Sunny

Morning was hot. I expect the afternoon was even hotter.  The night heron seemed to be lurking behind the fence.  The wrens and hummers buzzed around.  So did flies, and a few butterflies.  I could see the caterpillars on the parsley.  The mint attracted soldier beetles, wasps and a bee. 

Blue dasher, amberwing, pennant, and saddlebags dragonflies found perches, all but the blue dasher atop a pine candle.  I only saw a skink once.  The blue jays kept out of sight but left the bark butter dish rocking.  There were hardly any clouds and not much breeze, though the sky got hazy toward evening. 

Blue sky

Wrens were bustling about  in the morning.  I saw a bluebird as we left the house.  A defunct June beetle was lying inside next to the car window.  Blue jays emptied the bark butter dish but I got no pictures.  Egrets were out on the creek. A Carolina wren appeared on the seed feeder and a house wren poked around. 

A goldfinch got a drink from the ant moat.  A black swallowtail was back as were dragonflies and great golden digger wasps. The caterpillars continued to consume the parsley.  Another hummer was deceived by the gladiolus.

Hot sun

There was a flurry of wrens at breakfast, but they were too fast for me.  At the doctor's office a handsome English sparrow proclaimed his territory from the corner of the roof.  When we arrived home, a widow skimmer was guarding the lantana.  A bluebird swooshed down from the roof and then kept watch on us from the dogwood. None of this did I manage to photograph.  But, in the back yard, a yellow crowned night heron stalked the pool.

More dragonflies perched along the retaining wall.  A dragonfly I think was a four spotted skimmer perched on the pine tree.  A twelve spotted skimmer flew over it.  A black swallowtail fluttered around the caterpillars on the parsley.  A great golden digger wasp visited the mint and drew my eye to something lurking under a leaf.  I think it was a crab spider.  A small black wasp struggled with a meal as big as itself. 

An egret waited by the dam outfall.  A blue jay discovered the bark butter dish was empty.  The hummers needed a refill too.  A skink ran across the steps and into a crevice. The night heron reappeared under the bulkhead in the afternoon. 

Toward evening a brilliant male hummer stopped to feed but rushed off almost immediately.  One or possibly two large birds of prey landed in a neighbor's pine that was screened from view by the oak.  Clouds had covered the sky during the afternoon but they broke up in the North at sunset. 

Cloudy

There were sprinkles of fine rain in the morning.  Titmice visited.  I suspect they were this year's.   Hummers and blue jays also visited.  And an egret lurked below the dam. 

Later there was some sun.  I could now see two caterpillars on the parsley.  A skink dashed across the concrete. There were more wasps than dragonflies or butterflies. 

When the wind gusted, I got a glimpse of the lake including a cormorant and a turtle. 

Overcast

A couple of titmice came for seeds but did not return.  I caught a bluebird emerging from the nestbox.  Wrens were active around their birdhouse.  Hummers and blue jays dined.  And a male cardinal again went after something on the parsley - not the caterpillar. An egret watched the dam outfall.  A fledgling cardinal with a dark beak foraged under the feeder. 

A dead bunny was floating in the water.  Small, pale butterflies jittered back and forth as they flew.  The black swallowtail caterpillar consumed an entire head of parsley flowers.  A great blue skimmer perched and something darker zipped around, but there were not a lot of dragonflies today. 

Cooler

The morning sky was sharp and blue with cloud streaks but by lunch it had gone white.  I saw some small butterflies,some wasps, that black bee, and some dragonflies.  A caterpillar chomped at the parsley flowers.  A skink skittered under the chair. I saw more skinks, but none waited for the camera. 

The wrens were flying in and out of their house.  Hummers fed and one chased off another.  I believe I saw an osprey but the trees made it hard to be sure. Egrets continued to haunt the dam spillway. 

Summer storm

An egret was taking early advantage of the water flowing out from the lake which seems to attract fish.   A cardinal had some bark butter.  I never saw a jay, but I think they slipped past me. 

Several dragonflies danced in the air over the pine.  A small black bee fed on the herbs.  A Needham's skimmer used the bamboo stake perch. The female goldfinch returned.  The wrens were not discouraged by yesterday's wind and rain. 

Clouds moved in by supper time.  The sinking sun turned them orange.  Then around 8pm, a writhing storm swept out of the North, first lightning and high winds, then a downpour. After about three quarters of an hour,a rim of blue appeared in the North while the thunder crashed overhead. The lightning was nearly constant but mostly cloud to cloud. 

