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.
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