Rain again

I awoke to hard rain but it only lasted a few minutes and subsided to drizzle.  The rain picked up again around 7:30 and continues.  While it was just drizzle a cardinal and a hummingbird visited.

The rain stopped around 10am but it remains very humid with heavy clouds on the horizon.  I glimpsed an orange butterfly.  The blueberries are swelling and the lantana is blooming.  Lantana is a tropical perennial that is at the extreme end of its range for wintering over.  This plant in front of a South-facing wall has come back every year for nearly a decade.

During the bit of sun at lunch, an adult five-lined skink ventured out.  Instead of a blue tail, it has a red head. Titmouse and towhee, cardinal and chickadees had lunch too.  Then a wren showed up.  Now thunder is grumbling.  And more rain all afternoon. And then after a lull, around 6pm a ferocious wall cloud with lightning appeared in the West and North and deluged us for an hour.