A genius among squirrels

Crows cam looking for peanuts at breakfast.  Birds, and squirrels, continued to eat cherries, though fewer remain on the tree.  A very athletic squirrel hung by its toes from the feeder roof so that only part of its weight rested on the perch and thus did not trip the counterweight that closes access to the seed trough.  At least once, the toes lost their grip and the squirrel landed in the mulch.  But back up it went for another try.  Toward evening, a great blue heron perched on a dock piling.  

 

Hibiscus blossom

The crow perched on the railing and thought about the food in the hanging dishes.  I think this was early for the hibiscus to bloom, and the plant was quite small so far this year - only two stalks instead of a half dozen and not very tall.  I didn't see the flower until I was in the water.  The usual beetles were swimming along with things I don't rescue.  Something eating cherries dropped some in the water.  The mockingbird I saw cherry picking was careful.  A Carolina wren was only interested in barkbutter and mealworms.  A brown headed nuthatch wanted seeds.  A hummer disdained the sugarwater so I discarded it.  I glimpsed butterflies and prince baskettail dragonflies.  The milkweed had more buds.  The noon sky was full of wispy patterns.  A shower in the afternoon kept me inside. 

Cherry pickers

A pair of Carolina wrens showed up at breakfast.  Because of the weather forecast and the evil fly I swam in the morning.  There were a good many May beetles needing rescue and one very small mama spider.  I glimpsed a butterfly but, surprisingly, no Odonata.  A skipper found the first flowers on the mountain mint.  An egret stalked along the bullkhead.  The crow came looking for treats.  

In the afternoon, birds feasted on the wild cherry.  I saw mockingbirds, chickadees, cardinals, and some I wasn't sure about, maybe an Eastern kingbird?  A bluebird looked around before joining the cherry pickers.  The recent rains plumped up the cherries which had been wizened and tough in the drought.  The blueberries seemed to be waiting for more encouragement.  Scientific American reported that there is a structure in plant cells that reacts to the sound of falling rain.  DEQ had not lifted the drought warning despite the recent rain. It still only accumulated to 2/3 of the average for the first half of the year.  Today's rain arrived around 3pm.  

A hot week

Yesterday was still hot.  A pine warbler considered the barkbutter balls.  Then blue jays arrived, and white throats.  K spilled some on the patio for a crow.  The pines and oaks shed pollen.   Flower bud spikes appeared on the wild cherry.  

Today was supposedly the last of the heatwave.  Azaleas opened but jonquils withered.  A cabbage white flitted through the vegetation.  A white throat checked to see if the dish had been refilled.  Two more hopped around in a dogwood.  Another perched by the fence.  Blue jays noticed when I refilled the dish.  

Hot sun

The song sparrow came early to forage.   A myrtle warbler was disappointed that the glass dish was empty.  A bluebird found seeds in the feeder.  A white throat wandered the patio.  A brown thrasher hoped for barkbutter but the dish was still empty.  I did refill it after breakfast.  A downy ate seeds in lieu of suet since that was empty too.  

It was at least 85° this afternoon, and sunny.  Paper wasps were flying, along with a cabbage white.  The squirrel with the light spot on its back came close and sniffed my toes.  I guess I passed inspection.  A brown thrasher watched from the maple.  Bluebirds and blue jays were skittish but wanted barkbutter balls.  Lots of sparrows scurried around.  A mixed group of white throats and house finches drank from the pool puddle.

The oaks were in full bloom, mating with the wind.  A squirrel was feeding on the pollen.  The volunteer domestic cherry had flowers though the wild cherry was leafing out before blooming.  

Arthropod day

Two female pileated woodpeckers started the morning.  It appeared that the one eating suet was feeding the other, but behind the post so I couldn't be sure.  Later the nuthatches slipped between the cardinals and house finches to get seeds.  Chickadees and titmice also visited the feeders and a titmouse asserted its status.  A female bluebird noticed that I had put out fresh barkbutter balls.  A juvenile bluebird visited the seed feeder.  A crow found the mealworms that the bluebirds tossed out.  A blue jay also got into the mealworms. 

The largest Argiope spider refurbished its web in the window.  All three of the smaller ones seemed to be doing well, though the web in the aster was still fingerprint shaped, not a straight stripe like the other three made.  A dragonfly hunted from one of the perches.  It might have been a bar-winged skimmer.  Later a prince baskettail flew loops over the pool.  Pool rescues included a centipede, a mama wolf spider and babies, and a bumblebee.  I don't know if the centipede revived of became someone's lunch, but it disappeared.  When I got out of the pool, a robber fly landed on my arm.  I persuaded it to move to my left hand but that was still too close for the camera.  After a moment it flew off and I have no idea what my attraction was.  

