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.  

 

Beautiful blue bee

K put some peanuts out for the crow but the squirrels got them.  Because an afternoon thunderstorm was possible, I picked figs in the morning.  It was buggy and sweaty, but I got a lot.  Afterward the cool water felt so good.  I caught four frogs, I think.  That is, I know I caught one twice because I saw it jump in again, but it is possible there were more repeaters.  I wish they would eat the mosquitoes!  I did see a couple of dragonflies on patrol.  

A metallic glint in the water caught my notice and I rescued a bright blue bee.  It was about a half centimeter in length and all blue-green with black wings.  It walked politely on my fingers but I didn't try to carry it up to the house for the camera.  There were also several big green June beetles and one ladybug.  Also a drowned brown stinkbug.  A monarch butterfly found the milkweed irresistible.  I saw a Guinea paper wasp hunting around the milkweed and wondered if it would take monarch caterpillars as I saw no sign of them.  

I did see the usual bees and wasps and a tiny yellow spider that had caught a tiny black wasp that was nevertheless too big for it.  A strange spider appeared to have taken over the Argiope web.  It was smaller than the Argiope had been but I wonder if it preyed on spiders.  It used the Argiope's stabilimentum to wrap up prey.  Bluebirds visited the barkbutter balls.  The thunderstorm never materialized.  

Cherry pickers

A pair of Carolina wrens showed up at breakfast.  Because of the weather forecast and the evil fly I swam in the morning.  There were a good many May beetles needing rescue and one very small mama spider.  I glimpsed a butterfly but, surprisingly, no Odonata.  A skipper found the first flowers on the mountain mint.  An egret stalked along the bullkhead.  The crow came looking for treats.  

In the afternoon, birds feasted on the wild cherry.  I saw mockingbirds, chickadees, cardinals, and some I wasn't sure about, maybe an Eastern kingbird?  A bluebird looked around before joining the cherry pickers.  The recent rains plumped up the cherries which had been wizened and tough in the drought.  The blueberries seemed to be waiting for more encouragement.  Scientific American reported that there is a structure in plant cells that reacts to the sound of falling rain.  DEQ had not lifted the drought warning despite the recent rain. It still only accumulated to 2/3 of the average for the first half of the year.  Today's rain arrived around 3pm.  

Donner und Blitzen

A small sunflower bloomed yesterday.  Then it rained substantially overnight.  More was predicted so I swam in the morning.  Beetles, ants, wasps, and roaches were afloat but I only rescued beetles.  Afterward, I glimpsed a dragonfly and a cabbage white.  The New England aster was blooming.  So was the beautyberry.  At lunch, crows and squirrels ate mealworms.  Carolina wrens and bluebirds were unhappy that the dishes were covered against future rain.  A blown leaf fragment fooled me into thinking it was a mantis.  

A thunderstorm arrived around 2:30pm  and rain hammered the pavement.  By 3pm the thunder was loud and the lightning close, while the light was very low.  We lost Internet connectivity for about 22 hours.

Flies and other fliers

In the morning a brown thrasher visited.  A bluebird investigated the blue dish and found a tidbit.  The furnace heat returned.  I was tabling again, this time mid afternoon on a hilltop.  Fortunately we had a tent.  An ambulance came for someone a few tents away.  Thunderheads crowded the horizon, but nothing happened before I left.  The car thermometer crept up to 100 on the way home.  

K said I looked bedraggled.  I got into the water and soon felt better.  And I rescued a damselfly.  It perched on my finger and used its long abdomen to unstick its wet wings.  Then it flew.  A beetle I rescued also flew away.  Other rescuees may not have made it.  There were more beetles, flying ants or sweat bees, and of course spiders. A blue dasher kept watch from a low perch.  As I sat to drip off, I was attacked by a Tabanid fly, a deer fly, I think, as I didn't see green eyes.  So I dashed dripping indoors.  Not too long after that, we had a short rain shower.  

Fierce heat

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.  

 

Rain

A brown thrasher showed up early.  Goldfinches paid a brief visit. A mockingbird inspected the barkbutter balls.  A brown headed nuthatch got a turn at the feeder and then dropped its seed.  A bluebird watched.  The day was warmer than I expected under a mostly cloudy sky with a strong West wind.  One source predicted a thunderstorm but another said no rain.  

When I swam, there was even a little sunshine.  I rescued a spider and the biggest camel cricket I've seen.  It stupidly jumped back into the water so I rescued it twice.  I regret not having the camera.  The wind dumped a lot of tree detritus into the water, mostly from the red cedar.  After I got out and was dripping off, the light suddenly dropped and I hurried inside.  We got measurable rain, some lightning, and high winds.  A mockingbird ventured out but the barkbutter was soup.  

 

Goldfinch pair

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.  

Scorcher

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. 

 

Towhee

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.  

Bright sunshine

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.  