Changeable weather

Fluffy clouds crossed a blue sky.  The creek was flat in the morning.  Wrens scurried around.  An egret occupied the dam outfall.  A duskywing skipper sampled the mint.  The cardinals were beaking again.

 I wasted time trying to photograph the dragonflies zipping around through the air.  A goldfinch pair checked out the feeders, then left. A sulphur butterfly visited the miniature rose.  The day grew very hot. 

Clouds piled up during the afternoon.  The wind grew very gusty.  That didn't stop the hummers.  Several showers passed through.  We didn't put out bark butter balls because of the threat of rain, so there was nothing for the blue jays. The day ended in streaks of pink and fireflies.  Bugs banged on the glass and a slug ascended it.  

Wet

Rain came and went all day long.  It was mostly gentle, but there was one deluge in the afternoon.  In between the showers there was sometimes sunshine.  Morning was quiet - an egret at the dam, a hummer at the feeder, a cardinal on the parsley.  Now that was odd. 

Soldier beetles mated on the dripping mint  A night heron landed beside the pool.  A great blue skimmer found the perching stick.  A drenched female cardinal tried to clean up in the dogwood. 

I caught a blue jay in the cedar.  The wrens were everywhere.   Later the night heron perched in the pine with too much vegetation screening it.  But down at the water's edge was a juvenile.  Its offspring?  The tide was quite high for just past first quarter moon. 

Summer solstice

Officially it was about 6am EDT, but trees obstruct the horizon here, so the sun wasn't visible. I woke up before the moment, but went back to sleep. When i did get up, the sun spotlighted daylilies. The wrens stayed busy.  I think I saw three of them - odd.  A skink basked leaning on the garden hose. 

The saddlebags was back on top of the pine.  Blue dashers were still all over.  Both tiger and black swallowtails flitted around, as did a cabbage white.  Wasps were plentiful. 

A hummer tried to get nourishment from the gladiolus.  Two hummers chased each other.  Then the chickadees got into a fight. Gracious!  The rain overnight dissolved the bark butter balls but the sun and wind dried out the soup and left smaller nuggets behind.  Chickadees liked that but the blue jays, not so much.

Needed rain

Blue dasher dragonflies were up early.  A great blue heron lurked below the dam.  A volunteer portulaca cam up by the miniature rose.  A black swallowtail took an interest in the rue.  Hummers nearly drank their feeder dry.  The blue jay won today. 

The day was hazy with passing clouds, but plenty of sun.  A saddlebags was back atop the pine.  A hawk shot across the yard.  Apparently it had been hanging out in the hackberry.

The clouds did not begin to gather till well after 4pm and then the rain began after 5pm. It was never very heavy, but it was still falling as long as I could see.  Fireflies did venture out, but not moths.

Hot and hazy

I was up early but the wrens were up earlier.  The sky was overcast and there wasn't enough light for good photos.  Somewhat later, the creek was busy with something that made very small ripples.  I don't know if it was insects or crabs or methane.  But it seem to attract the juvenile night heron.  An adult night heron landed on a post but flew off immediately.  And we too went off for the rest of the morning. 

The miniature rose made a flower.  An egret poked around the dam outfall.  Hummers and blue jays came for lunch.  A dark butterfly flitted around the cherry, but evaded me.  I thought it might be a dark morph of a tiger swallowtail. 


Around 7pm, the light dropped, fierce clouds and wind gusts suggested a storm,but it never broke.  Wildlife disappeared while leaves flew up as often as down. But it all calmed and the fireflies came out.

Soft sky

The wrens started work early.   The sky was white in the morning and even when it became blue, it was hazy.  The clouds that passed across it had no edges. 

 I spotted the bluebird hanging out very high, first in a pine, then in the oak.  He seemed to be monitoring both front and back yards.  A widow skimmer perched all around the bark butter dish, all day long. 

Hummers and blue jays visited and, as usual, the blue jays tried to escape my camera.  
I didn't have the camera when I saw a night heron on one of the pilings. The I saw another down by the dam. 

Sunset was colorful

Dragonflies

Blue dashers were ubiquitous. One attacked some drifting dust and spit it out.  In the morning, a saddlebags hung out atop the topmost pine candles.  I couldn't tell if its markings were red or black.  In the afternoon, a widow skimmer found perches along the retaining wall.  Something I couldn't clearly see kept popping up from the flowers out front.  Wasps caught the sun as they went about their business.  Fireflies and probably other beetles wandered over the windows.  A black swallowtail visited the parsley flowers.  I saw one skink scuttle under the outdoor furniture. 

