Hot

Clouds threatened for much of the day but rain didn't begin till 9pm.  Thunder and lightening accompanied the rain for hours.

In the afternoon I went to an offshore drilling panel at the Brock Center. Asters, canna, and a small yellow composite were blooming. 

On the way home I swung around Witchduck Lake and got a view of the dam stripped of vegetation. 

A hummer visited during the brief time I was home. 

Mysterious birds

I was gone much of the day.  Down at the Municipal Center I glimpsed an amazingly green bee  but it left quickly.   When I got home, after 5pm, I went outside for an hour. 

A slaty skimmer haunted the creek edge.   Turtles were out basking again.  A golden digger wasp and a threadwaisted wasp shared the mountain mint uneasily.

A soaring bird made me wonder if it was a Mississippi kite.  Then an immature red bellied woodpecker  began calling from the oak.  (I had to look up a sound file to be sure.)   I also saw a brown thrasher and a half dozen blue jays.   And, of course, there were hummer wars - one crashed into the window and kept going.  But there was also a wasp hanging around the feeder.

So many figs

The hummers were hungry and territorial. Finally I saw a juvenile cardinal. It was closely supervised by mom, but it wasn't begging. 

A sizable robber fly wanted to come inside, but I didn't let it.  We had corn on the cob and while two of the four ears had worms, another had corn smut,  I haven't seen corn smut in half a century, except when it was on the menu in Mexico.

Cumulus clouds rolled through in the afternoon, giving occasional relief from the sun.  Three turtles and an egret were out on the lake.  Occasionally a skinklet ran across the patio.  I picked figs till I was hot and sticky and there were still so many more.

A couple of threadwaisted wasps demonstrated that mating was not all that easy. A paper wasp wanted a way into the hummer juice.   I speculated that the big moth dinner had caused the Argiope to molt and that is was hiding till its new skin was ready for public exposure. 

A Needham's skimmer used the perch I moved so I could see it from the window.  A blue dasher used the dead twigs by the  creek. A slaty simmer replaced the Needham's when the perch became shaded.  A four spotted pennant used the redwood for a perch, possibly because the pine candles opened into individual needles.  Another slaty skimmer used the bark butter hanger. 

Beautiful weather

Overnight, the temperature dropped below 70°F again, but the air was drier and didn't leave heavy dew.  The sun was hot in a cloudless sky, but the breeze from the North was brisk. It was still enough when I got up that I coated the hibiscus  with neem oil.  I noticed that the Argiope was gone.  A grasshopper nymph was on the wall of the house.  Somewhat later, the male cardinal went after it. 

A Carolina wren breakfasted on bark butter balls.  I snapped a photo of something on the cherry and learned it was a downy woodpecker female.  Titmice alternated with chickadees.  Hummers fed all day long,  when they weren't chasing each other.  One perched in the cherry to keep watch on the feeder. 

A variegated fritillary played hard to photograph. Then it flopped on the wooden step wall as though exhausted.  A female Eastern pondhawk perched on twigs around the mountain mint.   The mountain mint also attracted golden digger wasps that battled over turf.   The other, smaller bees and wasps on the mountain mint tried to make the golden digger leave.  I saw a red spotted purple and a yellow butterfly I assume was a small tiger swallowtail.  On a twig at the creek's edge a dragonfly looked golden.  A bar-winged skimmer and blue dashers perched around the yard. 

Predators

The bald male cardinal appeared to be hunting for caterpillars on the butterfly weed.  I hope that they were not all eaten, but I didn't see any.  The usual wasps fed on the mountain mint.  Hummer wars were frequent.  I surprised an night heron and a crow (I think) at the water's edge.  Then I went off to staff a voter registration drive in a hot downtown park with teens performing, loudly.  

After I got home, I went out to check on my favorite spider.  At first all I could see was a moth in the web.   Then the Argiope came climbing up to wrap its prize.  I  could see a planet, presumably Jupiter, in the Southern sky but the moon was waning and in hiding till morning.  I finally found a website for planets with daily updates like the one for the moon.

