Nothing much to report

Placid water at breakfast and slanting sunlight.  Hummers were hungry.  I was busy for most of the day.  And the lawn mowing may have scared the critters.  Each day I think I'm looking at the last flower on the hibiscus, and then I find another bud.  The morning glory has imitated kudzu, but at least it has pretty flowers.  There were skippers on the mountain mint, also a great golden digger wasp.  

Cute skink

A Carolina wren joined us for breakfast.   It poked through the seed feeder since the barkbutter dishes were empty.  At lunch, a hummer attacked us, or more likely her reflection.  A molting pine warbler watched but left before I refilled the barkbutter balls.  Both brown headed and white breasted nuthatches visited. 

After my haircut, I spent a few moments watching the duskywing and fiery skippers on the lantana.   The dog rolled in the grass.  Ducks slept on the dock.  Turtles shared their log with another duck.  Blue jays were happy I finally refilled the barkbutter dishes. 

There were two live skinks and a corpse in the skimmer.  The live ones were hanging out on the handle but wouldn't let me catch them.  I finally got one out and released it on dry land.  When I found the dead skink in the bottom of the basket, I was afraid I'd scared it to death.  I disposed of it and headed for deeper water.  That's when I felt something on my back so I quickly submerged in case it was a greenhead fly.   But what should I see swimming away but another skink.  The rascal was hiding out on my swimsuit back.  Anyway, I caught it and it wrapped its tail around my finger to hang on till I got to the pool edge.  Then while I was picking up leaves in the deep end yet another skink appeared, floating with its nose barely out of water.  It turned lively when I let it go on the edge.  All that and no photos.  No frogs either.

A one frog day

Humidity fogged the windows at breakfast.   A squirrel was prairie dogging in the vegetation under the seed feeder, popping up every so often to make sure nothing was sneaking up.  Nuthatches visited for seeds.  

Bees and wasps were still busy around the mountain mint.  A cricket nymph climbed the feeder hanger only to discover the dishes were empty.                                                                             

There was just one frog in the pool skimmer but he was lively enough to give me s good chase.  I also rescued a wasp and a spider.  The few cirrus brushstrokes were gradually replaced by thicker clouds.  

Humid and hot

The first time Andy howled to go outside, I noticed an assassin bug nymph hanging out on the barkbutter hanger.  It sparkled red and gold so I tried to photograph it despite its minuscule size.  At the other end of the scale, there were fresh plate-size hibiscus flowers and at least two buds for tomorrow.  A few fraying clouds floated in the mostly clear sky. 

The second time we went out, a tiger swallowtail had found the butterfly milkweed.  A little skink started across the patio and the camera battery gave out.  I also missed a brown headed nuthatch and a hummingbird while trying to get the fresh battery to function. 

I chased a skink around the skimmer while one frog jumped for land and another dived.  After I got the skink out, I put two frogs out on the pool deck.  So, were there three frogs or did the one that went landward return? 

Dragonflies found two of my perches.  One was a tattered slaty skimmer and the other a blue dasher.  An amberwing lurked in the mountain mint.  When I watered the milkweed, I found a small spider wrapping up dinner.  That reminded me to check on the orchard spider outside my window.   There were little arc and orb webs all over the fig. 

Brief thundershower

Andy took off like he'd drunk from the fountain of youth, barking at crows.  I fear no good will come of that, but he was quite proud of himself. 

A dragonfly clung to the shoreline bushes as they caught the wind.   I missed my swim, in part because of the storm's timing.  It made the air cooler and dank.  There was one frog in the skimmer. 

Hazy

Hummingbirds continued feeding and fighting all day long.  Blue jays feasted on barkbutter balls when my back was turned.  A Carolina wren got a share as well.  Three bluebirds sat in the top of the redwood.  I think at least one might have been a fledgling, but it was late in the afternoon and the lighting was tricky.  

A couple of duskywings danced together over the mountain mint.  I also saw southern purple mint moths Pyrausta laticlavia.  There were three frogs and a dead skink in the skimmer.  I removed them all.  

