Late afternoon rain

The bit of beard lichen on the back of the bench never seems to get any bigger.  After some prowling around iNaturalist, I'm calling it Bristly Beard Lichen Usnea hirta.  The sunflower keeps making flowers but each is smaller than the last.  They have gone from desert plate down to thumbnail in size.  The beautyberry still had some flowers but more green berries. Yellow bells dangled from the ground cherry plants. 

I was afraid it might rain later so I picked figs in the morning.  Green June beetles had the same idea.  So did a bald faced hornet.  A lovely male widow skimmer used the perch outside my window.  There was a striped caterpillar drowned in the skimmer.  It looked to me like the kind that attacks azaleas so I did not mourn.  I could not locate the swallowtail caterpillar.  It may have gone off to form a chrysalis or it might have been hunting for more parsley, or it might have become dinner. 

A black mud wasp twitched around the mountain mint. The specific sand wasp I've been seeing on the mountain mint appears to be a Four-banded Stink Bug Wasp Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus even though I see five bands.  A tiger swallowtail hurried across the yard and out of sight. 

 

The dog wanted out around 4pm and spooked a female common whitetail dragonfly which got away unphotographed.  The clouds were already dark and threatening and the temperature had dropped.  A goldfinch was unwilling to visit while I was outside.  A fuzzy-looking bluebird perched atop the redwood.  Three mockingbirds landed in the dogwood, two fledglings and a tired parent.  And then the rain began.  

Toward evening, I saw a great blue heron on the dock.  It appeared to be stalking something.  The water was quite still after the rain.  

Lovely day

The oppressive, sticky heat blew away overnight and it wasn't as windy either.  I rescued an assassin bug and did my best to ignore a large mulch roach that occupied the top step of the pool ladder.  A skipper clung to the side of the pool in the shade.  I saw a dragonfly on one of my perches but got distracted and never came back with the camera.  A black swallowtail flitted through.  A great golden digger wasp browsed the mountain mint.  So did a bumblebee and a little black bee with a furry waist.  An ailanthus moth, Atteva aurea, tried to stay out of the way of wasps.  But the prize of the day was a cicada killer that I finally got in focus! 

A brown thrasher lurked in the sakaki.  Titmice queued up at the feeder.  The bluebirds fed a fledgling.  The two male goldfinches declared a truce and both worked on the sunflower.  The evening sky was lined with ribs of cloud flowing slowly East.  

Mockingbird family

It was scorchingly hot and very gusty.  The clouds lined up in ridges and furrows.  I sat outside in the shade after lunch and watched the insect parade:  a bumblebee, a honeybee, an all-black bee, a great golden digger wasp, a black threadwaisted wasp, a little black wasp ringed with gold, a sans wasp, scoliid wasps, and a fiery skipper.  While I was sitting outside, a skink sidled up and scooted right under the chair. 

I meant to swim in the morning but my program ran over.  So I waited till there was some shade on the water.  Among the usual floaters was a sharpshooter, Oncometopia orbona, a kind of leafhopper.  A widow skimmer used the mountain mint as a windbreak.  The black swallowtail caterpillar was still trying to eat the gone-to-seed parsley.  I hope it doesn't starve.  After swimming, I picked the first figs of the year.  A sidewalk tiger beetle scurried away. 

A mockingbird parent brought two offspring to the feeder but they didn't quite connect the dots. Maybe tomorrow. A bluebird was also trying to teach its fledgling hoe to eat at the mealworm feeder.  Sunset was quite pink.  

Insects

A white breasted nuthatch showed up after breakfast.  The canna decided to try another blossom.  I found a big swallowtail caterpillar on the gone-to-seed parsley, but no sign of the monarch caterpillar, so I hope there is a chrysalis somewhere.  I blew another shot at a great golden digger wasp.  In addition to all the beetles that I fished out of the water, there was an insect I didn't recognize that looked midway between a beetle and a wasp.  The mountain mint was full of many kinds of bees. 

A four spotted pennant rode the topmost twig of the wild cherry.  Something denuded all the highest branches on the wild cherry.  I suspect tiger swallowtail caterpillars.  I saw an orange fritillary butterfly that appeared to be laying eggs on violet leaves.  A black butterfly showed no interest in either parsley or rue so I wondered if it was a dark tiger swallowtail or a red spotted purple.  A fiery skipper popped around the mountain mint. 

Toward evening, a green heron landed on a post in the creek.  It didn't stay long, but I was grateful to have seen it.  Great egrets were also in flight.  It had been a very hot day and was still in the 90s at supper. 

