Swallowtail

I was gone all morning.  At lunch, a male hummer checked out the gladiolus flowers, then the feeder. Alas he had his back to the light, so no ruby at the throat.   A Carolina wren hunted suet crumbs, then flew off to one of the dogwoods.  Yellow flowers hung lie bells on a ground cherry. 

After swimming, I picked more blueberries, but they weren't as good.  A tiger swallowtail discovered the aster flowers.  Skippers and snout butterflies preferred the mountain mint.  So did honeybees and other bees.  I glimpsed a dragonfly aloft, earlier.

When I went out to enjoy the twilight, it dripped on me!  It wasn't even a shower, just scattered raindrops, but I had to take my book and camera inside.  So I boiled up the damaged and unripe blueberries.  

Spider

A cabbage white landed on the Solomon's seal.  Later, I saw another on the mountain mint,  joined by leatherwing beetles, bees, and wasps.  A shiny black mud wasp preferred the rue. 

An impressively thick strand of spider silk ran from the top of one of the dragonfly perches into the vegetation where it supported an almost horizontal orb web with an orchard spider at the hub.  Getting that in focus was tricky.  

A male goldfinch divided his attention between the sunflower and the seed feeder.  He gave way to a male house finch but soon found the courage to challenger the bigger finch.  I also saw a skink and a bullfrog but they escaped the camera.

Butterfly

This afternoon, the stung spot on my palm came roaring back, Double ouch.  When I got home and was outside with the dog, I finally got pictures of the little white butterfly that's been hanging around for weeks.  I believe it was a summer azure.  Focus was difficult.  A honeybee worked on the mountain mint. 

Ouch!

Goldfinches came to check on the progress of their sunflower.   A mockingbird had suet.  (The barkbutter balls were rain mush.)  I saw a brown thrasher while I was swimming.  A Carolina wren shared suet with a downy woodpecker.  The woodpecker wasn't a gracious host but the wren didn't care. 

Skippers and other butterflies found the mountain mint.  Bees and wasps went for both rue and mountain mint.  I wonder how they will flavor the honey?  Some of the wasps looked like great golden digger wasps but were too small to be called great.  Red ants dragged a deceased bumblebee across the patio.  They had some trouble when they got to the vegetation.

When I was clearing tree debris from the water, I picked up a handful of pine needles and pecan catkins and got stung.  I didn't see the culprit, but I suspect it was a really small wasp or bee. The cool water eventually soothed the sting.  Two kinds of scarab beetle seem to fall into the water constantly.  One kind are what I call May beetles, and I think the other are shining leaf chafers, though they don't look particularly shiny to me. 

While I was in the pool, the clouds thickened and looked more threatening. It was a god thing that I picked blueberries before swimming.  The rain started shortly after I came inside and continued in waves into the evening. 

New beetle

I was afraid it was an emerald ash borer but it matched the red-legged metallic wood boring beetle, Buprestis rufipes.  Wood boring beetles are often beautiful and destructive but this one apparently prefers dead wood.  I suspect it might have come from the oak limb that fell in the storm.  Several blue mud daubers,Chalybion californicum, fed on the rue.  They seemed smaller than usual.  Paper wasps bustled all around the flowers and plants.  I saw honeybees on the mountain mint, and leather wing soldier beetles, of course. 

Blueberries began to ripen and the recent rain made them big and fat.  I picked quite a few of only the largest.  On my way, I found raised ridges in the grass and especially in mossy areas. One of them moved as I watched, which was kind of creepy.  I suppose they were dug by moles. 

At lunch, a mockingbird attacked a crow.  The mockingbird kept up its harassment until the dog noticed the crow and scared off both birds.  I suppose the crow got too close to the mockingbird nest.  A brown headed nuthatch slipped in among the chickadees to get a sunflower seed.  A hummingbird decided to risk my presence. 

I need to report that the goose excluders failed.  I had to chase four geese out of the spartina planting.  A yellow crowned night heron preened on a dock post.  Vegetation hid the bird's head.  

Thunderstorm

In the morning, ospreys circled in an intensely blue, almost ultraviolet, sky.  A house wren visited the seed feeder, then surveyed the yard from atop the post.  Blue jays went straight to the barkbutter balls.  A hummingbird found the feeder after trying the gladiolus.  Those flowers certainly look like they were meant for hummers.

Fertilized sunflowers had a Raggedy Ann look as the petals withered. The sakaki perfume dominated the air.  There were buds on the hibiscus and shredded leaves from the larval sawflies. 