Hungry birds

The creek was quiet under a hazy sky.  Hummingbirds fought over access to the feeder.  A juvenile bluebird watched from the feeder hanger but didn't figure out how to get a meal.  

Blue jays flocked to the barkbutter balls but a female red bellied woodpecker wanted them too.  At least two brown headed nuthatches made repeat trips for seeds.  A white breasted nuthatch joined them. 

I got just a glimpse of a great crested flycatcher up in the cherry tree.  A Carolina wren foraged on the ground.  A female downy woodpecker came to see if the suet had returned but only found the hummer feeder. 

Some kind of swallowtail was flitting around.  I caught two skinks and three frogs in the pool.  Around 3:30pm ugly clouds moved out of the South but no rain fell. 

Rescues

The juvenile cardinal was back.  Red hibiscus and blue morning glories both bloomed but not together.  The creek was flat under the hazy sky. 

I sprayed the aphids with soapy water and wiped them off the milkweed.  I also sprayed the spider mites on the rosemary.  It remains to be seen if that did any good.  While I was over there, I saw skinks in the water and rescued three of them, all bluetails.  I also found a dead one in the skimmer and later another skink swimming.  The skimmer contained three frogs in addition to the skink corpse.  Several beetles, crickets, a robber fly, and a black bee got a second chance at life.  

A blue dasher watch my rescue operations.  A megachile leaf cutter bee enjoyed the mountain mint. 

Young critters

It was a mostly gray, humid day with nothing to report till afternoon.  Then I saw again the kingfisher I think is a young female just getting her brown belt.  The hummers drank their feeder dry.  A Carolina wren investigated the seed feeder.  I didn't get a decent picture of the brown headed nuthatch today.  The juvenile cardinal was back but hard to photograph between outdoor furniture.

Small skinks soaked up the warmth that penetrated the clouds.  Two or three frogs were once again hanging out in the skimmer.  I hunted down and expelled two of them.  But at twilight I saw one in the pool again. 

Aphids still infested the milkweed.  I got a brief glimpse of a monarch and a tiger swallowtail.  Only a few wasps tended to the mountain mint.  

Then I saw something really surprising - a dragonfly nymph in the pool.  It must have been there for some time as it was about an inch long.  I was a bit anxious at having it in the water with me but I think they're not really equipped to bite mammals.  (Unlike the mosquito that followed me around.)  

Like yesterday, the overcast broke up at sunset and a broad bar of cloud turned orange.  The reflection in the water was even more impressive than the sky.  That's is when I saw the frog. 

Empty threats

I slept in and didn't see anything in the morning.  But the afternoon made up for it.  Hummingbirds drank and drank, packing on the grams.  The brown headed nuthatches couldn't get enough of the fresh sunflower seeds.  The hibiscus was still performing.  

When I got outside after lunch, the sky looked like rain was imminent, but it was an empty threat.  A red spotted purple butterfly, Limenitis arthemis astyanax, fancied cherry leaves.  It gets three names because it is a subspecies.  The other subspecies is the white admiral up North.  Coincidentally, the red spotted purple is also an empty threat - it evolved to mimic the poisonous pipevine swallowtail.  One stalk of the newly planted milkweed was coated with milkweed aphids.  I was hoping for caterpillars. 

When I opened the skimmer there were three frogs.  One hopped away but the other two pretended to be invisible.  When I came close with the camera, one dived and the other hopped out.  Eventually I caught up with two in the water and flipped them out.  A glass snail was under water on the top step so I put it on the concrete in the shade.  Later I found another on the upper patio.  I rescued several beetles including one big Junebug that was more bronze than green.  It was nonetheless iridescent metallic like the green Junebugs.  It kept lifting its elytra (stiff forewings) to flick water out of its hind flying wings.  

I wasted many pixels on dragonflies in flight and only got blurred images.  Soaring birds kept distracting me.  I think they were Mississippi kites!   They seemed to be having fun with the gusty West wind. 

