Birdhouse

I didn't see anything at breakfast.  At lunch, the male red belly took an interest in barkbuter balls but I missed it, twice.  A mockingbird and a blue jay followed.  White throats ran around the patio.  The house finches got very passionate.  A Carolina wren sampled this and that.  A titmouse had seeds.  A female bluebird had a bath.  And I finally got the red belly.  

The first night heron of the year landed on the dock and promenaded up to the grass where it stepped off to stalk along the spartina.  And I was without the camera because we were hanging the birdhouse.  Later, I saw a heron behind the bushes later but I think it was a great blue heron.  A cabbage white flitted past.  The blue eyed grass bloomed.  

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Creek action

This was a lovely day, warm and sunny, and not too windy.  The creek was busy but the feeders were not.  I saw some bees, or perhaps yellow jackets, buzzing around the roses.  Trees were coloring up and beginning to lose leaves.  The solomon's seal turned hay-color.  Pelicans fished but I got no pictures.  A kingfisher landed on a dock post but saw me first and flew away.  Cormorants didn't care.  K cleaned the guano off the window.  

In the late afternoon, something plunged after a fish and, while the photos were overexposed, it looked to me like a black crowned night heron.  Then an egret flew across the creek.  Cormorants commuted to their roosts and sunset arrived at 5pm.  

 

Gorgeous day

An early Carolina wren enjoyed suet.  I hung fresh sugar water in case the North wind blew any hummingbirds into migration, but I didn't see any.  Then I poured out some barkbutter balls since no rain was forecast.  Titmice were thick on the feeders, along with the usual three species.  A downy hung under the suet which cast diamond-pattern shadows on its belly.  A blue jay finally noticed the barkbutter balls in the afternoon.  

The wind off Hurricane Erin was still strong and, together with the dark of the moon, the tide ran very high.  It pulled up dock boards and capsized the floating end section.  A yellow crowned night heron paced along the shoreline.  The sky was a sharp, clear blue without a hint of haze.  I rescued a young skink that had lost the tip of its tail.  While there was plenty of tree detritus in the water, the only other animal was a field cricket.  A larger, older skink soaked up sun on the top step.  

A 5th instar brown marmorated stinkbug nymph Halyomorpha halys crawled on a morning glory vine.  Speaking of which, the morning glories were starting to bloom.  While I was outside filling feeders, I caught the early sunlight on the Argiope web.  The smaller Argiope was transitioning to adult coloring.  A monarch found the butterfly milkweed.   I counted a dozen green seedpods at all stages but I couldn't find the monarch caterpillars.  Instead, I saw a big, fat black swallowtail caterpillar on the rue.  It looked full grown but was more orange than green.  The third Argiope had a new web too.  I imagine the wind cluttered the previous one, if it didn't tear it down.  I saw a dark butterfly and a snout but they got away.  

Yellow crowned night herons

The wind finally shifted around to the West and blew cumulus clouds out to the Atlantic.  In between the clouds, the sunshine felt strong.   Again, a Carolina wren was the early bird, seeking suet to start the day.  A blue jay was disappointed to find only crumbs.  A fledgling bluebird landed on the seed feeder but didn't partake.  A second wren joined the first.  Then a red bellied woodpecker wanted suet.  

To avoid a possible afternoon storm, I swam in the morning.  But first, I went looking for the horntail caterpillar and found a skink instead.  Also, yet another Argiope, this one still at the striped leg stage.  A red spotted purple butterfly floated near me as I swam and it rested on the volunteer redbud.  Of course when I got out it was gone.  In the afternoon, I saw a buckeye, a tiger swallowtail, and two monarchs.  A great blue skimmer and a blue dasher were the only dragonflies.  A skink hiked up the brick wall of the house.  It amazes me that their little legs are so strong and so fast. 

After lunch, hummers visited their feeder.  I think one also visited the roses at the bottom of the hill.  A cranky, molting crow paced the roof and scared the songbirds off the feeders.  When they flew back, a white breasted nuthatch landed under the suet.  After It had enough, it moved to the seeds.  Young titmice tried everything.  Blue jays discovered I'd added fresh barkbutter balls to the dish.  The juvenile cardinal discovered wild cherries.  I glimpsed a mockingbird in the dogwood.  It was probably after either dogwood berries or wild cherries.  A great crested flycatcher was mostly hidden by leaves.  

Then a yellow crowned night heron landed in the redwood.  It bounced in and out of view and it wasn't till they flew off that I realized I'd been seeing two of them, just never at the same moment.   Rain fell in the afternoon and left the air very humid.  

