Hibiscus heat

The hibiscus began blooming today.    I saw a black swallowtail but I didn't try to get a picture.  Many bees and wasps fed on the mountain mint as did a brown butterfly, probably a duskywing.  A hummer visited the feeder.  The asters were full of flowers.  Sunset was streaked with orange. 

Hairstreak

The sky was hazy with clouds but the mountain mint was buzzing with activity.  A red banded hairstreak,Calycopis cecrops, caught my attention.  It was very methodical in feeding unlike the bees and wasps that were constantly shifting to another flower.  Also, it was not intimidated by bees that were much bigger. 

One hungry visitor to the feeders was a blue jay, another was a titmouse.  The male hummer visited but I only caught him speeding away.  I saw another hummer search for nectar in the gladiolus flowers.  

Dragonflies

The temperature dropped back to a comfortable level.  It was a good day for dragonflies.  A female great blue skimmer used one of my bamboo stake perches while wasps and bees zoomed around the mountain mint.  In the front yard, a male widow skimmer used the trellis as a resting spot.  

A female bluebird observed from atop the post.  She looked quite disheveled from molting.  The male hummer flew right up to the glass door as though to tell us something but I suspect the bird was reacting to his reflection.  A female settled in on the feeder with no such nonsense.  

Hummer!

A female great blue skimmer used the perch outside my window.  Later I found a blue dasher there.  An amberwing used the rue as a perch in the gusty wind.  Bees and wasps roamed the tops of the mountain mint.  A fiery skipper left when I noticed it.  I rescued the first sidewalk tiger beetle of the season along with innumerable May beetles

Three titmice came for seeds at breakfast.  The male hummer came for lunch but always had his head down when the shutter clicked.  He came back at suppertime.   Finally, he posed just as the rain began.  The dim light made his throat more orange than ruby.  A mockingbird wanted a bedtime snack. 

 

 

Breezy

There was an early morning fog and under it the creek was as smooth as glass. The gang of four crows came back and one found the barkbutter balls I'd left on the ground for the bird.  A brown headed nuthatch visited the seed feeder.  

The day got hot but the wind kept me from noticing.  I rescued a great many scarab beetles. One was much larger than the others.  When I moved it into a better location for pictures, it retaliated by mooning me.  I also saved a furious honeybee.  A great golden digger wasp was at work on the mountain mint.  A bumblebee worked on the asters. 

Blue sky

I missed the shade relief of passing clouds, especially downtown.  The ankle-biting fly ambushed me again and sent me dripping indoors.  I needed to put a fresh hummer feeder out because they were turning up their beaks at what's out there.  We're up to two pints of blueberries but some aren't quite ripe and need to be cooked.  A blue jay sneaked a barkbutter ball.  A female goldfinch didn't find anything to her liking.  A squirrel tried to break into the feeder.  A blue dasher perched on the feeder hanger.  An amberwing perched among the mountain mint stalks that were busy with wasps. 

Blueberries

A very pleasant day followed the rain.  Chickadees were everywhere.  The cherries weren't ripe but I picked a pint of blueberries before a fly tried to bite me on the ankle.  I left many more pints' worth of berries behind.  The bite or sting on my neck is all the wound I need.  A great golden digger wasp found the mountain mint.  Twelve-spotted dragonflies patrolled at tree height and I glimpsed a mating pair of saddlebags zipping past.  A snout butterfly discovered the mountain mint.  I found a brown stink bug on a railing.  Yellow aphids infested the milkweed.