Yellow crowned night heron

Great golden digger wasps enjoyed the mountain mint.  A black vulture circled high over the creek.  A black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and a fiery skipper visited.  But the monarch caterpillar disappeared.  I assisted a huge leaf-footed bug to escape the water. 

A yellow crowned night heron inspected the new shoreline.  A widow skimmer used the perch that the orchard spider had wrapped in sticky silk.   I wonder if the spider relocated?  A blue dasher obelisked on another perch.  

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Fledgling feeding

A Carolina wren was not happy with all the rain water in the feeder dishes.  A molting bluebird scanned the area from the post.  Then a fledgling bluebird appeared.  It was quite polite about asking for food compared to house finch fledglings.  But when mother showed up with mealworms, the fledgling gaped as wide as its head.  I had just been reading that nature photography is being at the right place at the right moment when this happened! 

A skink with no tail hid behind the downspout.  Another crossed the steps to slip under the birdbath.  The fledgling was curious about the food dishes but intimidated by a bee.  A great golden digger wasp ignored everything but mountain mint.  The monarch caterpillar continued to stuff itself with milkweed leaves. 

Cumulus clouds built up to the Southwest.  A hummer checked out the feeder and declined so I brought it in. 

Skinks

At lunch time, there were skinks.  I waited till late in the day to swim, but it was still buggy.  But I was able to rescue a pigeon horntail.  It must have just fallen in because it was still buzzing.  I couldn't get it to grab anything so I lifted it out with my hand, with some trepidation as a horntail looks like a yellow and black banded syringe.  It did not wait around for a photo session.  Fireflies lit up the evening. 

Wet

I thought it was going to rain all day so I was too suspicious to trust the mid afternoon sunshine.  As a result I stayed inside and did not add to my collection of bug bites.  The pine warbler, however, was too hungry to be deterred by rain. He ate rain-mushed barkbutter and bobbed for floating mealworms.  The downy woodpecker came to see if watering the suet cage had grown another block of suet.  Alas, no, nor will it till cooler temperatures arrive.  

When the rain stopped, birds all showed up at once.   A white breasted nuthatch was frustrated because a cardinal got to the feeder first.  Then it was house finches.  A goldfinch watched from the top of the sunflower.  A mockingbird visited the dishes which I had replenished.  

Dragonfly

I think the Carolina wren was up before I was.  Bluebirds were early risers too.  The pine warbler was not going to be left out.  Goldfinches made sure they still had title to their sunflower.  A brown headed nuthatch was frustrated by the titmice, chickadees, and house finches.  Being  bigger, the white breasted nuthatch had less difficulty getting a share of the seeds.  The house finches had a redness contest.  

After swimming, I saw a male widow skimmer on one of my perches.  He was getting blown around.  I also found a monarch caterpillar munching away on the butterfly milkweed.  Great golden digger wasps twitched around the mountain mint.  Two black mud wasps squabbled in midair.  A gray hairstreak fended off annoying wasps and bees.  Several fiery skippers popped up. 

A great egret occupied one of the dock posts.  

And two more

I never got a swim yesterday and I didn't see much either.  A Carolina wren greeted us at breakfast.  The goldfinches soon arrived.  It looked like they were pecking out seeds from the gladiolus.  I tried one and didn't see anything that looked like a seed.  The two pairs of goldfinches squabbled over the sunflower.  And apparently after breakfast I didn't see anything more. 

Today was much more satisfying and, like yesterday, it was not so hot.  The goldfinches were back. The last bud on the hibiscus opened and, with no undamaged foliage, I don't expect we'll see a second flowering this year.  Morning glory vines waved tendrils in search of support.  The sunflower stalk decided to make one more small flower.  

A bluebird in the top of the redwood had something in its beak.  The mockingbird had its beak open and a little later I saw it pursue a crow.  I picked blueberries which meant crawling inside the patch to get to the only big berries.  I saw a trashline spider's trashline but not the spider. 

The mountain mint was busy as ever.  I identified a cellophane bee, I think, Colletes inaequalis.  I thought it was a wasp but on close inspection, it was hairy.  Something I thought was a dragonfly circled low over the grass.  When it finally landed, it was a green June beetle.  A skink ambled past me as I watched the mountain mint show.  A fiery skipper was late to the party. 

I saw both brown headed and white breasted nuthatches.  A hummer came to the feeder but didn't stay.  And that sugar water was fresh today.  Two Carolina wrens in the dogwood might have been parent and fledgling.  A pine warbler visited at supper time.  So did a bluebird. 

