Spiders

The roes bush Argiope made an egg sack.  No change to the black swallowtail chrysalis, but I located two monarch chrysalises.  The puss moth caterpillar was definitely dead.  I learned that it was a Southern flannel moth Megalopyge opercularis and that puss moth also refers to a quite different caterpillar.  A mabel orchard spider, Leucauge argyrobapta, moved in next to the black swallowtail chrysalis.  The wind made the web bounce, frustrating camera focus.  A sizable web under the hackberry had snagged some leaves.  There was no sign of its maker which I'm betting was an Araneus.  A couple of butterflies had a dance-fight in the air over territory.  The tattered winner, a red spotted purple, rested in the wild cherry.  A skink scuttled out of view into the mulch.  

Unlike yesterday, nothing needed rescue from a watery grave.  I identified the little blue flowers as Siberian bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla.   Two moonflowers opened at the base of the step railing.  The beautyberry was at its peak.  The first camellia flower of the season opened.   The rain last week got into the bird feeder and sunflower seeds germinated.  The sky clouded over as afternoon became evening.