Too much running around

Yesterday the money plant pods were fully dried and ready to disperse seeds.  A green pod appeared on the milkweed.  The sky was mostly cloudy.  I saw a young rabbit on my way home. Today, instead, I saw an egret perched on something sticking up out of Pretty Lake.  

At home, a Carolina wren visited the glass dish.  A mockingbird followed but the crow stuck to the easy pickings off the patio.  I rescued many beetles but left alone a yellow fly, a bit bigger than a housefly but the same shape.  The New England aster began to bloom and there were tiny pink buds on the beautyberry and the mountain mint.  I saw a skink but it hid behind foliage.  Wasps were busy.  

March wind

A white throat started the day with barkbutter balls.  A blue jay was next, then a Carolina wren.  And then the voracious starlings showed up.  The wren moved over to the suet.  Chilly and gusty wind didn't discourage the starlings, alas.  Eight or ten of them attacked the suet, the barkbutter balls, and each other. White throats ate what fell.  Cardinals courted, doves foraged, and orioles ate jelly.  

Some of the white throats were a molting mess.  The pine warbler was back for more suet.  A downy ate seeds as did bluebirds.  A myrtle warbler also indulged in jelly.  The suet nearly disappeared during the day but a wren found a few bites.  Lots of money plant flowers opened so that's something for hungry nectar feeders.   

 

End of the hear wave

A myrtle warbler breakfasted on barkbutter balls.  Then three starlings argued about who would eat first.  A white throat headed for the mulch to look for seeds.  A blue jay followed the starlings.  A different myrtle warbler tried the jelly.  One white throat appeared to be molting and looked a mess.  I saw an orange butterfly about the size of a cabbage white.

The sun was still bright at lunch.  Afterward I took the camera to the front yard.  Pollinators were busy around the jessamine but too fast for me to photograph.   The bumblebees buzz-pollinating the blueberries were a little slower.  Clouds rolled through and the wind made 70° feel a little chilly.  

I spotted some money plant flowers.   The birds stayed away while I was outside but showed up as soon as I came in.  Bluebirds and the red bellied woodpecker scarcely waited for the door to close.  A mockingbird came but by then the barkbutter dish was empty so it headed for the jelly.  I hadn't refilled the barkbutter balls because rain was predicted.  Around 4pm the sky darkened and the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping.  A rain shower passed through around 5:30pm but hardly wetted the birdbath.  A very red sunset glowed through the trees.  

Caterpillars

Suddenly four caterpillars appeared on the milkweed.  Two great egrets had a territorial dispute which the camera missed.  A belated money plant kept opening small flowers.  I made my daily check of the chrysalis and located the four black swallowtail caterpillars.  The rue did not look healthy so my fingers are crossed that it lasts long enough for them to pupate.  

A tiger swallowtail swooped past the yard.  A greenhouse millipede pretended to be a branch stub on a floating twig.  I rescued it without dislodging it and got some photos.  Spittlebugs infested the rosemary.  Again a long-legged fly wandered around the morning glory leaves.  I could only find two of the three Argiopes.  A drain fly shared the shower and, no, I did not have a camera with me.  

Triple digits

Again, I swam before the heat of the day.  More beetles clung to windblown debris in the water.  I also fished out a living queen ant, very carefully.  I'd been seeing drowned queens but this one was still swimming.  All three Argiope spiders were thriving.  The purple asters were gorgeous.  The lichens on the bench enjoyed the rain and sun.  An Asiatic dayflower bloomed.  Coral lilies made red bead-like seeds.  The ruffled daylily continued to bloom.  The sakaki flowers emitted a wonderful fragrance.  

Whatever the National Weather Service recorded, our outdoor thermometer read 100°.  The wind made it bearable, barely.  The butterfly milkweed stopped blooming.  Its foliage looked lush and not chewed by any caterpillars, alas.  The mountain mint attracted wasps but thus far no butterflies.  Money plant pods looked about ready to disperse seeds.  I thought I saw something on a floating leaf and, sure enough, a damselfly perched there.  My best guess was an immature female Eastern forktail Ischnura verticalis. 

