New Blooms

It is lovely to walk around the backyard and see new things coming into bloom. Today was violets:

 I only saw three. It's funny when there are so few blooms you can count them.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this is a tiny wasp of some kind, but it could be a bee, or even a fly. It is on leafy spurge.

 The leafy spurge had quite a few insects on it today. Here's a tiny beetle...

 ... and ants are very fond of it. The dark blurs in the background are the Backyard Bug of the Day and another small beetle.

The most popular blooming plant in the backyard by far today, though, is the pussy willow. There were bees galore on that shrub. There were other orders of insects, too. It was just buzzing with activity.

 I don't know if that's a stinger or an ovipositor. I don't know why it would have its stinger out, but it could be laying eggs on the flower for all I know.

 Oops. I must have chosen the wrong file number. Oh well, here's a picture of a dandelion. The second one I have seen in my backyard this spring.

 Back to the pussy willow bugs...

 There was a winter firefly on there, too. And a cool fly that did not stick around for a picture.

The tent caterpillars. You can't tell from the pictures, but I think they are noticeably bigger than when they first hatched: