Thunderstorms

The day started nice but the first storm came through in the late morning and there were several more during the afternoon and evening.  In between the sun shown briefly.  I put out mealworms and barkbutter balls which the bluebirds and blue jays finished before the rain.  

The female pileated woodpecker was back.  So was the yellow cat which lurked beside the pool until it noticed a squirrel hunting fallen sunflower seeds.  Even though I was expecting it, the drama moved too fast for me.  The squirrel escaped into the trees where it gave the cat a scolding.  

A short-tailed, red-faced, five-lined skink prowled near the birdbath.  Its tail was just beginning to regrow.  But considering that red face, I think it was more concerned about finding a mate.  Brown headed nuthatches were back for more sunflower seeds.   

After the first rain, the pileated female and the bluebirds returned.  A female bluebird found mealworms that had fallen to the ground under the mountain mint.  She had some difficulty hanging on to a whole beakfull.  The afternoon and evening storms were much stronger with hard rain and some lightning.  An EF3 tornado touched down to the East of us and tore a swath from Great Neck Road out through Fort Story past the old lighthouse.  

Sunny

We got a good soaking but it finished before I got up so I put out fresh mealworms and barkbutter balls.  It did not take long for the word to get to the bluebirds and blue jays.  

The pileated lady was back which frustrated a downy.  Crows watched closely and one tried to feed on the suet but it was too awkward.  A squirrel foraged under the seed feeder.  The all-black cat visited and tried to catch the squirrel.  The cat was also fascinated by something in the water.  Later I removed a drowned skink.  I saw a living skink in the front yard.

Brown headed nuthatches took turns at the seed feeder.  A black swallowtail and a cabbage white flitted around.  I finally got my pimento peppers potted.  A mockingbird supervised.  A pair of geese brought their two goslings to nibble on the lawn.  

Rain

While suet and seeds were available, we never uncovered the dishes for mealworms or barkbutter balls.  A very and frustrated male bluebird looked forlornly at the lidded dishes.  An equally wet but more resourceful male cardinal foraged in the mulch.  One turtle climbed out to enjoy the "liquid sunshine."   Rain dripping off the pines across the creek made larger splashes and occasional bubbles.  

The rain stopped around 3pm and flickers of sunlight penetrated the clouds, but everything stayed wet.  A blue jay and a mockingbird came to see if I had relented on the food.  The blue jay found something good in the mulch.  A bluebird competed with a downy woodpecker for suet.  

Cloudy

The bluebirds were enthusiastic about mealworms.  The female pileated woodpecker returned.  A blue jay dared to visit the barkbutter balls while I sat outside.  A mockingbird followed. 

A cabbage white butterfly enjoyed the money plant flowers.  A seven-spotted ladybird beetle flexed its wings atop a branch of rue.  A yellow legged Polistes wasp prowled low vegetation looking, I assume, for caterpillars to feed its offspring.A black potter wasp fed on the rue flowers.  I found a first instar black swallowtail caterpillar on a different part of the rue.  Four tiny red mites occupied a blue-eyed grass leaf. 

I planted the sunflower seeds that germinated in a damp paper towel.  And the Garden Center finally got some red purslane so I replaced my lost seeds. 

Butterfly and frog

Yesterday didn't happen - I didn't take a single photo.  Actually, The pool was being uncovered which scared off the wildlife.  Plus I was busy preparing to give my opinion to the school board.  I was busy today too, but the time I was able to spend in observation was rewarding.  Morning was lovely.  The creek glowed with reflected sunshine.  Bluebirds popped up soon after I filled the feeder dishes.  The female pileated woodpecker returned.  

A frog moved into the pool.  The yellow cat came by and noticed the frog, but of course there was all that water between them.  Later I startled the frog into a dive.  Up close, the water was dusty with pollen.  

While the frog hid, the butterfly caught my attention.  It was a tiger swallowtail trying to suck nourishment out of dead azalea flowers.  I don't know why it ignored the money plant and the irises.  A blue jay loitered in the trees.  The first daylily bloomed.  

