There was water in the birdbath from yesterday's rain and enough humidity to keep it from evaporating. The temperature rose so fast that I went swimming in the morning while there was still shade. Storm winds had re-trashed the water with leaves, needles, catkins, bark, and unidentified tree fragments. I rescued a bumblebee, a huge black ant, and three black beetles, but mostly I just kept sweeping up armloads of vegetative detritus.
The day was warmer than I expected under a mostly cloudy sky with a strong West wind. One source predicted a thunderstorm but another said no rain. When I swam, there was even a little sunshine. I rescued a spider and the biggest camel cricket I've seen. It stupidly jumped back into the water so I rescued it twice. I regret not having the camera. The wind dumped a lot of tree detritus into the water, mostly from the red cedar. After I got out and was dripping off, the light suddenly dropped and I hurried inside. We got measurable rain, some lightning, and high winds.
The temperature dropped overnight and only rose into the low 70s during the day. I stayed out of the water. K put a fresh feeder out and a female hummer visited. I poured some barkbutter balls on the ground for crows. There were white flecks on one crow's right wing. A crow took a bath but I don't know if it was the same one..
A pair of goldfinches checked out the dishes but not the seeds. Bluebirds, mockingbirds, and a blue jay came for barkbutter balls. The tallest mountain mint stalks began to turn whitish.
A Carolina wren came for lunch. So dis the mama squirrel with the odd fur patch. 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 mockingbird visited several times. An assassin nymph lurked on the mountain mint. A brown thrasher skulked under the sakaki.
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.
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.
