Windy

The blue jay was back for more mealworms.   Titmice, chickadees, and cardinals came for seeds.  I don't know where the house finches were.

Two red spotted purples, one tattered and one pristine, fluttered around the wild cherry trees.  And although the shamrock spider was gone, I found a huge web with a little venusta orchard spider sitting in the middle.  The Argiope remained in the cherry as the butterflies flitted around it. 

Clouds out of the North made the sun blink which kept the temperature down, and the wind made sure I felt it.  Nevertheless, I got into the pool to clear the leaves.  The water felt balmy by contrast. There were a couple of spiders in the pool, one above the water on the step, the other riding a leaf.  I rescued the latter when the leaf capsized.  Lots of black ground beetles swam till they sank.  A few snails were floating on the surface. 

 An egret landed on the dock.  A "magic" leaf floated on air and spider silk.  A bird grasshopper rested on a chair arm as I hurried my chilled body inside to get dry. 

Fall

Certainly the temperature fell overnight and the day, despite bright sun, only climbed back into the 70s. A white breasted nuthatch joined the seed feeder birds at breakfast, as did titmice.  A blue jay preferred mealworms. 

The real show was up in the trees:  I believe I saw a black-throated green warbler juvenile or female without a black throat.  Then, up popped a red-eyed vireo.  The migration was underway.

The shamrock spider seemed to be gone but the Argiope was still in place.  I found a black swallowtail caterpillar headed across the bottom of the steps and moved it over to the rose because I figured it was looking for a place to make a chrysalis.  A skipper landed on a dogwood leaf near the Argiope.  An immature mockingbird alighted in the dogwood but saw me and left.

Later on in the afternoon, a squirrel sprawled under the cedar to soak up sun.  It was that kind of day.

Summer!

The equinox was a week ago and then we had a tropical storm, but today was straight out of July - hot and humid under a blue sky.  But I missed most of it while getting ready for a meeting, in the meeting, or talking after the meeting.  And it may have been the last such day till next year, as the forecast predicted a week of cool, sunny weather.  I was up before the sun and it was pleasant outside even then.  But sunrise gilded trees and their reflections. Mallards paddled through the reflections. 

Doves came for breakfast.  I also saw blue jays and titmice.  A snowy egret watched the rocks below the dam. At the end of the day, a mockingbird came for beautyberries when it was no longer light enough for the camera.

The moon was just past first quarter, a perfect time to see craters.

More Maria

Again the tide was very high.  Wind blew so many leaves into the pool, they threatened the pump.  It rained most of the time I was cleaning up the mess and as soon as I got out, the sky cleared. Both spiders made it through the storm.  A black swallowtail frantically egged everything during a brief moment of sun.

Former Hurricane Maria

I left before dawn for an early meeting.  It was misty, almost foggy, and yet windy.  When I got home, I noticed the fence gate was open so I walked around the West side of the house.  The mahonia was blooming and making yellow jackets happy.  The garden spiders had all disappeared.  A large leafed plant that may have been a volunteer that came with the Kerria japonica suddenly had big white flowers.  It looked very tropical but it survived last winter.

But the big surprise on my way back was stinkhorns.  It's always interesting to discover what spores have infested the fresh mulch. We had birdsnest fungi last fall and while we did have stinkhorns a while back, it was a different species.

A yellow crowned night heron prowled the shoreline.  I had assumed they were all headed South.  Also, a hummer appeared, perhaps a migrant from further North.  The wind kept the tide high and made waves on the creek.  A band of rain blasted through around 3pm.  Eventually it passed and the clouds opened up a little for some brief moments of sun.  Then another rain band blew through at 4pm.  The wind drove the rain against the glass, spoiling photography.  It also blew so many leaves into the pool they clogged the skimmer.  I could see bugs rafting on the leaves but couldn't be sure what they were.

Titmice and the usual seed eaters came out in between the rains.  A juvenile male cardinal got no sympathy from adult birds.  The hummer chased away a titmouse.  A Carolina wren was pecking something off the rosemary.  I saw a great blue heron and a snowy egret downstream.  When it got dark I went out to close the seed feeder and a roach got in.  I tried to get it to go back out, but in the end I had to swat it.  It was huge and reddish and didn't look full grown - an outdoor species that was confused inside and not very fast. The shamrock spider hung in its web outside my window despite the gusts.  I did not check on the Argiope in the cherry. 