Hummers looked at the gladiolus with suspicion and returned to the feeder.  But one had pollen stuck to her beak.  There was one chase when two hummers showed up at the same time.  Blue jays, and one chickadee, took bark butter balls.  Neither the wrens nor the bluebirds tried them despite the mealworms I asked K to add.  The wrens continued to work on their nest and finally left one twig poking out as a "Sold" sign.  I did see a bluebird fly out of the nestbox in front. 

The sky was covered with ridged clouds in the morning.  They melted into featureless white that gradually thinned to a pale blue haze.  But it was almost always sunny.  The water was quiet in the morning but a breeze got everything moving in the afternoon.  An egret and a heron fished by the dam till some neighbors began fishing from their dock. And then around 7pm clouds swept in from the West. 

Wren moves in

That hard-working little bird cleaned the backyard of twigs and dried stems.  Hummers hit the juice.  Blue jays discovered the fresh supply of bark butter balls.  Blue dashers perched and hovered.

Egrets were around but mostly behind vegetation.  Geese made several attempts to invade.  A juvenile night heron posed as it hunted crabs.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a duskywing, and some orange butterfly. .Something ate all the cherry leaves on the top twigs, probably a tiger swallowtail caterpillar. 

A pine warbler suddenly appeared after months without a sighting.  And just as suddenly, left.  Some passing clouds were lightly colored by sunset but nothing spectacular. I got curious about which birds might use a nestbox and found this wonderful resource. 

Hard to stay inside

I woke up at dawn and saw a delicate, golden light on the creek, but I decided to go back to bed.  Late, the sun hit my eyes and I had breakfast long after the birds.  Hummers came though their feeder was nearly empty.  There was a drama during PT.  A wren investigated the fancy birdhouse and then a male bluebird swooped down and drove the wren away.  I have not seen bluebirds show any interest in the birdhouse before so I don't understand.  But perhaps that explains why the two recycled birdhouses are also unoccupied.

Blue dasher dragonflies were busy at lunch.  K refilled the hummer juice and bark butter and birdbath.  A tiger swallowtail floated across they yard. A fiery skipper enjoyed the lavender. Last evening's firefly looked weak because it was inside and I only saw the light that leaked around its side.  It was flying around inside today. 

Toward evening a house wren appeared.  It poked curiously into everything and appeared to be quite naive - new this year?  It was so small and quick, the camera had difficulty with focus. 

Surprises

We were away much of the day.  I saw all sorts of wildlife when I didn't have the camera.  A night heron flew across the yard while I was putting on shoes.  A skink was waiting at the bottom of the doctor's handicap ramp.  Twice the male bluebird flushed when we turned into the driveway.  A large, dark dragonfly beat against the window as we ate.  Egrets appeared to chase each other up the creek  Hummingbirds visited regularly. A pretty, but hot, day ended with fireflies and, just maybe, a bat.  Something fast and fluttery, anyway.  There were twilight dragonflies, but they didn't flutter. 

Sunshine

When I looked to see if the bluebirds were awake, the crape myrtle looked about to burst with blooms and buds.  A hummer was up early.  Soon the overcast began to break up.  A butterfly passed through when I was  unable to do anything about it. 

At lunch time, a skink slipped past an oblivious squirrel.  After lunch, I finally caught a bluebird at the nestbox. 

Perching dragonflies were all over the yard while others cruised by on the air.  A goose nursery filled a neighbor's backyard.  I got a glimpse of the lake, filled with turtles and a heron. 

Quiet

Clouds brooded overhead but it wasn't a dark morning.  Not much was moving besides a greedy blue jay.

Intermittent rain started at lunch time and continued until dark, at least.  It was never very heavy, but containers filled up.  During lulls, blue jays and hummers snatched meals.  A tiger swallowtail floated across the yard during a break in the rain.  One cardinal worked to keep his fledgling fed while the other bullied him.  A pair of goldfinches visited.  Dusk came early but a few fireflies ventured out.

Chilly

Gray sky and a brisk wind put most bugs under cover.  Hummers and blue jays, courtin' cardinals and chickadees were about all I saw.  I think a wren flashed past and an egret monitored the dam outflow. There were buds on the chaste tree. 

Rain finally began to fall about 5pm.  I saw the juvenile cardinal looking for a handout, but it saw me.

