More milkweed

I purchased another milkweed plant to feed the monarch caterpillars.  Today I counted four caterpillars and only one green seedpod.  The kingfisher was on the neighboring dock after lunch but back on our post in the late afternoon..  A great blue heron flew in and hunted along our shoreline.  Though sunny, it was much cooler today.

 
When I woke up, there were little puffy clouds scattered across the sky and tinted peach.  They thinned out by mid day, then thickened in the late afternoon.  The moon was up when I got out of my evening meeting.  Bars of cloud crossed it and it tinted them orange - very tigerish.  By the time I got home, the bars had become formless but the moon was still making them orange.  

 

Still hot

Wind gusts blew down pine needles, leaves, and less identifiable bits of vegetation.  The sky was nearly cloudless and the sun hot.  About eight mallards enjoyed the low tide.  A great blue heron landed downstream.  At mid day, the kingfisher perched on the bench instead of the post The gang of five crows raided the barkbutter balls as soon as I was out of sight.  

I could only find four caterpillars so maybe the other two crawled away to pupate.  Unfortunately the remaining caterpillars ate into one of the seedpods.  I moved them to leaves.  A squirrel buried something under the sakaki and carefully patted down the spot to hide it.  I saw the first yellow leaves on the oak.  The last milkweed seed was tethered to the pod like a parenting metaphor. 

West wind

The six monarch caterpillars will need more leaves soon.  I hope I can buy a plant.  I saw butterflies, dark ones, a sulphur, and the ubiquitous cabbage white.  An American snout perched on a dragonfly stake.  A field cricket hopped around on the concrete.  A paper wasp circled over the pavement.  A blow fly rested on a leaf.  

There were no clouds to show the gusty wind's direction but it brought warm air that emptied out the creek.  A buzzard flew across the intensely blue sky.  The kingfisher was back on the post.  It dived once and caught a small fish.  

Summery

The sky was strongly blue again, the breeze light, the creek a mirror, and the temperature rose to 78°.  Evidence of things unseen: at lunch, the bamboo stake that I'd stuck in the ground near the birdbath began to jerk and swing.  Nothing around it was moving so it wasn't wind.  My guess would be a vole or mole.  The yellow iris seeds were ripe.  The heat persuaded a violet to flower. More camellia flowers opened. 

Today I found six, not five, monarch caterpillars.  There may not be enough leaves for all of them.  I thought I saw a red spotted purple but it disappeared.  A wasp landed on a table with its prey but it seemed dissatisfied and abandoned the morsel.  It looked to me like part of a grub.  After dark, a plume moth landed on the window. 

I saw only the usual feeder birds.  A bit of seed hull got caught in a silk thread and twirled in the breeze.  A boat on the creek startled a great blue heron. A cormorant and a mallard paddled upstream together.  Then a kingfisher alighted on the dock post.  It didn't stay long but I heard it cackle several times after it flew.  

Bright but cool

Reflections lit up the creek before the sun reached the water.  It happened again in the late afternoon.  The sky was a clear blue but the air was quite chilly.  Yesterday, I was on the Internet all day.  I was determined not to miss another day of wildlife so I photographed the five monarch caterpillars again.  They need to eat fast if they are going to make it to Mexico.  The milkweed pod continued to slowly disperse seeds.  A Carolina wren scolded and then flew away.  I relocated the ebony spleenwort fern and found it had grown quite a bit.  There were no clouds to obscure the first quarter moon.  

Sunset spectacle

The first thing I saw in the morning was the black cat getting a drink from the birdbath.  In the background, the creek was aglow.   More milkweed seeds took flight.  I found five young monarch caterpillars and two more seedpods.  A black swallowtail flitted around the rue.  I thought I glimpsed a brown butterfly but between leaves and shadows, I could not be sure.  Another magic leaf fluttered and spun on the end of a silk thread.  A great blue heron moved downstream.  Blue jays remained tantalizingly hidden by vegetation, but very audible. 

At first the sky was intensely blue and cloudless but in the later afternoon clouds flowed in from the West.  Airbrushed wisps were followed by more substantial clouds that gathered for a spectacular sunset.  The moon was faintly visible through the cloud haze.  

Autumn chill

A Carolina wren got away without a picture.  Nuthatches were more cooperative.  Brown headed came in the morning and white breasted in the afternoon.  Blue jays flew across the yard to eat acorns. The North wind shoved clouds across the sky and made the sun come and go.  It shone hot but the wind was chilly.  Dogwood berries were mostly eaten but next Spring's buds stood up proud.  Morning glory seed pods looked ripe.  The saltbush began shedding seed fluff.  

The last milkweed pod opened and seeds rode the wind over the house.  When I looked at photos of the milkweed pod, I saw what might be a caterpillar on a leaf in the background.  A red spotted purple evaded me but its iridescence gave it away.  It shone as bright as a tropical blue morpho.