It was a beautiful day in the shade. The sun was intense but a nice breeze cooled the air and kept the bugs down. Clouds floated out of the East. I swam in the morning to have shade on the water. The only critters I rescued were some ants, mainly so they wouldn't bite me. The Argiope spider was in the same spot. The widow skimmer and other dragonflies hunted from the perches I provided. Note the pruinose abdomen on this male widow. A female showed up later.
A monarch battled with bees and wasps to lay eggs on the butterfly milkweed. A black swallowtail flitted around but didn't try to lay eggs, so I suspect it was a male cruising for a girlfriend. Fiery skippers also had to compete with the bees and wasps. A tiger swallowtail was impossible to catch in a photo.
I think I saw six skinks of various sizes. One hungry skink dashed out of cover to snatch something off the concrete practically in front of me. Another moseyed out from under my chair. This one had a recent narrow escape. The squirrels were all tracking their lady love through the trees.
Cardinals, titmice and one blue jay enjoyed barkbutter balls. A hummer hunted for a source of nectar in the rosemary. Then it came for the feeder but I was sitting beside it at that time. I froze and couldn't roll my eyes far enough so I don't know if it drank from the feeder or not. Most of the hummer-friendly flowers were done blooming. In fact, the only flowers left were canna, milkweed, and mountain mint. A hawk swooped through the yard and I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture. I think I caught a barn swallow in flight.
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