Winter Optimism

Before I started writing this blog I don't think I ever really went outside in my backyard in winter unless we had snow. I would go out to dump things in the compost pile, but unless the backyard was recently transformed into a winter wonderland I didn't really bother to look around it much in the winter. I didn't think there was very much to see. Now I wonder what it was that I missed, because I know there had to be something interesting that I never knew about, since I didn't bother to look. I would look out the window, and just see a dead world, or rather, a sleeping world, although it looked dead to me. I didn't know how much was still alive out there (other than the birds, and occasionally glimpsed wildlife. And I only fill the bird feeders when it snows). But today, January 3rd, when it was in the 40s outside, and has been quite a bit colder some days lately, I saw this:

 This is not the first time I have seen daffodils sprouting in early January, but this is at least 2 inches tall! I have never seen one this advanced so soon. Unless this is one of the snowdrops I planted in the fall (still early for this kind of growth), but I thought that snowdrops had much thinner leaves than this. Time will tell... but not soon, I don't think. Anyway, nature is supremely optimistic, I find. [Edit–based on something I serendipitously saw on the internet today, these are snowdrop sprouts. I am very happy to see this, because I have wanted snowdrops in my yard for years, because they bloom so early in the spring. But it's a little disappointing to see only one; I hope that more than one bulb grows!]

 It was not the only daffodil that is peeking out already, either.

The bugs I found today were the same ones that I have been seeing for a while now, but I am posting them just because this is a blog about bugs:

 One candy striped leaf hopper enjoying the sunshine today.

I looked under the rain gauge to see if I could find a spider (no), and found this:

 Moth. Not a winter moth (which is a specific species), but a moth in winter. I saw quite a lot of these for a while in late fall.

 The woolly bear caterpillar was in the same spot from a couple of days ago. It is very close to the path to the backdoor, so I moved it closer to the nearby flowerbed so it would not get stepped on.

 Winter ant and winter firefly.

Stonefly

There was a spider in the mailbox when I went out to get the mail today, but I could not find it when I went back out with my camera. But on that subject, I got my two spider calendars done, so here are all the insect calendars I made this year:

 Two that are general insect calendars, Insect Fascination and Insect Inspirations

One of butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and damselflies, Wondrous Wings

 Two caterpillar calendars, Caterpillars and Fuzzy Caterpillars

 Two spider calendars, Ooh, Spiders! and Spiders Are Awesome!

 I know these are LATE, but they are customizable, so you can start them on any month, and you can also add your own significant dates.