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.  

 

Spiders

The roes bush Argiope made an egg sack.  No change to the black swallowtail chrysalis, but I located two monarch chrysalises.  The puss moth caterpillar was definitely dead.  I learned that it was a Southern flannel moth Megalopyge opercularis and that puss moth also refers to a quite different caterpillar.  A mabel orchard spider, Leucauge argyrobapta, moved in next to the black swallowtail chrysalis.  The wind made the web bounce, frustrating camera focus.  A sizable web under the hackberry had snagged some leaves.  There was no sign of its maker which I'm betting was an Araneus.  A couple of butterflies had a dance-fight in the air over territory.  The tattered winner, a red spotted purple, rested in the wild cherry.  A skink scuttled out of view into the mulch.  

Unlike yesterday, nothing needed rescue from a watery grave.  I identified the little blue flowers as Siberian bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla.   Two moonflowers opened at the base of the step railing.  The beautyberry was at its peak.  The first camellia flower of the season opened.   The rain last week got into the bird feeder and sunflower seeds germinated.  The sky clouded over as afternoon became evening.  

Showers and gusts

There were flickers of sunlight in the morning but also a couple of showers.  The barkbutter dish was nearly empty but I didn't want to waste more in the rain.  A cardinal picked over the crumbs but a mockingbird disdained them and just drank water. 

The sunflower must have completed fertilization because all the ray flowers (aka petals) were withered and drooping.  At supper, there was a flurry of birds.  A Carolina wren inspected the barkbutter dust.  A hummer stayed low in between trips to the feeder.  The creek was running high and there were reports of flooding elsewhere in town. 

Lovely day

The white breasted nuthatch was up early, soon followed by a brown headed nuthatch.  They both wanted seeds, as did a house finch.  Young mockingbirds were hoping for barkbutter balls but I hadn't gotten outside yet.  The sunflower shone like its name.  A goldfinch got a drink.  

When I refilled the barkbutter balls, I saw a soldier beetle on the mountain mint.  A frog waited on the ladder.  A skink scooted under my chair and then hid among pine needles.  The lengthwise lines on its body made surprisingly good camouflage.  Eventually it ran across the step and went about its business.  I put shoes on to get close ups of the Berkeley's Polypore.  When I got in the pool two frogs awaited me.  Also a drowned skink, alas.  Neither frog made any effort to get away.  I also rescued a magnolia green jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis.

I saw butterflies and one dragonfly but they did not cooperate.  The one butterfly that I got a recognizable photo of might have been a hackberry emperor Asterocampa celtis.  Certainly it was very close to a hackberry tree.  A cloudless sulphur got away, as did a dark butterfly.  There was a very small monarch caterpillar munching the new leaves on the butterfly milkweed.  While I was photographing the caterpillar, a jumping spider marched down the railing, keeping a wary eye on me.  My guess was a canopy jumping spider Phidippus otiosus.  A few wasps looked for nectar on the mountain mint. 

Blue jays and a male cardinal vied for barkbutter balls for supper.  The white breasted nuthatch came back for another meal but a female cardinal was in the way.  Then it was house finches, but finally the bird got fed.  

Spiders

This morning the Argiope spider was gone, as was any trace of the web.  I think that must mean the departure was intentional.  Perhaps she wanted a place where debris wouldn't blow into the web.   The brown headed nuthatches conducted more stealthy raids on the seeds.  Blue jays went for barkbutter balls as usual.  The sunflower bloomed. 

Overcast and wind made a chilly day.  I went swimming anyway because the pool needed cleaning, but I didn't linger.  I wonder if the frog was relieved or disappointed?  As I was dripping and shivering, I noticed a small spider lurking in the mountain mint.  Like the much larger Argiope, it paired up its legs, appearing to have four instead of eight.  The best match I found was the arrowhead orbweaver Verrucosa arenata but I don't think it's right.  

