Wet

Rain fell in the night and didn't try out very quickly during the day.  A downy came very early for seeds.  She continued to ignore the suet.  Chickadees streamed to the seed feeder.  At least three birds flew out of the dogwood but I could not tell what they were.  A photo revealed that one was a titmouse.  A great blue heron perched on a post, then flew down to stalk along the shoreline.  The sun shone briefly in late afternoon but then the weather turned to drizzle.  

 

Warmer

The wind flipped around to the West and we had sun and clouds.  The high was in the 70s and the water was colder.  K noticed a spider thread between the camellia and the azalea but I couldn't find more web or a spider.  A monarch circled the water but paid no attention to the milkweed.  Titmice were hungry for seeds.  

 

Lovely day

Rain from last night filled the birdbath and ruined the bird food.  The sun was fierce but the temperature was mild, in fact cool in the shade with a breeze.  In between clouds. the sky was sharply blue.  The larger frog was waiting for me in the skimmer.  It hopped away and I did not see it again.  In fact, I didn't see much wildlife at all.  Dark butterflies explored and swallowtail caterpillars ate.  

I found another drowned caterpillar that I couldn't identify.  A sweat bee needed rescue.  A millipede walked over my foot.  Titmice visited along with the regular seed eaters.  A hummer was very thirsty.  I heard cicadas, a blue jay, a goldfinch, and something that sang "turnip, turnip."  High clouds were blown South while lower ones came in from the East.  Eventually the wind shifted to Northeast  The polypore looked pristine.  

Hummingbirds

The wild blue morning glories were blooming when I replaced the low-hanging hummer feeder.  When I went for a morning swim, three frogs awaited me but two hopped away and only one dove into the water.  I caught and released it on land too.  A black swallowtail egged the gone-to-seed parsley and a dragonfly flew fast over the water while I swam.  I found a tiny, pretty beetle afloat but it never revived.  It was about the size of a ladybug but not so round.  iNaturalist identified it as a shield-backed cryptocephalus, Cryptocephalus mutabilis.

A hummer came to the little feeder but did not stay long.  Maybe rainwater diluted it?  A tiny orb web hung between the feeder and the post.  Later, a hummer visited the 3-hole feeder and still later, two hummers argued about it.  

As I dripped dry, I noticed ridges in the clouds coming from the Southwest.  They were perpendicular to the wind direction, sort of like ocean waves.  They're classified as altostratus undulatus clouds.  A red spotted purple rested on a dogwood branch.  A little skink followed the edge of the concrete to cross the patio but on the way back it took a shortcut.  A downy woodpecker hung below a branch it was hammering in the section of the dogwood that lost its bark and died.  A titmouse fussed because I was too close to the seed feeder.  

 

Crab

Fortunately, the sticky heat was frequently relieved by a breeze.  Lots of cumulus blew up from the Southwest.  The brown headed nuthatch was back  The dark spider posed like an orb weaver but what I could see of the web was just a tangle of threads with no pattern.  A couple of duskywings argued over the mountain mint.  I posed a drowned camel cricket.

I found no frogs in the pool today, but a mud crab instead.  It pinched my fingers and toes and got away into deep water.  Speaking of pinches, National Geographic introduced the Schmidt sting pain index.  A hummer made a brief visit to its feeder.  A male slaty skimmer used the smaller perch but spent much of the time hunting.  I saw a reddish dot in the sky and got a blurry shot of a Carolina saddleback dragonfly.  A titmouse saw something hair-raising.  Once again, a sprinkle made me take the camera inside.  

Pleasant

Sunshine was reflected by the quiet creek.  K put peanuts for the crow but two squirrels squabbled over them till they were all gone.  Titmice came early for seeds.  Then, at lunch, a mockingbird was determined to get barkbutter balls, even while K was outside at the grill.  A bumblebee staggered across the patio - too much mountain mint?  I saw hummers at the feeder several times throughout the day.  Also, a monarch and a tiger swallowtail flitted past but only the fiery skippers posed.  

In the afternoon, fluffy cumulus blew past from the WNW.   A skink lay on the step wall mostly in the shade.  I discovered that the Argiope was not missing.  It had simply moved to the other side of its web.  A hummer guarded the feeder from an old hibiscus stalk.  A robber fly and a lacewing did not revive after I fished them out of the water.  I twice caught a frog but I think it was the same frog.  

 

Dank

The hibiscus picked a poor day to bloom.  Rain slowly turned into drizzle.  The air was cool and damp and still.  Chickadees and titmice and occasional cardinals came for seeds.  The dish feeders stayed covered.  A hummingbird cussed out a chickadee.  The hummer visited both the milkweed and its feeder throughout the day.  A great blue heron landed up in the trees with a raspy honk.  A parade of squirrels leapt between the redwood and the hickory.  Some squirrels fed on either the immature seeds or the flower buds in the dogwood.  The Argiope was still hanging out in the azalea, but no sign of the orchard spider.  I didn't see any insects.  

Ultraviolet sky

The sun burned in a clear ultra-blue sky, but a breeze from the North kept the temperature pleasant. The squirrel Einstein was back.  A tiger swallowtail stayed a flit ahead of the camera.  A cabbage white was more willing to pose.  A hummer visited the milkweed.  Its feeder was dry so I put out fresh but I don't know if it noticed.  Chickadees and titmice were very busy at the seed feeder.  A titmouse that was molting looked very untidy.  

