Dry, dry, dry

I got up earlier than usual in order to make French toast my way.  That meant I was done with breakfast when the birds wanted theirs.  A threadbare Carolina wren had a little of this and that.  A bald blue jay got greedy with the barkbutter balls.  Brown headed nuthatches insisted on sunflower seeds. 

Hazy sunshine reflected in the placid creek. A stink bug investigated the bird guano on the top of the seed feeder.  There was a hint of red in some dogwood leaves but more of them looked scorched from lack of rain.  The first cluster of beautyberries turned maroon.  Dogwood berries were still a bit on the orange side of crimson, but something was eating them and leaving crumbs.  Small strawberries ripened. 

Humingbirds arrived for lunch and territorial battles.  A cardinal's molt left him looking like he was wearing a bridle.  Mallards took over the dock.  I saw the great blue heron land up in the tree next door, but I was in the water at the time. The afternoon grew overcast though the sun was visible behind the stratus clouds.   

The canna made a flower as did the red aster.  A lichen garden spread over the back of the bench.  A bumblebee, a threadwaisted wasp, and briefly a duskywing were the mountain mint's only visitors though I saw a monarch and a black swallowtail flitting elsewhere.  I looked up Short-toothed Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) and it appears the brown flower heads have gone to seed, not become diseased.   The spider mites seemed to have relocated to the poor rosemary.  Aphids were back on the milkweed. 

Rescues

The juvenile cardinal was back.  Red hibiscus and blue morning glories both bloomed but not together.  The creek was flat under the hazy sky. 

I sprayed the aphids with soapy water and wiped them off the milkweed.  I also sprayed the spider mites on the rosemary.  It remains to be seen if that did any good.  While I was over there, I saw skinks in the water and rescued three of them, all bluetails.  I also found a dead one in the skimmer and later another skink swimming.  The skimmer contained three frogs in addition to the skink corpse.  Several beetles, crickets, a robber fly, and a black bee got a second chance at life.  

A blue dasher watch my rescue operations.  A megachile leaf cutter bee enjoyed the mountain mint. 

Young critters

It was a mostly gray, humid day with nothing to report till afternoon.  Then I saw again the kingfisher I think is a young female just getting her brown belt.  The hummers drank their feeder dry.  A Carolina wren investigated the seed feeder.  I didn't get a decent picture of the brown headed nuthatch today.  The juvenile cardinal was back but hard to photograph between outdoor furniture.

Small skinks soaked up the warmth that penetrated the clouds.  Two or three frogs were once again hanging out in the skimmer.  I hunted down and expelled two of them.  But at twilight I saw one in the pool again. 

Aphids still infested the milkweed.  I got a brief glimpse of a monarch and a tiger swallowtail.  Only a few wasps tended to the mountain mint.  

Then I saw something really surprising - a dragonfly nymph in the pool.  It must have been there for some time as it was about an inch long.  I was a bit anxious at having it in the water with me but I think they're not really equipped to bite mammals.  (Unlike the mosquito that followed me around.)  

Like yesterday, the overcast broke up at sunset and a broad bar of cloud turned orange.  The reflection in the water was even more impressive than the sky.  That's is when I saw the frog. 

Empty threats

I slept in and didn't see anything in the morning.  But the afternoon made up for it.  Hummingbirds drank and drank, packing on the grams.  The brown headed nuthatches couldn't get enough of the fresh sunflower seeds.  The hibiscus was still performing.  

When I got outside after lunch, the sky looked like rain was imminent, but it was an empty threat.  A red spotted purple butterfly, Limenitis arthemis astyanax, fancied cherry leaves.  It gets three names because it is a subspecies.  The other subspecies is the white admiral up North.  Coincidentally, the red spotted purple is also an empty threat - it evolved to mimic the poisonous pipevine swallowtail.  One stalk of the newly planted milkweed was coated with milkweed aphids.  I was hoping for caterpillars. 

When I opened the skimmer there were three frogs.  One hopped away but the other two pretended to be invisible.  When I came close with the camera, one dived and the other hopped out.  Eventually I caught up with two in the water and flipped them out.  A glass snail was under water on the top step so I put it on the concrete in the shade.  Later I found another on the upper patio.  I rescued several beetles including one big Junebug that was more bronze than green.  It was nonetheless iridescent metallic like the green Junebugs.  It kept lifting its elytra (stiff forewings) to flick water out of its hind flying wings.  

I wasted many pixels on dragonflies in flight and only got blurred images.  Soaring birds kept distracting me.  I think they were Mississippi kites!   They seemed to be having fun with the gusty West wind. 

Megachile bees nectared on both mountain mint and butterfly milkweed.  A venusta orchard weaver had a lovely orb web outside my window.  I also found the sheet web that attracted my attendion the other day.  Something ate a lot of ground cherry leaves, probably a hornworm, but I couldn't find it.  A duskywing skipper stuck to the mountain mint.  Several skinks bustled along on their business and I startled one that was sunbathing along the steps.  

The sun set in a blaze of orange. 

