Red flowers

The hibiscus, a gladiola, and a rose are all different reds. A squirrel was sitting in the portulaca pot this morning. The juvenile rabbit came by, distinctly bigger than last week. The house finches seem to increase in number every time I look. Young ones sit on the feeder demanding to have food poked into their gullets. Later, they pretended they were pecking up seeds on the patio but I don't think they've quite got the hang of it.

An interesting assortment of bugs were swimming in the pool: a honeybee, wasps, a tiny metallic-blue Halictidae bee, flies, lacewings, many beetles including several brown "june bugs"(Phyllophaga) and a green "june bug" (Cotinis nitida), several black ground beetles and a tiger beetle, fireflies, mulch roaches, ants... There's an art to rescuing a wasp. Dragonflies are busy. There's a rust-colored species that stays down by the creek and a mating pair paused on the dock.

Fish are jumping in the creek. Are they trying to catch bugs, breathe air, or escape predators? I saw one moon jelly pulsing along. Geese, laughing gulls, egrets, and a little green heron went by.

Home again

I had hoped to go on a bayou boat ride, but all the photos I got are of clouds as seen from planes. This is practically a diagram of cloud types.

Meanwhile, I thank Mary Reid Barrow for her mention in "Coastal Journal" and hope no one was disappointed that I was away for a few days right after.

The first blueberries ripened already.

Interesting sky

Looks like an eye in the sky to me. It sprinkled a bit mid morning. The finches continue to queue up at the feeder. The baby rabbit looked in the pool but did not go for a swim. I've tied the flowerpots to the hanger, but I am doubtful. One was on the ground again this morning.

Apparently Saturday's dragonfly was a female and today a male appeared. The difference is that the male has a white patch on each wing outside the dark patch.

The beauty berry is beginning to bloom. One day lily came through all the storm damage and is blooming. A very small brown bird was hopping around the mulch, maybe a fledgling wren?

Early rain

The usual suspects at the feeder. Rain again around noon. Then it cleared and chilled. Finches and chickadees were busy at the feeder even when I sat quite close. One of the fledgling cardinals is beginning to forage.

Portulaca pot grounded

The squirrel was eating it! A blue jay, chickadees finches, and a cardinal came to breakfast. I've now seen 6 house finches at one time including two males. But at one point a chickadee bumped them all off the feeder.
Looks like rain.

Peter rabbit visits

Wasn't there a flowerpot and watering can in the story? Anyway, the baby rabbit has survived so far. It has a tick on one ear - ick!

The Goose Fleet was out on the creek, at least forty adults and half grown goslings.

It got very hot and some kind of biting fly came after me. More pleasantly, a large dragonfly with black at the base of its otherwise clear wings has been hanging around in the afternoon. I googled "yellow stripes" and found it is a Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa).

rain shower

The rain quickly went to big drops and ended but has left an overcast behind. The house finches continue their jockeying for position on the feeder. Then they all flew and left a chickadee in possession.

Another shower about an hour after the first.

The sakaki is blooming. I hope I've identified it correctly. It's a volunteer evergreen shrub that seems to be of Japanese origin. Thick glossy leaves turn red with age and the blooms are small with five thick, waxy, cream-colored petals and yellow stamens.

The swamp fire is blowing our way again.

Cloudy and warmer

Pretty quiet so far. The rabbit came up on the patio for a moment, then saw us move inside. The house finches are still conducting their pecking order squabbles. There seem to be two adult pairs and one pair is intimidated by the other. Offspring from a previous year?

A rare June day

Lovely and breezy, but ominous clouds are piling up in the southwest. Full moon and high tide.

Now the sky has cleared and the feeder drama continues with cardinals, house finches, chickadees and titmice. Here's a photo from yesterday of the cardinal hovering to pick something from the parsley. I think this may be a juvenile male.

Somebody's blue-eyed husky galloped through the yard, planted its muddy paws on me and then defecated in the mulch. I harangued it about "Home," to little effect. Grrrrr.

Toward evening, the rabbit lolloped around the pool and I also glimpsed the baby bunny. Something was crunching under the mulch next to the patio but I couldn't see what, probably a mole or vole. A small flock of grackles stopped by, but were more wary of me moving inside the house than most other birds are. Then, a goldfinch pair came to feed! What a lovely dessert for the day.

Finch drama

The finch family came to feed and apparently has a redheaded stepchild.
At least, one of the finches wasn't permitted on the perch. So, slowly he (I think it's an adolescent male) crept along the side of the feeder.
Meanwhile a chickadee showed up to wait its turn.




I believe I've now seen offspring of the crows and of the cardinals. It is a very breezy day, but the tiger swallowtail has been flitting around. We bought some portulaca to dress up the pole where the feeder hangs. The cardinals have been hovering to pluck something from the gone-to-seed parsley - seed or bug?

