.  On my way back, I found another Argiope garden spider.  

At supper, an adult and a fledgling bluebird visited.  A hummer turned up its beak at the juice so I'll put out fresh tomorrow.  A Carolina wren bustled around under the feeders.  

Too many photos

The young cardinal stood around on the roof of the feeder looking foolish.  Eventually it dropped down to the perch to eat.  Its beak was beginning to change color.  

On my way to pick figs, I discovered a life-and-death drama.  A full grown tobacco hornworm caterpillar was thrashing on a ground-cherry stalk, trying to keep a parasitoid tachinid fly from landing on it.  Two more caterpillars were hiding out on a nearby stalk, hoping the fly wouldn't notice them.  I thought the fly looked pretty distinctive -- pale gray with red fore and aft -- but I didn't find a clear match online.  

The Argiope spider was still guarding the figs.  Two red spotted purple butterflies flitted around the fermenting fruit.  Green June beetles, bald faced hornets, and cicada killers slurped up fig insides.  I think another tachinid fly was enjoying fig juice too.  The whole area smelled like a brewery.  Mosquitoes and other small biters were thick even though a strong breeze funneled through.  On the way back, I spotted a little green bee but all three caterpillars had disappeared. 

I was so ready for a swim to wash off my hot, stick, buggy skin, but the pool offered another round of critters.  Twice I rescued a mama wolf spider and had to chase her away from taking a third dip.  I also very carefully rescued a Polistes wasp like the one that stung me when I moved a birdhouse she was using.  And, I found a small crab on the bottom which I was able to catch.  K kindly took the pictures since I couldn't get my hand far enough from the lens.  It had some odd markings and folds on the back and was missing at least one leg on the left.  I wonder if it was a soft shell? The back leg was a claw, not a paddle, so it wasn't a blue crab.  

A blue dasher occupied the perch by the red aster and another was on the perch by my window.  But the perch by the hibiscus had a bar winged skimmer.  I think a saddlebags flew overhead.  Bees and wasps worked on the mountain mint.  A thread waisted wasp splooted on the concrete!  A snout butterfly flitted around my head and later a duskywing did the same.  I don't understand the attraction.  A fiery skipper stuck to the mountain mint like a sensible butterfly. 

A female hummer chased a male away from her juice.  Blue jays dropped in for barkbutter balls.  A mockingbird appeared to be miffed at having to wait for a turn, especially since the blue jay took all it could cram into its beak.  I heard raptor cries and looked up to see three circling.  

A skink chased another across the patio.  I only got a picture of the chaser.  Maybe its regrown tail made it grumpy?  It's amazing that they can regrow the tail but cannot re-pigment it.  Another with a similar tail climbed the step wall later.  I stopped taking pictures around 1pm because I had well over three hundred.  

Buggy

The morning sky was overcast, but in the afternoon it turned very blue despite the humidity.  The bees and wasps continued their blissful consumption of mountain mint nectar. There were several great golden digger wasps and many thread waisted wasps.  A leafcutter bee had the underside of its abdomen packed with yellow pollen.  The wild cherry had dripped sap on the patio and the rain had turned it to jelly. 

I resorted to slapping myself to reduce the mosquito population, also a few other little fliers that invaded my personal space.  But the dragonflies were happy.  A slaty skimmer used one of my perches.  A four spotted pennant perched atop the wild cherry where the leaves had all been eaten off the bare twigs.  Something photobombed one of my pictures, maybe a big beetle?  I wasted pixels trying to photograph a low flying dragonfly near the sakaki. 

A monarch flew across the yard without seeing the butterfly milkweed.  A smaller, browner butterfly escaped portraiture.  It was probably a fritillary.  I also saw a fiery skipper and a summer azure that was attracted to the red cedar.  In the pool, I rescued two woodlouse hunter spiders. 

A great blue heron used the floating dock platform.  A skink climbed the steps and another lurked near the vegetation.  A third, with a tail just beginning to regrow, caught something in the shade.  One of the fledgling bluebirds perched on a bare twig at the top of the wild cherry.  Soon it swooped down to the feeder dish.  Another young bluebird hung out on the bare oak limb.  A ragged Carolina wren foraged around the birdbath. 

Humid

Goldfinches returned to the sunflower.  Considering all the sunflower seeds I have planted to no avail, it's amazing how much entertainment this accidental plant has provided.  And the plant continued to open small flowers. 

