Dragonflies

I woke up at dawn to a red gold sky but turned over and went back to sleep.  By lunch, a beautiful, sunny, breezy day had warmed into the mid 80s.  The sky was hazy with contrails unraveling into ribbons of white fuzz.  I saw an osprey but wasn't quick enough for a photo.  A Carolina wren, a mockingbird or two, cardinals, chickadees, titmice, a crow, and an extended family of house finches all wanted to be fed.  A downy was too wary while I was outside.  

I saw a little butterfly (again) and a tiger swallowtail.  Prince baskettails patrolled at treetop height and a blue dasher monitored ground level from a perch.  Wasps were plentiful.  I rescued a spider and a beetle.  A bluetailed skink dashed across the patio from mountain mint to azalea.  The haze became a white sky by 5pm and the temperature dropped into the 70s.  

Pairs

I didn't even try to get wet today.  The temperature barely rose into the 70s and the wind was harsh.  A Carolina wren made several visits.  The wind blew up its skirts like Marilyn Monroe.  A squirrel sat on the feeder keeping the birds away.  Then it ate more "hot pepper" suet.  Later a downy had some suet too.  

The mockingbird pair came for barkbutter balls.  The cardinals courted.  An osprey plunged into the creek but I couldn't tell if it caught anything.   

 

Nuthatches

The birds slept in but after breakfast they came in a wave.  Two brown headed nuthatches appeared to be courting.  A mockingbird, a bluebird, and a Carolina wren were more interested in eating.  So were the seed feeder trio - chickadee, cardinal, and house finch.  A brown thrasher got away without a photo.  Bluebirds and blue jays were more cooperative.  The male red bellied woodpecker returned.  

I went outside after lunch and saw lots of butterflies.  The black and tiger swallowtails were recognizable but not the brownish orange ones.  I think there were dragonflies as well but I didn't get any pictures of them either.  Wasps worked hard.  Rain started after 2pm but wasn't heavy and didn't last very long.  The pink evening primrose started blooming.  Bud clusters formed on the milkweed.  The beautyberry leafed out.  White throated sparrows were still here but rushing around and hard to capture.  A vulture and an osprey flew over.  

Skink

While I was in an online meeting an osprey flew down and tried to catch a fish. Alas, no photo.  

At lunchtime I saw a skink soaking up the sun and staying out of the wind.  

 

Vacation

We picked a rainy, hot, and humid time to visit Virginia's Eastern Shore.  Sunday, before we left, I admired the hibiscus flowers and the spider web.  In Cape Charles I saw a pair of osprey circling, a mockingbird, and a couple of buzzards.  A saddlebags dragonfly cruised up the main street but my photos missed it..  By the time we arrived, the sky suggested a storm was brewing.  On Monday we drove around Chincoteague.  The road to get there looked like it was only a foot or two above high tide.  Low tide revealed oyster beds around the island.  Laughing gulls and egrets were everywhere.  We discovered that NASA Wallops is powered by a field of solar panels.  The dregs of Chantel passed through adding to the humidity. 

At lunch Tuesday, we watched what I think was a white ibis probing creek mud for goodies.  Small dragonflies congregated in the vegetation along the creek.  We had good weather for a boat trip around Chincoteague and Assateague.  The ride was a bit choppy but the wind was a relief from the humidity.  Oystercatchers loafed on the oyster reefs.  Island ponies grazed near the saltmarsh.  Egrets and cormorants joined the gulls.  An eagle sat on a stump.  Swallows darted through the air.  Dolphins swam in the strait between islands.  A thunderstorm held off till evening.   

The bed and breakfast where we stayed had some garden pools and I surprised a frog.  On the way home, we stopped at a plant nursery and I saw a red admiral, skippers, and a digger wasp on the flowers.  We had lunch in Onancock.  Jellyfish were pulsating beside the wharf.   When we reached the CBBT, there were large birds atop some light poles, that I think were eagles.  The weather was horribly hot at home and the pool water had dropped too low.  Apparently none of the rain on our vacation fell at home.   A Carolina wren visited the no melt suet.  The spider relocated to a safer spot.  I saw a monarch hanging around the butterfly milkweed.  K reported that a hive of some sort took up residence in a bush between the driveway and the sidewalk.  

