More rain

I heard the rain in the night but it ended long before morning which was humid, but not wet. Something disturbed the creek surface right along the shore, but I could not see anything but ripples. Mushrooms popped up in the grass. A hummer needed her energy drink. 

At lunch, I watched a blue tailed skink go around a loop of garden hose only to find itself inside another loop.  It crawled over the scary hose and escaped under the rosemary.   There were at least two female hummers and one was dominant. The other was too nervous to perch on the feeder.  A black swallowtail egging the rue seemed the same size as the hummer.  

A female blue dasher guarded our front patio, and a striped bee pollinated the buttercups.  I rescued a couple of fireflies from the water.  One appeared to have an ant clamped on a foreleg. Between the rain and the lawn mowing, the water was full of drowned roaches.  There were also spiders that were quite lively.

Down in the creek fish jumped high out of the water.  The brown thrasher serenaded again.  I glimpsed an osprey and a male hummer.  The short tailed squirrel found a peanut I'd dropped by accident in the birdbath.  He was certain there must be more treats in the water and paddled all around.  An egret and a little green heron fished at the dam outfall. 

Clouds boiled out of the West in the late afternoon and rain arrived a little before 6pm.  It lasted about half an hour, then cleared and all the titmice rushed to get supper for their fledglings.  But then more clouds came from the NW and brought an early dusk and thunderstorms.

Damp

Light rain wet the concrete at breakfast under a gray sky.  The feeders were not very much in demand at first. Eventually the titmice arrived.  I counted five at one time and some acted very naive so I suspect they were fledglings. The cardinals were still dating but a male finch showed up with a fledgling.  The young one fed itself while still shivering its wings to induce a parent to feed it.  That behavior must be connected with the feeling of food for the juvenile bird.  Meanwhile, the adult carefully ignored the fledgling.

The second time a hummer appeared, it acted very anxious.  It may have been a different female on the lookout for the first one.

Heavier rain fell later in the morning.  The sky remained overcast till quite late in the day.  K and I agreed there were two female hummingbirds.  at dusk, I wasted time trying to photograph a firefly.

Hazy

The cardinals were billing again.  I don't think they coo.  The haze made the egret by the dam appear to be in fog.  A hummer had breakfast.

It turned out to be a lovely day, albeit with a white sky, but I missed too much of it.  I finally got outside after 4pm and got wet.  Spiders needed rescuing.  Swallows flew over the pool.  I saw a couple of dragonflies and a butterfly.  A wren sang loudly from various spots as it circled the yard. 

When I got out, a brown thrasher performed at the top of the oak.  Titmice were everywhere but I think they were dodging their greedy fledglings.  A couple of red bellied woodpeckers also played chase through the leaves.  The female hummer made many visits to her feeder throughout the day.  I acquired a couple of very itchy bites. 

Rain

At breakfast, a grackle showed up and raided the mealworms.  Then a blue jay wanted some and they argued.  The grackle kept the feeder but the blue jay left with a beakful of mealworms.  Titmice just kept on hulling seeds for their fledglings.

When we got home, we swapped out the hummer feeder and replenished the mealworms despite looming clouds.  The hummer was happy.  A titmouse I suspect was a fledgling explored our furniture rather incautiously.  Then a pair of goldfinches came for the fresh water in the ant moats.

If they'd waited a minute, the clouds would have refilled  all the water containers.  From 2:20 to around 5pm, rain swept through in bands, with brief breaks of sunshine.  The rainfall varied from a gentle patter to jackhammers.  Egrets were out during the breaks.  The ant moat rain gauge looked like a quarter or a third of an inch fell, though I saw water splash out of it.  The house wren I keep hearing popped up in the flowers about the time the rain quit. 

The cardinals continued to court with him feeding her seeds.  I saw one of the goldfinches peeking out of wet dogwood leaves.  Then the female bluebird finished off the mealworms.  And the hummer just kept chugging juice.  I brewed a new batch today.

