Hungry critters

There are indeed two rabbits. I wonder how long I've been seeing both, just one at a time. They're nearly full grown.

The seed feeder was busy with cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and an army of house finches. I saw at least eight and maybe more at one time. The goldfinch prefers to go straight to the source, maybe because the immature seeds are smaller?

The hummingbird is still happy with the feeder I put up, but annoyed with the crowd of finches. It makes a quiet, single note chup as it feeds. I'm hearing cicadas again - I don't know where they all went the other day but they were hard at it early this morning. The tree crickets have been singing in the evenings.

Rain started around lunch time and whenever it slackened the wet birds continued to mob the feeder. The rain flushed a black rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus) from wherever it stays and I caught it crossing the patio. A rabbit was also out in the rain. Then a brown thrasher explored the mulch next to the house.

Now that it is dark, a barn spider (Araneas cavaticusis) weaving a large web across the patio window. It will be interesting to see if anything gets caught overnight.

Late bunnies

Two rabbits were out and about this evening. Early in the morning, a squirrel was on top of the feeder licking or nibbling all around its roof - what's up with that?

This summer is the first time I've put much effort into identifying dragonflies. I love the names: skimmer, chaser, pond hawk, meadow hawk, pennant, darter. There are very helpful identification sites online, though that really depends on having a photo to compare as the computer is not as portable as a field guide.

While there are still blueberries, at this point the birds are eating them before they are fully ripe. Meanwhile the figs have begun to ripen - I picked a pint and left plenty for the birds.

Early grackles

They tried to fool the feeder counterweight by perching on the side. I think I saw a pair of towhees - robin-like with flashes of white. Chickadees took over the feeder after the grackles gave up. The rabbit just went by.

At lunch, a hummingbird discovered the feeder I put out yesterday. We're still attracting widow skimmer dragonflies. And the male goldfinch was again pecking at the sunflowers. It's another hot day.

The hummingbird appears to be a female or a juvenile male and appears to like what I cooked up. The bill is amazingly long. As we ate supper outside, it flew up to about three feet of us and eyeballed each of us in turn. I guess we pass.

Fresh seeds!

The feeder was popular this morning with house finches, goldfinches, cardinals, and a grackle that got dumped with a clang. Both goldfinches tried to hurry things along by pecking at the sunflowers - this is the female. I am remembering that Mary Reid Barrow says goldfinches are now nesting and that, unlike other seed-eaters, they feed their offspring seeds in the nest.

A little green heron perched on a piling but too far for the camera to get a sharp image. The chickadees and titmice are up and feeding now. And bluejays are looking for fallen seeds.

Typical July day

The rabbit was waiting on the patio, and then a dozen geese came to check out the pool, but scuttled off when I objected. I could not tell this year's fledglings from their parents any more. It is hot already, and sticky, though it did not rain last night.

At lunch, a hummingbird tried to get nectar from the sunflowers. Again it was too fast, but it left an impression of brown rather than green. The same bird, or something came back around 6pm to check the roses. Curiously, I do not hear any cicadas, just some wrens buzzing.

There have been lots of jays, cardinals and robins about, but the feeder refill has not yet been noticed. The rabbit seems to like to munch on the lawn below the bedroom in the evening. Finally I got a photo of the LBJ that shows up in the evening - I think it may be a song sparrow.

Wet

The air is saturated and everything drips. The hibiscus fooled me once again. My lovely little pepper dropped off the plant. It's a tad cooler and sunnier. I need to refill the feeder.

In a parking lot up the street I saw some Halloween pennant dragonflies, but I have not seen any of those in the yard. And, though the dragonflies posed nicely, I had not brought the camera along

Rain all night

But it is so humid that the rain did not leave a washed clean feel. The humidity fogged the camera too. The rabbit child is still making morning rounds of the patio. The plant I grew from a seed inside a particularly nice red bell pepper is coming along. It's about 3 years old now.

Another afternoon thunderstorm. The good side is we don't have to water the grass plugs where we are trying to start a lawn in place of the oak we lost.