Windy

Another morning meeting kept me from seeing anything till lunchtime.  The wind was very strong, thrashing the trees and blowing deTREEtus on me.  A brown headed nuthatch was busy with seeds.  The milkweed appeared ready to bloom any minute.  I saw an osprey circling.  A great blue skimmer dragonfly used one of the garden stakes but the wind battered at it and eventually it flew away.  A cardinal got in the nuthatch's way but the little bird did its ninja act.  Eventually the cardinal discovered he'd been flanked and forced the nuthatch to leave.  A minute later the cardinal was eating barkbutter balls and the nuthatch was back on the seed feeder.  

I found some more of the peculiar orange spheres that I identified as wolf's milky slime mold.  Wispy clouds turned pink at sunset.  

Eagle circling

A red bellied woodpecker came early and found only seeds.  Bluebirds followed.  A cardinal pair tried to share the feeder perch but together they weighed too much.  They were still courting.  I don't know if they were a different pair or if they had a nest failure.

In the mid morning I restocked the dishes and put out a fresh hummer feeder.  A blue jay took notice right away.  The jay wasn't pleased with the mealworms.   The female pileated showed up and was shocked that the suet cage was empty.  She hopped around on the patio but didn't attempt the dishes.  But she thought about it.  Carolina wrens also hopped around looking for food.  

The potted clematis was blooming.  Wasps were plentiful and so were cabbage whites.  An adult bald eagle circled over the creek.  Then an osprey followed suit.  While photographing the eagle, I thought a dragonfly zipped across my field of view, but I couldn't be sure.  

I glimpsed a skink slipping behind the birdbath.  Later, a larger one crossed the patio.  It had lead a rough life with a regrown tail and a nip in the scales along its ribs.  Blue jays were courting in the maple tree, just like cardinals but harder to see.  A bluebird rode a dogwood branch through the wind gusts.  This may have been the hottest day thus far this year.  

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. 

Thunderstorm

The gray sky belied the high temperature, above 70°. A Carolina wren investigated the empty barkbutter dish and moved on to the suet.  It also foraged on the ground with the white throats. The cardinals smooched.  Bluebirds visited the seeds.  So did a brown headed nuthatch.  A mockingbird also had to be sure the barkbutter dish was really empty.  I saw the osprey again, or was it the young eagle?   There were pelicans for sure.  The cloud cover turned to rain which became heavy.  Then thunder and lightning followed as darkness came early.  

Osprey?

Morning was still misty and I missed a Carolina wren and a brown headed nuthatch.  A red belly landed on the post but then spooked and flew off to the trees.  I think it was a female.  A mockingbird perched in the camellia.  White throats hunted in the mulch.  One perched on a rose cane.  A pale female bluebird watched from the feeder hanger.  An egret stood atop a dock post.  A blue jay foraged among the daffodils.  When I took fresh jelly out, I was surprised to see two small handkerchief spiderwebs revealed by the moist air. 

By lunch, the mist had dissipated.  The sun was hot though the breeze was not and the highest temperature I saw was 67°.  The Carolina wren ate suet.  A buzzard swooped low across the yard.  I also saw what I'm sure was an osprey but vegetation foiled me.  I had better luck with pelicans.  A cabbage white flitted across the yard.  I found the spiderwebs again and saw loose silk threads blowing from the rose canes.  Crows got very excited about something down by the dock but I could not see what.  A male bluebird paid a supper visit to the seed feeder.  

Buggy

A brown headed nuthatch greeted us at breakfast.  Then I was busy till late afternoon when it was very hot and critters kept flying at my face since the rest of me was submerged.  I rescued a few beetles and gave up.  A duskywing joined the bees and wasps on the mountain mint. 

As I dripped off behind a screen of wasps and dragonflies, I saw a green heron preening on a dock post.  An osprey dived on the creek but there was too much vegetation for me to know whether the bird caught anything.  I also saw a hummer seeking nectar from a hibiscus. 

Most of the perches were occupied by dragonflies, slaty skimmer, widow skimmer, maybe other species.  Bees dominated the mountain mint but there were some wasps.  Two silver slashes on the thorax indicated one was Ammophila procera.  I checked on the Argiope spiders and found the one in the rue.  Of the other two, one clung to a ruined web and the other web seemed empty.  

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.  

Bright and chilly

The tide was low and the creek surface was rumpled at breakfast.  It didn't seem to keep the pelicans from seeing the fish.  I was gone then until nearly 2pm.  When I got home, the birds were active even though I had not had time to put out food.  Warblers were everywhere.  Pelicans were still fishing though the tide had risen.  A blue jay perched on a twig stub and seemed to be watching the fishing.  A mockingbird poked around below the feeders.  I believe I saw an osprey soaring behind the trees.  Female orioles checked for jelly that I was too tired to put out for them. Despite bright sunshine, the wind made me cold.  