Warmer

The absolute temperature may have been no higher than yesterday, but the wind was much milder. I finished the newspaper sitting on the front patio and a hummer visited the feeder.  I could see strands of spider silk everywhere but no webs or spiders.

At lunch, titmice were still working hard.  K saw something that may have been a bluebird.  A little green heron landed on the dock.  A blue jay investigated the feeder. Wasps and soldier beetles crowded around sweet flowers but the bees liked lavender better.  A small orange-brown butterfly visited the roses.  Yesterday's dragonflies were nowhere to be seen. 

Later, I went out and almost tripped over a skink.  It seemed quite curious and came very close and climbed the wall beside me.  A "tow-boat" came upstream with a neighbor's boat at the end of a thick rope.  That startled an egret and a mallard family.  Then I saw a red eyed vireo!  The pool skimmer was full of spiders with long black front legs like claws.

A singing wren called my attention to a big nest up in the pine.  It could be a squirrel's.  Geese tried to invade but I sent them away, and their goslings two.  A titmouse preened on the hummer feeder hanger.  It was very thorough and very funny. Dark clouds made dusk come early and brought out fireflies. Then thunder. 

Windy

At breakfast, I saw a titmouse and an egret.  Lunch was better for birdwatching.  A hummer visited.

In the afternoon, I saw lots of dragonflies.  The ones I could identify were great blue skimmers.  Wasps, both paper and mason, battled the wind, which stripped away all the heat the sun generated on my skin.  The spider that had been in the iris was gone, but I found a venusta orchard orb weaver a little further on.  I fished a drowned rodent out of the pool, probably a vole.  I had not seen any, or any tunnels, for several years.

An egret passed under the dock.  Something peculiar was just under the surface of the creek.  It looked like it might be part of fishing or crabbing gear. 

Wet

Hummingbirds of both sexes were thirsty.  The female owned the feeder while the male visited the Mexican sage.  Dragonflies were hunting.  What appeared to be two male slaty skimmers battled over a preferred perch.  But one was noticeably smaller than the other.  I think one may have been a great blue skimmer.  Patches of cloud flicked the sun off and back on and everything was still wet from the overnight rain.

A short, light rain fell a little after noon.  During lunch, a Carolina wren stopped by the mealworms, but flew off immediately.  Did it see me reach for the camera?  An egret waited by the dam outfall. Later another stalked past the yard. 

Drying out

The squirrels were hungry but also romantically inclined.  Cardinals also were courting.  And the hummer was guzzling at her feeder.  In between drinks she sat in stakeout in the dogwood. 

Titmice got busy at lunch time. By mid afternoon there was even some muted sunlight. I thought I should clean out the bluebird box but when I extracted the nest there was an egg in it.  I probably waited too long. 

A few mushrooms popped up in the mulch in response to the rain.  There were nubbins of fruit on the fig tree.  I spotted a small damselfly with a red thorax that I'm guessing was an Eastern fortkail.  A male goldfinch landed on the feeder hanger but didn't stay.

A yellow crowned night heron prowled around the dam outfall.  The hummer still guarded her feeder and chased off a male.  She also sampled the lavender.   A titmouse fledgling perched in the dogwood to get fed.  A female bluebird came for some mealworms as the light was fading.

Gray

Sprinkles of rain fell during breakfast.  Two titmice worked very hard at hulling sunflower seeds and flying them off to the neighbors' yard where I presumed they had a nest.  A blue jay landed in the dogwood but quickly flew off,possibly because the mealworm dish was empty.  I didn't refill it after yesterday's rain in anticipation of more rain today.  A female hummer hovered outside the window over the kitchen sink either to look at me or at the spare feeder on the windowsill.  She gave up and flew to the feeder in the front yard. 

