Clouding over

I got outside in the late morning and caught the last of the sun.  Two black ground beetles and a stupid field cricket were all I found in the water.  The cricked jumped back in twice before it finally went the other way.  The romance had gone out of the cardinals' relationship and he made her wait to eat.  I saw a dark butterfly several times but couldn't be sure what it was..  There was also a dark skipper, much smaller.  

 

Hot sun

Thinking that the sun would be less intense this close to the equinox, I didn't wait for shade.  The larger bullfrog awaited me in the skimmer.  It acted lethargic but eventually it hopped off my palm and into the water.  I didn't see it again.   A skink rafted on a sinking leaf and I assisted it onto a rescue stick so it could have the satisfaction of saving itself.  A field cricket was also rafting so I set its leaf raft on the concrete.  I also fished out a couple of black ground beetles and a mint moth.  Something tickled my back and after brushing it off  my skin, I saw it was a very tiny spider.  The long-haired yellow cat sneaked past while I was swimming and I yelled at it.  An egret flew behind the trees and something that might have been a kite soared in the hazy blue sky.  The seed eaters were all I saw at the feeders.  Squirrels were busy up in the trees.  The only photos I got were plants.  

Chases

The hibiscus bloomed like a firecracker for Labor Day and the weather was perfect.  Between the drought and the recent yo-yo temperatures, leaves looked burnt, not just autumnal.  The parsley was overrun with caterpillars.  A strange little plant with pink flowers popped up beside the birdbath.  The tentative ID was swamp loosestrife.  

This skink chased another across the steps.  One hummer chased another multiple times to protect her feeder.  I chased a small frog and sent it out of the pool.  Alas, I also found a drowned skink, a dead frog, and a couple of soggy crickets.  I did save a beetle.  A Carolina wren preened on a dogwood branch but too many twigs were in the way for the camera to focus.

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.  

 

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.  

Wind shift

The wind swung around to the Southwest which cleared the air, but heated it.  I got my swim in the morning.  Several May beetles needed rescue.  I also fished out drowned camel and field crickets and a big mulch roach.  A small brown diamond clung to the wall.  When I touched it with a twig, legs popped out and it transformed into a spider..  (Always use a twig!)  Bees and wasps worked on the milkweed and mountain mint.  The orchard spider worked on its  web.  A late daylily bloomed behind where the primroses had been.  I fear it's getting too little sunlight there.  There was a hibiscue blossom as well.  

Arthropoda

I got in a nice, early swim which was fortunate for a crane fly, a tiny moth, camel and field cricket nymphs, and a big May beetle.  A larger moth and a robber fly were, alas, defunct.  I did not rescue a Japanese beetle.  More interesting insects feasted on the mountain mint and the butterfly milkweed.  The green bee was back along with several other kinds of small bee.  A feather-legged scoliid wasp joined the thread-waisted wasps.  A Macrosiagon dimidiata beetle also fed there.  The orchard spider prospered but I fear the Argiope must have been eaten.  

The fallen cherries were fewer but instead there were hackberry leaves with what looked like shattered galls.  The beautyberry was finished blooming and was making little green berries. Two blossoms opened on the hibiscus.  As I ate supper, I could see a dragonfly in each stake, except when they dashed after prey.  The blue dasher took the shorter stake and the slaty skimmer the larger.   I took that as testimony that it was buggy outside.  Besides, it was very hot and we are at the edge of the smoke hazard from Canadian wildfires.  

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.  

 

Warm sun

The clouds cleared in the morning and the temperature climbed.  It was 70 most of the afternoon.  Another rose opened and so did a moonflower.  However, the wind was still pushing high tide over the dock.  With a first quarter moon, we would normally have moderate rise and fall.  I could not find the orchard spider but surprised a field cricket.  A Virginia creeper vine turned scarlet.  I saw an egret and some ducks and songbirds that didn't come close.  The moon rose as the sun set but the sky was too hazy to see much detail except along the terminator.  

Moonflower

Beautiful creek reflections enhanced the view at breakfast.  I went out in the afternoon determined to swim.  But first I admired the orchard spider and the swallowtail chrysalis to which the web was attached.  Crows were hanging out around the creek.  The pool water was full of field crickets and various sorts of black beetles.  I also rescued a leaf-footed bug and a couple of leafhoppers.  One was a greenish gray that would blend in with lichens and the other appeared black.  The angle of the sun revealed a big web next to the feeder post.  I think it belonged to an Agelenopsis spider that weaves sheets with a funnel where the spider lurks.  

The milkweed pods were open but the seeds weren't flying.  They make a simple gauge of humidity.  As I was dripping dry, I realized that a moonflower was starting to open.  I caught it in the act.   

 

Alleged equinox

According to the newspaper the time today from sunrise to sunset was 12 hours and 9 minutes, 6:53am-7:02pm.  Greenwich defined it as equal illumination on either side of the Equator which might provide a little elbow room than equal day and night.  In any case, astronomical Autumn has begun with a new moon, so it is also Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of the year 5786.  In other news, titmice and chickadees rushed for breakfast.  The sky was milky with haze which, no doubt, kept the air cool despite the sun.  In the afternoon,I swam in 75° water and 75° air which chilled me somewhat.  While swimming, I saw a brown thrasher hunting in the grass.  A brown headed nuthatch visited the feeder in the late afternoon, but I wasn't fast enough.  A Carolina wren dined on suet, thanks to K.  Birds fluttered in the pine but I think they were all chickadees.   

