Rain, finally

Overnight rain left drops on water-repellent leaves.  A blue jay toyed with me and the camera sided with the bird.  First a great shot was waste because the camera focused on the background, then the camera cut off the bottom half of the blue jay.  Then I went off to do things all day.  When I got home, a wren came and sang at me until I pointed the camera at it.  A downy woodpecker tried to pretend it only was interested in the dogwood, not the suet I was sitting beside.

There were lots of interesting insects.  An assassin bug nymph delicately tiptoed down a juniper trunk.  A skipper loved the lavender.  So did some bumble bees.  Wasps were happy with the rue, as were flies.  A stinkbug dangled from a hibiscus leaf.  A larger assassin bug nymph lurked on the rue. 

The sky had looked threatening at mid day but became sunny again later.  It was hot but not as beastly as the last two days.  Clouds returned about the time I got home.  They thickened as they slowly rolled East.  And after the fireflies had been out for a while, there were lightning flashes and a long pause, then thunder.  The temperature seemed to be dropping too.  The weather sites attributed the heat to a high pressure ridge across the Southeast that also caused a deep dip in the jet stream to be stuck in place over the Rockies. Thus the West was cold, the Midwest flooded, and we sizzled. 

Triple digits

The car claimed 102°F in the late afternoon.  But by firefly time, the temperature was pleasant - warm but not uncomfortable. In the morning, I cut back some overgrown cinquefoil and soon sweat was running into my eyes and dripping off my nose.  Thankfully, that stopped when I got into the water. 

I had to rescue a mama spider twice because after she dried out she ran back into the water.  I also fished out a scarab beetle of some sort.  A whole slew of drowned roaches were circling on the current.  Dragonflies resumed their flights across the yard, but some dropped out to rest on a perch.  Bees celebrated the flowering of the lavender. 

We put fresh juice out for hummers, but they didn't stay long.  That feeder lacks perches and it was windy.

Sweltering

By mid morning, the temperature had passed 90F°.  As I ran errands, dragonflies were everywhere.  It surprised me somewhat as there has been little rain recently and few mosquitoes, midges, or gnats.  The hummer(s) kept drinking like it was the last day before Prohibition. 

When I returned, I found still more dragonflies flowing across the yard together..  A black swallowtail tried to wrestle nectar out of a blue indigo flower.  A flock of chickadees were all over the yard acting as if they had no sense.  Fledglings, I suspect.

Almost everything in the pool had drowned.  There was a camel cricket, two carpenter bees, and assorted spiders and small wasps.  A ground beetle had a reddish ant clamped on one leg.  I think the ant was dead, but the beetle was lively.  The rue still hosted a variety of wasps

Two geese with three goslings paddled upstream.  Later a couple of mallard drakes kept to shaded water.  A couple of cormorants occupied the snag on the lake.

Giant swallowtail

A stream of dragonflies flowed over the patio, then over the roof, and I believe circled around to do it again.  Fortunately some perched because I'm not able to catch them on the wing.  A female common whitetail landed on the cement.  A male bar winged skimmer rode the top of the pine tree despite wind gusts.  I found a female on one of my perches.  I also found a Needhan's skimmer on a stake, a plastic one the dragonflies usually ignore.  It didn't stay long. 

When I came to the door to go inside, a small wasp was trying its best to use a hole in the frame, but the metal was unforgiving.  I waited till it gave up because I didn't want to have to chase it around indoors.  A wide assortment of paper and mud wasps fed on the rue.  One bully slammed into a smaller wasp. 

A comma butterfly perched on my windowsill and embarrassed me with the detritus on the glass.  I got just a glimpse of what I think was a painted lady.  Then the giant swallowtail arrived and loved the rue.  It shivered with egg-laying joy, then departed all too soon. 

I rescued several spiders but didn't bother with pictures because they were the usual water striding kind.  I also very carefully saved a wasp from drowning.  It's tricky in the deep end with a short twig.  Hummer(s) visited their feeder throughout the very hot day.

Spiders

 A dragonfly perched on a twig beside the creek.  Another chose a stick up by my window.  I startled an egret that flew off.  Cormorants rested on the snag on the lake but I didn't see any turtles.  Hummers came regularly for a pick-me-up. A soldier beetle was on the cilantro. 

I was not as successful at spider rescue today. I did save one that was rafting.  But after I got out, a little green spider visited me.  It was probably a magnolia green jumper, not a young green lynx spider.  Certainly it did jump from one toe to another.  And I found a useful resource: Spiders in Virginia. The rue was full of little dome webs. 

Still sunny

I got busy and watered at breakfast time and noticed a little blue morning glory flower.  At lunch, a bold jumping spider took over the window.  A Needham's skimmer dragonfly had damage to the tips of all four wings.  I cannot figure out what could cause that.  The day grew hot enough that some blue dasher dragonflies were obelisking. 

For several days I had thought I was catching glimpses of a great crested flycatcher and today I saw it clearly among the green wild cherries.  A skink galloped through the birdbath and was gone before I could get a picture.  Hummers visited all day long.  Baldy showed up with his lady cardinal.  I went out front to move a hanging basket that we'd been treating for an infestation and found it was being guarded by a female great blue skimmer dragonfly. 

I rescued some spiders, one a mother-to-be, and one small bug I thought was a spider but closer inspection made me think it was an assassin bug nymph, possibly a wheel bug.  It seemed to be drowned in either case.  I also fished out a drowned beetle with glittery wing covers and metallic abdomen.  I was surprised when it revived.  I think it was some kind of borer, hopefully not a major pest because it flew away.  My best guess is Dicerca divaricata - Flatheaded Hardwood Borer. 

After supper, I sat outside to read,  There was enough light until a quarter to nine.  By then, I'd seen two swallows high above me and a host of fireflies about two feet above the ground. There have been fireflies in the evening for about a week.  Tonight there were also firecrackers.

Summery

A male goldfinch came for a drink.  Then the feral cat walked through the yard.  The twitchy male cardinal made frequent, nervous visits to the seeds, but the balding male and his lady love did not appear.  On one occasion, Twitchy was scared off by a chickadee.  There were lots of female hummer visits.  Other birds buzzed around in the trees. I'm pretty sure one was a great crested flycatcher. 

But the arthropods were more interesting.  I rescued three spiders, one twice, from drowning. Another spider worked on a web in the parsley.  Dragonflies included a male common whitetail, a female great blue skimmer, and a Needham's skimmer.  A wide variety of bees and wasps (and a few flies) feasted on the rue.  There were fewer butterflies, but I saw for certain a tiger and a black swallowtail and a silver spotted skipper.  A green stinkbug nymph was stupidly trying to climb the edge of the pool steps.