Three frog day

 Yesterday, I spent a lot of time clearing storm debris from the water.  The surface was covered with pine needles and more had sunk.  An oak branch complete with acorns was on the bottom.  I didn't see much wildlife, only one frog.  However, I did find floating a dragonfly nymph exoskeleton so I'm hopeful that the nymph I saw days ago completed metamorphosis. 

Today there were three frogs but little else in the water.  Despite clouds, the afternoon felt very hot.  I saw a monarch flit past the milkweed without stopping.  I suspect that indicates a male looking for love.  A goldfinch got a drink.  

 

Evening thunderstorm

The sun shone despite a lot of thin cloud cover.  A brown thrasher marched up the steps looking for something it did not find.  When I swam today, I did not see the dragonfly nymph.  I did evict three frogs and a skinklet, and rescued a black and yellow wasp.  Other than that, the morning was uneventful.  Clouds gathered as the day went on, but even the breeze was hot.  Then dark came early as heavy clouds blew in, dropped the temperature, and dumped buckets of rain.  Clearly, I pushed my luck too far with the figs. 

 

Thirsty

Another day in the 90s, but the wind shifted a couple of degrees North of due West.  Chickadees and titmice were thick at breakfast.  A downy joined them and a goldfinch arrived later for a drink.  A hummingbird showed up at lunchtime.  It sampled the milkweed as well as the sugar water.  Then a Carolina wren wanted a barkbutter ball, but not until I went indoors.  It was molting and looked rough.  It inspected the hummer feeder too.  I thought I saw a white breasted nuthatch but I never caught a picture to verify it.  A fledgling cardinal came to supper.  

I found another little monarch caterpillar eating milkweed flowers and got curious about whether insects are deterred by caterpillar toxicity.  This says, "Only about 5% of monarchs reach the last larval instar."  Three butterflies, a yellow, an orange, and a dark one, flitted over the yard but didn't give me a chance for a photo.  I think the yellow was a sulphur.  The orange seemed small for a monarch, so maybe a fritillary?  A fiery skipper made the rounds of the mountain mint.  So did the usual bees and wasps,  In the afternoon, dragonflies gathered.  A yellow one zoomed over me and disappeared, but a blue dasher and a widow skimmer used the perches.  

While I was in the water, I evicted two frogs and two spiders, and rescued a moth.  The dragonfly nymph was still active,.swimming very fast.  A thirsty squirrel dangled over the water to drink.  Either that, or it was having a Narcissus moment.  

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.  

 

Scorching

As I drove to Chesapeake, I saw a cloud formation like a fingerprint in the sky.  When I arrived it was overhead and too big for a phone photo, and when I came back outside it had dissipated.  What with one thing and another, I didn't see much else till afternoon.  A Carolina wren poked around under the dish feeders.  The wind was still from the Southwest, but the clouds were moving much slower.  Down where I was, a breeze helped alleviate the heat.  A hummer perched on a stalk by its feeder, but flew off before I was focused.   I spotted a skink on the step wall just as the camera battery died.  

I waited till late in the afternoon to swim.  It wasn't buggy except for one mosquito that will never bite again.  A dragonfly nymph was clinging to the pool wall.  It got away from me, but I don't know what I would have done with it anyway.   There were two frogs in the skimmer that I released only to have them jump back into the pool.  I must have caught one three times.  I got pictures of one with a passenger - I wonder if it knew?  A different skink was floating in the water.  It was old enough to know better.  I laid it on the hot concrete to revive. It was still there when I finished my swim and I was afraid it had died, but it finally left when I wasn't looking.  

 

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.  

 

Rain

Another hibiscus flower appeared.  The sky looked ominous in the morning but I swam anyway.  A  few May and June beetles should have been thankful for that.  The frogs resented it.  I evicted three of them several times and also disposed of the one I found dead in the skimmer.  Meanwhile, the sky sprinkled me.  There was a brief interlude of sun when I got out, then a shower even though the sun kept shining.  The dark spider in the azalea was hard to see. 

A female great blue skimmer dragonfly hunted from the garden stake perches.  Carpenter mimic bees fussed over the mountain mint.  A yellow butterfly disappeared into the trees.  A skink hid from me, but not well.  A hummer flew at the kitchen window then to the feeder.  At lunch, I saw a brown headed nuthatch.  A Carolina wren seemed to be stuffing vegetation into the birdhouse.  Fingers crossed!  Mid afternoon, the showers turned to a hard rain that flooded Norfolk and cancelled events.  However, we only got about a quarter inch.  

Yellow bird

The goldfinch visited again and this time I got a photo, but of his back.  A dark skipper didn't settle long enough for a picture.  The usurper spider was still enthroned above the azalea.  I caught two frogs at the same time but one kept jumping back into the water.  The usual beetles floated around.  Meanwhile the sky was mostly gray and drops fell on me while I swam.  

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.  

