Humid

While not especially hot, today was stuffy with humidity.  The hibiscus had another flower today, the third in a row.  Lots of cherries were on the ground and in the water, but I didn't see as many birds eating them.  I spotted a downy woodpecker doing chin-ups in the tree.  A catbird popped up on the fence.  Something that I think was the kingbird perched atop the redwood, briefly.  A hummer visited the feeder but didn't feed, so I will replace the sugar water tomorrow.  A Carolina wren was more satisfied with barkbutter balls and a brown headed nuthatch with seeds.  A crow hesitated, but finally ate K's peanuts.  A songbird chased a bigger bird into the trees too fast for me to react. 

I rescued three mama spiders and a very big scarab beetle, also smaller scarab and ground beetles.  The humidity brought dragonflies.  A female blue dasher used one of my perches.  A female great blue skimmer used another perch.  And prince baskettails zoomed overhead.  A tiger swallowtail and a small pale butterfly moved too fast for a picture.  I found a firefly under a gladiolus leaf.  A snail floated in the water but I suspect it was a land snail so I rescued it, maybe. 

Cherry pickers

A pair of Carolina wrens showed up at breakfast.  Because of the weather forecast and the evil fly I swam in the morning.  There were a good many May beetles needing rescue and one very small mama spider.  I glimpsed a butterfly but, surprisingly, no Odonata.  A skipper found the first flowers on the mountain mint.  An egret stalked along the bullkhead.  The crow came looking for treats.  

In the afternoon, birds feasted on the wild cherry.  I saw mockingbirds, chickadees, cardinals, and some I wasn't sure about, maybe an Eastern kingbird?  A bluebird looked around before joining the cherry pickers.  The recent rains plumped up the cherries which had been wizened and tough in the drought.  The blueberries seemed to be waiting for more encouragement.  Scientific American reported that there is a structure in plant cells that reacts to the sound of falling rain.  DEQ had not lifted the drought warning despite the recent rain. It still only accumulated to 2/3 of the average for the first half of the year.  Today's rain arrived around 3pm.  

Molting time

There were a lot of bird visitors today and lot of them looked run ragged.  I guess that when the offspring's appetites get big, cheap take-out from the bird feeders is welcome.  The goldfinches still appeared quite elegant - perhaps they haven't started nesting yet.  But the titmice were a molting mess and the pine warbler looked like he'd been used to scrub pots. 

Both white breasted and brown headed nuthatches came for seeds.  The mockingbirds flew back and forth diagonally across the back yard, cursing.  It seemed like they were headed for the blueberries but being thwarted.  And then I saw something new, an eastern kingbird.  It may have been attracted to the wild cherries, or to bugs attracted to the fruit. 

The weather was cloudier and not quite so hot.  Skinks seemed to prefer it.  Bees, wasps, skippers and snouts, a leatherwing beetle, and a female amberwing dragonfly all congregated on the mountain mint.  

The male hummingbird returned.  Cornell's Living Bird magazine had an article on how hummingbird feathers change color depending on their angle to the light.  A female also visited the feeder.  A buzzard soared against the clouds.