Bumblebees and wasps and a Japanese beetle visited the rue.  A female widow skimmer perched on a bamboo stake by the mountain mint.  Earlier, I saw another dragonfly that was just a flicker of black and white.I suspect it was a male widow skimmer.  I rescued several flower scarabs and one firefly.  A skipper and a snout butterfly fed on the mountain mint along with carpenter bees and wasps. 

Several menacing clouds blew over without doing anything during the day.  The storm finally came through around 5:30pm and at least one lightening bolt was directly overhead.  The donner und blitzen was accompanied bu a downpour.  NOAA issued another flash flood warning.  The storm cleared and chilled the air.  Afterward, a great blue heron roosted on the dock bench. 

Hot and sticky

A male bluebird did not seem pleased with the suet.   A mockingbird ate suet and a blue jay stuffed its beak with barkbutter balls. A goldfinch visited the seed feeder.  A Carolina wren poked into everything.  

I managed to get time for a swim and found a flock of winged ants trapped in the skimmer.  Afterward, I saw the tail of a disappearing skink.  A couple of brown butterflies dueled over the pool.  A somewhat larger brown and orange butter flitted around the patio.  I think it may have been a questionmark.  Wasps enjoyed rue nectar.  Bees were more inclined to the mountain mint.  The blue aster and the sakaki started blooming. 

The heat and humidity weren't so bad at home, but downtown Norfolk was enough to make me worry about heat stroke.  The flood barrier blocked breezes and turned Boush Street into a sauna.  Plus, I lost the parking garage and walked about three extra blocks.  I could see clouds piling up in the East, waiting for sunset's temperature drop to rain.  

Wet

Cloudbursts and lulls, even sunshine, rolled through the day.  Many gladiolus flower stalks were broken by the weight of the rain-sodden petals.  Bluebirds were hungry and looked frazzled.  A Carolina wren foraged very busily. A mockingbird fed on the suet.  So did the wren. 

A snout butterfly visited the mountain mint.  One big turtle occupied the lake log.  Five female mallards paddled upstream together.  

Misting

The mountain mint attracted lots of wasps and bees despite the wet.  The aster looked about ready to bloom.  A young titmouse watched me take pictures of wasps.  I glimpsed a pileated flying away because there was no suet left.  

Rainy solstice

It just didn't seem right to have gray skies all day on the longest day.  Yesterday was gloomy too and felt chilly despite being in the 70s.  Slugs feasted on the rue.  I rescued a lot of scarab beetles and saw a damselfly while I was swimming.  The mockingbird was a regular presence.  It didn't like getting wet. 

A couple of downy woodpeckers squabbled over the disappearing suet.  A blue jay found the re-hydrated mealworms in the dangling blue dish.  The female pileated woodpecker helped the suet disappear. 

Between the wind and the moon phase, the  tide was exceptionally high.  After dark, fireflies were out.  

Summery days

The wild cherries were beginning to ripen and a mockingbird picked some.  Blue jays were loyal to barkbutter balls.   A house wren foraged in the mulch under the sakaki.  It was well camouflaged and I only saw it because it was moving. The female goldfinch came back for water.  A female bluebird wanted barkbutter balls or mealworms.

The sand of the new shoreline appeared to have drifted in the storm.   A big limb broke off the oak and bent the fence.  I only glimpsed one skink. 

Wasps and bees were in heaven between the rue and the mountain mint.  Bumblebees also enjoyed the sunflowers.  Dragonflies were still scarce which was regrettable because a biting fly came after me.  I think the heat hatched out the flies but the humidity was too low to please mosquitoes or the dragonflies.  A small, brownish butterfly, a tiger swallowtail, and the ubitiquous cabbage whites were the only butterflies. 

Cooler

A big oak limb dropped during the storm.  The yellow cat stopped briefly at breakfast.   A dragonfly used one of the perches.  Bring out of practice identifying dragonflies, I checked and found it was a great blue skimmer.  I was glad to see dragonflies but not the small biters that attracted them.  

At lunch, I saw a mockingbird, flashing as usual.  There were bluebirds but they got away without posing.  When I went out in the afternoon, a honeybee was harvesting milkweed.  One or more female hummers had a good drink.  Native bees tackled the tiny sunflower florets as though they were eating corn on the cob.  

Thunderstorm

At last we got rain with a classic summer afternoon thunderstorm.  

I saw a damselfly by the edge of the pool but it didn't wait for the camera.  