White sky

A very heavy dew left every surface wet.  I hung a fresh hummer feeder and refreshed the bark butter balls.  Dragonflies were waiting for the small fliers.  A yellow crowned night heron paced below the dam.

Hummers were hungry.  Some of the monarch caterpillars disappeared.  A hummer tried to feed from the rose.  A skinklet scurried around the birdbath.  The blue jays found the bark butter while a couple of titmice came for seeds.

When I went out to the pool there were even more dragonflies.  I am certain of the great blue skimmer and the slaty skimmer.  I added water to the birdbath and one dragonfly  zoomed right over and perched on a leaf where it could watch for egg laying mosquitoes.  

The Argiope had a tidy meal all wrapped up. Chickadees fussed about something in the camellia.  A female eastern pondhawk rested on a money plant leaf.  The two remaining monarch caterpillars appeared to hold a conversation with much waving of the long black hairs that look like antennae. 

Humid

It was warmer, but I didn't think it was hot till I picked figs.  The humidity plastered me.   A fiery skipper perched on an indigo pod.  That caused me to notice the hairy yellow caterpillars all over the plants.  Curiously, the figs had not attracted many insects, despite the ones that were ruined by the rain - splitting open and smelling like a brewery.

A black swallowtail made the rounds of host plants and took a nip of mountain mint.  A buckeye stayed with the domestic mint.  Threadwaisted wasps were mating again.  I saw an ailanthus webworm on the mountain mint, but it wasn't responsible for the caterpillars on the indigo.  The monarch caterpillars' frass lined up on the leaves like fake caterpillars.  Blue dashers monitored the ground level and a twelve spotted skimmer the upper air. 

On my way to the pool steps I spied a big brown skink.  It came very close, but I had left the camera in the shade.  In the skimmer basket I found a baby skinklet that was still quite lively.   I made it pay for rescue with photos.

In the evening, there was again a mysterious disturbance in the creek surface, but a boat came home and set up waves.

Cool for now

Yesterday, the temperature dropped below 70 after being stuck above 80 for days.  Clouds and wind reinforced the cool temperature. A house wren mooned me from the feeder.

At lunch, a female Eastern pondhawk took possession of the birdbath.  A black swallowtail flitted around the rue.   Titmice visited the feeder.  The butterfly milkweed was overrun with caterpillars. 

The pondhawk was still around when I went out to swim.  I also saw a male blue dasher and a female slaty skimmer   A pearl crescent butterfly Phyciodes tharos fed on the mint.  I cannot imagine how it got that name. Later, a monarch fed on the butterfly weed flowers and laid eggs on it. A fiery skipper preferred mint.  At least two great golden digger wasps found the mountain mint irresistible.  So did a multitude of wasps and a few bees. 

The canna bloomed and a hummer tried it out.   Blue jays were busy with the wild cherries.  An egret perched in a downstream tree.  A great crested flycatcher joined the festivities in the cherry.  The cardinals were courting again.  I have not seen a fledgling for several years. 

Rain

Apparently a little rain fell overnight and the humidity prevented evaporation.  It was enough to revive the zinnias. Yesterday's hot, dry, gusty wind was replaced by a cool, damp breeze from the North. The sun found breaks in the overcast during the morning but rain began in earnest after lunch and kept on all day.  Radar showed a continent-length storm front paralleling the Appalachians and sliding slowly East.

Fortunately, I didn't wait to get outside.  The ground was still hard so I wasn't able to weed as much as I'd hoped.  I found a pinkish moth tucked into a crevice where the steps meet the pool liner. The Argiope turned around on the web so its spinnerets faced the house instead of the pool.  A pale four spotted pennant perched on the high oak twig.  I saw one dragonfly on a bamboo stake, but I thought the dampness would bring more.  There were more monarch caterpillars than milkweed, I'm afraid.  I found one hiking up a bamboo stake.  Wasps were hard at work on the mints and when the sun came through they were joined by fiery skippers. 

Wading birds - a yellow crowned night heron and a great egret - explored the barren dam.  The hummers stocked up, maybe because of the chill or perhaps they sensed the approaching storm.  I heard blue jays and wrens before I came in.  The twitchy cardinal seemed especially neurotic. 

