August came to a sticky end

The storm last night dropped the temperature but kicked up the humidity till it was a misery.  We consulted with a shoreline restoration expert about getting our marsh back.  So we all stood down by the water and dripped sweat, or at least I did.  The dog had an attack of FOMO (fear of missing out) and insisted on joining K.  Then he explored the mud which, fortunately, was fairly firm.  There was no sign of the Argiope down there but I found one right outside my window and wondered it it was the same spider.  It had a huge web compared to the one in the little nook beside the rue.  Plenty of wasps and bees returned to the mountain mint.

The rain made porridge of the barkbutter balls but that didn't stop the birds.  A brown thrasher was too hungry to care about my camera.  Later I saw a Carolina wren on the feeder.  The cardinal papa was still feeding his offspring. 

I found two frogs in the skimmer and a skink swimming.  The smaller of the two frogs had wedged itself into a corner right under the lid so when I removed that, there it was, blinking.  The bigger frog had buried itself under the leaves and when I pulled the leaves away, it leaped back into the pool. I ignored it while I dealt with all the debris that the storm had blown into the water.  

Then I found the skink but it apparently thought I was a worse fate than drowning.  Eventually I caught it and as I swam back to the steps, I noticed that the frog had gotten out of the pool and was sitting on the concrete.  After giving me a chase, the skink decided to play dead, but eventually it ran away.

Storm in the night

I found the green bee again and the mantis.  I thought the Argiope had gone missing but it reappeared.  Since there were still some buds on the hibiscus, I neem-oiled it some more.  In doing so, I discovered a scary form hanging in the rue. I believe it was the shed exoskeleton of an assassin bug, possibly a wheelbug.

After dark, I heard thunder, wind, and rain.  That won't be good for the neem oil,or the barkbutter balls.  Because the birds disappeared, i put out barkbutter balls in addition to the suet.  I saw a Carolina wren make off with one of those.  Hummers found their feeder, eventually, after an inspection of the barkbutter balls.  

 

Green bee!

A male cardinal fed a fledgling that still had a dark beak.  I got both birds separately but not the tender moment.  I went after spider mites with neem oil and surprised a small brown mantis on the lavender.  I wonder if it was eating them?  

A cicada was floating on its back and when I fished it out, it proved quite alive and clingy.  My best guess is Megatibicen auletes.  It's the largest N. American cicada and I know I've heard them. I also evicted a frog.  A palamedes swallowtail teased me but never landed.  A summer azure flitted past the mountain mint and kept going.  

But then I found a bright green bee on the mountain mint. Because of the spider mites, I cut away a lot of the mountain mint flowers and I also sprayed neem oil on some that remained.  I don't know if the bees and wasps will forgive me.  One flew around my head urging me to go away. 

A flicker of movement revealed an amberwing dragonfly in the grass.  The Argiope by the rue still seemed prosperous.  Because a thunderstorm was in the forecast, I put out a fresh block of suet.  Despite that, I didn't see much in the way of birds except for chickadees.  The day seemed hot and muggy, especially while I was cutting mountain mint, but it wasn't as warm as it has been and the fitful breeze came from the North.  

 

Late summer

A couple of Carolina wrens showed up at the start of another hot day.  One threshed the sunflower seeds while the other tucked into the barkbutter balls.  

The hibiscus was about finished. An aster had a new flower.  Spider mites were suddenly all over the mountain mint.  That didn't seem to bother the bees and wasps but I bet they won't like my attempt to treat the infestation.  A pokeweed plant growing beside the feeder pole began to bloom.  A bracket fungus came up in the same spot as last year, growing on the dead roots of the oak we lost, I hope, and not on the living maple.  There were buds on the saltbush, hinting at autumn.  The mystery plant was covered with buds too.

For a while, a low, dark sheet of cloud worried me but it thinned into froth.  The Argiope next to the rue still seemed happy with its location.  I believe it has grown.  However, I could not see the other one down by the shore.  

I found a metallic blue-green bee in the skimmer and fished it out for a picture.  To my surprise it began to revive.  Meanwhile a honeybee fell into the water.  And a bold Polistes exclamens wasp got a drink right beside the mouth of the skimmer.  I heard a hummer's wings but didn't see it.  I did see some skinks, all living thankfully. 

Dog and birds

Another hot day energized the hummers - two streaked across the yard, one in pursuit of the other for daring to drink at the feeder.  Live skinks were moving fast, as well, but unfortunately I found three drowned ones in the skimmer.  I also found a live frog.  

There were sawflies all over the hibiscus - I hope they all get caught in the Argiope's web.  The basilica spider had an egg pearl hanging from an extra thick strand.  Some first instar swallowtail caterpillars munched on rue nearby.  Fruits on the dogwood were full grown and turning red.  A black mud wasp had to fly circles around the mountain mint every few minutes. Spidermites infested it.  A monarch flitted around but didn't land on the milkweed, so I suspect it was a male.  Instead, I found a cricket nymph on the milkweed.  

A Carolina wren was bold enough to seize a barkbutter ball while I sat nearby.  But a hummer buzzed around me and then left when I sat near its feeder.  The birds were more wary of Andy the dog than of me.  Andy, however didn't express much interest in them.  He did take notice of a cardinal, but that was it.  On the other hand, he ran off barking at something he smelled, maybe a rabbit or squirrel.  

Sick peppers

I was so busy, I didn't remember seeing anything.  But apparently I did get a photo of a lovely male Eastern pondhawk that landed on the concrete.  

Something turned two young, green peppers white and flabby, as though they had been attacked by a vegan vampire.  An Internet search left me puzzled.  Sunscald could have affected one pepper but not the other. Soft rot seems to affect old fruit, not young, growing peppers. The condition of the peppers reminded me of a fungus that attacks camellia leaves, but apparently it doesn't care for peppers.  

Sweltering

At breakfast I noticed a big cicada on the window screen.  K said it was there last night.  

I didn't get outside till after lunch, which made me nervous because it was prime time for a greenhead attack.  But none occurred.  I found another minuscule monarch caterpillar and moved it to the butterfly milkweed.  

There was a dead skinklet in the skimmer and a live one swimming.  I also rescued a wasp and several crickets.  Surprisingly few dragonflies were around but a Carolina saddlebags flew reconnaissance overhead. I saw a tiger and a black swallowtail. A hummer fed.  The young bluebirds kept watch on the empty suet cage.