Very warm

The creek shown with reflections in the early morning though the tide was very low.  White throats were up to their usual mulch kicking.  The sky was hazy but I spotted an eagle flying very high.  The pair of wrens lunched with us.  The money plants were nearly done flowering and were busy making pods.  Flower spikes on the wild cherry looked like an explosion.  A little black beetle with big eyes scuttled around the patio.  A Polistes wasp harvested plant fibers.  The wind was very strong.  An egret preened on a dock post.  Mockingbirds visited the barkbutter balls.  Then a pileated female came for suet.  

Pileated woodpecker

A brown headed nuthatch started the day.  A myrtle warbler came for suet.  The dove was back foraging with the white throats.  A pair of bluebirds made repeated forays for seeds.  They also sought water from the pool cover so I suspect the ant moat was dry.  The money plants started to bloom.  The temperature climbed into the 80s and was still in the mid 70s at 8pm. 

Clearly the pileateds did not like us leaving the plastic on the suet because they have not visited since we did that to discourage the starlings.  Today the male gave us another chance.  He seemed brighter red than we remembered.  Perhaps he was trying to get the female to forgive him for being rude all Winter? 

Towhee

We went to a picnic today and had lovely weather for it - sunny, breezy, low humidity, no bugs.  That last was observed by K.  There was lots of clover but only one honeybee.  We suspect the city sprayed the dickens out of the park.   When we got home, I noticed a new daylily had begun blooming.  There were still lots of orange daylilies.  A yellow crowned night heron chose a dock piling as a place to preen.  

Toward evening as I ate supper, a hummer visited the feeder.  Another rosebud started to open.  The butterfly milkweed buds opened but the mountain mint wasn't quite ready.  The topmost leaves turned pale but there weren't any flower heads yet.  As I was about to get up and put things away, a male towhee showed up.  He puttered and fidgeted all around the steps and under the feeder and around the birdbath.  He was fairly successful at finding seeds.  The seedpods on the money plant looked like gold coins in the evening light.  

It has been a wet year thus far.  For the first five months of 2024, we were 6" above average, about 34%. 

Even hotter

The first bird, and the last, of the day was the pileated woodpecker.  A frazzled downy woodpecker followed her on the suet.  Bluebirds soon arrived.  I also saw a blue jay, a mockingbird, and a brown headed nuthatch.

The roses were bowed by the rain.  I saw the first hibiscus sprout.  Wild cherries and money pods were filling out.  Wasps feasted on the rue.  I startled a couple of skinks.  

The sight of 87° on the thermometer persuaded me to try wading in the pool.  I believe I could have worn a swimsuit and gone all the way in.  Instead, I rescued a honeybee and a couple of wasps.  

A great blue heron surveyed the creek from atop one of the dock posts.  

88 Degrees

That's what the thermometer showed when I went out to plant seeds.  I faded fast.  But before that I saw another skink and two butterflies, a black swallowtail and a cabbage white.  The dog saw an egret and announced his displeasure.  I don't think he would have noticed it if it hadn't been in flight.  

Bumblebees were thick, especially on the money plants, and one tried to intimidate me but I knew it was bluffing.  Birds, however, were scarce.  For all the black swallowtail egg laying, I couldn't find any caterpillars yet.  The yellow rose opened and a coral lily bloomed.  A black ground beetle spread his hard front wings but didn't fly.  This early heat has plants and animals out of sync. 

Still windy

It was still quite windy and much colder under an intensely blue sky.   A female bluebird was up early collecting nesting material.  A blue jay only wanted to collect breakfast.  The cardinals were courting.  A starling sparkled in the morning sunlight.  The new leaves on the oak shimmered in the wind and sun.  Bumblebees visited the money plant flowers.  Juncos were still here but I didn't see the orioles.  Hickory buds swelled but didn't open yet.  On the lake, an egret and a few turtles warmed up in the late afternoon.  