Estivating*

*Spending a hot or dry period in a prolonged state of torpor or dormancy.  In addition to the outrageous temperature, the hot, gusty wind from the Southwest made the trees thrash and grounded many critters. Nevertheless, the Argiope caught something, so I can stop worrying.

Some dam fool decided this would be a good day to bulldoze all the vegetation on the earthen dam that separates the lake from the creek.  Meanwhile, the National Weather Service predicts isolated severe thunderstorms tonight and possibly heavy rainfall tomorrow as the heat wave comes to an end.  I'm glad we are upstream from the dam.

Blue jays were very active, especially in the wild cherry.  I glimpsed a mockingbird departing and a brown thrasher hiding.  A squirrel was up in the tree cherry picking too.  They are welcome to the wild cherries.  I'm happy with the figs K picked. 

A hummer informed me that the juice had gone off.  I made a new batch and put out the feeder that sheds rain best, just in case.  However, it has no perches which meant the hummers had to work hard in the wind.

A black swallowtail missing an entire hind wing flitted around the rue laying eggs.  Twice it nearly blundered into the Argiope web.  Earlier, I saw a cloudless sulphur.  There were a few dragonflies despite the wind.  I finally saw an Eastern amberwing, a female obelisking and looking like an exotic flower.   A four spotted pennant clung to a stick by the creek.

A cardinal found something I suspect was a bug of some sort.  But he either didn't see the monarch caterpillar or else he knew better.  Then the feral cat came by and of course the birds disappeared.

Excessive Heat Warning

Yesterday I got up in the dark and left about 5am to to D, C. by way of Yorktown.  I got back home around 1030pm so I saw nothing at all except on the road where a buzzard circled over the crawling cars leaving the Capital.  I think I glimpsed a dead deer a few miles further on.  The sky was hazy but the sun burned anyway. 

Today I was too tired to do much and it was still too hot to tempt me outside until very late.  This is the map of the area covered by the Excessive Heat Warning.  The Heat Index (temperature X humidity) was "Between 110 and 115 degrees late this afternoon and early this evening."  I saw hummers and blue jays at breakfast  A cloudless sulphur flitted across the patio at lunch.  In the evening, I heard swallows but didn't see them.

The Argiope was still in the same spot.  I saw a great golden digger wasp on the mountain mint.  A monarch caterpillar climbed a stalk of mountain mint next to the volunteer butterfly milkweed.  That prompted me to check the swamp milkweed where I found three more caterpillars.  I relocated one to the butterfly weed.  Despite the gusty wind, a saddlebags dragonfly perched on a dead twig atop the oak. 

In the evening, a yellow crowned night heron stalked along the bulkhead on the far side of the creek. 

Rain showers

At lunch I saw a palamedes swallowtail on the parsley or mint, but it left before,  the camera was ready.  Later I caught a buckeye fanning itself. 

There was a curious commotion in the creek which I meant to investigate.  But when I got outside and saw the dark sky to the South, I forgot all about the creek.   And the humidity attacked the camera, fogging the lens that was cool from being inside. 

Suddenly, about 1:45pm we had a short shower.  Twice more during the afternoon there was brief rain.  And thunder growled in the South in between.  Numerous saddlebags and 12 spotted skimmers flew low under the clouds.  Blue dashers, slaty and great blue skimmers waited on perches.  The usual bees and wasps worked on the mountain mint. 

I rescued a robber fly, a millipede, a tiger beetle, and a wasp.  The Argiope's web was a mess and I worry that it isn't catching enough food. 

Birds came out while I dripped.  A Carolina wren investigated the bark butter balls. A male red bellied woodpecker probed a dying limb in the oak.  Titmice just acted silly.  one picked cherries and another caught a caterpillar in the oak.  The hummer had sugar water.  A pine warbler appeared in the oak. 

Windy

My car claimed it was 102°F but the wind made it tolerable.  I picked over a dozen figs.  A Needham's skimmer was hanging around the front shrubbery, but when I came back with the camera, it was gone.

