Big, fluffy clouds flicked the switch on the sunlight occasionally, but it was hot, sticky, and windy. A blue tailed skink was already up at breakfast. The two Carolina wrens visited the mealworm feeder. The hummer did not appear which I assume meant there were too many ants in the feeder. K took it down to be cleaned. K sprayed and removed a small paper wasp nest. Later I saw a squirrel nibble on it and spit it out. I hope it wasn't poisoned.
Bugs are forever thumping into the windows, sounding bigger than they are. And the wind causes leaves to flutter down, catching the edge of my vision. Office distractions. A large fly stuck to the window - I couldn't tell if it was a green head or deer fly, but it looked scary.
The wind grew very fierce in the afternoon. Clouds were shoved East but the trees were bending to the North. A sprinkle of rain dotted the concrete a little after 3pm and another an hour later. Around that time an egret made its patrol past the bank. The wind grounded most of the birds but swallows were flying. I saw cabbage white butterflies, dragonflies, and wasps.
I found two glass snails in the pool before something, maybe that fly, nipped my leg. A hummer came and looked at the feeder's usual spot. The lavender began blooming which might offer an alternative. The Mexican sage was down to one flower. Rain started up again around 6:30pm. A great blue heron landed by the bank but flew off when I turned to look.
Heavy cloud cover brought twilight early and with it came fireflies, the first I've seen this year. But after dark came a thunderstorm with hard rain that went on for hours.
Clouds muted the sun while I was in the pool but the sky cleared by 11am. I could hear birds but couldn't find them. I did find another snail floating in the water. Also beetles. Wasps favored the rue while bees went for the lavender. A parade of dragonflies circled the house, widdershins. An amberwing perched in the grass. A great blue skimmer liked the bamboo garden stakes. But most of the dragonflies never paused. I think there were darners in the mix, or something large. A male bar winged skimmer perched on the gardenia outside the window and a female found a stake.
At lunch, a hummer came to the feeder but she had a bit of something dangling from her beak - lichen and spiderweb nesting material? Then the downy showed up. A male goldfinch drank from the hummer feeder well. Then a white breasted nuthatch appeared and alternated with chickadees. One chickadee tried the hummer feeder and the mealworms and then poked head into the birdhouse. I'm a little concerned about the wrens since there's been no activity. A male towhee hid in the cherry. More dragonflies perched around the yard or zoomed past. 
When I got home, the sky was clouded over and it was hot and sticky. I took a photo of the hackberry berries and looked it up, and lo, I believe it is a sugarberry tree. A couple of squirrels cavorted in the redwood. Then two yellow crowned night herons burst out of the marsh and flew upstream. At supper the sky looked very stormy. Fireflies were out again. 
