Beautiful day with a storm at noon.

Clouds rushed past on a wind from the Southwest.  Titmice and goldfinches came for breakfast, along with chickadees.

I had a lunch meeting in Norfolk and the closer I got, the darker the clouds got, till there was a downpour.  I don't think so much rain fell back here at home.  Between that meeting and an evening event, I spent no time in the back yard. 

While we were eating supper a hummer visited.  The goldfinch pair showed up too.  And then, we spotted a baby bunny in the grass.  That is certainly proof the foxes have departed.  I last saw one a month ago.  And I haven't seen a rabbit, let alone a baby bunny, in the yard for two years.

Cloudy

Not much was stirring this morning.  At lunch I saw goldfinches and a titmouse along with the usual trio.  The young cardinal stuck to the mulch; I have not seen it on the feeder.  K spotted a widow skimmer and later I saw a dragonfly with a blue-green tail.  A tiger and I think a palamedes swallowtail flitted among the trees.  Cicadas were loud.  The mint attracted tiny scoliid wasps while some paper wasps worked on the wooden bench.  I think a baby wren peeked at me, just before drops of rain began to fall.  Laughing gulls and swallows flew overhead.

Cooled off

All that rain yesterday lowered the temperature, but not the humidity.  The sky was clouded at breakfast but gradually cleared.

Titmice and goldfinches joined the regulars.  The goldfinches use the hollow behind the drooping sunflower heads to store seeds.  One of the several male house finches was feeding his fledgling who had two feather tufts on its head like a tiny owl.  A dove strutted around and the fledgling cardinal foraged in the mulch.  A squirrel repeatedly fell off the feeder onto a sunflower stalk but didn't uproot it.  K hung fresh hummer juice. 

A thin overcast returned, leaking occasional sunshine.  A red-spotted purple butterfly visited a sunflower, then rested on a cherry leaf.  A glorious Halloween pennant used a short perch.  The tallest perch was taken by a female slaty skimmer, and later a male.

A couple of skinks ventured out in the afternoon.  More dragonflies appeared.  A male cardinal wrangled a fat green caterpillar. A female hummer approved of the fresh juice.  The crows set up a screech party over some critter next door that they didn't like.  I never found the object of their derision, but I did find a cicada on the maple trunk.

Yesterday's rain filled the pool to the brim so debris didn't skim.  I found drowned beetles and a robber fly and another pink caterpillar.  The wren nestlings were big enough that I could heat them begging each time a parent arrived with food.  A brown thrasher foraged under the oak.  I saw one swallow hunting in the sky and heard more.  The high, thin clouds were moving slowly Northwest while lower cream-puffs hurried East. 

White sky

A male ruby throat appeared at breakfast, but didn't drink from the feeder.  I thought the juice must need changing, but latter a female did have a nice breakfast.  Meanwhile the female goldfinch went back and forth among all the ripe sunflower seed heads.  The regulars mostly stuck to the feeder though a chickadee tried to imitate the goldfinch.

In the late morning, an odd dragonfly I think may have been a shadow darner (or a clubtail?) landed on the retaining wall.  The wrens were still busy at the birdhouse.  A titmouse came to the feeder.  The overcast got thicker and grayer and more suggestive of rain.

At lunch a flurry of birds visited: titmice, a pine warbler I almost mistook for a goldfinch, a Carolina wren, a hummer, and two great crested flycatchers.  The squirrel with the white spot foraged around the patio.  Then the rain began, gently at first, then hard with lightning and thunder.

Sunny

At breakfast, a titmouse was scared off the feeder by the regulars.  A pair of goldfinches visited.  A Carolina wren landed on the table outside but disappeared while I was snatching up the camera.  A hummer made a short visit. 

After lunch, I picked blueberries, leaving plenty for the wildlife.  I saw a widow skimmer and a common whitetail, both females, a black swallowtail, and a skink.  The house wrens were kept busy bringing food to their nest.

Later a male slaty skimmer took up post guarding us from tiny flying things.  A butterfly teased me while I was in the pool. 

A brown thrasher foraged under the oak.  It may have been the bird that serenaded us for a while, unless there was an invisible mockingbird.  Osprey circled as did a laughing gull.  Squirrels playing chase flushed a Carolina wren.  Two great crested flycatchers chased each other from tree to tree. 

Toward suppertime, a couple of 12-spotted skimmers patrolled above the rooftop.  An egret flew North.

Hot

A hummer was up at dawn.Titmice and goldfinches joined the regulars.  The house wrens were carrying food to the birdhouse.  An egret perched by the dam outflow. A juvenile cardinal foraged under the sunflowers.  The white spot squirrel looked for treats.  The sky was mostly cloudy. 

The cloudcover dissipated by lunch.  Later, single clouds blew out of the West.   A black swallowtail visited, and briefly a comma.  Dragonflies included a Needham's or golden-winged skimmer, a widow skimmer, blue dashers, and a black saddlebags.  A robber fly and a little green grasshoper nymph were up on the patio.  A skink came by.  Several osprey circled in the sky.  Doves and grackles were courting. 

Too many Japanese beetles were in the water.  I saved other beetles, spiders, and wasps, including one Polistes exclamens. Also, there was a sizable green frog!  The water was high enough it jumped out. (or was it a bullfrog?)

Very bird-full

The sky was mostly overcast at breakfast but there was an explosion of birds.  First I saw the house wren zooming out toward the front yard.  Then three, yes three, male goldfinches argued over the sunflowers.  Meanwhile a female just kept chowing away.  Titmice approached the feeder warily.  A great crested flycatcher paused briefly then flew off with another.  House finches were everywhere including the hummer feeder.  Fortunately they were absent when the hummer visited.  And, of course, there were chickadees, cardinals, and squirrels.

A black swallowtail hung around the patio briefly at lunch.  The sky was still white and the wind was gusty.  The lawn finally got mowed in the afternoon.