Astronomy

Money plants began flowering.  Bluebirds kept an eye on the feeders.  A male red bellied woodpecker ate suet, followed by a pair of downy woodpeckers.  Blue jays flew around the trees.  A clump of tent caterpillars built an nest in the wild cherry.  A brown headed nuthatch was thirsty.  The azaleas were not waiting for April to bloom.  

The yellow cat prowled around the pool.  Brown headed nuthatches ignored it.   A rumpled, molting oriole ate barkbutter balls.  Turtles enjoyed the pleasant temperature and didn't mind the rain.  The redwood began to leaf out.  The dog was very sick and we feared for him but a vet was reassuring. 

By evening the sky was hazy and streaked with clouds but they formed a gorgeous sunset.  An egret or heron flew over head. As twilight darkened, I was able to find two of the five planets that were supposed to be lined up.  I think they were Venus and Mars.  A black cat with white feet dashed past me.  We are getting overrun with cats. 

Frost

There was a pretty rime of ice on the money plant and mountain mint leaves but I don't think anything was killed.  The creek was glassy in the early light and the day warmed pretty quickly.  The sky was intensely blue though there were contrail streaks.  Male flowers on the pines joined the oaks in gilding surfaces with pollen.  Money plants formed buds and violets bloomed.  Azaleas began to flower but the blueberry buds would not be rushed. 

I spotted a pied-bill grebe on the creek but it dived and anyway vegetation fooled the camera focus.  A great blue heron supervised the turtles on the lake.  A great egret fished below the dam. 

Starlings took over the dish feeders.  A mockingbird drank from the birdbath.  Orioles savored the jelly.  in the bushes across the pool, two brown thrashers chased each other but I got no pictures.  Bluebirds eventually got some food.  A myrtle warbler foraged in the birdbath which had dried out during the day.  Then it hovered to peck suet.  Strange bird. 

Bees inspecting the rue for flowers were disappointed.  A black swallowtail only cared about the rue leaves that would feed caterpillars.  

Too busy

No swim and hardly any outdoor time.  If the dog had not insisted, I might not have gone outside at all.  And it was a beautiful day.  I took a picture of the fungus, the money plant seedpods, and dogwood berries. 

Skinks

In the morning a crane fly clung to the window and a small moth did the same in the night.  In between we went to the plant sale at NBG.  I took the camera and saw a dragonfly but it never stopped.  We came home with native columbine, a red aster, dwarf red porterweed, and native honeysuckle that need to be planted.  

A mockingbird all but knocked on the door asking for more suet.  Bluebirds noticed when I stirred the barkbutter dish so the balls rose above the broken meal.  A brown thrasher and a blue jay also paid attention.  Brown headed nuthatches didn't care as long as there were sunflower seeds. 

A little blue tailed skink started out of the vegetation, then panicked and ran back.  A bigger one, but still blue in the tail, climbed the post, then thought the better of it.  An adult scolded it.  The adult skinks were all red in the face and feeling feisty.  A couple of chases ensued.  

An orange butterfly escaped the camera.  It might have been a pearl crescent or a variegated fritillary.  And of course there were cabbage whites.  An attractive paper wasp lit on the rue

Sparse leaves appeared on the beautyberry.  Green seedpods covered the money plants.  The dogwoods were done flowering and the azaleas past their peak.  The yellow rose had a bud.  

First dragonfly

Despite the fact that the feeder perch would hold at least four of them, a chickadee and a nuthatch didn't feel like sharing.   A pair of goldfinches briefly checked on the seed feeder and decided to go elsewhere for breakfast.  I've noticed that they are more picky than other birds.  Starlings showed up for suet.   Blue jays were around but never out in the open. 

After lunch, I went outside to listen to the birds.  I had a hard time spotting the singers I could hear.  A wren buzzed, a red bellied woodpecker hammered and croaked, a mockingbird ran through his repertoire, others I couldn't identify.   I think the woodpecker was fussing because I was too close to the feeders for his comfort.  A brown headed cowbird male perched in the pecan, but I don't know if it sang. 