 

Buckeye

I found the Argiope again, closer to the azalea and not visible from indoors.  At lunch, a buckeye fed on the mountain mint.  So did an orange skipper and many bees and wasps.   When I went swimming, storm clouds gathered in the Southwest while the sun blazed and blue sky covered the North and East.  I saved some scarab beetles and a woodlouse hunter, but was too late for an infant skink, alas.  Dragonflies perched at different heights.  A tiger swallowtail danced over the mountain mint. 

Meanwhile, a night heron landed in the pine tree below the pool.  It was silhouetted against the sky but I believe it was a juvenile yellow crowned night heron.  A female hummer avoided me and the feeder when I first came outside, then while I was in the water I saw it return.  Brown headed nuthatches didn't care about my presence, but a finch asserted its place in the pecking order and sent a nuthatch flying.  A goldfinch got a drink. 

Blue water

The temperature was quite a bit cooler, though less windy, and the sun shone in a white sky.  A pair of Carolina wrens joined us for breakfast.  Blue jays showed up even before I put more barkbutter balls in the dish.  Birds rock just like kids on the swinging feeder dishes, but I think one blue jay was pumping the swing, not just rocking with it.  Another blue jay, up in a tree, appeared to have recently bathed, though I don't know where. 

I glimpsed a tiger swallowtail.  The dragonflies mostly disappeared.  A squirrel seemed to wonder if another orange would be forthcoming.  Finally the pool was opened but the power switch failed so the water started reverting to green.  A pair of geese escorted three goslings.  Two night herons argued about territory.   

Wet

When I went out to change the hummer feeder, I got sprinkled, but I don't think rain fell otherwise.  Still the sky was clouded, the air humid, and everything was wet.  A Carolina wren worked on the suet.  A titmouse came for seeds.  I only saw one mockingbird at a time.  The bluebird pair helped themselves to seeds. A crow pecked at fallen suet crumbs. 

A yellow crowned night heron perched on a downstream dock railing.  Another that may have been a juvenile flew past the window.  A crow hunted something in the spartina between the goose fences.  I couldn't get a clear view but the only thing that occurred to me was a mud crab.  The temperature only rose into the 70s.  

Egret and night heron

Again the high was in the low 80s under a pale, hazy sky.  The white throats were still here.  I saw several butterflies, a tiger swallowtail, a dark swallowtail (palamedes?), a small brown butterfly, cabbage whites, and possibly Spring azures, but got no photos.  Mockingbirds came for the buffet.  Bluebirds were mostly interested in seeds.  The red bellied male was back for more suet.  A blue jay was not happy with mealworms.  A Carolina wren stayed hidden in vegetation. 

A great egret stalked along the bulkhead in the wake of a yellow crowned night heron.  It made me realize the difference in size.  It seemed very odd that the two should be so close together and the big bird following the smaller, but I think they sought different prey.  The first blue flag irises opened.  Gladiolus leaves appeared.  The black and white cat prowled along the pool.  

Very froggy

Defying the meteorologists, the sun shone brightly until late afternoon. The creek glowed in reflected dawn light.  Pale blue morning glories peeped out of the vegetation.  It was breezier and not as warm as I would have liked.  The creek overflowed the dock again and flooded our "living shoreline."  After lunch, a yellow crowned night heron hunted along the edge of the flood.  All it found while I watched was some plastic debris.  

The black cat had a good roll in the sun but it didn't stay long.  I decided to get in the water but first I surveyed for frogs and saw three.  Two were sitting on the rescue stick while the third was riding the thermometer.   When I emptied the skimmer I found a fourth.  It appeared overinflated and it seemed lethargic which worried me.  The two on the stick were bigger than the other two.  I caught the frogs and put them outside but I think they jumped back in as soon as I left. 

I glimpsed a few butterflies but not to identify.  A mockingbird flew out of the beautyberry bush while I was in the water.  A few wasps looked for flowers on the mountain mint.  Soaring birds circled very high up.  A downy woodpecker had some seeds and some barkbutter balls.  Brown headed nuthatches stuck with seeds.  Unfortunately, clouds moved in while I was trying to drip dry and I got chilled. 

H O T

The brown thrasher wanted to know where was breakfast, i.e. barkbutter balls.  So did a Carolina wren.  Since the goldfinches wanted seeds, they were happy.  Both a white breasted and a brown headed nuthatch came for seeds. Mockingbirds and blue jays feasted on dogwood berries.  Hummers half emptied their feeder. 

There were two flowers on the hibiscus and I think they were the last.  I didn't see any buds. The spider looked fat.  I didn't see the other spider that was behind the azalea for more than a week.  I extracted a bullfrog from the skimmer.  The only skink I saw was ambling past the pool which I was in at the time.  K pointed out a yellow crowned night heron along the shoreline.  