I rescued several green metallic tiger beetles.  A female great blue skimmer watched but I didn't see any butterflies.  There were plenty of wasps and bees, though. And, of course, blue dashers. 

Heat wave continued

Yesterday's frog-strangler of a downpour did not dilute the hummer juice.  A tattered buckeye joined the wasps on the mountain mint.  I rescued two metallic green tiger beetles. 
I didn't see as many dragonflies, or butterflies either.  Just a female great blue skimmer, a slaty skimmer, blue dashers, and a tiger swallowtail in addition to the buckeye.  The Argiope web shrank and I haven't seen any prey for several days. 

A bird I think was a brown thrasher poked around under the maple.  A red bellied woodpecker seemed very interested in a particular knothole on the oak.  I wonder if it could be a nest.  Blue jays were interested in cherries and berries.  The high-flying raptorish bird was back and I think it's a Mississippi kite.  They nested for several years in Thoroughgood so it is not unreasonable. 

Another thunderstorm popped up but this one didn't last long.  Thunder continued to growl for the rest of the afternoon.  There were some strong wind gusts as well. 

Hail, yes

K put fresh sunflower seeds in the feeder which got the squirrels excited.  But the feeder defeated their efforts.  The male hummer returned. I wish he would face the camera and flash his ruby throat. 

I found a lacewing on the sprig of mint in a vase indoors.  I've no idea how it got there but I released it outside.  The Argiope spun its zigzag at an angle.  A monarch finally noticed the milkweed.  However, I'm not sure the plants are big enough to support caterpillars yet.  A female widow skimmer showed up instead of the male I saw for the last several days. 

I picked about ten figs, the first of the season.   Clouds flowed out of the West and gave some relief from the heat and sun.  Saddlebags dragonflies cruised beneath them.  We had lunch outside, in the shade. 

The thunderstorm we weren't supposed to have arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon. The rain was as blinding as snow and shot off the roof over the gutters.  I think an inch fell in 20 minutes while lightning and thunder were simultaneous, and loud.  Hail was rough in shape and as big as a sugar cube.  (And melted nearly as fast.)  The temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees, but of course that didn't last. 

The clouds parted but the sun didn't dry the windows.  And later the sky became overcast.  A fiery sunset poured through a rent in the West. 

Ruby throat

The blueberries were still worth harvesting and I left the small ones for the birds.  Blue jays were more interested in cherries today.  The hummers got a fresh feeder and they noticed right away.  They had drunk the previous one dry.   The male came in the afternoon but was scared off by some house finches.  He returned as we were eating supper. 

A saddlebags cruised patiently over the pool all afternoon.  A bar winged skimmer perched on a high oak twig.  A dark butterfly flew out of the top of the oak.  Blue dashers and another skimmer perched down on my level.  So did a dragonfly with colored wings at the creek's edge. The Argiope was still in the same spot but I didn't see any signs of it capturing anything. 

Creepy critter

It was a very hot day, so I waited till the sun wasn't hitting the patio any more before going outside.  There were dragonflies and butterflies, bees and wasps, as usual.  And I could hear cicadas.  But suddenly, a strange creature ran past me across the concrete and dived into the pool.  I scrambled to catch up before it was sucked into the skimmer.  It was a mole cricket, only the second one I've ever seen, and the other was at Back Bay decades ago.  I  rescued it and made it wait till I had some pictures.  Then it took off like an Olympic runner.

Blue dashers, a male widow skimmer, Carolina saddlebags, 12-spotted skimmers, and other skimmers with unmarked wings were all hunting.  A buckeye fed on mint and a black swallowtail rested on a dogwood leaf. I found a drowned skinklet, also a drowned lacewing and a drowned metallic green bee.  I left a Japanese beetle and a brown stinkbug to their fate but rescued an earwig and some other beetles.  The Argiope had a fresh zigzag in its web.  I startled a little katydid near the web, but it stayed away. 

An egret chased another off the dock.  Hummers weren't happy with the feeder.  Blue jays were around.  I saw something flying very high that had a raptor look. 

The moon was nearly full.