I had a mixed-up schedule that put me in the water with little shade.  A few beetles needed rescue.  A dragonfly zigzagged inches above the water.  Meanwhile, the bees and wasps made drama on the mountain mint.  Thread-waisted wasps were mating.  The common whitetail zoomed across the patio and out of sight.  All was well with the orchard spider but I couldn't see the Argiope.  

Humid

Light rain fell in the morning and the temperature was moderate.  I glimpsed a goldfinch but bigger birds scared it off.  At lunch, K fed the mother and child crows.  A brown thrasher was interested in the leftovers as well as what fell from the seed feeder.  A brown headed nuthatch sneaked around bigger birds to get seeds.  A molting titmouse was more easily intimidated.  

Mist collected on the orchard spider's web. I waited to swim till mid afternoon when surfaces were drier.  The usual beetles were swimming too including a green June beetle.  A duskywing fed on the mountain mint alongside bees and wasps.  They were joined by a gray hairstreak.  The sun began to find loopholes in the cloudcover but mosquitoes were beginning to fine me.  

Hot

The air was hot and humid and not very breezy.  The hibiscus was still blooming.  As I stepped outside, a skink scooted off.  Apparently it had been resting in the shade of the house.  There wasn't much in the water - a few beetles, one little mama spider, and a millipede riding a leaf.  I spotted another infant Argiope, this one still making a fingerprint web.  A widow skimmer perched but I didn't see any dragonflies on patrol overhead.  I did glimpse some butterflies.  

A crow and a Carolina wren came to eat, along with the regulars.  Scruffy titmice that I suspect were molting fledglings got into everything.  A mockingbird harvested cherries.  A dark hummingbird visited its feeder but I think I spooked it.  The milkweed was blooming again.  The toadstools in the front yard looked about the same, maybe drier.  

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.  

 

Rain

I woke up to rain which was welcome because this year has been too dry.  A female pileated woodpecker pecked at the suet during a lull.  The rain stopped  before lunch and a family of awkward fledgling titmice came for seeds.  The sun came out in the late afternoon.  A skink ambled along a timber.  

Fierce heat

A crow got breakfast where K had scattered barkbutter balls on the patio.  I noticed it had some white spots on its right wing.  A mockingbird ate from the dish which I refilled.  So did a bluebird.  There was water in the birdbath from yesterday's rain and enough humidity to keep it from evaporating.  

The temperature rose so fast that I went swimming in the morning while there was still shade.  Storm winds had re-trashed the water with leaves, needles, catkins, bark, and unidentified tree fragments.  I rescued a bumblebee, a huge black ant, and three black beetles, but mostly I just kept sweeping up armloads of vegetative detritus.  

The thermometer registered 98°.  Only chickadees and titmice came out in the midday sun.  I also saw a few wasps and one tiger swallowtail, but no dragonflies.  Later in the afternoon, a fledgling crow begged outside my window.  Its parent was refusing to feed it but keeping an eye on it.  

At supper, a brown headed nuthatch joined the queue for seeds.  A Carolina wren shopped around the feeders.  

 

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.  

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.   

Beautiful weather

Yesterday's rain was still evident.  A titmouse was up early.  At lunch, K put BBBalls on the patio for the crow.  A blue jay preferred to eat from the dish.  The temperature got up into the 80s with a breeze under a brilliantly blue sky.  The milkweed was a riot of flowers but I didn't see pollinators.  The cardinals were still courting.  

Again there were spiders to rescue including another crab spider.  Two damselflies perched in the shade by the water.  After I swam, I saw a skink.  A squirrel scampered past me just a couple of feet away.  I could see something flying over under the sakaki but I don't know what.  A azure butterfly flitted over the house.  Another blue jay visited.  

 

Rain

Rain yesterday, rain today, and rain tomorrow.  Something left a small offering of what looked like cherry pits, though I didn't think the wild cherries were ripe yet.  The baby squirrel was back.  A squirrel tried to reach the barkbutter despite the rain-slick railing.  A titmouse joined the cardinals seeking seeds.  A downy had suet.  The cardinals were courting again.  I went to dump the rain & barkbutter soup out of the glass dish and dropped it.  I hope I got all the glass picked up.   A crow had a bath and then a snack, courtesy of K.  

 

Cold water

A Carolina wren got a barkbutter ball from the dish.  A titmouse fooled around.  Then I saw a very bright pine warbler.  The outdoor thermometer read 95° so I ventured into the pool today.  It was cold but bearable.  I tried to rescue a spider in the skimmer but it evaded me.  

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.  

Pair of brown thrashers

A pair of brown thrashers visited several times on a lovely, sunlit day.  Despite the clear, blue sky, the temperature barely cleared 70° .  The breeze grew gusty at times.  A blue jay noticed noticed the barkbutter balls.  A bluebird ate seeds which were nearly empty.  The red belly fussed because I was too close to the seed feeder but a titmouse didn't care.  

At lunch, I spotted a tiger swallowtail resting on a dogwood twig.  It was right under the wild cherry so it might have been freshly emerged from a chrysalis.  Or it might just have been tired from laying eggs.  Eventually it took off.