Gray and wet

The temperature dropped back to a more normal range.  All day, I kept having a problem that the camera wanted to photograph the background instead of the bird.  The brown thrasher had another go at the suet.  Then the red bellied female took over.  The downy woodpeckers weren't far behind.

I saw a pair of wood ducks splash down and paddle swiftly upstream out of sight. 

Bluebirds paid several visits to the bark butter balls.  A titmouse had the same idea.   The male bluebird also tried the suet.  Then a female oriole decided she wanted some suet.  A blue jay replaced the bluebirds.  The oriole had a staring contest with the red bellied woodpecker. 

A Carolina wren foraged under the seed feeder along with white throated sparrows.  A male pine warbler found a moment alone with the suet.  A lot of flitting around in the foliage made me think there were more warblers. 

Bugs

K saw a swarm of some kind of flying insect in front of the garage.  I missed that, but as I was cleaning out flower pots for transplanting, I apparently disturbed a tiny praying mantis.  It wasn't newly hatched because it was about a centimeter long. It climbed the porch pillar and disappeared.

Some fungus popped up in mulch in the front yard.  One looked like an orange bracket and the other a brown toadstool.  Petals from the witch hazel were everywhere like confetti, including in my hair I discovered later. I found a snail in one of the flowerpots. A beetle and many earwigs hid under the pots. A sapsucker attacked the pecan tree. 

In he back yard, bees enjoyed the money plant.  The female red bellied woodpecker helped herself to suet.  A bluebird used a dragonfly perch. 

I saw a female bufflehead on the creek.  Late in the day, a pine warbler got some suet. 

Camera confusion

I wanted to get acquainted with my new camera, so I started with it in the morning.  Of course the manual was online and I hadn't looked for it.  I could not figure out how to switch from screen to viewfinder - but I learned a few other things while looking.  When I did check the manual, the answer was so simple, I was embarrassed.

The suet was a magnet for woodpeckers and the brown thrasher.  I also saw a warbler on it in the evening.  Other birds foraged the bits that fell to the patio, but they were hidden by the steps.

A black swallowtail discovered the parsley and rue.  I also saw a cabbage white and a tiger swallowtail.  Bees and wasps worked hard as usual, energized by the heat.  The wild cherry trees had buds. 


The creek was placid except for the wakes of passing boats.  It seemed devoid of ducks, possibly because of the boaters.  I glimpsed a heron and an egret, and of course turtles.

K came out to practice the violin and a mockingbird was not to be outdone.  It perched in the maple and ran through its repertoire of sounds, some musical, some silly.  I wonder it it will add violin to its impersonations?

Contrails showed the world had not yet come to a complete stop.  Cloud wisps and haze gradually merged into a white sky, but after dark the crescent moon and Venus were visible, albeit fuzzy.

Hot day

Woodpeckers showed up first.  An egret fished in what looked like a strong current  below the dam.  Rain fell overnight, but not that much. I saw a junco foraging for fallen suet, but it got away. 

I went out to plant seeds and discovered it was much hotter than predicted.  The cherry that grew from a pit was blossoming.  Maybe this year I'll get a cherry?   The rusty disease reappeared on the red cedar.  The coral honeysuckle was loaded with flowers.  Among the money plants, now flowering, I found several rosettes of Small-flower Hawk's-Beard Crepis pulchra, I think.  It's non-native and not very "pulchra" to my eyes.  The dogwood by the pool steps made puzzle-boxes of its petals again. 

The turtle log was full under the hot sun.  Bees and wasps were busy.  I saw a cabbage white and a sulphur.  And I managed to catch a jumping spider with the camera.

The crescent moon was accompanied by Venus and a couple of cormorants.

Noisy birds

The brown thrasher returned for more suet.   The red bellied woodpecker put an end to that.  But the brown thrasher came back later. 

A bufflehead drake paddled upstream.  Turtles basked on the log in the lake. A pileated woodpecker landed on the post and examined the suet but flew off before I could get a photo.

The grass was full of robins.  I caught a blue jay preening in the wild cherry.  Then it took a turn at the suet.  A bluebird landed on the seed feeder but seemed very puzzled by sunflower seeds.

We took a walk in the neighborhood and spotted mockingbirds establishing their territories.   White throats were eating maple seeds.  Yellow jacket queens searched for nest sites.  A red bellied woodpecker worked on a dead limb in an overgrown yard.  A group of ant hills were close together and among them was a small patch of bluets. 

The bumblebees had already fertilized a lot of blueberry blossoms.  A sprinkle of unpredicted rain followed our walk. 

Nervous birds

The sky was gray at breakfast.  There would be a crowd of birds, then nothing.  The feral cat was responsible for one disappearance.  A low flying heron spooked the birds, including a brown thrasher just as I had it in focus.  A red bellied woodpecker took its place on the suet. A frustrated downy watched. 

The sweet gum was leafing out and flowering.  Tiny, red oak leaves above the tassels of oak blossoms looked like hula dancers.  A white throated sparrow seemed disheveled so perhaps it was molting. 

The sun came out around 11am.  The myrtle warbler spent some time with its beloved suet.  The turtle log was full to overflowing. 

Tenants moving in

Despite the rain bluebirds were busy with the bluebird house.  As I made the beds, I also saw a blue jay and a brown thrasher hanging around, watching the bluebirds move in.

Lots of birds showed up at lunch.  A pine warbler didn't remain still long enough, especially as the camera was coping with rain-streaked glass. The brown thrasher reached the fresh block of suet more easily.  But a considerably smaller downy woodpecker got frustrated and leapt onto the suet, causing it to spin around which was more than the brown thrasher was prepared for.

A Carolina wren was not pleased with the soggy bark butter balls.  A crow visited but everything was uncomfortably small.  Then a female oriole settled on the suet. The wren moved to its favorite perch in the dogwood.  The wind got in its feathers and made it look furry.

Raindrops like jewels dotted the purple witch hazel.  Water off the roof made waves in a bucket.  The fig put out leaves.  The redbuds contrasted with the yellow pompoms.  One strange result of the all day rain was finding an earthworm hiking across the bedroom carpet around 7pm.  When I tried to pick it up, it clung to the carpet with bristles and segment edges and I may have damaged it somewhat before tossing it outside.