Continued hot

The tree removal crew tore up the moss around the oak, but I suppose it will now be sunny enough for grass.

Hot sun

Finches and squirrels. The pool is nearly empty. Ever since the storm, the water level has been dropping. We hoped we could find the leak once the tree was out, but no luck so far. We cleaned it out as best we could but there is still a lot of debris in the bottom.

This evening, geese came visiting again. Wonder what they thought of the hole that used to be a pool? I went out to speak with them and they hustled off. There were at least four adolescents, nearly adult size but still in gosling fluff. I also saw a little one so I think they were from more than one nest. I saw two adults but I think there were more. One adult gave a hurry-up nip to the tail of an adolescent.

Feeder robbed again

Despite the clever piece of added wire, the feeder lid was up this morning. And do you see that guilty little face! House finches were primly feeding from the perch like good guests, but this squirrel just had to crawl inside.
The question is, was the squirrel a genius or just an opportunist?

Titmice at feeder

Usually I only see one titmouse at a time, but there were several this morning.

It has gotten quite cloudy. Now rain is sprinkling but the sun is shining. After a light rain, it has cleared again.

The male cardinal seems enthralled with the clearing where the oak was.

Still waiting

No action yet on the backyard.

The birds seem to like the sun on the feeder. A couple of jays did their best but they outweigh the counterweight. Cardinals, chickadees, titmice and finches came to breakfast.

At lunch, insurance came to assess and now the tree removal workers are here. And now the trees are gone.

A large dragonfly with black eyes, clear wings and a steel-blue abdomen has been using the perches I put out. I noticed the sorts of places they perched and put bamboo plant stakes out for them. It worked - free mosquito control!

Late afternoon, I saw the eagle again. Maybe it has been around but the trees blocked my view before?

So much sun

And the heat and humidity remind me of a hurricane aftermath. Still a lot of birds, finches and cardinals fighting for space at the feeder. A crow was bouncing on the paulownia branches - being upside down, they are springy. Two squirrels thinking of sex ignored the mess.

All is changed

So much shade is gone with the oak. Birds are flocking the feeder. There must be smashed nests under the trees.

Cardinals and chickadees

And a hopeful squirrel visited the feeder. The sun is out.

A terrifying afternoon storm boiled out of the West about 4:30pm, wind, hail and rain. The photo is hail on the ground. We lost two trees in the back yard. The paulownia uprooted and the nearer oak shattered. Cardinals, chickadees and titmice started coming to the feeder as soon as the rain stopped. Comfort food? One squirrel wandered around the oak seeming dazed.

Swamp smoke overnight

And a gray morning. I thought the North Carolina fire was pretty much over, but the smell was definitely peat smoke. The paper says "85% contained." Breaks in the clouds bring occasional sunshine.

Now the clouds have thickened and look quite thunderous. Hard rain at noon. And sun by one. Apparently the rain gave the birds an appetite - cardinal and chickadee showed up before they were even dry. The afternoon alternated sun and dark clouds. After dark, another storm.

I rescued a tiny wasp from the pool - very striking red body with dark wings and a loooooong ovipositor. If it had been a stinger, it would have been scary.

Light haze, light breeze

Cardinals and squirrels and one crow.
And again with the geese! It's just two adults and two goslings, not the crowd from last week.
About noon the caucus races begin: three squirrels racing around the pool, up the trees and down again. I could actually hear the lead squirrel squeal.

Early rabbit

The poor bunny looked a bit over-worked. Chickadees contended with a squirrel for the feeder. Once again, the geese had to be turned away.

Nice all day. Chickadees and cardinals and a titmouse at the feeder. First swim of the year - the water is 72 degrees.

Bird in the garage

I was out early for breakfast bagels and left the garage open. On my trip, I admired the waning moon and a smaller bird that was harassing a crow. But, on to the excitement:

In the garage was a "LBJ" which I believe was a juvenile Carolina wren. I googled images of that and brown creeper because the bird didn't seem to have much tail and a wren's tail is so distinctive. It clung to the undersides of lights and the garage door, hid behind boxes, and finally played freeze in a toolbox. Then, at last, it noticed that the door was wide open. Birds (and bugs) are so hard-wired to escape upward that it is difficult for them to find any other way out.

Several butterflies are around, the white cabbage, the tiger swallowtail, a skipper, and a larger brown and orange one that went by too fast. I also saw lots of wasps and a little Halictid bee - gorgeous metallic blue-green.

Sunny so far

Two male house finches disputed over the feeder, then both flew off.

When I got up the sky was blue with little cloud puffs looking as though they'd been painted. Now it is a uniform gray.