While swimming, I saved a full grown skink, a couple of field crickets, a handful of beetles, and one assassin nymph.  The skink was very tired and hid rather than running away.  A foolish cricket hopped right in front of the skink which didn't even move.  The orchard spider had moved its web a few inches and was easier to photograph.  I could not find the spider that left its sack of eggs on the rosebush.  The one by the window was the only one in sight.  All the chrysalises were intact.  

Many rescues

After a week without sunshine, it blazed all day!  A Carolina wren picked through the stale barkbutter balls.  I found a monarch chrysalis in the mountain mint.  The black swallowtail chrysalis was unchanged.  The two Argiope spiders were prospering.  A cloud of no-see-ums entangled with the rosebush web.  The Berkely's polypore was buried in tree debris.  

At last the air was warm enough for me to consider swimming.  This was fortunate for two young skinks, a wheel bug and a leaf-footed bug, something that looked like a small Mayfly, a lacewing, a bumblebee, several crickets, a mama spider with a load of spiderlings, some things I couldn't identify, and a brown furry lump that I think was a puss caterpillar.  I was extremely careful with that one.  One of the skinks took a close look at the leaf-footed bug, then left it alone.  Later I saw a wasp hunting around the area where the caterpillar had been floating.  I wonder if the wasp had captured and dropped it.  

Gorgeous day

An early Carolina wren enjoyed suet.  I hung fresh sugar water in case the North wind blew any hummingbirds into migration, but I didn't see any.  Then I poured out some barkbutter balls since no rain was forecast.  Titmice were thick on the feeders, along with the usual three species.  A downy hung under the suet which cast diamond-pattern shadows on its belly.  A blue jay finally noticed the barkbutter balls in the afternoon.  

The wind off Hurricane Erin was still strong and, together with the dark of the moon, the tide ran very high.  It pulled up dock boards and capsized the floating end section.  A yellow crowned night heron paced along the shoreline.  The sky was a sharp, clear blue without a hint of haze.  I rescued a young skink that had lost the tip of its tail.  While there was plenty of tree detritus in the water, the only other animal was a field cricket.  A larger, older skink soaked up sun on the top step.  

A 5th instar brown marmorated stinkbug nymph Halyomorpha halys crawled on a morning glory vine.  Speaking of which, the morning glories were starting to bloom.  While I was outside filling feeders, I caught the early sunlight on the Argiope web.  The smaller Argiope was transitioning to adult coloring.  A monarch found the butterfly milkweed.   I counted a dozen green seedpods at all stages but I couldn't find the monarch caterpillars.  Instead, I saw a big, fat black swallowtail caterpillar on the rue.  It looked full grown but was more orange than green.  The third Argiope had a new web too.  I imagine the wind cluttered the previous one, if it didn't tear it down.  I saw a dark butterfly and a snout but they got away.  

Figs!

It was so humid when I got up that the windows were completely fogged. As the temperature rose the windows cleared, but the hot air stayed oppressively moist.  I could see that the creek was a motionless mirror.  A white breasted nuthatch, or perhaps more than one, came for seeds.  It didn't linger.  A female hummer found the sugar water.  

I found a large camel cricket floating in the water.  Then I found a female widow skimmer and put them both to dry in the sun.  However, neither revived and they were still in the same spot in the afternoon.  A field cricket jumped in after I got out and I didn't go back for it.  A red spotted purple hung around while I swam but was nowhere to be found when I had the camera.  

Despite threats from bees and wasps, K picked the first batch of figs.  A skink ran down the wall while our lunch was grilling.  A bluebird and its offspring flew to the top of the redwood.  A Carolina wren continued work on the suet.  Dragonflies argued over the perches.  A skink moseyed along the grass edge.  A bird with a black and white back like a woodpecker flew into the oak.  I saw no red on it but I think it was a juvenile red bellied woodpecker.  Brown headed nuthatches ventured out for seeds despite my proximity.  

Pleasant

A Carolina wren worked on the last of the suet.  The wind, haze, and passing clouds made the day seem cooler than the temperature would suggest.  K put chlorine shock in the pool and it became blue again.  I rescued a camel cricket and a wasp from the water.  A bar-winged skimmer dragonfly used a perch.  A chickadee and a titmouse were each feeding another bird of their respective species, but I don't know if either one was a fledgling or a mate.  The tide ran high for the 3rd quarter moon. 

West wind

The six monarch caterpillars will need more leaves soon.  I hope I can buy a plant.  I saw butterflies, dark ones, a sulphur, and the ubiquitous cabbage white.  An American snout perched on a dragonfly stake.  A field cricket hopped around on the concrete.  A paper wasp circled over the pavement.  A blow fly rested on a leaf.  