As I ate lunch, a brown headed nuthatch drank from the ant moat.  The bluebirds were back.  A mockingbird demanded a share of the mealworms but there wasn't much left.  The pileated female wanted more suet.  Sunset was a brilliantly glowing haze without discrete clouds, just fingers of colored light reflected in the creek.  

Cold!

The warm days spoiled me.  Today's temperature barely reached 60°.   The female pileated woodpecker returned for breakfast suet.  A blue jay got very excited about something in the mulch.  It required hammering open - probably a sunflower seed.  Another blue jay watched from the shepherd's crook.  A mockingbird was upset that I had not yet ventured out into the cold to deliver breakfast.  The bird's feathers were inflated against the chill.

By lunch time, the bluebirds wanted to be fed, but by then much of what I had put out was gone.  Brown headed nuthatches reappeared.  A male red bellied woodpecker took over the suet.  The clouds were dissipating and a skink ventured out to get a little sun.  

Fresh and clean

Judging from the ant moat, we got between one and two inches of rain over night.  I hope the seeds I planted were encouraged.  This morning, I was planting some more moonflower seeds when I uncovered a glass snail.  The sky was lapis lazuli blue with shreds of cumulus. All the leaves looked scrubbed and shiny.  Loads of buds crowded the red rose and the yellow rose had a new bud too.  The money plant flowers got very small.  I wonder if they will be bigger after this good soaking rain? I saw what I think was a silver spotted skipper and a tiger swallowtail. 

A mockingbird was the first to notice that I had put out fresh food, but it got away.  Then a blue jay visited but I only caught it flying away.  Finally a male bluebird posed.  He got feisty and evicted a female downy woodpecker from the suet.  Chickadees and cardinals went for seeds. Skinks were busy in the middle of the day and I may have saved them from the feral cat.  I saw one with a blue tail, one with a regrown tail, and one with a very red head. 

The male pileated woodpecker came for supper.  So did the mockingbird, so I got a picture after all.  

Earth Day

A different woodpecker showed up today - the male red belly came to feast on suet.  Bluebirds focused on the mealworms and barkbutter balls.  Of course the starlings had to crash the party.  A bigger surprise was the crow that gingerly balanced to extract a barkbutter ball.  

A blue jay was thirsty so I was glad I had added water to the birdbath.  A male goldfinch was also thirsty but would not descend to the birdbath.  He insisted on drinking from the ant moat though the water was algae soup and the level so low he almost fell in.  He walked all around the rim searching for a low spot.  I don't know if he ever got a drink. 

While it was not as hot as yesterday, the warmth brought out skinks.  One emerged from under the pool cover.  Being close to the ground they may not have noticed the wind, but it was very windy.  Tender new tree leaves got shredded and the detritus of flowering blew like snow. 

I accidentally took a picture of a bug on a coral lily.  It looked like a stinkbug nymph but I'm not certain.  On purpose, I took pictures of a yellow jacket queen. 

The high winds were followed by thunderstorms.  NWS Wakefield was threatening tornadoes and hail.  I hope enough rain fell to catch us up because it has been a very dry April. 

Even hotter

The pileated female returned.  A couple of turtles found a new log.  In the afternoon, bluebirds pecked at the remains of the mealworms. 

The outdoor thermometer registered 90°  but wind gusts moderated the heat.  I startled something that glittered in the late afternoon sun, maybe a dragonfly?  I tracked it  for a while but it never landed so that I could be sure.  

Hot

The female pileated woodpecker was back for breakfast. A bluebird waited for me to refill the mealworm dish.  A mockingbird came for brunch and a long drink from the birdbath. 

I saw 88° on the outdoor thermometer.  A black swallowtail found the bolting parsley.  A few turtles sunned on the logs but maybe it was too hot.

Certainly a great blue heron thought so.  It perched on a dock piling and let its wings drop so the late afternoon sun and breezes could reach areas normally covered.  This can be a threat pose but I saw no other bird.  