Hazy

A little brown (house?) wren scuttled along the edge of the mulch, but furniture obstructed the camera.  Blue jays and hummers visited, as did the regular seed eaters.  I saw egrets and herons below the dam. 

Around noon,a spider worked on a web that was partly anchored to the seed feeder.  I think it learned that was unreliable when a cardinal landed.  At any rate, it show a streamer of web out into the air and I presume ballooned off to a new location.

Blue dashers perched everywhere.  A black swallowtail was obsessed with the bolted parsley.  Wasps and hummers checked on the new lavender with fancy leaves, but its flowers either weren't open or were much smaller.  A few ground cherry flowers opened.

Fireflies were out at twilight.  The predicted rain never happened though some clouds looked possible. But a thunderstorm arrived after 11pm. 

Breezy

When I got up, I looked out the back window and saw a dragonfly already perched.  A couple hours later it was really humid but later the wind improved the day.  The sky stayed mostly cloudy.

Blue jays and hummers and the regulars visited the feeders.  The gladiolus was beginning to form flower spears.  A fritillary clung to a cherry leaf that was buffeted by the wind.

Buggy!

I was not up early and all I saw was a jumping spider outside a window. A wealth of dragonflies were around all day - blue dashers mostly, a male and a female great blue skimmer, and a Needham's skimmer.  Something small and bluish flitted around over the pool.  It might have been a spring azure, or a lacewing, or who knows.  A caterpillar swam for its life but I don't know if it found a twig or leaf.  At twilight, a firefly landed on the window and finally I got a photo of the flash! 

I haven't mentioned turtles for a while because the vegetation blocked my view.  With some scrunching and twisting, I managed to get a peep at the lake and a turtle on a log.  Dark clouds passed through but left nothing behind.  The creek was dusty-looking from some kind of fluff or scum. 

A female goldfinch came for a drink from the hummer feeder's little ant moat.  She did not approve of the big, scummy ant moat.  The hummers were happy when each had sole possession of the feeder.  The blue jays got away with their raids. 

Up early again

This time I saw a juvenile night heron. It was in the grass at first, but something (me?) disturbed it so it flew to a dock post.  A cardinal tried to get the seed feeder to open, then settled for a bark butter ball.  At breakfast hummers and a blue jay came to eat.

On our return from the doctor, well after 11am, in the driveway was a black rat snake!  It's head was raised about an inch and the rest of it was crimped into zigzags by fear.  K carefully drove past and we proceeded to unload me while keeping an eye on the snake.  It did not wait till I could get the camera, alas, but poured itself into the grass heading toward the neighbors' magnolia.  At least that was away from the bluebird box.  Nor was the snake bulgy with a fresh dinner.  Some bird I didn't see kept whistling. 

In the back yard, dragonflies were enjoying the sunshine and gnats. A cardinal went after something in the sakaki.  I think I saw skinny little legs sticking out of his beak.  Two hummers argued over the feeder. 

After lunch I decided to sit outside in front. The same dragonflies were around but they had a harder time perching.  I need to give them some bamboo stakes.  Wasps were investigating potential nest sites.  A couple of dead mulch roaches gave us pause.  Eventually,a blue tailed skink ventured along the wall, but I had put the camera aside.  Then the bluebirds came home.

The breeze began to feel chilly so I tottered back in and watched the feeders. Those cardinals were still courting.  Hummers stocked up for the night.  And the a Carolina wren showed up, with the light too poor for a photo.  Fireflies were already blinking.  Then bedtime was full of alarms and excursions and bug spray when I saw another mulch roach on the ceiling.  Yes, they can fly. 

Cooler

The prediction was for a perfect June day.  I got up early again and was rewarded with a little green heron, fishing from the neighboring floating dock.  Another little green heron buzzed the first one and they both took off upstream.  One returned before I got tired of waiting, and conveniently, moved to my side of the dock where I could watch its technique.  When it sighted something in the water, it unfolded that long heron neck and pointed its beak well below its toes.  It looked a bit like a snake, or a dart. Then it dove at the morsel and actually splashed into the water.  I didn't know they were divers!

While I ate breakfast a squirrel ate the half a rotting tangerine we'd put out for fruit-loving birds. When we got back from an appointment, I caught a flash of blue as a male bluebird zoomed away from the nest box.  The white trumpet (Easter) lilies were blooming out front. 

Dragonflies were thick while only a few small brown butterflies were out.  The perchers all seemed to be blue dashers or great blue skimmers.  12 spotted skimmers zipped around above the roof level.  A black wasp visited the parsley. 