Warmer

We had goldfinches for breakfast again.  The hibiscus continued to bloom and a rose bloomed too.  A scattering of leaves on one dogwood turned fall colors.  I had a mid day event which cut into my outdoor time.  On the way there and back I saw lots of dragonflies riding the asphalt thermals.  Some buzzards were doing the same only much higher.  

As soon as I got home I went straight into the pool.  I rescued a camel cricket and a fig beetle.  There was a frog but it mostly hid from me.  A blue dasher perched, waiting for its dinner to fly by.  Many black swallowtail caterpillars at all stages nibbled rue leaves.  I wonder if rue makes them taste bad the way milkweed does for monarchs?  The monarch caterpillars seemed fewer and bigger.  The wandering Argiope was still too close for comfort.  

A hummingbird kept watch over its feeder from a dead dogwood twig.  At supper, a yellow crowned night heron swooped onto a redwood branch.  A mockingbird checked for leftover barkbutter balls.  The goldfinches were frustrated by a miserly house finch. 

More beautiful weather

Another pleasant day of sunshine, breeze, low humidity.  The creek reflected noisy goings-on across from us.  K picked figs.  A profusion of hibiscus flowers opened.  I got my swim in the late afternoon.  A frog joined me but I rejected him and the same for a couple of spiders.  A half-grown skink was waiting under the lid of the skimmer.  I saw a full grown one on the planter out front and another on the pool coping.  A very little one scampered across the patio.  

The mountain mint entertained a gray hairstreak that obligingly opened its wings.  A camouflage looper looped its way across a flower head.  On the butterfly milkweed, three caterpillars chowed down on a seedpod.  There were bees and wasps, but fewer than earlier in the summer.  

The female downy glared at the hummer feeder and then settled for barkbutter balls.  The hummer or hummers paid no attention.  Then a yellow crowned night heron shot through the yard nearly hitting the hummer feeder.  And a red bellied woodpecker made a brief stop.  Blue jays and titmice made many visits to the feeders.  A dove landed on the feeder hanger.  A squirrel showed up with a warble on its back. 

Showers

A Carolina wren was on the seed feeder at breakfast.  Molting left it looking pretty scruffy.  Hummers were back but before the day was over they rejected the juice.  Fresh tomorrow!  The molting cardinal hunkered down on the seed feeder perch, looking more like a pirate than a cardinal.  I picked what looked like a window between rain bands to swim.  Two showers rained on me in half an hour.  I evicted a frog and K scared it back into the water.  I also saved yet another six-spotted green tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata, with no spots. 

Bell flowers hung from the ground cherry plants but one under the window was stripped of leaves.  I need to look for the caterpillar that was responsible.  Some Southern purple mint moths rested on mountain mint leaves.  Only two caterpillars were visible today but they were a lot bigger.  And there was something under a leaf that looked like a small brown caterpillar, not a monarch.  I thought a little blob of dead flowers on the mountain mint might be a Camouflaged Looper, Synchlora aerata.  The blog was moving.  Wasps and bees couldn't stay away from the mountain mint.  A yellow crowned night heron perched on a dock piling.  

H O T

The sun was intense despite shreds of cumulus blowing out of the Southwest.  A fierce wind whipped the trees and cast debris into the water.  The Carolina wren  was up early, looking for that good barkbutter.  There were only a few crumbs left.  I took more out later and blue jays were not far behind.  The wren returned as well.  Then a crow wanted a big beak full. 

The orchard spider moved near the front of the azalea which put the web at a difficult angle for the camera.  The little Argiope was refreshing the opaque part of its web.  A frayed silk thread dangled stretched between bare twigs at the top of the wild cherry.  The cherries were ripening but if we don't get rain they will be nothing but skin and pit.  I found another Argiope web, but it seemed to be uninhabited even though it was in good shape. 

I picked some blueberries in the morning while it was only in the 80s.  By lunch, the thermometer flickered between 101 and 102°.  A yellow crowned night heron flew over the house.  One blue jay chose seeds even though the perch slowly dropped from the bird's weight.  A dropped seed that germinated looked ready to harvest.  After leafing out and blooming, most of the rue shriveled and died from some unknown cause, maybe old age.  A Japanese beetle tasted a rose leaf.  The roses were chewed to pieces. 

Rough week

I tripped and made a mess of my leg.  And then there was an all-day conference.  Today was really the first day I was able to enjoy the outdoors.  I was fascinated yesterday by the orchard spider in the azalea outside the kitchen.  It doubled its size since I last noticed it.  It was hard to get a good angle on the critter.  Yesterday was also very windy and some bugs were blown against the windows.  

Today was breezy, warm and sunny, and just delightful outside.  The mountain mint was getting ready to bloom.  The gladiolus were competing with the roses for redness and the milkweed matched the daylilies for orange.There were yellow daylilies too.  And there were yellow goldfinches.  A male goldfinch and a male house finch got a little testy.  

