Towhee

Today's early bird was a mockingbird.  Morning glories bloomed profusely, maybe in response to the cooler temperature.  But there was a hibiscus blossom as well.  The air was very crisp and clear, thanks to the Northeast wind caused by Idalia spinning out at sea.  The bald blue jay came back.  A second mockingbird arrived and didn't want to wait for the blue jay.  

A new visitor foraged in the mulch - a fledgling towhee.  Towhees became scarce here in recent years.  I blame the feral cats.  Bluebirds fed on the remains of the barkbutter balls, mostly dust.  A female goldfinch went to the seed feeder.  The boss hummer watched from the wild cherry.  A Carolina wren hunted for fallen mealworms.  One of the fledgling cardinals took over the mulch from the towhee.  

It was a good day for butterflies.  I saw skippers, a snout, a summer azure, a tiger swallowtail, and a very cooperative buckeye. Honeybees competed with the buckeye for mountain mint nectar.   A skinklet roamed the patio and I fished two more out of the pool.  I evicted a green frog and it hopped right back in.  I very carefully rescued a thread-waisted wasp that flew off immediately.  Late in the day, I thought I spotted a cruising twelve spotted skimmer, but it was just a glimpse. 

Gulls and cormorants flew overhead,  An egret flew up to our shoreline and later downstream.  There was a lot of activity in the tree canopy but the only bird I caught was a red bellied woodpecker, a female I think.  A pine warbler dined on mealworms.  I saw both a white breasted and a brown headed nuthatch coming for sunflower seeds.