Warm sun

Egrets, both great and snowy, hung around the dam outfall.  Hummers competed for time at the feeder.  A skink somehow got up on one of the tables and went round and round trying to figure out how to get down.   

I found a skink floating and lifted it out without insisting on pictures.  There were lots of crickets in the skimmer so I gave them each a twig ride out of the water.  Shortly after that, the biggest cricket came racing back, hotly pursued by a skink.  Not the same skink - this was larger.  The cricket jumped into the water and the skink nearly followed.  I'm not sure if it was the water or me that caused it to slam on the brakes.  A smaller cricket climbed on me and I freaked out thinking I felt a spider.

I'd been hearing kingfishers now and then and today I saw two of them whiz down the creek.  They were much too fast for me.  Blue jays were up in the oak but I think it was a squirrel that kept dropping acorns in the water, 

A slaty skimmer buzzed me in the pool and later I saw a wandering glider dangling from the parsley.  A black swallowtail flitted between parsley and rue. The beautyberries were beginning to turn.  The sky began to grow cloudy around 6pm and was overcast by dark. 

Clean up

Enough rain fell to interest egrets in the dam outfall.  The creek was placid with autumn-like reflections and the air was cool enough for fall.  But I'm not ready for summer to end.  Titmice and chickadees kept the seed feeder busy.  A pair of goldfinches also visited the feeder but were gone before I could think of getting the camera.  I saw first a male, them female hummingbirds at their feeder.

 As I was cleaning the pool, a flock f mallards gathered on the creek.  The pool had many drowned spiders, which creeped me out.  K saw several skinklets but I finally saw one and it revealed another as it ran past.  I also noticed an acorn that got snagged in the maple tree.  An argiope web covered much of the bathroom window.

Stormy

The Northeaster we'd been having was joined by a tropical depression moving up from the South.  I had a white-knuckle trip into Norfolk for a 7am meeting.  The rain tapered off by the time I headed home and we had a couple of not-too-bad hours,

Of course the hummer feeders flooded.  And by the time we got fresh out they were very hungry.  A couple of young skinks ventured out, briefly. I found a snail on a bracket fungus.  And a slaty skimmer hunted from a perch in the dogwood. 

Egrets hung out by the dam outflow.  The water was still high from wind and then a couple of inches of rain. Then the rain came back followed by roaring winds.  Power flickered toward evening and I pictured a night in the dark, but we got lucky.

Gray

The cold wind from the Northeast made waves on the creek and pushed the tide higher.  The hummers continued their turf war.  Chickadees annoyed the smaller hummers and the larger cardinals and titmice.  Squirrels snacked on dogwood berries and one raided the watering can.  A dove got huffy about the squirrel.  There were a few insects but they didn't linger to be identified.

Windy

Morning was sunny with a cool wind.  Several birds looked disheveled from molting.  I got a glimpse of a ragged wren.  Hummers kept up their battles. 


The afternoon got very windy and grounded many insects but some butterflies held their own.  The black swallowtail was still busy passing on her genes.  A red-spotted purple soon disappeared, but a painted lady made forays off the oak leaves.

From one spot I could see the lake and snowy egrets perched on a fallen tree.  I was on my way to a closer look at the argiope spiders in the marsh.  They were getting blown around. The one in the middle already had an egg sack hanging on a groundsel bush. 

Several saltmarsh fleabane plants were in bloom.  I was worried when they didn't come back last year.  The wind had pushed the water up around them. Virginia buttonweed's little four-petaled star flowers dotted the grass near the water.

Around 4pm a dark bar of cloud began coming at us from the Northeast.  It brought rain about a half hour later.  I tried to stick it out and keep on cleaning the pool but the rain seemed to be getting harder and the wind was like a gale.  But by the time I got my suit off, it had stopped.  Oh well. Large clouds continued to flow overhead on that cold wind until it was too dark to see. 

Cool

It was a beautiful day, if a bit cool for swimming. Hummers were up early.  An egret fished under the bulkhead.  Titmice and chickadees squabbled over seeds and a blue jay raided the mealworms.  I took advantage of the lower temperature to plant the succulent I bought.  The beans I planted had a few orange (not scarlet) flowers.  A fiery skipper hung out on the lantana.  Skinks were underfoot.  I saw more dragonflies and butterflies today.  A red-spotted purple made touch-and-go landings on the water.  All three argiope spiders seemed to be doing well. 