Gray and windy

 Doves showed up at breakfast but squirrels evicted them.  Titmice and the regulars enjoyed seeds while a bald bluejay snatched some mealworms.  I think a wren was under the rosemary but it stayed behind a screen of twigs.  A cardinal got into the beauty berries. 

There were occasional flashes of sunlight but the wind was chilly and the water felt warmer than the air.  Lots of black ground beetles were rafting.  I heard a kingfisher but didn't see it at all.  I did see a black swallowtail and a red spotted purple butterfly.  Both spiders were in their usual places.  There was a lot of large frass under the Argiope so I suspect there is a tiger swallowtail caterpillar higher up in the wild cherry. 

A gust of rain hit after midnight.  Hurricane Maria?

Warm

A female squirrel that frequently forages around the birdbath is identifiable because her tail is whiter than other squirrels. Also, the fur on her underside is loose and orange, possibly stained by the pecans.  My guess about the loose look is a recent pregnancy.   Recently she showed up with a warble between her shoulders.  All in all, she had a rough summer.

I was at the UCN for a presentation and the street was flooded when I arrived.  The water had receded by the time I left and an osprey flew over the Hague.  The moon was a sharp crescent, waxing toward the first quarter.  It looked blurry on account of the haze that covered the sky all day.

Sunny

Streaks of cirrus clouds stretched across the sky. Titmice came for breakfast breakfast. The tide in the late morning was up into the grass. The spiders were still around and the shamrock spider built a cozy daytime nest at the top of the window.  Beetles in need of rescue included a yellow ladybug.  A mockingbird came for beautyberries as the light level dropped, making photography difficult.

Autumn equinox

I left before dawn and saw sunrise from the HRBT.  And I got home just before sunset.  In between, was a meeting in Fredricksburg where the sun was muted by a milky glaze of cloud.  GPS misdirected us to the ruins of the convention hotel's former site.  The posts that had supported a highway-visible sign were empty and draped in vines.  Beneath was a handicap symbol stencilled on the remaining asphalt.  On the way home I noticed the fall-blooming prairie wildflowers that colonized the roadsides.  But the only wildlife I saw was pigeons on a wire.

Warm sun

Alas I spent the day in meetings or getting ready for meetings.  I did see a red spotted purple, a couple of skinks, and my shamrock spider. The tide was high again.  Titmice came for seeds. 

Migrant birds

Bright sun dispelled the gray chill of the last few days.  Mallards have been more visible recently.  And snowy egrets continued to hang out at the dam.  Titmice came for seeds, as did the white breasted nuthatch and, of course, cardinals, chickadees, and house finches.  Carolina wrens foraged under the vegetation.   Jose delivered a couple of migrating guests. The first was a red eyed vireo in the cherry. 

Several butterflies flitted through, a cloudless sulphur, a black swallowtail, and something orange.  I think there might have been a red spotted purple as well.  There were lots of crickets, including one that tried to ride in my hair.  I saw something fly across the yard and thought it was a hummer, but it was a bird grasshopper.  The orb weavers were still with us.

The pool was again clogged with leaves and acorns.  I found a small green frog riding a piece of bark round and round in the skimmer.  Later I spotted a skink frantically swimming toward me.  But it didn't want to be rescued by me.  The second time I fished it out, it hiked up to my elbow and stayed put till I got to the side of the pool.  The skink was oddly marked - there was a spot just behind the front legs where the stripes were bent and blurred, as though it had been wounded there and healed.  But it was still a young blue tail. 

I finally caught up with the kingfisher She was perched on a piling across the creek.  A real hummingbird did visit.  And the other surprise bird appeared to be a yellow breasted chat, a kind of warbler. It had a taste for purple beautyberries and is certainly was a vivid yellow.  A larger gray bird was also eating beautyberries and may have scared the chat away.  I'm guessing it was a catbird, but the light was fading toward a moonless night.

José weather

It lacked a day of the new moon but was close enough for the winds from José to push the high tide up into the yard.  A wet Carolina wren munched on a mealworm.  I saw a downy woodpecker that got away and I think the kingfisher saw me first as I only heard it.

