Crab

A downy woodpecker and a Carolina wren shared a breakfast of suet.  A brown headed nuthatch chose seeds.  Two brown headed nuthatches clung to the chain from which the suet hung.  A blue jay bemoaned the empty barkbutter dish.  A fuzzy, molting bluebird settled for seeds.  A fledgling house finch carried on asking to be fed.  Another blue jay walked around the patio while a white breasted nuthatch peered around the post, then showed the house finches who was boss.  

The Argiope spiders waited in their webs, the smaller one reflected in the window.   A wasp was afloat on its back and I very carefully scooped it out of the water and left it to dry, but it never showed any sign of life.  A widow skimmer perched on the back of the bench to watch for flying food.  Later, a slaty skimmer and a blue dasher took up the work.  A skink came out of the vegetation and froze when it noticed me.  

I thought I saw something peculiar on the bottom of the pool.  It seemed to sprout appendages from both front and rear as it moved purposefully across the bottom.  I used a broom to scoop it onto the top step and discovered it was a small crab.  It had been moving crabwise and what I took for front and rear were the legs on its sides.  They were all legs, no paddles, so it wasn't a blue crab.  

In the front yard, skippers fed on the lantana.   Four full grown Argiope spiders waited for food to arrive.  I noticed a small paper wasp nest along with many mud dauber nests.  A couple of bald faced hornets prowled around the lantana.