New blue jays

A Carolina wren inspected everything.  A hummer investigated the new red leaves on the rose.  Eventually it found the feeder. 

Several blue jays seemed to me to be youngsters.  Their feathers looked clean and unworn and they didn't know how to land on the feeder dishes.  Then they were scared off by smaller bluebirds.  The young bluebirds had no trouble stuffing their beaks.

A fiery skipper joined the wasps and bumblebees on the mountain mint.   A hawk flew overhead.  A mockingbird landed on the feeder hanger and flashed its wings.  A grackle found the feeder dishes. 

Spring fever

This early Spring has made me lazy.  Yesterday slipped away without a post and it wasn't for lack of photos or interest.  Both days were sunny with a nippy breeze, especially Saturday.  The oak, peach, and redbuds flowered, the wild cherry began to leaf out, and buds burst on a dogwood.  Sweet gum buds looked ready to pop and I found fig leaves!  Buds were visible on the blueberries but not yet open.  Fortunately there were early bumblebees. 

The female orioles remained and a male showed up.  At least two bluebird pairs visited the feeders.  Myrtle warblers fussed over pecking order.  Blue jays stuffed their beaks.  Downy woodpeckers were faithful to their suet.  Starlings scattered food everywhere.  Red-winged blackbirds were much better behaved.  A few robins remained from the flock in the pecan. 

Pelicans fished on the creek but I never got a good shot. The sun reached a lot more of the patio and flowerbeds.  The moon was well up and looking fat by the time I took my library books back on Saturday.  

A mockingbird greeted the Sunday sun.  Then a blue jay wanted breakfast.  Orioles started arriving, then bluebirds.  Robins came back to drink.  The female orioles were much more assertive with the male than they were a month ago.  He definitely ate last.  Red-winged blackbirds briefly returned.  And of course there were starlings.  

I saw a junco.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet than seeds. The first grackle I've seen in years popped up but didn't stay long.  And a cedar waxwing accompanied a robin to the birdbath!  

Nice change

A warm sunny day, though it clouded over before sunset. This was one of the early mornings when the creek is still in shadow reflecting sunlit trees.  It wasn't long before the yellow rumped warbler discovered the suet.  I had a Zoom to wrangle so it was late morning before I got another look outside.  A bee was flying around the camellia.  Titmice packed away the sunflower seeds.  

By lunch time, wispy transparent bands of cumulus began to appear.  I saw a blue jay in a pine tree but it wasn't interested in anything but barkbutter.  A bluebird also watched from the trees. The warbler was still eating suet in between downy woodpecker visits.  A red bellied woodpecker tried for some suet but was interrupted by starlings.  A mockingbird didn't want to take on the starlings either.  Carolina wrens and white throated sparrows cleaned up below.  

When I went outside the sky was intensely blue.  A couple of female buffleheads fished together.  A turkey vulture circled and landed in a nearby tree.  It seemed curious about me.  The warbler and the starlings kept watch on me from the trees.  I spotted a robin in the redwood and a grackle in a pine.  Bulbs were beginning to send up shoots.  Turtles were out on the lake logs.  Thicker bands of cloud blew East and muted the sunshine, so I went inside.  

Cloudy

A cardinal found one of the black swallowtail caterpillars in the rue.  Apparently a diet of rue was no deterrent.  A grackle visited but was too heavy for the feeder.  A blue jay watched from the hackberry.

A skink climbed the retaining wall right behind a squirrel.  A cloudless sulphur flitted across the yard without pausing.  Hummer wars continued.

The monarch caterpillars I transferred to the butterfly milkweed were big enough to notice. Two wandering gliders (Pantala flavenscens) dangled from the gone-to-seed parsley. 

I rescued a green June beetle with an unfortunate attraction to water.  The usual wasps fed on the mountain mint.  An adult skink lost its tail so recently its rear end was still unhealed.  It coiled as though to protect or hide its injury. 

