Dank

The hibiscus picked a poor day to bloom.  Rain slowly turned into drizzle.  The air was cool and damp and still.  Chickadees and titmice and occasional cardinals came for seeds.  The dish feeders stayed covered.  A hummingbird cussed out a chickadee.  The hummer visited both the milkweed and its feeder throughout the day.  A great blue heron landed up in the trees with a raspy honk.  A parade of squirrels leapt between the redwood and the hickory.  Some squirrels fed on either the immature seeds or the flower buds in the dogwood.  The Argiope was still hanging out in the azalea, but no sign of the orchard spider.  I didn't see any insects.  

Camera trap

The rain really lowered temperatures.  Apparently, it also caused the orchard spider to disappear.  Instead, I found an Argiope in the azalea and a messy funnel web in the camellia.  A skipper joined the bees and wasps.  Female slaty skimmer and blue dasher dragonflies kept watch.  A tiger swallowtail sailed around the trees.  A hummer discovered that I'd put out fresh sugar water.  A Carolina wren was hard to see in the dogwood.  

In the afternoon, a guy from the gray fox research project showed up to place a camera trap.  After reading about the project, I had filled out their form inviting them to do so.  The last time I saw a fox in the yard was before COVID, but we can hope.  The pool water was full of beetles and tree trash.  All week, I'd been seeing hackberry leaves attached to shattered galls.  Today an intact one was floating so I fetched it out for a photo.  There were actually two different galls by two different species of Pachypsylla, psyllids, a large brown ball and a small green nipple.   A widow skimmer stood guard on a garden stake.  The day was mostly sunny with a breeze from the Northeast that felt chilly on wet skin.  I saw a swallow flying but wasn't fast enough with the camera.  A heron watched me from atop a piling.  

A genius among squirrels

Crows cam looking for peanuts at breakfast.  Birds, and squirrels, continued to eat cherries, though fewer remain on the tree.  A very athletic squirrel hung by its toes from the feeder roof so that only part of its weight rested on the perch and thus did not trip the counterweight that closes access to the seed trough.  At least once, the toes lost their grip and the squirrel landed in the mulch.  But back up it went for another try.  Toward evening, a great blue heron perched on a dock piling.  

 

A committee of vultures

A little rain dotted the windows in the morning.  A flock of seven black and turkey vultures  landed in the back yard, wandered around, and drank from the pool puddle.  I was surprised to see they have white legs.  All this was closely observed by a great blue heron, maybe the one that chases away other herons.  Meanwhile pelicans flew over the creek watching for fish.  

Because of the rain, we left the dishes covered which frustrated the bluebirds.  The wren shared suet with a downy.  A bluebird moved on to the seed feeder so the wren did too.  White throats  and a song sparrow just stayed on the ground.  A myrtle warbler poked around the defunct watering can.  A white breasted nuthatch shared the seed feeder with a myrtle warbler.  Then a titmouse wanted seeds.  A bedraggled pine warbler aimed for suet but a wren was already eating.  The warbler grieved over the covered barkbutter and mealworms.  It finally got some suet.  

The sky cleared at mid day and I uncovered the dish feeders.  A brown thrasher soon showed up.  Bluebirds followed, then white throats.  Across the creek, a heron was on watch.  I ran around on errands after lunch.  I saw people in shirtsleeves, the day was so warm.  

Temperature dropping

A dusting of snow lay on the concrete, evidence that the ground was frozen.  Wind whipped the trees and passing clouds made the sunlight blink.  The birds went through a lot of food.  A Carolina wren woke up hungry.  Then a titmouse came for seeds.  White throats foraged in the frozen mulch.  Three bluebirds watched from the wild cherry.  

Out on the creek, I saw herring gulls and a hoodie drake.  A handful of buffleheads flew downstream and a pelican flew upstream and landed on the dock.  Of course there were mallards.  A great blue heron strutted by with its catch.  

