Cooler

A female goldfinch visited the seed feeder at breakfast.  Then a hummer arrived.  I was glad to see that the feeder contents had not been diluted in yesterday's rain showers.  At least two hummers were after sugar water - one defended the source and one tried to sneak a drink.  The hibiscus opened a flower with two buds ready for tomorrow.  A slaty skimmer perched briefly but, despite the humidity, the middle of the day was windy which kept the bloodsuckers away.  K dumped two frogs out of the skimmer.  One was back in the pool later so I caught it and evicted it again.  I also rescued a mama spider. 

I counted four monarch caterpillars, each a different stage.  And I found more camouflage loopers.  Southern purple mint moths were on the mountain mint but also in the grass and elsewhere.  A monarch and a red spotted purple crossed the yard without stopping.  One of the Argiope spiders had relocated much higher.  The other two were about the same places as yesterday.  And I finally found the fourth which had been below the hibiscus but had moved up to the wall beside it.  A closer look at the brown caterpillar on the butterfly milkweed made me wonder if it had been zombie-fied by a fungus.  It appeared deflated and there were a tangle of threads all around it.  An ant was investigating.  Other small ants were carrying off sunflower hulls.  In the late afternoon the wind dropped but, from the Southwest, clouds moved to cover the sky.  The no-see-ums came after me so I went inside.