Berry battles

Sunshine was predicted but I didn't see any till after lunch.  The creek reflections were dull, grayed, and muted.  A male cardinal sampled the breakfast buffet from barkbutter balls to dogwood berries.  A female downy woodpecker found the suet.  When I arrived for my haircut, the staff were holding a wake for a bird that had hit the window and apparently died.  I'm afraid it was a yellow billed cuckoo.  There was also a small black mop I was informed was a shih tzu puppy.  It wanted to eat my hair - should I be flattered? 

At home, I saw two mockingbirds squabbling over dogwood berries.  Other birds were flitting around in the trees and I could certainly hear blue jays.  Carolina wrens were scolding as was something I didn't recognize that sounded like an irate grasshopper.  I picked a couple more peppers.  And I glimpsed a kingfisher. 

Still summery

I was up before dawn so I was puzzled why I couldn't see the waning moon.  By the time I got into Norfolk it was apparent that the sky was overcast.  In fact a handful of rain droplets appeared on the windshield, but soon evaporated.  When the meeting was over, the clouds had broken apart and were dwindling.  By afternoon the sky was clear blue.  But, of course, the moon was long gone.

One or more mockingbirds hung out in the berry patch.  I only saw one at a time, but that's no proof.  A bird with a pale underside and gray-brown back, a down-curved yellow beak, spotted a worm-like critter (presumably a caterpillar) and shot across the intervening space, then shook its prey up and down.  All the while the bird kept its tail pointed down so I never got a good look, but I believe it was a yellow billed cuckoo. Toward evening, a couple of doves showed up. 

There were a few butterflies - a sulphur, a black swallowtail, and maybe a palamedes.  Southern purple mint moths were plentiful.  A large preying mantis was in the skimmer.  It seemed to be dead but sometimes insects revive.  And if not, it will feed something else.