Evidence of a mantis

The hibiscus set some more buds and opened one.  One of the benefits of a pool is that it catches things you'd never notice otherwise.  Today it caught the shed exoskeleton of a young praying mantis. Of course the water also caught the usual complement of scarab beetles and small wasps.  A lacewing had drowned.  I caught a frog and bid it depart before it became "dearly departed."  

A female great blue skimmer hunted from a garden stake.  Later a blue dasher did the same.  I thought I saw a yellow butterfly, but it was a goldfinch.  A mockingbird visited the barkbutter balls but got away from the camera.   I found two of the monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.  Bees and wasps went about their business on the mountain mint.  

 

De gustibus non est disputandum

I caught two frogs this morning but neither offered to eat the mosquito that was bugging me.  I also, gingerly, fished out some small wasps.  Something has been eating green dogwood berries and dropping bits around the skimmer.  As I came dripping up the steps, I saw a small monarch caterpillar on the butterfly milkweed.  Looking closer, I found three more.  They seemed to prefer eating flowers instead of leaves.  I suppose that could be because their mouths are still small and the petals are thinner.  Or, maybe there is some advantage to stopping the milkweed from blooming?  

A robber fly lurked on the railing.  The Argiope was missing again.  K refilled the seed feeder, changed the ant moat water, and took down the suet cage.  We could hang a second hummer feeder but that has to be changed a lot more often than suet and I'm no longer surefooted enough. 

 

Pleasant

Sunshine was reflected by the quiet creek.  K put peanuts for the crow but two squirrels squabbled over them till they were all gone.  Titmice came early for seeds.  Then, at lunch, a mockingbird was determined to get barkbutter balls, even while K was outside at the grill.  A bumblebee staggered across the patio - too much mountain mint?  I saw hummers at the feeder several times throughout the day.  Also, a monarch and a tiger swallowtail flitted past but only the fiery skippers posed.  

In the afternoon, fluffy cumulus blew past from the WNW.   A skink lay on the step wall mostly in the shade.  I discovered that the Argiope was not missing.  It had simply moved to the other side of its web.  A hummer guarded the feeder from an old hibiscus stalk.  A robber fly and a lacewing did not revive after I fished them out of the water.  I twice caught a frog but I think it was the same frog.  

 

Sunny

The sky was hazy with fuzzy cumulus coming from the West.  It was a little too warm and humid to be pleasant, unless in a swimsuit.  I caught three frogs and sent them away.  One seemed to be in poor shape so I carried it to the birdbath in the hope that rainwater would wash off the pool chemicals.  Other than that, there were beetles.  On the mountain mint there were the usual bees and wasps and a skipper.  A Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp found something interesting in the patio surface.  Some other wasps and bees were acting oddly too.  

I saw an orange butterfly (monarch?) and a yellow (tiger swallowtail?), neither of which cooperated.  Little skinks teased the camera.  I could not find the Argiope.  A great egret rested on the dock.  A very high-flying bird might have been a swallow.  A mockingbird looked grumpy from molting.  It dined on barkbutter balls.  

Cloudy

I planted the seed from the daylily pod before swimming.  The water was full of beetles and frogs.  I lost count of the beetles but there were three frogs, one dead, one that was none too lively, and one that seemed OK.  Of course there was a mosquito.  Back on terra firma I found the Argiope doing well, bees and wasps enjoying the mountain mint and milkweed.  A fiery skipper preferred the mountain mint even though it would have been camouflaged on the milkweed.  Then I noticed a common whitetail dragonfly on the top of the retaining wall.  A little later, a skimmer claimed the garden stake.  A skink crept out of the vegetation over by the hummer feeder.  Chickadees came for seeds despite my presence, but other birds stayed away.

In the front yard, a rainlily popped up at the end of the dry creek bed.   And a second crop of fairy ring mushrooms appeared like mourners around the spot where the oak died from emerald ash borers.  We got a tornado warning after dark but we didn't get any high winds here.  

 

Tiger, tiger, beetle bright

Rain was predicted so I got outside early.  The mountain mint was busy with bees and wasps.  I wanted to see the camera trap and also to collect a seedpod from one of the daylilies so I walked around the pool.  Frog legs were sticking out from under the coping. Then the frog noticed me and dived.  Slowly, without moving, it drifted back to the surface, but I was waiting.  

I found another in the skimmer and two while I was swimming.  I also found a damselfly that I fear was beyond revival and a metallic green tiger beetle that did revive.  The pair of Carolina wrens visited the dish feeders.  A light rain started right after I came inside.  It didn't amount to much but the day was mostly gloomy from then on.

First frog

The sun was back and the North wind blew fluffy clouds across a blue sky.  Naturally that kept the temperature lower.  Despite all the recent rain, July was still below average and the year five inches below - 21" to 26".  Two hummers were attracted to the hibiscus blossom and the feeder, so one chased the other and neither fed.  Squirrel hanky-panky shook the cherry tree.  I saw a tiger swallowtail and a blue dasher and, of course, bees and wasps.  A great blue heron sat on a piling and a gull flew past.  Magnified by its shadow, a tiny skink crossed the wall of the house.  