The Scourge of Squirrels

I have given the dog the title above.  Twice this morning he wanted to go out just as a squirrel had settled in to glean fallen sunflower seeds.  He blew out the door leaving ten years behind in the dust.  Of course the squirrels were faster but they had to run all out for the trees.  I wondered to K why they didn't just climb the post.  Did they think the dog could climb like a cat?  He certainly tried!  Just as he missed the squirrels, I missed a tiger swallowtail.   A skink wit a regrown tail headed for cover under the boards.  Later, I saw one on the steps with a classic blue tail.  

A pair of geese paddled by trailed by at least three goslings.  A reddish paper wasp hunted among the weeds.  A queen yellowjacket cruised low over the ground.  A bumblebee hunted for azalea blossoms that still had nectar.  Blue and yellow Dutch irises began blooming.  I think it's time to start spraying for spidermites.  Crane flies have been hanging around the patio door for a week. 

A male goldfinch in summer finery sought a drink from the ant moat that was pea-green with algae.  I hope that's nutritious?  A female cardinal sat eating on the sunflower seed perch when a male came wooing.  She made him hover instead of letting him join her.  It was poor timing on his part since she was already feeding herself.  

As I ate supper, I was joined by a mockingbird, a bluebird, and the female pileated woodpecker.  A yellow rumped warbler in summer feathers scavenged the crumbs left at the end of the day.  Brown headed nuthatches argued with a male house finch that tried to hog the seed perch. 

Green Spring

 Everything leafed out but the leaves were still tender and small.  Their greens seemed to glow. 

The female pileated woodpecker came for breakfast.  However, the dog felt the need to go out and defend our territory, from what I could not say.  It spooked the woodpecker and also some blue jays, but they didn't seem to be what the dog was barking about.  At least the woodpecker got breakfast first.  

A bale of turtles basked on the logs in the lake.  An egret prowled our shoreline.  Something flew across the creek that I thought might have been a green heron.  Then I spied a brown thrasher on a dogwood branch.  

Lovely day

The rain last evening dropped the temperature into the 70s.  Both the male and the female pileated woodpecker returned, he at breakfast, she at lunch.  A bluebird and a blue jay were disappointed that I failed to put food in the hanging dishes.  

Hot and humid

In the morning, a scarf of lacy cumulus seemed to be pulled across the sky from Southwest to Northeast.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of the whole thing.  Gradually it thickened and muted the sun. 

A bluebird hoped for a late afternoon snack.  I didn't see much else beyond wasps and ants even though I was out planting seeds.  At least the seed were in the ground before the rain.  The grass was full of small flowers, buttercup being the largest. 

A female pileated woodpecker, at last!

The temperature was back up in the 80s.  I think birds were busy nesting because they didn't come to the feeders when I was watching.  I could hear them up in the trees.  A few turtles were out on a log but not as many as usual.  Plenty of skinks were active.  I think there was more than one red head and I saw one with a blue tail and another with a regrown tail.  Something upset a mallard drake and he perched on the dock bench to let everyone know how he felt.  

The beautyberry began to leaf out.  The first blossom appeared on an evening primrose.  The coral honeysuckle was loaded with flowers just waiting for a hummingbird.  Some azaleas were done but others were still in full bloom.  I noticed more rosebuds.  Bees worked hard but I didn't see as many wasps.  One I did see, I thought was a yellowjacket queen but it was red.  Ir doesn't seem to fit any identification. The money plants were still blooming but loaded with seed pods.  A duskywing skipper fed on the money plant flowers.  It was a lot prettier than most duskywings and I thought Juvenal's Duskywing, Erynnis juvenali, was the best match.  

Some threatening clouds blew past but the day stayed dry.  I was sitting outside letting my hair dry when the pileated woodpecker landed on the post.  He didn't like my presence, I think, because he flew off, came back, and flew away again.  So I went inside.  After supper, a female pileated appeared.  She spent time investigating everything - the ground below the post, the steps, the mulch - then finally climbed the post and feasted on the fresh block of suet I'd hung.  (Unfortunately, when I bought the suet last Fall, I forgot to specify "no melt" so I need to move ther rest of the suet out of the garage soon.) 