 

Misty

The temperature barely cleared 60 and the air was thick with water vapor.  All I saw was a female bluebird getting seeds and a squirrel eating suet.  

 

Heat wave

A brown thrasher took off just as I pressed the shutter button.  Fortunate it only wanted to get closer to the barkbutter balls on the patio.  The mockingbird preferred to eat them from the dish.  A white breasted nuthatch agreed.  A Carolina wren took its treat under the furniture.  A crow finally came for the barkbutter balls.  I glimpsed a bluebird.  

An egret waded under the new bulkhead across the creek.  I saw 91° on the thermometer.  The tiny butterfly I'm guessing was a spring azure was back to torment me.  So was a cabbage white.  The milkweed bloomed.  

 

Surprise shower

There was a little rain before I got up, but it dried and sunshine mixed with clouds.  A white breasted nuthatch, a mockingbird, and a red bellied woodpecker all escaped the camera.  A brown thrasher took its time and I took its picture.   A female bluebird made frequent visits.  (I still haven't seen any activity at the bluebird house.)  The squirrel was eating peppered suet again.  A titmouse got some seeds.  

One of the brown thrashers noticed the barkbutter balls that K put on the patio for the crow.   A blue jay found the dish feeder empty.  A crow swooped down on the barkbutter balls, scattering the other birds.  It wasn't greedy and a cardinal noticed there were some left.  

The surprise shower came after lunch.  The wind gusted and the sky darkened.  Rain streaked the North windows for about ten minutes.  Then the sun returned, accompanied by a bluebird.  A blue jay was close behind.  The red belly returned and this time I was lucky.  

Nuthatch

The sunshine was intermittent as there were a lot of clouds.  Some wind gusts flung the birdhouse around enough to addle eggs.  Today K tempted the crow with a buffet of seeds and barkbuter balls.  Both were found to be acceptable.  This particular crow had a noticeable beard.  I was whining about how little I had seen all day when a white breasted nuthatch kindly let me take some pictures.  A blue jay and a bluebird were in too much of a hurry.  

 

Pair of brown thrashers

A pair of brown thrashers visited several times on a lovely, sunlit day.  Despite the clear, blue sky, the temperature barely cleared 70° .  The breeze grew gusty at times.  A blue jay noticed noticed the barkbutter balls.  A bluebird ate seeds which were nearly empty.  The red belly fussed because I was too close to the seed feeder but a titmouse didn't care.  

At lunch, I spotted a tiger swallowtail resting on a dogwood twig.  It was right under the wild cherry so it might have been freshly emerged from a chrysalis.  Or it might just have been tired from laying eggs.  Eventually it took off.  

 

Cold

The day was gray and chilly with at least one shower and a fierce wind gust.  I saw all three woodpeckers at different times.  The female pileated was first, midway the red belly sneaked in, and the downy came last.  A brown thrasher showed up at least twice.  K's crow strutted up the steps to check if any fresh treats had materialized.  I caught a glimpse of something dark hovering around a red rose, maybe a hummer, maybe something else.  A few blue jays and bluebirds visited.  

Petrichor

Word of the day, petrichor is the name for the smell after a shower or light rain.  I learned this from a children's book, After the Rain by Eleanor Spicer Rice, but I wasn't that impressed with the book otherwise.  There was rain overnight but the day was sunny.  A blue jay posed on the railing.  The mockingbird didn't cooperate with the camera.  The female pileated came for suet.  

The milkweed buds were turning orange and an orange butterfly flew through the yard.  I saw a bud on the magnolia.  A Carolina wren inspected the feeders.  K tempted crows with french fries.  I saw the little butterfly I think was a Spring azure.  A bluebird visited.but the red belly was not willing to come to a feeder while I was outside.  The yellow cat sauntered up from the creek, then saw me and skedaddled.  

 

Gray

This day wasn't as warm as the last two but just as windy.  I saw bluebirds, blue jays, and not much else.  A squirrel ate "hot pepper" suet that's supposed to be squirrel-proof.  A left-over Cinco de Mayo squirrel, perhaps?

 

Windy

A mockingbird breakfasted on suet.  A squirrel coveted bird food.  Blue jays were thirsty.  I also saw a pine warbler and a bluebird drinking from the pool puddle.  A titmouse looked into barkbutter balls.  Our thermometer showed mid 80s but the wind kept it from seeming hot.  After lunch, I noticed that the hummer feeder seemed to be missing.  Somehow it had come unscrewed from the hook and fallen.  I put it back together and rehung it which may have been unwise.  A couple of hours later I saw a male hummer visit it.  I was too close to move and take a photo but the bird didn't stay long.  Was I too close or the sugar water gone off or the wind too much?  

Despite the wind, I saw a few butterflies, a dragonfly, and wasps.  Butterflies included the ubiquitous cabbage white, some kind of dark swallowtail, and some that were too quickly gone to guess.  Some kind of midge followed me into the house.