Hottest 4th

A Carolina wren visited before it got too hot.  It hopped, rather than flying, from the lower dish to the upper.  An venusta orchard orbweaver spider constructed an intricate web over the azalea next to the window.  That should work excellently after dark with a light in the kitchen.  For identification, on the Internet I found lots of pictures of the spider but none of the web.

Because of the predicted heat, I went swimming earlier than on previous days.  I fished out two crane flies but only one recovered.  Also, one of the water-walking spiders, but this one had no babies.  Many more May beetles (southern masked chafer Cyclocephala lurida) plus some black ground beetles, a yellow jacket alive and a honeybee dead.  An interesting moth, possibly a tulip-tree beauty Epimecis hortaria secreted itself just below the coping where it was safe from anything not in the water.  Wasps were active but the only other insect I saw was a tiger swallowtail.  

The outdoor thermometer showed 104 at 4pm.  The sky was hazy with thicker patches so the sun was intermittent.  I had changed the hummer feeder in the morning and I thought I glimpsed a hummer, but I'm not sure.  A mockingbird flew into the cherry tree.  A squirrel found K's peanuts but took the last one into the shade to eat.  

Very pleasant

A crow came looking for a handout but nothing was ready.  It had a feather sticking up.  Then the female pileated arrived and tore up the suet.  A blue jay was only interested in barkbutter balls.  A brown thrasher felt the same.  A Carolina wren was less choosy.  In the afternoon, I spilled the bag of barkbutter balls and a white throat took advantage.  It was late in the day when I finally saw bluebirds.

A yellow jacket queen prospected around the birdbath.  A skink tiptoed across the lower patio but I didn't get a picture.  I also missed a tiger swallowtail, a silver spotted skipper, a red bellied woodpecker, and a mockingbird.  

Mellow day

White throats bathed on a very pleasant, sunny, room temperature day with a light breeze.  Blue jays wanted food and drink.  A mockingbird was bold enough to eat suet while I was near.  The male red belly almost collided with the mockingbird on the way to the suet.  Bluebirds ate the mealworms in the glass dish.  So did a squirrel.  Two doves progressed beyond flirting.  A male downy got some time with the suet.  

In addition to birds, I saw at least three butterflies -- tiger swallowtail, black swallowtail, and something smaller -- and a couple of dragonflies, one perched and one cruising about 18" above the grass.  A queen yellow jacket prowled the mulch looking for a nest site.  A skink panicked and rain right into my sandal.  

The azaleas were at their peak, but insects didn't seem very interested.  The wild cherry's flowers were too high to see details but they looked like spikes of white foam.  The coral honeysuckle was covered with flowers that will feed any hummingbird that arrives before I put the feeder out.  It's probably past time to retire the grape jelly.

Cormorant flock

The day began overcast and wet but the sun was out by noon.  The wind wasn't as strong.  The temperature rose into the lower 70s and wasps feasted on the camellia flowers.   I counted six buds and three open flowers on the yellow rose.  An insect was investigating the buds but wouldn't stay put to be identified.  Chickadees and a couple of titmice ate seeds.  A squirrel cleaned up below.  

I must have missed them pursuing fish upstream but around 2:30pm a big flock of cormorants came paddling and flying downstream, some bathing or churning up the water.  They streamed past for several minutes.  One pelican photo-bombed a picture and several gulls circled over the creek.  Mallards watched from the bank.  

Fig patch

Fearing rain, I went picking figs in the morning.  I didn't take the camera.  Clearly we missed at least a week of ripe figs because there were splatted ones all over the ground and fuzzy, moldy ones hanging from the twigs.  I saw honeybees and yellow jackets feasting, but not many other wasps.  A well-fed Argiope had built a web right in the middle.  I had sprayed myself with bug repellent but neglected my arms and got three mosquito bites.  But mainly I got very hot and plunged directly into the water.  Nothing interesting was afloat today but dragonflies were on patrol.  A tiger swallowtail and a black swallowtail fed on the butterfly milkweed.  

The wren was back at the suet.  There was a queue for barkbutter balls that included a white breasted nuthatch and a bluebird.  Interesting clouds occasionally hinted at rain.  Skinks found urgent business across the patio.  

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.  

Skink

I got up early and hustled off to a meeting in Norfolk.  Gulls were circling over downtown but I couldn't tell what species.  Anyway, I didn't observe much until lunch.  A Carolina wren tackled the suet which was almost gone.  A bluebird grabbed seeds.  Then a white breasted nuthatch worked on the suet nubbin.  

