Up early again

This time I saw a juvenile night heron. It was in the grass at first, but something (me?) disturbed it so it flew to a dock post.  A cardinal tried to get the seed feeder to open, then settled for a bark butter ball.  At breakfast hummers and a blue jay came to eat.

On our return from the doctor, well after 11am, in the driveway was a black rat snake!  It's head was raised about an inch and the rest of it was crimped into zigzags by fear.  K carefully drove past and we proceeded to unload me while keeping an eye on the snake.  It did not wait till I could get the camera, alas, but poured itself into the grass heading toward the neighbors' magnolia.  At least that was away from the bluebird box.  Nor was the snake bulgy with a fresh dinner.  Some bird I didn't see kept whistling. 

In the back yard, dragonflies were enjoying the sunshine and gnats. A cardinal went after something in the sakaki.  I think I saw skinny little legs sticking out of his beak.  Two hummers argued over the feeder. 

After lunch I decided to sit outside in front. The same dragonflies were around but they had a harder time perching.  I need to give them some bamboo stakes.  Wasps were investigating potential nest sites.  A couple of dead mulch roaches gave us pause.  Eventually,a blue tailed skink ventured along the wall, but I had put the camera aside.  Then the bluebirds came home.

The breeze began to feel chilly so I tottered back in and watched the feeders. Those cardinals were still courting.  Hummers stocked up for the night.  And the a Carolina wren showed up, with the light too poor for a photo.  Fireflies were already blinking.  Then bedtime was full of alarms and excursions and bug spray when I saw another mulch roach on the ceiling.  Yes, they can fly. 

Cooler

The prediction was for a perfect June day.  I got up early again and was rewarded with a little green heron, fishing from the neighboring floating dock.  Another little green heron buzzed the first one and they both took off upstream.  One returned before I got tired of waiting, and conveniently, moved to my side of the dock where I could watch its technique.  When it sighted something in the water, it unfolded that long heron neck and pointed its beak well below its toes.  It looked a bit like a snake, or a dart. Then it dove at the morsel and actually splashed into the water.  I didn't know they were divers!

While I ate breakfast a squirrel ate the half a rotting tangerine we'd put out for fruit-loving birds. When we got back from an appointment, I caught a flash of blue as a male bluebird zoomed away from the nest box.  The white trumpet (Easter) lilies were blooming out front. 

Dragonflies were thick while only a few small brown butterflies were out.  The perchers all seemed to be blue dashers or great blue skimmers.  12 spotted skimmers zipped around above the roof level.  A black wasp visited the parsley. 

The blue jay won more times than I did, but I got a few good photos of the bark butter ball gobbler. I saw a hummer seeming to hunt around the red cedar as though looking for flowers.  I saw this last summer, but still don't know if the bird is attracted by the smell or if it's hunting bugs for the babies. 

Hot, but breezy

 The creek was placid in the early light. A crane fly clung to the window.  An egret waited below the dam.  Great blue skimmers and blue dashers occupied the available perches.  I saw, and missed, a skink. I think there may have been a butterfly as I was getting my foot re-wrapped. Gnats and other small fliers were entrapped by webs below the parsley flower heads.  I think they were what the dragonflies were hunting. 

I actually got sweaty outside at last.  Some sort of raptor screeched as it flew over, but all I got was a blur.  A yellow crowned night heron flew low overhead and all I did was gape at it.  I did, however get sharp pictures of swallows.  They chattered as they scooped up the high fliers.  The dragonflies that flew at tree height appeared to be saddlebags and 12 spots.  The sky above them was frothy with thin ice clouds. 

The blue jays tried to sneak up on the bark butter balls without alerting me, but I caught some of the action.  We put out half an orange to see if any of the birds wanted it.  I think a crow did, but I was too close.

Pretty day

Lots of sunshine and dragonflies. The regulars argued over the feeder.  A squirrel did his best to raid the seeds.  I had a meeting in the front room so I wouldn't be distracted. 

A skink dashed across the steps at lunch.  A great egret, then later a great blue heron fished below the dam.  Blue dashers were everywhere.  I did glimpse a couple of small butterflies.  A couple of great blue skimmers perched atop sticks. 

In the late afternoon, a grackle poked around in the grass.  Several doves congregated on the patio.  Fireflies followed the sunset. 

Seesaw weather

I woke up early and looked at a gray sky reflected in still water.  Bubbles or something made fine rings that expanded and dissipated.  Again, an egret monitored the water flowing from the dam.

Rain finally began after 11am.  It was so fine that I didn't notice right away.  Hummers ignored it.  One got into a fuss with the courting cardinal couple.  The other cardinal was busy feeding his fledgling.

In the early afternoon the sun came out, but I missed most of that brief time.  I did see a butterfly, a dragonfly, and more birds. Then more rain fell, and finally filled the ant moat.  In the evening, a great blue heron fished in the dam outfall.

Sunny then stormy

At breakfast all I saw was an egret and the regulars. Hummers learned there was fresh juice.  Blue jays got the better of me, again.  Interesting cloud patterns formed, but the sky was mostly blue. 

At lunch, there were cumulus towers that could justify the "Flash Flood Watch" NOAA issued.  Dragonflies were everywhere - blue dashers, a great blue skimmer,and others, I think.  A little green heron joined the great egret at the dam outfall.  Geese invaded but I intimidated them.

Around 5pm, the weather changed.  Storm clouds seemed to come from multiple directions.  But the rain did not begin for another 45 minutes.  There were momentary deluge-level cloudbursts, but all together, not enough fell to significantly raise the level of the ant moat, our sad hoc rain gauge. 

Hummers arrived during every lull to stoke their furnaces against the cold wet.  One cardinal was feeding a fledgling, and raiding the blue jay's bark butter to do it.  The Flash Flood Watch was in effect for the rest of Saturday. 

Gray then blue

The regulars - chickadees, house finches, cardinals - came for seeds.  The chickadees might be feeding a fledgling.  The cardinals were still, still courting.  An egret waited below the dam though I could not see any water flowing over the rocks.  The rain here for the last two days would not fill a teacup.  There were floods elsewhere.  But K put out some bark butter balls so, by Murphy's law, that may draw rain.  We'd left the dish empty after the storm turned the last batch to soup.

By late morning the sky was blue.  Bugs were flying - wasps, dragonflies.  A blue jay got some bark butter balls. A great blue heron joined the great egret, each looking like a ghost of the other.  Then a snowy joined the larger birds and I could see water flowing from the dam.  The greats bullied the poor little snowy.  Though, after the heron left, the egrets tolerated each other. 

After lunch, I saw something I think was a moth on the window - forewings held out at an angle but hind wings folded over abdomen.  A blue dasher perched in the dogwood, another on a perching stake, and another on the bird feeder hanger.  A cabbage white pursued its erratic course. The hummers told us the feeder was dry but we didn't get replacement juice out till evening.