Warm wind

A blue jay got a drink at breakfast.  A goldfinch got a drink from the oversized ant moat protecting the hummer feeder. K saw a hummer at the front yard feeder but I did not see any in back.  I did glimpse an osprey soaring and an egret fishing.  However, the wind grounded a lot of fliers. A family of geese with three goslings waddled up to the pool cover.  The goslings seemed to be either very attached to each other or trying to establish a pecking order.

The female goldfinch returned at lunch.  A blue tailed skink paused in the sun.  As usual, there was an egret fishing below the dam. 

A brown thrasher, I think, sang and sang in the afternoon, but I never saw him.  I did see, but failed to photograph, a downy woodpecker and a tufted titmouse.  A young fox came to the door but my reaching for the camera spooked it.  Later, a turtle trundled along the edge of the pool walkway.  I suppose it was looking for a good nest site. 

Lots of skinks

A skink with a long tail chased a skink that had lost its tail.  The rue had swallowtail caterpillars at all stages of development including at least three that were mature.  Several varieties of wasp also fed on the rue.  I saw some butterflies and dragonflies, but not well enough to identify.

A blue jay raided the mealworms.  I think I saw a bluebird flying to some location off Northeast, maybe a food source?  They do not appear to have discovered the mealworm dish.  We took down the regular hummer feeder for cleaning and hung a cheapo that swung in the wind.  A hummer managed to feed anyway and I think it chased another away.

Sticky

There was a thunderstorm before sunrise and the day following was hot and humid, just as predicted.  A male towhee poked around in the wet mulch with the white throats at breakfast.  I only saw a female hummer.  Egrets and herons were still fishing at the dam outfall.  Cabbage butterflies were everywhere but I also glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.  And I saw the tail of a skink disappear under the grill. Blue jays chased through the trees. 

Warm sunshine

A male and a female hummer came for breakfast. White throats foraged for seeds and visited the birdbath, splashing a dove.  An egret fished.  A Carolina wren wanted mealworms. 

When I got home, I could see both bluebirds watching me from the tree.  But when I came back out with the camera, I couldn't find them again.  I thought I saw a swallow or maybe a martin swoop over the creek.  Later, I saw a big bug that was gone in a flash, leaving an impression of a dark head, thorax, wings, and an abdomen banded in bright yellow fur.  It was the size of a cicada killer, but wasps don't have fur and cicadas are months away.  A hummingbird moth was my best guess, but none of the pictures fit. 

It got quite windy in the afternoon. Cabbage butterflies flitted around the irises.  Wasps fed on the rue and prowled around other plants, especially rose leaves.  I saw both kinds of Polistes and a black & white mason wasp.  The rue also hosted a lot of caterpillars, first, second, and third instars of black swallowtail. And a megachile bee was interested in rose leaves.

Turtles were basking on the logs by the lake.  And a pair of wood ducks were relaxing and preening on the neighbors' floating dock.  While I was watching them, a fox sauntered through the yard.  A short while later, as I was watching cardinals hunt bugs, the fox came dashing back and the birds shot up into the trees.  I suppose the fox discovered the neighbors' dogs.

The West glowed orange through the trees at sunset.  And the feral cat came looking for supper which scared the white throats away.

Clearing

The day began as dreary and wet as the last few.  An egret fished below the dam.  A slug crawled on the window.  A female hummingbird indicated the feeder in back was still good - K brought in the one in front to clean.  The short-tailed squirrel visited.  I also saw white throats, blue jays, and a Carolina wren.

A hummer watched the feeder.  Two chickadees got into a spat beneath the hummer in the dogwood. A male cardinal took mealworms that it only eyed askance a month ago - must be feeding babies.  Then a catbird landed on the bench!

By late afternoon the sky was blue.

Possums and foxes!

There was a sprinkle when I left home at an hour I'm usually asleep. The birds were singing to wake the sun.  But when I got to Norfolk It was like being thrown into a shower.  I had 20 feet to cross and I was soaked.  But it was over an hour and a half later and the cloud cover was getting thin spots.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw a mockingbird and a crow about a yard apart on a wire, glaring at each other.  The crow tried to fly off and the mocker bopped it.  Then the crow hid behind a street sign but the mocker was not fooled.  They flew over me and the crow landed in the street while the mockingbird lit on a branch above.  I had to leave while they were still at it.

The sun shone sporadically and the day warmed into the 70s.  In the afternoon, two opossums drank from the pool cover puddle.  I saw an orange butterfly.  As dusk was falling, two foxes walked under my window.  Something I'm guessing was a muskrat swam very fast and disappeared under the dock.  After dark, when I went out to brick the feeder, I thought I smelled skunk. 

More rain

I had begun to worry that I never saw the bluebirds, but at lunch time a chickadee tried to get into the bluebird house and wrath fell out of the sky upon the invader.

Hummingbirds loitered in the dogwood despite the drizzle.  I saw a male and two females.  A night heron fished below the dam.

