Mackerel sky

The heat wave continued and the humidity seemed higher too. The West wind brought cirrus and altocumulus clouds making a classic "mares' tails and mackerel sky."  Some of it coalesced around contrails.  K said the sky was red at dawn.  Rain would be welcome but it wasn't in the forecast. 

I saw another butterfly but it was only a cabbage white.  A red spider mite scuttled around my chair arm.  Titmice and chickadees ate seeds.  A couple of tree swallows hunted aerial insects. 

Frog moving day

Today the camera decided to cooperate.  Squirrels played follow the leader during breakfast.  I think I counted five of them swinging Tarzan-style through the trees.  This was the final slowpoke.  

I organized myself for a morning swim.  Scary clouds boiled on the South, but moved West to East, giving me some shade without rain.  I thought I heard thunder but it might have been jets.  The green frog was back so this time I relocated it all the way to the fig patch.  The downspout should provide wetness and there's an all-it-can-eat mosquito buffet.  

Some mushrooms popped up, fertilized by rotting figs.  The rain, two days ago and humidity since rotted all the ripe figs.  I knocked down what I could so they wouldn't infect others.  The sunflower looked healthy and much less bug-chewed than the other one.  

Dragonflies showed up at lunchtime.  They ignored my bamboo stakes and preferred the dead gladiolus stalks.  I'm pretty sure one was a female widow skimmer.  Another was a female blue dasher.  A tiger swallowtail zipped past.  Wasps and bees of many sorts bounced around the mountain mint.  Alas I think the spider mites returned.  A skink caught my eye but it caught my movement and was gone into the violets. 

A bluebird wanted some barkbutter balls but I was in the way.  A hummingbird rejected the sugar water.  There will be fresh tomorrow.  

So humid

At breakfast, the windows were fogged and everything dripped.  Hardly any air movement mitigated the misery.  Why did I ever want to explore the Amazon?  Fortunately, as the day warmed, the humidity dropped.  The brown headed nuthatch joined the usual seed eaters.  Hummers objected to the main feeder but found the little one.  Sawflies defoliated the hibiscus because I couldn't spray during rain spells.  Spider mites went to work on the mountain mint and the rosemary.  I glimpsed a dragonfly in the morning.  Another used one of the perches.  A red and black fly sat on one of the outdoor chairs.  I chased a frog around the pool.  Skinks scampered across the patio.  Cicadas sang.  

Skinklet

I almost didn't see the tiny skink in the water.  It looked like it wasn't long out of the egg.  It squirmed out of my hand but tried to hide between my toes.  Fiery skippers competed with bees and wasps for mountain mint nectar.  The humidity fogged the camera lens.which created some eerie photos.  K picked the first batch of figs.  A squirrel went out on a limb to indulge in wild cherries. A tiny pale jumping spider hiked along the railing.  I would have said it was a magnolia green jumper if it had been green.  I appear to have lost the battles against spider mites and hibiscus sawflies.  

Mother spider

Skinks popped up frequently.  A lovely cloudless sulphur was too fast for me but a black swallowtail took her time laying eggs on the rue.  I caught a glimpse of an orange bodied dragonfly.  The web under the hibiscus was still empty.  The spider in the mountain mint waited motionless behind its trap.  But the spider that moved into the nook between windows had been busy - a brown sac of eggs was suspended below the overhang.  

A very fuzzy large blond bee worked on the mountain mint.  I wondered if it was a drone.It was furred like a bumblebee but the size of a carpenter bee.  The great black wasps continued to feed on the mountain mint after the sun sank behind the trees.  The other wasps and bees mostly depart with the sun.  The spider mites enshrouded parts of the mountain mint because I quit trying to control them when the Argiope moved in. 

When I went to empty the skimmer, I could see a tail hanging down so I gently tugged on it and down plopped a skink.  I laid it in the sun to dry and warm and eventually it revived.  Not so the two I found floating in the deep water.  Lots of birds flitted among the trees but I wasn't able to guess their identities.  Chickades and titmice came to the feeders even though I was close.  Small clouds streamed in from the West.  

