Last room temperature day

This week has been cool, partly because of rain, but it is warming now.  The sky is crystal blue and the sun feels intense.  There is only light air movement and the creek is a mirror.  A blue jay and a grackle visited the feeder, both perching on the side to keep from tripping the counterweight.  The grackle was still too heavy.  I don't know why the jay didn't stay.  The hummer visited the gladiolas but it clearly prefers the feeder.   The wren is singing away on a branch near the birdhouse.

Curiously few dragonflies are around and just cabbage butterflies.  Down on the dock, I saw several egrets, a cormorant, and a little green heron.  An eating size crab nibbled on a piling.  Thunderheads are building in the West but the rest of the sky is blue.  And, I thought I heard a cicada.  Is that possible in early June? 

Still cool

The temperature dropped with the last couple of days of overcast.  There is sun but also cloud cover over much of the early morning sky.  The female towhee came this morning along with cardinals finches, titmice and doves.  The birdhouse tenant is back redecorating.  It perched on a dead twig in the dogwood and sang at lunch. 


There is a grackle without a tail feeding a fledgling who has a tail.  It's the darker bird on the left.  The lack of tail is very obvious when it flies, but very hard to photograph.

Heavy dark overcast

The male towhee was checking out the wet mulch.  I see it most often after rain.  Cardinals and finches on the feeder.  A brown thrasher is up in the dogwood.  It looks like rain but so far, none has fallen. Now a hairy woodpecker is in the dogwood and the brown thrasher is down under the feeder.  The thrasher rises up and then hammers down with its beak.  Is it breaking open a seed or killing a bug?  A sparrow is hanging around in the background - I think it's a white throat. I have not seen any activity at the birdhouse.  Sticks are visible in the entry. 

Sun and clouds

A brown thrasher poked around under the feeder along with squirrels.  Three male finches contended for the perch.  Strangely, last night's downpour did not fill the birdbath.  It was short but there was a lot of water on the roads.  The nearly full moon lit the clouds with drama as they moved on. 

At noon the tail-less skink came out.  Some very young squirrels investigated the feeder.  The titmice are getting bolder and will come even when I am outside.  Several dragonflies , a black swallowtail, and a huge black bee flew around. 

And then the clouds built up and rained again while I was out.  Afterward, the sun made beams through the cloud rents, but the camera could not seem to see them.  Now I hear thunder. And a downpour with hail ensued. 

Rare June day

The temperature is perfect and the air is clear.  The creek reflects the flotilla of geese.  Four squirrels got into everything including flowerpots.  The finches and the cardinals are playing king-of-the-mountain on the feeder and the finches are winning.  A mallard drake came up the steps to investigate.  House furnishing continues unabated. A towhee stopped in briefly. 

Day lilies are blooming

Heavy overnight rain swelled the buds.  The gladiola is also budding.  A dove sat on the feeder again.  Cardinals and finches showed up and I hear the wrens.  Everything is very wet and a gust of wind made the trees rain.  The clouds are streaming off to the Northeast. Periods of sun are alternating with overcast.

The wrens are struggling to stuff grass and twigs into the birdhouse.  An osprey circled.  A Halloween pennant dragonfly nestled in the rosemary.

Nesting or just playing

The wrens are giving the birdhouse a thorough going over.  Unfortunately, I cannot persuade my camera to focus on the house - the feeder keeps intruding.  Some brown-headed cowbirds showed up this morning but didn't stay long.  A dove was also in evidence.  The usual suspects hit the feeder.  A finch pair ejected a single male.

At lunch, a tiger swallowtail and a skink without a tail.  The wrens continue to work on the birdhouse. Sitting outside, I was able to persuade the camera to focus.  The wrens are definitely moving the furniture in.  Another finch kept possession of the feeder despite a cardinal.  I heard a woodpecker calling. 

By late afternoon, heavy clouds were rolling up from the South with a spatter of rain and high wind gusts.  I hope the wind does not discourage the wrens - it is tossing the birdhouse around.