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.  

Hot & humid

There was a storm in the night that left rain in the birdbath and leaves in the pool.  A brown headed nuthatch came to breakfast.  Only one frog was present.  I think they travel on rainy nights.  No sign of the green head, thank goodness!   Morning was cloudy and seemed like the sort of weather to bring out biters and their predators, but I only glimpsed a couple of  dragonflies.   There were more butterflies.  I saw a red spotted purple, a snout, skippers, and a hairstreak.  Several hummer visits might have all been the same bird.  The afternoon was mostly sunny and hot.  The butterfly milkweed was loaded with pods instead of caterpillars.  It has not been a good year for insects.  I blamed the drought but K blamed "Mosquito Joe"  the bug spray poisoner of suburbia.  Sunset painted a pink streak across the deepening blue sky.  

Time outside

Morning was cloudy.  I spotted a morning glory flower.  A brown thrasher was an early visitor.  A female cardinal was beginning to lose head feathers and a male fledgling was getting orange, but with a black beak.  A female goldfinch was thirsty.  The molt-ragged Carolina wren had a barkbutter ball.  

Carrying the can of bug killer, I went swimming earlier than usual and found three frogs.  I evicted them but after I got out, they hopped back into the water.  A big, all-black bee was swimming frantically and I assisted it onto dry concrete.  Wind gusts tossed leaves into the water.   I put some peanut bits on the patio for the crow but a squirrel ate them.  The crow may have given up on us.  

After lunch, I went back outside.  There was more sun but a breeze and the shade made the heat endurable.  A blue dasher stood guard.  I saw two other dragonflies, one dark and the other yellowish, but I didn't get pictures to ID.   A hummer had a long feed before she saw something that sent her away.  Sometime later I spotted her preening on a dead twig in the dogwood.

A well-grown skink crossed the steps and later rain under my chair.  Its tail was not original but was full length.  A few wasps and bees and a duskywing skipper fed on the mountain mint.  A big dark butterfly never alighted and I couldn't guess if it was a red spotted purple or some kind of swallowtail.  A skipper with some orange joined the mountain mint crew.  

Butterflies

On the 14th, I had meetings and didn't go out to swim till 5pm.  There were the usual couple of frogs.  I rescued a black wasp that had been carrying a legless spider when they landed in the water.  I figured the spider was doomed.  That was it until I got out.  Then a green head fly went for me.  I hadn't bothered with bug deterrent because I thought we were past their season.  It hit my arms, thigh, and legs as i rushed to the house and the can of bug killer.  I sprayed everywhere but I have no idea if I hit the wretched fly.  I know I sprayed me and had to wash the stuff off.  I was too upset to post yesterday and had no pictures anyway, .  

Thus I was very cautious the following morning, but I didn't see any sign of the fly.  It had rained overnight and dropped the temperature somewhat.  I evicted the two frogs again.  A good sized spider was on the railing but I wasn't sure if it was alive.  Afterward as I dripped, I saw a cloudless sulphur visiting the milkweed, a red spotted purple resting on a dogwood, and a tiger swallowtail flying among the trees.  Only the purple cooperated.  

A downy woodpecker visited the seed feeder for lack of anything better.  So did a Carolina wren.  The sky looked like more rain but none fell.  We went to a fundraiser in the evening and I noticed the tree crickets were loud both there and when we got home.  

Siesta time

Can a frog look sheepish?  When I took the lid off the skimmer, two frogs were crammed together in a corner, blinking at me.  One hopped away but the other dodged around to dive into the water.  I caught them both several times before they took the hint.  Aside from that, I fished out dead June beetles and a drowned woodlouse hunter spider.  

After lunch I spent some time outside.  Despite being 90°, it was pleasant in the shade with a breeze.  The sky was cloudless but hazy.  I saw a few skinks, a hummer, a blue dasher obelisking, and a tiger swallowtail.  A Guinea paper wasp prowled through the mountain mint.  An osprey flew up the creek and a hawk flew across the yard.  

After the hawk was gone, a couple of mourning doves landed in the shade of the sakaki. A male cardinal tried to discourage his son from following and begging.   A small black bee landed on the concrete at the edge of the house shadow and appeared to do a honeybee dance.  I didn't watch it continuously but I think it staggered into the sunlight, keeled over and died.  I came inside not long after.  

Three frog day

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time clearing storm debris from the water.  The surface was covered with pine needles and more had sunk.  An oak branch complete with acorns was on the bottom.  I didn't see much wildlife, only one frog.  However, I did find floating a dragonfly nymph exoskeleton so I'm hopeful that the nymph I saw days ago completed metamorphosis. 

A Carolina wren wanted a barkbutter ball for breakfast.  It was still in the midst of a ragged molt.  The juvenile cardinal was back.  Today there were three frogs but little else in the water.  Despite clouds, the afternoon felt very hot.  I saw a monarch flit past the milkweed without stopping.  I suspect that indicates a male looking for love.  A goldfinch got a drink.  

 

Evening thunderstorm

The sun shone despite a lot of thin cloud cover.  A brown thrasher marched up the steps looking for something it did not find.  When I swam today, I did not see the dragonfly nymph.  I did evict three frogs and a skinklet, and rescued a black and yellow wasp.  Other than that, the morning was uneventful.  Clouds gathered as the day went on, but even the breeze was hot.  Then dark came early as heavy clouds blew in, dropped the temperature, and dumped buckets of rain.  Clearly, I pushed my luck too far with the figs. 