Megachile bees nectared on both mountain mint and butterfly milkweed.  A venusta orchard weaver had a lovely orb web outside my window.  I also found the sheet web that attracted my attendion the other day.  Something ate a lot of ground cherry leaves, probably a hornworm, but I couldn't find it.  A duskywing skipper stuck to the mountain mint.  Several skinks bustled along on their business and I startled one that was sunbathing along the steps.  

The sun set in a blaze of orange. 

Bald birds

The morning sun was reflected by the creek.  I saw the first morning glory blossom and the hibiscus was still blooming.  A male hummer got a drink.  A female looked very much the worse for wear. 

A bald blue jay visited the barkbutter balls.  The white breasted nuthatch came for sunflower seeds.  A female cardinal was also going bald and in a very bad mood.  She would not share the seed feeder perch with any other bird. The nuthatch must have been watching closely because it slipped in whenever she left.  

The red bellied woodpecker was too shy to get anything to eat.  Dogwood berries were nearly ripe and the hackberry berries were more abundant than in other years. A mockingbird picked hackberries.  I got caught up in some work and never made it outside.  

Monarch

Despite early morning rain, the hibiscus was still going strong.  Dogwood berries began to redden.  A hummer had a few red feathers along his neck.  All About Birds said that's an immature male.  Titmice were everywhere acting like they were hatched yesterday.  One of the blue jays also acted too trusting and came within a few feet of me. 

Skinks of various sizes scooted across the patio.  One went rafting on an oak leaf.  Another swam tiredly and made no protest when I rescued it. Both of those had blue tails.  There was a frog in the skimmer and another in the deep end. 

A monarch found the butterfly milkweed.  It also sampled themountain mint.  I also saw black and tiger swallowtails flitting around.  A duskywing nectared on the mountain mint.  The variety of wasps on the mountain mint was much reduced from a month ago. 

Nuthatches

At breakfast, the creek had that Autumn reflective look.  The female red bellied woodpecker ate barkbutter balls for lack of suet.  A crow would have liked to share but couldn't manage the dish hanger.  Later I left some on the ground for crows. 

White breasted and brown headed nuthatches came for seeds.  There were at least two of the brown headed nuthatches, but they zipped around so much there could have been a dozen..  Best two out of three - the third species of nuthatch only shows up in the winter and only some years. 

After getting a barkbutter ball, a blue jay was pursued by another all over the yard.  My guess was that it was a parent who had quit feeding a fledgling.  A house finch father and son (I think) shared the seed feeder to the consternation of a nuthatch.  The younger finch had some sort of carbuncle on a left toe.  

A hummingbird preferred the little feeder so I figured it was time to swap out the bigger one.  A dragonfly perched on a leafless twig near the top of the wild cherry.  I think it was a blue dasher. A large, quite furry bumblebee worked around the mountain mint. 

I picked a few figs but neither birds nor wasps were feeding on the fruit so I suppose I shouldn't expect any more.   Green cones hung from the redwood.  Green pecans were nearly full size.  Something ate part of the sunflower's flower.  I looked back at yesterday's photo and sure enough, something had been nibbling.  

Nothing much in the pool today but a brown may beetle rafting on an oak leaf.  A green June beetle did not revive.  A mosquito, either salt marsh or Asian tiger, bit me on the arm.  I saw white stripes before I killed it but both have striped legs.  

A heron landed on a tree limb but vegetation blocked identification.  Mallards congregated on the dock and left lots of evidence.  

Warmer

The creek was quite still and mirror-like in the morning.   A hummer explored the hibiscus flowers.  Hummer wars were under way.  Brown headed nuthatches were as plentiful as blue jays.  An immature cardinal with a brown beak foraged around the birdbath. 

I got quite sweaty hiking across the NSU campus.  It was at least three degrees warmer than home.  The ray petals on the sunflower shriveled. The fancy ruffled daylily made seeds!   Late afternoon sun illuminated a sheet web. 

Birds began to eat the half-grown acorns.  There was a commotion and crows streamed past a sentinel blue jay, but I didn't learn what it was all about. 

