Morning & evening rain

Today's rain was lighter than yesterday and ended before noon.  As usual, it brought out the birds.  Four titmice and a downy woodpecker visited the feeder along with the regular birds.  The fledgling cardinal was feeding itself sunflower seeds but a harried parent cardinal was still feeding a cowbird fledgling. 

Robins ate wild cherries.  A pileated woodpecker flew across the yard in the rain.  At least two hummers competed for their feeder.  I had dumped and refreshed the mealworms which pleased the wrens.  It also attracted two grackles. 

After the rain stopped, an adult skink chased another across the patio.  I saw others later, one at a time.  Butterflies appeared from wherever they'd hidden: a black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and two kinds of skipper.  A tattered female blue dasher took up a post on the top of the sunflower.  Saddlebags cruised overhead.  I discovered an orb spider in the spartina. 

The sun was hot in the early afternoon but clouds returned and by 4pm it was overcast again. On my way to pick blueberries I startled a blue jay.  There were no blueberries to pick, only green ones were left.  A goldfinch made numerous passes over the yard but I never saw it land.  A yellow crowned night heron preened on the dock.  A hummer fed on the Mexican sage.

Two great crested flycatchers joined the robins in the cherry tree, but not for cherries, I think. As I watched the flycatchers, it got too dark for photos though it was just after 5pm.  Thunder and lightning soon followed.  This time the rain was not gentle and wind gusts slammed it into the house. And it continued for hours. 

Cloudy

The sun got through at times but the sky was mostly overcast.  Gusts of wind brought down leaves yellowed from the heat and lack of rain.  Not much went on at breakfast.  A wren looked for mealworms so I refilled the dish.

When I came home a buckeye butterfly was feeding on the lantana.  It was the summer "linea" morph.  I learned a new term seasonal polyphenism for changes in appearance depending on season.  I fished out another dead caterpillar and rescued some crickets and beetles.  At lunch time, a tiger swallowtail once again evaded the camera.  A skimmer perched and other dragonflies including a saddlebags flew high.  I saw a tiny skink behind the rose, and later a large one put its head in the birdbath. A cicada killer buzzed by. 

Cardinals were feeding a youngster.  Titmice joined the feeder birds.  A very aggressive hummer perched in the cherry to keep an eye on feeder and flowers.  She descended in wrath on another hummer that tried to feed on the cannas.

By mid afternoon the sky was quite dark and thunder rumbled.  The seed eaters gathered for a emergency supplies.  Finally, around 3pm rain began. It lasted the rest of the day, and came just in time for a lot of heat-stressed plants.  The rain began to slack off at supper. Four titmice crowded the feeder.  A hummer kept trying to get time on her feeder.

Not so hot

A laughing gull plunged into the creek like an osprey.  I glimpsed a genuine osprey through the trees.  A pair of cardinals in the midst of ugly molting came for seeds.  A hummer found the lavender.  Later I saw a shadow that looked like a hummer cross the closed blind in the bedroom.  I hope it found the hanging baskets of flowers.  A squirrel drank from the birdbath.  The morning was wasted shopping.

A cloudless sulphur, a cabbage white, a tiger and a black swallowtail flew through the back yard.  A flock of mallards congregated by the dam outfall.  A Carolina wren took note of the refilled worm dish.  K saw three hummers chasing each other.  Titmice came for lunch.  And a male downy woodpecker put in an appearance.

At supper, I saw a four spotted pennant dragonfly on the tall perch.  Hummers zoomed around and then one hummer sat in the dogwood, I think because I came outside to photograph the dragonfly.  The cloud cover appeared quilted with blue gaps as an egret flew home. The West looked golden through the trees. 

Hazy and hot

A little rain must have fallen overnight and condensation blurred the windows at breakfast but it was already hot.  A hummer fed at breakfast.  The yellow crowned night heron was back on the rocks below the dam.  An egret fished along the bulkhead across the creek.  Two yellow crowned night herons flew upstream and a little later back down again.  Then one came back and perched in the pine beside the dock.

