It's a chilly, dew-soaked morning, but the morning chorus started before the sun came up. This time of year there are four birds here that sing incessantly: eastern wood-pewee (a whiny "pee-o-wee" from the woods), house wren--a loud bubbling song, except when he's scolding. He does it a lot earning him the nickname Bitchy-the-Wren, gray catbird (loud and random--he's a mockingbird relative), and the familiar robin. There are a lot of other birds around, but these are the most consistently vocal. None of them are feeder birds and I hardly ever see the pewee at all.
It's cold enough this morning, that all the insects I see are motionless and covered in dew themselves. Here's another red milkweed beetle.
And this is a scarlet-and-green leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea). They feed on plant juices (although I'm not sure if that includes the milkweed this one is on) and can cause the plant to die. This is the first one I've seen here though.
The Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) is starting to bloom. This is the wild carrot and is edible although not very tasty (the voice of experience!).
The similar Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is blooming too. Neither of these weeds are native and I've noticed they don't attract many insects either.
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