We got back around 4pm.  A wren buzzed in the shrubbery but disappeared before I returned with the camera.  I found a fresh batch of caterpillars on the indigo and a cicada shell on some stonecrop, not a very high place to metamorphose.  While I watched the front hummer feeder, two hummers inspected me. 

A male widow skimmer was perched on the mealworm feeder in back.  A black swallowtail laid eggs on the rue, then posed next to the dragonfly.  A hummer kept watch on the feeder.  A painted lady perched on oak leaves.  Fluffy, somewhat shredded cumulus flowed out of the NNE under higher, thinner cumulus slowly moving up from the WSW.  A duskywing looked quite pale in the sunlight.

Scary weather

There was a downpour after breakfast.  The sun came out for lunch but around 4pm dark clouds rolled back in.  There was a severe weather watch, but we only got sprinkles by dark  And at least we didn't have Harvey.

Doves have been around recently.  Some squirrels scarfed up the nasty seeds that K dug out of the feeder while others went for dogwood berries.  Blue jays preferred acorns.  They all made a mess.  Titmice stuck to feeder seeds. 

The hummer guarded her feeder even though it was dry.  K swapped it out.  There were mad chases all through the day.  Small skinks scooted around the patio but none fell into the water today. 

I found three argiope spiders in the marsh grass, fairly evenly spaced.  I didn't see any dragonflies in the yard, just out driving.  A cloudless sulphur flitted over the pool. Several painted lady butterflies danced in the air, courting or competing.  I wasted a lot of pixels trying to photograph their flight.

Later in the afternoon, a great blue heron perched on the neighbor's floating dock.  Eventually it flew to our dock, then hopped down to the floating platform.

Beautiful day, pleasant temperature

 A goldfinch turned his beak up at the sunflower seed feeder.  But the titmice didn't care.  K refilled it after chasing a large roach out and cleaning the inside.  A hummer lurked in the cherry and zoomed out to defend "her" feeder.  I saw something brown land in the water and thought it was a duck, but it was just a clump of dead oak leaves.  As I sat on a conference call, a hummer visited the canna and the Mexican sage right outside the window and then came and looked at me.  Of course the camera was at the other end of the house.

Crows were fussing when I got home.  A skink trotted across the cement by the pool.  An American bird grasshopper nymph hopped out of my way.  A red paper wasp scraped wood off the bench.  I found yet another young skink swimming.  First it didn't want to be rescued, then it didn't want to leave.  Maybe it was playing dead?  A blue jay called its friends and relations to come eat acorns.  I went back out to enjoy the evening and someone was running a chainsaw or similar infernal device.  And, a cicada was determined to drown it out.  I didn't stay to learn the winner.

Afternoon rain

There was hot sun in the morning but not a lot of wildlife.  I glimpsed a night heron through a screen of vegetation.  A jay called.  Dragonflies and butterflies were around but not plentiful.  There were hummingbirds, of course.  A crane fly rested on the screen.  I rescued beetles and a mama wolf spider. 

Clouds built up in the afternoon and the rain hit around 4pm.  An egret preened on the dock while the rain fell.  The rain was a mix of fine droplets and large drops that made splashes.  The argiope hung in her web over the marsh ignoring the rain.

Humid heat

The windows were fogged again, but I didn't want to disturb the spiderweb.  It was pretty much wrecked and had only caught small stuff, unless something tore loose.  I thought I saw a wren through the condensation.  As it began to vaporize, I did see the goldfinch.

The hummer feeder was dry, preferable to moldy, so K swapped it out, after I had boiled up a new batch of sugar water.  I sped up the cooling by setting the container in a water bath in the sink.  I wonder if that will affect its storage.  At any rate, the hummers were satisfied enough to fight over it.  A cicada killer banged on the window. 

A variegated fritillary took an interest in the violet leaves, also the morning glory leaves, and the cement.  I saw a few dragonflies, just blue dashers and slaty skimmers.  A little blue tailed skink slipped past me.  So did monarchs.  That motivated me to take my gift card to the nursery where I bought a butterfly weed plant.  I also picked up a fancy hens&chickens because I misunderstood K, and a creeping thyme for the gnarled branch I'm turning into a planter.  It was very hot at the garden center though clouds and a breeze helped.  I saw more monarchs there

A duskywing was fluttering around the rosemary when I headed to the pool.  It looked like one argiope had caught a fish but it was probably just a silk-wrapped bug.  A yellow crowned night heron was hunting on the mud at low tide.

