Clouding over

I got outside in the late morning and caught the last of the sun.  Two black ground beetles and a stupid field cricket were all I found in the water.  The cricked jumped back in twice before it finally went the other way.  The romance had gone out of the cardinals' relationship and he made her wait to eat.  I saw a dark butterfly several times but couldn't be sure what it was..  There was also a dark skipper, much smaller.  

 

Waxing gibbous

The bullfrog was buried in the leaves that had collected in the skimmer.  When I pulled it out, the frog jumped out and landed on the hot concrete and kept hopping.  More leaves were floating and one, to my disgust, was being ridden by a two inch mulch roach.  The only other rescue was a small dark moth.  I got photos of none of these.  After dark, I took a few pictures of the moon which was past the first quarter and 67% illuminated.  

Hot sun

Thinking that the sun would be less intense this close to the equinox, I didn't wait for shade.  The larger bullfrog awaited me in the skimmer.  It acted lethargic but eventually it hopped off my palm and into the water.  I didn't see it again.   A skink rafted on a sinking leaf and I assisted it onto a rescue stick so it could have the satisfaction of saving itself.  A field cricket was also rafting so I set its leaf raft on the concrete.  I also fished out a couple of black ground beetles and a mint moth.  Something tickled my back and after brushing it off  my skin, I saw it was a very tiny spider.  The long-haired yellow cat sneaked past while I was swimming and I yelled at it.  An egret flew behind the trees and something that might have been a kite soared in the hazy blue sky.  The seed eaters were all I saw at the feeders.  Squirrels were busy up in the trees.  The only photos I got were plants.  

Too busy

Yesterday I didn't get outside till very late.  There was a dead frog in the water.  One monarch caterpillar was still feeding.  Today I was a little earlier but all I found swimming was one black ground beetle.  Neither I nor a paper wasp could find any caterpillars.  A few mint moths flitted around the milkweed.  The Berkley's polypore appeared fully developed.  The beautyberries were ripe.  One milkweed pod had opened.  

Caterpillar hunter

Both the air and water had cooled though the sun was warm.  I fished a few beetles out of the water and chased off a frog.  One foolish monarch caterpillar ate all the green pod enclosing immature milkweed seeds.  I was thinking that it was "eating the seed corn" when I notices a more immediate danger.  A Guinea paper wasp was hunting caterpillars around the milkweed.  They chew up caterpillars and other soft insects and feed the mash to the grubs in their paper nest.  The monarch caterpillar had created a big sign that it was nearby.  I saw a couple of other monarch caterpillars that were sticking to leaves.  

Crabby

In the late afternoon, the sky was very deep blue.  The water was full of tree detritus, leaves, pine needles, chewed acorns, cherry stems,  cedar sprigs, and old catkins.  I found one of the black swallowtail caterpillars drowned.  I also found a little fiddler crab with a body no bigger than my thumbnail.  It pinched my palm hard enough to leave tiny punctures, and it left its big claw fastened to me.  I nevertheless released it to hike back downhill to the shoreline.  An ant rescued itself by crawling up my back and took a lot of persuading to leave me alone.  At least two monarch caterpillars were still feeding and, unlike the other critters, were willing to pose.  And that was all I saw.  

 

Gale

I found five monarch caterpillars.  One was determined to eat a pod instead of a leaf.  I moved it and it found another pod.  A squirrel with a pecan paused before climbing the maple.  A hummer made frequent feeder visits.  She intimidated a downy.  The wind filled the water with debris almost faster than I could collect it.  Lots of pine needles and leaves damaged by lack of rain kept blowing down.  The frog awaited me under the skimmer lid.  Later, I caught a frog but it didn't look like it was the same one.  There were more beetles in the water.  

Waves of rain

All day, rain alternated with periods of sun but the sunshine never lasted long enough to dry surfaces.  I swam in the late morning and got rained on.  Distant thunder made me a bit nervous.  The frog was under the skimmer lid again, and dived again.  After I cleaned the pool, I lifted it out onto the patio and it hopped into the vegetation.   Several beetles were swimming and a green June beetle had climbed out via a rescue twig propped on the pool ladder.  Other wildlife stayed under cover from the rain that at times came down hard, but I did see one sulphur butterfly during a lull.  This is not a stream, it's water on the patio reflecting vegetation.  

 

Steamy

A thunderstorm arrived at midnight with bright flashes.  It brought a needed soaking rain but also stifling humidity.  I wonder if it diluted the hummingbird juice because I didn't see any of them.  The dragonfly nymph appeared to have died in the night.  The frog was back in the skimmer again and eluded me again. I rescued a paper wasp that was swimming hard and a yellow jacket that may have drowned.

