Weirdness and Blooming

Today is to be the last day of our December springtime. Tomorrow is forecast to be normal, as in almost 30 degrees colder than it has been. It was another gloomy day, with only a few minutes of sunshine. I am resigned to the cold tomorrow, partly because we are supposed to get at least some sunshine, which is what I most want right now. All the gloomy days are getting to me. I went out to look for bugs today, not expecting to find anything interesting, and as bugs go I didn't really, just the usual. But I have a Backyard Bug of the Day anyway.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this is another species of springtail. It's bigger than the ones I usually see. The picture is so washed out because, in addition to the gloominess of the day, this little critter was hiding in a crevice in the bark, so I had to up the exposure on the picture so you could see it.

Other than that springtail, all I saw were the usual springtails and a couple of winter craneflies. I did find some other interesting life forms in the backyard today, though. At least, I think they were life forms. Some of them.

This, I am not so sure...

 This was a blob of gelatinous goo I found on the path. It was about the size of a ping pong ball, maybe. I don't know if this is a weird fungus, or what.

 I am pretty sure this is a fungus.

 Biggest surprise of the day - a clover flower in bloom!

No spiders today, but I did find this tiny web:

Less than an inch across. It was in the leaf litter on the ground. My guess would be that the spider that made it is hiding nearby under the leaf the web is attached to.