Catching up

So little seemed to be happening that I skipped several days.  The weather was sunny but with a chilly North wind.  Last night, two little moths were drawn by inside light to cling to the window.  Since today was warmer, I spent the afternoon outside.  The sky was very blue with a few cirrus wisps.  

The sheet web spider seemed to have expanded its snare but I could not persuade the spider to appear.  The web caught a lot of non-food debris.  The mabel orchard spider was quite visible and active.  Its legs look green in the shade but black in the sun.  I also found a very small orb in the rosebush.  A cloudless sulphur flitted across the yard.  Even though butterflies appear to be moving without haste, they are very hard to photograph when they don't land.  I think the other flying insects I saw were wasps.  

A partially opened moonflower seemed stuck.  The moonflowers waited out the chilly evenings.  The beautyberries were at their peak.  The Siberian bugloss seemed to have finished blooming.  The saltbush seed fluff blew everywhere but the milkweed seed comas were not persuaded.  The hickory joined the dogwood in fall colors.  A bud appeared on the yellow rose.  I could hear a blue jay and crows but never saw them or what they were yelling about.  Maybe the black cat I saw later pausing below the steps to scratch?

A squirrel carried on with its tail, prompting me to wonder if it was in heat and trying to spread the scent.  Later I saw a pair of squirrels play-chasing up and down the redwood trunk, but I don't know if the same squirrel was involved.   A great blue heron grew upset with the disturbance.  I saw quite a few gulls or terns, not sure which, but they appeared small and white.    A cormorant paddled downstream.  Mallards paddled up, down, and across the water.  As sunset neared, a great blue heron stood on one of the dock posts.