A few butterflies flew across the yard but only a cabbage white was identifiable.  A Carolina wren was hungry.  A skink was cautious.  It might have been the one I rescued yesterday.  I found four monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.  A couple of black swallowtail caterpillars ate parsley stalks.  A drizzle began in the late afternoon and the sky darkened early.  

Dragonfly nymph

I found the monarch caterpillar again and it was growing fast and dumping fress.  A couple of black swallowtail caterpillars ate parsley stems.  A small sulphur butterfly alighted briefly.  I also saw a red spotted purple. When I went for a very late swim, there was a bigger frog with a green jaw under the lid of the skimmer.  It jumped down into the basket full of leaves so I let it stew there for a while.  When I lifted the basket to empty it, the frog jumped into the pool.  I saw it a couple more times but then it disappeared so I think it must have jumped out.  Just in case, I checked the skimmer again and here came a young skink swimming out,  I carried it out onto the patio and took photos.  

I also encountered a dragonfly nymph, perhaps the same one I've seen before.  This time it obligingly clung to the side of the pool steps where I could photograph it.  A kingfisher landed on one of the pilings but didn't stay long.  The Berkley's polypore looked bigger. The hibiscus bloomed again.  The beautyberries were colorful.  A lot of cloud cover and a North wind kept the temperature down but the air was humid.  

 

Caterpillars

I did not see the infant monarch caterpillar today, perhaps because there were no flowers left to eat.  The black swallowtail caterpillars wandered in search of more parsley.  I found one on the pool ladder.  I also found a floating leaf with a passenger, a pale yellow looper caterpillar.  Some snout butterflies flitted around the dogwood.  A buzzard patrolled the hazy sky.  The Carolina birds - chickadee and wren - visited the feeders.  A hummer rejected its feeder and I could see the sugar water was growing mold.  A great blue heron landed on the channel marker.  A female cardinal wanted a bedtime snack.  

Hot sun

Today got a lot warmer.  There were clouds and some haze but mostly sunshine.  My morning was taken up with meeting the mayor.  After lunch, I sat outside and saw a blue dasher dragonfly and a damselfly landed by my foot.  Some butterflies did not cooperate but I found a tiny caterpillar on the milkweed.  Caterpillars were deserting the parsley because it was all eaten.  I went swimming after 4pm for shade.  A small frog let me lift it out onto the pavement.  I also rescued two wasps, a spider, and a May beetle.  Hummers visited the feeders.  I saw two skinks.  One climbed the cedar tree and the other climbed the retaining wall.  An egret landed by the dock.  

Fall-like

The air was cooler and breezy.  Passing clouds blocked some sun warmth.  A hummer fed and that was about all the birds.  Southern purple mint moths made an appearance.  

Chases

The hibiscus bloomed like a firecracker for Labor Day and the weather was perfect.  Between the drought and the recent yo-yo temperatures, leaves looked burnt, not just autumnal.  The parsley was overrun with caterpillars.  A strange little plant with pink flowers popped up beside the birdbath.  The tentative ID was swamp loosestrife.  

This skink chased another across the steps.  One hummer chased another multiple times to protect her feeder.  I chased a small frog and sent it out of the pool.  Alas, I also found a drowned skink, a dead frog, and a couple of soggy crickets.  I did save a beetle.  A Carolina wren preened on a dogwood branch but too many twigs were in the way for the camera to focus.

Lovely day

Rain from last night filled the birdbath and ruined the bird food.  The sun was fierce but the temperature was mild, in fact cool in the shade with a breeze.  In between clouds. the sky was sharply blue.  The larger frog was waiting for me in the skimmer.  It hopped away and I did not see it again.  In fact, I didn't see much wildlife at all.  Dark butterflies explored and swallowtail caterpillars ate.  

I found another drowned caterpillar that I couldn't identify.  A sweat bee needed rescue.  A millipede walked over my foot.  Titmice visited along with the regular seed eaters.  A hummer was very thirsty.  I heard cicadas, a blue jay, a goldfinch, and something that sang "turnip, turnip."  High clouds were blown South while lower ones came in from the East.  Eventually the wind shifted to Northeast  The polypore looked pristine.  

Changeable weather

Morning was quite mellow, cooler and sunny.  I found a bullfrog sitting under the skimmer lid.  It hopped into the pool and I ignored it while cleaning.  Eventually I found it trying to jump out and gave it a lift.  A bit later, I saw a frog hopping along, then ducking into the vegetation.  I thought it was the same one, but eventually it came out beside the ladder and I could see it was only half the size of the other one.  An assassin bug needed rescue.  Buzzards kept watch on high.  There might have been an osprey as well.  

