Wind

A bright and beautiful day was chilled by the strong East wind.  Torn fragments of cumulus flew across the sky, only rarely interrupting the intense sun.  A female bluebird competed with house finches for seeds.  The male pileated woodpecker returned in the morning and the female in the afternoon.  A Carolina wren had the feeder to itself.  A hummer considered the feeder and passed.  A titmouse and a blue jay enjoyed the barkbutter balls.  What might have been a small hawk chased after a cardinal, but I wasn't sure what I was seeing and got no photo.  

A few dragonflies hunted despite the lack of humidity that would have brought out their prey.  One of them was a male common whitetail that landed so briefly I missed it.  A lot more butterflies were flitting about.  I saw a tiger swallowtail, a dark butterfly that was probably a red spotted purple, a small golden butterfly I'm guessing was a sleepy orange, a pair of snouts, a monarch, a duskywing and a fiery skipper.  

I took clippers to the morning glory vine that was climbing the rose and the rose bit me, causing me to drop the clippers.  While trying to fish them out from under the rose, I discovered the sixth Argiope.  It was midway in size between the one that I've been watching and the little one that popped up two days ago.  I suppose it might be one of the ones that disappeared from the mountain mint.  My pruning also disturbed a skink.  

 While I was cleaning up all the tree detritus the wind was dumping in the pool, that wind shifted around to the Northeast.  I alternated between toasting in the sun and chilling in the shade.  Only one beetle needed rescue.  

 

Rain

Overnight rain dumped a couple of inches of water, dropped the temperature, and left very humid air behind.  Overcast persisted all day.  Moisture clung to the spiderwebs.  The female pileated joined us for breakfast.  A bluebird was hungry too.  Of course, the rain had covered the barkbutter balls which disappointed some birds.  Several titmice came for seeds throughout the day.  And, after a long absence, a male red bellied woodpecker appeared.  A Carolina wren returned to the suet.  I dumped the rain and barkbutter mess when I went for a swim in the afternoon.  A blue jay and bluebirds  investigated the crumbs.  There was plenty of tree trash in the water but nothing alive.  The breeze was a bit chilly and dank so I didn't linger.  

 

Another spider

A new, small Argiope appeared in the window next to the one I've been watching.  I don't know if it is a recent hatchling or if it is a hopeful male.  The Wikipedia article shows a male as a solid light brown, not black and yellow, so it must be a young spider.   While in the pool I rescued a young skink and a robber fly.  Another skink had already drowned, alas.  I saw the tatters of a huge web between the trees beyond the deep end.  

The male pileated visited the suet.  The barkbutter balls found favor with bluebirds, a blue jay, and titmice.  A pair of cardinals wanted seeds and she told him to wait his turn!   He looked henpecked but probably was molting.  A dragonfly perched atop the wild cherry, too far to be sure of the identity but it might have been a Needham's skimmer.  A blue dasher hung out on a bamboo stake.  The bird I thought was a Mississippi Kite soared in circles.  While photographing it I missed a possible saddlebags dragonfly that showed up as a blur on the photo.  A wasp ran around the patio which was kind of creepy.  Toward evening, an egret preened on the dock.  I saw a feather float away.  

Fig patch

Fearing rain, I went picking figs in the morning.  I didn't take the camera.  Clearly we missed at least a week of ripe figs because there were splatted ones all over the ground and fuzzy, moldy ones hanging from the twigs.  I saw honeybees and yellow jackets feasting, but not many other wasps.  A well-fed Argiope had built a web right in the middle.  I had sprayed myself with bug repellent but neglected my arms and got three mosquito bites.  But mainly I got very hot and plunged directly into the water.  Nothing interesting was afloat today but dragonflies were on patrol.  A tiger swallowtail and a black swallowtail fed on the butterfly milkweed.  

The wren was back at the suet.  There was a queue for barkbutter balls that included a white breasted nuthatch and a bluebird.  Interesting clouds occasionally hinted at rain.  Skinks found urgent business across the patio.  

Figs!

It was so humid when I got up that the windows were completely fogged. As the temperature rose the windows cleared, but the hot air stayed oppressively moist.  I could see that the creek was a motionless mirror.  A white breasted nuthatch, or perhaps more than one, came for seeds.  It didn't linger.  A female hummer found the sugar water.  

I found a large camel cricket floating in the water.  Then I found a female widow skimmer and put them both to dry in the sun.  However, neither revived and they were still in the same spot in the afternoon.  A field cricket jumped in after I got out and I didn't go back for it.  A red spotted purple hung around while I swam but was nowhere to be found when I had the camera.  

Despite threats from bees and wasps, K picked the first batch of figs.  A skink ran down the wall while our lunch was grilling.  A bluebird and its offspring flew to the top of the redwood.  A Carolina wren continued work on the suet.  Dragonflies argued over the perches.  A skink moseyed along the grass edge.  A bird with a black and white back like a woodpecker flew into the oak.  I saw no red on it but I think it was a juvenile red bellied woodpecker.  Brown headed nuthatches ventured out for seeds despite my proximity.  

Birds feeding birds

We got at least two inches of rain overnight, judging by the water in the bucket, though the NWS disagreed and put it at a third of an inch.  Wetness was slow to evaporate in the humid air, though there was a good breeze.  The Argiope moved its web a little higher and slanted it.  What I thought was a tiger beetle ran around the patio hunting something.  But looking at the blurry photos, I can see a wasp waist.  Blue dasher were on patrol, joined later by a slaty skimmer and a great blue skimmer.  I chased a black swallowtail but got nothing decent.  Skinks came out in the sun.  

Both downy woodpeckers and Carolina wrens were feeding each other.  I don't know if they were feeding fledglings or pair bonding.  Bluebirds showed up after a hiatus.  Unfortunately the barkbutter balls were a soggy porridge.  I drained off most of the water and a blue jay inspected the result.  I also put out fresh hummer juice and that got results.  Even a male appeared!  The brown headed nuthatches were out in force, sneaking up on the seed feeder perch.  Titmice joined the queue.  A couple of large birds soared in circles.  I thought they were vultures but the photos look more like Mississippi kites.  

Yellow insects

A blue jay came for brunch.  I swam in the morning because a thunderstorm was predicted for the afternoon.  A bee or something stung me because it had climbed up on my suit and I didn't realize it was there.  I didn't rescue it or anything else, though a spider was walking around on the surface tension.  A long-tailed bird that I think was a mockingbird checked out the wild cherries.  At lease three Carolina wrens checked out me as I floated in the shade.  They kept hopping around in the red cedar so I couldn't be sure if there were more than three.

When I got out, I found a black beetle with yellow markings on the mountain mint that I've seen in other years, but I couldn't remember what it was.  No wonder, I had identified it as Macrosiagon dimidata.  Not a memorable name.  A variegated fritillary made the rounds.  A blue dasher and a great blue skimmer perched, but they didn't stick around.  Impressive clouds in the afternoon spat out about seven drops of rain.  

A hummer went to the feeder but then flew around the corner, so maybe the sugar water went off in the heat.  Another blue jay visited.  A Carolina wren pecked at the suet.  A tiger swallowtail feasted on the butterfly milkweed.  I suspect it was newly emerged and very hungry.  The Argiope started pumping its web and then ran up out of sight briefly.  I guess it caught something.  The day never got as hot as the NWS heat warning suggested, but it was humid.  The thunderstorm finally arrived about 6:30pm and was still growling hours later.