A hot week

Yesterday was still hot.  A pine warbler considered the barkbutter balls.  Then blue jays arrived, and white throats.  K spilled some on the patio for a crow.  The pines and oaks shed pollen.   Flower bud spikes appeared on the wild cherry.  

Today was supposedly the last of the heatwave.  Azaleas opened but jonquils withered.  A cabbage white flitted through the vegetation.  A white throat checked to see if the dish had been refilled.  Two more hopped around in a dogwood.  Another perched by the fence.  Blue jays noticed when I refilled the dish.  

Hot sun

The song sparrow came early to forage.   A myrtle warbler was disappointed that the glass dish was empty.  A bluebird found seeds in the feeder.  A white throat wandered the patio.  A brown thrasher hoped for barkbutter but the dish was still empty.  I did refill it after breakfast.  A downy ate seeds in lieu of suet since that was empty too.  

It was at least 85° this afternoon, and sunny.  Paper wasps were flying, along with a cabbage white.  The squirrel with the light spot on its back came close and sniffed my toes.  I guess I passed inspection.  A brown thrasher watched from the maple.  Bluebirds and blue jays were skittish but wanted barkbutter balls.  Lots of sparrows scurried around.  A mixed group of white throats and house finches drank from the pool puddle.

The oaks were in full bloom, mating with the wind.  A squirrel was feeding on the pollen.  The volunteer domestic cherry had flowers though the wild cherry was leafing out before blooming.  

Pelican

Yesterday, a pelican fished in the creek but I missed getting a picture because at first I assumed I was seeing a heron fly past.  But when it plunged, I knew better.  It looked quite brown to me so maybe it was young.  Birds flitted among the trees but I couldn't identify them or catch them on camera.  House finches visited the feeder which was nearly empty.  Scattered leaves began to turn on the oak and the maple.  Today all I saw were mallards and cormorants.  The morning sky was very blue but later it grew hazy and then became streaked with clouds.  

 

Sunshine

White throats cleaned the barkbutter dish.  The male red bellied woodpecker plugged away at the suet.  A pair of mockingbirds visited, one had suet, the other jelly.  A miserable-looking, molting myrtle warbler also had jelly.  The chipping sparrow was back and this time it got a turn at the seeds.  It also foraged on the patio.  A Carolina wren got a turn at the suet.  Bluebirds chose seeds.  A male cardinal investigated the jelly.  A dove joined the foraging team.  A blue jay and a bluebird checked out the pool puddles. 

The unfolding hickory leaves looked like green origami.  The oak leaves were fully formed but still looked tender.  

Woodpecker trio

Blue jays were happy I finally got around to refilling the barkbutter dish. In fact, they mus have posted a sentinel to keep watch.  The white throats were beginning to look ragged, molting for the breeding season, I suppose.  The male pine flowers have been spewing pollen all week but I finally saw some female flowers emerging.   They're the ones sometimes called candles.  The oak flowers had turned brown and were dropping. 

The pileated flew up to the post while I was outside and though I didn't move the bird spooked, so no photo.  After I came back in, a red belly arrived, then a downy.   The downy went for seeds since the bigger red belly wanted suet.  He looked different from the red belly male that I saw before.  This one hasn't much red on his belly.  The day was hot as predicted, up in the 80s again, but there was sunshine because the overcast was very thin.

A small dark butterfly eluded me as it fed and flitted.  Then I was fooled into thinking I saw a new bug when it was a violet bobbing in the breeze.  Somewhat later, a cabbage white did a good imitation of a falling dogwood petal.  A skink with a very red head sauntered along the step wall.  

Cooler

The temperature dropped over night and rain fell at some point.  More clouds than sun kept the day a seasonable temperature.  Although I put out barkbutter balls the birds did not show a lot of enthusiasm.  I missed getting a picture of a brown headed nuthatch.  Blue jays, a myrtle warbler, and a bluebird ate some barkbutter balls.  White throats stayed busy.  The pines were covered with male flowers, gilding everything with pollen.  The oak flower strings began to brown and rosy miniature leaves poked out above.

