I swam in the morning while there was still some shade and rescued a handful of brown scarab Phyllophaga May beetles and one ladybug. I think the ladybug was dead though. A tiger swallowtail tried to wrestle nourishment out of a fancy daylily. We went to a sunset vigil and a mockingbird circled overhead. The first quarter moon had a faint halo.
The day was sunny and hot. I had a morning meeting so I waited till late afternoon to swim. Wasps were active and one head-butted my foot. I rescued many scarab beetles, some were plain brown and others were bronze flecked. A damselfly watched for small fliers. I glimpsed a yellow butterfly but couldn't say what it was.
Temperatures in the 80s were a relief. A female pileated woodpecker visited and hopped on the patio. They are not built for walking. I wonder if it was the fledgling? At lunch a mockingbird visited. Afterward, I had a swim and evicted a few beetles and an indignant spider. A tiger swallowtail flitted overhead.
Then I went off to help table at an event at the zoo. I didn't visit the zoo's animals but watched an aerial ballet of dragonflies. Crows gathered on the dead top of conifer, maybe a spruce. As we left at twilight, a rabbit dashed across the walkway. I saw some swifts picking up the insect patrol as the dragonflies retired. But I was plagued with fleas or noseeums out in the grassy field where the tables were. I had forgotten to spray myself before leaving home.
After waiting to swim till late in the afternoon, I rescued a lot of beetles and a few spiders, including one woodlouse hunter. The beetles were mostly black ground beetles along with one scarab. A damselfly watched from the pool edge but paid no attention to a fly. A squirrel drank from the ant moat. A crow bathed on the top step of the pool.
A crow got breakfast where K had scattered barkbutter balls on the patio. I noticed it had some white spots on its right wing. A mockingbird ate from the dish which I refilled. So did a bluebird. There was water in the birdbath from yesterday's rain and enough humidity to keep it from evaporating.
The temperature rose so fast that I went swimming in the morning while there was still shade. Storm winds had re-trashed the water with leaves, needles, catkins, bark, and unidentified tree fragments. I rescued a bumblebee, a huge black ant, and three black beetles, but mostly I just kept sweeping up armloads of vegetative detritus.
The thermometer registered 98°. Only chickadees and titmice came out in the midday sun. I also saw a few wasps and one tiger swallowtail, but no dragonflies. Later in the afternoon, a fledgling crow begged outside my window. Its parent was refusing to feed it but keeping an eye on it.
At supper, a brown headed nuthatch joined the queue for seeds. A Carolina wren shopped around the feeders.
The temperature dropped overnight and only rose into the low 70s during the day. I stayed out of the water. K put a fresh feeder out and a female hummer visited. I poured some barkbutter balls on the ground for crows. There were white flecks on one crow's right wing. A crow took a bath but I don't know if it was the same one..
A pair of goldfinches checked out the dishes but not the seeds. Bluebirds, mockingbirds, and a blue jay came for barkbutter balls. The tallest mountain mint stalks began to turn whitish.
A Carolina wren came for lunch. So dis the mama squirrel with the odd fur patch. I waited to swim till the trees shaded the water. A damselfly was in the usual place. A small crab spider scuttled along the pool edge. A lacewing was stuck to the wall but it did not seem to be alive. A moth afloat looked very battered. I rescued several black beetles. A mockingbird visited several times. An assassin nymph lurked on the mountain mint. A brown thrasher skulked under the sakaki.
Bluebirds got away before I was ready but a Carolina wren, a blue jay, and a mockingbird were more cooperative. The male cardinals continued their routine of stealing seeds and hot pursuit. The afternoon temperature was in the upper 90s and, despite haze, the sun felt like a furnace. I waited for shade before getting in the water. A spider with a load of babies was willing to be rescued but a male was suspicious. I didn't see much else in the water. After sunset I saw fireflies.
A Carolina wren greeted sunshine under a hazy sky. A nervous cardinal grabbed a seed but son the dominant male chased him off. The dominant pair then kissed beaks. A house finch landed on the hummer feeder for no good reason. Another squirrel misjudged its jump and fell, this time out of the redwood so at least thirty feet, but I didn't see a corpse. A crow felt the need of another bath.
I saw a tiger swallowtail and the little butterfly I guessed was an azure. Four spiders needed to be evicted from the skimmer. I also removed a couple of scarabs from the water. A mosquito (or something with an interest in my blood) was annoying till I managed to splash it. As I dripped afterward, a female squirrel - the one with the odd patch of pale fur - came close in order to forage under the feeder. A brown thrasher was more cautious.
Two apparently female pileated woodpeckers landed. One ate suet while the other sat on the roof and watched. I guessed the one of the roof was a fledgling, no longer being fed by mama. Sunset turned rose and purple but I didn't bestir myself for any pictures.
The morning creek was flat and shiny. Squirrels were play-chasing and one fell. It disappeared behind dogwood foliage and there was some thrashing so I guess that broke its fall. But I never saw it emerge. Another squirrel began eating barkbutter balls. So much for "hot pepper!" A gladiolus stalk in the front yard bloomed, as did two different daylily plants along the pool.
Bluebirds appeared at lunchtime. A mockingbird followed on the barkbutter dish. And then a male towhee popped up in the mulch! It was excessively camera-shy. Because of meetings scheduled later, I went swimming in the early afternoon with no shade from the sun. There was nothing but beetles, spiders, a mosquito, and little wasps in the water. I glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.
A bluebird appeared before lunch. I hadn't seen any for a while. He had some trouble with the perch rolling over. A Carolina wren persisted despite a cranky cardinal. Something landed on the hummer feeder but it wasn't a hummingbird. Maybe that wren? The crow had its beak open but it was sitting in the sun. I saw a tiger swallowtail, a smaller yellow butterfly, and a little pale butterfly. None of them posed. The coral honeysuckle continued to flower as a backup for the feeder. I went swimming and pool cleaning but only found one scarab beetle.
I didn't even try to get wet today. The temperature barely rose into the 70s and the wind was harsh. A Carolina wren made several visits. The wind blew up its skirts like Marilyn Monroe. A squirrel sat on the feeder keeping the birds away. Then it ate more "hot pepper" suet. Later a downy had some suet too.
The mockingbird pair came for barkbutter balls. The cardinals courted. An osprey plunged into the creek but I couldn't tell if it caught anything.
The brown thrasher pair nibbled at the barkbutter balls K put out for the crow. The crow did get some to. Mockingbirds and blue jays preferred to eat from the hanging dishes but the mockingbird also ate some on the ground. When the food on the ground was gone a brown thrasher protested. When I got in the water, the sky had become clouded and the wind had grown stronger. I rescued an assassin bug, a crane fly, a robber fly, a scarab beetle, a spider, and something that looked like a sawfly. None of them hung around for a portrait.