More butterflies

A duskywing loved the mint.  A black swallowtail laid eggs on the rue.  A red spotted purple flitted around the cherry and landed on the aucuba.  I saw a tiger swallowtail but didn't get a picture. 

A spider demonstrated how to walk on water.  I rescued a green metallic tiger beetle and that ungrateful spider.  Meanwhile, the Argiope had its lunch all wrapped up.  A great blue skimmer perched and watched.  A small black bee on the butterfly milkweed had pollen al over its forehead as well as in baskets on its front legs.  A great black digger wasp zipped around the flowers faster than I could follow. 

A hummingbird looked for nectar in all the wrong places.  The scarlet beebalm bloomed though the plant  looked battered.  But the hummer didn't notice the red flowers.  A male hummer showed up in the late afternoon but got away without a photo.  So did a blue jay that raided the porridge in the bark butter dish.  I saw an osprey land in the neighbor's pine. 

 

Humid

There was a storm in the night that soaked everything and swept a lot of debris into the water.  Titmice showed up fairly frequently at the feeder.  The hummer feeder went dry and the hummers made sure we knew.  One flew right  into the camera, then zipped over to the kitchen window.  Another investigated the spittlebug foam on the mint. A blue jay sneaked to the bark butter dish, only to discover that the rain had turned it to mush. 

A sizeable moth got into the garage.  Dragonflies were kept busy with the mosquitoes and midges that were anxious to take advantage of rain puddles,  The Argiope came through the storm OK, but the web seemed more minimalist. 

While I was in the pool, a brown thrasher chased another down the hill.  Pretty soon they came back the other way still chasing.  There was a lot of bird chatter around then, but when I got out it was quiet.  I rescued a spider I'd accidentally flipped.  Most arthropods can't right themselves once they are floating on their back.   I also rescued an ungrateful, tail-less skinklet.  It ran back into the water twice.  Clouds gave a break from the harsh sun. They also produced a spectacular sunset.  But I was more interested in trying to capture dragonflies in front of the moon. 

Hot wind

I found a snakeberry in the grass.  They used to be everywhere but I think the cinquefoil choked them out.  Threadwaisted wasps were still obsessed with the mountain mint. 
A variety of dragonflies perched around the yard.  Blue dashers were the most numerous.  I also saw slaty skimmers.  One skimmer was very tattered.  A blue dasher teamed up with the Argiope to bar the path between the rue and the hibiscus.  A Halloween pennant perched on the highest pine candle. 

A heron took possession of the lake.  A yellow crowned night heron hunted crabs along the water's edge. 

After dark, clouds rubbed against each other and lit the sky in flashes.  The moon was swallowed up a cloud but Jupiter was bright in the Southeast.  Then it rained at last. 

Hot again

I sprayed neem oil on the rose and the hibiscus because I was getting annoyed with the Japanese beetles eating the flowers.  I hope it didn't bother the spider.  A crane fly spread out on the screen.  The female as well as the male cardinal lost her head feathers.  A pair of finches reappeared.  When I left home, I noticed that I could see the very top of the pine and a Halloween pennant was perched there. 

A couple of wrens flitted around in the trees, singing and fussing.  What I think was a chickadee acted very much like a nuthatch hopping up the cherry trunk.  I pished at it and it came closer but not where I could get a clear view.  There were lots of ripe cherries so I'm puzzled why there weren't more birds eating them.  The male hummingbird came back, but the feeder was in shade by then, and when I aimed the camera he flew off. 

A saddlebags and a 12-spot cruised over me while a slaty watched from a perch.  Blue dashers found their own spots to perch.  A bar winged skimmer clung to the dead twig at the top of the oak.  A male widow skimmerr joined the slaty skimer on the bamboo stick. 

Thread waisted wasps were mating on the mountain mint again.  A Japanese beetle was entrapped by the ant moat. I rescued another baby skink but it ran off before I got back with the camera.  A monarch fluttered over me, but it did not go to the milkweed.  Right after I came inside, a cloudless sulphur flew past the door. 

We passed under a dark cloud and got a few sprinkles of rain on the way to Norfolk.  It was still light when we came home and the earlier clouds were golden and rose.  The half moon was visible overhead.

