Rain

I was gone from breakfast to mid afternoon.  Heavy dark clouds spilled plenty of rain, then the wind got very gusty.  Surfaces were beginning to dry and there were moments of sun after I got home.  Birds were apparently starved because they came despite the wind.  I saw one determined dragonfly and some swallowtails, both black and tiger, but none of them paused for a photo.

Blue jays cruised from tree to tree across the back yard.  Fledgling robins lurked in the cherry. Three mockingbirds poked through the mulch - I think two were fledglings.  Titmice joined the feeder crowd, as did a goldfinch briefly.  The hummers found the feeder pole too congested and watched from the dogwood.  I glimpsed a great crested flycatcher and possibly a brown thrasher. A lot of the birds were molting as well as damp. 

K went to pick figs but most were rain-swollen and spoiled.  And by evening the clouds had mostly blown away. 

Gray

It rained overnight and left everything wet.  Hummers arrived early, but little else.  Just some laughing gulls passing over the creek.

A blue dasher and hummers came for lunch.  One hummer was very excitable and kept bouncing up every few sips.  The next was content to perch and just lift her head.  Light rain fell in the afternoon.  Robins feasted on our blueberries.  I saw a mockingbird flashing down by the sidewalk. 

Clouds

There was come-and-go sun.  By mid afternoon thunderheads were piling up in the South and they began to rumble before supper.   K picked two pints of figs in case rain spoiled ripe ones.  Delicious. 

Swallowtails, black and tiger, flitted through the trees.  Blue dashers and slaty skimmers perched waiting for foolish bugs.  A few leaves on the dogwood began to show their fall colors.

A goldfinch visited early in the day.  One of the house finches was beginning to turn red - a juvenile male.  The hummers kept coming all day.  Toward evening I think I saw a male, but the cloud cover reduced the light beyond what the camera could handle.  

A light rain began after sunset. 

Hazy sun

A goldfinch was up early but had trouble figuring out where to hammer the seeds open.  We cleaned and rehung the hummer feeder. The hibiscus has been very happy without the shade of the cedar we cut down.  Other years it stopped blooming by now. 

At lunch time there were swallowtails and dragonflies.  A hummer approved of the fresh juice.

I put off swimming till rather late.  A house wren had a scolding hissy-fit at the foxes as they hung around the neighbors' gazebo.  Lots of dragonflies were out - blue dashers, slaty skimmers, a common whitetail, and up in the air, saddlebags and 12-spotted skimmers.  The hummers continued to battle over the feeder. 

A few dogwood leaves have turned fall colors.  The beauty berry finished blooming.  The sun blazed golden-orange as it set. 

Windy

Hot and hazy.  A mockingbird chased a squirrel across the street in front of my car.  Dragonflies were out, but I didn't see what they were.  A palamedes swallowtail challenged the wind.  I only saw finches and cardinals at the feeder. 

Sun

A Carolina wren was atop the post when I came out to start breakfast, but it flew off.  Female goldfinches and hummingbirds came for their preferred foods, though the goldfinch spent time on the hummer feeder and the hummer moved off to the rosemary.  Titmice joined the regulars at the seed feeder.  An osprey circled in the sky.

The hummer warz continued at lunch.  I would love to get a photo of that but it is unlikely.  A black swallowtail and other butterflies were out.

Things got more interesting when I went out to swim.  First there was a Halloween pennant dragonfly on a perch.  Then I saw a yellow crowned night heron in the redwood.  A fox trotted along the edge of the marsh but I didn't see it till it was almost to the next yard.  In the pool skimmer I found a sizable frog.  It jumped back into the pool and we played tag for a while.  I gave up and it jumped out on its own.  Skinks were around as well.

Sunset was glorious.  Egrets sailed over headed North.

More cloudy

The windows were sweating at breakfast. The hummers started in early.  Goldfinches were busy with the sunflowers too.  And of course the regulars visited the feeder. A squirrel scarfed up all the mealworms I put out for the wrens. 

During our very late lunch, we were joined by titmice and goldfinches.  The hummers continued to argue - one left the feeder to chase another from the rosemary.  I think I saw a family of bluebirds in the cherry.  A palamedes swallowtail and a Carolina saddlebags were too fast for me.

While I was in the pool a yellow crowned night heron stood on the dock but it didn't wait for me.  A parent and fledgling robin hid under the bushes at the fence.  The usual slaty skimmer stood watch. A formation of fish scale clouds passed over.