Goldfinch pair

The temperature dropped overnight and only rose into the low 70s.  K put a fresh feeder out and a hummer visited.  I poured some barkbutter balls on the ground for crows.  One crow took a bath.  A pair of goldfinches checked out the dishes but not the seeds.  Bluebirds, mockingbirds, and a blue jay came for barkbutter balls.  

Still hot

I waited to swim till the trees shaded the water.  A damselfly was in the usual place.  A small crab spider scuttled along the pool edge.  A lacewing was stuck to the wall but it did not seem to be alive.  A moth afloat looked very battered.  I rescued several black beetles.  A Carolina wren visited several times, also a mockingbird.  

 

Scorcher

Bluebirds got away before I was ready but a Carolina wren, a blue jay, and a mockingbird were more cooperative.  The male cardinals continued their routine of stealing seeds and hot pursuit.  The afternoon temperature was in the upper 90s and, despite haze, the sun felt like a furnace.  I waited for shade before getting in the water.  A spider with a load of babies was willing to be rescued but a male was  suspicious.  I didn't see much else in the water.  After sunset I saw fireflies. 

 

Pileated females

A Carolina wren greeted sunshine under a hazy sky.  A nervous cardinal grabbed a seed but son the dominant male chased him off.  The dominant pair then kissed beaks.  A house finch landed on the hummer feeder for no good reason.  Another squirrel misjudged its jump and fell, this time out of the redwood so at least thirty feet, but I didn't see a corpse.  A crow felt the need of another bath.  

I saw a tiger swallowtail and the little butterfly I guessed was an azure.  Four spiders needed to be evicted from the skimmer.  I also removed a couple of scarabs from the water.  A mosquito (or something with an interest in my blood) was annoying till I managed to splash it.  As I dripped afterward, a female squirrel - the one with the odd patch of pale fur - came close  in order to forage under the feeder.  A brown thrasher was more cautious.  

Two apparently female pileated woodpeckers landed.  One ate suet while the other sat on the roof and watched.  I guessed the one of the roof was a fledgling, no longer being fed by mama.  Sunset turned rose and purple but I didn't bestir myself for any pictures.  

 

Towhee

The morning creek was flat and shiny. Squirrels were play-chasing and one fell. It disappeared behind dogwood foliage and there was some thrashing so I guess that broke its fall.  But I never saw it emerge.  Another squirrel began eating barkbutter balls.  So much for "hot pepper!"  A gladiolus stalk in the front yard bloomed, as did two different daylily plants along the pool.  

Bluebirds appeared at lunchtime.  A mockingbird followed on the barkbutter dish.  And then a male towhee popped up in the mulch!  It was excessively camera-shy.  Because of meetings scheduled later, I went swimming in the early afternoon with no shade from the sun.  There was nothing but beetles, spiders, a mosquito, and little wasps in the water.  I glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.  

Bright sunshine

A bluebird appeared before lunch.  I hadn't seen any for a while.  He had some trouble with the perch rolling over.  A Carolina wren persisted despite a cranky cardinal.  Something landed on the hummer feeder but it wasn't a hummingbird.  Maybe that wren?  The crow had its beak open but it was sitting in the sun.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a smaller yellow butterfly, and a little pale butterfly.  None of them posed.  The coral honeysuckle continued to flower as a backup for the feeder.  I went swimming and pool cleaning but only found one scarab beetle.  

 

Pairs

I didn't even try to get wet today.  The temperature barely rose into the 70s and the wind was harsh.  A Carolina wren made several visits.  The wind blew up its skirts like Marilyn Monroe.  A squirrel sat on the feeder keeping the birds away.  Then it ate more "hot pepper" suet.  Later a downy had some suet too.  

The mockingbird pair came for barkbutter balls.  The cardinals courted.  An osprey plunged into the creek but I couldn't tell if it caught anything.