The dragonfly was about the size of a pennant, smaller than a skimmer, with unmarked wings and a dark body.  It was zigzagging on a gusty breeze and never perched, so no photo.  I also saw another big black beetle, another burrowing bee, and an earwig, I think, with a red head and pale thorax.  A tiny, white spider tried to get inside the camera.  

The azaleas were at their peak.  Money plants were already making seedpods.  Wood hyacinths and violets added blue and white to the pink azaleas and money plants.  One of the wood hyacinths came up pale pink.  The rue was beginning to flower as was one blue eyed grass plant.  Coral lilies started blooming a couple of weeks ago.  This week the Solomon's seal shot out of the ground and immediately started making flowers.

An egret sauntered past oysters at low tide.  The green between its beak and eye showed it was in the mood to breed.  A goose and a mallard drake were the only other water birds I saw.  A big fish jumped anyway.  I went back outside after dark because the temperature was so pleasant.  The moon and planets weren't visible. 

March gale

The creek was too disturbed by the Southwest wind to do more than bounce light.  Some dogwood buds had completely opened, others were in the process.  I refilled one dish of barkbutter balls since we seem to be past rain for a few days.  I also put out jelly in the forlorn hope that a passing oriole might partake..  Big bees were very interested in that.  I thought I saw a dragonfly but it may have been a queen bee. 

Bluebirds braved the wind for barkbutter balls. Myrtle warblers seemed more thirsty than hungry.  A skink ran across the patio at lunch, but I got no picture.  By then it was 79°.  I never saw the thermometer get to 80° though.  Leaf holdouts were torn off their twigs and tossed high and low.  Dark clouds raced across the sky without spilling a drop.  But the ant moat sloshed over.  

A black swallowtail flitted around the rue.  Some money plants were already in flower.  I saw the oak tree catch a plastic bag.  The camera was more than usually confused by foreground and background, and managed to miss most of the few birds that weren't hiding from the wind.  The wind dropped by twilight, so the dog and I enjoyed the smells of the night air.  

April flowers

The daffodils were nearly finished, but blue hyacinths and azaleas had begun to bloom and the Carolina jessamine and the money plant were still going strong.  The witch hazel looked like it was recovering from its drastic pruning.  Cilantro had already bolted.  And the pecan buds burst.  I planted some more seeds.  But I didn't do much because I wasn't feeling well. 

The Carolina wren wanted some suet.  A brown thrasher scampered around the patio, seeming to have difficulty making up its mind.  

Chilly

The front that passed through in the night brought the temperature back into the normal range.   There wasn't much left of the suet.  A brown thrasher made an effort to reach the remainder.  As usual, blue jays went after the barkbutter balls. That's what the male red bellied woodpecker chose too. 

A yellow rumped warbler sat on the seed feeder hanger pretending it wasn't after suet.  A male bluebird surveyed the breakfast scene.  Below the feeders, the money plant was in full bloom.  A mourning dove puttered around the patio.  A young pelican flew upstream.  The white throated sparrow with the scarred eye was still around.  At supper, K hung fresh suet.

Thunder and lightning

Rain started up again early and turned into a thunderstorm before we finished breakfast.   When the rain ended, the temperature climbed past 80.  The heat had flowers opening or wilting.  The yellow daffodils were spent but the white narcissus with yellow centers opened.  A young pelican perched on a dock piling, apparently unconcerned about lightning.  A female hooded merganser paddled by. 

Both the oak and the wild cherry were leafing out.  Dogwood blossoms were open but still green.  A feral peach sapling was loaded with pink flowers.  And those flower spikes I discovered on the money plant had flowers today. 

A yellow rumped warbler visited the sagging suet.  (The heat got to it.)  Another watched enviously.  A gusty wind made whitecaps on the creek.  The wind  hustled the clouds along and tore holes for the sun to shine through.  I planted wildflower seeds and got very hot and sticky.  

Turtles crowded the basking logs.  Bees and wasps cruised around looking for the wherewithal to set up housekeeping.  A lone goose with one wing out of place cropped grass by the shoreline.  Another young pelican fished quite successfully.  The predicted storm held off till well after dark.