It got quite foggy in the mid afternoon but it felt warmer.  A nuthatch lingered at the feeder along with a white throat.  Later a titmouse visited.  A couple of blue jays continued their follow-the-leader around the edge of the yard. 

Cold drizzle

In the morning, the male red bellied woodpecker tried to get nourishment from the suet cage.  White throats ate sunflower seeds.  Later a downy woodpecker also worked on the suet cage.  Meanwhile, a female hummingbird preened up in the dogwood.

After lunch, I planted assorted sunflower seeds and scarlet runner beans.  I also potted the broken piece of red "million bells" from the hanging pot that I had rooted.  The azaleas were past their prime except those in the shade.  Both blue and yellow Dutch irises, or flags, started blooming, as did the dark red root-stock rose. 

Earth Day

Everything was wet when I got up so there must have been rain overnight.  White throats foraged in the wet.  A male cardinal drove them off the feeder.  I saw dragonflies and butterflies while it was still sunny and hot. 

During a very late lunch, the female hummingbird came back.  Swallowtail caterpillars were visible on the rue which had begun to bloom.  The temperature slid down all day till we were back to Spring.

After hours of overcast, a thunderstorm began in the late afternoon.  The female downy woodpecker paid no attention to the rain as it attempted to find morsels of suet on the empty cage. 

Still hot

Something ate all the suet, this time without removing the holder. The blue jays were still doing a slow-speed chase through the trees.  Dragonflies and butterflies eluded the camera.  White throats were still with us. At least until the feral cat showed up.  It tried to drink from the pool cover but of course the water rose around its feet.  A bit later a female goldfinch perched on the feeder hanger, then flew off.  A downy and a titmouse visited. 

I didn't have the camera at lunch, so I saw an osprey hovering, a downy woodpecker getting a last nibble of suet, and a almost completely changed yellow rumped warbler who gave up on the suet.  After lunch as I was getting ready to leave, an egret fished under my window.  And then, as I passed the feeders, I saw a female hummingbird tucking in.

I got stuck on the HRBT as a rain shower passed overhead and on out over the Bay, and left a rainbow in its wake.  A butterfly ventured a ways along the bridge before rushing back to land. 

Blue jays lurking

The day began with clouds and wind, but was warm.  I kept seeing blue jays flitting around the periphery of the yard. The white throats weren't so shy.  Crows continued to drink from the pool cover puddle.  They also showed us that something had taken down the suet feeder which was lying in pieces on the lower patio next to the lump of suet. 

Eventually I went out and hung the second hummingbird feeder under the oversized water moat I bought last winter. I also scattered milkweed and zinnia seeds in the mulch.  Paper wasps were working hard, but I only saw the dark ones.  While we ate lunch, I glimpsed a skink in the mulch, but never got a good look, much less a photo. We also saw a swallow swoop over the pool. 

On the way back from my afternoon meeting the car thermometer registered 88 F.  By that time thunderous looking cumulus were piled on the horizon.  But they did nothing except create spectacular sunbeams.  As I was about to leave again, I saw a yellow crowned night heron down by the water's edge.

Wet

The whole day looked and felt like almost rain.  There was a bit of sunshine but everything stayed wet. White throats foraged in the wet mulch while a blue jay watched.  A brown thrasher poked around under the red cedar.  A downy woodpecker continued to work on the suet.  Then a mallard pair visited the puddle on the pool cover.

At lunch the downy was back, but a nuthatch wanted a share.  Late in the afternoon, a titmouse came for seeds. On the way back from Norfolk about 7:30pm I saw the swirling cloud of gathering crows at the 64/264 intersection. 

Washed and fresh

Yesterday's rain cleaned the pollen dust off everything and left it sparkling.  The air was cooler and sunshine muted by a hazy white sky.  Breakfast was enlivened by a red breasted nuthatch, a titmouse, and a downy woodpecker, along with the white throats.  A cardinal sang from the top of the hackberry.  Irises started to bloom.

Eventual rain

A thunderstorm was predicted for noon.  The clouds finally arrived around 4pm and the rain about 7pm.  White throats began the day with baths.  Chickadees got in on the action.  An orange crowned warbler visited but the commotion may have been too much.

The geese came back several times with their goslings and extended family.  An egret landed by the dock, then I think it saw me and flew off.  A downy woodpecker returned to the suet in the afternoon.  Then the yellow rumped warbler appeared in his summer plumage. 

A fragile forktail (Ischnura posita) damselfly posed briefly for me, unlike all the big darners that kept swooping past.  Tiger swallowtails were flying as well.  A wasp visited the rue and a huge bee banged on the window.  It was a windy day, especially after the clouds built up.  Petals and dead flowers flew everywhere.  The creek was littered with them and dusty with pollen. 

Warm wind

White throated sparrows showed up at breakfast.   An egret fished below the dam.  As we were leaving in the morning, newly hatched insects (termites, I think), were rising from the retaining wall and dragon flies were zooming around picking them out of the air.

At lunch, a downy woodpecker ate suet.  I saw two skinks - a blue tail near the door and an adult that darted under the pool cover.  I also saw butterflies, but all I remember were a little spring azure and a sulphur.  The geese brought their goslings to the pool cover puddle.  K discouraged this. 