Windy

Rain fell overnight and so did the temperature.  In the morning, the wind had a sharp edge.  The sky was overcast at first but soon cleared.  An odd-looking bluebird saw on the feeder perch.  A brown headed nuthatch wanted that space.  Egrets and herons disputed territory.  Pelicans just wanted fish.  Swelling buds softened the lines of oak twigs.  The male oriole returned to the jelly so I suppose it wasn't too diluted.  I forgot to dump the rain water before pouring in barkbutter balls, but the birds coped.  A mockingbird arrived with the blue jays.  The cardinals shared a barkbutter ball.  Even a myrtle warbler got some.  A starling scattered suet crumbs.  A Carolina wren foraged with the white throats.  The temperature climbed into the low 60s but there was a lot of wind chill. 

Vernal equinox

I notice the NWS said, "There are only two times of the year when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes."  That "nearly" could explain why today's sunrise was 7:09am and sunset 7:17pm, 12 hours and 8 minutes.  The sky was hazy and streaky but the creek shone.  A male oriole spread orange gorgeousness as he ate suet.  A male bluebird flaunted both blue and orange.  A brown headed nuthatch took its seed to the roof to hatch.  Blue jays found the barkbutter balls.  One jay argued with a bigger bird, maybe the osprey?  

A heron groomed its feathers on a dock piling.  Signs of Spring included dogwood and oak flower buds opening.  Even blueberry flower buds got bigger.  Daffodils recovered from the storm.  The Carolina jessamine smelled lovely to me and the bumblebees. 

Sunshine

Lovely sunshine brightened the creek at breakfast.  A Carolina wren found the new block of suet that K hung yesterday.  White throats did the mulch can-can.   Pelicans fished all day.  I refilled the dishes since the rain was past.  Blue jays were happy.  One starling came but wisely didn't bring its friends.  Bluebirds remained more interested in seeds.  The male oriole guarded the jelly.  A myrtle warbler made the feeder rounds and hovered for suet.  Crows noticed the fresh barkbutter balls and one went through some acrobatics to get at them.  Oak buds were swelling.  And invasive callery pears were blooming.  Great blue herons and great egrets patrolled the creek.  

Turning leaves

Clouds streaming from the East made the sun flicker occasionally.  The tide flowed over the low end of the dock in the morning.  Mallards ignored it.  Hickory leaves were beginning to toast.  The clumps of oak leaves that had turned yellow were now brown but most of the tree was still green.  Despite ham-handed pruning at the wrong time of the year, the camellia put forth flowers.  The saltbush flowers became seed fluff floating on that East wind.  Of animals, all I saw were chickadees and a squirrel.  

Hot day

Morning was windy so we had pelicans.  One azalea bush began blooming.  Oak, maple, and dogwood were blooming while the wild cherry put out leaves.  A couple of cabbage whites flitted around egging leaves.  A patch of leucojum bloomed.  I had hoped to be rid of it. 

The temperature was 79° at lunch.  I spotted a song sparrow on a branch, then a white throat on another.  A paper wasp gnawed on an old bamboo stake.  Starlings demolished the suet and fought with each other for the privilege.  A couple of turtles enjoyed the warmth.  I had expected more of them to be basking.  By 6pm rain had begun falling.

Osprey!

A lovely, warm, sunny day began with glowing reflections on a placid creek.  The long haired yellow cat roamed around the pool.  I discouraged that.  I restocked the dish feeders and K hung fresh suet.  A brown headed nuthatch stayed loyal to the seed feeder.  The oak buds burst.  The rosemary finally felt healthy enough to flower.  I saw bees, a yellow-kneed Polistes wasp, a cabbage white, and a ladybug beetle.  

Two osprey circled in the sky calling high-pitched keee, keee cries.  In the afternoon, I saw a mockingbird drinking from the ant moat.  I scrubbed out the bluebird house for the first time in several years.  Previously I just hauled the pile of nesting material out.  

Oriole!

Crows loitered in the trees.  After breakfast, I discovered a male Baltimore oriole sitting on the patio outside the door.  It looked like it might have hit the glass but I didn't hear anything.  It flew off, then I hustled some grape jelly out for it.  But I did not see it again. 

The Japanese maple next door glowed in the sun.  My red maple lost most of its leaves.  One oak was bronze but the other was still green.  The sweet gum was crimson.  There were still flowers on the lantana.  

