Spiders

This morning the Argiope spider was gone, as was any trace of the web.  I think that must mean the departure was intentional.  Perhaps she wanted a place where debris wouldn't blow into the web.   The brown headed nuthatches conducted more stealthy raids on the seeds.  Blue jays went for barkbutter balls as usual.  The sunflower bloomed. 

Overcast and wind made a chilly day.  I went swimming anyway because the pool needed cleaning, but I didn't linger.  I wonder if the frog was relieved or disappointed?  As I was dripping and shivering, I noticed a small spider lurking in the mountain mint.  Like the much larger Argiope, it paired up its legs, appearing to have four instead of eight.  The best match I found was the arrowhead orbweaver Verrucosa arenata but I don't think it's right.  

Skippers

The day was beautifully sunny and warmer than I expected.  The northeast wind still blew, but not quite as fiercely.  Still, there was more tree trash to clean up.   My brief time in the pool yielded two skinks, one dead alas, two frogs, and a black swallowtail butterfly.  The volunteer sunflower bud was starting to turn yellow.  There was another hibiscus flower today.  The butterfly milkweed was almost recovered from defoliation.  The beautyberries were getting their magenta on.  The fungus might be as big as it will get. 

The Argiope started the day with a fresh, clean web and she already had breakfast.  At first she hung on the outside, away from the glass, but switched at some point.  That nice new web collected a lot of detritus as the day went on.  A tiger swallowtail flew slowly enough for the camera.  Not so, a cloudless sulphur - it was a blur of butterfly-shaped yellow.  It landed on yesterday's withered hibiscus instead of today's flower.  Another duskywing flitted around the mountain mint.  Then a silver spotted skipper landed on the mountain mint.  I thought another skipper might be a Huron sachem.  A two lined spittlebug crept along a dried stem of money plant.  

A blue jay inspected the barkbutter ball dish.  A white breasted nuthatch yearned for seeds.   A wary hummer watched as much as she drank.   A Carolina wren objected to the crumbs that were left of the barkbutter balls, then hustled off to the seeds.   Brown headed nuthatches used ninja powers to get seeds.  A female cardinal looked like she had been dragged backward through a knothole.  Fortunately, molting is temporary. 

I saw a warbler with a yellow breast and brown head and back.  It seemed to have an eye ring though the angle of its head left me uncertain.  Also it was molting a bit so I couldn't see details of the wing bars.  Though it did not look like a pine warbler that is my best guess. 

Windy

A strong, cold wind out of the Northeast shoved clouds across the sky.  It blew the feathers backwards on birds.  The sun was bright but the temperature was only in the 70s.  Morning glories bloomed and there was another hibiscus flower, and two buds..  The wind filled the spiderweb with redwood needles and suchlike tree trash.  It batted at the spider but the Argiope still managed to catch a meal.  I noticed the spider had switched to the outside of the web where it was less likely to get banged into the window.

The hummer was hungry and protective of her feeder.  A brown headed nuthatch slipped between finches and cardinals more successfully than a chickadee. After I put out barkbutter balls, I saw a mockingbird and a blue jay and glimpsed a sparrow that might have been one of the chipping sparrows.  The wind kept me out of the water.  I could see a frog in the pool, maybe wondering why I wasn't chasing it.  Unfortunately, the wind blew down more leaves and pine needles to clog the skimmer.  

A monarch butterfly fought the wind but didn't alight on the butterfly milkweed.  Maybe that means it was a male?  A couple of snouts dueled in the air but perched where I couldn't see.  A female Horace's duskywing perched on a morning glory leaf.  Sunset turned clouds orange.

Chill wind

Despite the rain, the hibiscus surprised us with another flower.  A hummer sought breakfast during a lull.  The Argiope weathered the storm.  Brown headed nuthatches couldn't wait either.  In the afternoon, the wind flipped around to the North and cleared the sky, but lowered the temperature.  I cleaned tree trash out of the pool and evicted one frog.  It seemed tired and didn't really lead me on much of a chase.  

A honeybee was busy with the mountain mint.  As I dripped and shivered in the wind, I noticed lots of long-legged flies on the mountain mint, some red, some green.   Then a fiery skipper landed and a Southern purple mint moth flitted among the mountain mint stalks.  A white breasted nuthatch persisted until it got its seed.  A tree on the far side of the dam turned gold.  It looked to me more like the tree was dying than coloring for Fall.  The cormorants made their nightly commute.  

Rain at last

The chrysalis I had accidentally pruned eclosed today.  So did another in the mountain mint.  I found tiny ants carting off fragments of what I hope was a third and not either of the two I watched.  Maybe I pruned another and didn't notice?  I was sad the butterfly didn't make it but intrigued that the ants carved up even the wings to carry off. 