The evening primrose patch began to flower.  A yellow jacket queen investigated the splitting timber edging the step.  That would not be a good location for a nest.  I thought I saw a dragonfly but the only critter in the photo was a tiny snout butterfly.  Cabbage whites danced together in the air, but whether courting or fighting, I have no idea.  

In the late afternoon or early evening a very reg-faced skink moseyed along the step wall.  It seemed to pace back and forth before finally going off into the mountain mint.  

Another hummer missed

I glimpse a goldfinch at breakfast.  A mockingbird worked on the caked barkbutter crumbs.  (The rain shower yesterday dampened the dish.)  The male red belied woodpecker snooped around the base of the post before ascending to the suet.  A bluebird and a Carolina wren ate seeds.  A squirrel washed its face and fluffed its tail. 

I went out after lunch to enjoy the beautiful day.  A yellow jacket queen hunted a desirable location.  A bluebird brought what looked like a spider to feed the nestlings.  Then in the back yard, the hummer and I startled each other.  I was sitting too close to the feeder when he arrived and he was gone before I could lift the camera. 

A mockingbird wanted barkbutter balls bad enough to ignore me.  A black swallowtail, a cabbage white, and many wasps flitted around.   The butterfly milkweed emerged from the mountain mint.  Despite a cardinal's arrival, a bluebird kept her place on the seed feeder.  A blue jay eventually risked a visit.  After I went back inside, the male red bellied woodpecker returned.  A myrtle warbler all decked out for spring stopped by for some suet.  

The pecan was in bloom finally.  Blue flag irises were blooming too.  A skink hurried across the corner of the patio.  A white breasted nuthatch joined us at supper.  

Insects

A female pileated woodpecker came for suet for breakfast.  Blue jays came for barkbutter crumbs and one ate seeds too.  Unlike the squirrels, the bird outwitted the feeder counterweight.  The mockingbird pair showed up again, as did bluebirds.  Clouds floated on a milky haze. 

The day grew considerably warmer than predicted.  A dragonfly I think was a female common whitetail landed on a step right in front of a white throated sparrow.  The sparrow looked more startled than predatory but the dragonfly didn't wait around and I didn't get a photo.  A queen yellow jacket investigated the azalea beside me but moved on.  I saw other wasps as well.  Several butterflies visited, a palamedes and a tiger swallowtail, a small brown butterfly that might have been a snout, and the ubiquitous cabbage white.  A little black beetle wandered on the concrete. 

Carolina wrens came at mid day and tried to share the suet.  A blue tailed skink wouldn't stay put for a photo.  Later in the afternoon the clouds thickened.  First the female, then the male pileated returned.  The female tried hanging from the suet cage instead of reaching from the post.  That made more suet fall on her belly and thus the ground. 

A little rain

I didn't feel well yesterday evening and hadn't seen much anyway, just chickadees wanting seeds.  Today's newspaper seemed to indicate yesterday broke a heat record.  Some rain fell overnight.  It wasn't much but, considering that the ground was as hard as the patio, that may have been a good thing.  More water would have run off rather than soak in.  

Clouds filled the morning sky but cleared at lunch.  A yellow jacket fed on the camellia flowers.  I spotted a bluebird on the seed feeder but she got away before the camera was ready.  A downy woodpecker returned to the suet.  A white breasted nuthatch came for seeds.  The downy didn't like that.  

Gray

It's too bad I was indoors yesterday instead of today.  There was a little rain overnight and overcast skies all day.  The juvenile male cardinal and his mother were back.  The fledgling hovered while the adult sat on the feeder perch and fed him.  Titmice were not impressed.  A white breasted nuthatch waited for a chance at the unoccupied feeder.  

I went swimming despite the cooler air, bugs, and lack of sunshine because it might be the last time this year.  There was a yellow jacket in the skimmer which I very carefully rescued.  Several snails clung to the side of the pool and I found a black swallowtail caterpillar on the bottom.  I also rescued at least eight black ground beetles and one assassin bug nymph.  Reduviidae nymphs look utterly alien.  The white breasted nuthatch came back after I got out.  So did the cardinal mother and son. 

Sunny and warm

Usually by this time of year  we can have either sun or warmth but not both.  Tomorrow the rain is predicted to catch up to the temperature.  A pelican cruised the creek at breakfast while it was still chilly. Later, two females accompanied the bufflehead drake. 

