Hot

A hummer came to breakfast.  A brown thrasher was up early scouting for crumbs.  Wasps and bees went for the mountain mint, as did a brown stinkbug.  

I rescued a horntail that was still actively struggling and must have just fallen in the water.  It didn't take long to recover.  I also rescued a mama wolf spider and her progeny. An odd green floater turned out to be a stinkbug.  I rescued scarab and ground beetles but not the Japanese beetle. 

A widow skimmer spent the day on the perch outside my window.  A pondhawk used the stalk that had held daylily flowers as an observation post.  A blue dasher perched delicately on a long, thin leaf.  Another later obelisked on a lavender pod.  Lots more blueberries had ripened and I got very sweaty picking them.  

Still hot & humid

While I was doing dishes after breakfast, there were two hummer visits.  A female bluebird had some suet.  A perched dragonfly, a female bar-winged skimmer, turned iridescent.  Much later, I spied a blue dasher.  A damselfly hung around to pool making me wonder if I was bait. 

I rescued a bunch of brown scarabs and a woodlouse hunter spider that was clinging to an oak leaf.  That spider species drowns very quickly so it was fortunate to have found the leaf.    A great golden digger wasp appeared on the mountain mint.  So did a brown stinkbug, rusty carpenter bee and a big yellow bumblebee. 

Huge dark cumulus clouds looked like rain and there was loud thunder in the afternoon but no precipitation.  The hibiscus sawflies were leaving eggs on the hibiscus leaves so I will need to spray more neem oil.  At twilight the tide was quite low and the fireflies were thick.  I tried once again to catch them on camera and actually succeeded!  

Scorcher

The sky was intensely blue and the few little cumulus clouds couldn't temper the sun.  I definitely got a little crisp around the edges.  The beautyberry bush had begun to bloom.  Wild cherries were ripening and blue jays weren't waiting.  Still, it gave them something to eat besides our blueberries.  Titmice were happy with seeds and suet. 

A skink played peekaboo with me.  Later, two skinks came running my way, one chasing the other.  They froze when they noticed me, then slunk off in opposite directions.  That meant that one was still headed toward me.  It must have hoped that I was safer than the other skink. 

There were lots of dragonflies but most didn't cooperate.  I rescued a millipede.  A tiger swallowtail teased but never landed.  A duskywing skipper was in love with the mountain mint.  Of course, it had to compete with bumblebees and wasps.  I saw a leafcutter bee with its pollen-coated belly. 

Crows gathered to curse something on the ground but I was being plagued by a green-eyed fly and couldn't stay to see what the commotion was about.  A hummer visited the little feeder. A wren bustled around under the violet leaves where I couldn't get a clear look at it.  

Fair weather clouds

I put out all kinds of bird food but didn't get much response.  The bugs were more enthusiastic.  I rescued a bumblebee and a wasp and too many scarab beetles to count. A bumblebee seemed determined to visit every flower on the mountain mint.  

A fiery skipper couldn't keep up.  Wasps also worked on the mountain mint.  A rusty carpenter bee joined the mint crew.  I chased a tiger swallowtail with the camera, to no avail.  

Passing clouds seemed to hang heavy.  A bluebird finally noticed the suet.  A hummer visited the fresh sugar water.  Three titmice acted silly.  

Mostly rain

The rain started during my morning meeting while I had my back to the window and kept arriving in waves till late afternoon.  Since I hadn't put any food out the birds stayed away, except the seed eaters.  I saw a couple of wrens in the dogwood while I was in the pool.  Wild cherries were getting red so they will soon attract birds without my help.  The chaste tree began blooming.  The red ruffled daylily put out a strangely pale flower.  The mountain mint attracted wasps and bees and soldier beetles.  Perhaps they attracted the lovely widow skimmer that came and sat on my chair arm.  

Opressive

Aster and sakaki blossoms, along with the mountain mint, attracted wasps and other insects. Gladiolus and daylilies brought color but didn't do much for the insects.  Daisies seemed more attractive to flies.  Clouds covered much of the sky, hanging low and holding the humidity in place.  It wasn't all that hot, but there was little breeze.  I found a small mama spider in the skimmer.  

Skink

I finally found a cooperative tiger swallowtail, right outside my window.  It sat on a cinquefoil leaf for quite some time.  A male downy woodpecker continued to check on the empty suet cage, then pecked the post in frustration.  Carolina wrens checked in as well. 

Finally after four online meetings I had time for the pool.  The water was warm but the North wind was not.  A spider tried to use me as a life preserver but I felt the tickle of its feet and brushed it off.  Then I had to properly rescue it.  My best guess is that it was a woodlouse spider but it was much paler than any other that I've seen.  

I almost didn't go to the deep end because I was cold, but fortunately for a skink, I did.  It was big enough to know better than to go for a swim and it seemed stunned by the experience.  Quite some time passed before it began to move around normally.  

In the evening, the twelve spotted dragonflies were out as usual.  Fluffy cumulus chased the sun to get a paint job.