Hot, gusty wind

A Carolina wren came fro breakfast and carried off a bark butter ball.  Then I was busy cooking.  At lunch time the osprey landed in its favorite spot in the pine tree (where I can't see it after it lands).  The blue jays were in the cherry tree again, but out of sight. I saw one hummer drive another away from the feeder. A couple of egrets passed overhead on their way home for the night.  

A squirrel struck a goofy pose on the feeder hanger and didn't even try to raid the feeder. One of the two new lavenders began blooming, fortunately since the older lavender stopped.  The wind hurried many cumulus clouds across the sky to the ENE.  Some looked like they might rain, but they didn't.  The clouds did serve as shade from the intense sunlight.  Toward evening a white glaze spread slowly Eastward across the sky as lower clouds hurried in the same direction. 

I found a small caterpillar (I think) on a violet leaf that I saw a variegated fritillary egging.  A black swallowtail laid eggs on the rue.  I also glimpsed what I thought was a snout butterfly on the mint.  Bees and wasps were delighted with the flowers.  Alas, so were the Japanese beetles with the roses and hibiscus.  A sidewalk tiger beetle dashed at me.  I found a small spider, probably a jumper, on a wall. 

The day long parade of dragonflies started with a bar winged skimmer.  A four spotted pennant was up atop the oak again.  The wind gusts moved the tree and blurred photos.  A female Needham's skimmer perched and later a male swooped over the deep end of the pool.  A  Halloween pennant used the topmost pine candle as a perch for hours, despite gusts that made it an amusement park ride.  As always, there were plenty of blue dashers perched near the ground.  A male widow skimmer paused briefly on a perch. In the evening, at least three 12 spotted skimmers zipper around the open air between the house and the trees.  That's when the Halloween pennant finally disappeared.  It's also when the cicadas finally tuned up.  And soon there were fireflies. 

Hot

Big, fluffy clouds flicked the switch on the sunlight occasionally, but it was hot, sticky, and windy.  A blue tailed skink was already up at breakfast.  The two Carolina wrens visited the mealworm feeder.  The hummer did not appear which I assume meant there were too many ants in the feeder.  K took it down to be cleaned.  K sprayed and removed a small paper wasp nest.  Later I saw a squirrel nibble on it and spit it out.  I hope it wasn't poisoned.

 Bugs are forever thumping into the windows, sounding bigger than they are.  And the wind causes leaves to flutter down, catching the edge of my vision.  Office distractions.  A large fly stuck to the window - I couldn't tell if it was a green head or deer fly, but it looked scary.

The wind grew very fierce in the afternoon.  Clouds were shoved East but the trees were bending to the North.  A sprinkle of rain dotted the concrete a little after 3pm and another an hour later.  Around that time an egret made its patrol past the bank.  The wind grounded most of the birds but swallows were flying.  I saw cabbage white butterflies, dragonflies, and wasps. 

I found two glass snails in the pool before something, maybe that fly, nipped my leg.  A hummer came and looked at the feeder's usual spot.  The lavender began blooming which might offer an alternative.  The Mexican sage was down to one flower.  Rain started up again around 6:30pm.  A great blue heron landed by the bank but flew off when I turned to look.

Heavy cloud cover brought twilight early and with it came fireflies, the first I've seen this year.  But after dark came a thunderstorm with hard rain that went on for hours.