Hummers turned up their beaks at the feeder so we got fresh out after breakfast.  Meanwhile a hummer tried everything from camellia and rosemary flowers to red leaves.

Titmice and the regulars were hungry.  Snowy egrets above and below the dam enjoyed the flood. 

So much escaped the camera today.  As I was leaving, about five mockingbirds appeared to be playing tag in the front yard.  Then in the West there was a golden break in the clouds with beams of light pouring down over the city.  Meanwhile it was raining on me on the freeway.

Intermittent rain

Apparently Hurricane Jose sent wind and rain our way.  There was sun in the morning but I was busy, so I was outside between spells of rain in the afternoon. The orb spiders were still in the same spots though bounced by the wind.  I spotted the first pink camellia bloom. 

A bald blue jay snacked on mealworms.  Several doves poked around on the ground and one of them was getting bald too.  Titmice and the regulars - cardinals, house finches, and chickadees - kept the feeder occupied.  But a house wren hopped all over it and never looked at the mealworms on the other side of the steps.  A goldfinch also came to the feeder.

Damp, gray day

A white breasted nuthatch and a pair of downy woodpeckers joined the regulars and the titmice at the seed feeder.  As I snapped th nuthatch, from one click to the next it turned into a chickadee!  Hummers acted famished.  A mockingbird chased a catbird out of the beautyberries.  I glimpsed and heard a kingfisher and a snowy egret watched the dam outfall.  A couple of wrens pecked at the rosemary. 

Only one dead frog and no skinks was an improvement.  Jumping spiders took an interest in the doorway and I had to carry one back outside.  The Argiope and the Araneus maintained their webs.  A swallowtail flitted across the yard and did not return.  A light sprinkle of rain fell mid afternoon despite meteorologists predictions.

Wasp and butterfly

The water was warmer today and no clouds blocked the sunshine.  A breeze trimmed turning leaves and flung them into the pool for beetles to raft on.  I found another horntail attached to a sinking leaf.  I also found a dead frog in the skimmer, but the horntail revived. 

It wasn't the breeze that kept dropping acorns into the water.  Blue jays and squirrels both foraged in the top of the oak.  Titmice and chickadees visited the feeder and I saw a goldfinch at breakfast.  I also glimpsed a wren and a dragonfly. The two spiders, garden and shamrock, seemed to be doing fine.  But the star of the day was a red spotted purple that fanned itself for long minutes in the late afternoon.  It might have just emerged as it walked as much as flew, and once teetered on the edge of falling into the water.

Passing clouds

A Carolina wren investigated the gnarly log I'm trying to plant.  The hummer feeder stayed busy once it was swapped for fresh.   I think at least one was a juvenile male.

At lunch, a very short blue tailed skink pretended to be invisible. An odd looking, smallish black swallowtail made the rounds of the herbs.  I got just one shot of a red spotted purple. 

The Argiope in the wild cherry captured something large.  Several large caterpillars consumed parsley. 

At times it looked like trouble was boiling up out of the Southwest, but the clouds passed over without rain.  They did chill the air when the sun was blocked.

Mockingbirds went for the beautyberries. Titmice stayed with seeds.  I heard lots of blue jays. 

The skimmer yielded a drowned skink and five frogs, one of which might survive. 

An impression on one window looks like a bird smacked into it, belly first. 

Downpour

The creek was glassy in the morning light.  However the feeders were quiet. I missed the rest of the morning as the sky clouded over.  Rain began right after we started eating lunch. It got heavy enough to go shooting in an arc off the roof.  But it didn't last very long so the ant moat ad hoc rain gauge didn't overflow.  Lots of trash was washed into the creek. Titmice and the regulars eventually came for seeds. 

K persuaded the Argiope spider trapped in the window to leave, apparently sulking. I ventured out in the late afternoon when it was dry, which was silly since I was in the pool.  The clouds flowing out of the Southwest were beginning to show cracks, and after I went back in, the sun took over.  I fished one more dead frog out of the skimmer.  Everything else was acorns.  A bird grasshopper clung to the window frame, perilously close to the pink shamrock spider.  The Argiope in the cherry seemed content with its spot.  I noticed some large black swallowtail caterpillars on the new parsley.  A wasp and a few mint moths rounded out the wildlife.