After lunch, the sky was overcast.  I rescued a worm for the hot pavement.  Then I saw a threadwaisted wasp and a hairstreak.  Two bumblebees rolled around together. I don't know for sure why, but it is the time of year for mating.  A distressed Carolina wren landed on the feeder and immediately flew away.  I had heard it fussing up in the pine.  I took a close look at the polypore and found a cicada carcass.  Then a sprinkle began so I hurried into the house.  A thunderstorm ensued but by 3:30pm the sun was back.  

Steamy

The weather was beastly again, hot and humid.  At least there was a little breeze late in the day.  Another hibiscus flower opened and I saw a bud.  Fearing the green-eyed fly, I put off swimming until late afternoon.  A disgustingly dead frog floated in the water.  A larger live frog hopped out when it saw me.  They are trainable!  I didn't see anything else and I didn't get bit.  Buzzards soared while I dripped.  Beautyberries ripened.  A small plant produced a spray of pink flowers.  Squirrels played under the oak while the polypore fattened.  

Butterflies

A downy joined the seed eaters at breakfast.  A male cardinal was molting ugly and a female had lost her crest.  The day got very hot and humid and quite unpleasant.  A black swallowtail nectared on the milkweed.  Hummers were thirsty.  A variegated fritillary also fed on milkweed flowers.  The camera fogged from the humidity.  I saw nothing at all in the water. 

National Mushroom Month

I had a meeting Tuesday evening and I forgot to post when I got home. The creek was quiet with a hint of Autumn.  It was humid and there was a little water in the birdbath.  There was another hibiscus flower on September 1st which I think is the latest ever.  A frog entertained me.  The polypore under the oak tree emerged and began to grow.  Hummers visited their feeders.  More beautyberries reddened.  The Nature Conservancy shared photos of fungi.  

Wednesday, I was busy morning and afternoon and meanwhile the temperature got into the high 90s so I swam late. I believe I glimpsed frogs on the concrete walkway around the deep end but, if so, they disappeared.  However, I found two skinks that had more-or-less rescued themselves.  An adult had wedged its toes into the crack under the coping but couldn't negotiate the overhang.  I gave it a gentle boost.  The other was half grown with a blue tail and had found one of the twigs I left for rescue purposes.  It only needed a little lift. A mosquito bothered me for a while and I may have killed it.  A couple of black beetles needed rescue and I found another pink and green caterpillar drowned.  Hummers and the male goldfinch and the seed-eating regulars visited.  In one day, the Berkley's polypore had doubled in size.  

Hibiscus blossom

I forgot to make an entry yesterday but it wasn't a dull day.  The male goldfinch seemed to be getting a drink every time I looked.  I camera-chased a tiger swallowtail.  Also I've been noticing wild cherry leaves carefully sculpted by caterpillars to hide that they've been partly eaten.  A spider was rafting on a sculpted leaf so I brought it to land.  It spun a bit of web then launched itself up into the dogwood, at least six feet up and away.  I thought it was one of the heptagonal orbweavers, but it was more brown with a butterfly shape marked in beige.  Turns out it is a butterfly orbweaver Araneus pegnia.  I also got pictures of the floating pine needles making occult symbols in the breeze.  A buzzard flew over and a hummer visited the fresh feeder.  

The morning looked nice but I had a meeting.  I think this may be the latest in the year that the hibiscus has bloomed.  There was a hummer and a goldfinch.  In the afternoon, I waited for some shade but almost waited too long and got sprinkled upon.  A cicada was submerged on the top step so I fished it out. Later I carried it up the steps for a photo and it began to revive!  iNaturalist identified it as a Northern dusk-singing cicada Megatibicen grossus.  

A frog in the skimmer seemed dead so I disposed of it.  Another in the pool was bigger and fairly lively, but I caught it. A determined mosquito bit me on my face since that was all it could reach.  I did my best to drown it.  I saw a monarch and a little skink as I dripped off.  I couldn't find any monarch caterpillars but the parsley plant I bought had a first instar black swallowtail caterpillar.  There were flashes of sunshine between the thunderheads while I was outside, but thunder and real rain began before 6pm.  It cleared after about half an hour.  