Cooler

The young Argiope spider had repaired its web before dawn.  A hummingbird came for lunch.  A black swallowtail deposited eggs on the bolted parsley.  Across the creek, on the lake a turtle came up for some sun. 

The temperature was quite pleasant, even a little chilly in the shade with wind on a wet swimsuit.  A variety of dragonflies kept the mosquitoes away.  A bar winged skimmer hung out on a dead twig high in the oak.  By contrast, a male widow skimmer clung to the lowest third of a bamboo stick perch.   Toward evening, that perch was taken by a four spotted pennant. 

Leaf cutter bees were attracted to the mountain mint despite the wasps.  The bald cardinal sat on the ground looking stupified.  I assume it  was getting an ant treatment.  A male hummingbird visited the feeder but kept his back to me. The half moon was finally visible.

 

Just a sprinkle

 It was very wet when I got up but apparently the hummer juice was OK.  A dragonfly was on guard.  The sun came out and stayed till mid afternoon.  And one hummer tried the daisies! 

Some wasps continually harass others as they feed, I wonder why.  A great golden digger wasp showed up after several days without one.   I saw three different butterflies but didn't get a single photo.  A beautiful orb weaver set up shop next to the rue, a prime location.  And it already had a prize wrapped up in silk.  

I rescued a baby skink from the water.  Later I twice saw a skink of the same size, but I think there were three of them.

Blue dashers and great blue skimmers perched, and a Needham's skimmer joined them briefly.  A Carolina saddlebags and a 12 spotted skimmer stayed aloft as clouds rolled down from the North.  Sprinkles of rain sent me indoors but it didn't amount to much and there was some sunshine afterwards.  But it was cloudy  again at dusk when I was hoping to see the moon.  At least I could see the fireflies and hear the cicadas. 

Rain

The Carolina wren was back for breakfast.  When we got home, a widow skimmer zipped out of the way.  Later I glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.The sky was white but there was sunshine.

I went out to swim about 3pm.  The wasps and bees were still obsessed with the mountain mint.  I wasn't in the water too long when the sky to the South got very dark and thunder growled. As the clouds gathered overhead, the twelve-spotted skimmers flew unusually low.  They were very active, so I guess there were plenty of mosquitoes anticipating puddles.

The clouds were writhing so much I wondered about tornadoes.  Still, no rain fell till around 4pm.  But once begun, it kept on for the rest of the afternoon. While we waited, a hummer, chickadees, and the bald cardinal snatched supper. 

Hot, gusty wind

A Carolina wren came fro breakfast and carried off a bark butter ball.  Then I was busy cooking.  At lunch time the osprey landed in its favorite spot in the pine tree (where I can't see it after it lands).  The blue jays were in the cherry tree again, but out of sight. I saw one hummer drive another away from the feeder. A couple of egrets passed overhead on their way home for the night.  

A squirrel struck a goofy pose on the feeder hanger and didn't even try to raid the feeder. One of the two new lavenders began blooming, fortunately since the older lavender stopped.  The wind hurried many cumulus clouds across the sky to the ENE.  Some looked like they might rain, but they didn't.  The clouds did serve as shade from the intense sunlight.  Toward evening a white glaze spread slowly Eastward across the sky as lower clouds hurried in the same direction. 

I found a small caterpillar (I think) on a violet leaf that I saw a variegated fritillary egging.  A black swallowtail laid eggs on the rue.  I also glimpsed what I thought was a snout butterfly on the mint.  Bees and wasps were delighted with the flowers.  Alas, so were the Japanese beetles with the roses and hibiscus.  A sidewalk tiger beetle dashed at me.  I found a small spider, probably a jumper, on a wall. 

The day long parade of dragonflies started with a bar winged skimmer.  A four spotted pennant was up atop the oak again.  The wind gusts moved the tree and blurred photos.  A female Needham's skimmer perched and later a male swooped over the deep end of the pool.  A  Halloween pennant used the topmost pine candle as a perch for hours, despite gusts that made it an amusement park ride.  As always, there were plenty of blue dashers perched near the ground.  A male widow skimmer paused briefly on a perch. In the evening, at least three 12 spotted skimmers zipper around the open air between the house and the trees.  That's when the Halloween pennant finally disappeared.  It's also when the cicadas finally tuned up.  And soon there were fireflies. 