Blue jays rejoiced that I refilled the barkbutter dishes.  One snatched a crop-full while I sat next to it.  A bluebird ate seeds.  A night heron flew over, changed its mind, and flew back.  A skink almost eluded me and a tiger swallowtail got completely away.  Bees and wasps were busy as always.  

Hot

I put barkbutter balls so we entertained blue jays for breakfast.  Or they entertained us.  The day was windy and cloudy and surprisingly hot.  A great blue skimmer chose one of the shorter perches.  He spent a lot of the time in the air.  The orange puffball-like slime mold seemed withered and shrunken.  As usual, lots of spiders walked on the water and I evicted a few.  I think the bumblebee I rescued was deceased.  A butterfly hung out on an oak leaf, sallying forth like a dragonfly.  I cannot imagine what prompted that behavior   

A yellow crowned night heron perched on the dock. A couple more herons flew downstream and the heron on the dock appeared to resent it.  It took off after the others and soon they came fleeing back.  The clouds looked a bit threatening but nothing came of it.  

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%. 

Signs of Spring

The sun shone and the creek shone back.   Starlings came early to finish off the suet.  A yellow rumped warbler hung around hoping for a chance at the suet.  Then a fish drive swept through.  It was a flock of red breasted mergansers again.  Either they were all female or the males were in winter drab.  I didn't see any fish, though - maybe they swallow them under water?  There were well over two dozen ducks.  A cormorant that joined the fun was distinctly larger.  A little while later the flock came straggling back downstream. 

A white throated sparrow perched on a dogwood branch.  A brown headed nuthatch visited the birdbath for a drink before seeds.  It was very picky and tossed many away.   A Carolina wren worked on the remnant of suet.  A mockingbird wandered around the pool cover, then took a turn at the suet.  

A blue jay wondered if I had refilled the dish feeders.  I hadn't.  Downy woodpeckers worked on the suet.  Red bellied woodpeckers appeared and disappeared without eating.  A pileated woodpecker made a brief inspection.  That motivated me to get the dishes refilled.  Later. K hung another block of suet.

After lunch the temperature reached 78 but there was a cool breeze.  I went out and watched insects.  There were lots of Polistes wasps harvesting wood pulp.  Carpenter and bumblebees were hunting nectar.  Cabbage whites also sought refreshment.  Later I saw a dark butterfly.  A squirrel ate tender oak leaves.  Rusty-red ants roamed the concrete looking for food, I suppose.  And then ... I saw a skink!  It was an adult with a regrown tail. 

A white breasted nuthatch came for seeds despite my proximity.   I snapped a picture of glimpsed movement and got a blue gray gnatcatcher!  Along the creek shore came a yellow crowned night heron, first this season.  It tread delicately through the goose deterrents. 

The sky was mostly clear but at sunset a small cloud picked up the orange light.  The newspaper today discussed the warm winter and prognostications for outdoor planting.  Ken Spencer said, "December, January and February — was a warm one. The average high was 2.2 degrees above normal; the average low, 3.7 degrees above normal; and the mean, 2.4 degrees above, according to the National Weather Service, Norfolk. All three months were above normal. The highest recorded temperature for the period was 77, on Jan. 26; the lowest low, 22 on Jan. 17. I counted 22 days in which the temperature was 32 or below. And of those, only 10 days were 28 or below, the weather service threshold for a hard freeze. Seven of those days came between Jan. 16 and 23. That was our winter."  He also spoke about the rain and wind, and no doubt wrote before this past week's drenching.  For gardening, he echoed the advice I posted a couple of days ago. 

Yellow crowned night heron

Great golden digger wasps enjoyed the mountain mint.  A black vulture circled high over the creek.  A black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and a fiery skipper visited.  But the monarch caterpillar disappeared.  I assisted a huge leaf-footed bug to escape the water. 

A yellow crowned night heron inspected the new shoreline.  A widow skimmer used the perch that the orchard spider had wrapped in sticky silk.   I wonder if the spider relocated?  A blue dasher obelisked on another perch.  

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Sticky buggy

Goldfinches checked on their sunflower at breakfast. Yesterday's hibiscus flowers hung like wet red laundry but there were fresh flowers.  The yellow cat was interested in something in the pool but the dog  escorted the unwanted feline from the premises.  Bluebirds hoped for mealworms, in vain.  A Carolina wren hunted in the dogwood. 

One turtle basked on the log.  A skink meandered around the patio.   A yellow crowned night heron flew upstream.  Two great blue herons chased each other up then back down stream. 

The venusta orchard spider was still using the dragonfly perch to anchor its web.  I tried to out-wait the mosquitoes, but they were still hungry and in my face in the pool.