There were dragonflies in the afternoon but they refused to perch.  I think I saw a Carolina saddlebags and I'm sure of a window skimmer.  There were others with clear wings.  I actually managed to capture quite a few, but not sharp enough for identification.  

Monarch

The weather report claimed almost two inches of rain fell, but the bucket I left out had more than that.  I believe it was watering the blueberries that did the trick.  A monarch visited the butterfly milkweed in the morning.  When I went over to the aster to see what had become of the camouflage loopers, I startled the bullfrog.  It dived and I did not see it again.  I rescued another robber fly and some more beetles.  The sawfly larva denuded the hibiscus leaves because I hesitated to spray when rain was predicted.  And the Japanese beetles ate holes in the petals. 

Four or more fiery skippers fussed over the mountain mint at mid day.  I saw a couple of skinks.  A female widow skimmer buzzed the mountain mint repeatedly.  Birds were scarce since I was reluctant to put out food in case of more rain.  But a Carolina wren foraged here and there.  A few fat drops of rain fell on the way home from my meeting.  A female blue dasher perched in the front yard.  A twelve spotted skimmer worked the upper air.  The crape myrtlle was blooming, as was the lantana and the leatherleaf clematis.  Two peppers were getting big. 

Two days

I missed the 18th because I was too tired to even look at the pictures I took.  So this is fro both days.  Yesterday, a brown headed nuthatch was the early bird eating suet.  A bluebird was thirsty but the ant moat was down to sludge.  

I found a camouflaged looper, Synchlora aerata, on the mountain mint.  It should grow up to be a wavy-lined emerald moth.  I can only recall seeing the moth once but they must be around.  However, BugNet added, "from Maryland southwards other Synchlora spp. are also present and only raising to adulthood can yield a definite caterpillar ID."  The mountain mint was busy with wasps and bees as well as the mydas fly and a big, green June beetle.  I think one of the bees was a cuckoo bee Epeolus scutellaris.

I rescued a bumblebee from drowning.  In the afternoon, the amberwing again lurked in the mountain mint, obelisking to cool off.  A black swallowtail egged the rue.  The goldfinches worked on their sunflowers.  A mockingbird perched and panted in the heat.  The male hummingbird visited but I didn't see red. 

While swimming today, I found a drowned caterpillar.  It was brown with eye-spots, so probably a tiger swallowtail.  I tried to revive it to no avail.  I also saw a wolf spider on the pool ladder step, and of course beetles.  A beetle wasp, Cerceris spp, joined the mountain mint diners.  Then along came a summer azure.  A skipper also popped up on the mountain mint.  I found three more camouflaged loopers on the aster.  

At lunch, two skinks got into a chase.  The winner basked on the wooden step wall.  The other wandered along the edge of the patio.  I noticed its tail was still blue,. unlike the winner.  In face, the winner had a short, regrown tail unlike the long, slender, twitchy, blue tail. Maybe that made short tail grumpy?  

An odd bird on the fence turned out to be a bald cardinal.  The afternoon got very dark and dropped buckets of rain accompanied by rumbles of thunder.  The storm finished and the sky cleared in time for late afternoon sunshine.  But it was still humid and wet everywhere.  

 

Dining options

An early bluebird ate barkbutter balls.  Goldfinches continued to demolish the sunflowers.  Blue jays showed up to get some of those delicious barkbutter balls.  Japanese beetles preferred to eat hibiscus flowers.  The mountain mint continued to be popular with wasps and bees, and the occasional skipper. 

The suet drew a brown headed nuthatch.  The pine warbler got barkbutter leftovers.  The humidity made the heat oppressive even though it wasn't quite as hot today.  I glimpsed dragonflies at work.  A hummer refused to visit her feeder while I was outside though earlier a male had gotten a quick sip.  

Fritillary

A pine warbler started the day.  Then the male red bellied woodpecker returned.  Then bluebirds and a mockingbird arrived.  I went swimming in the morning and cleared to pool of the usual collection of beetles, but one was new.  The first six-spotted tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata, of the season scuttled away after I fished it out twice.   

As I dripped, a Carolina wren looked for fallen food.  The pine warbler lurked in the dogwood.  A blue tailed skink took a look at the birdbath.  By noon, clouds had gotten menacing and the rain started soon after I went inside.  The goldfinches ignored the light rain, as did bluebirds.  Even the pine warbler joined the queue. 