Thunderstorm

Today the hummers were fine with their feeder.  In fact, one chased another away.  I don't know what their problem was yesterday.   I think the blue jays were bringing the kids to  eat cherries. 

A duskywing skipper settled on a violet leaf.  There were other butterflies or moths that went by too fast, except for one moth that clung to the window.

Thunder began around 3pm and the rain lasted several hours but only added a modest amount of water to the pool.  An osprey circled but I missed the timing to get a photo.  Cardinals and chickadees got drenched but were hungry for seeds anyway.  I had hoped to photograph lightning, but I just got wet.

Around 6pm, the sky cleared and the temperature came back up so I went swimming.  As I dripped afterward, I discovered a four spotted pennant in the top of the oak.  It had to dodge boisterous blue jays that came back for more cherries.  I heard swallows but didn't see them.

An adult two-lined spittlebug (aka froghopper) landed on the table beside me.  When I came in and settled at the computer, a firefly just outside the window kept blinking.

No relief

The hummers drank their feeder dry, but didn't like the fresh one we put out.  While I was in the pool a brown thrasher got curious about the floating head and hopped around trying to get a better angle on me.  In the evening, a mob of blue jays came for wild cherries. 

A hairstreak and scoliid wasps enjoyed the mint, where spittlebug foam recently appeared. I also saw black and tiger swallowtails.  Leafcutter bees moved to the butterfly weed.

Spindly-legged, thread-waisted wasps I think were Ammophila procera were obsessed with the mountain mint.  A small black bee with a belt of yellow fur appeared to have a face full of pollen from the mountain mint. 

Lots of blue dashers were on guard close to me.  At the very top of the oak, a Halloween pennant kept watch.  A slaty skimmer landed on the concrete.  More dragonflies found dead twigs to perch on from the dogwood by the house down to the creek edge.

A robber fly also found a perch on the empty feeder outside my North window.  A cross spider built an orb web outside my West window. In the pool I rescued a sidewalk tiger beetle and several cricket nymphs.  A skink popped out of the retaining wall.  They've been scarce ever since the cat caught one. 

The sky had a split personality, blue to the East and menacing on the West.  But the thunderstorm I could hear passed us by on the West. We needed some rain - everything was drooping.  Dusk came early because of the clouds, and with it came the noise of illegal fireworks. 

Hot

The heat and drought were getting to some plants.  One dogwood had wilting leaves.  Hummers made frequent visits. Dragonflies were watching from perches and saddlebags were cruising overhead.  A red male Needham's skimmer paid a brief visit.  Much later, so did a male widow skimmer.  The leafcutter bees found the milkweed flowers but the wasps were loyal to the mint.  I rescued another mama with an egg pearl.  A black swallowtail went back and forth between the parsley and the rue.  Some other small lepidoptera zipped past me before I could identify them. 

Dry and hot

Hummers were thirsty.  I was outside and in the pool in the late morning when there was more shade.  A wolf spider secreted herself into the rim of the steps, clutching her pearl full of eggs.  I rescued a wasp and a brown Junebug.  I think we need to water more because of the heat. 

Wasps argued over the mountain mint while a leafcutter bee tried to ignore them.  Dragonflies were all around, mostly blue dashers, but at midday a saddlebags cruised over the house.  Hummers, blue jays, titmice, and the usual suspects came looking for a handout. The cardinals were courting again. 

Cooler

The temperature was quite lovely today with a light breeze and low humidity.  I thought I glimpsed a goldfinch among the little birds bustling around in the wild cherry. I definitely saw a wren.  Hummers visited constantly.  Blue jays came for bark butter balls and titmice joined the seed eaters.  

Dragonflies, mostly blue dashers, used the perches. A female Needham's skimmer glittered in  the sunlight.  A female great blue skimmer showed up later.  I saved a mama spider and her spiderlings.  Also an odd looking wasp.