Skippers

The day was beautifully sunny and warmer than I expected.  The northeast wind still blew, but not quite as fiercely.  Still, there was more tree trash to clean up.   My brief time in the pool yielded two skinks, one dead alas, two frogs, and a black swallowtail butterfly.  The volunteer sunflower bud was starting to turn yellow.  There was another hibiscus flower today.  The butterfly milkweed was almost recovered from defoliation.  The beautyberries were getting their magenta on.  The fungus might be as big as it will get. 

The Argiope started the day with a fresh, clean web and she already had breakfast.  At first she hung on the outside, away from the glass, but switched at some point.  That nice new web collected a lot of detritus as the day went on.  A tiger swallowtail flew slowly enough for the camera.  Not so, a cloudless sulphur - it was a blur of butterfly-shaped yellow.  It landed on yesterday's withered hibiscus instead of today's flower.  Another duskywing flitted around the mountain mint.  Then a silver spotted skipper landed on the mountain mint.  I thought another skipper might be a Huron sachem.  A two lined spittlebug crept along a dried stem of money plant.  

A blue jay inspected the barkbutter ball dish.  A white breasted nuthatch yearned for seeds.   A wary hummer watched as much as she drank.   A Carolina wren objected to the crumbs that were left of the barkbutter balls, then hustled off to the seeds.   Brown headed nuthatches used ninja powers to get seeds.  A female cardinal looked like she had been dragged backward through a knothole.  Fortunately, molting is temporary. 

I saw a warbler with a yellow breast and brown head and back.  It seemed to have an eye ring though the angle of its head left me uncertain.  Also it was molting a bit so I couldn't see details of the wing bars.  Though it did not look like a pine warbler that is my best guess. 

Buggy

A couple of seedling sunflowers popped up.  The hibiscus put on a real show with six flowers.  The fungus under the oak was visibly bigger.  The canna was blooming as though inspired by the nearby hibiscus.   Only two seedpods survived on the stripped butterfly milkweed.  Some dogwood leaves turned red or yellow, marking approaching Fall.

Although the monarch caterpillars departed, the black swallowtail caterpillars were visible all over the rue.  I rescued two blue tailed skinks from the water and evicted a frog.  I was too late for a bumblebee.  A glass snail floated on the surface but I put it out of the water too.  A busy honeybee was one of the few insects on the mountain mint.  The spiders hadn't moved since yesterday. A mosquito followed me into the house and feasted as I took off my wet suit. 

Bluebirds came for seeds.  A brown thrasher slipped into the mountain mint stalks.  The red bellied woodpecker was back.  Blue jays were happy about the barkbutter balls.  

 

Another beautiful day

 A couple of sunflower seeds germinated and sprouted up.  I hope they will survive to flower.  A variegated fritillary appeared to be egging the violets.  One of the Argiope spiders moved into the mountain mint and already caught a meal.   I counted seven monarch caterpillars and probably missed some.  A dozen or more black swallowtail caterpillars were on the rue.  Later, a gray hairstreak also seemed interested in violet leaves.  I also saw tiger and black swallowtails and, I think, a sleepy orange. 

The hummer feeder was empty so I hung another.  I chased two frogs around the pool.  One cooperated but the other outlasted me.   A mockingbird showed up for barkbutter balls.  A blue jay followed.  Something with a big furry butt was up in one of the pines.  Hummers and a blue jay came for supper.

Dark daytime

I measured the rainwater in a bucket at two inches for yesterday and overnight.   The rain paused in the morning and there was even some blue sky.  The goldfinch pair wanted their breakfast.  I found one Argiope spider but not the other two.  Plants revived and I straightened some bamboo stakes. I propped up the sunflower that fell over days ago and soon the female goldfinch started pecking at its seeds.  I doubt they were ripe yet.  The male kept watch.  

The mountain mint was covered with hungry insects including a Macrosiagon dimidiata beetle.  I also saw great golden digger wasps, scoliid wasps,  sand wasps, leafcutter bees, bumblebees carpenter bees, and honeybees.  In the pool, I rescued a mama spider with a big egg pearl and many brown May beetles.  A rain shower drove me inside but the heavy rain waited till afternoon.  It got very dark indoors and I heard thunder.  