There turn out to be more species of fritillary in Virginia than I had realized.  Today's visitor, a variegated fritillary (Euptoieta claudia), showed up between rains and fell in love with mountain mint.  Really fierce wind gusts hammered trees and shoved cumulus clouds across the sky to the Northeast.  Higher cirrus clouds were unaffected.  The first belt of rain came through around 1pm and the second after 3:30pm.  Neither lasted long. The morning's South wind had become a West wind by sunset.  

A male goldfinch perched upside down to reach the remaining seeds in the sunflower.  The female was more wary.  A bluebird stayed up in the trees while I was outside.  But a white breasted nuthatch was much braver.  A very high soaring bird caught my eye and made me think Mississippi kite,  but I'm unsure what it was.  The male hummer was still satisfied with the sugar-water but I plan to change it tomorrow.

Hummingbirds

A goldfinch was the first bird.  A bluebird came as soon as I put out mealworms.  Then a male red bellied woodpecker wanted suet.  Chickadees were unimpressed.  The white breasted nuthatches were back.  A Carolina wren inspected the area from atop the feeder hanger.  

When I got out of the pool, a  dragonfly perched on the bamboo stake the orchard spider used as an anchor.  I believe it was a yellow-sided skimmer, Libellula flavida, though at first I thought it was a Needham's skimmer. 

The usual insects crowded the mountain mint, including a great golden digger wasp, leaf-cutter bees, and a bee with very furry legs.  I saw more juvenile grasshoppers, or maybe katydids.  The water was again full of beetles,roaches, and small wasps.

A blue tailed skink crossed the patio and climbed the wall.  Something I thought was bigger than a squirrel disappeared behind the oak next to the fence.  Probably a cat.  Clouds piled up and provided welcome shade.  There was some afternoon rain but it barely wetted surfaces.  A nice breeze ameliorated the humidity.

A bluebird watched from an oak branch.  A mockingbird landed on the shepherd's crook.  One of the hummers, a female, kept expecting results from the hibiscus or gladiolus.  The male, however, know right where to go.  The white breasted nuthatches tag-teamed at the seed feeder. 

Dragonflies

The sky dripped a little at breakfast and that was all there rain there was.  A white breasted nuthatch joined the chickadees and titmice, cardinals and house finches at the seed feeder.  A mockingbird and later a blue jay, bluebirds, and a pine warbler visited the dish of barkbutter balls.  Goldfinches couldn't leave the sunflower alone.  The mockingbird harassed a couple of crows on the roof. 

The pool was full of beetles - a few black ground beetles, lots of brown May beetles, and of course Japanese beetles.  And the mountain mint was full of bees and wasps.  The hibiscus attracted a grasshopper nymph, a tiger swallowtail, and of course Japanese beetles.  A duskywing skipper visited the mountain mint.  The canna bloomed.  One lone turtle occupied the log on the lake. 

The humidity was higher which brought out the little biting bugs and that brought dragonflies.  I saw one outside the library i think was a wandering glider, Pantala flavescens.  A four spotted pennant, Brachymesia gravida, perched at the top of the cherry tree on a twig that something had stripped of leaves.  Something else zipped back and forth too fast for identification.  An amberwing, Perithemis tenera, lurked in the mountain mint. 

On the way home I spotted a rabbit.  As I sat outside around 5pm, the goldfinches, a mockingbird, a pine warbler, the female pileated woodpecker, and the male hummingbird fed cautiously.  They didn't like it if I moved to aim the camera.  

Green bee

A bluebird emptied the dish of mealworms.  Titmice were busy at the seed feeder.  The mountain mint was covered with honeybees.  A blue mud wasp and a great golden digger wasp joined the smaller wasps and larger bees but all together they were fewer than the honeybees.  

The pool was loaded with scarab beetles.  I saw skippers and a cabbage white butterfly, and I caught the green bee on camera.  Veils of thin cloud swept across the sky.  Dragonflies stayed at treetop level so all the camera could get was a tiny blur. 

Monarch

A pine warbler was the early bird.  The goldfinches soon followed.  Bluebirds discovered that there was food in the hanging dishes.  Yellow roses came out to join the red hibiscus.  Birds were eating the wild cherries and something was eating the cherry leaves. 

While I was in the water a blue dasher flew right up to my face.   I wonder if I had a bug in my hair?  I carefully fished a woodlouse hunter spider out of the pool but it did not revive.  The mydas fly was back among the honeybees, leafcutter bees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, and sand wasps on the mountain mint.  A monarch butterfly found the aster, but not the milkweed.  A skink crossed the top step.  In the evening a few dragonflies patrolled the air over the patio. 

