Rain

Titmice acted silly at breakfast.  The sky was overcast, then a line of darker clouds emerged in the Southwest.  They arrived around 11am and produced a "frog-strangler" over the library.  But the rain abated somewhat by the time we got home and judging by various containers, not that much water fell.

As the rain tapered off, a hummer hurried to refuel.  Then she sat in the dogwood to work on getting the water out of her feathers.  The cardinals had begun to molt and looked especially bedraggled. 

The afternoon was very windy, which dried off wet surfaces. Some sun alternated with dark clouds.  Doves were not discouraged by the wind.  The black swallowtail was back.  It startled an orange butterfly that I didn't get a good look at.  A couple of southern purple mint moths hopscotched around on the pavement. 

I rescued a green June beetle.  A female great blue skimmer braved the wind.  A big blue-tailed skink kept getting in my way like a cat.  And I was delighted to find an "orange dog" on the rue.  It looked ready to make a chrysalis. 

The rain came back after 6pm with thunder and continued in waves into the night.

Cool for August

I had two moments of courage - first was a presentation in the morning, which among other matters included The Caterpillar and the Pollywog  which really should say that the caterpillar becomes a beautiful moth, not butterfly.  The second was when I fished a bald-faced hornet out of the water.  It fell back in several times due I suspect to an overindulgence in fermenting figs.

There was also a very dead, full grown skink in the skimmer.  And a smell of decay blew from the direction of the creek.  A lot of down feathers were in the air too.  I don't know if the smell was related.  

There was more sunshine than expected, but a breeze in the afternoon.  I saw a monarch butterfly but had no milkweed for it.  A black swallowtail was happy with the rue.  Snout butterflies danced over the dogwood.  A gray hairstreak feasted on the mint.  A common whitetail dragonfly also eluded my camera but a widow skimmer posed. Egrets rested on the dock bench and the pilings.  A hummer drank all the sugar water.  

Pleasant and full of fledglings

Teh day began cloudy, cleared, and then in the late afternoon puffy cumulus flowed out of the West, tinting rose at sunset.  Dogwood berries were starting to color.  At lunch, we saw an adult skink and a very tiny skinklet. A squirrel licked the screen we keep over the pool steps to keep raccoons out.  (Not that it works.)  I wonder what attracted the squirrel - salt? 

The enormous spiderweb in front of the outside spigot had a silk wrapped June beetle.  Sulphurs, swallowtails, and snout butterflies flitted around, as did a cabbage white.  A hackberry emperor was kind enough to perch and a duskywing fed on the mint.  The mint was nearing the end of flowering but still held interest for a great golden digger wasp.  A southern purple mint moth preferred the rosemary.  Great blue and slaty skimmers and a blue dasher cleared the air of small stuff.  I found a dead amberwing in the water. 

Blue jays were everywhere with their noisy fledglings.  Mockingbirds finally took an interest in the back yard, including one that was either a fledgling or a bad molt.  Of course, the mockingbirds and blue jays were also attracted by the figs.  Fledgling titmice annoyed the seed feeder regulars and the hummingbird.  One titmouse tried valiantly to perch on the slippery railing.  Young robins visited as well.  A young (or molting) grackle snatched a meal off the pool ladder. 

An egret paced below the dam.  Hungry hummer(s) visited frequently.  One took an interest in the cedar.  I've observed that resinous plants attract them.  A Carolina wren poked into the mealworm dish.  A downy woodpecker appeared to be sunbathing on a dogwood branch.  I saw the first great crested flycatcher in about a month. 

Sun or clouds

The sky alternated between blue with streaks and heavy, dark cumulus.  A squirrel crawled into the mealworm dish.  A hummer has begun to keep watch on the feeder from up in the dogwood. Blue jays streaked from tree to tree, telling everyone about it. An egret flew over, very high. 

At lunch, butterflies and dragonflies were plentiful.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a cloudless sulphur, a slaty skimmer, and a blue dasher. Later, an oversized orange bumblebee was working on the mint.  A common whitetail landed on one of the white expansion joints.  I've observed that they are attracted to white. 

A few dogwood leaves were already turning color.  The nearly full moon was ringed with an ice halo as it passed through thin clouds.

Cloudier

Buggier, too.  The dragonflies feasted.  Some perched, some dangled, and some just kept flying.  I saw butterflies, including a red-spotted purple, I think, but got no pictures. 

A mockingbird ate cherries.  A fledgling blue jay begged for parental feeding.  Hummers warred over the feeder. 

I rescued a tiny skink from the skimmer.  It already had lost some tail.  Then K and I caught a little green frog between us. 

The sky went from blue with wisps to mackerel.  An osprey alerted us with its musical cry.  A big flock of crows wheeled over the creek, but I could not figure out their purpose.  After that, I saw high fliers I think were swifts. 

At dusk, I thought I saw bats - speedy dark blurs against a dark sky.  The moon was veiled and revealed by clouds pouring ENE.

Arthropods

A gigantic orb web hung between the camellia and the azalea blocking access to the outside spigot.  Titmice and hummers came for breakfast. 

Every dragonfly perch was in use and there were fights over them, while other dragonflies just kept patrolling the air. Butterflies were around too, but much more shy.  I rescued a green caterpillar with a brown stripe edged in white down its back.  A diverse swarm of wasps fed on the rue and mint.  One was a golden digger. 

I saw a few skinks here and there, and then I had to leave for the third meeting of the day.

Hot again

Well, no one thought the coolness would last.  Hummers and titmice came for breakfast. A snowy egret poked around the dam outfall.  A male cardinal had begun molting.  Then a Carolina wren showed up and tossed seeds out of the feeder. 

I went down to the dock and startled a little green heron who saw me first.  There were splashes and ripples on the creek surface, also bubbles rising.  I looked for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars in the sassafras and saw evidence - rolled leaves and eaten leaves - and maybe one small caterpillar that disappeared when I looked closer.  Periwinkle snails clung to a dead saltbush stump.  I saw some amazing spiderwebs and one spider that hid quickly. 

Upstream and across the creek, was a statue of a defecating wolf in the lawn.  I suppose it could be a goose deterrent.  It's certainly in need of some justification to balance the tastelessness.

When we got home after lunch, a female hummingbird watched the feeder from the cherry tree.  I saw a swallowtail butterfly briefly  In the pool, I rescued a click beetle, too many June bugs, a few spiders, and a huge leaf-footed bug.  A male cardinal hunted for food in the grass by the fence. A couple of doves dropped by and tree swallows flew overhead.  I saw at least three blue jays and four robins rushing to a commotion of crows. 

By sunset there was a thin layer of clout over the sky.  The moon was visible but fuzzy.  Sunset was red and streaky.