Hot sunshine

When I went into the bathroom, barely awake, a mockingbird was running back and forth on the windowsill chasing its breakfast, I assume.  At my breakfast, I thought I saw a catbird in the camellia, but I wasn't certain.  I did certainly see a house wren in the company of a Carolina wren.  A hummer was displeased with its juice.Later, I saw a skink in the garage hide itself behind too much stuff to bother trying to get it out.

At lunch, a bird grasshopper sat on the watering can handle.  I ran errands and when I came home, a couple of silver spotted skippers and a fiery skipper danced over the lantana.  A damselfly was on the birdbath but left too quickly for me to see what kind.  The pink shamrock Araneus was back after disappearing in the morning.
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The pool water was warmer and the air very warm with only a gentle breeze.  I found two drowned skinks and a frog still kicking in the skimmer.  I rescued lots of insects from floating leaves.  There were weevily-looking beetles, ground beetles, click beetles, and a longhorn beetle.  Lots of crickets were swimming.  A sizeable dead roach was floating.  I also rescued a lovely tiger moth that then expired. 

A juvenile yellow crowned night heron caught a crab and then had difficulty eating it.  A black swallowtail flitted all over. 

Warmer

Our only effects from Hurricane Irma seemed to be a rise in temperature and humidity.  A few sprinkles caught me in the pool. later the sky cleared a bit and there was some sun.  After dark a wet mist closed in. 

The spiders were in the same places today.  The Araneus trifolium outside my window was pink!  The Argiope aurantia in K's window was still between the screen and the glass.  A black swallowtail flitted between the parsley and the rue.  A dead Argiope lay on the patio.  I wonder if it was blown into a wall by the wind the day the marsh spiders disappeared?  A wasp hunted something in the morning glory vines. 

A couple of Carolina wrens hunted under the rosemary.  Titmice and the regulars came for seeds.  There were still hummers and one had his first red feather. 

A yellow crowned night heron hunted in the spartina, successfully I think. 

Gray

It was a busy day for me and I didn't expect to see much, but I did, primarily birds and spiders.  The sky looked threatening but it was all bluster.  I found the Argiope in the daisies but not the spinyback orbweaver in the fig.  And I couldn't locate the other Argiope that had been on the bathroom window until K told me it was trapped between the screen and the glass of a window in the music room.  The Argiope in the cherry was still there, and easier to see so a leaf must have fallen.  And a Aranea busily spun a web over the center window in my office.

A brown thrasher under and a mockingbird on the crape myrtle each found something of interest.   A flicker worked at something at the base of the neighbors' tree.  A hummer came for juice, but I could not tell if it was a familiar one.  A Carolina wren poked around under the rosemary.

Mystery

While I was finishing breakfast and reading the paper, I heard a thunk, looked up, and realized the hummer feeder had come off its hook.  The  hook screws in with quite a long thread so I was at a loss to explain why it came apart. The hummer(s) had been really hitting the sauce, so they were equally puzzled to come back for another swig and find nothing.  One looked everywhere, even in the ant moat.  Meanwhile I had put a different feeder on the table and they eventually found it.  Later K hung it from the post.

In the morning, the Northern sky was blue but South was covered by a white blanket.  The frayed edge passed overhead in line with the setting moon.  Later, individual clouds were distinct, and dark, as they rolled out of the Northeast. As I drove onto the highway in the early afternoon, I saw a hawk sitting on a light pole at the top of the ramp.The afternoon grew colder and windier and darker. 

Toward evening a couple of doves hung around the steps, but there was no repeat f yesterday's mating scene.  The hummers were really chugging the juice right up until dark.  One looked completely round, she was so full.  I guessed that she may have planned a night trip South with a strong tail wind.

Bright but cold

A gusty North wind made the water unappealing however-much the sun shore in a sapphire sky. I was gone all morning.  As we ate, a pair of doves courted and copulated right in front of us. 

The black swallowtail was back.  A hummer kept watch over the feeder.  I checked on the Argiope spider which was fine. 