First skirmishes

A male towhee visited the seed feeder briefly.  The beautyberry was done blooming.  The sky looked like imminent rain and thunder was a constant low rumble so I left the camera inside.  Thus my rescues escaped being photographed.  They were an adult skink and two beetles.  One was a June bug scarab and the other was a metallic green tiger beetle. A weevil rescued itself with the aid of one of the sticks I stationed around the pool for that purpose. 

The fiery skipper was back on the mountain mint.  A tiger swallowtail crossed the yard.  A monarch stayed and thoroughly egged all the milkweed.  A very small caterpillar was already munching on the plant by the retaining wall.  That plant was infested with aphids.  A few blue dashers hunted mosquitoes. The usual bees and wasps enjoyed their mountain mint.  

The hummer wars have begun and they seemed to infect the larger birds.  Brown thrashers and a red bellied woodpecker fought over the bark butter.  Even the bluebirds joined in.  I suspect the blue jays were involved.  A mockingbird was hanging around too.  The Carolina wrens stayed out of it.  A grackle stomped around the sakaki for a moment like it wasn't sure how it got here, or why.  An egret landed on the dock bench.

Missed day?

Yesterday was very full of robins.  White throats foraged in the morning sun.  A nuthatch almost escaped the camera.  Unlike the downy woodpeckers, the male red bellied woodpecker was very wary. 

A flock of blackbirds showed up, spooked and fled, returned and repeated the routine.  There were red wings and brown headed cowbirds.  The red wings and robins drank form the pool cover.  The cowbirds were more interested in sunflower seeds. 

A squirrel got into the jelly.  Can squirrels get cavities?  The tide was quite high and I think the moon was full.  The creek surface was rough.  A male bufflehead indulged in self care while a couple of hoodies paddled purposefully upstream.  Pelicans fished in the afternoon. 

The warblers came for lunch.  And a female oriole dropped in before the jelly was quite gone.  Then something scared all the birds off.  The downy just froze and relied on its camouflage, which was not effective on thee post.  Meanwhile, clouds congealed across the sky.  A Carolina wren was hungry for bark butter. 

*     *     *

Yesterday's clouds made rain today.  The light was poor even when the rain didn't streak windows.  White throated sparrows and downy woodpeckers were unfazed.  The blackbird flock returned along with their robin camp followers.  This time there were a few starlings and a grackle with them. 

Titmice and nuthatches came for seeds.  I saw both red breasted and brown headed nuthatches on the feeder, but they were fast.  Pine warblers brightened the gloom but myrtle warblers just bullied them.  The male red bellied woodpecker returned.  Even a junco appeared. 

A great blue heron watched the creek.  Another landed on our floating dock.  Pelicans flew past.  I went out for errands. In the front yard, as I backed my car out, the sapsucker was at work on the pecan.  A shoveler pair were feeding at the far end of the lake.  I saw female hoodies and a huge flock of cormorants on the lake. 

The daffodils bowed under the weight of rain.  Maple tree buds were beginning to open.  And of course the feral, invasive callery pears were about to bloom. 

Even hotter

A Carolina wren, the male goldfinch, hummers, and a blue jay showed up at breakfast. A grackle paid a brief visit. 

As I was parking for the luncheon, an osprey circled above.  A couple of hours later, I was backing out of the garage and a female bluebird landed on the birdhouse.  She sat for a while checking all around while I pretended the car was a rock, then she popped inside.  Is there time for another brood?  Meanwhile, the car was having hysterics about the temperature.  It started by telling me it was 112°F but calmed down to 99°.

An egret preened on the dock. A disheveled titmouse landed in the hackberry.  And then I left again. 

Pretty day

Lots of sunshine and dragonflies. The regulars argued over the feeder.  A squirrel did his best to raid the seeds.  I had a meeting in the front room so I wouldn't be distracted. 

A skink dashed across the steps at lunch.  A great egret, then later a great blue heron fished below the dam.  Blue dashers were everywhere.  I did glimpse a couple of small butterflies.  A couple of great blue skimmers perched atop sticks. 