Green bee!

A male cardinal fed a fledgling that still had a dark beak.  I got both birds separately but not the tender moment.  I went after spider mites with neem oil and surprised a small brown mantis on the lavender.  I wonder if it was eating them?  

A cicada was floating on its back and when I fished it out, it proved quite alive and clingy.  My best guess is Megatibicen auletes.  It's the largest N. American cicada and I know I've heard them. I also evicted a frog.  A palamedes swallowtail teased me but never landed.  A summer azure flitted past the mountain mint and kept going.  

But then I found a bright green bee on the mountain mint. Because of the spider mites, I cut away a lot of the mountain mint flowers and I also sprayed neem oil on some that remained.  I don't know if the bees and wasps will forgive me.  One flew around my head urging me to go away. 

A flicker of movement revealed an amberwing dragonfly in the grass.  The Argiope by the rue still seemed prosperous.  Because a thunderstorm was in the forecast, I put out a fresh block of suet.  Despite that, I didn't see much in the way of birds except for chickadees.  The day seemed hot and muggy, especially while I was cutting mountain mint, but it wasn't as warm as it has been and the fitful breeze came from the North.  

 

Late summer

A couple of Carolina wrens showed up at the start of another hot day.  One threshed the sunflower seeds while the other tucked into the barkbutter balls.  

The hibiscus was about finished. An aster had a new flower.  Spider mites were suddenly all over the mountain mint.  That didn't seem to bother the bees and wasps but I bet they won't like my attempt to treat the infestation.  A pokeweed plant growing beside the feeder pole began to bloom.  A bracket fungus came up in the same spot as last year, growing on the dead roots of the oak we lost, I hope, and not on the living maple.  There were buds on the saltbush, hinting at autumn.  The mystery plant was covered with buds too.

For a while, a low, dark sheet of cloud worried me but it thinned into froth.  The Argiope next to the rue still seemed happy with its location.  I believe it has grown.  However, I could not see the other one down by the shore.  

I found a metallic blue-green bee in the skimmer and fished it out for a picture.  To my surprise it began to revive.  Meanwhile a honeybee fell into the water.  And a bold Polistes exclamens wasp got a drink right beside the mouth of the skimmer.  I heard a hummer's wings but didn't see it.  I did see some skinks, all living thankfully. 

Dog and birds

Another hot day energized the hummers - two streaked across the yard, one in pursuit of the other for daring to drink at the feeder.  Live skinks were moving fast, as well, but unfortunately I found three drowned ones in the skimmer.  I also found a live frog.  

There were sawflies all over the hibiscus - I hope they all get caught in the Argiope's web.  The basilica spider had an egg pearl hanging from an extra thick strand.  Some first instar swallowtail caterpillars munched on rue nearby.  Fruits on the dogwood were full grown and turning red.  A black mud wasp had to fly circles around the mountain mint every few minutes. Spidermites infested it.  A monarch flitted around but didn't land on the milkweed, so I suspect it was a male.  Instead, I found a cricket nymph on the milkweed.  

A Carolina wren was bold enough to seize a barkbutter ball while I sat nearby.  But a hummer buzzed around me and then left when I sat near its feeder.  The birds were more wary of Andy the dog than of me.  Andy, however didn't express much interest in them.  He did take notice of a cardinal, but that was it.  On the other hand, he ran off barking at something he smelled, maybe a rabbit or squirrel.  

Skink rescue

A gorgeous day, but it was too cool and breezy to think of getting in the water.  I can deal with cold air or cold water, but not both.  A snout butterfly rested on a dogwood leaf just long enough for one photo.  A carpenter bee explored a daylily flower.  The mountain mint was deserted and when I looked closely, most of it had stopped flowering.  Perhaps that was its response to the spider mites.  In any event, it will give me a chance to douse it in Neem Oil. 

