Tuesday, August 22, 2023

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.  

 

No comments:

Post a Comment