Summery

Yesterday provided fair weather for the election, though people have been voting since mid September.  I enjoyed the warm sunshine but didn't see much.  I missed a mockingbird in the beautyberry.  Small insects, about half the size of the cabbage white I saw, flitted through the opening over the pool.  An orb web snagged seed fluff from the saltbushes and a magic leaf.  I saw other spider threads but no actual spiders.  Yellow jackets explored the camellia.  

Today continued warm and mostly sunny and more humid.  At breakfast, a flock of birds hunted dogwood berries.  I saw a mockingbird and a blue jay and a flicker and something I couldn't identify because the birds were obscured by leaves.  Meanwhile the creak mirrored the early light that had not yet reached its surface.  The red maple flamed and the oak shed gold leaves.  Clouds blew from the Southwest and mid afternoon congealed into a threatening mass, but it dissipated.  After dark, a moth was lured to a window.  

 

Squirrel love

It's not just for Spring any more!  Squirrels were Fall-ing in love.  But that was all I saw today.

Tufted titmice

We breakfasted on Standard Time with titmice.  After lunch, I saw a brown headed nuthatch and a downy woodpecker.  A brief flurry of birds left me an impression of yellow which might have been a pine warbler, or a trick of light.  Fluff blew from the saltbushes.  And it was dark by 5:30pm.  

A question that nagged me was whether we could have an Election Day fall during Daylight Saving Time.  I think so because the Election rule is first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.  Daylight Saving ends on the first Sunday of November.  So in a year when November 1st is a Monday then Tuesday would be Election Day but Daylight Saving would not end till the following Sunday, November 7th.  

 

Ups and downs

Yesterday was sunny and unseasonably hot - the Weather Service said 80° which was not a record.  However the warmth did not result in much to see.  Chickadees visited the feeder.  Geese paddled by.  Flying insects caught the light but I could not tell what they were or get a picture.  Mint moths and yellow jackets and seed fluff flew around.  I thought I saw a butterfly but it might have been a leaf.  Overnight, the temperature dropped.  

Today was still sunny but about twenty degrees cooler with a Northeast wind.  A flock of birds zipped around the trees too fast for the camera, but at least one was a bluebird.  Brown headed nuthatches dodged chickadees on the feeder.  Earlier the chickadees had dodged house finches.  A kingfisher shot down the creek in a blur.  Then after sunset we had all manner of strange beings come knocking.  And tonight we sleep long.  

Wakefield reported that the precipitation for October was ab inch and a half compared to an average of nearly four inches. For the year, we are down a foot from an average of 42.8".  Blame El El Niño.  

Lovely sunset

I saw nothing but vegetation till evening.  Then the cormorants flew North to roost.   In the Southwest, an array of little cumulus puffs caught a lot of color from the setting sun.  

Wind shift

Yesterday there were squirrels and chickadees.  The wind and sun popped more milkweed pods but the fluff wasn't ready to let go.  A yellow jacket got a little too friendly.  I didn't stay outside long.  

Today was again sunny and breezy but the clouds rushed from East to West across the sky.  Down where I was, the wind seemed to come from every direction.   Gulls played with the gusts.  Milkweed seeds tried to escape.  Nothing was visiting the goldenrod when I checked.  The sky clouded over in the late afternoon.  Out on the creek, a great blue heron hunched on a post.  Then it stretched.  Cormorants commuted.  

Mockingbird

Yesterday was still too windy. It was still when I first got up but that didn't last.  I tried to spend time outside in the sunshine but I got too cold.  Finally, today there was just a moderate breeze.  At breakfast, the creek was a mirror.  The sky was very blue all day.  

I went out in the afternoon and found that squirrels were up to all sorts of things, leaping and tail waving and scolding.  The trees were still mostly green, partly because the wind stripped leaves away as fast as they turned.  Chickadees did not let my presence keep them from the seeds.  A mockingbird feasted on beautyberries.  

The mockingbird landed briefly on the feeder post and then on the barkbutter dish.  A couple of vultures soared in circles.  A downy woodpecker was hungry enough to overcome my presence.  Later, cormorants flew home in the low angled sunlight.  