In the late afternoon, a grackle poked around in the grass.  Several doves congregated on the patio.  Fireflies followed the sunset. 

Pleasant and full of fledglings

Teh day began cloudy, cleared, and then in the late afternoon puffy cumulus flowed out of the West, tinting rose at sunset.  Dogwood berries were starting to color.  At lunch, we saw an adult skink and a very tiny skinklet. A squirrel licked the screen we keep over the pool steps to keep raccoons out.  (Not that it works.)  I wonder what attracted the squirrel - salt? 

The enormous spiderweb in front of the outside spigot had a silk wrapped June beetle.  Sulphurs, swallowtails, and snout butterflies flitted around, as did a cabbage white.  A hackberry emperor was kind enough to perch and a duskywing fed on the mint.  The mint was nearing the end of flowering but still held interest for a great golden digger wasp.  A southern purple mint moth preferred the rosemary.  Great blue and slaty skimmers and a blue dasher cleared the air of small stuff.  I found a dead amberwing in the water. 

Blue jays were everywhere with their noisy fledglings.  Mockingbirds finally took an interest in the back yard, including one that was either a fledgling or a bad molt.  Of course, the mockingbirds and blue jays were also attracted by the figs.  Fledgling titmice annoyed the seed feeder regulars and the hummingbird.  One titmouse tried valiantly to perch on the slippery railing.  Young robins visited as well.  A young (or molting) grackle snatched a meal off the pool ladder. 

An egret paced below the dam.  Hungry hummer(s) visited frequently.  One took an interest in the cedar.  I've observed that resinous plants attract them.  A Carolina wren poked into the mealworm dish.  A downy woodpecker appeared to be sunbathing on a dogwood branch.  I saw the first great crested flycatcher in about a month. 

Rain

At breakfast, a grackle showed up and raided the mealworms.  Then a blue jay wanted some and they argued.  The grackle kept the feeder but the blue jay left with a beakful of mealworms.  Titmice just kept on hulling seeds for their fledglings.

When we got home, we swapped out the hummer feeder and replenished the mealworms despite looming clouds.  The hummer was happy.  A titmouse I suspect was a fledgling explored our furniture rather incautiously.  Then a pair of goldfinches came for the fresh water in the ant moats.

If they'd waited a minute, the clouds would have refilled  all the water containers.  From 2:20 to around 5pm, rain swept through in bands, with brief breaks of sunshine.  The rainfall varied from a gentle patter to jackhammers.  Egrets were out during the breaks.  The ant moat rain gauge looked like a quarter or a third of an inch fell, though I saw water splash out of it.  The house wren I keep hearing popped up in the flowers about the time the rain quit. 

The cardinals continued to court with him feeding her seeds.  I saw one of the goldfinches peeking out of wet dogwood leaves.  Then the female bluebird finished off the mealworms.  And the hummer just kept chugging juice.  I brewed a new batch today.

Sun didn't last

I was off early to a meeting and didn't see anything in the yard till late morning.  By then it was pleasantly warm, but too breezy for comfort.  A female amberwing clung to a leaf.  A larger dragonfly eluded me.  I startled a hummingbird moth that was hidden under the gardenia.  I saw it flying a few days ago but wasn't sure what I was seeing.  Then I went crazy trying to photograph a tiger swallowtail. 

A titmouse played peek-a-boo with me.  Two grackles poked around and startled the brown thrasher that had been serenading me.  The thrasher came right back, ready to take them on.  A female hummer settled on her feeder.  Later, a female would not perch so I think it may have been a different bird.

By 2pm the sunshine had become intermittent and heavy clouds rolled out of the West.  A heron staked out the dam outfall.  About ten minutes later a couple of geese were followed by a Muscovy duck along the bank below the dam.  A little while after that an egret took over.

