Sweaty hot

I picked a couple dozen figs, fortunately in a strong breeze.  On my way past the canna I saw a slaty skimmer perched on a leaf.  My sandals got coated with rotten fig paste.  I hope ants will clean them for me.  Afterward, I chased two frogs around the pool.  Every time I caught one it would sneak back in.  The dragonfly nymph was back near where I saw it before, but it saw me and disappeared.  I also pulled two green June beetles out of the skimmer and rescued some crickets and May beetles that were swimming.

Two hummers streaked across the sky one pursuing the other.  I caught glimpses of a dark butterfly, maybe a black swallowtail, maybe a red spotted purple.  A Carolina wren got a barkbutter ball for its evening snack.  

 

Scorching

As I drove to Chesapeake, I saw a cloud formation like a fingerprint in the sky.  When I arrived it was overhead and too big for a phone photo, and when I came back outside it had dissipated.  What with one thing and another, I didn't see much else till afternoon.  A Carolina wren poked around under the dish feeders.  The wind was still from the Southwest, but the clouds were moving much slower.  Down where I was, a breeze helped alleviate the heat.  A hummer perched on a stalk by its feeder, but flew off before I was focused.   I spotted a skink on the step wall just as the camera battery died.  

I waited till late in the afternoon to swim.  It wasn't buggy except for one mosquito that will never bite again.  A dragonfly nymph was clinging to the pool wall.  It got away from me, but I don't know what I would have done with it anyway.   There were two frogs in the skimmer that I released only to have them jump back into the pool.  I must have caught one three times.  I got pictures of one with a passenger - I wonder if it knew?  A different skink was floating in the water.  It was old enough to know better.  I laid it on the hot concrete to revive. It was still there when I finished my swim and I was afraid it had died, but it finally left when I wasn't looking.  

 

Bluebirds

A pair of bluebirds came for breakfast.  She tried to stuff her beak but kept dropping pieces.  I caught the crab and K kindly carried it down to the creek.  I also caught two frogs, repeatedly.  The Southwest wind sent lots of cumulus clouds past.  A fiery skipper joined the bees and wasps.  I fished a few beetles out of the water, but more mulch.  A bumblebee rescued itself.  

 

Crab

Fortunately, the sticky heat was frequently relieved by a breeze.  Lots of cumulus blew up from the Southwest.  The brown headed nuthatch was back  The dark spider posed like an orb weaver but what I could see of the web was just a tangle of threads with no pattern.  A couple of duskywings argued over the mountain mint.  I posed a drowned camel cricket.

I found no frogs in the pool today, but a mud crab instead.  It pinched my fingers and toes and got away into deep water.  Speaking of pinches, National Geographic introduced the Schmidt sting pain index.  A hummer made a brief visit to its feeder.  A male slaty skimmer used the smaller perch but spent much of the time hunting.  I saw a reddish dot in the sky and got a blurry shot of a Carolina saddleback dragonfly.  A titmouse saw something hair-raising.  Once again, a sprinkle made me take the camera inside.  

Rain

Another hibiscus flower appeared.  The sky looked ominous in the morning but I swam anyway.  A  few May and June beetles should have been thankful for that.  The frogs resented it.  I evicted three of them several times and also disposed of the one I found dead in the skimmer.  Meanwhile, the sky sprinkled me.  There was a brief interlude of sun when I got out, then a shower even though the sun kept shining.  The dark spider in the azalea was hard to see. 

A female great blue skimmer dragonfly hunted from the garden stake perches.  Carpenter mimic bees fussed over the mountain mint.  A yellow butterfly disappeared into the trees.  A skink hid from me, but not well.  A hummer flew at the kitchen window then to the feeder.  At lunch, I saw a brown headed nuthatch.  A Carolina wren seemed to be stuffing vegetation into the birdhouse.  Fingers crossed!  Mid afternoon, the showers turned to a hard rain that flooded Norfolk and cancelled events.  However, we only got about a quarter inch.  

Yellow bird

The goldfinch visited again and this time I got a photo, but of his back.  A dark skipper didn't settle long enough for a picture.  The usurper spider was still enthroned above the azalea.  I caught two frogs at the same time but one kept jumping back into the water.  The usual beetles floated around.  Meanwhile the sky was mostly gray and drops fell on me while I swam.  

Beautiful blue bee

K put some peanuts out for the crow but the squirrels got them.  Because an afternoon thunderstorm was possible, I picked figs in the morning.  It was buggy and sweaty, but I got a lot.  Afterward the cool water felt so good.  I caught four frogs, I think.  That is, I know I caught one twice because I saw it jump in again, but it is possible there were more repeaters.  I wish they would eat the mosquitoes!  I did see a couple of dragonflies on patrol.  

A metallic glint in the water caught my notice and I rescued a bright blue bee.  It was about a half centimeter in length and all blue-green with black wings.  It walked politely on my fingers but I didn't try to carry it up to the house for the camera.  There were also several big green June beetles and one ladybug.  Also a drowned brown stinkbug.  A monarch butterfly found the milkweed irresistible.  I saw a Guinea paper wasp hunting around the milkweed and wondered if it would take monarch caterpillars as I saw no sign of them.  

I did see the usual bees and wasps and a tiny yellow spider that had caught a tiny black wasp that was nevertheless too big for it.  A strange spider appeared to have taken over the Argiope web.  It was smaller than the Argiope had been but I wonder if it preyed on spiders.  It used the Argiope's stabilimentum to wrap up prey.  Bluebirds visited the barkbutter balls.  The thunderstorm never materialized.