Frog-strangler

A male towhee had breakfast on the sunflower feeder.  I saw some hummers on their feeder.  Skinks scampered around the steps. 

Blue sky and hot sun brought out butterflies.  Unfortunately it also energized them.  Only the hairstreak stayed put on the mountain mint.  A black swallowtail, and (I think) a palamedes swallowtail, a sulphur of some sort, a little black butterfly that was probably a duskywing, and an orange butterfly that was probably a fritillary all lured me into snapping photos without looking.

I used the pool in the morning because meteorologists predicted a stormy cold front would arrive in the afternoon or evening.  The skimmer held a dead frog, probably the fool from yesterday.  A spider was tucked up into the crevice where the pool steps attached.  They like that spot.  While in the deep end, I glimpsed the tailless brown thrasher hopping through the grass. A green June bug clung to a floating leaf, so I hauled it out.  A skink ignored the beetle as it hustled across the patio. 

The storm got here a little after 3pm and the torrent of rain prompted flash flood warnings.  Visible lightning bolts struck North and West under lurid clouds.  As the storm moved overhead, the clouds became featureless gray and the lightning turned into directionless flashes.  Our street flooded where it joins the main road, as usual.  Our trash can tried to escape downstream in the gutter.  Altogether, it fit Nellie's favorite name for a downpour. 

Chickadees, titmice, and house finches braved the rain to visit the feeder.  The ant moat was full to the brim so I suspect the hummer juice was diluted.  And the bark butter had barely dried out from the last rain.

Skinks and frogs

A house wren visited at breakfast.  A great blue skimmer awaited the little biters.  The palamedes swallowtail stayed out of focus but a black swallowtail posed.  Palamedes has a striped body, black has speckles.   A katydid nymph was head down on a rose cane.  A basilica spider built a lovely domed web. 

There was just one frog but two skinks.  I let the frog and a skinklet run off, but I made the adult skink pose - it was old enough to know better than to go swimming.  I also rescued a green June bug.  A spider with a pearly egg sac rescued herself.  I found a cicada shell in the water that may have tempted the spider.

A night heron preened while resting on a piling.  It had its wings dropped and spread the way they do when too hot. I found the outer skin of a monarch chrysalis, which I hope means a butterfly hatched out.  I still could not figure out where the monarchs go to pupate. The tailless brown thrasher prospected for insects. A gray gill mushroom popped up in the grass. My offhand ID was some kind or Russula.  I'm probably not qualified for the Mycoblitz. 

Damp

There were sprinkles in the morning and a shower in the evening and air too humid for surfaces to dry.  A swallow flew over chittering as it snatched insects, but dragonflies were scarce.  The wasps were in the usual abundance on the mint. A fat bumblebee showed up. Despite the damp overcast I saw an assortment of butterflies.  First a red admiral, then a hairstreak, a fiery skipper, and a monarch, but only the hairstreak held still for a photo. There was a  lot of debris in the water but few critters needing rescue.  I did fish out another mama spider. 

Titmice were everywhere at breakfast.  The hummer feeder had flooded but K hung fresh juice for them to fight over.  One poor hummer was too twitchy to perch.  A Carolina wren was disappointed with the soggy bark butter.  I drained the rainwater off afterward.  A blue jay also had designs on the bark butter.  Then a house wren visited. It seemed to be impressed by the hummer's hovering.  Following that, a pine warbler came to lunch. 

I saw an egret and a heron on the lake, but a yellow crowned night heron preferred our shoreline and its abundant crabs.  There were dramatic cloud formations when I left for my meeting but on the way home just a featureless overcast and drizzle.  Then I spotted a streak of pink sunset behind the cargo cranes on the Lafayette. 

Lightning

The Carolina wren was back for breakfast.  The hibiscus put on a show of five blossoms.  K hung a fresh feeder for the hummingbirds.  When we got home, they were enjoying it.  A buckeye joined the wasps on the mint, but not the mountain mint.  I also saw a tiger and a palamedes swallowtail.  A silver spotted skipper had flitted past at breakfast.  

