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.  

 

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.  

Dragonfly rescue

Yesterday's rain filled the birdbath.  A hummer visited the milkweed again and then moved on to the feeder.  As I started to get into the water I was attacked by a tabinid fly.  I retreated and came back with bug spray.  When it came for me again, I gave it a dose.  I didn't see it after that but swimming was kind of stressful.  When I started to clean the skimmer, I found a dragonfly afloat and fished it out.  I assumed it was dead but it slowly revived and flew away after a couple of hours, around the time the rain started.  iNaturalist suggested it was a Two-striped Forceptail Aphylla williamsoni.  Other than that, there were just a few beetles swimming.  

A tiny skink emerged from the step wall.  It was so small that at first I thought it was a worm.  The orchard spider and the bees and wasps on the mountain mint were about the same.  K decided to pick figs despite them being rain-soaked and got quite a haul.

Figs

In the morning, the sun spotlighted the orchard spider.  I checked out the fig trees because I wondered about the effects of the drought.  They were ripening and then drying right on the branches.  Neither birds not insects seemed to have paid them much attention, though something I couldn't see was moving around in the higher foliage. And I startled a large insect in a nearby (not fig) bush.  My picking was well-timed as rain fell in the afternoon and evening.  Probably the ripe figs I couldn't reach will rot.  

Judging from paw prints and sand, a raccoon had been washing its supper on the pool step.  My only rescues from the water were a couple of beetles and a spider.  I saw egrets flying and a blue jay that may have been headed for the figs.  A skink came out and basked on the step.  During lunch we saw a hummer visit the milkweed and a palamedes swallowtail fly quickly across the patio.  Titmice squabbled over the feeder.  

Caterpillar!

The sky was still overcast and the wind from the Northeast, though not as strong..  Titmice were feeling surprisingly bold.  Bluebirds were hungry but wary.  A crow walked around the patio.  After I swam, I decided to pick figs.  The Argiope was gone and mosquitoes and bees were thick, but I picked plenty of ripe figs.  I also found a tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, busily devouring ground cherry leaves.  BugGuide has a side-by-side comparison with the tomato hornworm that was very helpful.  

Perhaps influenced by that Northeast wind, some cherry leaves started to show fall colors.  A skink looked for a warm spot but decided hiding was a better idea.  Bluebirds returned in the afternoon.  A male hummer visited the feeder till a titmouse spooked it.  I saw brown headed nuthatches but only got pictures of a white breasted nuthatch.  

 

Fig patch

Fearing rain, I went picking figs in the morning.  I didn't take the camera.  Clearly we missed at least a week of ripe figs because there were splatted ones all over the ground and fuzzy, moldy ones hanging from the twigs.  I saw honeybees and yellow jackets feasting, but not many other wasps.  A well-fed Argiope had built a web right in the middle.  I had sprayed myself with bug repellent but neglected my arms and got three mosquito bites.  But mainly I got very hot and plunged directly into the water.  Nothing interesting was afloat today but dragonflies were on patrol.  A tiger swallowtail and a black swallowtail fed on the butterfly milkweed.  

The wren was back at the suet.  There was a queue for barkbutter balls that included a white breasted nuthatch and a bluebird.  Interesting clouds occasionally hinted at rain.  Skinks found urgent business across the patio.  

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.  

More beautiful weather

Another pleasant day of sunshine, breeze, low humidity.  The creek reflected noisy goings-on across from us.  K picked figs.  A profusion of hibiscus flowers opened.  I got my swim in the late afternoon.  A frog joined me but I rejected him and the same for a couple of spiders.  A half-grown skink was waiting under the lid of the skimmer.  I saw a full grown one on the planter out front and another on the pool coping.  A very little one scampered across the patio.  

The mountain mint entertained a gray hairstreak that obligingly opened its wings.  A camouflage looper looped its way across a flower head.  On the butterfly milkweed, three caterpillars chowed down on a seedpod.  There were bees and wasps, but fewer than earlier in the summer.  

The female downy glared at the hummer feeder and then settled for barkbutter balls.  The hummer or hummers paid no attention.  Then a yellow crowned night heron shot through the yard nearly hitting the hummer feeder.  And a red bellied woodpecker made a brief stop.  Blue jays and titmice made many visits to the feeders.  A dove landed on the feeder hanger.  A squirrel showed up with a warble on its back. 

Spiders

Two juvenile cardinals foraged and squabbled.  Meanwhile, a female towhee tried to avoid them.  Their colors were similar enough to be confusing but the towhee didn't have a crest.  A Carolina wren stopped by briefly.  

We picked figs and I watched for what else might be attracted to them.  A red spotted purple fanned itself waiting for me to go away.  Sighting a hornet encouraged me to pick very carefully.  A gorgeous spiny-backed orb-weaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis, web was smartly positioned between the figs and a window that's lighted at night.  The spider had its underside facing out which wasn't very attractive, but was quite small in comparison to the web.  In addition to the wildlife I found plenty of figs.  

A pearl crescent butterfly, Phyciodes tharos, rested on a mountain mint leaf.  The regular bees and wasps and fiery skippers also decorated the mountain mint.  A great blue skimmer, Libellula vibrans, used one of the bamboo perches.  I found two yellow garden spiders, Argiope aurantia, that had built their webs in the azalea by the hose spigot.   Big carpenter bees quarreled in the air.  A black swallowtail visited the rue.  A blue dasher perched on a dried twig. 

I rescued a mama spider from the skimmer.  A leaf-footed bug was floating dead.  Many skinks had business across the patio. One skink encountered a juvenile cardinal who didn't know what to think of it.  Hummers continued to be satisfied with the sugar water in their feeder.  Though the day stayed hazy and cloudy, it was warmer.  The breeze helped keep the biting insects away. 

Eclipse

The female red bellied woodpecker was up early again to eat seeds.  Is a vegan woodpecker even possible? A white throated sparrow was early as well.  Apparently the weather was perfect for winged termite swarms.  They looked pretty flying in the sunlight, not so much on the ground.  The mockingbirds snacked on them and two dragonflies came to feast. 

The Solomon's seal popped up. The figs leafed out.  The rose made a bud.  A molting myrtle warbler stopped fro brunch.  A tiger swallowtail left eggs all over the wild cherry.  White breasted and brown headed nuthatches devoured seeds.

I made a pinhole camera to capture the eclipse.  We were outside the area of totality again but the level of light dropped noticeably.  All the colors seemed dull despite being in the sunshine.  NASA gave the timetable of the eclipse by zipcode with this handy graphic. 

I saw a skink on the lower patio but wasn't fast enough with the camera.  A pair of bluebirds perched in the maple.  A chipping sparrow ignored the eclipse and ate seeds.