Three mockingbirds ganged up on the beautyberry.  A few young skinks darted around the patio.  Blue jays worked on the acorns and a lot of nuts dropped into the pool.  I saw the first evidence this year of a warble on a squirrel. It was carrying off a pecan. 

Animal antics

Hummers, titmice, Carolina wrens and the regulars all came to breakfast.  The creek had the glassy morning look of fall. 

I wasted time at lunch trying to capture a zooming insect.  A snowy egret waited by the dam for lunch.  The argiope spider looked satisfied with her cherry tree.  A cicada landed on the feeder post.  Eventually it was chased off by the hummer who decided the cicada was too close to her feeder. 

I rescued a live frog from the skimmer.  It stuck its nose under the trash basket and seemed convinced it was well hidden.  And then a cricket used me for a bank shot while the skink in hot pursuit braked hard and turned tail.  A dragonfly that had perched on the stake took exception to all the goings-on and disappeared. 

A meow-like noise high in the oak which turned out to be a juvenile blue jay begging.  It's parents decided my prying camera was to much and they all flew off. Other blue jays gobbled the mealworms.  One dropped a flight feather that twirrled its descent into the water.  Squirrels scampered past me with pecans in their mouths. 

The goldfinch pair ran a con on me - she flew to a bush in front of me while he hit the feeder behind me.  Then he flew past her chirping "c'mon" and she followed chattering "didja git it?" A dove basked in the sun.  And I got a peek at the kingfisher through the vegetation. 

Cool

Hummers were still at it.  I also saw doves and titmice at breakfast.  A snowy egret hung around the dam.  And when I dashed back to my office to get my car key, I saw a male kingfisher sitting on the dock.  Of course I did not have the camera.

The sun was hot but clouds flowing out of the West kept blotting it out and then a chilly wind would blow.  The Argiope seemed to be content with her spot in the cherry.  A bird grasshopper blended in on the hibiscus. 

Today's rescue score was two live skinks and four frogs, only two of which hopped away.  Also a wolf spider seemed reluctant to leave and a moth almost got snatched by a dragonfly after I fished it out. 

A blue jay raided the mealworms.  At least three hummers held a war dance around the feeder.

Temperature plunge

It was hot and sunny till around 2pm. Then the clouds streaming out of the Southwest got larger and darker.  Rain began around 4pm but was intermittent.  But when I headed into Norfolk at 6pm, I saw a truly scary cloud formation that looked like it was ready to start spinning.  I hit a brief wall of rain but nothing worse.  But the temperature dropped from the 80s to the 60s.

In the morning, a blue jay ate the last mealworm.  Titmice ate sunflower seeds.  Stained mouths showed the squirrels had been eating pecans.  One got up on the feeder roof and fell off into the rosebush.  A male downy woodpecker found something of interest in the dead twigs where the hummer likes to perch.  Then two female goldfinches showed up but were too shy to get any sunflower seeds.  And of course there were hummer warz. 

I used the morning sun for pool time, and a good thing I did.  I rescued a skink and three frogs and disposed of five deaders.  The Argiope in the cherry had repaired her zig-zag though it was still windy.  An assassin bug got itself trapped in the doorway web.  A painted lady flitted around over the deep end of the pool.  A black and a palamedes swallowtail each managed to stay a flutter ahead of my lens.  I could hear a kingfisher but never got a glimpse.  I did catch a brief view of a wren. 

Windy

Hummers and egrets showed up as usual at breakfast.  A hummer visited the canna.  Titmice did not get up early. 

A big cross spider took up residence outside my window where it captured an ample meal.  The argiope spider was bouncing on its web in the wind.  While the clouds consistently sped East, the wind on the ground came from all directions. 

A blue tailed skink crossed the patio to the azalea.  I got curious and discovered it sunning on the far side.  Another lurked around the pool steps.  Later I found two in the skipper, one alive and one drowned.  There was also a much-decayed and very gross frog but I saw no others, living or dead, and dared hope the plague of frogs was ended. 

A few small butterflies and an intrepid blue dasher battled the wind.  I rescued two centipedes, by accident, as they bite. The wheel bug, or another just like it, was floating, dead i the water.  A flock of crows milled around in the air. 