Clearing the air

I didn't even look out a window Friday or Saturday.  Sunday, there were pigeons in Union Station.  The train home passed lines of thunderstorms till one let go overhead.  We passed out of it but it seemed to be following.  Sunset looked more alien than pretty.  When we finally pulled in, lightning was flashing in the south and the air felt sodden.  The storms pushed the temperature down from triple digits.  

It was still raining this morning but the sun was out before lunch.  The rain was welcome as was the cooler air.  Goldfinches ignored the rain which had bowed the sunflower all the way over.  When the rain stopped a bluebird appeared. 

The afternoon got quite windy but insects flew anyway.  The mountain mint was vibrating with honeybees, bumblebees, wasps and other bees.  I saw a sand wasp and a great golden digger wasp.  A tiger swallowtail nectared on the aster.  A monarch swooped around the flowers but didn't land and ignored the milkweed.  Flies too were attracted to the mountain mint as was a skipper.  A saddlebags dragonfly was strong enough to hover in spite of the wind gusts.  

The wind cleared the sky and battered the hibiscus flowers.  The goldfinches came back for supper and found fresh seeds.  I also saw a blue jay and, I think, a white breasted nuthatch.  Lots of titmice and chickadees that came for seeds were frustrated by the goldfinches.  

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. 

Very warm

A blue jay was up very early.  The rising sun's light bounced off the far bank, then off the creek surface and into my eyes.  The creek was mostly flat all day and the sky cloudless.   Later, I saw a bluebird sitting on a dock post.  

The day warmed into the 70s.  A few wasps prowled around the rue.  At lunch, a Carolina wren joined us for barkbutter balls.  Some fallen sunflower seeds germinated, but much too late in the year.  In the late afternoon, all I saw were geese and an egret flying.  

Warmer

The wind was gentler, the air warmer, and the sun fierce in the blue sky.  Colors floated on the shiny creek.  The mob of cardinals came back.  So did a Carolina wren.  The poor mama cardinal was still feeding her demanding offspring.  At least the seed feeder made her life easier. 

A  swallowtail sat on a violet leaf for no apparent reason.  The sunflower stalk fell over so I got rid of it.  I evicted a frog and a skink from the pool, also many, many pine needles. 

Humid

Goldfinches returned to the sunflower.  Considering all the sunflower seeds I have planted to no avail, it's amazing how much entertainment this accidental plant has provided.  And the plant continued to open small flowers. 

There were plenty of mosquitoes to feed the dragonflies!  A bar winged skimmer took the top position on one of the perches and a widow skimmer stayed near the bottom.  Both were female.  Eventually the widow got the top spot as the other dragonfly relocated. Another dragonfly perched on the the dried gladiolus stalks.  I couldn't get a good look at it but I believe it was a four spotted pennant.

A red spotted purple landed in a dogwood, then explored the sakaki bush.  The usual wasps and bees feasted on the mountain mint.  A little green frog was in the skimmer again. 

The bluebird twins returned to eat mealworms under their father's watchful eye..  A white breasted nuthatch made several forays for seeds.  Titmice did the same, competing with cardinals and house finches.  Then a Carolina wren joined the others at the seed feeder.  Sunset colored the whole sky.  

Late afternoon rain

The bit of beard lichen on the back of the bench never seems to get any bigger.  After some prowling around iNaturalist, I'm calling it Bristly Beard Lichen Usnea hirta.  The sunflower keeps making flowers but each is smaller than the last.  They have gone from desert plate down to thumbnail in size.  The beautyberry still had some flowers but more green berries. Yellow bells dangled from the ground cherry plants. 

I was afraid it might rain later so I picked figs in the morning.  Green June beetles had the same idea.  So did a bald faced hornet.  A lovely male widow skimmer used the perch outside my window.  There was a striped caterpillar drowned in the skimmer.  It looked to me like the kind that attacks azaleas so I did not mourn.  I could not locate the swallowtail caterpillar.  It may have gone off to form a chrysalis or it might have been hunting for more parsley, or it might have become dinner. 