Wet

I had plans to accomplish before the rain began but the rain started several hours before I expected.  I did get the windows facing the patio hosed off, but not my office windows.  And I got very wet.  Also, I did not get any seeds into the dirt before it became mud.  Since I didn't want to waste bird food, there was nothing but seeds and suet to attract visitors.  Still a mockingbird checked, just in case.  

In the evening after the rain stopped, a pair of downy woodpeckers finished off the suet.  Well, he ate while she watched.  Then a pair of cardinals had a date at the sunflower cafe.  She waited patiently while he tested seeds in the feeder below her and eventually brought her one.  Cheap date!  Finally after he fed her three seeds, she got to make a trip to the buffet herself.  

A pretty pink sunset caught me by surprise as I was downloading photos.  

Skink

The wild cherry buds popped.  A red faced skink hung out around the steps.  Something walked up the pine trunk but it was gone before I could get a photo.  A blue jay flitted around, hidden by foliage.  I saw a pine warbler again and thought I saw a white breasted nuthatch.  

Summery

The first thing I saw was crane flies scrabbling at the window.  I wonder what they think is beyond the glass.  Bluebirds pecked at the dust from yesterday's serving of mealworms.  A white throated sparrow with very spiffed-up feathers hopped around the patio.I suspect it might have spent the winter further South, not here.  

Two mourning doves foraged in the mulch.  Another migrant, a myrtle warbler, flitted through the trees.  It might have been after sweet gum seeds or pine nuts.  I also saw a pine warbler but I think it saw me too.  The dog insisted on frequent forays outdoors where it was warmer than inside - I saw 83° on the thermometer. 

The sky was hazier today and jets left contrails.  Some of the blue eyed grass was blooming.  Flies were thick around the mountain mint or maybe the bird poop beneath the feeders.  And by flies I mean the kind that get swatted. 

Mockingbird

The creek glowed with reflected sunshine.  An early starling took over the barkbutter crumbs which left a mockingbird feeling sad.  But eventually the rude starling left and the mockingbird got a turn.  

Then a blue jay  wanted a share.  Its chest was wet from something, dew maybe?  Like the starling, the jay pitched as much food out as it gobbled.  A female bluebird was next, followed by a male.   Sunlight and shadows painted streaks across the azaleas.  Soon the mockingbird was back.  In fact, it seemed like every time I passed the window, the mocker was feasting.  Later, I saw one in the front yard, maybe the same?  

The fresh new oak leaves shimmered in the breeze against the deep blue sky.  Some branches were behind schedule with leaves that were tinted with red.  Sycamore leaves seemed very spiky and last years seed balls were intermixed with small, new, reddish balls.  The wild cherry put out flower bud spikes.  The new maple leaves were gold as in Frost's poem.  Solomon's seal looked like a sculpture in the late afternoon light. 

The yellow rose was fully open and as big as a peony.  A tiny jumping spider waited on a petal.  I saw the same or another reddish bee on the money plant.  A mason wasp got water from the birdbath.  Bluebirds came back almost as frequently as the mockingbird.  The turtles basking on logs were bigger than the mallard alongside.  Two osprey circles over the creek but I missed them.  

Eating crow

I put out the last of the mealworms and the end of a bag of barkbutter balls.  The starling must have been watching.  What a messy eater!  Then the crows came.  They had trouble with the slippery railing and the songbird size feeder dishes but they managed to make a meal of it.  

Eventually a bluebird arrived while there was still food.  Later a mockingbird paid a visit.  A brown thrasher marched up the steps, then took off. 

Across the lake, turtles covered every surface they could reach while cormorants perched in higher branches.  

At supper, the pileated woodpecker returned.  So did the mockingbird.  