Even if I refused to swim, that didn't stop the ground beetles, or a skink that may have been after them.  When I reached down to try to lift the skink out of the water, it dived.  Then it slowly drifted deeper as though it was dead.  But eventually it came swimming back to the surface.  Then it rafted around on a leaf while I went to get the pole with a screen on the end.  The leaf may have been a psychological comfort but it was useless as a flotation device.  When I got back with the pole, the skink let me lift it out of the water.  

The floating leaves made interesting reflections in the sunlight before they softened and flattened.  I found a few toadstools over by the redbud trees. 

So busy

I hardly got outside.  And it was a wet, gray, unattractive sort of day anyway.  Little bumblebees replaced the mammoth carpenter bees on the mountain mint.  I have to clip off more of the spider mite infestation.  An ant nest was sending out its winged queens.  They ignored a millipede hurrying past.  A spider walked on water.  I rescued a couple of ground beetles. 

Off-and-on rain

It was a zebra sort of day with stripes of sunshine and raincloud.  Several times the rain clouds were overhead while the sun shone underneath at an angle.  Gray or bright, the creek mirrored the sky. 

The new daylily bloomed.  A brown thrasher breakfasted on bark butter rain mush.  When the day warmed, a skink ventured out.  A Carolina wren tried to snatch a meal from the seed feeder.  Downy woodpeckers showed up when I put out a fresh tub of bark butter. 

The usual wasps and a few bumblebees were on the mountain mint.  Unfortunately the spider mite infestation kept spreading during the rainy days.  A skipper, a hairstreak, and a black swallowtail took advantage of a sunny interval.  And a black swallowtail caterpillar munched parsley.  Then I spotted wheelbugs mating!  A damselfly lurked near the pool.  I rescued crickets and leafhoppers and one beetle.  A very small spider seemed to be creating a fairly large web under the dogwood.  I hope I remember to check in the morning. 

And in the pool were two frogs, one medium and one quite small.  I evicted the little one but the water was too cold (70) to encourage me to chase the other one.  Later I saw the small one sitting on the pool ladder while the big one still fled when I attempted to scoop it up.  

 

Cloudy

The hibiscus opened nine flowers!  Thank you neem oil for stopping the sawflies.  I cut off the parts of mountain mint with spider mites but I probably didn't get them all.  I'm not sure about using neem oil on the mountain mint since I planted it to attract insects.  A quiet breakfast was explained when the cat sauntered across the lower patio. 

Dragonflies were back on the perches.  The wind made waves on the creek and rumpled the feathers on a great blue heron.  A second heron was more sensible and faced into the wind.  Lots of birds were up in the hackberry but the only one I identified was a blue jay. 

The wind didn't keep the mountain mint's fans away.  Honeybees, megachile bees, and carpenter bees mixed with the wasps, including great golden digger, blue mud, sand, scoliid including a giant, and threadwaisted wasps, plus some I've yet to identify.  The hungry monarch caterpillars actually gnawed on the milkweed pod before they disappeared.  I'm hopeful that they went to pupate as there were still plenty of uneaten leaves.   A duskywing preferred the herb mint. 

It was a day for skinks.  I saw one in the mulch, several on the patios, and saved one in the water.  The ungrateful reptile jumped back in and I learned they can swim underwater.  But it did not escape me a second time.  Another scuttled into a crevice then peered out to see if it was safe.  I also extracted a small frog from the skimmer.  It too jumped back in and had to be caught again.  A glass snail hung on the pool wall just above the waterline.  I found another floating and put it on land in the shade. 

The rue was full of black swallowtail caterpillars of various sizes and instars from just turned orange to green and big enough to pupate.  An adult was flitting around the parsley.  An adult monarch didn't stop, not did a tiger swallowtail.  I glimpsed some snouts but not in good places for a picture. 

Meanwhile, a brown thrasher discovered the fresh bark butter.  A pair of Carolina wriens waited impatiently for it to be done.  The hummers got the last of a batch of sugarwater, and fought over it.  One kept watch on the feeder from the cherry.  Abother hummer hunted for something in the red cedar - bugs?  Maybe they are attracted by the smell of resin? 