The red bellied woodpecker joined us for lunch.   Bluebirds and white throats appreciated the barkbutter refill.  A mockingbird lurked in a dogwood, seeming upset at the competition.  Then a male Baltimore oriole brightened the jelly dish.  A blue jay drank from the pool puddle.  That water is the last to freeze.  A white breasted nuthatch ate barkbutter balls.  The female oriole showed up and made the male wait for jelly.  Two orioles and several warblers consume it fast.  A myrtle warbler wasted energy chasing other warblers away from food.  

 

Undertakers' converntion

The red bellied woodpecker was up early for suet.  Out on the creek, herring and ring bill gulls were fishing along with one bufflehead drake.  Pelicans flew over and the resident GBH chased another away.  Bluebirds ate seeds while a white throat complained that the barkbutter dish was empty.  Myrtle warblers got aggressive.  Clouds moved in.  A flock of vultures settled in the trees.  Bluebirds ignored them because I had refilled the dish.  Carolina wrens were pleased too.  A white breasted nuthatch ate seeds. The downy ate suet.  

Graying

The General Assembly will consider a bill to designate the brown-belted bumblebee Bombus griseocollis as the official Virginia native pollinator.  But since it's not pollinating season, I was more cheered by the Carolina wren, faithful to the barkbutter dish.  A red bellied woodpecker marched along a branch.  Morning was sunny with passing clouds.  The day grew warm and afternoon skies were gray as the turbid water in the creek.  A great blue heron chased another away.  A pelican flew toward me but I forgot I'd turned the camera off.  

Squirrel Appreciation Day

I skipped yesterday because I had so little to report.   A titmouse and a cardinal ate barkbutter balls.  A Carolina wren ate suet.  White throats wandered around the patio.  The sky was intensely blue.  

Light frost whitened the dead vegetation and skins of ice floated on the creek.   The sun's angle was finally high enough to catch the seedheads of mountain mint.  I tried to celebrate their day, but the squirrels seemed uninterested.  The day was sunny with a West wind.  

Bluebirds liked the mealworms but were back lighted at lunch.  As usual, white throats messed around in the dry leaves, no longer frosted.  Titmice were hungry for everything but had to compete with house finches and chickadees.  Pine warblers worked on the suet and got thirsty.  Eventually a Carolina wren arrived.  I saw a great blue heron land in a tree behind a lot of crisscrossing branches.  There were pelicans as well.  

Sunny but not warm

The sun was back today after 2/3 of an inch of rain yesterday.  The creek work continued.  I saw a pelican and a great blue heron in flight but not when I could get a picture.  A Carolina wren was glad the barkbutter balls were available again, but they disappeared fast.  A shorter-haired yellow cat watched the birds for a moment.  I had an early meeting, then more meetings.  

Bluebirds came for lunch.  Pine warblers joined them.  Brown headed nuthatches plundered the seeds.  A white throat cleaned up the barkbutter dish and a titmouse hunted crumbs.  A myrtle warbler was sad over the empty dish.  Then a brown headed cowbird pair came to see what was on offer but left disappointed.  And I left for yet another meeting.  

 

What died?

A myrtle warbler was an early riser.  Quarreling house finches were right behind.  Then I had to get ready for a presentation.  I glimpsed a great blue heron flying behind me reflected in the computer screen.  At lunch a white throated sparrow ate barkbutter balls.  The work continued on the creek though the tide was very low.  The sky had been blue at breakfast but clouds blanketed it intermittently during the day.  Four vultures circled over the lake in front of twisted clouds.  One was much higher and I thought it might be a black vulture.  

Predators

The sun was back but a skin of ice floated on the creek at breakfast.  As usual, the chill made birds hungry.  A Carolina wren started with suet where it was joined by an orange crowned warbler.  Meanwhile, blue jays cleaned out the barkbutter balls.  The orange cat wandered through but didn't come close.  A goldfinch was tempted by the suet but didn't succumb.  The red belly returned.  A myrtle warbler scurried around the patio and finally got a chance at the empty dish.  The wren was disappointed too and glared at me.  Even a cardinal, a bluebird, and warbler had to see for themselves that it was empty.  