Blueberries

A very pleasant day followed the rain.  Chickadees were everywhere.  The cherries weren't ripe but I picked a pint of blueberries before a fly tried to bite me on the ankle.  I left many more pints' worth of berries behind.  The bite or sting on my neck is all the wound I need.  A great golden digger wasp found the mountain mint.  Twelve-spotted dragonflies patrolled at tree height and I glimpsed a mating pair of saddlebags zipping past.  A snout butterfly discovered the mountain mint.  I found a brown stink bug on a railing.  Yellow aphids infested the milkweed. 

Bees

I carried a pitcher outside to brew sun tea and found a "gift."  A dead cicada killer was lying on the patio.  It was nice to have a leisurely look at a wasp that's always on the move in life.  I also saw a ladybird beetle on the milkweed that the monarchs preferred for their eggs.  On closer examination, I could see aphids that the beetle may have been after.  The beetle had many spots so it was probably the imported Asian species that's sold as a "natural" pest control. 

At lunchtime, a black swallowtail dined on butterfly milkweed flowers.  Carolina wrens made the feeder rounds.  The Argiope by the patio switched sides on its web.  A female amberwing hunted from a base in the rue.  For some strange reason, with loads of leaves available, the monarch caterpillar ate a hole in a milkweed seedpod. 

I found a dead frog in the skimmer and a live one sitting on the ladder. I chased that one all over the pool but finally evicted it after it climbed up my suit.  I wouldn't bother but I believe that the pool water poisons them.  I also found a bluetail skink swimming and fished it out.  It was not grateful. Bright sun, low humidity, but a breeze from the North made swimming slightly chilly.  The water was still warm but I felt the breeze as I waited outside till I finished dripping. 

The green bee was back and there may have been two of them,  There were at least two great black wasps and several great golden digger wasps.  No butterflies came to either the mountain mint or the spearmint but I saw an azure fluttering around the trees.  When I looked for the new Argiope, the web was empty but I thought something dropped from it.  But then I found a full grown Argiope drowned on the top pool step. 

I also pursued photos of the dark honeybees.  Later, when I did a little research, I learned that there are two subspecies that look dark gray Apis Mellifera Carnica and Apis Mellifera Caucasica and two more that are much darker than the ones I've seen. And a bigger surprise - the "regular" honeybees on the mountain mint seem to be the Africanized hybrid Apis Mellifera Scutellata.  I suppose that explains why the dark ones give way to the lighter colored bees.  But another source suggests they might all be from the same hive, only with different fathers.

 A full grown skink came very close as I watched the bees.  One of a handful of titmice had no tail. The dock was full of mallards, mostly drakes in eclipse.  

Ideal summer day

It was a lovely day with low humidity and all the sunshine anyone could desire.  Hummers joined us for breakfast.  After lunch, a goldfinch got a drink from the ant moat, so K hurried out with more water.  I saw a Carolina wren and blue jays during the day,  A raggedy bluebird wanted its supper. 


A fiery skipper fed on the mountain mint, along with the bees and wasps.  A red spotted purple was busy across the yard on the cherry.  A great blue skimmer monitored the yard from a bamboo stake.  A female widow skimmer took a post near the mountain mint but I don't think it was after the bees or wasps.  A black swallowtail took a turn at the mountain mint. I believe the big scoliid wasp I saw last week was the Blue-winged wasp (Scolia dubia) and the third kind of digger wasp may be a Katydid Wasp (Sphex nudus).

I decided I couldn't let summer pass without making sun tea once.  I enjoyed watching it steep.  Skinks enjoyed the sunshine.

The hibiscus put on a brave show, but I could see sawflies leaving eggs on the leaves.  I would have gone after them with the neem oil but it was too breezy.   The milkweed by the beautyberry was still overrun with aphids.  The beauryberries were close to full size, though still completely green.  The fruits on the hackberry were turning red.

First skirmishes

A male towhee visited the seed feeder briefly.  The beautyberry was done blooming.  The sky looked like imminent rain and thunder was a constant low rumble so I left the camera inside.  Thus my rescues escaped being photographed.  They were an adult skink and two beetles.  One was a June bug scarab and the other was a metallic green tiger beetle. A weevil rescued itself with the aid of one of the sticks I stationed around the pool for that purpose. 

The fiery skipper was back on the mountain mint.  A tiger swallowtail crossed the yard.  A monarch stayed and thoroughly egged all the milkweed.  A very small caterpillar was already munching on the plant by the retaining wall.  That plant was infested with aphids.  A few blue dashers hunted mosquitoes. The usual bees and wasps enjoyed their mountain mint.  

The hummer wars have begun and they seemed to infect the larger birds.  Brown thrashers and a red bellied woodpecker fought over the bark butter.  Even the bluebirds joined in.  I suspect the blue jays were involved.  A mockingbird was hanging around too.  The Carolina wrens stayed out of it.  A grackle stomped around the sakaki for a moment like it wasn't sure how it got here, or why.  An egret landed on the dock bench.

Bat!