Well after dark something hit the window and I got a glimpse of wings.  I think it may have been an owl. 

Eclipse day

A red-spotted purple flitted around the cherry.  The hummer made frequent visits.  And the male goldfinch came back.

There were lots of butterflies around lunch time.  I saw a monarch several times.  Also a sulphur, black and tiger swallowtails, and smaller skippers and such.  The monarch investigated the yellow birdhouse.  The tiger tried to drink from the hummer feeder and appeared to sip from the orange fungus on the morning glory leaves.

We used a pinhole, a mirror, my fingers waffle-style, dogwood leaves, and passing clouds to view the eclipse.  The mirror failed but the other methods worked.  The clouds were the best and I thought they would just be a problem. 

I rescued a very lively skink that tried to out-swim me.  Then after its photo session, it didn't want to let go of my hand. I saw several more skinks during the afternoon. 

The two argiopes were back at opposite ends of the shoreline.  A female red-backed jumping spider prowled through the violets.  The angle wing katydid perched at the tip of a hibiscus stalk.  There were a few dragonflies but I guess there was less to catch today. 

Something dropped a whole (but pecked) fig in the pool.  A night heron appeared at the edge of the dock, then flew up into the trees.

I thought I was finished for the day, but as dusk turned to night, a barn spider, AKA Charlotte, began an orb web across the patio door. Several slugs, a foolish plume moth, and smaller bugs all clung to the glass.  I believe the web took about two hours. 

Blue sky

At lunch, hummers indicated the juice was still good.  A blue dasher used the mealworm hanger as a perch.  A Question Mark butterfly visited.

I found a frog and a skink floating.  The frog was dead but the skink revived and scampered off.

I also fished out a little brown click beetle.  And I saw on the coping a very strange insect I think was a nymph of a true but, possibly a leaf-footed bug.  It had long red antennae, and red on the first section of its legs.  The legs were flanged like a leaf-foot.  It carried itself high with the legs arranged almost in a circle and walked in a stately manner.  Acanthocephala declevis looked like the best match, but if so the range is moving North. 

Two garden spiders built their webs side by side in the marsh.  Something reddish clung to one web.  I think the spider that was next to the dock relocated and joined the other in the wide space between two saltbushes.    

Hot

I squeegeed the window in order to see out at breakfast.  The overnight rain wasn't heavy and it left the air humid.  A Halloween pennant perched on a dead rosemary twig.  Hummers got fresh feeders.

A variety of butterflies defeated my attempts to get pictures.  I saw a palamedes swallowtail, a monarch, a cloudless sulphur, a couple of red spotted purples, battling snouts, and all I got was a duskywing. Skinks of all sizes were all over, including one at the bottom of the pool, alas.

An angle-wing katydid kept popping up among the retaining wall plants.  I saw both a male and a female amberwing.  A slaty skimmer took up the post the Halloween Pennant had left.  Both argiopes were hanging in their webs.  A stinkbug climbed a stalk of rue.  The usual variety of wasps made the rounds. 

A small cicada clung to the stick I wedged on the pool ladder so insects could climb out.  It was under water and not climbing but when I lifted the stick and attempted to remove the cicada, its vibrator went off like a firecracker.  We argued and eventually I got it to sit on my finger for a photo session.  It soon took wing.

Some clouds finally appeared in the South, but they dissipated into an overall haze.  As we ate supper, a white breasted nuthatch landed on the feeder.  A chickadee hassled it and it left.  Then a male goldfinch appeared.  It drank from the ant moat and then left. 

The haze turned golden then rose.  A cardinal was the last bird at the feeder.  A few fireflies greeted the twilight.

Empty thunder

It was very hot and humid, but windy. Around mid morning I saw something moving in the expansion joint in the pool patio.  A skink emerged and peered into the water, then disappeared.  But I saw no ripples.

A tiger swallowtail laid eggs all over the cherry tree.  A male widow skimmer made forays from the bamboo perch.  Tiny, foolish skinks were everywhere - eggs must have hatched. 