The Argiope was still in the azalea and getting to look more adult.  Later when there was some shade, I worked on cleaning the tree scraps out of the water, There were lots of beetles, ants, a drowned stinkbug, and I rescued a small wasp.  Mosquitoes were annoying.  I saw something larger floating in the deep end and thought at first it might be a big moth on its back.  Instead, it was a small frog, right side up and arms spread wide.  It was fairly naive and I had no trouble evicting it.  I'd have liked to have kept it around to eat mosquitoes but I worried that the pool chemicals would poison it.  

Afterward, as I dripped and watched the bees and a skipper in the milkweed, a hummer joined them.  She also sampled the mountain mint.  Alas, she was far too close for the camera to focus.  When she flew off, I turned around and surprised another skink that darted under the azalea.  A fledgling cardinal lurked in the dogwood.  

Vacation

We picked a rainy, hot, and humid time to visit Virginia's Eastern Shore.  Sunday, before we left, I admired the hibiscus flowers and the spider web.  In Cape Charles I saw a pair of osprey circling, a mockingbird, and a couple of buzzards.  A saddlebags dragonfly cruised up the main street but my photos missed it..  By the time we arrived, the sky suggested a storm was brewing.  On Monday we drove around Chincoteague.  The road to get there looked like it was only a foot or two above high tide.  Low tide revealed oyster beds around the island.  Laughing gulls and egrets were everywhere.  We discovered that NASA Wallops is powered by a field of solar panels.  The dregs of Chantel passed through adding to the humidity. 

At lunch Tuesday, we watched what I think was a white ibis probing creek mud for goodies.  Small dragonflies congregated in the vegetation along the creek.  We had good weather for a boat trip around Chincoteague and Assateague.  The ride was a bit choppy but the wind was a relief from the humidity.  Oystercatchers loafed on the oyster reefs.  Island ponies grazed near the saltmarsh.  Egrets and cormorants joined the gulls.  An eagle sat on a stump.  Swallows darted through the air.  Dolphins swam in the strait between islands.  A thunderstorm held off till evening.   

The bed and breakfast where we stayed had some garden pools and I surprised a frog.  On the way home, we stopped at a plant nursery and I saw a red admiral, skippers, and a digger wasp on the flowers.  We had lunch in Onancock.  Jellyfish were pulsating beside the wharf.   When we reached the CBBT, there were large birds atop some light poles, that I think were eagles.  The weather was horribly hot at home and the pool water had dropped too low.  Apparently none of the rain on our vacation fell at home.   A Carolina wren visited the no melt suet.  The spider relocated to a safer spot.  I saw a monarch hanging around the butterfly milkweed.  K reported that a hive of some sort took up residence in a bush between the driveway and the sidewalk.  

Hot

For some reason downy and pileated woodpeckers picked today to visit after weeks of absence.  The brown headed nuthatches stayed busy.  I missed a shot of a blue jay.  The thermometer read 94° in the early afternoon.  Dramatic clouds rolled in from the West.  I came inside when a few raindrops fell and thunder grumbled in the distance.  But no real rain fell and the sky cleared again.  However at dusk it had become overcast.  Fireflies were out. 

There are no photos of the critters I found in the pool because I was wary of the predicted thunderstorm and left the camera inside.  In the water I found one drowned looper caterpillar, too many drowned roaches, ants, two live spiders and more drowned, and one bullfrog.  I rescued a wasp, a wasp, a black ground beetle, an Asian ladybug, and a brown Oriental beetle.  The bullfrog rescued itself.  There were mosquitoes, but they weren't in the water.  The mushroom I saw yesterday was so withered and dried up I almost didn't find it again.  Two variegated fritillary butterflies danced around the milkweed but left before I could get the camera.  Small dark bees also fed on the milkweed.  An Ammophila wasp tried to threaten me away from the milkweed but gave up and flew off. There were buds on the New England aster. 

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.  

Mosquitoes

Some early flickers of sunshine encouraged me to brew some solar tea.  When I went to collect it later, a kingfisher noticed me and flew from the dock.  The sky was mostly low stratus clouds making the sun no brighter than a table lamp.  Still, that was enough to pull the temperature up to 80° and the humidity high as well.  Mosquitoes were ambitious and in my face while I was in the water.  I saved a young skink, evicted a good-size bullfrog, and rescued a half dozen black ground beetles, and a tiny snail.  None of them stayed for a portrait.  Yesterday I removed the rescue stick just in case I wasn't able to do it later.  Is that why the water was full of beetles?  A stream of chickadees came to the feeder, and sometimes dodged a cardinal.  I heard a blue jay.  A yellow butterfly fluttered out of sight at lunch. The saltbush began blooming.