Two duskywing skippers fed with the wasps and bees on the mountain mint.  There was at least one honeybee.  I think one bee might be a two-spotted longhorn bee.  It certainly had hairy hind legs.  A large wasp with a striped abdomen That I think was a horse guard wasp Stictia carolina also fed on the mountain mint.  While I'm delighted that they attack biting flies, it is concerning that one expects to find prey here. 

This year, the gladiolus flowering has been more sporadic than I remember from other years.  A few fresh flowers opened on the butterfly milkweed but there was still no sign of caterpillars.  I just noticed that the blueberries ripened before the wild cherries.  The temperature peaked at 93° then yo-yoed with the clouds and sun.  Twice, raindrops spattered me when I went outside but didn't wet anything for more than a minute.  

Hummer caught on camera!

Mockingbirds hoped for breakfast.  Even a chickadee wanted what was in the dishes.  Bluebirds supplemented seeds with barkbutter and mealworms.  The red roses opened.  The wild cherry flowers turned into green berries.  The wind whipped trees at mid day.  

At lunch I spotted a hummer so afterward I stationed myself just far enough from the feeder and waited.  The bird returned.  Alas his back was to the sun so his throat looked ebony instead of ruby.  Later, the female pileated came for suet.  Blue jays wanted barkbutter balls.  I got glimpses of dragonflies along with wasps and what I thought was a small, brown butterfly.  

Very warm

The creek shown with reflections in the early morning though the tide was very low.  White throats were up to their usual mulch kicking.  The sky was hazy but I spotted an eagle flying very high.  The pair of wrens lunched with us.  The money plants were nearly done flowering and were busy making pods.  Flower spikes on the wild cherry looked like an explosion.  A little black beetle with big eyes scuttled around the patio.  A Polistes wasp harvested plant fibers.  The wind was very strong.  An egret preened on a dock post.  Mockingbirds visited the barkbutter balls.  Then a pileated female came for suet.  

Mockingbird pair

The weather or something has messed with the meteorologists.  For today they predicted cloudy but the sun shone till mid afternoon.  Granted, the sky was hazy and the haze gradually thickened till finally it was overcast.  The male red belly came frequently to work on the remnant of suet.  A Carolina wren stepped in between woodpecker visits.  I had mixed mealworms with the barkbutter balls and a blue jay approved.  

I'm not so sure about the pair of mockingbirds because I only saw them take barkbutter balls.  A handful of white throats were still vacationing here.  Bluebirds seemed to be in a hurry.  A pine warbler was lured by the mealworms.  A myrtle warbler came late to the party, half dressed in its summer duds.  The wild cherry had flower buds.  

Carolina wren

A male oriole had jelly for breakfast.  Bluebirds ate seeds.  The jelly also attracted a myrtle warbler.  A Carolina wren peered in the window, then turned around and ignored us to work on an itch.  White throats were predictable. 

A cabbage white defied the wind.  The wild cherry began to leaf out, joining the oak and dogwood.  There were buds on the redbud trees.  Under the bright sun, the temperature rose to 71° and stuck there, but the wind chilled.  I saw egrets and herons on the creek and the osprey up in the pines.  We potted the pimento peppers.  

 

H O T

The sun was intense despite shreds of cumulus blowing out of the Southwest.  A fierce wind whipped the trees and cast debris into the water.  The Carolina wren  was up early, looking for that good barkbutter.  There were only a few crumbs left.  I took more out later and blue jays were not far behind.  The wren returned as well.  Then a crow wanted a big beak full. 

The orchard spider moved near the front of the azalea which put the web at a difficult angle for the camera.  The little Argiope was refreshing the opaque part of its web.  A frayed silk thread dangled stretched between bare twigs at the top of the wild cherry.  The cherries were ripening but if we don't get rain they will be nothing but skin and pit.  I found another Argiope web, but it seemed to be uninhabited even though it was in good shape. 

I picked some blueberries in the morning while it was only in the 80s.  By lunch, the thermometer flickered between 101 and 102°.  A yellow crowned night heron flew over the house.  One blue jay chose seeds even though the perch slowly dropped from the bird's weight.  A dropped seed that germinated looked ready to harvest.  After leafing out and blooming, most of the rue shriveled and died from some unknown cause, maybe old age.  A Japanese beetle tasted a rose leaf.  The roses were chewed to pieces. 