The cat came back.  A pine warbler visited the suet and the barkbutter balls.  A yellow rumped warbler investigated everything.  The oriole ate jelly then came to the window for a look inside.  A female bluebird also checked out the barkbutter balls.  A red bellied woodpecker hunted grubs under the bark on a pine tree.  

Insects took advantage of the warmth.  I saw yellow jackets feeding on the camellia blossoms.  A moth fluttered at the window.  

An hour later

Daylight Saving Time ended so sunset will come at 5pm. Getting up at 7am, I didn't gain any morning light to compensate for the loss of evening.  I had hoped to see the third quarter moon in the morning but the sky was too cloudy.  At breakfast a pair of Carolina wrens were tempted by barkbutter balls.  They came back at lunch for suet. By then the sky was cloudless but the moon had set. A titmouse was thirsty and a downy wanted suet too. 

In the afternoon, a female kingfisher sat on the dock bench and monitored the creek.  A squirrel bounded around the tree trunks.  Insects glittered in the sun.  A couple of them were yellow jackets. 

Earth Day

A different woodpecker showed up today - the male red belly came to feast on suet.  Bluebirds focused on the mealworms and barkbutter balls.  Of course the starlings had to crash the party.  A bigger surprise was the crow that gingerly balanced to extract a barkbutter ball.  

A blue jay was thirsty so I was glad I had added water to the birdbath.  A male goldfinch was also thirsty but would not descend to the birdbath.  He insisted on drinking from the ant moat though the water was algae soup and the level so low he almost fell in.  He walked all around the rim searching for a low spot.  I don't know if he ever got a drink. 

While it was not as hot as yesterday, the warmth brought out skinks.  One emerged from under the pool cover.  Being close to the ground they may not have noticed the wind, but it was very windy.  Tender new tree leaves got shredded and the detritus of flowering blew like snow. 

I accidentally took a picture of a bug on a coral lily.  It looked like a stinkbug nymph but I'm not certain.  On purpose, I took pictures of a yellow jacket queen. 

The high winds were followed by thunderstorms.  NWS Wakefield was threatening tornadoes and hail.  I hope enough rain fell to catch us up because it has been a very dry April. 

Autumn beauties

The creek reflected sunshine bouncing off tree trunks.  A mockingbird picked up a barkbutter ball breakfast.  Bluebirds came later while I was cooking.  By then the creek had lost its mirror-smooth shine.  

As we ate lunch, the songbirds arrived in force.  A pine warbler went for the barkbutter balls.  The mockingbird came back but I still had trouble getting a picture.  Two juncos and a song sparrow got away from me too.  A white breasted nuthatch joined the chickadees and titmice.  Then brown headed nuthatches wanted sunflower seeds too.  The back of their heads and necks are white not brown.  One lingered on the feeder, not eating, just watching in all directions.  And all the other birds disappeared.  

A great blue heron waded upstream in water up to its belly.  Geese paddled upstream, briefly fooling me into thinking they were hoodies.  An off object washed up, like a ball with a conical tail and a round hole or black spot on its side. 

A violet was fooled by the warmer weather into blooming.  Yellow jackets buzzed around the camellia looking for flowers that hadn't been drained.  I found tiny mushrooms emerging along a maple root.  More clumps of pincushion moss had spore capsules sticking up like green ahir. 

I took lots of pictures of fall leaves but wind keeps blowing them down.  That makes the trees look green longer but prevents reds and yellows from achieving critical mass. The sky was intensely blue and cloudless.  But all too soon the cormorants were flying back to their roost.  

Sticky

It was still in the 70s and the humidity was even higher.  The sky was frequently overcast but occasionally sunny, which made for lovely reflections.  Yellow jackets and honeybees roamed the camellias.  The strawberry runners I planted survived thus far.  A cabbage white flitted across the yard. 

I sat outside and sorted seeds to save.  The butterfly milkweed seeds were easy but the parsley and rue were tiny and mixed with debris from the seed heads.  Parsley seeds look a bit like the caraway seeds in rye bread, only they're a quarter of the size.  Rue seeds look like blue-gray kidney beans shrunk down to 1/32".  And I discovered that rue seeds are a bit oily.  A clump of brown mushrooms were turning black under the maple in the same spot where the bracket fungus emerged a year ago.  I also found a couple of single mushrooms in the front yard.

The female downy woodpecker had another go at the suet.  I didn't see any other birds except mallards slurping up the floating fluff from the saltbushes.. A squirrel got an itch while on the trunk of the hickory.  It managed to turn around to scratch while hanging by its toenails.  The high temperature turned out to be a record breaker.  

