Vernal equinox

I notice the NWS said, "There are only two times of the year when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes."  That "nearly" could explain why today's sunrise was 7:09am and sunset 7:17pm, 12 hours and 8 minutes.  The sky was hazy and streaky but the creek shone.  A male oriole spread orange gorgeousness as he ate suet.  A male bluebird flaunted both blue and orange.  A brown headed nuthatch took its seed to the roof to hatch.  Blue jays found the barkbutter balls.  One jay argued with a bigger bird, maybe the osprey?  

A heron groomed its feathers on a dock piling.  Signs of Spring included dogwood and oak flower buds opening.  Even blueberry flower buds got bigger.  Daffodils recovered from the storm.  The Carolina jessamine smelled lovely to me and the bumblebees. 

Chilly

Yesterday's rain continued through the morning. It flattened the taller daffodils.   As usual, there was more trash in the creek.  A Carolina wren was too hungry to care about the cold rain.  By late morning we were beginning to dry out though the sky remained gray with just a few flickers of sunlight.  The temperature was much lower and the wind was cold.  

Blue jays came hopefully but found only seeds.  The wren argued with cardinals over the seed feeder.  White throats reappeared.  Bluebirds also ate seeds.  The Carolina jessamine was finally blooming and making up for lost time..  Buds on the blueberry twigs were ready to open.  A mockingbird arrived in the late afternoon.  A myrtle warbler was starting to molt.  A white breasted nuthatch took some seeds to hatch.  

Birdwatching

The black & white cat basked for a while on the pool cover, but the birds were just too fascinating.  Pretty soon, the cat was up on the steps   There was a lot to see.  A goldfinch in winter drab got a drink.  A pine warbler streaked past on the way to the suet.  A bluebird landed atop the post.  Chickadees and house finches argued over seeds. 

After K shooed the cat, twice, a Carolina wren helped itself to barkbutter balls.  A mockingbird  wanted some, but didn't hang around.  Meanwhile, a brown headed nuthatch also came for seeds.  A couple of doves paraded around the pool cover.  The first junco of the Fall foraged under the sakaki.  

The domestic cherry had lost almost all its leaves.  The blueberry bushes were turning orange.  One hickory was bare but the other, less exposed, retained its coppery foliage.  The humongous fungus got mildewed from the rain.  Mosses were still green from the rain.  The odd thing I first saw weeks ago and thought was a puffball was unchanged.  Clouds blocked the sun and the breeze felt chilly so I came inside.  After 4pm the sun escaped the edge of the overcast and I hoped for migrant ducks floating through the reflections.  No such luck, just a mallard.  

Argiope

The fledgling bluebirds woke up with an appetite.  A Carolina wren was right behind.  A pine warbler and a goldfinch competed for the yellow ribbon.  The not-bald cardinal showed up.  I wonder which fathered the fledgling I saw, but since the parent is no longer feeding the fledgling, I cannot tell.  Still, the fledgling popped up right after the adult. 

I decided to pick figs before it got hot.  A mushroom opened in the moss under the fig.  An argiope built a web in the fig on the North side.  I tried to photograph the wasps and the birds eating figs but they did not cooperate.  Meanwhile the mosquitoes had a feast.  I also picked blueberries, probably the last for this year.  A black swallowtail took an interest in the rue.  A big beetle landed in the mountain mint among all the usual Hymenoptera feeding there.  I saw a skink sidle along the retaining wall.

An adult mockingbird tucked into the mealworms.  One of the bluebird fledglings figured out how to feed itself.  But it still watched its parents hopefully.  The other fledgling was more speckled and perhaps younger.  A molting titmouse wanted seeds.  A hummer came to the feeder as I sat beside it.  She didn't like my presence and I didn't dare move the camera. 

Toward evening, a cormorant dried out on the back of the dock bench.  Fish jumped in the background. 

And two more

I never got a swim yesterday and I didn't see much either.  A Carolina wren greeted us at breakfast.  The goldfinches soon arrived.  It looked like they were pecking out seeds from the gladiolus.  I tried one and didn't see anything that looked like a seed.  The two pairs of goldfinches squabbled over the sunflower.  And apparently after breakfast I didn't see anything more. 