In the afternoon I noticed a chickadee and the female downy playing statues.  I don't know what they were hiding from but eventually they relaxed and got on with their business.   In the background, the creek reflected the sunlit bank. 

At sunset, I finally saw the moon.  It was slightly less than first quarter but washed out except for the terminator.  This time of year it's too low in the sky to see from the back yard so I was out front.  

Chilly

Despite sunshine, the day never got warm.  That cold front dropped the temperatures 30° from Monday.  Plus, the wind kept the creek surface disturbed and pushed the tide up.  Most of the leaves were blown off the beautyberry bush.  Titmice joined the chickadees at the seed feeder.  The female downy was content with suet.  One turtle soaked up sunshine.  

Towards evening, the creek calmed enough to glow with the light off oaks on the far side of the dam.  They'd lost leaves too but still had enough to be colorful as cormorants flew past.  

Cooler

A big oak limb dropped during the storm.  The yellow cat stopped briefly at breakfast.   A dragonfly used one of the perches.  Bring out of practice identifying dragonflies, I checked and found it was a great blue skimmer.  I was glad to see dragonflies but not the small biters that attracted them.  

At lunch, I saw a mockingbird, flashing as usual.  There were bluebirds but they got away without posing.  When I went out in the afternoon, a honeybee was harvesting milkweed.  One or more female hummers had a good drink.  Native bees tackled the tiny sunflower florets as though they were eating corn on the cob.  

Mockingbird

The creek glowed with reflected sunshine.  An early starling took over the barkbutter crumbs which left a mockingbird feeling sad.  But eventually the rude starling left and the mockingbird got a turn.  

Then a blue jay  wanted a share.  Its chest was wet from something, dew maybe?  Like the starling, the jay pitched as much food out as it gobbled.  A female bluebird was next, followed by a male.   Sunlight and shadows painted streaks across the azaleas.  Soon the mockingbird was back.  In fact, it seemed like every time I passed the window, the mocker was feasting.  Later, I saw one in the front yard, maybe the same?  

The fresh new oak leaves shimmered in the breeze against the deep blue sky.  Some branches were behind schedule with leaves that were tinted with red.  Sycamore leaves seemed very spiky and last years seed balls were intermixed with small, new, reddish balls.  The wild cherry put out flower bud spikes.  The new maple leaves were gold as in Frost's poem.  Solomon's seal looked like a sculpture in the late afternoon light. 

The yellow rose was fully open and as big as a peony.  A tiny jumping spider waited on a petal.  I saw the same or another reddish bee on the money plant.  A mason wasp got water from the birdbath.  Bluebirds came back almost as frequently as the mockingbird.  The turtles basking on logs were bigger than the mallard alongside.  Two osprey circles over the creek but I missed them.  

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.  

Not like a lion

March came in quite gently.  The only lion-like element was the long=haired yellow cat.  The oak tree burst into flower.  

Back to Spring

Daylight Saving Time meant that sunlight was still on the patio after lunch.  The buds had burst on the oaks and the wild cherry.  A Carolina wren enjoyed the sunshine from a perch in a dogwood.  Dogwood buds appeared about to pop.  A couple of doves foraged while I was outside.  

A brown thrasher came hopping through the grass.  A myrtle warbler didn't trust my presence.  A bluebird kept its distance. By 4pm, the tide sank very low.  Turtles were out on their logs on the lake, sunning themselves.  

 

Wheelbug

In the morning, the pine warbler had a few happy moments with the suet.  Then a Carolina wren took over.  A beautiful day followed that seemed more like early June than early August.  The temperature barely touched 80.  I saw two sizable skinks but wasn't quick enough to get a picture. 

 A few leafcutter bees joined the honeybees on the mountain mint.  I do wonder whose hive I'm supporting.  A bumble-ish sort of bee preferred the butterfly milkweed.  The Argiope and the basilica spiders hadn't moved.  The digger wasps reappeared, both black and golden.  So did threadwaisted wasps. 

Between the rainwater and the cooler day, the pool no longer felt like bathwater.  A small wheelbug paddled genteelly in the water, but was happy to be rescued.  Several snails clung to the sides of the pool above the water. 

The oak limb that I speculated was dead had two big, recent woodpecker holes.  It will make quite a crash when it breaks and falls.