Winter Is Alive

I did my bug walk today in our new woods, because that's where I wanted to be, and when I headed off on my walk I found bugs, so I went back to get my camera. I wanted to walk in the woods because it snowed last night, and though the temperature had warmed up (still in the 30s, though),by the time I went out, and last night's snow had mostly melted in the morning sunshine, it did actually start snowing again while I was out there. So it wasn't exactly the kind of day you would expect to find bugs. And yet, they were out there. And they were active, too, moving around, flying away (some of them). I used to hate winter, in part because it seemed like the world was dead for those frigid months. Then I learned that it was all just dormant. And yet... it's not all dormant. Life goes on out in the cold, even insect life, you just have to be looking for it.

 Small, so small I'd never have noticed if there was only one, but this tree was covered in snow fleas, a species of springtail.

 Obviously, these spring, but they don't fly. When I mentioned insects flying, I meant...

 ... stoneflies. I saw several of them on my walk.

And I saw a few of these springtails, too. But since that day when I saw masses of them on the various water sources in the woods, they have been scarce.