Around 6pm one of the big clouds that had been sailing out of the West let loose.  It didn't last long, but it was not supposed to rain at all.  "10% chance."  When it started up again around 7:30pm, I dashed out and shut the feeder.  No sooner had I got inside than a male cardinal landed on the feeder and seemed stunned at the thought of no bedtime snack.  Then another male chased the first one off.  The cross spider was back at work as the light faded. 

Lovely weather

A perfect day for a holiday - hot sun and cool breezes. Doves arrived after breakfast.  A few titmice visited.  Egrets of both species hunted by the dam and were briefly joined by a great blue heron. 

The plague of frogs continued and one I fished out alive died in front of me. Out of five, one may have survived.  I don't know if it's the pool chemicals or if they were already sick when they arrived.  In other years, only frogs that got caught in the skimmer drowned.

There were lots of hummingbird visits all day long, but if Mary Reid Barrow was correct, they were migrating through, rather than our summer residents.  It or they did investigate plants that the summer tenants had learned were not food.  She also said that juveniles of both sexes had "five o'clock shadow," that is, vertical dark lines on the throat. I had assumed those were males.  At least two hummers were present since there were constant chases. 

Squirrels started burying pecans in flowerbeds.  One leapt onto the smooth, round, step railing, spun under it, and slunk away. Despite it being warmer, I only saw one skink. 

A duskywing, a cloudless sulphur, a painted lady, a black swallowtail and maybe a red spotted purple butterfly showed up. The only dragonfly I saw was an amberwing.  Bees and wasps, however, were still busy.  I rescued a honeybee and numerous small wasps or bees. 

Still cool

The sun was back, but both wind and water were chilly. We left early and I didn't see anything of note before lunch.  Then the hummer kept watch on her feeder. A couple of "sleepy orange" butterflies flitted past the window but did not return for a photo.

We had a plague of dead frogs - I found four in the skimmer and another five on the pool bottom.  Y U C K !  There were also many drowned crickets, both field and camel.  I was able to save a live skink though. I also fished out a honeybee and rescued a black and white jumping spider from the water and it could hardly be persuaded to leave me. 

The spartina was blooming.  I was unable to locate the three argiope spiders that had webs in the spartina, but I did find the egg sack one of them made. The bad weather might have been too much for them.  But I did find one argiope in the wild cherry, about ten feet up.  Could it have blown there from the marsh? 

The sunset tinted clouds a smoky orange.  After sunset I happened to be looking out the window when a bug tripped a thread of web and a big spider shot out of nowhere to seize it, wrap it, and carry it back to the corner where it hid.  Later a moth landed on a different window.

Wet

It was misty at breakfast, but I could see a great egret and a snowy egret, looking like parent and child instead of two species, down at the dam outfall.  Titmice came out for sunflower seeds.  Morning glories bloomed despite the gray sky. 

I spent most of the day indoors at a voter registration drive.  On the way home , the sky seemed to be clearing, but then the clouds thickened and it rained toward evening. Hummers did not let the rain interfere with getting a square meal.

I glimpsed a kingfisher speeding downstream.  I dumped the dregs of trail mix into the empty mealworm feeder, figuring peanuts could take being wet better than freeze-dried beetle larvae.  A squirrel swam over the rosemary bush to get to the dish.

Chilly

There was a blink of muted sunshine and a sprinkling of rain, but mostly just gray overcast and cold wind.  Titmice and hummers were hard to photograph at breakfast because of the low light.  Also I was scrambling to get to an early appointment.

I got back in the late morning and decided to have a look at the spiders over by the fig.  A white slime mold, or maybe a fungus, was growing on dirt where rain had washed away the mulch. I also found the remnant of the slime mold I saw a month ago.  Two argiope garden spiders and a spiny-back orbweaver surrounded the fig.

When K got home, we discovered a wheel bug in the garage.  It was the first I'd ever seen.

After lunch, the yard was full of birds while I was on the phone.  A downy woodpecker hammered on a dogwood across the pool.  Hummers continued their chases.  Blue jays raided the mealworms.  One was having an ugly head molt.  A couple or Carolina wrens poked into everything.  A couple of doves panicked.  A pair of goldfinches drank from the ant moat.

And soon the gray day became black night with more rain.