Morning was cloudy. I spotted a morning glory flower. A brown thrasher was an early visitor. A female cardinal was beginning to lose head feathers and a male fledgling was getting orange, but with a black beak. A female goldfinch was thirsty. The molt-ragged Carolina wren had a barkbutter ball.
Carrying the can of bug killer, I went swimming earlier than usual and found three frogs. I evicted them but after I got out, they hopped back into the water. A big, all-black bee was swimming frantically and I assisted it onto dry concrete. Wind gusts tossed leaves into the water. I put some peanut bits on the patio for the crow but a squirrel ate them. The crow may have given up on us.
After lunch, I went back outside. There was more sun but a breeze and the shade made the heat endurable. A blue dasher stood guard. I saw two other dragonflies, one dark and the other yellowish, but I didn't get pictures to ID. A hummer had a long feed before she saw something that sent her away. Sometime later I spotted her preening on a dead twig in the dogwood.
A well-grown skink crossed the steps and later rain under my chair. Its tail was not original but was full length. A few wasps and bees and a duskywing skipper fed on the mountain mint. A big dark butterfly never alighted and I couldn't guess if it was a red spotted purple or some kind of swallowtail. A skipper with some orange joined the mountain mint crew.








