Sunday, July 7, 2024

Waiting for rain

The day was mostly overcast with a few times of sunshine.  A hummer was hungry in the early morning.  A downy came for seeds, along with chickadees and titmice.  Goldfinches were back.  

Expecting rain, I swam in the morning and encountered the usual beetles and spiders.  A big mama wolf spider in the skimmer was carrying a load of babies.  After my swim, I saw a duskywing skipper and a summer azure on the mountain mint.  A tiger swallowtail flitted across the yard.  Lots of scoliid, threadwaisted, and great golden digger wasps feasted on the mountain mint.  Bumblebees, carpenter bees, and black bees competed with the honeybees.  Even flies sipped nectar.  I located the two young Argiope spiders.  One of them caught lunch.  A couple of dragonflies dueled in the air. 

The rain still hadn't fallen in the afternoon.  While I sat outside, birds acted like I was a grave threat instead of the one feeding them.  Goldfinches flew up then swooped away.  A hummer also flew off when I moved.  So I went inside and that was the signal the nuthatches had been awaiting - both white breasted and brown headed.  There was some drama when a male house finch let a female goldfinch share the seed feeder but chased off her mate.  I heard blue jays gut only saw them flying away from the oak.  A heavy dark cloud with a sharp boundary occupied the evening sky, but still no rain fell.  


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