There were no clouds to show the gusty wind's direction but it brought warm air that emptied out the creek.  A buzzard flew across the intensely blue sky.  The kingfisher was back on the post.  It dived once and caught a small fish.  

New bird

A mockingbird came for a wake-up drink from the ant moat.  An Orthoptera nymph (grasshopper/cricket/katydid) wandered around the window.  I based my guess on its hefty thighs.  A monarch wandered around the yard, noticing the milkweed but not stopping.  Maybe it just needed nectar and we lacked flowers.  As a result, I was lucky to get an orange blur.  I also saw a cabbage white, a duskywing, and a dark butterfly, either a red spotted purple or a black swallowtail.  Small wasps or flies and a Guinea paper wasp hunted through the overgrown, gone-to-seed plants. 

The dogwood berries tempted more birds than the barkbutter balls.  Even the juvenile cardinal tried the berries.  However, a mockingbird preferred beautyberries.  I saw a Carolina wren in the dogwood but it was preening, not eating.  A dove foraged under the seed feeder.  Then I saw a bird that was new to me. I took many pictures as it ate many dogwood berries.  According to iNaturalist, it was a rose breasted grosbeak in winter drab. 

A leaf that must have gotten caught in a web fluttered very convincingly and I wasted many pixels.  Some kind of insect had nibbled a bigger leaf into the shape of a smaller which left a lot of stem to snag.  Clouds blew in from the Northeast but only briefly interrupted the sunshine.  Down at ground level the air was warm with a light breeze.  In the late afternoon, the kingfisher returned to a dock post.  A female mallard slept on the back of the bench. 

Hot

I spent the morning at a fair out near the oceanfront.  A monarch fluttered by.  The day was sunny and grew really hot.  Hurricane Helene switched the wind direction so the clouds flowed up out of the Southwest, finally.  I startled a couple of skinks on my way to the water.  Another skink was floating on a waterlogged leaf so I lifted it, leaf and all, onto the concrete.  Two bullfrogs were in the skimmer, one little and one "almost eatin' size."  A third frog swam past me headed for deep water.  A leg cramp made me get out before I caught up with that frog.  

While drying in the sun, I witnessed a battle to the death.  A skink had caught a cricket.  Much rolling and thrashing ensued, but the cricket was doomed.  A jet passed over with no contrail.  Those little purple mint moths were everywhere.  I also spotted a picture-winged fly, Delphinia picta.  

Humid

Morning was still wet and gray.  That did not stop the nuthatches, brown headed or white breasted.  A male cardinal fed his daughter.  A mockingbird tried the rehydrated wild cherries.  The rose drooped to shed rain.  A sparrow, I think was a song sparrow, landed on the railing but the camera insisted on focusing on the raindrops on the window.  In the afternoon we got some sun.  A two-lined spittlebug drowned in the bucket.  The tide rolled over the dock again even though we had a third quarter moon.  

All I found in the pool water was tree trash, snails, a cricket, and a leaf footed bug.  While dripping off, my eye was caught by a really colorful Southern purple mint moth.  Another mockingbird surveyed the scene from the maple, then flew in for a drink.  Two female cardinals tolerated each other, one on the seed feeder, the other on the barkbutter.  I think the one eating seeds was older.  At any rate, she was feeding her son.  Interesting that the parents fed the offspring of the opposite sex.  She looked like the joys of motherhood were wearing thin.  

Sunshine!

There were still a lot of clouds but I was grateful for every moment the sun got through them.   A hummer found the feeder but was too anxious to perch.  I wondered if it was a tourist migrating South rather than one that nested here.  Downy woodpeckers availed themselves of seeds and barkbutter balls.  A white breasted nuthatch was gone before the camera was ready but brown headed nuthatches were more cooperative.  

High tide over-topped the dock.  When it receded, mallards moved in.  They looked bedraggled and the males were in eclipse.  I glimpsed a small bird in flight that might have been a kingfisher, or something else.  Southern purple mint moths were everywhere.  A red spotted purple danced through the trees.  It amazed me at how easily those colors disappeared against green leaves.  

The fungus no longer looked appetizing, more like moldy bread.  I had a good, if chilly, swim.  A skink, a mama spider and her spiderlings, and two crickets got a second chance at life on dry land.  Vast quantities of leaves and needles clogged the skimmer, floated on the surface, and sank to the bottom.  I heard a red bellied woodpecker but didn't see it. 

When I got home from a meeting, I went back outside.  A couple dozen gulls flew over. headed Northwest.  It was impossible to be sure but they might have been laughing gulls in winter plumage.  Three young mockingbirds feasted on beautyberries.  I knew they were young because their eyes had not yet turned yellow.  

A rustling in the dogwood turned out to be a red eyed vireo.  It seemed curious about me.  A rustling in the undergrowth might have been another, but all I could see was a belly in shadow.   A hummer monitored all this from the top of the wild cherry.  The boy cardinal came back, still begging his mama for food.  The kid was a bottomless pit.  Poor worn out mother.  A great blue heron flew up into the pine behind the hackberry where the vegetation mostly hid it.  Sunset cast a warm caramel glow on the clouds.