White throats stayed on terra firma.  A great blue heron landed in the pines.  Pretty soon another came along and chased it off.   A goldfinch tried mountain mint seeds.  A second Carolina wren joined the first.  I refilled the dish, this time with mealworms.  At lunch, we saw another Cooper's hawk.  It was sitting on the fence so I had a much better view, but of its back.   

Once the hawk flew, hungry songbirds returned starting with pine warblers.  Bluebirds followed.  Brown headed nuthatches went after sunflower seeds.  The female oriole was attracted by the mealworms.  A myrtle warbler looked into grape jelly.  One yellow rumped warbler had some yellow on its throat like it might be a mix of myrtle and Audubon varieties.  The red belly came back but he also went prospecting up the trunk of a dogwood.  

Bufflehead drakes bobbed up and dived in the creek after the ice was gone.  I think there were three of them.  They kept it up as the sun went down.  

 

Brown creeper!

I was gone during the rainy morning.  At lunch I saw a Carolina wren and a white throated sparrow.  During my early afternoon meeting flying egrets reflected on the computer screen.  A great blue heron perched on one of the dock pilings.  I also saw a little bird hopping up the trunk of the redwood, and yes, it was a brown creeper!  It investigated a knothole.  Some birds only like a dull gray day.  

Speaking of herons, one landed on the dock with a quite large fish.  It tried its best to swallow the thing, but the fish was too big.  Meanwhile, a pelican paddled beside the dock.  I don't know if the heron robbed it or if it was hoping the heron might drop the fish into the water.  The pelican gave up and the heron did drop the fish, but on the dock.  The heron left it there and went stalking along the water's edge.  

High wind

Morning began wet with the temperature in the mid 60s.  The sky was clear and then a menacing cloud blew in from the Northwest.  Eventually the blue sky returned but with strong wind gusts.  The warmth produced bugs for birds so they didn't have to fight the wind to get to the feeders.  I saw hoodies on the creek.  A great blue heron flew over.  A Carolina wren visited the barkbutter balls.  

Many feeder birds

The dredge came around the bend below the dam, so naturally waterfowl disappeared.  The water looked very silty though the dark gray sky may have been part of the reason.  Since the rain had stopped, I uncovered the dishes and that drew birds.  A Carolina wren picked over the mealworms.  Then a pine warbler selected long ones, like french fries.  A pair of bluebirds were next.  Meanwhile a goldfinch got a drink.  A brown thrasher landed briefly on the dish.  Blue jays acted skittish and didn't want to leave the trees.  

Several pairs of house finches argued precedence at the seed feeder.  A white throated sparrow was tempted off the ground, but by then the mealworms were gone.  A titmouse was also disappointed.  I spotted a yellow rumped warbler up in the trees.  A brown headed nuthatch ignored the house finches.  Finally a blue jay flew down but it too was disappointed.  A junco foraged around the birdbath.  A titmouse in the dogwood ate something that looked like a  dead leaf rolled around a cocoon.  Too many twigs were in the way to be sure.  

I caught a squirrel leaping.  After the dredge stopped, I saw Canada Geese and a great blue heron.  

 

Fishing

The sun shone, but a cold wind kept me inside.  Small clouds drifted across the blue sky.  I glimpsed the first bufflehead of the Fall migration.  Unfortunately it was just passing behind a tree and it didn't reappear.  The feeders were busy.  Cardinals, chickadees, and titmice wanted seeds.  A pine warbler ate barkbutter balls and an orange crowned warbler ate jelly.  Then a female oriole had some jelly and a drink.  