 

Pileated woodpecker

The sun was back but the air was no warmer and the wind was stronger.  That may be why the songbirds stayed away.  I didn't put any food out, either.  The male pileated woodpecker, a female downy woodpecker and a starling were all I saw.  Of course, songbirds are busy mating and nesting at this time of year.  The downy looked damaged but it might have just been rumpled feathers.  

When we got home, geese had come right up to the back door.  The dog put them to flight.  I hope the lesson lasts - we don't need their poop on top of the dog's.  

No bunnies visited. 

Red bellied woodpecker

The sky drizzled and dripped in a chilly Northeast wind. I put some barkbutter balls out but only attracted a starling.  A red bellied woodpecker was followed on the suet by both downy woodpeckers.  I believe I glimpsed a pelican, probably the last till next winter.

April showers

A cold front came through in the evening and rain began around breakfast.  It streaked the windows so even if there had been birds I wouldn't have gotten pictures.   All day, all I saw were a cardinal. a chickadee, a titmouse, and a downy woodpecker.  The rain was mostly gentle and there were lulls but the temperature continued to drop all day long.  The pecan buds opened and the crossvine bloomed. 

On the gray creek, a cormorant fished.  A couple of mallard drakes rested on the empty turtle log.  Two geese invaded the yard but I scared them off.  

88 Degrees

That's what the thermometer showed when I went out to plant seeds.  I faded fast.  But before that I saw another skink and two butterflies, a black swallowtail and a cabbage white.  The dog saw an egret and announced his displeasure.  I don't think he would have noticed it if it hadn't been in flight.  

Bumblebees were thick, especially on the money plants, and one tried to intimidate me but I knew it was bluffing.  Birds, however, were scarce.  For all the black swallowtail egg laying, I couldn't find any caterpillars yet.  The yellow rose opened and a coral lily bloomed.  A black ground beetle spread his hard front wings but didn't fly.  This early heat has plants and animals out of sync. 

Hot!

It was still 80° at 7pm.  Turtles liked the heat.  A yellow rose opened. The hickory buds popped.  Some azaleas were just beginning to open while others were nearly at their peak.  And the Solomon's seal shot up and put out buds.  Two black swallowtails egged the rue while a cabbage white flitted past.  Bumblebees and wasps rushed around the plants.  I saw a small black beetle scuttling up the driveway.  

Blue jays were busy in the trees and along the shore.  Then one of the jaybirds turned into a kingfisher with dinner.  The sky became strangely streaky toward evening.

Butterflies

Temperature over 80° hatched out butterflies and also brought up the first skink of the season.  I saw small, beige lepidoptera in addition to a tiger and a black swallowtail, but only the black swallowtail stayed put long enough for me to focus.  The crossvine bloomed. 

Kingfisher

The wind switched around to the South and warmed us up.  Turtles massed on their log.  A male kingfisher perched on the neighbors' dock post.  I wonder if the female that was here in the winter is nesting?  I saw a couple of birds that I'm guessing were brown thrashers chasing through the bushes.  The black and white feral cat was back.  

Still windy

It was still quite windy and much colder under an intensely blue sky.   A female bluebird was up early collecting nesting material.  A blue jay only wanted to collect breakfast.  The cardinals were courting.  A starling sparkled in the morning sunlight.  The new leaves on the oak shimmered in the wind and sun.  Bumblebees visited the money plant flowers.  Juncos were still here but I didn't see the orioles.  Hickory buds swelled but didn't open yet.  On the lake, an egret and a few turtles warmed up in the late afternoon.  

Gale

A mostly gray day was punctuated by intermittent rain or sunlight. The wind stripped the petals off the cherry blossoms and blew the rain sideways.  Dogwoods hung on better.  The creek was stuck in low tide, but it was too windy for most fishing birds to take advantage.  I saw buffleheads paddling upwind.  An egret tried to hunt along the tideline but it was too exposed.  The temperature was in the 70s and a few turtles crawled up on their log to enjoy the warmth despite the wind.  A downy woodpecker ventured out to the suet in the late afternoon.