The hibiscus put out its first four blossoms.  The birds don't seem to have found the bark butter tub next to the hibiscus.  A goldfinch got a drink for the ant moat. 

I rescued a sidewalk tiger beetle and some bees and wasps.  The gusty wind caught them going to or from the mountain mint, I think.  A honeybee joined the crowd on the mountain mint.  I oiled the aphids on the milkweed. Twelve-spotted skimmers danced through the air scooping up bugs.  I saw a duskywing on the daisies but it saw me and left.  A tattered male slaty skimmer rested on a perch. 

I startled a couple of skinks but didn't get pictures. A brown thrasher was very noticeable as it hunted for bugs.  It struggled with the feeder for bark butter balls.  Blue jays had it easier but a crow worked hardest of all.  I had not been aware of how red the inside of a crow's beak was, unless the bird was injured.

About a quarter to 9pm, a bat flitted overhead three times, unless there were three bats.  It was well past sundown, cloudless, but not quite dark enough for stars.  Fireflies were everywhere.  The waning moon would not rise till much later. 

Storm

I found aphids on the milkweed so out came the neem oil.  The thunderstorm later probably means I need to repeat tomorrow.  A crab spider hung on the side of the railing with no visible support.  One blue dasher obelisked while waiting for prey while another clung to the edge of the pool in the shade.

Yesterday's glass snail had moved a couple of inches.  I rescued foolish beetles and tiny halictid bees.  The skimmer had two wolf spiders and a skink that was old enough to know better.  I saw another, smaller skink at lunchtime.

While working on the computer I noticed something strange down at the water's edge.  A yellow crowned night heron was putting on a display that would have done a turkey proud.  I don't know if it saw a rival, a predator, or a potential mate but Cornell says it's a mating display.  After a minute of so, it turned and stalked off looking very fierce.

I counted four turtles enjoying the sun and didn't notice the great blue heron next to them.  Around 4:30pm, the light level dropped and so did the temperature.  Hard gusts of wind drove the rain.  A night heron hunted along the water's edge.  If it was the same one, all its feathers were back in place.  Lightning, thunder and heavy rain finished the day though I did see some sunset color in the West.

Mantis

Hummers visited for breakfast.  So did the juvenile towhee.   It had a bit of an argument with a cardinal. Wrens worked on the bark butter mush.  The tailless brown thrasher tossed leaves and twigs.  While floating in the deep end I saw a bird in the red cedar that had a pale belly and an eyeline.  I'm guessing it was a mockingbird. 

The brown mantis lurked upside down on the rose canes, blending in so well I had to hunt for it.  A black swallowtail hovered over the rue.  I found a firefly floating on the water.  It seemed very late in the year for one.  Lots more butterflies were enjoying the heat. I chased one with the camera and got one blurred shot.  A couple of dark butterflies had an aerial battle or dance or something.  I think they were palamedes swallowtails. 

There was a lively frog in the skimmer.  It jumped back into the pool and went to the bottom. I ignored it and it disappeared.  Also in the skimmer was a winged ant queen with another ant clamped onto one leg.  She couldn't get it off and eventually disappeared when I was busy elsewhere.  A dragonfly was watching, so I don't know if the ant became a meal.  I went after the oleander aphids with neem oil.  It seemed to work.  Later I used morning glory leaves to try to scrape the dead aphids off the milkweed.  A skink hustled under the patio furniture. 

The sawflies were back on the hibiscus.  While looking at them, I found a second praying mantis, twice the size of the first.  It may have been a Chinese praying mantis.  The small one was, I think, a Carolina mantis. A skipper landed rather close to the big mantis.  

A yellow crowned night heron landed on the creek edge to hunt for crabs.  A gray mushroom popped up in the mulch.  After I came in, a red admiral landed beside my window.  I saw a disturbance in the creek's surface, perhaps a school of minnows, but the heron had left. 

Florence's fringe

Morning was overcast though at times it thinned to let through bleary sunlight.  A snowy egret prowled around the dam outfall.  Then the tide rose and covered the spillway.  It immersed the swamp fleabane next to the dock.  The regular seed feeder visitors were upset that we took everything down. 

The argiope spider was gone from the spot where I originally found it, but after considerable searching, I located it in the middle of the rue.  Young caterpillars were all over the rue.  A silver spotted skipper landed on a morning glory.  The milkweed bugs seem to be growing in numbers.  They have not found the red milkweed that came up from seed, but aphids did.  Wasps were hunting.  A basilica spider worked on her string of eggs.  She was tiny in comparison to the Argiope.  A couple of red spotted purples stayed one flutter ahead of the camera.  A palamedes swallowtail also got away. 


Wind gradually got stronger and louder as the morning went on.  I decided to go for a swim, and a good thing I did as the skimmer was packed solid.  I rescued a mama wolf spider and her kiddies, and innumerable crickets plus a few ground beetles.  A frog got away.


Rain finally started after 3pm. It was not heavy and it only lasted an hour or two.  At sunset colored light leaked through and revealed clouds racing West.  Then the sky went dark and the day ended.