Happy Spring!

There's something I forgot to say the other day when I posted pictures of the bobcats, mainly because I was so excited about the bobcats, so I'll say it now - Happy Beginning of Meteorological Spring! The first day of spring that gets the most attention is the first day of astronomical spring (March 20 this year), which has to do with the moon, but meteorologically speaking, the first day of spring is March 1st. Which is not to say that the weather observes either one of these dates - case in point, it snowed last night. And it may have snowed another day earlier this week, I don't really remember. That probably says it all about this winter, actually - I don't remember if it snowed earlier this week, because if it's not snowing today, it probably snowed yesterday, and will tomorrow. It pretty much snows all the time. Except now, it's spring!

Today there really were hints of spring. After it snowed last night, it rained (well, first it sleeted, then it rained), and in order for it to rain, the temperature has to be above freezing. It was actually ABOVE FREEZING last night! At night! And not just above zero, but above FREEZING! Whoo, I am feeling a bit lightheaded from joy. It's above freezing right now, too, because it's raining. Yes, I know the temperature is going to plummet soon, and it's supposed to snow later, but right now it's almost sort of like it's not winter anymore.

Okay, I am getting away from the point of writing a blog post today, which is this: the temperature today was in the 40's. And there I was, outside, feeling sorry for myself, shoveling slush one handed (I have tendonitis in one elbow from too much snow shoveling) while cold water leaked into my boots and I saw it. A wonderful, beautiful harbinger of spring: a bug. Well, technically not a bug, because it was not a Hemiptera, but an insect, some kind of fly. Not the housefly kind of fly, but kind of like a small crane-fly type of fly, that looked like a cross between a fairy and a helicopter. It flew right past me, and then a few seconds later, it was followed by another one. And later, another one! I saw three flying insects in my yard today!

No, I didn't get pictures of them, because I had a snow shovel, not a camera (though I do have a picture for you - more on that in a minute). But I saw them, and they were wonderful to see! Now, I did expect to see bugs today. In general, at any time during the winter, meteorological or astronomical, if the temperature is in the 40s or higher I see bugs flying around. I noticed this years before I ever developed an interest in actually observing the bug life in my backyard.  But I wasn't 100% sure, because there is still a LOT of snow on the ground, and it has been really cold for a really long time (I am pretty sure it has only been 40ºF one other day in the last 2 months, and I wasn't home that day). So seeing those bugs while I was outside shoveling snow was a mental breath of fresh air.

So, after I finished my driveway (with the help of a kind neighbor), I strapped on my snowshoes to do a bug walk. That may be the weirdest thing I have ever said on this blog... Anyway, I walked around, looking for bugs - checking tree trunks, scanning the snowscape for snow fleas... and found... nothing. I didn't even see any more of those flies. And then, just as I was walking back to the back porch to take off my snowshoes, I found...

An Arachnid to Appreciate!
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Yes, that is a spider on snow. No, that is not a spider I found in my house that I tossed outside. It was out there when I got there. But it has been my observation that if there are insects out and about, there will be spiders out and about looking to eat them.

Incidentally, I think Rain Gauge Spider is dead. I don't know for sure, but I really think so. Is it weird that I feel sad about that? Yes. I guess it is. But I am sure you expected nothing less from me.

HAPPY SPRING!