Rhetorical Questions for Bugs

Surprise! I found a Backyard Bug of the Day today! Even though it was only 35º outside! It was something really surprising to find, too.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I found this dragonfly on the foundation of the house, in the shade, which means that it was perfectly willing to sit still for me. I was really surprised to find it - I haven't seen a dragonfly in ages. I actually saw very few of them this summer. I was sure I must have had one as BBotD at some point, but nope. Not a single dragonfly was BBotD this year. A damselfly was, though.

 It allowed me to pick it up and move it into the sun. That actually perked it up a little.

I put it on a tree in the sun when I was done taking pictures, and it flew off. I wish I could have asked it, "Hey, dragonfly, what are you doing here today? How did you get here? And where are you going?" But it's an insect, so it can't answer me.

Here's the other bug I saw today:

Yes, that's right, I said bug. Singular.

I did actually see two other bugs - one flew past the window when I was inside, and one flew past my face when I was outside, but that was it. However, when I went down by the bedrock in front of the house - the warmer microclimate - I could still hear crickets. Nature stubbornly holds on.

Daily Dandelion! Also, Backyard Bud of the Day!

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I had to empty yesterday's nearly 2 inches of rain out of the rain gauge, so I checked to see if the spider who lives there was still there, and she was.

 But she was not alone. There was another spider on the base (here he has moved underneath). I suspect this is a male come to court her. In many species of spiders the male is smaller than the female, sometimes a lot smaller. There are also species of spiders that mate in the fall, then make their egg sac and die, so perhaps that is what is going on here.