 

 

Hummingbirds

At least one hummer found the feeder.  And at least one was a past visitor because she thought the sugar water ought to be where the suet is hanging.  That's where it was last year.  

Two mockingbirds attacked a crow.  They drove it away.   

Gusty wind

In the morning a little wasp scrabbled at the window.  The sunflower opened more flowers.  A crow visited the berkbutter balls.  So did a blue jay.  Something I thought was a dragonfly banged on the window in the afternoon.  And in the evening, I finally caught a firefly light.  

Not sunny

A mockingbird was first at the suet.  Then a white breasted nuthatch wanted some.  A cabbage white flirted with the mountain mint but a tiger swallowtail flew past without pausing.  There were a few tiny flowers on the mountain mint.  The rue was more appealing to bees and wasps.  A ladybird beetle hunted small prey.  The sunflower drew bees. 

In the afternoon, the scientists came to monitor the freshly planted spartina.  It was supposed to be all day sunshine, but the sky was mostly threatening clouds. Bluebirds found the barkbutter balls.  A hummer located the refreshed feeder but I was too close.  Leatherwing beetles migrated from the parsley to the mountain mint.  The bullfrog was back, enjoying the pool.  

Goldfinches

There was rain overnight, enough to leave water in the barkbutter dish.  The suet was gone and not yet replaced.  A mockingbird looked for food but I hesitated to restock with more rain in the forecast.  A female bluebird picked at what remained in the lower, more sheltered dish.  

Apparently goldfinches are as drawn to yellow as hummingbirds are to red.  Three goldfinches investigated the sunflower.  The two males argued over the biggest flower and one was relegated to onlooker.  Meanwhile, the female poked around the smaller flowers just beginning to open. 

Hot!

On the lake, a great blue heron supervised four turtles.   I had a busy day that didn't permit me to see much more.  A mockingbird visited.  The downy pair argued over the suet.  I didn't get any fresh food out, so that too cut down the bird visits.  

Shoreline finished

The early mockingbird was back.  The newspaper had an article on poison ivy.  The volunteers planted spartina and strung goose protection.  It all left the shoreline looking very strange.  Geese and ducks paddled past without stopping. 

The rue was buzzing in the afternoon.  I saw a honeybee, bumblebees, hover flies, many kinds of wasp, and a very tiny bee with loaded pollen baskets.  A big, dark, waspish thing whizzed through the lowest parts of the vegetation so I never got a good look.  Several spiders were handing out around the pool.

A pine warbler got some 'powder of mealworm and barkbutter'.  Titmice were bold. or possibly naive - I think they may have been parent and offspring.  The one that looked younger to me kept dropping the seeds it was trying to peck open.   

Baby bluebird

The air was still smoky, though either the smell had diminished or we got used to it.   Bluebirds looked ragged, maybe molting or maybe parenting wore them out.  Even though I staked it, the sunflower got in my line of sight of the seed feeder perch.  So instead of the brown headed nuthatch, the back of the sunflower was in focus.  The LRN volunteers were back to mark planting areas on the sand and rig goose deterrents.  

Either birds were eating green cherries or they were finding bugs among the cherries, but the wild cherry tree was busy.  One was a juvenile bluebird.  A mockingbird stood on the side wall of the steps and flashed.  Then it went to the birdbath for a drink.  

A snout butterfly was attracted to the cinquefoil or violets, I couldn't tell which.  BugGuide says their food is hackberry.  A cabbage white was more interested in the mountain mint.  But I didn't see any butterflies on the butterfly milkweed, just a little wasp and a minuscule ant.  Bumblebees feasted on the rue and I thought I saw a honeybee too.  Some potter wasps and quite a few flies were feeding on the rue as well. Leatherwing beetles preferred the parsley.  Wasps and flies joined them. 

Crows checked in case I had left them any food.  I hadn't.  A red bellied woodpecker wanted suet but was too wary.  When a white breasted nuthatch showed up, I was frustrated by the sunflower so I went outside.  Two white breasted nuthatches took turns at the feeder despite my presence.  A juvenile bluebird foraged under the red cedar.  A pine warbler got some suet.  A mockingbird decided I was too close.  Chickadees and titmice weren't as easily deterred from eating.  

Crows were busy harassing something.  Clouds moved in and we had a brief shower around 6pm.  The two male cardinals whose territories overlap at the feeder got into a squabble and one chased the other away.  I could tell them apart because one had begun to molt.  

Hummingbird

There was rain overnight but the air was still smoky.   A mockingbird was up early.  Not long after, a male red bellied woodpecker came for suet.  Gladiolus spears were bursting into bloom. 

