Monarch

Today was sunny and beautiful, cooler but not as windy.  A monarch discovered the patch of butterfly milkweed and fed off-and-on for half an hour.  When a Carolina wren landed on the nearby barkbutter dish, the butterfly seemed to be harassing the bird, flying toward it as though trying to drive it away.  Later, blue jays and a mockingbird visited the dish but I did not see the butterfly.  

I went for a late swim and saw a damselfly.  I fished out a spider, a ground beetle, a ladybug, a snail, and an earwig.  The spider and the beetle ran off but I'm not sure the others were alive.  Even though it wasn't windy, the air felt cold on my wet skin so I didn't linger to take pictures.  

Windy

After a long, long meeting I finally made it into the water.  The sun was hot in a deep blue sky and the water temperature was pleasant, but when I got out, the wind made an icicle of me.  The wind also filled the water with tree detritus and a few insects.  I rescued a small wasp and a brownish scarab beetle. Several tiny black spiders climbed around above the skimmer hole.  They were very shiny which made me think of black widows so I washed them out of my way.  Years ago, a black widow took up residence in one of the pool expansion joints.    The crow looked for treats and jays actually got them from the hanging dishes.  Two female cardinals had an altercation.  I saw a small butterfly that might have been a snout.  Something evil bit me in the armpit!

Zebra swallowtail

Another beautiful day of which I missed too much.  I had to rush off early to an appointment but afterward I went to Wild Birds Unlimited since I was in the vicinity.  I played with Merlin taking (bad) phone photos of goldfinches and a song sparrow while I waited for the store to open.  Back home, I admired the lilies in the front yard, white and dark red, also daylilies and a rainlily.  A skink descended the bedroom wall.  

At lunch, a gorgeous zebra swallowtail fed on the milkweed flowers.  The crow demanded treats.  A mockingbird was camera-shy.  A Carolina wren was perky.  Then I had online meetings.  

A white breasted nuthatches joined us for supper but was unwilling to share with a titmouse.   

Beautiful weather

Yesterday's rain was still evident.  A titmouse was up early.  At lunch, K put BBBalls on the patio for the crow.  A blue jay preferred to eat from the dish.  The temperature got up into the 80s with a breeze under a brilliantly blue sky.  The milkweed was a riot of flowers but I didn't see pollinators.  The cardinals were still courting.  

Again there were spiders to rescue including another crab spider.  Two damselflies perched in the shade by the water.  After I swam, I saw a skink.  A squirrel scampered past me just a couple of feet away.  I could see something flying over under the sakaki but I don't know what.  A azure butterfly flitted over the house.  Another blue jay visited.  

 

Spider season

A Carolina wren poked through the seed trough.  I saw the first daylily flower, at least first for our yard.  The crow was back for another bath.  We got some sun in the early afternoon and I attacked the algae in the pool.  Several of the walks-on-water spiders avoided me but I persuaded one to move to dry land.  A crab spider was much more cooperative.  I also fished out a pretty little insect with black wings and a red head, possibly a wasp.  

Later in the afternoon we had a short deluge and a couple of thunder showers.   A crane fly tried to get through the window.  When the rain stopped a blue jay arrived and considered the wet barkbutter balls.  After dark, I saw a moth at a window.  

Rain

Rain yesterday, rain today, and rain tomorrow.  Something left a small offering of what looked like cherry pits, though I didn't think the wild cherries were ripe yet.  The baby squirrel was back.  A squirrel tried to reach the barkbutter despite the rain-slick railing.  A titmouse joined the cardinals seeking seeds.  A downy had suet.  The cardinals were courting again.  I went to dump the rain & barkbutter soup out of the glass dish and dropped it.  I hope I got all the glass picked up.   A crow had a bath and then a snack, courtesy of K.  

 

Red bellied woodpecker

What miserable weather for a three-day weekend!  It was wet when I got up and overcast all day.  The temperature stayed in the 60s.  Three squirrels hung out below the seed feeder.  One was very small and timid, probably just recently out on its own.  It miscalculated this plant's support.  Cardinals, house finches, chickadees and the male red bellied woodpecker were all the birds I saw.  Oh, a crow swooped over but kept going when it didn't see any treats on the patio.  The rain returned around 8pm.