Humid with dragonflies

It was warmer than yesterday, but very overcast.  Dragonflies feasted on abundant small flies: midges, gnats, and mosquitoes.  A great blue skimmer rested on the rosemary.  I sat out on the front patio till sprinkles sent me in.  A pair of bluebirds landed on the nestbox and seemed to be discussing it.  But I didn't have the camera and they flew off and I didn't see them again.  A swallow zoomed past, seeking the same bugs as the dragonflies. 

The squirrel with only half a tail tried his best to get into the seed feeder.  He finally stretched so far he lost his grip on the roof and tumbled off headfirst.  A female common whitetail lurked in the mulch after lunch. I glimpsed a house wren inspecting the bluebird nestbox.  Then we had a thunderstorm.  Afterward, I did some pool cleaning and rescued many spiders.

Cloudy

At breakfast we were visited by at least two titmice, a female downy woodpecker, a female hummingbird, cardinals and chickadees but no finches, and an extremely persistent squirrel that kept disturbing the birds by trying to get into the feeder. The cat showed up at the far end of the pool where it either was drinking or trying to catch invisible fish. 

We were gone most of the day.  The sky cleared during the morning but the clouds returned before we did.  The female hummer had a stakeout on a dead dogwood twig so she could dash down to defend her feeder. There was a small orb web beside her.  She chased a cardinal, then she had to preen. She kept on chugging juice till dark.  A small moth rested on the window.

Cold gray day

The temperature dropped all day long and the wind made it chillier. I was gone all morning and came home to find two goose families and a mallard love triangle in the back yard.  I thought I saw a bird fly out of the bluebird house as I pulled in, but I couldn't even identify it.  Titmice were kept busy feeding fledglings.  A female hummer came for juice.

I watched the bluebird house in mid afternoon but saw nothing.  A yellow crowned night heron patrolled along the spartina till something sent it striding away.

Cold front arrived

It was still hot, and sticky, most of the day.  An egret monitored the dam outfall.  A song sparrow hopped around the mulch.  A blue jay raided the mealworm dish for gifts to take courting.  It appeared that blue jays are just like cardinals in this respect.  Hummers were happy with fresh juice in cleaned feeders. 

Swallows and dragonflies indicated that there were lots of small insects flying.  But they were very hard to photograph on the wing.  An osprey was not much easier. After lunch, I was on the phone when I saw a snake swimming beside the dock.  I got the camera ready as fast as I could, but not fast enough.  Also fish kept leaping out of the water and I would see something making a bow wave from under the surface, but I could not tell what.  Canada geese paraded their goslings everywhere.

I saw a few butterflies, including a black swallowtail in the rue.  Most of the dragonflies were great blue skimmers.  I sat too close to one and it tried to steal a perch from another.  After a mid-air argument, they shared the perch.  The orb spider was still in the iris. 

I went down to the dock to investigate a bird that has been making a very loud buzzy call.  Whatever it was, it was across the creek. I saw a jellyfish and more dragonflies, but no birds.  The pool was full of critters.  A glass snail was floating as were beetles.  I rescued several spiders and a wasp.  Then a storm blew out of the NW.  Clouds gathered for about an hour before the rain began at 6pm.  It got very dark before the rain, but grew lighter once the rain was falling.

Gusty

It was hot again though cirrus clouds provided some sun screening.  The cardinals were courting again which, I suppose, means their nest failed. The female goldfinch was thirsty but ignored the freshly refilled birdbath and struggled to drink from the ant moat. 

 Swallows, or maybe purple martins, swooped across the sky.  Dragonflies were thick too so I guess there were lots of little flying insects to pleas them both.  I saw great blue skimmers and a female blue dasher for certain, and other dragonflies that didn't pause to be identified.  The spider in the iris seemed to be prospering.  I also saw cobweb and jumping spiders.  Lots of different wasps were busy with incomprehensible tasks.  Cabbage whites and a small blue butterfly were the only ones I saw.