I went around to the fig trees to see if the spiders were still hanging on the wall.  They and their webs had disappeared but I saw single threads glinting all over the fig trees.  However, I did not see any spiders there either.  In front of the house, the purslane had a small flower but it looked about done for the year.  The goldenrod by contrast was in full bloom.  

More of the same

Unlike in LaFontaine's fable, the North wind has been defeating the sun.  In the afternoon, an egret prowled along the edge of the lake.  At dusk, first the female, then the male cardinal came for seeds.  And there you have it.  

 

Tired of wind

Both days, the sun shone and the air was in the mid 60s but a severe wind chill made being outside uncomfortable.  The creek was lovely yesterday.  Not so lovely were the pieces of trash caught in tree branches no longer hidden by leaves.  I saw a bird eating dogwood berries and snapped some photos.  Vegetation threw the focus off but I believe it was a robin.

The sky was hazier today.  Squirrels were more active than birds, leaping between the pine and redwood.   I harvested some milkweed seeds.  The purslane out front was still blooming a little.  I checked the goldenrod for bugs and found a tiny sweat bee with really long antennae.  The milkweed pods had mostly opened.  

 

North wind

The wind was not quite as strong but it was still chilly.  Sunshine could not push the temperature much above 60.  A stream of chickadees sought seeds.  A mockingbird visited the barkbutter balls.  A couple of great blue herons disputed rights to our section of the creek.  I found a spotted cucumber beetle on the goldenrod by the driveway.  The hickory leaves were toast but the wild cherry was still bright green.  

Still blowing

Yesterday I was away almost the whole day, so no photos.  Today the creek glittered in the early light.  Wind roughened the surface and scattered reflections.  The downy was back for more seeds.  More of the bright blue sky was visible as the wind had removed a lot of drought-damaged leaves and needles.  Leaves afloat on the creek pretended to be ducks.  There were still dogwood berries for the hungry. 

High winds

The wind tore apart the overcast and dried off surfaces.  It grounded most birds - all I saw were cardinals.  A squirrel was thirsty.  He appeared to have a warble on his neck.  The day stayed chilly despite some sunshine.  I kept expecting the wind to bring some migrant birds to eat those luscious-looking beautyberries.  

Rain and wind

The temperature slumped about 30 degrees between one afternoon and the next.  The chill, accompanied by strong North wind gusts and a good soaking rain, was no inducement to venture outside. Still, a female downy woodpecker was hungry for seeds.  A great blue heron blew downstream.  Evening brought some color to the clouds.  

 

Dragonfly

A Southwest wind made the temperature unseasonably warm but not record-breaking.  After lunch I spent time outside.  The pine cone humidity gauges indicated that the heat was not sticky.  The gull flock passed but didn't linger.  I heard some songbirds and caught some unidentified glimpses.  A blue dasher occupied a bamboo stake for a while.  Something small rooted around under the leaf litter beside the birdbath but never showed itself.  Mint moths flitted among the herbs.  But overall, the day was not very productive of photos.  After sunset I took some pictures of the crescent moon.  

 

Record heat

Yesterday was very hot.  It broke the record by 4°.  We spent most of the day on a trip to Yorktown where I was giving a presentation.  On the way I saw a half dozen pelicans in the water near Willoughby Spit.  Coming home, I saw a couple of gulls.  The bridge-tunnel work may have discouraged birds or perhaps it was the heat wave.  This morning was cloudy and gusty.  Dry leaves blew across the yard.  It was in the 70s and humid.  All I saw was a squirrel making off with a nut.  

 

A summer day

By mid day the temperature reached 80°.  A squirrel splooted on the cool concrete in the shade.  The poor thing was limping and looked very chewed up.  K poured water in the birdbath and I left a few peanuts nearby.  But I don't know if the squirrel returned.  

A dozen gulls played with the Southwest wind high in the air under a blue sky.  A small red spotted purple landed in the sakaki.  I also saw a cabbage white.  The oak had patches of leaves that had caramelized.

A mockingbird found the beautyberries.  I heard other birds and saw some zip across the yard too fast to identify.  A wasp and a bee were busy.  Tiny spiders webbed twigs.  The Berkley's polypore appeared smaller and kind of moldy.  

Windy

The wind dried off the rain residue and eventually cleared the clouds away by late afternoon.  However it seemed to have grounded the birds and insects.  At lease, I saw nothing except some distant soaring birds.  