Squirrel's bad day

The wind was much cooler and waves muddied the creek surface.  A mockingbird wanted a refill on the barkbutter balls.  So did a blue jay.  A few turtles enjoyed the sunshine. The pileated woodpeckers got their share of the suet though the pesky starlings ate more. A tiger swallowtail flew across the yard.  A female bluebird worked on the dregs of the barkbutter balls.  The sycamore and the pecan leafed out and I saw flowers on the wild cherry.  . 

I noticed a courtship pursuit where the female squirrel stays just a couple of feet ahead of the male as he chases in slow motion.  A crow noticed too and began to harass the male squirrel, swooping down on him like a hawk but not actually touching the squirrel.  That broke up the courtship chase real fast.  The female abandoned her erstwhile pursuer.  Another crow watched so maybe the bully wanted to impress the other one?  Finally the crows had had enough fun and left.  The squirrels eventually reunited but then the dog demanded to go out and make them leave his territory.  I was glad to see him take an interest.  He chased the squirrels and treed them, but then one jumped down and dashed across the pool cover and the water from last night's storm.  The dog followed - the first time I've seen him set foot on the pool cover.  In the end, the squirrels took their courtship elsewhere and the dog was satisfied.  

Summery days

The wild cherries were beginning to ripen and a mockingbird picked some.  Blue jays were loyal to barkbutter balls.   A house wren foraged in the mulch under the sakaki.  It was well camouflaged and I only saw it because it was moving. The female goldfinch came back for water.  A female bluebird wanted barkbutter balls or mealworms.

The sand of the new shoreline appeared to have drifted in the storm.   A big limb broke off the oak and bent the fence.  I only glimpsed one skink. 

Wasps and bees were in heaven between the rue and the mountain mint.  Bumblebees also enjoyed the sunflowers.  Dragonflies were still scarce which was regrettable because a biting fly came after me.  I think the heat hatched out the flies but the humidity was too low to please mosquitoes or the dragonflies.  A small, brownish butterfly, a tiger swallowtail, and the ubitiquous cabbage whites were the only butterflies. 

Even hotter

The first bird, and the last, of the day was the pileated woodpecker.  A frazzled downy woodpecker followed her on the suet.  Bluebirds soon arrived.  I also saw a blue jay, a mockingbird, and a brown headed nuthatch.

The roses were bowed by the rain.  I saw the first hibiscus sprout.  Wild cherries and money pods were filling out.  Wasps feasted on the rue.  I startled a couple of skinks.  

The sight of 87° on the thermometer persuaded me to try wading in the pool.  I believe I could have worn a swimsuit and gone all the way in.  Instead, I rescued a honeybee and a couple of wasps.  

A great blue heron surveyed the creek from atop one of the dock posts.  

Mockingbird

The creek glowed with reflected sunshine.  An early starling took over the barkbutter crumbs which left a mockingbird feeling sad.  But eventually the rude starling left and the mockingbird got a turn.  

Then a blue jay  wanted a share.  Its chest was wet from something, dew maybe?  Like the starling, the jay pitched as much food out as it gobbled.  A female bluebird was next, followed by a male.   Sunlight and shadows painted streaks across the azaleas.  Soon the mockingbird was back.  In fact, it seemed like every time I passed the window, the mocker was feasting.  Later, I saw one in the front yard, maybe the same?  

The fresh new oak leaves shimmered in the breeze against the deep blue sky.  Some branches were behind schedule with leaves that were tinted with red.  Sycamore leaves seemed very spiky and last years seed balls were intermixed with small, new, reddish balls.  The wild cherry put out flower bud spikes.  The new maple leaves were gold as in Frost's poem.  Solomon's seal looked like a sculpture in the late afternoon light. 

The yellow rose was fully open and as big as a peony.  A tiny jumping spider waited on a petal.  I saw the same or another reddish bee on the money plant.  A mason wasp got water from the birdbath.  Bluebirds came back almost as frequently as the mockingbird.  The turtles basking on logs were bigger than the mallard alongside.  Two osprey circles over the creek but I missed them.  

Spring fever

This early Spring has made me lazy.  Yesterday slipped away without a post and it wasn't for lack of photos or interest.  Both days were sunny with a nippy breeze, especially Saturday.  The oak, peach, and redbuds flowered, the wild cherry began to leaf out, and buds burst on a dogwood.  Sweet gum buds looked ready to pop and I found fig leaves!  Buds were visible on the blueberries but not yet open.  Fortunately there were early bumblebees. 

