Cloudy

I planted the seed from the daylily pod before swimming.  The water was full of beetles and frogs.  I lost count of the beetles but there were three frogs, one dead, one that was none too lively, and one that seemed OK.  Of course there was a mosquito.  Back on terra firma I found the Argiope doing well, bees and wasps enjoying the mountain mint and milkweed.  A fiery skipper preferred the mountain mint even though it would have been camouflaged on the milkweed.  Then I noticed a common whitetail dragonfly on the top of the retaining wall.  A little later, a skimmer claimed the garden stake.  A skink crept out of the vegetation over by the hummer feeder.  Chickadees came for seeds despite my presence, but other birds stayed away.

In the front yard, a rainlily popped up at the end of the dry creek bed.   And a second crop of fairy ring mushrooms appeared like mourners around the spot where the oak died from emerald ash borers.  We got a tornado warning after dark but we didn't get any high winds here.  

 

Green Junebug

A crow joined the cherry eaters.  It landed almost on top of a mockingbird.  Chickadees and titmice liked the cherries too.   A brown headed nuthatch was only interested in seeds.  Something ate the sunflower petals then broke the stalk. 

While in the pool, I fished out a spider I thought had drowned, but it recovered as soon as it was in the air.  The usual beetles needed help but a green June beetle, Cotinus nitida, had rescued itself.  It was the first I'd seen this year.  Later a tiger swallowtail flitted through the trees.  A thread-waisted wasp enjoyed the mountain mint.  And underneath, I found an infant Argiope in its web. 

In the front yard, a rainlily bloomed.  Skippers fed on the lantana. And in an arc around where the oak used to be, white mushrooms the size of saucers spread their parasols.   The stalk had a ring but I didn't see a cup and I thought the gills bruised blue.  However, the best fit I could find online was Chlorophyllum molybdites which is poisonous.  By evening the sky was clear except for fiery clouds on the Western horizon.  

 

Zebra swallowtail

Another beautiful day of which I missed too much.  I had to rush off early to an appointment but afterward I went to Wild Birds Unlimited since I was in the vicinity.  I played with Merlin taking (bad) phone photos of goldfinches and a song sparrow while I waited for the store to open.  Back home, I admired the lilies in the front yard, white and dark red, also daylilies and a rainlily.  A skink descended the bedroom wall.  

At lunch, a gorgeous zebra swallowtail fed on the milkweed flowers.  The crow demanded treats.  A mockingbird was camera-shy.  A Carolina wren was perky.  Then I had online meetings.  

A white breasted nuthatches joined us for supper but was unwilling to share with a titmouse.   

Butterflies

A black swallowtail landed on the Solomon's seal, but didn't give me quite enough time for a photo.  The usual cabbage white made the rounds.  What I thought was a painted lady landed on the nandina in an awkward spot I couldn't get in focus.  It turned out to be a red spotted purple.  Rain lilies bloomed at the foot of the dry creek.  The false indigo bloomed too.  

The brown thrasher pair and a mockingbird were lured back for barkbutter balls.  So was a titmouse.  The sky was a beautiful blue but the wind was strong.  The yellow cat prowled alongside the water, then darted after something in the azalea bush.  

A pair of mallards found the pool.  I yelled at them but when K shook the pool net at them they left.  Meanwhile, a crow landed, hopped down to the top step and had a drink not ten feed from me.  Clearly those birds do not see me as much of a threat.  A buzzard soared over the house.  

Rain lilies

A blue jay came for a barkbutter ball breakfast.  At lunch, a tiger swallowtail posed nicely.  Not to be outdone, a black swallowtail flitted around and pretended she really didn't care about the rue.  A blue dasher perched looking like a blue bead with wings.  Another dragonfly lurked among the leafless twigs of the dead branch in the dogwood. 

Titmice  were embolden by hunger.   Brown headed nuthatches were their usual bold selves.  A flock of pigeons passed overhead.  A hummer visited the feeder.  A bluebird surveyed the feeders from atop the post.  

K discovered a third Argiope in the front yard.  The rain lilies bloomed again.  Fragments of the yellow jacket nest were still visible -- they made it of tough material.  

Yellow jackets

The weather was hot and sunny but I had too many meetings and errands today.  I saw lots of dragonflies and two butterflies.  The dragonflies included blue dashers, a female great blue skimmer, and a male widow skimmer.  A black swallowtail and a monarch were the butterflies.  The bees seem to harass butterflies.  I admired the Argiope on the front patio which might have been larger than the one in back.  It was guarding a ripe pepper.  There was no sign of the spider that had been building a web near the wasp nest. 

One of the rain lilies revived.  The exterminator arrived to deal with the wasp nest near the sidewalk.  It turned out to be yellow jackets.  I did not know they would build an above ground nest.  After he extracted it, the gentleman showed it to me.  The paper comb was about 8" in diameter and the hexagonal pupa cells were as big as my little finger.  I wish I'd thought to grab the camera and take a photo.  

I saw a bluebird and a Carolina wren but only got a photo of a pair of brown headed nuthatches.  

Gray

A bluebird and a brown headed nuthatch were early visitors.  A Carolina wren tackled the suet.  The Argiope had a fine, new web.  The orange skipper was back on the mountain mint.  The best match seemed to be a Delaware skipper but iNaturalist said fiery skipper.  Leafcutter bees, honeybees, sand wasps, and others crowded the milkweed and mountain mint. 

