Tropical Storm Debby

A monarch was back at the butterfly milkweed.  The monarch's tongue was grooved like a hummingbird's.  There were caterpillars too.  They stupidly ate a seedpod.  A slaty skimmer perched briefly.  A duskywing fed on the mountain mint but I didn't see any fiery skippers.  Bees and wasps annoyed the butterflies on the milkweed and mountain mint.  I saw a couple of dark butterflies, one of which was probably a black swallowtail while the other might have been a red spotted purple. 

It was a good thing I didn't delay swimming.  I evicted a frog and rescued a mama spider, another green tiger beetle, another fig beetle, and a ladybug beetle. We decided to have lunch outside since I was still dripping.  While we ate, clouds flowed up from the South.  Not too long after we finished the first rain band from tropical storm Debby passed over.  The monarch didn't stop feeding till after I dashed indoors.  The clouds spinning around the low pressure center covered Florida to New Jersey. 

Mosquitoey

There was some rain late yesterday and the day was cloudy, humid, and buggy.  The hummer feeder was empty and a fresh one not out yet when a male ruby throat stopped for a drink.  How frustrating for the bird and me!  K hung the fresh feeder but the male did not return.   Female hummers approved.  

I expected more dragonflies than the one that perched briefly.  A robber fly lurked on the railing, looking like a Hulk-size mosquito.  I believe it was an Eastern hammertail (Efferia aestuans).  A blue mud wasp fidgeted around the mountain mint.  I saw leaf-cutter bees and other wasps, including great golden digger wasps.  

Pool rescues included a fig beetle and a green metallic tiger beetle that had the nerve to bite me.  In revenge, I made the tiger beetle pose.  Technically, it was a six-spotted tiger beetle, (Cicindela sexguttata).  I also hauled out a huge leaf-footed bug although it was a goner. 

A mosquito got into the house.  After buzzing around, it lit on the bug repellent!  And there it sat for a couple of minutes enjoying the smell of camphor, I guess.  It certainly told us the worth of that spray.  Sunset was very pink. 

Waiting for rain

After a sprinkle fell in the morning, the sky cleared.  During my swim I rescued a green metallic tiger beetle, a mama spider, and two azalea caterpillars, Datana major.  I didn't do well at photographing the guests on the mountain mint but there were bees, wasps, and skippers.  One skipper was a pale duskywing that had me fooled.  A black swallowtail and a monarch passed by.  A variegated fritillary drank milkweed nectar.  And right below it was a monarch caterpillar. 

The big Argiope spider fed well but the smaller ones went hungry.  I was collecting money plant seeds and disturbed a bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax, all tucked up in a silk bed.  It hustled across the patio and into the violets.   

Blue jays noticed the barkbutter balls.  Hummers rejected the feeder so I need to change it tomorrow.  The rain finally fell around 5:30pm.  

Solar power

A male goldfinch paid an early visit.  Later, a monarch egged the butterfly milkweed.  Fiery skippers joined the bees and wasps on the mountain mint.  A buzzard circled.  I checked on the three Argiope spiders and all were OK.  A slaty skimmer perched near me and snatched invisible bugs out of the air.  The Southern purple mint moths infested the rosemary again - I need to deal with that. 

The wind was very gusty and thrashed the leaves off trees.  The hot sun so energized the insects that I missed quite a few.  Something that might have been a hummingbird moth swooped down on the mountain mint then shot over the house.  I glimpsed rusty wings and some yellow on the body, and it had a vertical profile.  Later, I saw another duskywing skipper.  

The hummer, or hummers, seemed unfazed by the wind.  A lot of sugar water got drunk.  One I thought might be a male perched on a dead twig atop the wild cherry despite the wind.  It was a very dark hummer, for sure, but with no hint of ruby. 

A blue dasher joined the slaty skimmer.  And I realized that what I had assumed was another wasp was actually a female Eastern amberwing, Perithemis tenera.  Also, I glimpsed what I thought was a male widow skimmer, at least I got an impression of black and white wings.  Sometime after 5pm, the weather shifted from hot wind pushing cumulus out of the SSW to a slow-moving overcast. 

Hot and windy

A goldfinch was determined to get breakfast.  A hummer found the feeder despite the red "flowers" fading.  In the pool I rescued a different kind of spider.  It was brown and had a cobweb spider shape and had gotten on a leaf raft which made rescue easier.  I also caught a frog and took it up to the patio to photograph.  It hopped into the grass and hid its head like the proverbial ostrich.  I suppose that if I hadn't known it was there I wouldn't have noticed it. 

One of the Argiope spiders caught lunch.  It looked like it might have been a dragonfly.  Fiery skippers, a duskywing, and the usual insects crowded the mountain mint.  A palamedes swallowtail zipped across the yard before I could think to raise the camera.  A great blue skimmer feasted on the little biters.  A monarch made a brief stop at the butterfly milkweed. 

K said the temperature hit 100.  While not sticky, there was enough humidity to make the air heavy and hard to breathe.  The wind kept pushing clouds out or the Southwest but rain did not materialize.  In the late afternoon, a female common whitetail  hunted from the patio.  They like to be on the ground except when flying.  I caught glimpses of dragonflies aloft but no pictures. 

Hot and humid

The heat and humidity was really oppressive but it suited the dragonflies.  I found another Argiope web but something ripped up the spiny back web.  A skinklet was insistent about crossing the patio.  A baby cardinal had no tail.  A fresh hummer feeder had no customers.  Blue jays found the barkbutter balls.  Mosquitoes found me while I picked figs.  I saw live wasps and defunct fig beetles.