Wet

Rain fell in the night and didn't try out very quickly during the day.  A downy came very early for seeds.  She continued to ignore the suet.  Chickadees streamed to the seed feeder.  At least three birds flew out of the dogwood but I could not tell what they were.  A photo revealed that one was a titmouse.  A great blue heron perched on a post, then flew down to stalk along the shoreline.  The sun shone briefly in late afternoon but then the weather turned to drizzle.  

 

Gray

Wind and rain were predicted from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias, but the day was just overcast.  The wildlife must have gotten the forecast because I saw little sign of anything but a wasp and some chickadees.  Sassafras leaves turned orange.  The saltbush bloomed.  I assisted some milkweed seeds to disperse.  A cricket's corpse was caught in an abandoned spiderweb.  

In the front yard, a magic leaf fluttered from an invisible spider thread.  Purslane and lantana still bloomed and buds on a goldenrod stalk began to yellow.  A pepper ripened.  So did magnolia seed pods.   

White sky

Despite the overcast there were sharp shadows.  A female rose breasted grosbeak was busy in one of the dogwoods but I didn't see any activity in the beautyberry bush.  Still, that's a "life bird" for me!  A thirsty squirrel dived into the watering can and retreated in good order so I didn't have to rescue it.  The camellia had two flowers.  

2 too big spiders

A Carolina wren visited at breakfast.  After stuffing its crop with seeds, it perched on a chair back to peer in at me.  A string of ten geese paddled upstream.  Today was considerably warmer and I would have gone swimming if the pool had not been covered.  I went outside hoping to see birds eating beautyberries but instead I was surprised by a skink that dashed across the pool cover and then hid under it.  I could hear birds but they were shy about coming into view.  Asiatic dayflowers were still blooming.  The Christmas fern made spores.  

I wandered over to the fig patch and discovered two large webs.  The owner of the lower one scuttled into hiding, sort of, as a ball on the underside of the gutter.  The one in the middle of the higher web ignored me.  I believe they were some kind of Araneus orb weavers.  They were in a good location to catch mosquitoes, I discovered.  After I circled back I saw what I thought was a young eagle.  

Catbird

At breakfast, a catbird found the beautyberries and had a feast.  The creek was glassy and full of color in the bright sunlight.  At lunch, some guys K hired cut down two dogwood trees because they had some dead limbs.  My heart hurts.  Flotillas of geese passed by on the creek at supper.  A fat or pregnant gray cat sauntered through the backyard at supper.  

Bye, blue water

Today the pool was covered for the winter.  Morning was chilly despite the bright sun and even after lunch I stayed in the sun for warmth.  A dark butterfly kept moving so I couldn't be sure of its identity.  After errands, I saw chickadees and cardinals eating seeds.  Then I caught a flash of kingfisher wings so I moved to the back window.  Not one, but two kingfishers were competing for a good vantage point to watch for fish. back and forth among the dock pilings they chased each other until an egret swooped in and sent them both away.  

At supper, I saw a Carolina wren and a downy woodpecker.  The downy ignored the suet and ate seeds.  She appeared to be missing her tail feathers.  

Cool and damp

Slowly, surfaces dried and faint shadows sometimes showed when the sun found a thin place in the overcast.  Occasional wind gusts brought down more leaves.  A female cardinal hopped around in a dogwood.  The sky began to clear in the Northeast in the afternoon.  A great blue heron was scarcely distinguishable from the weathered post where it perched.  

Rain

Sometimes it was just a mist and at other times it pounded the pavement.  A few seed eaters came despite the rain.  

 

Letdown

We flipped from September to November.  It was wet and gray and chilly compared to yesterday.  I stayed inside and saw no wildlife, just gray water under a gray sky.

Lovely day

Another summer day strayed into October, so I went swimming again and the cool, clear water sparkled.  A blue tailed skink perched on the handle of the skimmer waiting for rescue.  Its tale was not blue from the cold water but I let it warm up instead of posing.  I rescued some black ground beetles and a small brown click beetle.  A fat, tan spider lurked on the one remaining rescue twig.  When I came back with the camera it was hidden behind the stick.  A drowned wasp or bee floated amid bubbles.  Another big web was going up between the house and the dogwood where the birdhouse hangs.  