I saw a fiery skipper on the mealworm hanger of all places.  I rescued a robber fly, a green June beetle, a leafhopper, a bristletail, a caterpillar, and a sidewalk tiger beetle from the water.  I think the caterpillar, the leafhopper, and the robber fly were too far gone.  I also noticed that iridescent pieces of beetle exoskeleton and dragonfly heads had apparently been discarded.  A few dragonflies were on patrol, including a saddlebags. 

Birds flocked to the blueberries.  I saw robins and a blue jay for certain, and I think starlings and grackles, and possibly a mockingbird.  They paid no attention to my floating head but I couldn't take pictures like that.  The male goldfinch tore into the zinnias.  Crows were everywhere.  Hummer(s) visited flowers as well as the feeder.

Dark clouds boiled up around mid afternoon and there was a little lightning and thunder.  The tide was high when a yellow crowned night heron stalked along the spartina when I got back from my meeting. Finally, as we ate supper, a sprinkle of rain fell.  The sun shone the whole time as it was low in the West.I hoped for a rainbow, but couldn't see any. 

Getting dry

It hasn't rained since the 19th and almost every day has been in the 90s.  The leaves on the dogwoods were drooping. Squirrels drank from the birdbath and birds from the hummer moat.  Titmice joined the regulars.

I saw wrens at lunch.  Robins were back in the cherry, but hard to see.  A red dragonfly made a pass through the yard.  The hummer visited frequently and perched in the cherry to guard the feeder.  Later she chased off another hummer. 

Another hot one

A couple of titmice queued up with the regulars.  A Carolina wren saw the mealworm dish was empty so I hurried to refill it but the wren didn't come back.  K swapped the hummer feeders which is possible now that we have two.  A hummer soon came to it.  An unusual looking bird was eating cherries.  It was a young robin with another behind it.

An entomologist friend pointed out that this is National Moth Week.  Who knew?  I saved another bristletail in the pool.  The female slaty skimmer was back and I also saw a big darner that never paused.  A black swallowtail visited the rue.  A yellow crowned night heron lurked in the dam outfall. A large reddish skink dashed under the rosemary. 

Still hot and dry

An egret stood on the dock bench.  I rescued a cricket, a beetle, another green leafhopper, and (I think) a bristletail.  A dragonfly monitored the proceedings.  We ate both figs and blueberries from our yard.  I don't remember their seasons overlapping before. 

At lunch, a male towhee landed on the wire holding the mealworm dish but was startled off by a Carolina wren.  Hummers were hungry and continued to check out the gladiolus.

Toward evening the sun descended into a smear of stratus clouds.  Dragonflies zipped around at suppertime.  A titmouse came for seeds.  The wrens cleaned out their dish.  The hummer(s) seemed off-put by something at their feeder, but  eventually settled in for a drink.  It may have been a wasp.  A dove just stood on the first step until suddenly two squirrels raced past.  The dove took off like a dowager surprised by urchins running under her skirts.  A bit later, I noticed one of the pool-brush poles was rolling toward the water.  It went right in and out came a dripping squirrel.

More of the same

Carolina wrens and hummingbirds visited their feeders and a goldfinch drank from the hummer feeder.  House finches stuck to seeds.  A hummer checked out all the red flowers and the window - I don't know whether it saw me or the reflected flowers.  Other critters were zooming about too fast to identify.

When I pulled my flipflops out from under the stepstool, a sizable spider rode along.  I dropped the shoe into the berry bucket and the spider jumped off.  I retrieved my shoe and released the spider into the wild.

I fished an apple-green leafhopper put of the water though I thought it was dead.  It recovered and sauntered away.  I also saved a very small, black scarab beetle. Lots of dragonflies and butterflies tried my patience.  I saw three species of swallowtail and other butterflies I couldn't get a good look at.  The dragonflies I recognized were a Carolina saddlebags, a Halloween pennant, a blue dasher, male widow skimmer, and a bar winged skimmer.

The goldfinches came back and at one point a female goldfinch, a male house finch, and a female hummer were all fussing at each other.  Two Carolina wrens enjoyed mealworms and rocked together on the dish like an old couple on a glider swing.  I saw an egret land across the creek. 

