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I did a bug walk today, and it was a completely pointless exercise. Then why am I writing a blog today, you might ask? Because I did find some bugs today, but the only one I found "on" my bug walk was one that was about three feet from the back porch steps when I was heading back into the house, and everything else I found today was actually on either the front or back porch.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Large milkweed bug. Yes, I posted a picture of this yesterday, of this exact specimen, in fact, most likely. I found it on the picnic table, same as yesterday (I moved it to a rock for a better picture). But I was able to get a better picture today, and wanted to note that I think yesterday is the first time I have seen one this year. These have never been a common site in my backyard; last year or the year before is the first time I saw one here. Small milkweed bugs I've had for years, but the large ones are more recent. [Edit: I have a terrible memory for what I have seen at this point; this was Backyard Bug of the Day a couple of months ago. Ah, well, too late to change it now].

I did see a few ants and winter crane flies on my bug walk. But that's it. I didn't even see any flies (True flies I mean. Obviously, I just said I saw crane flies).

On the front porch this evening:

 Winter moth. There were a couple out there tonight. They are active in the late fall and early winter, and in the spring their caterpillars are evidently quite destructive; they are an invasive species.

On the back porch this evening:

 Another moth

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This spider was on the back screen door when I was on my way into the house after my pointless bug walk. Tiny and beautiful.

Owlish

The backyard was full of surprises today, starting with...

Backyard Bird of the Day:

 Barred owl. I have seen these in my yard before, and heard them many times, but always at night. They make a variety of noises, including a hoot sequence (that many people say sounds like "Who cooks for you?"), and also a sound that is like the a-oogah sound of an old car horn. I have heard conversations between at least 4 of them in different trees in the backyard. I have not been able to see them during these conversations, though. And when I have seen them at night, it has always been a fleeting glimpse. This time, I was walking one of my wooded paths in broad daylight, and this swooped past me; I think it was in a tree close to where I was walking, and I startled it so it swooped away to another tree a little farther away. These pictures were not taken with my macro lens, but with my zoom; my husband was home and working in the backyard, so I had him go inside and get it while I kept an eye on the owl. This one did not say anything while I was watching it.

 The owl just sat there for quite a while, looking around...

 

 It looked kind of sleepy.

 The great thing about owls, compared to other birds: if you are behind an owl and want to take a picture of its face, you can still do that.

 It did not seem at all bothered by me and my husband standing there, about 30 feet away.

 This is the point where it is just about to regurgitate an owl pellet. I thought it was about to do something else that I didn't want to take a picture of, so I missed that bit.

 

 After it flew away (and to me it looked like it swooped down low farther away in the woods, so I think maybe it was after more prey), we went over to the tree where it had been to look for the pellet. I found this on a vine below: owl feather?

 

 I don't think we found the pellet I saw it regurgitate, because that one was pretty big, but we did find others. In case you don't know what an owl pellet is, owls eat their prey whole, and later regurgitate the undigestible parts, like the fur and bones.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Beetle. I don't know what kind of beetle this is, but it's one of my favorites, in spite of the fact that I only ever see them on the ground, which makes them hard to photograph. This one was crawling around in some moss.

 And hiding.

Today was a beautiful day, and I figured just from the forecast that I would go out to do a bug walk, but I wasn't sure I would find anything because lately even on some really nice days I haven't been able to find bugs. But as soon as I opened the front door to go out to get the newspaper, I found out that today was going to be a day of unexpected bug finds:

Small milkweed bug. I was really surprised to see this. I hardly saw any of these in my yard this year, even when there were milkweed plants for them to feed on.

 Later, I found this, a large milkweed bug. I know you can't tell the size difference from the pictures, but you can see the difference in the markings on their backs.

 Today the temperature was in the high 50s, and I found a few candy striped leaf hoppers on a mountain laurel, just about the only plant that still has leaves right now.

Beetle crawling around on a tree trunk:

 

Ants crawling around on another tree trunk:

 There were a few flies around today. This is the only one I got a picture of.

I also saw some small swarms of winter crane flies, and a couple of winter fireflies.

A couple of evenings recently I have been out in other places and had moths flit past me, and today I found one attracted to my porch light. That may not be especially notable; there is a moth called the winter moth. I don't know if that is what this is, but it could be.

Funny how many "winter" bugs there are: winter moth, winter firefly, winter crane fly... And here for so long I thought that bugs all died in the winter.

 Arachnid Appreciation:
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A Buzz

Hi there. It's been a few days since I had anything to post. I didn't do a bug walk on most of those days, because of temperature or circumstances, but the last time I did one I didn't find anything, so there didn't seem to be much point on cold days. But this morning I spotted something on the side of the house that was quite a surprise.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I know I have featured bumblebees as Backyard Bug of the Day this year, but I was so happy to see a bee today that I don't care. Of course, a bee I am seeing this time of year is probably a bee that will soon be deceased, but it's the first bee I have seen in over a month, so I have to admire its survival skills.

After I saw the bee I didn't do my bug walk for a few hours (hoping it would be a little warmer, and it was), but I didn't see much. There were a LOT of flies around, and a few winter crane flies and winter fireflies, and...

 ... one dragonfly, basking on a rock. This is actually a small cliff in front of my house; with the low angle of the sun, the best place to catch some rays if you are a bug is to rest on a vertical surface.

I heard crickets today, too, for the first time in about a week, or maybe more, I don't remember when I last heard them. Most of the bugs I saw (and heard) today were in the front yard, near the bedrock outcropping there, probably because that is the warmest place in the yard. But I saw this one out the back door in the early evening, when I went out to see the sunset:

 Earwig. It moved quite sluggishly and then didn't seem to care that I was taking its picture. It's a little unusual for me to see an earwig out in the open; usually when I see them they are hiding somewhere on a plant.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Today was much less spidery than the yard has been lately. I only saw this one.

And for the arachnid I DON'T appreciate:

Not too cold for ticks, apparently.

Every Day Is A Chance For Something Else

After everything I said yesterday... today was a really nice day, and I found quite a few bugs. And I am going to go against what I promised, and post several pictures of the same-old, same-old.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Ground beetle of some kind. Found by looking under a piece of wood on the ground.

Other Bugs:

 I have posted a few of these lately, but this is a different view of it.

 I really like rove beetles. There is just something about them I find charming. Mostly they way they tuck their wings under their elytra by lifting up their back end, but also...

 Something about the way they keep their wings under those tiny elytra amuses me. It looks like a little suitcase, and it opens up, and...

 Wings!

 Three days in a row with this caterpillar. Today it had actually moved, though, and was lower on the tree, almost at my eye level, thank you very much.

 This looks like a stinkbug nymph of some kind.

 Candy striped leaf hopper on moss. I am pretty sure this is the first time I have ever seen one on the ground (or rather, near the ground, as it was actually on a fallen log). I usually see them on leaves of plants. I wonder if it was feeding on moss, since there's not many leaves left.

Twice-stabbed lady beetle. It's interesting how often I have been seeing these lately. Unless I just keep seeing the same one all over the backyard.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Tiny crab spider I spotted rappelling down a tree trunk.