The chrysalis I had accidentally pruned eclosed today. So did another in the mountain mint. I found tiny ants carting off fragments of what I hope was a third and not either of the two I watched. Maybe I pruned another and didn't notice? I was sad the butterfly didn't make it but intrigued that the ants carved up even the wings to carry off.
The chipping sparrow came back. It was definitely a juvenile. (Unless it was a song sparrow that was missing its chest spot?) A great blue heron flew up into a pine behind the oak and hackberry. I couldn't see it there but I could hear it grumbling. Nuthatches visited the feeder and mckingbirds came for a drink, but I didn't see many birds beside the sparrow. Of course, I didn't put out any barkbutter balls because I expected rain.
Clouds gathered and dissipated and the temperature reached 90
°. I swam in the morning fearing an afternoon thunderstorm. There were two frogs to entertain me. And I extracted that stupid caterpillar from the skimmer
again. I didn't wait around to see if it revived again. I also fished out a honeybee.
A tiger, two black and,
I think, a palamedes swallowtail all flew past. So did a cloudless sulphur and a sleepy orange and some smaller lepidoptera I couldn't identify except for a fiery skipper. The overexposed and blurred photo I got of the Palamedes might have been a giant swallowtail. No dragonflies, however, and only a few wasps and the
Argiope were around as predators.
After 6pm the light got very low. Finally rain fell for about half an hour. Then the sky lightened and the rain slackened but didn't stop.
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