Sunny and hot

Breakfasting with us were a hummer, Carolina wrens, and a titmouse that joined the seed eaters.  A mama house finch fed a fledgling on the feeder perch.  The afterthought gladiolus spike began blooming.  The patio peppers turned red. 

In the afternoon, goldfinches visited, but something had torn up yet another sunflower.  A yellow dragonfly zoomed all around in front of the patio door.  It was a bit alarming to think there were that many bugs right there.  Unfortunately it never slowed enough for me to identify.  A female hummer quenched its thirst but a chickadee let me know the ant moat was dry.  A male hummer visited the Mexican sage outside my office but I couldn't get a clear shot.  A Halloween pennant clung to the top of the pine despite the wind, holding that perch for at least two and a half hours.  It did make forays to snatch bugs but always came back. 

Hot

The Carolina wrens and the hummingbird made frequent visits to their respective feeders.  I fished more dead bugs out of the pool than live - wasps, a caterpillar, stink bugs, and beetles.  A click beetle showed up in the bucket of blueberries I picked, but it clicked away before I got the camera.  A "murder of crows" had a noisy discussion as they flew back and forth and around overhead.

There was enough breeze to reduce the chance of being fly bitten.  Butterflies (fiery skipper and black swallowtail) and bar-winged skimmer dragonflies passed through. Some skinks scampered.  A young argiope built a web in the azalea where the orchard spider was a few weeks back. 

In the late afternoon, an egret rested on the dock bench.  I took that as a sign and went for another swim.  That was fortunate for a skink who was working hard to stay afloat.  It was an adult with a regrown tail.

Goldfinches were startled off the seed feeder.  I photographed a hummer from a different angle.  And the wrens returned.  Sunset featured those vertical cumulus that remind me of stalagmites.

A bit cooler

The day was sunny but not so scorchingly hot.  Both the seed and the mealworm feeders were empty.  We filled them and put out the brand new hummer feeder.  The wrens showed up quickly.  The hummer took longer.  I found plenty more blueberries and ate the first fig. 

Lots of dragonflies covered the airspace, low and high, at lunchtime.  A blue dasher, a widow skimmer, both female, and atop the pine a Carolina saddlebags.  Later, when I got back from my meeting the goldfinch pair were working on the feeder and the remaining sunflowers.  I saw a skipper on the lantana. 

Sunny

The temperature plunge after last evening's storm did not last.  The water was full of leaf litter, but few bugs.  Dragonflies were doing a good business.  A cloudless sulphur flitted around but didn't consent to a picture.  A small wasp carried off a grasshopper nymph almost as big as it was, but I didn't have the camera as I was chasing the sunflower thief. Guilty squirrel was caught in the act.  The female goldfinch went after the flowers that remained.  The Carolina wrens complained when they found rainwater instead of mealworms.  I fixed that and they were happy.

At lunchtime a Carolina saddlebags used the dogwood as a place to perch between hunting forays.  A black swallowtail hung around the rue.  The wrens were back at the mealworm dish.  The two male cardinals were defending territory.  All the regulars visited the sunflower cafe, but I didn't see any of the not-so-frequent visitors.   A hummer let us know it was time for fresh juice.   Later, a butterfly flitted around the hackberry tree. 

The additional hummer feeder arrived, along with tiny bottle-brushes to clean the holes.  A fledgling cardinal crashed into the window and then sat looking confused on the sill.  It seemed to be OK and its mother showed up quickly to investigate.  Shortly after that I left for a meeting.  The Western sky was ablaze with dramatic sunbeams.  Fortunately, the clouds did not turn into a storm like yesterday. 

What a storm!

Over the last few days, something removed four of the six original sunflowers that had gone to seed but weren't yet ripe.  Some smaller, not yet gone to seed, sunflowers were torn up, but the big ones disappeared.  Raccoons?  An egret rested on the dock bench.  I put out fresh mealworms and the wrens were happy.

Even though clouds covered much of the sky, the sun was fierce at lunchtime.  A painted lady fed on a sunflower.