The female goldfinch was back for a drink, followed by the male.  The titmouse brought a friend.  Cardinals chased off intruders.  Bluebirds were hard at work in the front yard.  There was a brief rain around 4pm that was not in the forecast.  After that the clouds were fewer.

Breezy

An egret fished at the dam outfall but there was no drama like yesterday.  I think one of the feeder birds was a cowbird,  Another was definitely a titmouse.  Goslings got into the pool.  Later, a man pulled a crab pot out of the dam outfall.  It looked like the one that worried me in the winter.  I don't know if it was his or if he was removing a hazard.

After lunch out and shopping, when we came home a tiger swallowtail blew through the trees.  The pair of goldfinches was back for more water from the ant moat.  Skinks were all over the steps.  So were squirrels.

Clouds crept in from the West in the late afternoon.  It never got quite warm enough to sit comfortably outside.  The bluebirds stayed busy carrying bugs to the birdhouse.  Meanwhile, one of the Mimidae, a mockingbird or a brown thrasher, sang from high in the trees.  Again I could not find the bird.  Grackles and starlings prowled the yards.  A house finch fed a fledgling I suspect was a cowbird.  An osprey flew North.

White sky

The morning was sunny but hazy.  The pair of downy woodpeckers came for breakfast.  I saw a kingfisher way downstream diving from a perch on a channel marker. A little before 10am, I was on the computer without the camera when a thump on the window made me turn.  Two pine warblers squabbled on the window sill.  And a flock of bluebirds zipped among the tree branches.  Juncos were in the grass and two blue jays chased each other.  Nuthatches seemed to be on every limb.  Very frustrating.

  I ran for the camera but the bluebirds were gone.  This pine warbler seemed curious for a moment.  Then I discovered a green spider on the window. 

When I went to lock the back door before leaving, I discovered the birds were around the feeders and birdbath.  A brown headed nuthatch had joined several red breasted nuthatches.  Goldfinches and bluebirds clustered around the birdbath.  A pine warbler found the suet.  So did a titmouse.  White throats stayed further away under the bushes.  And the camera battery needed to be changed in the midst of all this.

By noon the haze had become a layer of cirrostratus cloud.  Robins had joined the gathering and were tearing into the beautyberries.  I spied a sapsucker on a pine in a neighboring yard.  A grackle got a drink and sadly contemplated the feeder it was too heavy for.  A blue jay came back for more mealworms, then a Carolina wren.  A yellow rumped warbler showed up at the birdbath.  And finally, the oriole reappeared and discovered the grape jelly.  It too had some mealworms. 

As I was downloading all these photos, I glanced behind and caught a female kingfisher sitting on the dock bench whaling the mess out of a fish.  It looked like a baby flounder and it nearly choked her. During the afternoon the clouds thickened to the SW while the NE was almost blue.  But the cloud cover spread, leaving only a streak of open sky by the time of the cormorant commute.

Sunny

Not much was stirring at breakfast.  A male goldfinch popped in but was startled off.  Lots of yellow dragonflies were patrolling outside the Kempsville Library, but none posed for me.  Puffy cumulus decorated the sky.  As I was leaving for lunch, I saw a red bellied woodpecker on the pecan trunk.  Of course it was gone when I got back three hours later.  But grackles were hankering after the feeder even though they were way too big for the counter-weighted perch.  The day was very hot by mid afternoon. At supper, I saw a skipper, a hummer, and a female goldfinch.  The moon rose very round and bright though it's still two days from full. 

Hot

Hot sun alternated with dark-bellied clouds that promised rain but didn't deliver.  A stinkbug walked around the window at breakfast.  That was about it.

Later in the morning I rescued beetles from the water.  A couple of Carolina wrens ran around on the trunk of the oak.  A black swallowtail worked hard at laying eggs while a cloudless sulphur just flitted through the trees.

At lunch a downy woodpecker and a titmouse tried to get turns at the feeder.  The hummer was distressed by all the activity so close.  A couple of grackles got nowhere with the feeder.