Frustrated squirrel

The feeder is empty so we took it down intending to clean it. This morning, a squirrel discovered it on the patio and tried sooooo hard to get something to come out the dispenser. I'm observing that the squirrels are having to work harder to get around the yard now that much of their tree branch route is gone. The male cardinal was busy in the dogwood. I don't know what he finds there. There was a firefly in the house last night - strange to have it blinking away inside.

Feeder is back up and a chickadee noticed. Earlier a chickadee hopped all over the hanger on the post where the feeder was 'sposed to be. Maybe it was making sure it hadn't gone invisible?

At dusk, I watched the dragonflies. The evening ones are larger than the midday species and they never seem to stop and perch. Between their speed and the low light this is all I got. Now the cicadas are buzzing.

Overnight rain

Left a good soaking with drops clinging to all the leaves. It's bright and sunny now, but with clouds that might build to another thunderstorm. The cardinal couple are active - makes me wonder if anyone is minding a nest. Egrets seem busy on the creek. A brown thrasher took an interest in the wet mulch.

As the afternoon storm boiled up, four ospreys circled overhead. I wonder if it was a fishing lesson?

Disappointed jay

It hopped all around under the feeder, cocking an eye up at the perch. Finally it flew up, but darted off as soon as the perch began to dip. Jays are so attractive that is is odd not being able to tell male from female.

The sun is shining and the sky is clear but everything is dripping - rain or heavy dew? At last the pool is repaired and beginning to fill.

more hot

I'm huddled inside over a keyboard. We do have the fences repaired now, like good neighbors.

Thunder's rolling and it's growing dark in mid-afternoon. But, where's the rain?

Hot

We keep the feeder perch weighted so that it shuts for jays and grackles, otherwise they would empty the feeder too quickly. The jays at least seem to find enough seeds spilled to keep coming back. One was at it this morning.

Some thumping on the roof turned out to be the crow family.

Goose convention

Down by the creek is the same gathering of adult and juvenile geese, feeding in the grass. And another four adults are cruising out on the water.

House finches came for breakfast.

Sun again

The crow called its family to the tree down from the bedroom window early in the morning. Geese were up as well. Breakfasting at the feeder were cardinals, chickadees and house finches, with a jay below.

Cardinals, finches and a titmouse for lunch. A cardinal gets to eat before a finch - note the red tail below the perch on the far side of the feeder.

Back to sunshine

Rainfall for the year is down one third, so despite a preference for sun, I am grateful for yesterday's rain. A jay was scolding a crow on what remains of the cherry tree. The male house finch was on the feeder. The gardenia is in bloom.

I spoke too soon - clouds are rolling in. Two crows on the rim of the pool were joined by one that had been down inside. 15 goslings and four adult geese are debugging the grass. The goslings are not all the same size and some have the white tails of adults. I think it must be a goose playgroup.

While the clouds looked serious, nothing precipitated. Fireflies came out in the dusk. I thought I saw one a couple of days ago, but there were lots tonight.

Rain at last

This is the first rain since the storm on May 24. I hope it helps heal the parched and trampled yard.

The rain stopped around noon after a good soaking. Mimosa, trumpet vine, and Queen Anne's lace are all blooming along the highway. They seem early, but I have not recorded previous years, so I cannot be sure.

Bay in bloom

The birds have planted some bushes that appear to be bay - both the look and smell of the leaves. This year, for the first time, I have seen flowers. They don't seem an exact match for bay laurel, though the tiny individual flowers look right they aren't in big clusters. There's a tiny wasp on this one.

Breezy and comfortable

I refilled the feeder and I guess a squirrel could smell it. One came to investigate and perched on the back of a chair peering thorough the door screen at me and sniffing hard. Unfortunately the camera was out of reach.

It's been sunny and a lovely temperature all day. I believe some birds are fledging as I'm hearing cries of "food, mama, food!" I saw a crow family with the young making a sort of "Maaaa" sound instead of "Caw."

Haze over the creek

Lots of birdsong, mixed with the sound of saws, but few birds in sight.

The rabbit ventured up the hill and along the busted fence, then took off back down. A squirrel inspected the pool. There are spider threads everywhere in the early morning light. It is warm but not unpleasant this early in the day.

At midday, a black swallowtail flitted from herb to herb.

In the late afternoon, a baby rabbit appeared under the camellia by the outside faucet. I just got one photo while it froze, then it panicked and ran away. I saw it later peeking around the corner of the house, but it saw me too. I wonder if it was following the scent of the rabbit I saw in the morning?

Smog expected

Hot and stifling and sticky. Wasps and dragonflies like it but the birds are keeping to the shade.