Still cool for August

The hibiscus went all out with eight or nine, maybe ten, flowers.  Wind from the Northeast pushed the creek high and rough.  Hummers needed a lot of liquid energy and weren't in the mood to share. 

A tiger swallowtail was a determined egg-layer.   Green berries replaced the flowers on the beautyberry bush.  The hackberry tree was loaded with berries for the first time.  The milkweed was planted.  Blue jays gobbled the last crumbs of barkbutter.  I glimpsed a brown thrasher. 

All I rescued today was one green June beetle.  I found one dead frog and one alive but not healthy.  Mysterious bubbles and ring ripples disturbed the creek at twilight.  Mallards left different tracks on the water.  

The wind changed

It was a beautiful day even if the breeze from the Northeast was a bit chilly.  It seemed like weeks since the wind came from any direction but West.  A Carolina wren investigated all the feeders.  Hummingbirds made frequent visits.  Even the titmouse looked unkempt from molting. 

The hibiscus was lovely.   A female red bellied woodpecker pecked some barkbutter.  A brown headed nuthatch made determined forays to get past bigger birds and seize a sunflower seed.  A male pine warbler was disappointed that I hadn't refilled the barkbutter dish.  The crazy nuthatch tried to raid the hummer feeder.  Blue jays focused on the barkbutter balls.  Other birds went after the immature acorns. 

 Mallards congregated on duckdock.  I put three frogs out of the pool but I think there were dead ones in the stuffed skimmer.  A black swallowtail laid eggs on the bolted stalk of parsley. 

A mockingbird flashed its wings.  The red bellied woodpecker basked on an oak limb.  I found two of the hummer's guard posts.  Blue jays acted silly in the trees.  

Damp

First it was gray and then it rained, never heavily, but combined with cool air, it was not inviting.  There were some flurries of birds but they were faster than the camera.  Blue jays ate barkbuttter and brown headed nuthatches went after sunflower seeds.  Finally the sky began to clear in time for the sunset.  The creek picked up a reflection and something added a ripple.

Pleasant

Morning was overcast and humid but the clouds groke up by mid day ans ad the temperature rose the humidity dropped.  The hibiscus put on a show with a half dozen flowers.  Hummers visited but I didn't get any photos. 

I evicted a couple of frogs from the pool for their own good, also beetles and a wasp.  We went over to pick figs bur there weren't many and they weren't quite ripe.  One of the pepper plants had started a pepper.  The sunflower over there had not yer bloomed, unlike the one by the pool.  The dog splooted in the grass.

A cloud wisp had a hint of sundog color.   Blue jays besieged the barkbutter balls.  But they were ousted by the female red bellied woodpecker.  The camera insisted on focusing on the trees in the background.  I sat outside in the twilight and saw a couple of fireflies.  I could hear cicadas and tree crickets and, I think, a buzzy-voiced bird.  Wisps of cloud drifted East.  It was too early for stars, planets, or moon.  

Beautiful day

Still water in the creek reflected the sunshine. The day was moderately warm with low humidity and a light breeze, and I spent far too much of it at a computer.  The hibiscus bloomed. 

I saw a great golden digger wasp on the mountain mint.  About a dozen mallards congregated in the yard near the dock.  I think a lot of them were males in eclipse. 

I did clean up the pool, rescued a skinklet and a June beetle, and evicted a frog.  Blue jays craved barkbutter balls though there wasn't much left.  This week I learned about splooting, not that there was any need for it today.   More splooting. 

Damp

Under a gray sky, the thermometer didn't get out of the 70s and the air was damp.  The hibiscus again put out a single flower.  A squirrel ate green dogwood seeds while flaunting the family jewels.  That seemed odd to me because there were still plenty of cherries.  

A black and a tiger swallowtail laid eggs each on her preferred vegetation, rue and cherry respectively.  Hummers drank the feeder dry so they got a fresh batch.   I saw only females till evening but finally the male showed up when there was no longer light to brighten his throat. 