Chickadees came for seeds, blue jays chattered in the trees, and I heard a rattle that might have been a woodpecker.  The saltbush was budding and the milkweed seeds bobbed in the breeze.  

Big bird

The windows were very lightly fogged at breakfast but the sun was bright  I saw two sulphur butterflies that did not pause for a photo.  In the afternoon, the hot sun lured me back into the water.  It was "fresca" but not really cold.  I rescued a few black ground beetles but nothing more exciting.  The milkweed pods split and dangled seeds but didn't quite let go.  A big raptor photo-bombed a picture I was taking, possibly a young eagle?

Nothing much

I didn't see much yesterday and even less today.  The odd little fuschia plant had a second flower stalk.  Yesterday, the sky was cloudy with blue patches but today was sunnier albeit with plenty of clouds.  A crow watched a gull sitting on the navigation sign.  A spiderweb stretched from the house to a dogwood but it didn't look like it was in use.  I couldn't get the camera to "see" it.  K hung a block of suet in place of the hummer feeder.  

 

Warmer

The wind flipped around to the West and we had sun and clouds.  The high was in the 70s and the water was colder.  K noticed a spider thread between the camellia and the azalea but I couldn't find more web or a spider.  A monarch circled the water but paid no attention to the milkweed.  Titmice were hungry for seeds.  

 

Sunshine at last!

After four days of gloom with little rain to show for it, the sun's return was very welcome.  A chilly wind still blew and the tide still ran high.  We took down the hummer feeders.  I heard birds commenting in the trees and caught a squirrel in a funny pose.  Alas, I was in a meeting all afternoon and the sky clouded over by the time I got home.  

Full moon

The Northeaster continued to push water up the Lynnhaven and the full moon (not that it was visible) pulled the tide even higher.  It was gray and cold and sporadically drizzling.  A Carolina wren got hungry enough to join the cardinals, chickadees, and house finches.  Trash bobbed in the creek along with geese.  Across the creek, an egret walked along the bulkhead that had emerged as the tide dropped.  

Gull games

The wind was somewhat diminished but still pushing the tide into the grass.  Our living shoreline looked quite flattened.  I saw no birds but a few seed eaters until late when there must have been a school of fish in the creek.  Gulls skated on the air, twirled and skimmed the water.  To the Northeast, the clouds looked pleated.  Geese huddled in the lea of a dock.  A cormorant splash-landed.  A great egret landed on the dock, then shifted to a piling where it got its feathers back in order.  The light got a little better and there was even a bit of color to the clouds at sunset.  

 

Still blowing

High tide, driven by the wind and moon, was up in the grass.  The gusty wind was wet but there wasn't measurable rain.  A morning glory bloomed anyway.  Seed eaters got too hungry to wait out the storm.  A brown headed nuthatch joined the regulars.  

In the late afternoon, gulls played with the wind over the creek.  I think they were laughing gulls in winter plumage and larger ring billed gulls or maybe herring gulls.  But the light was bad and the window misted, so I couldn't be sure.  Cormorants were out fishing so I suppose that's what brought the gulls.  A great blue heron flew from the water's edge.  One of the larger saltbushes blew over.into the grass.  

Northeaster

Wind from the Northeast piled high tide over the dock and wrenched a board off.  Tree shreds littered the ground and clogged the water.  Seed eaters ventured out during lulls.  A little rain fell, enough to streak the glass.  The temperature was definitely Fall-like.  In the afternoon, I surprised a dove sitting on the railing, but it flew when I reached for the camera

Summer's lease

In Sonnet 18 Shakespeare wrote, "And summer’s lease hath all too short a date" which always comes to my mind at the autumnal equinox which occurs a little after 8pm here which is 1am Wednesday at the prime meridian.  Today was mostly cloudy, warm, and intermittently breezy.  I swam in the late morning and rescued two ground beetles and a two-lined spittlebug,  Afterward as I dripped, the sun found a rent in the cloud cover.  I saw a dark butterfly that never alighted and a Southern purple mint moth that posed.  A small skink flowed down the step.  Chickadees and house finches visited the seed feeder.  A squirrel had an itch.  In addition to the beautyberries, dogwood berries and hackberries were ripe and waiting for migrating birds.   

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.