I no sooner sat outdoors beside the hummer feeder than a hummingbird swooped in, decided I was up to no good, and peeled off.  No hummers for weeks, then that.  Of course I got no picture.  I did get a brown headed nuthatch on the seed feeder and a bumblebee on the sunflower.  

Smoky

The wind pulled smoke down from Quebec wildfires making the air visibly unhealthy.  Crows visited in hopes I had spilled more barkbutter balls, but I hadn't.  Later, when the tide was out, they went beach-combing.  One picked up a bit of debris and carried it around like a prize. 

The pine warbler stopped by briefly.  The mockingbirds returned frequently.  Pileated woodpeckers got their suet fix.  Juvenile as well as adult bluebirds showed up.  A brown headed nuthatch was thirsty.  I saw a couple of skinks.

Turtles and a cormorant occupied their favorite log, though they were hard to see through the smoky air.  A great egret paced along the edge of the extended shoreline, then flew up to the dock.  

Warm

Under a white sky. the seasonable temperature rose above 80 with a moderate breeze.  The pool water felt warmer too.  The pileated pair took turns at the new suet.  Wary crows picked up a few barkbutter balls I dropped for them.  A male bluebird drank from the clean ant moat.  A mockingbird found the barkbutter balls in the hanging dish.  A Carolina wren foraged on the steps. 

A couple of cabbage whites did their aerial dance that I think is territorial.  I also saw a brown skipper, maybe a silver spotted.  Bees and wasps were active and I saw a black crab spider.  Ants kept falling into the pool along with some pupae.  The dearth of dragonflies is disturbing.  The first sunflower opened part way.  A second gladiolus spear started to bloom. When I went to get the mail, I saw a chipping sparrow and a mockingbird in the driveway.  Of course I'd left the camera inside. 

Big frog

Finally a warm, sunny day, though still breezy.  I was late restocking the dishes.  And the suet was almost gone too.  Blue jays noticed that the barkbutter balls had reappeared.  Mockingbirds wanted suet.  Bluebirds didn't care as long as it was food.  

When I got in the pool, I went to empty the skimmer.  It was packed full of leaves and very heavy.  When I started to shake out the leaves, it came to life and startled me into dropping it.  A furious frog climbed out and shot over my head into the water.   Eventually I located the frog on the bottom of the pool but the camera only saw a blur.  Later it surfaced and I confirmed it was a bullfrog. 

Both the butterfly milkweed and the mountain mint were close to blooming.  Some wasps appeared to be waiting for the flowers.  

Three species of woodpecker came to work on the worn down nubbin of suet: downy, pileated, and red bellied.  The red bellied woodpecker was a male that had no visible red on his belly.  A Carolina wren wrestled a barkbutter ball into submission.  A molting male cardinal tried to make off with the wren's dinner.  

Geese with two half grown goslings paddled downstream. Something dark flew downstream but all I got was an indistinguishable blur.  Then an egret flew upstream and I had better luck.  Something made rings and ripples in the surface of the creek without ever showing itself.  

Back home

I got home around lunch time and found most of the suet gone and both dishes empty.  Bluebirds were still at work on the suet.  The male was a haggard mess.  The mockingbird pair came around.  A starling showed up shortly after them.  The pine warbler had just started on the suet when the female pileated woodpecker landed. 

The gladiolus was gorgeous, as were the lilies in the front yard.  I could see yellow petals still tightly closed on the sunflower.  Daylilies were covered with flowers.  

Breakfast guests

The mockingbirds were up early.  Bluebirds, then blue jays soon joined the food line.  A titmouse grew bold enough to get some barkbutter balls.  The red gladiolus started blooming.  

Mist

I thought it was too damp for barkbutter balls or mealworms so all the birds had to eat was suet and seeds.  A mockingbird behaved strangely on the pool edge, bouncing and flashing.  A Carolina wren made a late breakfast visit to forage under the feeders.  Bluebirds worked on suet. 

I had an appointment in South Norfolk and passed through areas of fog in the afternoon.  When I got home, I toured the flowers.  There were red buds on one gladiolus spear.  The lantana and the crocosima started flowering and two buds on the white lily popped open.  The sunflower grew another inch.  

A feisty titmouse wanted a fair share of the food and even outfaced a nuthatch.  Chickadees came ins a steady stream.  Cardinals were more sporadic.  And the brown headed nuthatches got plenty of seeds.  A pine warbler was able to get a little suet.