Today was much more satisfying and, like yesterday, it was not so hot.  The goldfinches were back. The last bud on the hibiscus opened and, with no undamaged foliage, I don't expect we'll see a second flowering this year.  Morning glory vines waved tendrils in search of support.  The sunflower stalk decided to make one more small flower.  

A bluebird in the top of the redwood had something in its beak.  The mockingbird had its beak open and a little later I saw it pursue a crow.  I picked blueberries which meant crawling inside the patch to get to the only big berries.  I saw a trashline spider's trashline but not the spider. 

The mountain mint was busy as ever.  I identified a cellophane bee, I think, Colletes inaequalis.  I thought it was a wasp but on close inspection, it was hairy.  Something I thought was a dragonfly circled low over the grass.  When it finally landed, it was a green June beetle.  A skink ambled past me as I watched the mountain mint show.  A fiery skipper was late to the party. 

I saw both brown headed and white breasted nuthatches.  A hummer came to the feeder but didn't stay.  And that sugar water was fresh today.  Two Carolina wrens in the dogwood might have been parent and fledgling.  A pine warbler visited at supper time.  So did a bluebird. 

There were dragonflies in the afternoon but they refused to perch.  I think I saw a Carolina saddlebags and I'm sure of a window skimmer.  There were others with clear wings.  I actually managed to capture quite a few, but not sharp enough for identification.  

Balmy

Lots of bluebirds and warblers visited throughout the day.  In the morning I saw more yellow rumped warblers.Occasionally a mockingbird sneaked in for a barkbutter ball.  Sparrows scurried around but never posed.  The red bellied woodpecker played hard to get.  Blue jays got stuffed.

The temperature was 60°F for several afternoon hours with mostly blue sky and a breeze..  I saw more pine warblers after lunch though there were still butterbutts around.  A female red-winged blackbird popped up but I only got one bad picture before she scooted back down to the shoreline.  Two turtles took advantage of the sunshine. 

I had hopes of taking pictures from the dock but the missing planks convinced me to turn back.  There were still a few colorful leaves on the blueberry bushes and the sweet gum.  I surprised a magnolia green jumper and a centipede but neither stayed for a photo.  The yellow rose, the paperwhite narcissus and, of course, the camellia were in bloom for insects lured out by the warmth.  

Fog

I remarked a couple of days ago that it had been a long time since we had a foggy morning,and lo, the weather gods listened.  Eventually, the fog turned to mist and then broken overcast.

Pelicans flew over the creek at lunch but not later when I had my hands on the camera.  Not that having the camera in hand helped when I saw a kingfisher - he saw me too.  Crows set up a hue and cry to harass a hawk and I missed that too.  I did not miss the turkey vulture that took a perch on the neighbors' dock. 

Paperwhite narcissus bloomed near the yellow rose buds.  Blueberry leaves were colorful but dropping fast.  Fern-like moss grew next to a smaller, simpler species.  While I was poking around in the yard, a flicker and a red bellied woodpecker had words.  A downy just grabbed a barkbutter ball and kept going.  I glimpsed a wren on the barkbutter too.  A squirrel tried panhandling and when that failed, feeder robbery.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Birds seem to know when I have my hands full.  During a phone call  at breakfast, a red bellied woodpecker and a brown thrasher visited.  Bluebirds and warblers lingered so I did get pictures of them.  One female bluebird tried to figure out where the edibles were in the seed feeder.  And I was amazed to see a junco this early in the season.  The creek surface was rough in the morning.  The blueberry leaves had turned red. 

We took the dog for a walk at Norfolk Botanical Gardens.  There were several little waterfalls where we walked  They fed a pond that offered reflections somewhat like Monet's garden.  The pond had a fountain, unlike Giverny.   The pink and red camellias attracted yellow jackets, but not the white flowers.  I found a live venusta orchard spider but surprisingly no birds or other wildlife. The spider was big for its species and looked well fed.  It was not easy to get it in focus. 