In the afternoon, huge cumulus clouds raced out of the Southwest, thundering as they passed, but I saw no lightning, and about five drops of rain.   I spent a lot of pixels on the sunbeams and shadows the clouds made.  An osprey in the opposite direction under the clouds. 

The chaste tree had begun to bloom.  I inspected the figs and found a couple that looked edible.  There were still a lot of small green figs, but I've no idea if the wasps that fertilize figs linger into August.  However,it was good that I looked because I found a spiny orbweaver inside the curtain of leaves.

A damselfly watched from the edge of the pool as I rescued a honeybee.  A very dead frog was in the pool skimmer and a small dead skink on the bottom of the pool.  It wasn't the one I saw peering into the pool in the morning.  A tattered slaty skimmer replaced the widow skimmer. 

As I was dripping off, I saw a second argiope in the spartina.  It was wrapping up dinner at the center of an immense web.  A dragonfly patrolled the water's edge, but I couldn't be sure what kind it was.  It had spotted wings and might by a twelve spotted skimmer.  A yellow crowned night heron lurked by the dock.

The last cloud sailed over about 5pm but the wind didn't cease.  Hummers had a hard time between the wind and the feeder without perches. Not to mention all the chickadees that flew too close.  One gave up and tried to find a flower, but the roses were too chewed up.  A Carolina wren poked around in the rosemary but ignored the mealworms. It was still hot after dark.  I saw a few firefly flashes but nothing like June.  After midnight, we finally got a thunderstorm. 

From blue to gray and back

A dove showed up at breakfast.  So did the first morning glory flower.  The most bedraggled, molting hummingbird bossed the feeder.  She was annoyed by silly titmice. 

I went swimming before lunch under a hot sun with the sky so blue it seemed ultraviolet.  I fished a green caterpillar out of the water.  A common whitetail posed on the patio.  A small skink clung to the brick wall.  A blue dasher perched on the bamboo stake.

After lunch a black swallowtail egged the rue.  A large Scolia dubia wasp fed on the mint flowers.  The blue dasher moved up into the trees.  Meanwhile threatening clouds moved in.  I was focusing on a hibiscus bud when I realized that one sepal was a katydid nymph. A slaty skimmer perched on a dead twig in the spartina.  A hummer landed in the hibiscus but departed before I'd adjusted focus.  It ran straight into the molting mama and they had it out by the camellia.  I think the ragtag one won.

Then a bird call drew my attention up, and there was a Cooper's hawk sitting in the oak.  It too looked a bit worse for wear. The sky cleared quickly after 6pm.  A long tailed bird caught a bug up in a pine.  I finally found the argiope but by then the light was going. 

Blue sky

The hibiscus managed another flower. In addition to the large fungus under the oak, I found little red boletes and a gray russula in the grass.  A blue dasher guarded the pool from one of the bamboo stakes.  I rescued some spiders and glimpsed a few butterflies and a skink. I found yet another frog in the pool, which I eventually caught and set  on the concrete.  It disappeared while my back was turned.

 I also rescued a horntail that was clinging to a twig with oak leaves afloat in the water.  I wasn't sure it was alive but began to move spasmodically and slowly revived.  An almost microscopic wasp was stuck on the horn which apparently annoyed the horntail.  For some reason, the horntail staggered to the edge and fell back into the water twice. 

Hot & heavy clouds

Morning was fairly sunny but clouds lined the horizon. The hummers drank and chased each other.  Titmice snatched seeds and squabbled.  Dragonflies were perched when I got home at mid day.

A yellow crowned night heron down by the dam outfall held its wings in the overheated pose.  Thermometers claimed 90 or more.  A black swallowtail and a nearly black duskywing flitted around. 

In the afternoon, dark clouds closed in, the light level dropped, and the day grew breathless.  That's when I finally got in the pool.  While fishing out leaves and beetles and such, I found another frog floating, dead alas.  I don't know if the pool chemicals did it or if they had something else wrong, but they didn't drown.  However, the thunderstorm broke while I was still in the water and I had to scramble to get the camera under cover.  The rain wasn't too hard at first, but a deluge followed and flooded all the ditches.  I wondered what condition Norfolk would be in, but it was dry there.The clouds brought night on early.  Rainfall for the month and year is above "normal," again.