Dragonflies prowled the afternoon air.  A four spotted penant perched on the same spartina as the argiope - a lethal combination. A yellow crowned night heron perched on a piling, then flew up into the redwood.  Egrets hung out at the dam. 

At supper, I saw a hummer, a wren, and a snowy egret.  Tonight, tomorrow before dawn actually, is peak for the Perseid meteors.  The prediction is cloudy, alas.

Lovely day

A Northeast wind dispelled the humidity and the temperature was just warm enough.  Fluffy clouds made the sun blink.  The trees were still shedding desiccated leaves and needles though.  Rain or dew left droplets on all the plants.  The regular seed eaters came for breakfast.  A downy landed on the post but there was a cardinal on the feeder so he didn't stay.  Robins flitted among the trees. I went down the bank to get a better look at the argiope spider and discovered two yellow crowned night herons, one on a pine branch, the other on the fish-cleaning sink rim.  The argiope had another meal all wrapped in silk.

A skink darted into the hole beside the steps.  There was a frog in the skimmer but it had so many leaves to sit on, it wasn't out of breath.  I saw a June beetle but other bugs seemed to have the sense to keep out of the water.  A couple of skippers circled each other in the air.  It looked like one was defending access to a sunflower, but they could have been courting for all I know.  A few dragonflies braved the wind - I saw a blue dasher and a Halloween pennant. 

At lunch, a hummer visited the feeder, and later the canna. After lunch, I had to go to the Municipal Center.  Dragonflies were thick there as usual.  A beautiful green pondhawk almost came home with me.  When I got home, the birds were having a party on the patio.  A hummer was hitting the juice.  A blue jay argued with the wrens about the mealworms.  Cardinals and robins ate cherries.  A grackle hung around like a bad date.  A fledgling cowbird begged.  To my surprise, a song sparrow appeared for the first time in months. 

Down by the dam outfall there were fewer egrets but they were joined by a little green heron.

After the storm

July certainly went out with a bang.  Enough rain fell that we had to pump down the pool and clear out a lot of leaves and pine needles.  Across the creek, a motorboat had sunk.  Water gushed out of the dam outfall which attracted a lot of egrets, both great and snowy.  Later a little green heron and a great blue heron fished there.

A male goldfinch landed on the feeder hanger but did not stay.  I heard it all morning as it flew around.  Titmice did stay along with the usual seed eaters.  A hummer came to the door to get a refilled feeder.  She also sampled the rosemary and lavender.  At least two hummers disputed territory.  Robins were back for more cherries. 

Dragonflies were everywhere.  Blue dashers and slaty skimmers had all the good perches when more dragonflies flew up from the creek and tried to take their spots.  Saddlebags didn't bother perching but stayed aloft.  Butterflies were fewer, but I saw black and tiger swallowtails and a tattered lady.  I couldn't tell if it was an American or a painted lady.  I rescued a couple of green Virginia Metallic tiger beetles and a honeybee from the water.  A skink walked down the wall.  The orb weaver in the spartina survived the storm and afternoon sunshine revealed is as an Argiope. 

A stiff wind from the Southwest shoved fair weather cumulus across the sky.  It persuaded the birds to leave the cherries and hunt in the grass instead.  A brown thrasher landed outside the window but then it saw me.  A grackle walked around the pool.  A tiger swallowtail took a rest in the hackberry.

Later a yellow crowned night heron rested on a piling.  Clouds piled up in the Northeast and reflected the sunset.

Morning & evening rain

Today's rain was lighter than yesterday and ended before noon.  As usual, it brought out the birds.  Four titmice and a downy woodpecker visited the feeder along with the regular birds.  The fledgling cardinal was feeding itself sunflower seeds but a harried parent cardinal was still feeding a cowbird fledgling. 

Robins ate wild cherries.  A pileated woodpecker flew across the yard in the rain.  At least two hummers competed for their feeder.  I had dumped and refreshed the mealworms which pleased the wrens.  It also attracted two grackles. 