Lots of birds arrived in the afternoon to make up for that.  I saw a pelican but got no photo. I did get a white throated sparrow, pine and yellow rumped warblers, the bluebirds, and the brown headed nuthatches.  

The sky clouded over and pretended snow was coming but it was far too warm for that - upper 50s.  The creek, on the other hand, calmed and became reflective.  An article in the newspaper today suggested that we should have had a frost by now.  "By definition, we have just crossed the seasonal divide into meteorological winter, on Dec. 1. On Nov. 21 there was the exact same chance of our having recorded a freeze (defined as 32 degrees) in Norfolk. On Nov. 28 that probability had inched up, to 70%. And by Dec. 9 those odds go to 90%."

Another rare June day

A hummer visited the new, little feeder.  Leatherwing beetles feasted on parsley flowers.  A few blueberries turned red.  Saddlebags dragonflies cruised under fat cumulus clouds.  A silvery spider blended in with the pool ladder railing, at least from the water.  It was more visible from outside.  Mud dauber wasps worked on fresh nests.  A swallowtail butterfly was attracted to the rue.  A brown headed nuthatch paid a visit to the sunflower seeds.  The titmouse tribe were all over the place, fledglings acting silly.  But something stole the fresh barkbutter tub I put out.  The moon was getting on toward the first quarter. Toward evening, I was watching a downy woodpecker up in the oak when I spotted a great crested flycatcher.   

Swelling buds

Yesterday,it looked like the blueberry bushes were about to bloom.  The tide was quite low again. 

A brown thrasher was after bark butter balls, but it spooked and I didn't see it return.  A Carolina wren hung around.  The female red bellied woodpecker came back but the downy still got a turn. 

I saw a junco at lunch but she hopped down the steps.  An oddly faded white throated sparrow did the same. 

Then a great blue heron landed on a dock post.  The wind gave it a crest.  A hoodie drake seemed to be all alone on the water. 

Crows were still acting up chasing each other in circles till there was a call to go after a hawk across the creek.  I spied a blue jay up in the pines but it didn't come down. 

K put up two new, large shepherd's crooks to replace the flimsy ones that served bark butter.  I wonder if they will be too high for any of the birds? 

Colder

A pine and an orange crowned warbler breakfasted on suet before they were startled off.  The downy woodpeckers soon arrived.  I saw a Carolina wren on the bark butter feeder.  A hooded merganser drake paddled upstream through choppy water.

In the afternoon, I blamed the feral cat for keeping the birds away till a hawk whooshed across the yard.  I couldn't see it where it landed up in a neighbor's pine, but a crow found it.  The crow called all kind of names while barnstorming with hovers and dives and rolls in midair. Finally the hawk lumbered into the air and flew away, still with the tree between me and it.  It left an impression of large size and a creamy underside so I'm guessing red tailed.

After that the pine warbler and the chickadees showed up.  The cat sauntered off after a scratch-stretch on the cedar tree.  Mallards, geese, and cormorants paddled on the gilded water.  Yesterday's wind stripped the maple but the dogwoods and even the neighbors' birch trees still had leaves.  Like the oak, the blueberry bushes finally turned color.  It was too cold for insects. 

Love in the air

The sky was gloomy and overcast all day.  Downy woodpeckers breakfasted with us.  A mallard drake napped on the dock.  The myrtle warbler guarded its feeders.  I glimpsed a Carolina wren.

At lunch, a titmouse and a nuthatch darted in to get seeds.  White throats were beginning to go to the feeder as well as pick up what fell from it.

The female cardinal sat on the feeder hanger and waited.  And sure enough, the male popped up from the perch and fed her a seed!  Just a few days ago he was still being a rude boor.  And then the squirrels started up.  They carried on up and down the dogwood trunk, apparently having a wonderful time.

Buds appeared on the blueberry twigs.  The Carolina jessamine was blooming.  And the dwarf daffodils joined the early daffodils. A late flower was opening on the camellia.  Most of the buds got frosted. 

