Camera Games

I remain baffled by bugs. Today was almost exactly the same as yesterday, so why did I find a lot of bugs yesterday, and almost none today? The most interesting thing I saw today was actually a snake. When I went out to get the mail, for some reason I put my iPod in my pocket, even as I was asking myself what was the point of that? I didn't think I would see anything worth taking a picture of, and if I did, my iPod would not be the right camera for taking a picture of a bug. So as I was walking down the steps I heard a sound in the leaf litter next to the stairs, and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I knew it had to be a snake; the sound of a snake sliding through leaf litter is distinctive. Even if you've never heard it before you would recognize the sound, because it sounds exactly like you think it is going to sound. You're thinking about it right now, aren't you? Imagining what it would sound like if a snake was slithering through the leaves. Well, whatever you are hearing in your mind, that is what it sounds like. Anyway, the sound stopped, and I stopped, and I looked around I found the snake. Now, I am about to post a couple of pictures, but don't worry if you are afraid of snakes, you don't have to skip the pictures. there will not be anything here that will scare you.

The Snake in the Leaves:

 This was the beginning of my game of See How Close I Can Get to the Baby Snake Without Scaring It Away. Of course, from here you can't see it.

Let's cut to the end of the game...

 This is how close I can get to a baby snake without scaring it away. If you can't find it, its head is peeking over the top of the big leaf on the right, almost halfway up the side.

 I only got a glimpse of its body as it slithered away (when I got too close), and I have no idea what kind of snake it was.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A fly. Like I said, I didn't see much today, and the bugs weren't very cooperative. This is as close as I was able to get.

 It has an interesting pattern on its abdomen.

Other Bugs:

 March flies on the window.

 I've mentioned before that ants keep aphids like livestock because they feed on the honeydew that the aphids excrete, but I have never described that process. Well, here you can see it.

 Sweat bee

 Cocoon. I don't know what kind, but it looks exactly like one of those geometer caterpillars that stand straight out from a leaf or stem to look like a twig, like it turned into a stick for real.

 One of yesterday's katydids.

 Another fly

 Like I said, the insects were uncooperative. Sawfly and hopper

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I found this tiny spider on a morning glory.

It dropped down on a thread...

 ... and then a sweat bee zoomed past and thwacked it aside. You can see the spider on the lower left.

 Fortunately, its thread was still attached and it was able to easily return to its spot.

 Then there was a jumping spider on another morning glory...

 A sweat bee zoomed by this one an apparently scared it, because it fled into the flower and hit inside the curled-up edge. Yes, there were bees on the morning glories today, I just didn't get pictures of them.

 Not the best hunter, this one.

 I found several spider webs covered in tiny debris, and was puzzled for a minute, but then I remembered that my neighbor had been mowing his lawn and kicking up a lot of dust, and these webs are close to the edge of my property. I always wonder if spiders are annoyed by this kind of thing.