A female kingfisher rested on the back of the dock bench.   A different yellow cat showed up on the patio.  It wasn't as long-haired as the other.  In the late afternoon, a fishing frenzy began with cormorants, gulls, and great egrets.  One great blue heron and a couple of crows followed the action.  I counted a couple dozen egrets resting in the pines after fishing.  Oddly, I didn't see any fishing ducks  

Midday shower

The morning shifted between sun and clouds, then there was a shower right after lunch.  Soon the sun was back and the temperature  went up to 70.  I saw a great blue heron, some Canada geese, and of course cormorants.  A big flock of small birds flew over the lake.  In the late afternoon, the sky was clear and I got some pictures of pink clouds and the crescent moon.  

Catching up

So little seemed to be happening that I skipped several days.  The weather was sunny but with a chilly North wind.  Last night, two little moths were drawn by inside light to cling to the window.  Since today was warmer, I spent the afternoon outside.  The sky was very blue with a few cirrus wisps.  

The sheet web spider seemed to have expanded its snare but I could not persuade the spider to appear.  The web caught a lot of non-food debris.  The mabel orchard spider was quite visible and active.  Its legs look green in the shade but black in the sun.  I also found a very small orb in the rosebush.  A cloudless sulphur flitted across the yard.  Even though butterflies appear to be moving without haste, they are very hard to photograph when they don't land.  I think the other flying insects I saw were wasps.  

A partially opened moonflower seemed stuck.  The moonflowers waited out the chilly evenings.  The beautyberries were at their peak.  The Siberian bugloss seemed to have finished blooming.  The saltbush seed fluff blew everywhere but the milkweed seed comas were not persuaded.  The hickory joined the dogwood in fall colors.  A bud appeared on the yellow rose.  I could hear a blue jay and crows but never saw them or what they were yelling about.  Maybe the black cat I saw later pausing below the steps to scratch?

A squirrel carried on with its tail, prompting me to wonder if it was in heat and trying to spread the scent.  Later I saw a pair of squirrels play-chasing up and down the redwood trunk, but I don't know if the same squirrel was involved.   A great blue heron grew upset with the disturbance.  I saw quite a few gulls or terns, not sure which, but they appeared small and white.    A cormorant paddled downstream.  Mallards paddled up, down, and across the water.  As sunset neared, a great blue heron stood on one of the dock posts.  

Water birds

Sunshine was promised but it didn't arrive till lunch.  Two moonflowers were slowly folding up.  I don't think any of the moonflowers have been fertilized.  I saw a pair of mallards but let them go without a picture since I got that nice one the other day of the female rising up and flapping herself.  Then I spotted a kingfisher on one of the dock posts, but unfortunately the photos were overexposed so I don't know if it was male or female.  A great blue heron seemed agitated.  It put on a threat display across the creek, but then flew to our side.  

 

Dark butterflies

The sun shone.  Two female hummers showed up at their feeder and the chase was on.  A Carolina wren craved suet and a titmouse did too.  

I did glimpse an orange butterfly and later a monarch, but the dark ones stole the show.  A spicebush swallowtail tried to get nectar from a rose.  A black swallowtail made the rounds, returning to the rue where I found the caterpillars and the chrysalis again.  I found the monarch caterpillar as well.  Red spotted purples danced over the water, dipping down to touch it, then hanging off the side, resting on the concrete, decorating the trees, and fluttering every which way.  

All three spiders were prospering.  I fished a centipede and a couple of millipedes out of the water.  One millipede revived immediately and hustled away.  The centipede moved so I assume it survived, unless the hot concrete killed it.  The other millipede rolled itself up and I don't know if that was a good or bad sign.  In the evening, a great blue heron fished from the neighbors' floating dock as ours was upended by Erin.  

 

Cloudy

The wind ruffled feathers as a great blue heron perched on a dock piling.  I saw a little azure flitting around the beautyberry.  It might be what ate the leaves off one branch.  More berries turned red.  I swam, and disposed of a very dead skink, despite dark clouds that discouraged lingering.  The spiders each had a snack wrapped up.  I startled a Carolina wren on the patio.  After I put out fresh hummer juice, a female appeared.