Mydas fly

The goldfinches couldn't wait for the sunflower seeds to ripen.  Two osprey soared in circles.  A female hummer came for an evening meal.  She was antsy and wouldn't settle on a perch.  A downy woodpecker decided I was harmless. 

I saw more butterflies today - skippers, snouts, and a red admiral.  Lots of wasps and bees gathered on the mountain mint, also a wasp-mimic mydas fly.  I rescued a robber fly along with several beetles. 

A damselfly with orange eyes lurked beside the water.  Orange bluet, Enallagma signatum, seems the best fit for identification.  In the evening, I glimpsed dragonflies, but they were high and moving fast.  The smoke haze didn't help. 

The orchard spider still had its web slung from the dragonfly perch.  It had caught a fly, I think.  I tried to catch a firefly with its light on, but all I got were blurs.  

Thunderstorm

In the morning, ospreys circled in an intensely blue, almost ultraviolet, sky.  A house wren visited the seed feeder, then surveyed the yard from atop the post.  Blue jays went straight to the barkbutter balls.  A hummingbird found the feeder after trying the gladiolus.  Those flowers certainly look like they were meant for hummers.

Fertilized sunflowers had a Raggedy Ann look as the petals withered. The sakaki perfume dominated the air.  There were buds on the hibiscus and shredded leaves from the larval sawflies. 

Bumblebees and wasps and a Japanese beetle visited the rue.  A female widow skimmer perched on a bamboo stake by the mountain mint.  Earlier, I saw another dragonfly that was just a flicker of black and white.I suspect it was a male widow skimmer.  I rescued several flower scarabs and one firefly.  A skipper and a snout butterfly fed on the mountain mint along with carpenter bees and wasps. 

Several menacing clouds blew over without doing anything during the day.  The storm finally came through around 5:30pm and at least one lightening bolt was directly overhead.  The donner und blitzen was accompanied bu a downpour.  NOAA issued another flash flood warning.  The storm cleared and chilled the air.  Afterward, a great blue heron roosted on the dock bench. 

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.  

Daffodils blooming

The creek was as shiny as a metal mirror.  Orioles glowed in the sunlight as they snacked on jelly.  Blue jays got excited over the fresh barkbutter balls.  Then the birdwatching tux cat showed up.  

Bluebirds drifted in when the cat left. A Carolina wren arrived in the afternoon.  Warblers were around too.  Juncos came late to the party.  Brown headed nuthatches did too.  A song sparrow tucked into the barkbutter crumbs.  A starling had difficulty reaching the last bit of suet. 

The first daffodils buds opened also a couple of hyacinths.  Of course the Carolina jessamine was blooming and attracting honeybees and bumblebees.  I found tiny birdseye (speedwell, veronica) flowers in the grass. 

The turtles stayed out all afternoon.  Pelicans were fishing enthusiastically.  A flock of geese begin diving and splashing - I didn't know they could do that!  An osprey circled in the blue sky. 

 

Eagles?

I was crows gathering so I was half-expecting a hawk.  But the three huge birds burst through the trees looked like eagles.  I saw the underside of one and it appeared to be an osprey but I'm not sure about the other two.  After they flew away, the songbirds came out - warblers and bluebirds.  Doves foraged through the mulch.  

Rain at last

The male red bellied woodpecker showed up but, of course, there was no suet.  Eventually he settled for barkbutter.  Then a male pine warbler had some mealworms.  Titmice went for sunflower seeds.  

I saw several hummingbirds, at least one male and two females.  Ripe cherries dangled in long strings from the tree, attracting a mockingbird.  The osprey coasted into its favorite pine perch.  I glimpsed a wren scuttling under the mountain mint.  Then the rain began.  

Later when the rain grew more gentle, a yellow crowned night heron hunted along the shoreline.  The pine warbler eyed the soggy soup of mealworms and barkbutter.  

Windy

Bluebirds and blue jays ate up all the barkbutter balls.  Many crows gathered to harass something I couldn't see, but I assume it was a hawk.  Two curious osprey circled higher over the commotion.  

A couple of blowflies rested on mountain mint leaves, for what?  A leatherwing beetle roamed a parsley umbel. I glimpsed a tiger swallowtail and tossed a couple of beetles and spiders out of the water.  

Two brown headed nuthatches came for seeds and squeaked at me because I was sitting too close.  Under a cloudy sky, the temperature was seasonable, except for wind gusts which felt very chilly in a wet swimsuit.