In between meetings I grabbed some supper.  K took the hummer feeder down to wash, and not before time - the heat turned the juice to syrup and something drowned in it.  Yuck.  A few minutes later, a hummer showed up and buzzed all around trying to find where we'd hidden the feeder.  Then a chickadee wanted to drink from the ant moat but the water level was too low.  It settled for the birdbath. 

Hot

The female goldfinch, then a blue jay, joined a titmouse and a cardinal for a colorful moment at the feeder post.  The goldfinch just wanted water and the blue jay left without anything.  Then I saw a fledgling by the pool steps.  I believe it was a bluebird. 

After my meeting a mocking bird ran ahead of me, flashing its wing patches, as I went to my car.  When I got in the car at 3pm, the thermometer said 111°F, but it slowly crawled down to 99° as I drove home.  Reportedly, the high temperature record was broken,though the Weather Service only counted it as 94°F. 

Warm enough

At breakfast an egret and a goose stared at each other across the dam outfall.  Doves behaved oddly at lunch, as though they were anting, but in the mulch where I don't think there were ants.  Lots of bees and wasps of all sorts were around.  I saw a ladybug on the rue.  I also saw a tiger swallowtail and a lot of dragonflies.  They never landed, but one had a red body and another bigger one had pale amber tinted wings. 

An osprey sailed overhead.  A mysterious duck with a dark head, pale bill, white chest, and reddish brown body was hanging around with a mallard pair.  A brown thrasher was much in evidence.  It serenaded me from high in the oak and confused the other birds.  One of the confused was a great crested flycatcher.  Some swallows zipped overhead after insects.  A night heron hung around the dock. 

The pool was only 70°F but I got in.  And that was a good thing for a blue tailed skink clinging to the molding around the steps. I saw another skink in the mulch. 

Blue sky

When I woke up there were clouds all over the sky but they cleared off quickly leaving intense blue.  It was cool and breezy on the front patio where I sat to watch the bluebirds.  The jasmine flowers smelled heavenly.  Then a hawk swooped into the pecan.

Wasps and orange butterflies were out in the sun in the back yard.  Geese led their goslings along the creek.  A solitary sandpiper landed on the dock but was so fidgety, I couldn't catch up.  I saw a blue jay in the cherry.

As I returned from the library, I saw the bluebird pick up a worm off the sidewalk.  Bumblebees worked on the wild indigo.  A female hummer visited the feeder in back.  And later while I ate supper, so did a female goldfinch.

A family of mallards headed downstream while a yellow crowned night heron stalked along the water's edge. The day never got as warm as I'd hoped, but it stayed clear to sunset. 

Warm sunshine

It was quiet at breakfast till a blue jay and a brown thrasher came for mealworms.  We put out fresh hummer juice before we left and a female found it.  I had to chase goslings several times. I saw a mock strawberry in the grass (AKA snakeberry, Indian strawberry, Duchesnea indica) and learned that it is not a native but rather an invasive.  Who knew?! 

Titmice were up by lunch time.  An egret watched the water flowing out of the lake.  A couple of doves foraged in the mulch.  In the afternoon, I saw an odd looking duck, possibly a female wood duck.   An osprey and a couple of swallows flew over the creek. A male towhee whistled piercingly, but kept behind foliage and kept flitting around.  Two song sparrows hopped around the birdbath.  A house wren sang for an hour then sneaked up on the rosemary. A downy woodpecker dithered over visiting the seed feeder. 

Cabbage whites and one little blue butterfly, a few dragonflies, and the first beetle rescue of the season all escaped my camera.  I also fished out a banded tiger moth that may have been dead.  The little orb weaver spider was still waiting inside the iris.  An earwig wrapped itself up in a hackberry leaf.  A stinkbug landed on the window. I saw an adult skink but no blue tails.

At supper, a third titmouse tried to join the two that have been coming but was scolded and chased away. A great blue heron lurked by the dam outfall.  Fireflies were flashing at dusk.