I saw a great crested flycatcher way up in an oak.  A great blue heron stood on a downstream dock.  While I was sitting beside the hummer feeder, the male visited twice.  I played dead but he still seemed nervous.  So I moved farther away.  Then the female came instead.  neither would stay long enough for me to aim the camera.  At twilight, I think I saw a swallow, but the camera focus was confused and the shutter wouldn't click. 

Beautiful day

The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze with not too much humidity.  I think there were a dozen flowers on the hibiscus.  The beautyberry was blooming too, not that you could tell. A fledgling finch sat of the roof begging to be fed.  It was itchy with new feathers.  

I glimpsed an orange butterfly but it showed no interest in the milkweed.  A dark butterfly ignored the rue.  But the skippers were happy with the mountain mint.  A spider scampered across the patio to tell me I was in the way.  I thought it was a woodlouse hunter but it was too pale. The orchard orb weaver was still in the same web. 

I found a brown click beetle in the house and took it back outside.  It clicked for me several times.  As I sat outdoors in the twilight, a male hummer made several visits to the feeder.

Sticky buggy

Goldfinches checked on their sunflower at breakfast. Yesterday's hibiscus flowers hung like wet red laundry but there were fresh flowers.  The yellow cat was interested in something in the pool but the dog  escorted the unwanted feline from the premises.  Bluebirds hoped for mealworms, in vain.  A Carolina wren hunted in the dogwood. 

One turtle basked on the log.  A skink meandered around the patio.   A yellow crowned night heron flew upstream.  Two great blue herons chased each other up then back down stream. 

The venusta orchard spider was still using the dragonfly perch to anchor its web.  I tried to out-wait the mosquitoes, but they were still hungry and in my face in the pool.  

Rain at last

The hibiscus exploded with flowers.  A late gladiolus spear blossomed.  Hopeful bluebirds wanted a handout.  I had put out some mealworms and the male scattered them everywhere.  Hummingbirds found the feeder.  A downy woodpecker inspected a pine tree. 

A glass snail wedged itself into the door frame.  There was a crab in the pool that I'm guessing escaped from a raccoon.  I rescued a robber fly and some other bugs.  A female blue dasher dragonfly paused a moment on the door to munch something it had caught.  Another dragonfly buzzed the pool too fast for me to identify.  A small skink crossed the patio. 

Insects fed like they knew the weather was changing.  I saw the mydas fly, a tiger swallowtail, a cabbage white, and I think a monarch.  Many honeybees and an assortment of other bees and wasps, including leafcutter bees and a great golden digger wasp, made the mountain mint move as though it itched. A small, green bee disappeared before I returned with the camera but then I found an ailanthus moth, Atteva aurea. 

The first thunderstorm finally arrived around 3pm.  A pine warbler showed up drenched for some suet.  It was followed by a wet Carolina wren.  The storm that came through next brought darkness along with heavy rain and noise.  There was a lull after 7pm, then another storm.  

First hibiscus

There was one hibiscus flower today and four red buds promising tomorrow.   The sakaki was nearly finished flowering. 

Goldfinches peered into the hummer feeder.  I think they were thirsty.  The hummers were not pleased.  The male appeared as soon as the goldfinches moved away.  I didn't see a female till later. 

A bluebird checked whether I'd put anything in the dish feeders.  I hadn't because of the rain prediction.  A chickadee discovered the seeds in the sunflowers.  A Carolina wren poked around under the feeders.  Two white breasted nuthatches ignored the sunflower in favor of the feeder for seeds.  A pine warbler ate suet. 

On the mountain mint, in addition to dozens of honeybees, there were bumblebees, leaf cutters, carpenter bees and others.  Wasps included a great golden digger wasp and smaller mud and potter wasps.  I pruned some of the mint stalks and discovered leatherwing beetles mating.  I was trying to give the butterfly milkweed more sunlight.  Earlier, I rescued a small robber fly and many beetles including a firefly.  I tried to kill the nasty carnivorous fly that kept flying in my face, but I don't think I succeeded.  Where were the dragonflies when needed?

Insects

Two female goldfinches and a male cardinal came for breakfast.  Eventually a male goldfinch showed up.   Even later, a mockingbird checked the food dishes but ignored the suet. 