After the rain stopped, an adult skink chased another across the patio.  I saw others later, one at a time.  Butterflies appeared from wherever they'd hidden: a black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and two kinds of skipper.  A tattered female blue dasher took up a post on the top of the sunflower.  Saddlebags cruised overhead.  I discovered an orb spider in the spartina. 

The sun was hot in the early afternoon but clouds returned and by 4pm it was overcast again. On my way to pick blueberries I startled a blue jay.  There were no blueberries to pick, only green ones were left.  A goldfinch made numerous passes over the yard but I never saw it land.  A yellow crowned night heron preened on the dock.  A hummer fed on the Mexican sage.

Two great crested flycatchers joined the robins in the cherry tree, but not for cherries, I think. As I watched the flycatchers, it got too dark for photos though it was just after 5pm.  Thunder and lightning soon followed.  This time the rain was not gentle and wind gusts slammed it into the house. And it continued for hours. 

Blue sky

It must have rained again overnight because a breeze made it look like a sprinkler was on.  A goldfinch pair visited and the female worked on the sunflowers while the male stood guard.  Then Carolina wrens discovered that I refilled "their" feeder.  Otherwise not much occurred at breakfast. 

Later in the day, a titmouse and a downy woodpecker visited the feeder.  A hummer investigated every flower - lavender, rose, even hibiscus.  It came within inches of my face, which of course meant I couldn't photograph it.  It had a freckled throat.  A grackle and a brown thrasher hunted in the grass. 

A wide variety of dragonflies took advantage of all the insects encouraged by yesterday's rain.  A four spotted pennant used the pine tree for a perch and later a Halloween pennant found the same spot.  Many saddlebags stayed on the wing including these that were mating.  An amberwing lurked in the rue.  Blue dashers used the perches I put out.  With evening, the twelve spotted skimmers  took over, flying high and fast. 

I saw a tiger and a black swallowtail but only got photos of a cabbage white and a hairstreak. I rescued many beetles, a few wasps, an immature stink bug, and a robber fly that looked quite different floating on the water.  When I felt little feet on my neck I nearly drowned a mama wolf spider and her spiderlings, but I fished them out.  A lovely great golden digger wasp fed on the milkweed.  And there were fireflies to finish the day.

Clouds sailed across the sky all day, sometimes shading the sun and creating dramatic sunbeams.  Skinks ran around the patio but I didn't get any in focus.  Egrets and a great blue heron flew over the creek.  When I went to close off the pool steps the yellow crowned night heron was on the dock again.  The gladiolus put up a new flower spike.  Trumpet vine flowers were in bloom.  I'm glad to know the vine didn't die.  A bright, fat moon hid behind the trees at dusk.

Warmer

It was not so windy today.  The male goldfinch was back, alone.  Perhaps the female has begun nesting.  A downy woodpecker visited the feeder, as did titmice.  A grackle wandered around, then tried to eat seeds instead.  It was too heavy, but it frightened off a hummer.  A morning dove foraged under the gladiolus.  A blue jay lurked around the yard and came out into the sunshine for mealworms. 

A skink was up early.  A variegated fritillary butterfly seemed to be laying eggs.  Blue dashers hunted from the perches I put out for dragonflies.

A female towhee appeared while we were eating a late lunch.  She hopped away amazingly fast.  A great blue heron explored the dam outfall and an egret flew North in the blue sky.  The bald cardinal was back. 

When I rescued black ground beetles from the water, two of them bit me.  They couldn't break the skin but the pinch hurt.  So much for gratitude.  I startled a wolf spider into galloping across the surface of the water.  A damselfly had already drowned.  I saw a couple of fireflies keeping a low profile in the daytime.  The orchard spider's web looked all disorganized but the spider hung in there.  The hummer was wary of me but a titmouse was more preoccupied with ignoring its begging offspring.  The blue jay came back for another mealworm snack.  A great crested flycatcher popped around in the cherry.