Gray

Warmer, but a wind from the West swept clouds below the general overcast.  The !@#$ cat came through twice.  Mallards paddled by and squirrels scampered.  Honeybees and bumblebees were out, but no songbirds. I saw more dangling leaves caught in an invisible web.

Last day of EDT

It was sunny in the morning, clouded over at lunch, then cleared a bit later.  The light breeze was cold.  Moonflowers and morning glories lingered through the day.  Honeybees took advantage and also tried a rose.  Yellow jackets jittered between but never settled on flowers.  The same with the yellow-brown flitters I thought were skippers yesterday.  A tiny mint-green butterfly or moth defeated my attempt to photograph it though it climbed on my finger.  An ailanthus webworm moth on the screen door was more cooperative.

Three mallard pairs slept on the dock.  Then a hermit thrush took an interest in the beauty berries!  Squirrels made out in the oak then played follow-the-leader across the yard.

Chill

The temperature certainly dropped over night.  The sky cleared and the sun shone on slack water at dawn.  Later the wind ruffled the surface while geese and mallards paddled.  A male downy came to breakfast.

At lunchtime I spied a yellow rumped warbler, first butterbutt of the season.  The beautyberry was fast shedding its leaves but trees were mostly still green.  Squirrels were digging up the acorns others had buried.  Despite the chilly wind, honeybees and yellow jackets worked hard.  Something small and yellow-brown was flitting around but never landed where I could see.  My guess was skippers but they could have been moths.

Below the feeder, there were a lot of blue jay feathers from various parts of the bird.  I don't know if it got away or if the predator carried it away to eat.  Maybe that's why birds have been scarce since we got home? 

Warm

A Carolina wren greeted the morning from a garden stake.  But it flew off before I could fire up the camera.  In the afternoon clouds moved in from the West.  The day stayed quite warm.  I shopped for some bird goodies.  We shall see if they make a difference.  When we got back, a downy woodpecker was working on the suet.  The saltbush flowers had gone to seed and fluff was blowing around.  The moonflowers were profuse this evening. 

Rain on a warm wind

Despite that, it has been very warm.  Bees were out to feed on the rosemary and lavender.  A flock of mallards paddled downstream.  The squirrels appeared to have lost their warbles while we were gone, but they still looked scarred.  The moonflowers, morning glorys, roses, marigolds, and camellias were all blooming.  The dogwoods all turned red and the redwood and hickory bronze.  But no songbirds visited in the morning.

A downy woodpecker was on the suet before lunch but left as soon as I saw it.  A male house finch ate seeds for a while during lunch.  Afterward I heard, then glimpsed, two Carolina wrens.  But, I noticed a pine needle floating between the camellia and the sakaki and deduced a spider.  Sure enough, a fat barn spider (Neoscona crucifera) was eating the web. When it saw me seeing it, it scurried up a thread and hid under a leaf.  The leaf, however, was above me and useless as a hiding place.

Later, a small bird grasshopper bounced all over the patio and even climbed the window.  Geese paddled by and a heron flew over the creek.  There were moments of sun but mostly rain clouds speeding North on a very gusty wind that never really dried things out.  High tide came around midday and was really high, mostly due to the moon, I think, since the wind came from the South. 

And home

Yesterday we passed a flock of cormorants sitting on wires that crossed a narrow part of a lake near Orleans on Cape Cod.  Later I saw two swans in a pond in an industrial area of Fall River.  The fall colors were exquisite along the road.

Today began hazy and got increasingly cloudy as we came South.  Light rain fell on the Delmarva peninsula.  All down the peninsula, I saw buzzards, sometimes circling together.  A half dozen or more pelicans fished along the CBBT, but flew low to the water so the railing was in the way.

A sizable roach, on its back and waving feebly, greeted me at the door.

Round sunset moon

A very low afternoon tide (thanks moon!) attracted foraging gulls. Ducks and cormorants preferred to swim for their food. 

The moon was "waxing gibbous" with illumination at 94%though it won't be full till the 27th.  It rose through streaky pink clouds at sunset.  Sunrise was colorful too but the day was mostly overcast.