A black mud wasp twitched around the mountain mint. The specific sand wasp I've been seeing on the mountain mint appears to be a Four-banded Stink Bug Wasp Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus even though I see five bands.  A tiger swallowtail hurried across the yard and out of sight. 

 

The dog wanted out around 4pm and spooked a female common whitetail dragonfly which got away unphotographed.  The clouds were already dark and threatening and the temperature had dropped.  A goldfinch was unwilling to visit while I was outside.  A fuzzy-looking bluebird perched atop the redwood.  Three mockingbirds landed in the dogwood, two fledglings and a tired parent.  And then the rain began.  

Toward evening, I saw a great blue heron on the dock.  It appeared to be stalking something.  The water was quite still after the rain.  

Spider

A cabbage white landed on the Solomon's seal.  Later, I saw another on the mountain mint,  joined by leatherwing beetles, bees, and wasps.  A shiny black mud wasp preferred the rue. 

An impressively thick strand of spider silk ran from the top of one of the dragonfly perches into the vegetation where it supported an almost horizontal orb web with an orchard spider at the hub.  Getting that in focus was tricky.  

A male goldfinch divided his attention between the sunflower and the seed feeder.  He gave way to a male house finch but soon found the courage to challenger the bigger finch.  I also saw a skink and a bullfrog but they escaped the camera.

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. 

Gusty wind

In the morning a little wasp scrabbled at the window.  The sunflower opened more flowers.  A crow visited the berkbutter balls.  So did a blue jay.  Something I thought was a dragonfly banged on the window in the afternoon.  And in the evening, I finally caught a firefly light.  

Goldfinches

There was rain overnight, enough to leave water in the barkbutter dish.  The suet was gone and not yet replaced.  A mockingbird looked for food but I hesitated to restock with more rain in the forecast.  A female bluebird picked at what remained in the lower, more sheltered dish.  

Apparently goldfinches are as drawn to yellow as hummingbirds are to red.  Three goldfinches investigated the sunflower.  The two males argued over the biggest flower and one was relegated to onlooker.  Meanwhile, the female poked around the smaller flowers just beginning to open. 

Baby bluebird

The air was still smoky, though either the smell had diminished or we got used to it.   Bluebirds looked ragged, maybe molting or maybe parenting wore them out.  Even though I staked it, the sunflower got in my line of sight of the seed feeder perch.  So instead of the brown headed nuthatch, the back of the sunflower was in focus.  The LRN volunteers were back to mark planting areas on the sand and rig goose deterrents.  

Either birds were eating green cherries or they were finding bugs among the cherries, but the wild cherry tree was busy.  One was a juvenile bluebird.  A mockingbird stood on the side wall of the steps and flashed.  Then it went to the birdbath for a drink.  

A snout butterfly was attracted to the cinquefoil or violets, I couldn't tell which.  BugGuide says their food is hackberry.  A cabbage white was more interested in the mountain mint.  But I didn't see any butterflies on the butterfly milkweed, just a little wasp and a minuscule ant.  Bumblebees feasted on the rue and I thought I saw a honeybee too.  Some potter wasps and quite a few flies were feeding on the rue as well. Leatherwing beetles preferred the parsley.  Wasps and flies joined them. 

Crows checked in case I had left them any food.  I hadn't.  A red bellied woodpecker wanted suet but was too wary.  When a white breasted nuthatch showed up, I was frustrated by the sunflower so I went outside.  Two white breasted nuthatches took turns at the feeder despite my presence.  A juvenile bluebird foraged under the red cedar.  A pine warbler got some suet.  A mockingbird decided I was too close.  Chickadees and titmice weren't as easily deterred from eating.  

Crows were busy harassing something.  Clouds moved in and we had a brief shower around 6pm.  The two male cardinals whose territories overlap at the feeder got into a squabble and one chased the other away.  I could tell them apart because one had begun to molt.