 

Still hot

Another hot day - the pool water warmed three degrees and the humidity dropped to the lowest I've ever seen, 28%.  The bluebirds were sad over their weathered barkbutter.  I discovered that sunflower seeds in the feeder had germinated!   Honebees feasted on the rue.  So did a yellow jacket.  And a cabbage white.  And a soldier beetle. 

I found a tiny spider hard at work building a web.  I rescued a ladybird, a scarab, a couple of ground beetles a tiny green wasp, a bumblebee, and a couple of black waspy bugs that were clinging to each other.  They might have been flies.  They did not look friendly and I doubt they'll be grateful.  I suspect the ladybird and the scarab were dead, but I've been surprised at reviving insects before.  

Andy had a good roll in the violets.  

Skinks

The day started sunny and still.  I finally caught the brown headed nuthatch on the feeder.  

By lunch time, dark clouds looked like rain but the sun still slipped through.  The female red bellied woodpecker ate suet.  Bluebirds visited.  An egret flew past.  And a couple of skinks soaked up warmth from the patio concrete. 

The swallowtails were back.  A queen yellow jacket hunted for something, a meal or a nesting spot?  Paper wasps peeled dry stalks from last year.  

Last day of #GBBC

The creek was full of reflected light while still in shade.  The Carolina jessamine began blooming and the hanging pot of yellow flowers was still going strong.  K's rescue amaryllis put out four huge red flowers, indoors.  I had to take my car for inspection, so my bird count was in the late morning.  

I went outside because the temperature got up into the 60s and also for a better view of the creek.  My reward was a good view of an immature eagle.  It landed in the fork of a pine across the creek and was still sitting there when I went inside.  I got some pictures of the cocoon up in the hickory and was inspected by a queen yellow jacket looking for a nest site. 

Mallards, cormorants, and an egret were all the water birds I saw, unless I count the three crows on the neighbors' dock.  They had something I couldn't quite make out, maybe a clam or a fish.  What was fascinating was that one crow was clearly holding the object with a foot and inviting the others to inspect. 

I also recorded white throated sparrows, myrtle warblers, and a downy and a red bellied woodpecker.  During lunch, a female oriole arrived for grape jelly, which was very gratifying.  

Then the pileated woodpeckers came, first him, then her.  He wouldn't let her have a turn and took a big bite to make his point.  But he choked on it, and when he finally dislodged the chunk of suet, he dropped it.  She retrieved it from the crevice where it landed and had an appetizer while he continued to stuff himself.  It wasn't long before he flew off and she took over the suet.  And after her, a downy moved in.

A brown headed nuthatch tried to dislodge house finches and eventually got some seeds. Foraging white throated sparrows were joined by a song sparrow and a junco.  A pine warbler and a goldfinch drank from the pool cover even though I had cleaned and filed the birdbath.   

I went outside again because I thought I saw a hoodie but it was the rear end of a goose.  Then I did see a hoodie pair and what looked like a dead flounder.  Later on, a pine warbler and a myrtle warbler disputed possession of the barkbutter.  The butterbutt won but then the feral cat wandered through and we all gave up.

Pleasure House Point

We took the dog for a walk at Pleasure House Point Natural Area in the morning. Apparently it is more sheltered and South-facing despite being close to Chesapeake Bay and further North than our yard.  I saw several plants still blooming, goldenrod, white frost aster, sea lavender, and  golden-asters.   I learned that the tall grasses with sparkling fluff are switch grass.  Sumac berries looked ripe.  A couple of puffballs appeared to have been moved. 

I saw four butterflies.  The first was a buckeye and the last a monarch, but in between there were two together that were too fast from me to identify.  The monarch was feeding on creamy 4-petal flowers on a tree or vine, about 20' up.  I smelled a lovely fragrance that I assume came from them. 

Out on a sandbar, a flock of mostly gulls basked in the sun.  A larger, browner bird may have been a young blackback gull because I saw some adults.  A couple of pelicans preened while another fished.  Cormorants were still fishing too. 

The waning almost-crescent moon hung in the blue sky.   There was a breeze but it wasn't spinning the wind turbines.  

When we got home I discovered a male bufflehead had arrived and joined the female.  He fished and she watched.  Pelicans flew past and one plunged into the water while we were eating lunch.  Turtles shared their log with a young cormorant.  Yellow jackets had discovered the grape jelly and one bully was keeping the others away.  At dusk I saw what might have been the grebe, but might have been a cormorant instead.