Breezy

One of the finches didn't look exactly like the others and turned out to be a juvenile bluebird.  Hummers arrived so steadily they sucked the feeder dry.  They also wasted energy chasing each other.  A pileated woodpecker shot across the yard and disappeared into the trees. 

Honeybees joined the throng on the mountain mint. I noticed spider mites were starting to spread among the flowers.  This year I know enough to get rid of the infected areas.  Four monarch caterpillars demolished the butterfly milkweed.  An adult monarch flew past and kept going, wisely.

When I lifted the skimmer basket, it was far too heavy.  The reason was a bullfrog.  It leaped out and I threw myself across the skimmer opening to keep it from going down the pipe and drowning.  The next I saw of it was eyes above the water in the deep end, but before I could do anything, the wind pushed the beach ball right at it.  That was the last I saw of the frog today.  While prowling around the pool deck looking for the frog, I startled a skink.  I did rescue some beetles and bees and a couple of young spiders.

Dragonflies occupied two perches.  Some others stayed on the wing.  I found two black swallowtail caterpillars on the rue.  They were still in the orange instar that looks a bit like monarchs.  The one that got eaten the other day had turned green.  Bad camera focus revealed an early black-and-white instar as well.

A male goldfinch made several visits to the ant moat for a drink.  Blue jays kept their distance. 

in the late afternoon, the cottontail returned to eat my morning glories.  At supper, a bird grasshopper sauntered along the top step, appearing at times to lay eggs.  Sunset was very orange.

Hawk

 An egret greeted the sun from a dock piling. I think the spider mites returned - webbing enmeshed the rue.  Some of yesterday's hibiscus flowers were still open. 

A Halloween pennant dragonfly perched on a dead twig at the top of the hackberry.  A Carolina wren sang in the dogwood.  A juvenile brown thrasher sifted through the leaf litter. 

The mountain mint hosted a wide variety of wasps and bees.  In the pool, a biting fly went after me for protein in the hope that rain would create breeding pools. 
K picked more blueberries and saw a hawk in the grass. I suspect it was after the brown thrasher but, thankfully, it was unsuccessful.  It perched on the fence long enough for some photos.  We heard thunder but got no rain.  The storm stayed over the southern part of the city.

Blue sky and birds

The air and water were calm when I got up, and the sky was blue.  I refilled the bark butter balls at breakfast and immediately the blue jay started up with the 'betcha can't get a photo' game.  Well I did.  Bluebirds came too, and a starling.  A feisty hummer chased a chickadee off the seed feeder.  But I didn't see the hummer again. 

A photo revealed spider mites on the rue.  It will be a good trick to spray them without bothering the bees and wasps.  And the honeybees were back but surprisingly few wasps.  The West wind started up again and pushed the low tide even lower.  I had given up on birds and was pulling weeds when a damselfly landed.  My best guess is that it was an immature female Citrine forktail. 

Birds and bees

At breakfast time, the creek was quite rumpled under a hazy blue sky.  The day began chilly but warmed enough to bring out insects. The camellia attracted the bees, but I also saw a paper wasp and large moth or small butterfly. The little jumping spider was still on the railing, but definitely alive. 

When we got home, several titmice were crowding the chickadees at the feeder.  But by the time my hands were free house finches had taken over.  Two butterbutts got into a fuss.  They were the only migrants.  A pine warbler found the bark butter balls, but I think it is a permanent resident. 

Though I kept an eye out for migrant ducks, I only saw mallards.  A great blue heron occupied the channel marker.  The male kingfisher perched on a neighbor's dock piling. 

I moved the suet back to its usual winter location which flummoxed a downy woodpecker that had tracked it down to the new spot.  The suet looked like it was getting moldy from lack of sunlight or maybe air circulation.  I also cut away most of the damaged mountain mint that got infested with spider mites.  I wish I had figured out that they were what was plaguing the rosemary all those years but it wasn't till they moved over to the mountain mint that I could see what it was.  Ironically, rosemary oil is supposed to deter them. 

At dusk, the song sparrow reappeared to forage under the seed feeder.  When a squirrel startled it, the bird took refuge in the thorny rose canes.  The camera struggled with the low light.