 

Accident

A storm overnight brought down leaves and needles but little rain.  The pool skimmer was packed with needles.  When I had removed most of them, I lifted out the basket and a frog jumped out and into the pipe leading to the pool filter.  I left the basket out in the hope it could swim back, but it didn't reappear.  Eventually I gave up and put the basket back in place.  I did catch another frog later and I rescued a heptagonal orbweaver.  And I think I must have fed several mosquitoes.  Earlier, a dragonfly hunted from a garden stake.  A dark butterfly passed by.  While I was dripping off, a very small skink with a very long tail ventured out, but I didn't have the camera.  Today was just as gloomy as yesterday and I didn't want to risk rain on the camera. The thirsty goldfinch was back.  

 

Gloomy

The usual two frogs went swimming with me.  I didn't see anything else of note in the water.  A leafhopper floated but I don't know if it recovered after I fished it out.  A hummer drank from the milkweed flowers.  I saw a monarch but it didn't visit the milkweed.  The Asiatic dayfloweres were blooming.  A red spotted purple landed on a dogwood but was edge-on to me.  

Cloudy

The sky often looked like rain but none fell and occasionally there was sun.  The male goldfinch was thirsty but also quick and hard to catch on camera.  I took the camera to the pool edge and got one frog inside the skimmer.  There were two but the other dived.  I eventually caught it.  The one that didn't dive tried to hide beside the camera, I guess because it was dark.  A black ground beetle rode a leaf around the skimmer.  I caught a dragonfly nymph in my hands and we studied each other, but I couldn't figure out any way to take a picture so I released it.  

As I dripped, a skink crossed the steps and climbed the retaining wall.  I counted 27 full size milkweed pods and didn't include some smaller ones.  but no caterpillars.  A cloudless sulphur flitted across the patio.  Hummers focused on the one-hole feeder and I discovered the bigger feeder was dry.  

 

Cool

The temperature overnight crept below 70°.  Morning felt cool and damp, in part because a large, heavy cloud seemed stuck overhead.  Once again there were two frogs which I caught.  I have been persuaded that they are young bullfrogs.  In addition, there was a half-grown grasshopper in the skimmer, which amazingly revived.  When I tried to urge it away from the water, it shot straight up into the air.  Is it "pronking" if an animal has six legs?  

A few beautyberries were beginning to blush.  A tiny wasp drowned in the one-hole hummer feeder.  The hummers did not approve.  They were happy when a fresh feeder appeared.  The squirrel was back but, alas, I had no peanuts.  A black swallowtail hunted for parsley, of which there was none.  It shamed me into going to the nursery and buying a pot full.  Toward evening, a little flock of eight mallards gathered on the creek.  The males were in eclipse and only their yellow bills indicated their sex.  

 

Beautiful weather

The day was sunny and warm enough with a breeze and low humidity.  In the morning the sky was so blue it seemed to have a tinge of purple.  I found two live frogs and a dead amberwing dragonfly in the pool.  A glass snail may have been estivating.  A tiger swallowtail egged the cherry but I got only glimpses of other butterflies.  The camera caught a snout and a mint moth.  I heard a goldfinch and then it alighted for a drink.  But the second I moved, it was gone.  I fed a few peanuts to the squirrel with the tuft of pale hair.  It had scratched bare spots around its neck, maybe warbles.  

A blue dasher perched on the rosemary.  One hummer vigorously defended "her feeders" from another.  The mountain mint was no longer attracting pollinators and even the milkweed wasn't getting much attention except for very tiny insects.  Cicadas sang at least three different tunes.  I suppose I could use my phone to record and ID them.  A Carolina wren indulged in barkbutter balls.  A skink and I spotted each other on the steps and it disappeared immediately.  

Hummingbirds

The wild blue morning glories were blooming when I replaced the low-hanging hummer feeder.  When I went for a morning swim, three frogs awaited me but two hopped away and only one dove into the water.  I caught and released it on land too.  A black swallowtail egged the gone-to-seed parsley and a dragonfly flew fast over the water while I swam.  I found a tiny, pretty beetle afloat but it never revived.  It was about the size of a ladybug but not so round.  iNaturalist identified it as a shield-backed cryptocephalus, Cryptocephalus mutabilis.

A hummer came to the little feeder but did not stay long.  Maybe rainwater diluted it?  A tiny orb web hung between the feeder and the post.  Later, a hummer visited the 3-hole feeder and still later, two hummers argued about it.  

As I dripped dry, I noticed ridges in the clouds coming from the Southwest.  They were perpendicular to the wind direction, sort of like ocean waves.  They're classified as altostratus undulatus clouds.  A red spotted purple rested on a dogwood branch.  A little skink followed the edge of the concrete to cross the patio but on the way back it took a shortcut.  A downy woodpecker hung below a branch it was hammering in the section of the dogwood that lost its bark and died.  A titmouse fussed because I was too close to the seed feeder.  

