Autumn chill

The creek glowed at dawn.  Lots of clouds kept the temperature down, or maybe it was the North wind that shoved them along.  I saw a few wasps.  Birds harvested dogwood berries but they were hard to see.  Titmice and chickadees kept the sunflower feeder busy.  There were cardinals too, and the downy was back.  The black cat sat by the pool cover until the dog noticed, then there was a mad dash around the back of the house.  As I drove to a meeting, the sun (when it wasn't blinding motorists) focused golden beams on the underside of a massive cloud.  But I didn't have the camera or a good place to stop.  It was dark when I came home with a bright planet, probably Jupiter, rising in the East and clouds visible from reflected lights.  

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. 

Nuthatches

The day was hazy and hot - 73°.  Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter and this winter may break a record.  I was far too busy and only had a brief time in the late afternoon to see wildlife.  Driving home, I noticed the callery pear trees were blooming.  I wouldn't mind if a late frost blighted them. 

Bluebirds were still hungry.  White breasted and brown headed nuthatches visited the seed feeder in a steady stream.  They drove the boss butterbutt crazy.  Juncos foraged on the ground along with one white throated sparrow.  

A goldfinch tried to eat barkbutter dust but I think it had too much animal protein.  So the goldfinch tried the mountain mint seeds instead.  I don't think they were very satisfying.  I saw a red bellied woodpecker in the trees, and of course a downy on the suet.  

At sunset I went out front to look for the moon.  Because of the haze it wasn't as sharp and clear as last night but I did find both Venus and Jupiter.  

Fair and warm

Tuesday was beautiful and mild in Richmond.  I wandered around the monuments outside the capitol and discovered that a section of wall was made of blocks of fossiliferous limestone.  The sun was at a good angle to pick out the shell shapes.  

Wednesday was miserable and the closer I got to home the worse the weather got.  But today was sunny like Tuesday though a bit more windy.   The rain had filled everything - birdbath and bird feeders, so the birds were very hungry.  I saw a mockingbird, a blue jay, a starling, the bluebird family, innumerable warblers, and the male oriole and his harem.  Juncos foraged in the grass.  A downy woodpecker tested branches. 

There were buffleheads in the morning.  A few mallards napped on the dock.  Herons and pelicans flew along the creek.  Basking turtles crowded their log.

I moved the peppers back inside for the night and tried to photograph the crescent moon.  There was a bright planet nearby.  

Indian summer

Clouds streamed North on a hot wind making the sunshine intermittent but keeping the air warm.  I caught a squirrel doing a Tarzan leap, but not in mid-air as I'd hoped.  Maybe next time.  Later I caught a pair of squirrels having sex.  They went up the cedar for more privacy. 

A Carolina wren perched on a chair back to get a better look inside.  A kingfisher landed on a dock post but took off again immediately.  

I checked on the peppers but they were still green.  A ladybug beetle was protecting them.  The sunflower next to the peppers had made seeds, but after teasing them out of the flower heads I found almost all were hollow.  I don't know if they weren't fertilized or if the drought kept them from filling out.  Glass snails lurked in the mulch between the peppers and the sunflower.  

The grass on the West side of the house was full of gill mushrooms.  There were brown, gray, red, and moldy green caps.  I know the red ones were russulas and I suspect the others were too.  

A monarch butterfly came looking for a meal but the only flowers left were camellias and by afternoon the bees and wasps had drunk them dry.  The saltbush released its seed fluff which coated the creek.  But the milkweed kept its seed parachutes under wraps.  I couldn't figure out how the weather could be right for one kind of airborne seed and not the other.  

About then the camera battery ran down and the replacement wouldn't work.  So I missed some great shots of a bold jumping spider.  As I sat picking out the sunflower seeds, the spider came marching across the table to me.  We made eye contact and I tried to wave my pinkie at it.  It decided to jump onto the chair so I got up and let the spider have it.  But soon it was climbing up the wall and away.  I hope it caught the roach I saw lurking under the soffit.  After dark the camera quit sulking so I took some practice photos of a moth on the window.  

Then I went outside to see what I could do with the moon.  A bright planet was leading the moon up from the horizon.  I checked online and learned it was Mars.  "Later, by November 30, Mars will be closest to Earth for this 2-year period (50.6 million miles, or 81.4 million km, away). And Mars will continue to brighten between now and December 8, when Earth will catch up to Mars in the race of the planets around the sun, bringing Mars to its once-in-2-years opposition."   No wonder it was bright.  

 

Waning crescent moon

We had lunch outdoors, to the delight of the dog.  I could see the faint crescent moon descending into the trees.  Blue jays called back and forth, then three zoomed across the airspace above us.  A hummer kept an eye on us and the feeder.  