The white throats were back in the evening and two decided to bathe.  Cardinals and chickadees monopolized the feeders.  The wind was really strong by then, even though it was still warm.

Warm

The cardinals were billing and cooing at breakfast.  I have not seen any other cardinals around for a while, so apparently this pair evicted them.  The white throats were still here.  An abundance of crows carried on all day.  A male yellow rumped warbler had almost completed its change to summer plumage.  I never saw one do that before. 

Wood hyacinths were blooming while the rosemary was winding down.  But the surprise was the blue eyed grass which I thought bloomed much later.  The rue had yellow buds and the Mexican sage was starting to bloom.. 

I glimpsed a skink.  A black swallowtail and a pearl crescent butterfly both got away from me.  A feather stuck to the birdbath waved in the wind and fooled me into thinking it was alive.  A yellow jacket and a paper wasp both hunted a place for a nest, preferably not my pant leg.  A bee fly perched nearby. 

An osprey flew over.  A pair of geese tried to move in to our yard, but met me.  There was some dampness in the morning but the sky cleared as the day went on.  The wind got stronger as well.  I saw a very strange cloud in the late afternoon.  The sky grew hazy toward sunset. 

First hummingbird!

At breakfast, the creek was still, but speckled with pollen and fallen petals.  A male hummer appeared around 7:30am and hovered briefly around the suet, clearly remembering that as the location of the hummer feeder.  I hope it found the feeder out front.  Or some of the tubular flowers around the yard.  A different butterbutt came for suet.  This one was about two-thirds molted into summer plumage.  A Carolina wren whacked at the mealworms.   A titmouse also favored suet.  White throats excitedly flitted and popped all over like they had ADHD.  I glimpsed a couple of buffleheads on the creek.  I had assumed they'd moved on. Just as I was leaving for my haircut, I spied a brown thrasher thrashing mulch in all directions.

At lunch time, dragonflies buzzed around the patio. I saw a tiger swallowtail and a small orange butterfly.  A downy woodpecker came for suet.   When K moved the pepper outside, we saw both bluebirds in the pecan.  One quickly flew into the birdhouse.  As the afternoon went on, the sky clouded over.  In the evening I saw a great blue heron below the dam.  Sunset was a bar of orange below a roof of cloud.

Cooler

First the cat walked past.  Then two geese explored the pool cover.  There are other creatures I'd rather see in the morning.  Eventually a wren, a warbler, a titmouse, and white throated sparrows showed up.  The warbler didn't look familiar so it might have wintered further South.  Fluffy clouds drifted across the sky.  It was breezy. 

When I got home for lunch K was out, so I planted the broken piece of ice plant I'd persuaded to root.  I watered all the potted and recently planted in the front of the house.  That included the wren's petunia, but nothing stirred.  I saw a very thin, black inchworm (geometrid caterpillar) and a dragonfly along with bees and wasps, and later a tiger swallowtail.  A blue jay flew over the house.  The female bluebird kept watch from the pecan.

By evening there was a lot of cloud cover and the temperature had dropped down into the 50s.  A downy woodpecker worked on the suet.  White throats scurried around under the feeder.  This warm week probably sent a lot of migrants North, but not the white throats. 

Still warm

A goldfinch lurked in the wild cherry which had started to bloom.  I counted at least seven white throated sparrows under and on the feeder.  One tried to eat suet but had difficulty balancing.  Another bathed, as did a chickadee.  A brown thrasher prowled along the mulch edging at the far end of the yard.  Then the cat prowled through.

I sat on the front patio for a while listening to the bird concert, till a garbage truck drowned them out and scared them off.  The male bluebird visited the birdhouse, then kept watch from the pecan.  I heard a jay and crows, and what I suspect was a mockingbird or brown thrasher, which may have accounted for the jay and crow sounds as well.

When I looked out at the water, a boat on the lake held two fishermen and a child.  My view of the lake was  almost gone as the redwood leafed out.  A little green heron landed on the dock. 

The sky grew hazy in the afternoon and eliminated shadows.  We planted what we got from the church plant sale, and not before time.  Butterflies, bees, and wasps flew around but only a wasp cooperated with the camera.  An egret stalked along the bank.  I thought it was a snowy on account of the dark beak, but the green patch at the base belongs to a great egret.  I have seen more snowys in the last couple of years than in all the time before. 

As I drove West after 6pm, the sky was glazed with cirrostratus and I saw a faint sundog.  When the moon rose, thicker clouds made it disappear, highlight clouds from behind, then reappear.

More hot and sunny

At breakfast there were white throats and a Carolina wren.  When we came back after lunch, a bluebird zoomed in front of the car but then we couldn't see it again.  The female downy woodpecker found the fresh suet.

In the mid afternoon, the lake turtles were out sunning, but they stayed away from an egret on their preferred log.

When I left for a meeting at 6pm, the car thermometer said 84°F and when I got home at 9pm it had only dropped to 75°F.  The full moon was rising and again looked misty.