In the front, I only found two caterpillars.  The third may have left to pupate but I didn't see a chrysalis anywhere.   The milkweed looked worn out.  If I see any little caterpillars, I will transfer them to the butterfly milkweed.  The basil bloomed but I used some of its leaves in lunch, also the ripest pepper which was beginning to go bad.  Portulaca and porterweed were in bloom.  I need to find more plants that bloom in August. 

The clouds dissipated and late afternoon sunshine highlighted the roses down by the creek.  After it set wispy clouds turned peach as they drifted East.  I don't know about the pool as I wasn't feeling very well and didn't swim. 

Still hot

While last night was cooler, the temperature went right back up to 90° and it was humid under a mostly overcast sky.  The male hummingbird finally posed, but where was the sunlight that would have shown his ruby throat?

I evicted two frogs and a lot of tree litter from the pool.  When I got out, I watched a little skink that had already lost a tail bask in a moment of sunlight.  Bees checked out the sunflower.  A dragonfly watched from the perch outside my window.  But when I got the camera they all vanished.  Volunteer portulaca began blooming and the two asters put out a flower each.  The hibiscus had another blossom.  The parsley seeds were almost ready. 

At lunch, a female bluebird landed on the barkbutter feeder but a female red bellied woodpecker took over.  The bluebird watched indignantly from atop the post.  But when the woodpecker took off, a male pine warbler slipped in.  The male bluebird joined the female and everyone got fed.  But they all looked the worse for wear as they molted their Spring feathers.

Mysterious bubbles at the water's edge caught my eye.  A couple of small turtles rested on the log at the lake's edge.  I spotted a brown thrasher foraging in the saltbush.  A splash alerted me and I saw a kingfisher land on a piling, but without a fish.  I thought it was a male but some brown on the chest made me think it might be a young female.  Rain started around 3:30pm.  It lasted less than an hour, I think

Cold front arrived

The male hummer stuffed himself.   So did a Carolina wren, but with different food.  I hustled to put out more barkbutter balls.   The hibiscus put out a flower. But the second sunflower was not that far along. A female great blue skimmer perched outside my room.  Later a blue dasher took up that post. 

I picked figs because rain was predicted.  Green June beetles shared a fig.  The fig collecting made me very glad to get into the water.  The pool also attracted three frogs.  The bigger one ws a green frog and I think the other two were leopard frogs.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a black swallowtail and a monarch.   Blue jays were excited by the fresh bardbutter balls. The two monarch caterpillars were still growing.   The peppers were ripening. 

We barely made it home ahead of the storm.  

Sunflower

The larger sunflower by the pool opened its flower.  I expected both plant and flower to be much bigger.  Low tide was quite low and I discovered seven mallards hanging out on the dam.  A yellow crowned night heron stalked under the dock and all I caught was a blur.  I managed to mislay the camera and missed a pretty sunset-tinted cloud reflection in the creek.  Thankfully, I found the camera before it spent the night outdoors.  Two sizable caterpillars munched on the milkweed which was looking rather droopy in the heat.   A cloudless sulphur butterfly flitted around the patio. 

Summer day

It was a gorgeous summer day - blue sky with fluffy clouds and a nice breeze to temper the temperature, which was in the low 90s.  The monarch caterpillar was much bigger.  I found one small swallowtail caterpillar on the rue.  With all the butterfly visits, I expected more.

I went fig picking before it got too hot.  A slaty skimmer kept watch from the bamboo stake by my window.  Some not-very-fresh mushrooms popped up on the West side of the house.  The sunflower on that side was smaller than the one by the pool, but had made a flower bud.  While I was watching tiny insects feast on a fig that had been split open by birds, a bald faced hornet joined the happy throng.  The other insects made themselves scarce.

Hummers continued to visit their feeders.  An egret fished at low tide.  Titmice carried off feeder food to eat elsewhere.  A skinklet zipped under a chair, then dithered about where to go next.  I found three frogs in the water.  They were moving slowly, already sickened by the chemicals, but they didn't stay evicted.  

Green head fly!

The hummers were hungry and there were several disputes over the feeder.  Despite the heat, the dog insisted on several trips outside,Menacing clouds blew through and there were a couple of showers.  (The prediction was way off the mark!)   I missed getting a picture of the brown headed nuthatch. 