There were plenty of mosquitoes to feed the dragonflies!  A bar winged skimmer took the top position on one of the perches and a widow skimmer stayed near the bottom.  Both were female.  Eventually the widow got the top spot as the other dragonfly relocated. Another dragonfly perched on the the dried gladiolus stalks.  I couldn't get a good look at it but I believe it was a four spotted pennant.

A red spotted purple landed in a dogwood, then explored the sakaki bush.  The usual wasps and bees feasted on the mountain mint.  A little green frog was in the skimmer again. 

The bluebird twins returned to eat mealworms under their father's watchful eye..  A white breasted nuthatch made several forays for seeds.  Titmice did the same, competing with cardinals and house finches.  Then a Carolina wren joined the others at the seed feeder.  Sunset colored the whole sky.  

All day rain

The hibiscus managed to summon the strength for one more flower which nearly washed away.  There were some short breaks in the rain, just long enough for the dog's comfort.  The young bluebirds only just learned to feed themselves and then rain prevented me from refilling the dish feeders.  Of course that wasn't a problem for the young cardinal.  By late afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning from expected thunderstorms. 

 

Siblings

Two fledgling bluebirds ate together at the feeder.  They were very photogenic.  I suppose that having spent their lives this far side by side, they are comfortable sharing.  A parent watched over them from the top of the pole.  A blue jay stayed up in the trees.  A skink slipped out of sight before I got focused. I rescued a firefly. 

The day was mostly overcast, though the sun's position was obvious through the cloud layer.  It was humid enough to bring out dragonfly prey.   An unfamiliar dragonfly landed on the rim of the birdbath. It caught, fought, and finally released a small fly.  After checking with iNaturalist, I learned it was a two-striped forceptail Aphylla williamsoni.    Later the twelve-spotted skimmers, Libellula pulchella, patrolled the twilight air. 

Argiope

The fledgling bluebirds woke up with an appetite.  A Carolina wren was right behind.  A pine warbler and a goldfinch competed for the yellow ribbon.  The not-bald cardinal showed up.  I wonder which fathered the fledgling I saw, but since the parent is no longer feeding the fledgling, I cannot tell.  Still, the fledgling popped up right after the adult. 

I decided to pick figs before it got hot.  A mushroom opened in the moss under the fig.  An argiope built a web in the fig on the North side.  I tried to photograph the wasps and the birds eating figs but they did not cooperate.  Meanwhile the mosquitoes had a feast.  I also picked blueberries, probably the last for this year.  A black swallowtail took an interest in the rue.  A big beetle landed in the mountain mint among all the usual Hymenoptera feeding there.  I saw a skink sidle along the retaining wall.

An adult mockingbird tucked into the mealworms.  One of the bluebird fledglings figured out how to feed itself.  But it still watched its parents hopefully.  The other fledgling was more speckled and perhaps younger.  A molting titmouse wanted seeds.  A hummer came to the feeder as I sat beside it.  She didn't like my presence and I didn't dare move the camera. 

Toward evening, a cormorant dried out on the back of the dock bench.  Fish jumped in the background. 

Babies

Suddenly it was bringing-up-baby time in the back yard.  A young cardinal whose beak hadn't yet changed to orange was learning to peck for itself around the birdbath.  A Carolina wren joined the foraging, then went hunting in the mountain mint.  We had a morning shower which caught me by surprise.  I was making sun tea. 

A cabbage white refreshed itself on mountain mint. I chased a little leafcutter bee that mostly defeated the camera's focus.  A scoliid wasp was more cooperative.  A black and orange beetle (I think) mimicked the wasps on the mountain mint.  A skink scooted across the step.  

A mockingbird came for carry-out for the family.  The bluebirds' chick sat on the feeder hanger begging to be fed.  I could almost see it trying to make the connection between the dish of food and getting fed, but it didn't quite grasp the concept.  Instead it took a bath!  Goldfinches swooped in to feed on the sunflower.  The poor, bald cardinal watched an adult bluebird eat. 

I saw the first skinklet of the summer swimming in the pool.  I rescued it but made it sit for a portrait.  I also rescued a woodlouse hunter spider, a polistes wasp, and a little green frog that was hanging out in the skimmer.  The spider was also in the skimmer but not by choice.