Very warm

The temperature rose all morning.  The oak flowers emerged.  Confederate violets bloomed.  The money plants began to form flower stalks.  Daffodils and hyacinths were looking old.  Insects were flying, especially around the Carolina jessamine.  Some blueberry flowers were ready for bumblebees. 

The grebe continued to be very hard to photograph.  Turtles were out on logs enjoying the warmth.  I saw a few shovelers in the water nearby.  Only a few mergansers of either species were visible.  Maybe the others were out on the bay.  I did see a couple of osprey but missed the shot.  A big blue ball came bobbing upstream as I was leaving.  When I came back after dark, it seemed misty and there was no sign of the moon.

Windy

Juvenile titmice were everywhere all day, acting naive and silly.  An egret hunted in the dam outfall.  A blue tailed skink ran from the rosemary to the azalea, then back, then across the step to the birdbath, then who knows where.

The hibiscus was loaded with flowers and the canna began blooming.  The calendula was gone to seed, making me think its a biennial.  Gladiolus and the sakaki bush were finished blooming.  The double orange day lilies were taking their turn. The beautyberry was in flower.  And it looked like the blueberries came and went while I was away.

I husked corn I picked up from the farm stand at the library and dislodged a corn ear worm that appeared about ready to pupate.  There were dragonflies and butterflies, but they struggled with the wind.  It was hot enough to make the dragonflies obelisk.  Something left a nasty sploge of vomit or feces on the lower patio which engaged the attention of a cloud of flies.  I rescued the usual spiders and beetles and saw a water strider and a bristletail in the act of molting.  I caught aglimpse of a damselfly with a blue thorax in the mulch beyond the deep end.  A golden digger wasp was too late to get much from the rue, but bumblebees were even later. 

A cardinal landed on the windowsill and gawked at me but I wasn't fast enough with the camera.  A little green heron alerted me by squawking and I saw it fly to the bulkhead across the creek.  A brown thrasher picked wild cherries, as did a squirrel.  Hummers made regular visits.  Both male and female bluebirds came for mealworms but wouldn't wait for a picture.  Even more shy was a red bellied woodpecker that landed on the maple. 

The wind piled up clouds in a thin layer, then blew them away.  They made herringbone patterns that looked fractal.  More clouds arrived at dusk. 

Very windy

Cumulus clouds flew across the sky under a high haze and wisps of cirrus.  Titmice worked on hulling seeds.  A squirrel got up into the mealworm dish and folded over to eat what he was sitting on. 

The day got really hot.  Dragonflies were everywhere.  I saw the bluebird's head in the nest box hole but she ducked back inside.  Blueberries were starting to ripen.  A male common whitetail perched briefly on a bamboo stick.

A blue jay flew across the yard, as did several birds I never got a good look at.  A blue tailed skink believed it was hidden from me.  I saw the first sidewalk tiger beetle of the year.  The sakaki began blooming and the air was fragrant. 

 A dark cloud passed over and was well gone when the rain from it landed. I found a glass snail floating in the water.  Then the sky went overcast and I came inside.  The geese attempted infiltration but I caught them at it.

Winter returned

It was still fairly warm when I got up, but the temperature was headed down.  I saw a carpenter bee stuffed headfirst into a jessamine blossom.  Some of the blueberry buds were open.  during breakfast I saw pelicans flying low over the creek.  Sparrows, wrens, downy woodpeckers, and yellow rumped warblers joined me for breakfast.  There was a face-off between two female cardinals.  A squirrel ate dogwood buds.  The day started gray and rain followed by 9am.

Around noon the wind kicked up.  Gusts roared and pushed furniture around.  I heard a loud bang and found a white throat had crashed into the glass and broken its neck.  Other sparrows and chickadees pecked at something in the camellia and azalea - bugs?  A nuthatch tried to ride the bucking suet cage.  A titmouse and a pine warbler came for lunch. 