When I got out of the water, a lovely dragonfly was sitting on one of the stakes.  I think it was a female Needham's skimmer but it was gone when I came back with the camera.  On the mount mint I saw a great golden digger wasp, many honeybees, a few bumblebees, and an assortment of other bees and wasps.  The asters were abuzz too.  I think one was a bee fly.    The orchard spider was still in the web attached to one of the dragonfly perches.  Two saddlebage butterflies patrolled the sky over the pool.  Butterflies were mostly skippers and snouts.  The mydas fly was back. 

Late in the day, I noticed a yellow crowned night heron on a downstream dock.  

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Molting time

There were a lot of bird visitors today and lot of them looked run ragged.  I guess that when the offspring's appetites get big, cheap take-out from the bird feeders is welcome.  The goldfinches still appeared quite elegant - perhaps they haven't started nesting yet.  But the titmice were a molting mess and the pine warbler looked like he'd been used to scrub pots. 

Both white breasted and brown headed nuthatches came for seeds.  The mockingbirds flew back and forth diagonally across the back yard, cursing.  It seemed like they were headed for the blueberries but being thwarted.  And then I saw something new, an eastern kingbird.  It may have been attracted to the wild cherries, or to bugs attracted to the fruit. 

The weather was cloudier and not quite so hot.  Skinks seemed to prefer it.  Bees, wasps, skippers and snouts, a leatherwing beetle, and a female amberwing dragonfly all congregated on the mountain mint.  

The male hummingbird returned.  Cornell's Living Bird magazine had an article on how hummingbird feathers change color depending on their angle to the light.  A female also visited the feeder.  A buzzard soared against the clouds. 

Yellows

In addition to the goldfinches on the sunflower, a pine warbler visited the suet.  Fiery skippers and a tiger swallowtail feasted on the aster flowers.  The swallowtail also sampled the mountain mint. 

A strange little bee staggered through the violet leaves as though it had gotten drunk on the rue.  But it was probably a leafcutter bee measuring where to cut. The bellflower resin bee, Megachile campanulae, seemed to fit.  Its back legs were loaded with pollen. 

After dark a moth was attracted to the window.  

Noise

The goldfinches were back, as well as a mockingbird.  I stayed inside with a sore knee.  It was a hot day and a noisy evening.  The Grinch's complaint about Christmas would make more sense for the 4th of July, "oh, the noise; oh, the noise, noise, noise, noise! That's one thing I hate: all the noise, noise, noise, *noise*!" 

Hot and stormy

The goldfinches came early, and two pairs showed up.  They had to settle who got first access to the sunflower.  I think it was the newcomers, but couldn't be sure.  Eventually all four settled on the plant.  A Carolina wren fussed at me for being too close.  A mockingbird chased off some crows. 

Fortunately, I swam in the morning and rescued a bumblebee, a honeybee, and more beetles.  Drowned bees were plentiful.  I picked some more blueberries but they weren't as fat as those right after a rain.  As I dried out, a skink ambled across the patio.  In the afternoon, the thermometer read 100° and then after a thunderstorm it dropped to 79°.  A second thunderstorm blew through in the evening. 

Hot and smoky

Dragonflies zipped around too fast to identify.  In fact, they seemed more like ripples in the fabric of reality than flying insects.  I tried catching them with the house wall as a background, but just got a blur.  Bees and wasps, leatherwing beetles, and a snout butterfly stuffed themselves on the mountain mint or rue. I glimpsed the damselfly but it disappeared.  Several of the usual beetles and a few wasps needed rescue from drowning.  The pool skimmer was full of bullfrog, the same one judging by its patterned skin. 

The heat was moderated by a strong breeze.  The goldfinches couldn't stay away from their sunflower.  I saw a male and a female hummer at the feeder.  When darkness fell, the local pyromaniacs began letting off their illegal fireworks.  The poor dog came and sat on my foot.  

Mydas fly

The goldfinches couldn't wait for the sunflower seeds to ripen.  Two osprey soared in circles.  A female hummer came for an evening meal.  She was antsy and wouldn't settle on a perch.  A downy woodpecker decided I was harmless. 

I saw more butterflies today - skippers, snouts, and a red admiral.  Lots of wasps and bees gathered on the mountain mint, also a wasp-mimic mydas fly.  I rescued a robber fly along with several beetles. 

A damselfly with orange eyes lurked beside the water.  Orange bluet, Enallagma signatum, seems the best fit for identification.  In the evening, I glimpsed dragonflies, but they were high and moving fast.  The smoke haze didn't help. 

The orchard spider still had its web slung from the dragonfly perch.  It had caught a fly, I think.  I tried to catch a firefly with its light on, but all I got were blurs.