Two kings day

Morning humidity was 99% but the temperature climbed with the sun.  Every surface was covered with dew once again, fat drops on the chairs, fine beads on the vegetation. I think the humidity contributed to leaf color this year.  There were a lot more clouds today. 

Lots of turtles were out on logs soaking up sunshine.  The creek was dusty with leafmeal and groundsel fluff.  It caught the evening light.

The two kings were a kinglet and a kingfisher.  I saw the ruby crowned kinglet at mid day and the male belted kingfisher at dusk.   The feral cat sashayed through the yard.    

Kinglet

A few hoodies were out on the creek after breakfast.  It was a lovely, calm day with an unmarked blue sky. Fluff from the saltbush was snowing everywhere.  But I had to spend too much of it glued to a computer. On the lake, a half dozen turtles enjoyed the warm sun.  

I am beginning to think that the slime mold is actually a weeping conk, some kind of fungus anyway.  I first observed it on the 18th of October, three weeks ago, which is too long for a slime mold.

After sitting quietly for a while after lunch, I spotted a ruby crowned kinglet at the far end of the pool.  It flitted around so quickly and unpredictably that many of my photos had only part of the bird, or none at all.  

Quiet

There wasn't fog when I got up but there was evidence of heavy dew.  I must have planted a paper-white narcissus bulb at some point because one popped up in the midst of the lavender.  I wouldn't have known what it was from the leaves but the flower was unmistakable.  Chickadees and house finches showed up and six mallards napped beside the creek.  That was about it though I didn't get outside much.  

Blue sky

The fog was back at breakfast. I missed shots at a brown thrasher and a blue jay that came for bark butter balls.  A titmouse and the red breasted nuthatch preferred sunflower seeds.  A couple of crows appeared to be very close friends but I don't think they were mating.  Dew-dotted spiderwebs festooned the rose but I didn't see them till I looked at the photos.  The feral cat prowled across the yard.  

By 10am the fog was gone.  The cloudless blue sky healed immediately when scratched by a passing jet.   A downy woodpecker went to work on the suet.  The nuthatch came back and posed very nicely.  

Lots of birds flew over, but aside from gulls and cormorants I'm not sure what they were.  The warmth of the last few days persuaded the canna to bloom, though I think its usual pollinators have left.  Two peppers are just about ready to pick.  I hope the green ones survive the transition indoors.  The slime mold fungus had grown and taken an imprint from a fallen leaf.  As an experiment, I gave it a bit of parsley to see if fresh greens would appeal.  

The late afternoon sun lit up the trees that were turning color.  The wind had been pruning the colored leaves so the trees seemed to stay green.  The last two days were relatively still so leaves didn't come down immediately. 

Morning fog

The fog did not deter a downy woodpecker.  By mid day we had thin clouds instead.  I found a snail on the doorjamb.  An ant colony decided the time was right to send forth its winged, fertile new generation.  

The creek was glassy all day. Geese and cormorants flew over me while I was on the dock.  A male kingfisher perched on the navigation marker to eat a fish.  I saw an egret on a snag above the dam.  

Birds with eyebrows

 A busy Carolina wren checked all the feeders before sitting on the bark butter balls.  The wren was a molting mess.  I saw a downy woodpecker on the suet. 

The creek stayed placid and reflective all day except when a boat went out.  After several cloudless days, a few small, thin cumulus shreds floated by. Gulls circled very high up.  

The white throated sparrow came back to the birdbath.  I noticed squirrels were also quite thirsty.  If only the nuthatch had showed up, I would have had a trio of birds with eyebrows.

 

White throated sparrow arrived

The sky was again a glorious, cloudless blue.  While running an errand, I saw a couple of crows harassing a hawk very high up.  Below them two turkey vultures circled.  Of course I had no way to photograph them.  After I got home, a couple of blue jays had a quarrel but flew off too fast for me.   A pine warbler discovered the suet.  The nuthatch came back briefly.  

Then the white throated sparrow showed up.  It went stiff by the birdbath.  I wonder if that was because of a small hawk that swooped past me later.  This is the season for hawks to migrate as well as songbirds.  I got a corner of the eye glimpse of a brown thrasher on the bark butter ball feeder. 

I almost stepped on two little glass snails in the sun on the patio.  A field cricket hopped across the pool cover.  Then I noticed a wasp wrestling what I think was a tree cricket, presumably nourishment for an egg.  A bit higher in the dogwood a leaf footed bug was motionless.  Lots of little moths were active in the sunlight.  I saw a cloudless sulphur in the neighbor's sweet gum.  Honeybees worked on the sasanqua flowers.  The groundsel bushes began to release their fluff.  

As we ate supper after dark (having reverted to standard time Sunday), a raccoon joined us.  It snuffled around under the sunflower seed feeder but did not attempt a break in.  The inside lights on the glass defeated the camera.