Swarm and Cold

Some days it's actually quite easy to choose a Backyard Bug of the Day. I just choose the only bug I saw.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Moth

 I actually saw two of this kind of moth today, or possibly the same one flew to a new location. At least I think they are the same kind - this one was in an awkward spot where I couldn't get close to it.

I was kidding when I said I only saw one bug today. Random Bugs:

 Winter firefly

 Some sort of larva

This is also the time of year when there are swarms of some sort of fly-ish thing, and I engage in the exercise in futility that is trying to get a picture of the swarms. You see, I am trying to show you what its like in the backyard, and show you the things that I find living there, and that includes these swarms of bugs:

 But they're small. And moving.

 I think there is at least some comical charm to the pictures that result.

 After all, it is a little swarm, of about a dozen bugs, or probably more. You have to occasionally get something just by chance...

Interesting Behavior

The strangest thing happened today: I ended up with two bugs for Backyard Bug of the Day. I didn't even see a lot of bugs today, but of those I saw, and got pictures of, I was unable to decide between two of them, and since yesterday we had none, today we will have two Backyard Bugs of the Day. Both were chosen more for their interesting behavior than for their aesthetics.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 I apologize that none of these are great pictures, but it was an awkward situation. So, this is a fly, and I found it walking around on this branch, waving its wings around. I assume that was meant as some sort of insect communication.

 At one point another fly approached it...

 There was an altercation...

 It did not look like a friendly greeting. The other fly flew away after this.

 And the walking and waving went on.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 I think this is a lacewing larva. Also sometimes known as trash bugs. Why? Because they carry trash around on their backs as camouflage. And by trash I mean the remains of the bugs they have eaten as prey.  But what they look like are walking piles of debris. In this shot, its head is poking out at the top of the blob of debris.

 Here it is working to attach the head of what seems to be an ant to its debris pile.

 The head is on the left...

 Interesting creature...

Random Bugs:

 Hopper

 I thought this was a larva of some kind, but now looking at it I wonder if it is some kind of chrysalis. A very, very small chrysalis.

 There were a lot of ants around today, most of them in a big hurry. This was was pretty mellow, though. One thing I like about ants is that they are so shiny you can see the sky reflected in their abdomens.

 Female wasp

 Can't remember what this is...

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Arachnophobes, It's Not Your Day

This was not a successful day of bug searching. I saw a few gnats, including one that tried to fly up my nose, but that's it.

I only managed to get one picture, of a spider. Arachnid Appreciation:
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A very, very small spider.

A Hoot

The weather yo-yo has dropped down again, and today was about 20º colder than yesterday. It's fascinating, really, that the weather can do that. And kind of proves my point about the sun - yesterday was cloudy and warm, today was sunny and cold. So obviously the sun is not heating the earth. And it was windy today - whooo, was it windy!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this might be a Sweat Bee. Anyway, it was tiny, and beautiful, and slow-moving, because it was cold out. All excellent qualities in a bug if you are trying to take its picture. Well, tiny isn't that important. Actually, nor is beautiful. But slow-moving is an excellent quality. Second only to not-moving as traits for insect photography subjects go.

 Sometimes when I am taking pictures of bugs I am acutely aware of the fact that I am being watched.

Random Bugs:

 Bee (or wasp?)

 Case bearing caterpillar. Why I tried to take pictures of something tiny, dangling from a thread on a fiercely windy day I have no idea, but I got lucky with a couple of shots.

 Whee!

 Hopper

 The most exciting thing I saw in the backyard was what I saw after dark. Backyard Bird of the Day:

An owl. No, I have no idea what kind, and I am not exactly going to be able to identify it using this picture. It was sort of medium sized, so not a Norther Saw-whet, but other than that I have no idea. Yes, I am sure I could have taken a better picture, but I didn't have the time to set up the tripod. And it was dark. The owl is illuminated by a flashlight here. I heard the owl from inside the house and went outside to listen - generally when there are owls in the area at night I can hear them but not see them. However, once I got outside and heard it call from out there, I realized it was close, and stepped off the porch to look around to the side of the house. Even in the dark I could see where the owl was - now that there are so few leaves on the trees I could see its silhouette, thanks to the moon. The funniest thing about it was that while we were out there looking at the owl, a deer went crashing through the woods (at least, it sounded like a deer), and we couldn't see the deer, but we could see that the owl watched it go past its tree - it did that owl neck-swivel thing.