Skippers returned to the mountain mint and a black swallowtail flitted around the rue.  Mockingbirds were hungry enough to consider feeder food.  Bluebirds looked disheveled from molting.  I only glimpsed a goldfinch but a pine warbler.was willing to be photographed.  Other birds wanted cherries.  I suspected the blue jays of going after the blueberries.  A whole family of titmice were at the sunflower seeds whenever cardinals let them. 

Speaking of sunflowers, one had the beginnings of a bud.  A skink ran across the steps.  Brown May beetles and green Junebug beetles went for a swim.  Two little frogs were in the skimmer.Despite their escape into the pool, they weren't hard to catch.  I wish I could convince them to stay out because the pol chemicals kill them. 

The evil fly tried to bite me as soon as I was out of the water.  I had to go dripping into the house to get away.  Bluebirds and pine warblers continued their feeder visits.  A male towhee foraged under the feeder.  A white breasted nuthatch preferred to stay up on the feeder. 

Many birds

 Two kinds of nuthatch!  

Milkweed gift

T has taken up raising caterpillars and gave me a big, healthy milkweed plant with a tiny caterpillar riding along.  

H.O.T.

The camera took a half day off this time.  Grrrrr.  Blue jays came for barkbutter balls.  A hummer visited the fresh juice.  A monarch and a black swallowtail flew around the patio.  The monarch fed on the butterfly milkweed.  The swallowtail egged the rue.  The squirrel games continued and I counted eight of them following the leader that I presume was a female in heat.  I rescued a young skink from the pool, along with many May beetles.  A floating wheelbug was quite defunct.  The temperature was 98 and the sun was blazing when not obscured by passing thunderheads.  Around 4:30pm one of them broke open and spilled rain and lightning, and knocked the temperature down 15 degrees.  It made me very glad K picked figs in the morning.  

Frog moving day

Today the camera decided to cooperate.  Squirrels played follow the leader during breakfast.  I think I counted five of them swinging Tarzan-style through the trees.  This was the final slowpoke.  

I organized myself for a morning swim.  Scary clouds boiled on the South, but moved West to East, giving me some shade without rain.  I thought I heard thunder but it might have been jets.  The green frog was back so this time I relocated it all the way to the fig patch.  The downspout should provide wetness and there's an all-it-can-eat mosquito buffet.  

Some mushrooms popped up, fertilized by rotting figs.  The rain, two days ago and humidity since rotted all the ripe figs.  I knocked down what I could so they wouldn't infect others.  The sunflower looked healthy and much less bug-chewed than the other one.  

Dragonflies showed up at lunchtime.  They ignored my bamboo stakes and preferred the dead gladiolus stalks.  I'm pretty sure one was a female widow skimmer.  Another was a female blue dasher.  A tiger swallowtail zipped past.  Wasps and bees of many sorts bounced around the mountain mint.  Alas I think the spider mites returned.  A skink caught my eye but it caught my movement and was gone into the violets. 

A bluebird wanted some barkbutter balls but I was in the way.  A hummingbird rejected the sugar water.  There will be fresh tomorrow.  

Camera trouble

I couldn't get the camera to turn on.  So from memory, there were lots of dragonflies.  I rescued a threadwaisted wasp, a horntail, and a green metallic tiger beetle that was rafting on a leaf.  The last I saw, the beetle was still clinging to the leaf.  There were still blueberries to pick but the heat and humidity were awful.  A mating pair of robber flies landed on my berry bucket.  

Mystery bird

A bluebird visited that might have been a molting adult or possible one hatched this year.  A molting male followed.  Then a male pine warbler arrived, also shedding feathers.  A commotion in the hackberry revealed a bird with no field marks that I could see.  It was replaced by a chickadee. 

A tiger swallowtail flew past and disappeared but a black swallowtail hung around the rue depositing eggs.  Ominous clouds passed over and there were several brief showers.  Then a real thunderstorm arrived around 5pm.  It finally dissipated around sunset leaving streaky pink clouds and smeared windows.  .