The blue jay won more times than I did, but I got a few good photos of the bark butter ball gobbler. I saw a hummer seeming to hunt around the red cedar as though looking for flowers.  I saw this last summer, but still don't know if the bird is attracted by the smell or if it's hunting bugs for the babies. 

Hot, but breezy

 The creek was placid in the early light. A crane fly clung to the window.  An egret waited below the dam.  Great blue skimmers and blue dashers occupied the available perches.  I saw, and missed, a skink. I think there may have been a butterfly as I was getting my foot re-wrapped. Gnats and other small fliers were entrapped by webs below the parsley flower heads.  I think they were what the dragonflies were hunting. 

I actually got sweaty outside at last.  Some sort of raptor screeched as it flew over, but all I got was a blur.  A yellow crowned night heron flew low overhead and all I did was gape at it.  I did, however get sharp pictures of swallows.  They chattered as they scooped up the high fliers.  The dragonflies that flew at tree height appeared to be saddlebags and 12 spots.  The sky above them was frothy with thin ice clouds. 

The blue jays tried to sneak up on the bark butter balls without alerting me, but I caught some of the action.  We put out half an orange to see if any of the birds wanted it.  I think a crow did, but I was too close.

Pretty day

Lots of sunshine and dragonflies. The regulars argued over the feeder.  A squirrel did his best to raid the seeds.  I had a meeting in the front room so I wouldn't be distracted. 

A skink dashed across the steps at lunch.  A great egret, then later a great blue heron fished below the dam.  Blue dashers were everywhere.  I did glimpse a couple of small butterflies.  A couple of great blue skimmers perched atop sticks. 

In the late afternoon, a grackle poked around in the grass.  Several doves congregated on the patio.  Fireflies followed the sunset. 

Seesaw weather

I woke up early and looked at a gray sky reflected in still water.  Bubbles or something made fine rings that expanded and dissipated.  Again, an egret monitored the water flowing from the dam.

Rain finally began after 11am.  It was so fine that I didn't notice right away.  Hummers ignored it.  One got into a fuss with the courting cardinal couple.  The other cardinal was busy feeding his fledgling.

In the early afternoon the sun came out, but I missed most of that brief time.  I did see a butterfly, a dragonfly, and more birds. Then more rain fell, and finally filled the ant moat.  In the evening, a great blue heron fished in the dam outfall.

Sunny then stormy

At breakfast all I saw was an egret and the regulars. Hummers learned there was fresh juice.  Blue jays got the better of me, again.  Interesting cloud patterns formed, but the sky was mostly blue. 

At lunch, there were cumulus towers that could justify the "Flash Flood Watch" NOAA issued.  Dragonflies were everywhere - blue dashers, a great blue skimmer,and others, I think.  A little green heron joined the great egret at the dam outfall.  Geese invaded but I intimidated them.

Around 5pm, the weather changed.  Storm clouds seemed to come from multiple directions.  But the rain did not begin for another 45 minutes.  There were momentary deluge-level cloudbursts, but all together, not enough fell to significantly raise the level of the ant moat, our sad hoc rain gauge. 

Hummers arrived during every lull to stoke their furnaces against the cold wet.  One cardinal was feeding a fledgling, and raiding the blue jay's bark butter to do it.  The Flash Flood Watch was in effect for the rest of Saturday. 

Gray then blue

The regulars - chickadees, house finches, cardinals - came for seeds.  The chickadees might be feeding a fledgling.  The cardinals were still, still courting.  An egret waited below the dam though I could not see any water flowing over the rocks.  The rain here for the last two days would not fill a teacup.  There were floods elsewhere.  But K put out some bark butter balls so, by Murphy's law, that may draw rain.  We'd left the dish empty after the storm turned the last batch to soup.

By late morning the sky was blue.  Bugs were flying - wasps, dragonflies.  A blue jay got some bark butter balls. A great blue heron joined the great egret, each looking like a ghost of the other.  Then a snowy joined the larger birds and I could see water flowing from the dam.  The greats bullied the poor little snowy.  Though, after the heron left, the egrets tolerated each other. 

After lunch, I saw something I think was a moth on the window - forewings held out at an angle but hind wings folded over abdomen.  A blue dasher perched in the dogwood, another on a perching stake, and another on the bird feeder hanger.  A cabbage white pursued its erratic course. The hummers told us the feeder was dry but we didn't get replacement juice out till evening.