The Canada geese came to feed in the grass down near the creek. I counted 6 adults and 9 goslings though I could not get them all in the frame at one time. After a bit, they headed up toward the pool and had to be evicted.

Bands of cloud move through to the northeast. A white cabbage butterfly is flitting around.

Very still

The male cardinal is flitting around perching on all the furniture. Now a very light rain is falling. I guess this is going to be another day of sun between rain bands. And humidity.

Bird song

From the bicycle horn honks of the geese to the blackbird performing in the treetop, they proclaimed their identity and intentions. Meanwhile the overcast blew away to the north than another wave came in from the southwest. This continued all day.

The blue eyed grass (a tiny native iris) is just about finished blooming already.

Morning fog

All was quiet. Now it has burned off and there are high cloud wisps.

And now they're congealing into heavy clouds, with a rainbow overhead! Is that some kind of illusion?

Clouds

It started out wet but by noon there is come-and-go sun. Dragonflies are about.

Mid-afternoon downpour.

Odd duck

A female mallard was perched on top of a piling, which is not something they usually do. A male was below on the dock.

Everything was wet in the morning though the bird bath was not full. The male cardinal put in an appearance.

The missing day

Blogger went through some sort of upheaval but now I see the Thursday post is back.

Later in the day, every time I set the camera down it seemed, another new bird appeared. I did catch a glimpse and a photo of a flycatcher in the oak. A bluebird perched on the feeder post and cocked an eye at me, but I couldn't get the camera up in time. A hummingbird flitted all around the edge of the yard, too fast to get the camera aimed. My thanks to the flycatcher!

Gosling season

I came home to goslings in the pool. One runt was peeping, "I can't get out," but when confronted with the big scary human, managed to make it.

Soft gray morning

I hear crows. The male cardinal made an inspection tour of the patio. Some mourning doves took an interest in the pool.

Now it's gone sunny.

Merrie month of May

A string of lovely days.

Cumulus accumulating

Cotton puffs and larger, darker clouds but sunny. The laughing gulls are back. They may have been around for a while but today was the first time I saw them.

Two brown thrashers were disputing territory at WHRO and numerous mockingbirds are everywhere but the back yard. I wonder why?

Soft rain

For a while it only freckled the patio. The male cardinal came for a wake-up drink from the bird bath.

My poison ivy blisters are just as irritating as they were half a century ago. They took three days to show up and will probably last even longer.

In the afternoon, the sky cleared and now I really miss the tree the neighbor had cut down.

Sunny

Blue jays enjoying the bird bath.

Cloud puffs make sun come and go

A robin enjoyed the birdbath. I tried to photograph the bird preening afterward, but the lag on the digital camera defeated me.

A tiger swallowtail flitted past. The clouds are getting thicker.

Clear and cool

Sunshine is back.

Maybe rain?

The sun came in sideways at first but now it has gone dark and windy. The paulownia tree never really bloomed much - just a few lower branches. I conclude that the winter froze all the buds I can see higher on the tree. Bulb blossoms were also sparse this year, likewise the back yard azaleas. The front yard azaleas were fine, maybe because the house protected them on the North.

And the rains came with very gusty winds and heavy downpour. Chickadees and titmice visit the feeder between rain bands.

It's beginning to clear, and in an azalea under the front yard oak, Kathleen found a blinded sphinx moth, Paonias excaecatus. Very lethargic, maybe from the cold rain? It could be freshly emerged, but one spot on the right upper wing is rubbed.

Robin fights

They rise up fluttering and fussing at each other. I hope one of my photos captured it. Not quite.

Also, a crow has been visiting. No clouds but contrails.

Back to the bird bath

The pool cover is coming off today so the birds that have been drinking from the puddle in th middle - jays this morning - will have to get used to the bird bath.

Mid afternoon, as I was doing yard work, a hummingbird came by. Of course the camera was not handy. The hummingbird was moving fast but in my glimpse it looked like there was yellow on it. Pollen?

Balmy and still

Finally there is no wind, just "light airs." The pinxter flower (native deciduous azalea) has been blooming for several days. Some of the roses are blooming, especially the singles and the ones that come up from root stock on the hybrids. And the pecan has put out its long bud strings - its flowers are just like the oak.

I saw a red admiral pursued by a much smaller orange insect. I don't know if it was trying to drive off the butterfly or attack it, but its moves were exactly like a basketball guard. Both the black and the tiger swallowtails are busy depositing eggs.

Also being harassed was an osprey which reacted by flying higher and higher. An early jay sat on the post. Later the molting male house finch perched there before going off to drink from the pool cover. The male cardinal had the same idea. Only the chickadee was bold enough to hit the feeder with me sitting there.