A tiger swallowtail landed on the beautyberry bush.  Later, I found a lethargic frog in the skimmer. Three skinks were swimming in the deep end.  I assisted them to escape.  I surprised another skink when I went into the garage to hang up my wet swim suit.  On the way home after dark I noticed a bright planet in the East.  

Warm and windy

The afternoon was in the low 70s under a clear sky, but the wind thrashed the leaves off trees.  The only birds were ducks and when I looked closely, they were all mallards.  On my way home from a meeting, the moon rose big and round as the sunset after glow faded on the opposite side of the sky.  I waited an hour for the moon to clear the trees, then went out with the camera.  Two planets were bright, Jupiter high and South, Venus low in the West.  The wind drove tattered clouds across them and the moon.  I found a new website for identifying planets. 

Summery

The temperature rose from an overnight dip below 60° to a high above 80° with the help of a fierce sun in a crystal sky.  Since it was a full moon, the tide was very low in the afternoon.  The still surface reflected the pines above the bulkhead. 

A monarch flitted through,paused for a snack of mountain mint but ignored the butterfly milkweed.  Perhaps it was a male?  A duskywing found the celosia. A jumping spider lurked on the mountain mint. 

I had to dispose of a frog and a skink. A lively young skink scuttled down the pool deck.  I thought it was going for a swim, but it slipped into a crevice instead.  At least one squirrel had warbles. 

Well after midnight I went outside to see the full moon.  Mars was hovering nearby as its orbit brings it closest to Earth.  According to EarthSky,"It’s brighter this month than it will for nearly another 15 years, until September 2035." 

 

Eclose

Two monarchs emerged, "eclosed" in the technical term, this morning. The humidity was so high, the camera fogged.  Unfortunately, one fell from its chrysalis and its wings never fully unfolded.  The other was fine and flew off.  The third chrysalis, which I thought would open first, will be last. 

A squirrel dangled from its toenails to get at dogwood berries.  Hummer wars were fierce today.  Usually one gives up quickly and flees, but not this time.

The pool pump gave out yesterday, so critters that fell in were not sucked into the skimmer.  I rescued two skinks, one big black bee, a black wasp, a horntail, and the sad crumple-winged monarch.  I was amazed that the monarch seemed no worse for its near drowning and I was sure the horntail was a corpse.  But when tiny ants tried to bite off bits of horntail, it made a remarkable recovery. 

One skink was tired and docile but the other tried to escape by swimming through my crotch. But eventually I was able to grab it and plop it onto the patio where it ran for cover.  Meanwhile the other was still catching its breath.

A delicate damselfly did not need rescuing.  I think it was an immature female Eastern Forktail, Ischnura verticalis.  A few blue dashers and skimmers were around.  

I went out after dark but before the moon was up and noticed two planets high in the South, Jupiter trailed by Saturn, I think. 

Hot wind

I found a snakeberry in the grass.  They used to be everywhere but I think the cinquefoil choked them out.  Threadwaisted wasps were still obsessed with the mountain mint. 
A variety of dragonflies perched around the yard.  Blue dashers were the most numerous.  I also saw slaty skimmers.  One skimmer was very tattered.  A blue dasher teamed up with the Argiope to bar the path between the rue and the hibiscus.  A Halloween pennant perched on the highest pine candle. 

A heron took possession of the lake.  A yellow crowned night heron hunted crabs along the water's edge. 

After dark, clouds rubbed against each other and lit the sky in flashes.  The moon was swallowed up a cloud but Jupiter was bright in the Southeast.  Then it rained at last. 

Clear sky

An orange butterfly  flew up over the house.  My impression was fritillary, not monarch.  I also glimpsed a red spotted purple.  Only one of the big caterpillars was still visible.  But the Argiope caught a milkweed bug.  Curiously, the grown-from-seed tropical milkweed has been bug free thus far.  And the aphids were gone from it as well.  Only crickets and beetles needed rescue from the water, but there was a drowned skink in the skimmer. 

Other skinks were safe on dry land.  A fungus popped up at the base of the oak, same as last year.  The beauty berries looked luscious.  Mallards were bathing on the creek.  Cormorants flew over.  A hummer visited the feeder but did not stay.  Crows were up in the oak and I suspect they were snacking on acorns.  They may have intimidated the blue jays because those were absent.  Two chickadees seemed to have a feud - siblings? 

The moon was stuck in the trees, but Mars, I think, was visible to the South over the house.  I found a really cool website with sliders to show where each planet would be according to the time.  As the centaurs would say, "Mars is bright tonight."