The wrens were busy when I grabbed an early supper.  K walked past a dragonfly several times but it held its ground, er...perch.  As I drove to my meeting, I could see cumulus boiling up like stalagmites. 

Torrential rain fell on Norfolk about 7:30pm.  We tried to wait it out but the building lost power.  So we dispersed to our cars, getting soaked, and began the process of navigating through flooded streets and dead traffic lights.  It took me half an hour to find a path to the expressway.  The most amazing lightning lit up the East, but it had quit by the time I got home, so no photos. 

Sticky

I woke up to so much condensation on the windows I thought it was raining.  Goldfinches, titmice, and Carolina wrens were up early.  It was already hot and sweaty when I picked blueberries after breakfast.  Clouds and a breeze didn't seem to help.  Something snatched more sunflowers overnight. 

 A black swallowtail and a variegated fritillary flitted around.  A blue dasher perched.  A small black fly bit me so I retired to the air conditioning.  A brown thrasher flew across the yard to the azaleas.  A couple of blue jays stayed mostly secluded in the trees.  A robin found a berry.

The goldfinches were back at supper.  Wrens disputed the mealworms with a blue jay.  Itching made me aware that something(s) bit me in several places.

Blue sky

It must have rained again overnight because a breeze made it look like a sprinkler was on.  A goldfinch pair visited and the female worked on the sunflowers while the male stood guard.  Then Carolina wrens discovered that I refilled "their" feeder.  Otherwise not much occurred at breakfast. 

Later in the day, a titmouse and a downy woodpecker visited the feeder.  A hummer investigated every flower - lavender, rose, even hibiscus.  It came within inches of my face, which of course meant I couldn't photograph it.  It had a freckled throat.  A grackle and a brown thrasher hunted in the grass. 

A wide variety of dragonflies took advantage of all the insects encouraged by yesterday's rain.  A four spotted pennant used the pine tree for a perch and later a Halloween pennant found the same spot.  Many saddlebags stayed on the wing including these that were mating.  An amberwing lurked in the rue.  Blue dashers used the perches I put out.  With evening, the twelve spotted skimmers  took over, flying high and fast. 

I saw a tiger and a black swallowtail but only got photos of a cabbage white and a hairstreak. I rescued many beetles, a few wasps, an immature stink bug, and a robber fly that looked quite different floating on the water.  When I felt little feet on my neck I nearly drowned a mama wolf spider and her spiderlings, but I fished them out.  A lovely great golden digger wasp fed on the milkweed.  And there were fireflies to finish the day.

Clouds sailed across the sky all day, sometimes shading the sun and creating dramatic sunbeams.  Skinks ran around the patio but I didn't get any in focus.  Egrets and a great blue heron flew over the creek.  When I went to close off the pool steps the yellow crowned night heron was on the dock again.  The gladiolus put up a new flower spike.  Trumpet vine flowers were in bloom.  I'm glad to know the vine didn't die.  A bright, fat moon hid behind the trees at dusk.

Gray

The sky was overcast and the air a lot cooler, thankfully.  A yellow crowned night heron preened on a dock piling.  The hummer made frequent visits to her feeder.  The goldfinch pair began working on the sunflowers.  It looks like they have been responsible for the shredded, snipped off buds as another was lying on the ground this morning.  Three titmice came for seeds along with the usual birds.

I dumped out the mealworm dish and put out fresh.  But just as I was getting ready to go swimming, the rain began.  Egrets were out fishing along the bank. The night heron came back for more preening.

At lunch, a downy woodpecker came for seeds.  Two Carolina wrens showed up for mealworms.  Some streaks of blue sky appeared in the North.  The sun came out in the mid afternoon.  A brown thrasher flew into the saltbush thicket.

After I decided the rain was over for the day, I went outside to clean up all the leaf litter.  Something bent down several sunflowers.  While in the pool, I saved a honeybee and several scarab beetles.  Cicadas were loud and dragonflies were out hunting.  Three goldfinches shot overhead - at least two were males.  A turkey vulture flew so low overhead I could see its eye.  A dove tried to figure out the feeder to no avail.  Then a house wren took a look at the seeds.  The cloud cover returned before the evening fireflies came out.