Caterpillars

Suddenly four caterpillars appeared on the milkweed.  Two great egrets had a territorial dispute which the camera missed.  A belated money plant kept opening small flowers.  I made my daily check of the chrysalis and located the four black swallowtail caterpillars.  The rue did not look healthy so my fingers are crossed that it lasts long enough for them to pupate.  

A tiger swallowtail swooped past the yard.  A greenhouse millipede pretended to be a branch stub on a floating twig.  I rescued it without dislodging it and got some photos.  Spittlebugs infested the rosemary.  Again a long-legged fly wandered around the morning glory leaves.  I could only find two of the three Argiopes.  A drain fly shared the shower and, no, I did not have a camera with me.  

Chilly

By lunch, a white sky dimmed the sun and the breeze came in chilly gusts.  The caterpillars were all still present and I located the three Argiope spiders, though one had moved up to the wall above the door which seemed like an odd place to hang out.  It also seemed strange that the monarch caterpillars chewed on the milkweed pods which I'd think would be tougher than leaves, not to mention needful for future generations of caterpillars.  

I found a defunct cicada afloat.  The millipede, Oxidus gracili, from yesterday was definitely a goner.  On the other hand, I rescued another millipede, an isopod, a wasp, a small brown spider, and four pale green assassin bugs, two of which were quite lively.  The other two were tangled together and I moved them near one that was recovering.  It scuttled over to investigate, and possibly cannibalize!  A red spotted purple briefly danced over the water.  Dogwood leaves began to lose their chlorophyll.  Beautyberries turned magenta.  A Carolina wren hid behind rose thorns.  I startled a young skink.  This has been a memorably dry August.  Rainfall was only 1.6" and the average is 5.8" though I'm sure that includes some hurricanes.  

Dark butterflies

The sun shone.  Two female hummers showed up at their feeder and the chase was on.  A Carolina wren craved suet and a titmouse did too.  

I did glimpse an orange butterfly and later a monarch, but the dark ones stole the show.  A spicebush swallowtail tried to get nectar from a rose.  A black swallowtail made the rounds, returning to the rue where I found the caterpillars and the chrysalis again.  I found the monarch caterpillar as well.  Red spotted purples danced over the water, dipping down to touch it, then hanging off the side, resting on the concrete, decorating the trees, and fluttering every which way.  

All three spiders were prospering.  I fished a centipede and a couple of millipedes out of the water.  One millipede revived immediately and hustled away.  The centipede moved so I assume it survived, unless the hot concrete killed it.  The other millipede rolled itself up and I don't know if that was a good or bad sign.  In the evening, a great blue heron fished from the neighbors' floating dock as ours was upended by Erin.  

 

Sunny

At breakfast I saw a female hummer.  A monarch, a dark butterfly, and some small fliers flitted around the afternoon.  Four caterpillars munched on the rue and I found one small one on the milkweed, gnawing a pod.  I moved it to some nice leaves.   Also, I finally located the egg-laying Argiope which had relocated down behind the azalea.  The black cat and the orange cat prowled through the backyard and I think the orange one ran through a web. .  

 

Cloudy

The wind ruffled feathers as a great blue heron perched on a dock piling.  I saw a little azure flitting around the beautyberry.  It might be what ate the leaves off one branch.  More berries turned red.  I swam, and disposed of a very dead skink, despite dark clouds that discouraged lingering.  The spiders each had a snack wrapped up.  I startled a Carolina wren on the patio.  After I put out fresh hummer juice, a female appeared.  

Hawk

In a change, the morning Carolina wren went for barkbutter balls instead of suet.  A blue jay had the same idea.  One of the spiders disappeared.  The other was in the web by the side window that the bigger spider had built.  I could not be sure which it was.  Meanwhile, K found another egg sack attached to a front window frame.  The third spider in the web behind the bench was quite still.  

Now I know why all the birds disappeared!  A very streaky bird that was clearly some kind of hawk landed on the patio.  The streaks suggest it was a juvenile bird. and It seemed about the size of a Cooper's hawk.  Pictures on Cornell's site match up.  

I rescued another young skink.  An orange butterfly crossed the yard without pausing and a skimmer dragonfly tried to perch on the crook from which the feeder dishes hang.  A weevilish beetle hiked across the concrete.  The chrysalis looked more golden today.  A pals silver-spotted skipper appeared to find nectar on a rose.  

Chrysalis and sack of eggs

Again the Carolina wren breakfasted with us.  The seed eaters were up early as well.  When I went to swim, I located three black swallowtail caterpillars on the rue, but the caterpillar that was quiet yesterday made a chrysalis overnight, right where it had been.  Something kept biting me and cut short my swim.  An adult black swallowtail rested on a morning glory leaf.  So did a long-legged fly.

And the larger Argiope made a brown bag of eggs.  However, the mother spider left its web and moved around the corner to the spot where the smaller spider had been, beside an outside light.  And the smaller spider?  It scooted to the other edge of that door pane, as far as it could get from the big one.