A bald faced hornet went for an unplanned swim.   Drizzle began before lunch.  There were breaks when the birds and insects returned.  A blue dasher took up the perch by the rosemary.  Later, a widow skimmer took it over.  A tattered black swallowtail perched in the rosemary.  A skink caught some rays while on the step wall.  A Carolina wren picked at the soggy barkbutter balls.  Then a pine warbler arrived with the same idea. 

As I left for an evening meeting, fierce clouds were boiling out of the South.  I barely beat the rain inside.  But as I backed out of the drive, I saw two rain lilies blooming.  Alas, the rain flattened them before I got home.  Wasps were still coming and going from their nest in a bush at the foot of the driveway.  Meanwhile, a spider was constructing a web nearby.  Bold spider! 

Still cool

A Carolina wren was up early.  An orange daylily opened.  Dark clouds passed by looking full of rain, but none fell.  I thought I saw a bunny but it was a squirrel in an odd pose.  Out front, the lantana started to bloom.  White lilies, orange daylilies, and pink rain lilies put out flowers.  A strawberry plant popped up beside the dry stream bed.  A slaty skimmer used a perch outside my window.  

Bluebirds were busy so I thought they might still be feeding offspring.  A variegated fritillary fed on the butterfly milkweed.  Every so often it remembered that it needed to move around to confuse predators, but soon it was back at the milkweed.  The wind was much harsher than predicted and hard on small flying critters.  While cutting back the cinquefoil, I found some more wolf's milk slime mold.  I cannot imagine how it got that name.  

K hung more suet.  While pruning I surprised a blue jay.  An odd wasp-like flier wandered on the window.  It might have been an earwig.  A brown headed nuthatch came late to the seeds.  A couple of chickadees considered the dish feeders.  My impression was that one was a parent and the other a fledgling.  The bird certainly seemed clueless but eventually discovered the food.  

Deluge

I had a morning meeting and got pretty wet on the way back to my car.  Then on the road home, the clouds really let go.  As usual, the roads were slow to drain and cars left rooster tails and wakes.  But I did get home.  I noticed that rain lilies had popped up only to be beaten down by the rain.  The birds mostly didn't venture out, but a wet squirrel did.  The newspaper said we were experiencing an "atmospheric river," just like California.  The National Weather Service said we got over an inch of rain. 

Glorious weather

This was the sort of day we hope for in June.  It was still a bit cool and cloudy in the morning when I swam but the afternoon was sunny with a nice breeze and in the low 80s.  Two hibiscus flowers greeted us.  Two frogs were in the skimmer and I thought a third one was sitting on the top step of the pool ladder but I was only able to find two. One was the little bullfrog but the other was different, maybe a green frog?  Though I caught them in the morning and put them out, I saw them again in the afternoon hanging out on the ladder. 

Two big monarch caterpillars and four younger ones chowed down on the butterfly milkweed.  The four Argiope spiders looked well.  A couple of blue dashers got territorial over a perch by thr mountain mint.  A slaty skimmer found the perch outside my window.  I glimpsed a couple of high flying dragonflies and an amberwing in the mountain mint.  A few fiery skippers were around.  A lovely red banded hairstreak visited the mountain mint.  I spotted more camouflaged loopers.  A variegated fritillary seemed to be laying eggs on the morning glory and the violets.  I thought I saw a monarch and a palamedes swallowtail but they were too fast for certainty. 

Blue jays and a bluebird found the barkbutter balls.  Hummers fed in the morning but by afternoon were coming to the window with demands.  Sure enough a spot of mold had started.  So K hung a fresh feeder.  A rain lily popped up in the front yard.  The lantana was a mass of flowers that attracted skippers.  

Scorching

In the front yard peppers were turning red.  A rain lily popped up at the end of the dry creek bed.  I picked blueberries before swimming.  Between the monsoon rains and the heat, many berries had popped and were fermenting.  It smelled like a brewery and buzzed with wasps.  I saw an interesting orange long-legged critter that might have been a cranefly.  Also, I just glimpsed an orange and brown butterfly.  What popped into my head was a diana fritillary, Speyeria diana, though that seems unlikely - I only know it from field guide illustrations.  And I didn't have the camera.  

As I dried out, I watched the mountain mint.  It's like a desert waterhole, only for insects.  A fiery skipper joined the bees and wasps.  The goldfinches were back.  A blue dasher obelisked.  A larger skimmer perched normally.  I could not find the last Argiope spider. 

Pleasant temperature

More daylilies and hibiscus flowers greeted the dawn.  Later I saw a rain lily in the front.  A hummingbird tried to feed on the gladiolus.  She ignored the feeder and flew next to the mountain mint.  

The mountain mint wriggled with the movement of bees and wasps and skippers.  A tiger swallowtail wandered around the yard, appearing and disappearing into the trees.  Dragonflies were perched and waiting. 

An egret marched up the creek at low tide.  A skink tiptoed across the wall of the house out of sight of a crow on the roof.  

Rain lilies

Goldfinches came back.  This year they have been less wary and also more interested in the seeds on offer.  There were birds up in the trees but the only one the camera caught was a chickadee. 

I missed the regular front yard lilies - they must have bloomed very quickly.  I was grateful that three rain lilies popped up where the dry creek bed meets the grass.  The gardenias were still blooming but nearly finished.  The crocosima flowers were well started and mixed with lantana. Two peppers were growing on last year's surviving plant.

And in the back yard, the blue aster had flowers.  An accidental sunflower tracked the sun.  Coral honeysuckle trumpets dangled off the fence, trying to lure hummingbirds.  Wasps and skippers had discovered the mountain mint.  Of course, cabbage whites flitted around.  Dragonflies were more purposeful.  A skimmer used the bamboo perch.  The orchard spider still lurked in the azaleas.