 

Thirsty

Another day in the 90s, but the wind shifted a couple of degrees North of due West.  Chickadees and titmice were thick at breakfast.  A downy joined them and a goldfinch arrived later for a drink.  A hummingbird showed up at lunchtime.  It sampled the milkweed as well as the sugar water.  Then a Carolina wren wanted a barkbutter ball, but not until I went indoors.  It was molting and looked rough.  It inspected the hummer feeder too.  I thought I saw a white breasted nuthatch but I never caught a picture to verify it.  A fledgling cardinal came to supper.  

I found another little monarch caterpillar eating milkweed flowers and got curious about whether insects are deterred by caterpillar toxicity.  This says, "Only about 5% of monarchs reach the last larval instar."  Three butterflies, a yellow, an orange, and a dark one, flitted over the yard but didn't give me a chance for a photo.  I think the yellow was a sulphur.  The orange seemed small for a monarch, so maybe a fritillary?  A fiery skipper made the rounds of the mountain mint.  So did the usual bees and wasps,  In the afternoon, dragonflies gathered.  A yellow one zoomed over me and disappeared, but a blue dasher and a widow skimmer used the perches.  

While I was in the water, I evicted two frogs and two spiders, and rescued a moth.  The dragonfly nymph was still active,.swimming very fast.  A thirsty squirrel dangled over the water to drink.  Either that, or it was having a Narcissus moment.  

Sweaty hot

The clouds looked thunderous but it was a false alarm.  I picked a couple dozen figs, fortunately in a strong breeze, but still sweaty work.  On my way past the canna I saw a slaty skimmer perched on a leaf.  My sandals got coated with rotten fig paste.  I hope ants will clean them for me.  Afterward, I chased two frogs around the pool.  Every time I caught one it would sneak back in.  The dragonfly nymph was back near where I saw it before, but it saw me and disappeared.  I also pulled two green June beetles out of the skimmer and rescued some crickets and May beetles that were swimming.

A widow skimmer perched on one of my garden stakes.  Then a worn slaty skimmer took its place.  Two hummers streaked across the sky, one pursuing the other.  The winner returned to guard the feeder.  A tiger swallowtail flew among the trees.  I caught glimpses of a dark butterfly, maybe a black swallowtail, maybe a red spotted purple.  A Carolina wren got a barkbutter ball for its evening snack.  

 

Scorching

As I drove to Chesapeake, I saw a cloud formation like a fingerprint in the sky.  When I arrived it was overhead and too big for a phone photo, and when I came back outside it had dissipated.  What with one thing and another, I didn't see much else till afternoon.  A Carolina wren poked around under the dish feeders.  The wind was still from the Southwest, but the clouds were moving much slower.  Down where I was, a breeze helped alleviate the heat.  A hummer perched on a stalk by its feeder, but flew off before I was focused.   I spotted a skink on the step wall just as the camera battery died.  

I waited till late in the afternoon to swim.  It wasn't buggy except for one mosquito that will never bite again.  A dragonfly nymph was clinging to the pool wall.  It got away from me, but I don't know what I would have done with it anyway.   There were two frogs in the skimmer that I released only to have them jump back into the pool.  I must have caught one three times.  I got pictures of one with a passenger - I wonder if it knew?  A different skink was floating in the water.  It was old enough to know better.  I laid it on the hot concrete to revive. It was still there when I finished my swim and I was afraid it had died, but it finally left when I wasn't looking.  

 

Bluebirds

A pair of bluebirds came for breakfast.  She tried to stuff her beak but kept dropping pieces.  I caught the crab and K kindly carried it down to the creek.  I also caught two frogs, repeatedly.  The Southwest wind sent lots of cumulus clouds past.  A fiery skipper joined the bees and wasps.  I fished a few beetles out of the water, but more mulch.  A bumblebee rescued itself.  

 

Crab

Fortunately, the sticky heat was frequently relieved by a breeze.  Lots of cumulus blew up from the Southwest.  The brown headed nuthatch was back  The dark spider posed like an orb weaver but what I could see of the web was just a tangle of threads with no pattern.  A couple of duskywings argued over the mountain mint.  I posed a drowned camel cricket.

I found no frogs in the pool today, but a mud crab instead.  It pinched my fingers and toes and got away into deep water.  Speaking of pinches, National Geographic introduced the Schmidt sting pain index.  A hummer made a brief visit to its feeder.  A male slaty skimmer used the smaller perch but spent much of the time hunting.  I saw a reddish dot in the sky and got a blurry shot of a Carolina saddleback dragonfly.  A titmouse saw something hair-raising.  Once again, a sprinkle made me take the camera inside.  

Rain

Another hibiscus flower appeared.  The sky looked ominous in the morning but I swam anyway.  A  few May and June beetles should have been thankful for that.  The frogs resented it.  I evicted three of them several times and also disposed of the one I found dead in the skimmer.  Meanwhile, the sky sprinkled me.  There was a brief interlude of sun when I got out, then a shower even though the sun kept shining.  The dark spider in the azalea was hard to see. 

A female great blue skimmer dragonfly hunted from the garden stake perches.  Carpenter mimic bees fussed over the mountain mint.  A yellow butterfly disappeared into the trees.  A skink hid from me, but not well.  A hummer flew at the kitchen window then to the feeder.  At lunch, I saw a brown headed nuthatch.  A Carolina wren seemed to be stuffing vegetation into the birdhouse.  Fingers crossed!  Mid afternoon, the showers turned to a hard rain that flooded Norfolk and cancelled events.  However, we only got about a quarter inch.  

Yellow bird

The goldfinch visited again and this time I got a photo, but of his back.  A dark skipper didn't settle long enough for a picture.  The usurper spider was still enthroned above the azalea.  I caught two frogs at the same time but one kept jumping back into the water.  The usual beetles floated around.  Meanwhile the sky was mostly gray and drops fell on me while I swam.