A female kingfisher rested on the dock piling.  There were buffleheads on the creek.  The geese that had been resting above the bulkhead across the creek got excited about something.  There was a lot of wing flapping and honking and chasing.  Pretty soon they were all in the creek.  I saw a pelican get tossed around when it ventured above tree height.  The wind blew holes in the clouds and cleared the sky by mid afternoon. Cormorants gathered on the dead snags by the lake till something startled them all at once. 

When I went out for the mail as the last glow faded in the West, the moon was bright and stars were visible.  But by 7pm fresh clouds were blowing East, veiling and revealing the moon by turns.

Very warm

I left before sunrise for a meeting and got back around 9am.  A squirrel behaved very strangely at the far end of the pool.  It fondled and bit pieces of pinebark at the base of the dogwood.  It rolled around like a cat on catnip.  Sparrows were active.  Titmice, nuthatches, and warblers were all after the remnant of suet.  Wrens and the song sparrow preferred mealworms.  Ruddy ducks were still around.  A pelican flew over the creek.  The sky was clear at first but then cumulus clouds blew in. 

After lunch I went outside to see what plants thought it was Spring.  Most of the bulbs were in bloom.  Buds on the oak were swollen.  Leaves and buds were showing on the blueberries.  Birds mostly stayed out of sight though I caught a glimpse of a kingfisher.  Only one turtle was out on a log today.  The clouds kept filling in and building up till the sky was overcast.

Still hot and dry

An egret stood on the dock bench.  I rescued a cricket, a beetle, another green leafhopper, and (I think) a bristletail.  A dragonfly monitored the proceedings.  We ate both figs and blueberries from our yard.  I don't remember their seasons overlapping before. 

At lunch, a male towhee landed on the wire holding the mealworm dish but was startled off by a Carolina wren.  Hummers were hungry and continued to check out the gladiolus.

Toward evening the sun descended into a smear of stratus clouds.  Dragonflies zipped around at suppertime.  A titmouse came for seeds.  The wrens cleaned out their dish.  The hummer(s) seemed off-put by something at their feeder, but  eventually settled in for a drink.  It may have been a wasp.  A dove just stood on the first step until suddenly two squirrels raced past.  The dove took off like a dowager surprised by urchins running under her skirts.  A bit later, I noticed one of the pool-brush poles was rolling toward the water.  It went right in and out came a dripping squirrel.

A bit cooler

The day was sunny but not so scorchingly hot.  Both the seed and the mealworm feeders were empty.  We filled them and put out the brand new hummer feeder.  The wrens showed up quickly.  The hummer took longer.  I found plenty more blueberries and ate the first fig. 

Lots of dragonflies covered the airspace, low and high, at lunchtime.  A blue dasher, a widow skimmer, both female, and atop the pine a Carolina saddlebags.  Later, when I got back from my meeting the goldfinch pair were working on the feeder and the remaining sunflowers.  I saw a skipper on the lantana. 

Sunny day

There was a nice breeze and it was cooler, but humid when I picked blueberries.  They were fat from the rain.  A duskywing discovered the opening sunflowers.  The grass was full of inky cap mushrooms and a big bracket was expanding where the front yard oak used to be.

There were more butterflies today than I remember seeing this year thus far.  Tiger swallowtails, an Eastern comma, and something in a dogwood that I didn't recognize, all got away without a photo.   I rescued a gorgeous metallic blue-green bee from the water but it flew off immediately.  Blue dasher and amberwing dragonflies were more cooperative.  A Hentz jumping spider landed on me and posed. 

The goldfinches visited separately.  A hummer had a good meal at the feeder and later it, or another, examined the sunflowers, but took alarm at the camera.  Blue jays were around and one left me a lovely feather.  I heard a mockingbird and a woodpecker but didn't catch sight of them.  A male brown headed cowbird landed on the feeder but didn't stay.  A dove hopped up the steps and had a good drink while we sat there.  It was interesting to watch it swallow without lifting its head as other birds must. At supper, a Carolina wren visited the seed feeder, ignoring the mealworms I had just put out, and intimidating birds twice its size.  A downy woodpecker also wanted seeds.