The female orioles remained and a male showed up.  At least two bluebird pairs visited the feeders.  Myrtle warblers fussed over pecking order.  Blue jays stuffed their beaks.  Downy woodpeckers were faithful to their suet.  Starlings scattered food everywhere.  Red-winged blackbirds were much better behaved.  A few robins remained from the flock in the pecan. 

Pelicans fished on the creek but I never got a good shot. The sun reached a lot more of the patio and flowerbeds.  The moon was well up and looking fat by the time I took my library books back on Saturday.  

A mockingbird greeted the Sunday sun.  Then a blue jay wanted breakfast.  Orioles started arriving, then bluebirds.  Robins came back to drink.  The female orioles were much more assertive with the male than they were a month ago.  He definitely ate last.  Red-winged blackbirds briefly returned.  And of course there were starlings.  

I saw a junco.  A white breasted nuthatch was more interested in suet than seeds. The first grackle I've seen in years popped up but didn't stay long.  And a cedar waxwing accompanied a robin to the birdbath!  

More birds

Clouds came and went and came back.  All I saw in the morning was blue jays streaking across the yard and two great blew herons that flew South over me and the dog.  But at lunch, a white breasted nuthatch wanted sunflower seeds.  So did many chickadees and a few titmice, cardinals, and house finches.  

The wind blew hard all day and the tide ran quite high.  Milkweed seeds emerged from the pod and began to fluff out.  The hackberry turned lemon yellow, a few cherry leaves were gold, and the hickory was toasted butterscotch.  Dogwood leaves reddened where they weren't crisped by the lack of rain.  Sweet gum leaves were getting red as well. 

A Carolina wren got away from me but not a song sparrow.  I think I saw a flicker because that's the only bird that's yellow on the underside of its wings.  It was banking into a left turn and going fast.  I caught a butterbutt and a mockingbird among the dogwood berries.  And then the battery gave up.  And when I swapped in the charged battery, the camera just wouldn't!  So I missed some shots at blue jays and the nuthatch, and finally gave up.  A couple hours later the camera was done sulking, but the birds were done too.  

Mountain mint

A little brown click beetle rescued itself.  The caterpillar was in the same place on the parsley which doesn't bode well.  A female slaty skimmer perched outside my window.  Later a blue dasher male took that perch.  

Mary Reid Barrow wrote about her mountain mint which seems to have the same insects as mine.  The bees' and wasps' little dramas of harassment never lead to harm.  The duskywing was back.  

Hummers drank the feeder dry, which is better than having the sugar water go bad.  I caught a goldfinch in flight!  A couple of half-grown mallards paddled by and a couple of egrets flew over the new dock downstream. 

There were still cherries on the tree but they shriveled in the heat.  I'm surprised that the birds haven't been as interested in the cherries this year.  

Cloudbeams

I was up an hour early but the wildlife wasn't.  In the afternoon, wet looking clouds passed over but nothing happened except for the shadows they cast on the sky. 

The feather-shedding pine warbler wanted to know if I was going to refill the barkbutter balls.  A bluebird had the same question.  The hummers were hungry. 

Bees, wasps and the same tattered duskywing worked on the mountain mint and occasionally the butterfly milkweed.  I saw a monarch, but either it missed the milkweed or it wasn't interested.  In the pool I rescued a sharpshooter and a green Junebug beetle.  A sidewalk tiger beetle had drowned.  A damselfly blinked in and out of the sunlight as it cruised inches above the water.  Fireflies were still blinking in the twilight.  

The hackberry (sugarberry?) made berries this year but they were still green.  A squirrel went through gymnastics to reach the wild cherries.  I got sticky and bugged picking blueberries.  To each his own berry. 

Rain at last

The male red bellied woodpecker showed up but, of course, there was no suet.  Eventually he settled for barkbutter.  Then a male pine warbler had some mealworms.  Titmice went for sunflower seeds.  

I saw several hummingbirds, at least one male and two females.  Ripe cherries dangled in long strings from the tree, attracting a mockingbird.  The osprey coasted into its favorite pine perch.  I glimpsed a wren scuttling under the mountain mint.  Then the rain began.  

Later when the rain grew more gentle, a yellow crowned night heron hunted along the shoreline.  The pine warbler eyed the soggy soup of mealworms and barkbutter.