De gustibus non est disputandum

I caught two frogs this morning but neither offered to eat the mosquito that was bugging me.  I also, gingerly, fished out some small wasps.  Something has been eating green dogwood berries and dropping bits around the skimmer.  K refilled the seed feeder, changed the ant moat water, and took down the suet cage.  We could hang a second hummer feeder but that has to be changed a lot more often than suet and I'm no longer surefooted enough.  As I came dripping up the steps, I saw a small monarch caterpillar on the butterfly milkweed.  Looking closer, I found three more.  They seemed to prefer eating flowers instead of leaves.  I suppose that could be because their mouths are still small and the petals are thinner.  Or, maybe there is some advantage to stopping the milkweed from blooming?  A robber fly lurked on the railing.  The Argiope was missing again.  

 

Pleasant

Sunshine was reflected by the quiet creek.  K put peanuts for the crow but two squirrels squabbled over them till they were all gone.  Titmice came early for seeds.  Then, at lunch, a mockingbird was determined to get barkbutter balls, even while K was outside at the grill.  A bumblebee staggered across the patio - too much mountain mint?  I saw hummers at the feeder several times throughout the day.  Also, a monarch and a tiger swallowtail flitted past but only the fiery skippers posed.  

In the afternoon, fluffy cumulus blew past from the WNW.   A skink lay on the step wall mostly in the shade.  I discovered that the Argiope was not missing.  It had simply moved to the other side of its web.  A hummer guarded the feeder from an old hibiscus stalk.  A robber fly and a lacewing did not revive after I fished them out of the water.  I twice caught a frog but I think it was the same frog.  

 

Sunny

The sky was hazy with fuzzy cumulus coming from the West.  It was a little too warm and humid to be pleasant, unless in a swimsuit.  I caught three frogs and sent them away.  One seemed to be in poor shape so I carried it to the birdbath in the hope that rainwater would wash off the pool chemicals.  Other than that, there were beetles.  On the mountain mint there were the usual bees and wasps and a skipper.  A Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp found something interesting in the patio surface.  Some other wasps and bees were acting oddly too.  

I saw an orange butterfly (monarch?) and a yellow (tiger swallowtail?), neither of which cooperated.  Little skinks teased the camera.  I could not find the Argiope.  A great egret rested on the dock.  A very high-flying bird might have been a swallow.  A mockingbird looked grumpy from molting.  It dined on barkbutter balls.  

Cloudy

I planted the seed from the daylily pod before swimming.  The water was full of beetles and frogs.  I lost count of the beetles but there were three frogs, one dead, one that was none too lively, and one that seemed OK.  Of course there was a mosquito.  Back on terra firma I found the Argiope doing well, bees and wasps enjoying the mountain mint and milkweed.  A fiery skipper preferred the mountain mint even though it would have been camouflaged on the milkweed.  Then I noticed a common whitetail dragonfly on the top of the retaining wall.  A little later, a skimmer claimed the garden stake.  A skink crept out of the vegetation over by the hummer feeder.  Chickadees came for seeds despite my presence, but other birds stayed away.

In the front yard, a rainlily popped up at the end of the dry creek bed.   And a second crop of fairy ring mushrooms appeared like mourners around the spot where the oak died from emerald ash borers.  We got a tornado warning after dark but we didn't get any high winds here.  

 

Tiger, tiger, beetle bright

Rain was predicted so I got outside early.  The mountain mint was busy with bees and wasps.  I wanted to see the camera trap and also to collect a seedpod from one of the daylilies so I walked around the pool.  Frog legs were sticking out from under the coping. Then the frog noticed me and dived.  Slowly, without moving, it drifted back to the surface, but I was waiting.  

I found another in the skimmer and two while I was swimming.  I also found a damselfly that I fear was beyond revival and a metallic green tiger beetle that did revive.  The pair of Carolina wrens visited the dish feeders.  A light rain started right after I came inside.  It didn't amount to much but the day was mostly gloomy from then on.

First frog

The sun was back and the North wind blew fluffy clouds across a blue sky.  Naturally that kept the temperature lower.  Despite all the recent rain, July was still below average and the year five inches below - 21" to 26".  Two hummers were attracted to the hibiscus blossom and the feeder, so one chased the other and neither fed.  Squirrel hanky-panky shook the cherry tree.  I saw a tiger swallowtail and a blue dasher and, of course, bees and wasps.  A great blue heron sat on a piling and a gull flew past.  Magnified by its shadow, a tiny skink crossed the wall of the house.  

The Argiope was still in the azalea and getting to look more adult.  Later when there was some shade, I worked on cleaning the tree scraps out of the water, There were lots of beetles, ants, a drowned stinkbug, and I rescued a small wasp.  Mosquitoes were annoying.  I saw something larger floating in the deep end and thought at first it might be a big moth on its back.  Instead, it was a small frog, right side up and arms spread wide.  It was fairly naive and I had no trouble evicting it.  I'd have liked to have kept it around to eat mosquitoes but I worried that the pool chemicals would poison it.  

Afterward, as I dripped and watched the bees and a skipper in the milkweed, a hummer joined them.  She also sampled the mountain mint.  Alas, she was far too close for the camera to focus.  When she flew off, I turned around and surprised another skink that darted under the azalea.  A fledgling cardinal lurked in the dogwood.  

Dank

The hibiscus picked a poor day to bloom.  Rain slowly turned into drizzle.  The air was cool and damp and still.  Chickadees and titmice and occasional cardinals came for seeds.  The dish feeders stayed covered.  A hummingbird cussed out a chickadee.  The hummer visited both the milkweed and its feeder throughout the day.  A great blue heron landed up in the trees with a raspy honk.  A parade of squirrels leapt between the redwood and the hickory.  Some squirrels fed on either the immature seeds or the flower buds in the dogwood.  The Argiope was still hanging out in the azalea, but no sign of the orchard spider.  I didn't see any insects.