Rodent robbery

The squirrel continued to raid the blue dish.  In fact, the last I saw, it had been overturned.  Meanwhile, a Carolina wren  stayed above on the glass dish.  I saw cardinals and finches on the seed feeder.  It was a nice day though cloudy but when I got home I wasn't feeling well enough to go outside.  

 

The tale of squirrel and crow

After the storm it was much cooler and very nice.  The crow came looking for a handout.  The squirrel helped itself to the birds' food in the hanging dishes.  The crow watched and thought about trying to do the same but didn't quite figure out how.  At one point they were nearly nose to beak and the squirrel was feeling feisty.   The pool was full of water and detritus.  I helped a bumblebee and a wasp and a few beetles.   A skink rushed across the steps faster than I could focus.  

Donner und Blitzen

A small sunflower bloomed yesterday.  Then it rained substantially overnight.  More was predicted so I swam in the morning.  Beetles, ants, wasps, and roaches were afloat but I only rescued beetles.  Afterward, I glimpsed a dragonfly and a cabbage white.  The New England aster was blooming.  So was the beautyberry.  At lunch, crows and squirrels ate mealworms.  Carolina wrens and bluebirds were unhappy that the dishes were covered against future rain.  A blown leaf fragment fooled me into thinking it was a mantis.  

A thunderstorm arrived around 2:30pm  and rain hammered the pavement.  By 3pm the thunder was loud and the lightning close, while the light was very low.  We lost Internet connectivity for about 22 hours.

Solstice

I swam in the morning while there was still some shade and rescued a handful of brown scarab Phyllophaga May beetles and one ladybug.  I think the ladybug was dead though.  A tiger swallowtail tried to wrestle nourishment out of a fancy daylily.   The beautyberry started to blom.  We went to a sunset vigil and a mockingbird circled overhead.  The first quarter moon had a faint halo.  

 

Hot

The day was sunny and hot.  I had a morning meeting so I waited till late afternoon to swim. Wasps were active and one head-butted my foot.  Another climbed a dragonfly perch.  I rescued many scarab beetles, some were plain brown and others were bronze flecked.  A damselfly watched for small fliers.  I glimpsed a yellow butterfly but couldn't say what it was.  

Rain

I woke up to rain which was welcome because this year has been too dry.  A female pileated woodpecker pecked at the suet during a lull.  The rain stopped  before lunch and a family of awkward fledgling titmice came for seeds.  The sun came out in the late afternoon.  A skink ambled along a timber.  

Widow skimmer

I first saw the dragonfly in the front yard yesterday as I drove in.  But when I took the camera to look for it, I couldn't find it.  This morning as I dripped after swimming, it was in the back yard fighting a strong, gusty wind.  I picked the first blueberries, only a small handful. A brightly colored stinkbug flew off of the bush.  A largus bordered plant bug was drowned.  Lots of scarab beetles and one black ground beetle survived dunking.  I had hoped the wind would keep biting bugs away but one got in my face and I may have drowned it.  Birds were scarce.