One Thing That's Gross, A Lot of Things That Are Pretty...

Where to begin...

Today was a lawn-mowing day, so I was outside for hours, but most of what I found today was on my pre-mowing bug walk. Today I mostly noticed how noisy bugs can be, but you can't take a picture of that. I took a lot of pictures (about 300, though at least 100 of them were of one bug - more on that coming up), saw a lot of butterflies (and didn't get pictures of any), put out my hummingbird feeder because I enjoy exercises in futility...

I thought I was going to have to make a tough decision about what to make Backyard Bug of the Day, but of the two I was choosing from, one of them ended up with no good pictures, so the choice was made for me.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This is another true bug, but whether it is a plant sucker or a bug sucker I don't know.

Here's a Bonus Bug, too:

I couldn't see its chin from this angle, so I don't know if it likes butter.

Now for some Backyard Bug Behavior:

 This is a leaf hopper. It's pretty unusual for me to get a decent picture of this kind of leaf hopper because they really don't like to sit still for that. But this one sat very nicely for me. Now, I happened to notice that this bug wasn't just sitting there. It was doing something. (You're definitely going to have to click on these for the larger view).

 Leaf hoppers excrete a liquid from their back ends. Now, you wouldn't think it is a good idea to do this when sitting with your head down and your back end up, but it works for leaf hoppers because they excrete one drop at a time (as seen in this picture)...

And then shoot it off into the air (as seen in this picture). Yes, I had to take literally a hundred pictures of this bug to get these shots. Yes, it is amazing it sat still this long. It was also kind of amazing the number of times it shot off the liquid, given the size of the bug. Perhaps it is weird that I am even taking pictures of bugs excreting things, but hey, it's something they do. You'd probably be surprised at how often I have seen bugs doing this particular kind of business while I am taking pictures of them. Honestly, before I started this project I had never even thought about bugs doing that... Okay, this is kind of a gross topic, but it is kind of cool to watch... As long as you're not in range.

And speaking of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

I don't know if this is an intended effect of the spittle bug's bubbles, but I had to feel a bit sorry for this bug.

All right, now let's look at some plants.

Daily Dandelion:

I thought it was time the leaves get some love. Tasty, and so nutritious!

The clematis are in full bloom:

So are a bunch of other things:

 Okay, this is not in full bloom, because it's a leaf.

Also a leaf. Baby grape leaf. Very cute.

 Ah, something blooming!

 I adore these flowers. No idea yet what this tree/bush is, but the flowers are adorable.

 When my garden gnomes got married, the bride carried these as her wedding bouquet.

 Close up!

You know what's not blooming? Backyard Bud of the Day:

Catalpa tree. These seem to be the last trees to get leaves, and the last to bloom, but they will also be the last ones with green leaves in the fall. At least in my yard. I also just read that they are the sole host plant for the catalpa sphinx moth caterpillar, so I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for those.

Here's an update on yesterday's Backyard Bud of the Day:

Let's see, what's left from this busy day in the backyard...

Backyard Bird of the Day:

 Goldfinch. Yes, I know this is not a good picture, but I had the macro lens on the camera, and this is a tall tree.

But look, the hummingbird is on the branch behind it!

This I am posting just because I like it:

I have read several times that "Bluejays aren't really blue, they just look blue because of the way light reflects off their feathers." I have never really understood that, because that is actually pretty much the definition of color in the first place, so why only in bluejays? So, ignore the blue on the side of this feather, apparently it's not real.


Time for some Arachnid Appreciation. I've got two arachnids today, and the second one is a pretty large, pretty creepy spider, so, you've been warned.
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The first one's not a spider at all, but a Daddy Longlegs/Harvestman (depending on which name you like to use):

I think harvestmen are related to lobsters...
I am not sure if that dark thing is part of its body, or another bug.

Okay, now for the scary spider:

Still no fireflies, but I did see dragonflies for the first time this year. Lots of them...