 

Sunny day

The day was quite warm but the breeze made it very pleasant.  A female downy woodpecker had a seed breakfast.  A Carolina wren also visited.  Hummers found the new feeder, which was fortunate because the old one was empty.  (I'll put the other out tomorrow.) There were at least two hummers because I saw one chase another away.  I spotted one preening in the wild cherry.  

A  bird circling very high was a Mississippi kite. Another, I think, was a vulture.  Again, there were two frogs but they didn't put up much of a chase.  I rescued a spider from a mostly submerged twig.  The pool steps had a lot of drowned greenhouse millipedes.  A cicada's cast-off shell was lying on the patio.  I also found some cicada wings that had been discarded by whatever ate one.  There were plenty left to sing in the afternoon sunshine.  

The sky was mostly clear blue with clouds being hurried along by the West wind.  Occasionally, they cast sunbeams against the upper atmosphere.  I saw skinks of all sizes running errands and basking in the just right temperature.  Alas, they always dodged out of sight when I moved the camera   A blue dasher kept my space clear of small fliers.  

The butterfly milkweed had more pods developing than I have ever seen, probably because it wasn't feeding any caterpillars.  I think wasps got them.  Tiger swallowtails flew around the trees and a dark butterfly swooped through closer to the ground.  I saw something that might have been a snout heading into the dogwood.  A strange feather blew around the patio.  I thought it was white till I caught it and realized it was half black.  It was a big body contour feather so it came off a large bird, possibly the kite?  

 

Warmer

The day got warmer than predicted and stayed humid.  Cloudy periods alternated with burning sunlight.   A heptagonal orbweaver spider with red legs and a yellow abdomen tried to take possession of the door and another dangled over the pool steps.  I found two grown skinks basking, one by the pool steps and the other by the deep end.  The skink by the steps disappeared into a crack but later it emerged and ran across the concrete with its head held high.  Two frogs were hiding in the skimmer but I chased them down.  

I found another praying mantis castoff exoskeleton afloat.  There were mosquitoes, but nothing worse.  A blue dasher was standing watch when I came outside and a bigger dragonfly glittered in the sunlight when I got out of the water but I never got a good look at it.  A third skink wanted something behind my chair but didn't stay there long.  I saw a weevil sitting on a chair arm.  A titmouse watched from the dogwood.  As we ate supper, there was a flash and a loud crack of thunder, then nothing.  Sometime later a light rain began.   

Rain again

Yesterday's rain left the air much cooler but very humid.  Morning was relatively sunny, what I saw of it.  It was distressing that all week I kept having morning meetings and afternoon rain.  My only photos were of the juvenile cardinal.  The sun was still shining when I went swimming but I saw dark clouds coming and it wasn't very long after I got out that the rain began.  There was one frog in the skimmer and it took itself off immediately, so no chasing.  Instead, I rescued a pair of green June beetles that were so busy mating, they hadn't noticed they'd fallen into the water.  They finished what they were about before I could get a photo.  

 

Thunderstorm

The sun was hot when I went out to swim.  I caught four frogs and found another cast exoskeleton from a praying mantis floating on the water.  But clouds boiled up in the Southwest and ten minutes after I came inside, the storm arrived.  The rain waxed and waned through the afternoon, finally finishing before supper  Enough rain fell to bring the water level to the top of the skimmer opening.  The fledgling cardinal was hungry by then.  The sky cleared around sunset leaving a golden band of cloud.  

Little and late

A juvenile cardinal hunted for breakfast under the feeder.  A hummer and a Carolina wren showed up around lunchtime but neither posed.   A red spotted purple butterfly was more cooperative but the sun overexposed it.  In the late afternoon, I chased three frogs and several chunks of mulch around the water.  A skink surprised me, or I it, as it walked on the concrete outside the pool.  I didn't find any insects of note while I was outside.

 

Uncomon insects

An overcast sky looked like a storm was brewing, but it blew away. Then the sun was scorching and a buzzard soared ominously overhead.  A skink scuttled into a crack.  The blue was almost gone from its tail.  There were three frogs to chase and I caught them all.  I found an Asian horntail in the water along with an expired dragonfly nymph and a sidewalk tiger beetle that was still alive.  

A wheelbug climbed one of the milkweed pods.  Some dogwood leaves showed Fall color but I wonder if it was drought stress.