 I rescued a mama spider and several crickets from the skimmer, which was full of dried oak leaves.  It looked like a squirrel's drey had come apart and pieces had fallen or been blown into the water.  A thumbnail size mud crab on the pool steps turned out to be deceased.  I imagine it escaped from a raccoon but then couldn't escape the water. A blue dasher and a great blue skimmer kept the mosquitoes away. 

A couple of blue jays tried to pull a bait and switch on me but just then K came out to tell me about picking figs ahead of the storm.  The bird I think is a Mississippi kite circled under the cloud cover.  A hummer packed on some calories.  Swallows flew high and chittered. 

Thunder growled for quite some time with no lightning that I could see.  Finally there was a flash and I counted to twelve before the thunder.  A couple of minutes later, I heard a hissing, sizzling sound as well as a tremendous bang simultaneously with the lightning flash.  I hustled inside and the rain just missed me.It came down hard with more thunder and lightning for at least an hour.  So I counted the day as done.

Buggy

Overcast periods were interspersed with intervals of sunshine. Several times the clouds separated into orderly rows and In the afternoon a sundog rainbow appeared overhead. After dark, I caught the crescent moon.   Jupiter was visible in the South. 

A Carolina wren pecked at the bark butter remains before I discovered the mess had gone moldy.  I replaced the food but didn't see any visitors.  A brown thrasher lurked around the edge of the yard, hiding that it had lost its tail.   A yellow crowned night heron landed on the dock and an egret took off. 

A black swallowtail visited the rue and I found a tattered gray hairstreak on the mountain mint.  A fiery skipper was attracted to the blue pool net.  All the same bees and wasps were there too.  I found a cicada shell quite high up in a dogwood, attached to a leaf.  A slaty skimmer used a perch while a Carolina saddlebags stayed in the air.  I rescued crickets and tiger beetles but the cicada I found was too far gone. 

Two blue tailed skinks roamed the mulch. The beautyberry was nearly finished blooming and had lots of green berries.  Something left silk and frass under the mountain mint flower heads.  

Heavy sky, humid air

Thanks to the neem oil, the hibiscus was blooming again.  A volunteer portulaca put out a flower.  A few raindrops fell but the air remained oppressive.  It was neither hot nor cool, except when an occasional breeze reminded me that I was wet. Titmice were busy with seeds at breakfast.  Then they all left.  The usual trio came for seeds throughout the day.  Hummers argued over their feeder. I took two photos of a standoff between hummers, and the wretched camera focused on the trees in the background. 

Two great golden digger wasps and two blue mud wasps intimidated most of the other bees and wasps on the mountain mint.  A yellow kneed wasp ignored all that and hunted in the grass.  A slaty skimmer perched on the bark butter hanger and a female pondhawk rested on the ground.  I was surprised I didn't see any flying dragonflies since the still, humid air was perfect for annoying little bloodsuckers.  One harassed me in the pool.  I rescued a wasp, two metallic green tiger beetles, and a half dozen crickets.  A mama spider found refuge on the pool ladder but I fished out a male.

Blisters

Again with the poison ivy.  Grrrrr.  Aside from that annoyance, it was a very pretty day.  A Carolina wren investigated the bark butter dish, but the rain had made soup of it.  Probably a half inch fell, judging by the ant moat. Hummers got a fresh batch of juice.  If anything, that made them more aggressive.  There were several battles as well as chases. 

One rudbeckia seed germinated and today a blackeyed susan popped up among the daisies. A sheet of cloud moved in and worried me but it kept going and the blue sky returned. 

The great golden digger wasp was back and so was a blue mud wasp.  One threadwaisted wasp harassed another, or maybe it was looking for love.  I found two dead grubs on one of the patio chairs.  My best guess was that they washed out of a wasp nest.  A yellow kneed wasp was hunting among the violets.  I rescued some beetles from the water but I left a stinkbug to its fate.

A duskywing skipper alternated between the mountain mint and the regular mint and the lavender.  I found a small monarch caterpillar on the swamp milkweed.  Twelve spotted skimmers and Carolina saddlebags were flying low but a twelve spot chased the saddlebags over the roof.  At least one blue dasher lurked on the vegetation.