The chipping sparrow came back.  It was definitely a juvenile.  (Unless it was a song sparrow that was missing its chest spot?)  A great blue heron flew up into a pine behind the oak and hackberry.  I couldn't see it there but I could hear it grumbling.  Nuthatches visited the feeder and mckingbirds came for a drink, but I didn't see many birds beside the sparrow.  Of course, I didn't put out any barkbutter balls because I expected rain. 

Clouds gathered and dissipated and the temperature reached 90°.   I swam in the morning fearing an afternoon thunderstorm.  There were two frogs to entertain me.  And I extracted that stupid caterpillar from the skimmer again.  I didn't wait around to see if it revived again.  I also fished out a honeybee. 

A tiger, two black and, I think, a palamedes swallowtail all flew past.  So did a cloudless sulphur and a sleepy orange and some smaller lepidoptera I couldn't identify except for a fiery skipper.  The overexposed and blurred photo I got of the Palamedes might have been a giant swallowtail.  No dragonflies, however, and only a few wasps and the Argiope were around as predators.  

After 6pm the light got very low.  Finally rain fell for about half an hour.  Then the sky lightened and the rain slackened but didn't stop. 

Chipping sparrow

Brown headed nuthatches were waiting for breakfast.  A molting Carolina wren was next.  Goldfinches were thirsty and hungry.  Mockingbirds and blue jays went for barkbutter balls but then a brown thrasher took over.  The mockingbird got a drink instead.  Hummers got their own drink.  Late in the afternoon, a white breasted nuthatch visited among house finches and a brown headed cousin.  A downy woodpecker arrived around the same time. 

After checking with All About Birds, I think the chipping sparrow might have been a juvenile bird.  In fact, I may have been seeing two birds, a juvenile and a molting adult.  The one without streaks visited the feeder while the streaky one foraged underneath.  I got curious and learned that Chipping in a place name means market.  There was no indication whether that applied to the sparrow.  Perhaps it originated as "cheeping" instead?  

There were two frogs in the pool and a black swallowtail caterpillar in the skimmer.  I put the caterpillar in the sun to see if it would revive and it did.  Thinking that it had left the rue to look for a place to pupate, I put it in the mountain mint but it was not happy and crawled away.  A red wasp was buzzing around the mountain mint so maybe it was wary.  I saw a black and a tiger swallowtail, a cloudless sulphur, a red spotted purple, and some small fliers I couldn't identify. 

The Argiope seemed healthy though deflated.   A dead shrew was lying on the patio.  I wonder what brought us that gift?  I picked it up with a leaf and hurled it down the hill. A very small skink oozed between the retaining wall logs.  The sky was hazy with wisps that might have come from contrails.  I think I finally identified the fungus that comes up every year under the oak as Berkeley's Polypore  Bondarzewia berkeleyi. 

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Waiting for rain

A couple of house finches went fishing or, at least, looked intently into the pool.  Meanwhile, a goldfinch craved seeds.  A bluebird wanted seeds too.  And then a brown headed nuthatch and a titmouse joined the feeder crowd.  Hummers finished off the sugar water so I put out some fresh.  The brown thrasher was disappointed that I hadn't refilled the barkbutter dish but foraged under the seed feeder..  A mockingbird wanted water.  A blue jay watched and commented.  The bald cardinal was beginning to get new feathers but a female showed up in a terrible state of molt.  A couple of other female cardinals got into a dispute.  I think one was hatched this year.  A dove wandered around.  A downy woodpecker got a turn at the seeds.  A white breasted nuthatch visited in the late afternoon. 

The Argiope web was empty in the morning and gone by afternoon.  In its place was a brown balloon of eggs.  Southern purple mint moths investigated the mountain mint.  Black swallowtail caterpillars were fattening on the rue.  I started pruning the mountain mint to see if it would make more flowers and, without noticing, I cut off a branch a monarch had chosen for its chrysalis.  I put the branch in a vase hoping it would keep the chrysalis supported and shaded.  The gold markings really glittered and I could faintly see the developing wings.  A small wasp worked on the mountain mint flowers.. I glimpsed some butterflies but none posed.  

When I first got in the pool, the sun was painfully intense but when I got out, menacing clouds blocked it.  A lot of leaves had fallen into the water.  I saw two frogs but I caught three so were there really three or was one a recidivist?  I also rescued a very young skink.  As it panted on the concrete, a much bigger skink ambled by.  The only bugs in the water were a couple of weevils and a spider I'm fairly sure was an orb weaver.  The hibiscus did make one more flower.  The volunteer sunflower appeared to be doing well, though rain would help.  Leaves were growing on the butterfly milkweed.