The Weather Spectrum

Let's discuss a few numbers. Yesterday we got a little over an inch and a quarter of rain, which would have amounted to a good six inches or so of snow if it had been colder. But even in the wee small hours of this morning the temperature was in the mid 50s. However, tomorrow we might actually get that 6 inches of snow. More numbers: Monday, which was the first day of February, remember, the temperature got into the 60s - the highest I saw here was 61 point something. I figured that had to be a record breaker, but nope. The record for that date in Connecticut was 67ºF! I forget what year that was, though (Not that I know these things offhand. I check the daily weather records in the paper when I want to know how the day's weather compares to the norm). Then yesterday the temperature only got into the 50s, and it set a record in at least one city in Connecticut (Bridgeport, in case you're wondering. And this one I found out from a Record Report on Weather Underground). Anyway, that's one of the great and crazy things about Connecticut - you can have a day in the 60s on Monday, and maybe a lot of snow on Friday. A February day in the 60s might not break a record, but two days later the 50s will. Nothing like variety.

Needless to say, I did not do a bug walk yesterday, because it was raining, but I did see a few bugs crawling around on the outside of the skylights, and at one point when I was out on the back porch I saw what looked like a moth flutter by. So today, even though it wasn't sunny, I figured with temperatures in the 50s there would have to be some bugs around. I was right. And I was surprised by what I found (Frankly, I don't know why I am always surprised by these things. If nothing else I should have figured out by now that I really have no idea what is supposed to be where, and when, and I should just expect the unexpected at all times).

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A caterpillar! I found it on the mountain laurel. It was quite small, about half an inch. Not at all what I would have thought to find today. I wonder what it's story is, what it's doing out and about, where it went when it was colder, and what's going to happen to it tomorrow when it's freezing again.

 Caterpillar close-up.

 Also on the mountain laurel. I went looking for these, even though I didn't expect to find them today with temps in the 50s and no sunshine, but there were a few there.

 A few ants were out and about today, too.

Most fun find today? A few avocado skins that some animal dragged out of the compost pile, and the rain filled with water. They were little, tiny ponds teeming with life:

Springtails! I love that you can see that the tiny, tiny bug makes a dent in the surface of the water, but the surface tension supports it.

 I don't know why these are clustered together, but this picture shows quite a variety of springtail shapes, colors, and sizes. I kind of wonder if this is two species, with adult and young of each.

 Aren't they adorable?

 Also... A fly? Or gnat? Or... aphid? I don't know. I don't think it wanted to be in the water. I probably should have helped it out, but sometimes in those situations you just make things worse. But in the picture it looks like its situation is worse than it appeared when I was looking at it outside.

 For size, there's a springtail right next to it. Although I realize that only helps you judge the size of the fly if you know the size of a springtail. This is one of the adult (I think) ones, which is about the size of a sesame seed. No, probably smaller than that...

 Another tiny thing:

 When I was taking pictures of this critter I thought its head was the upper end, but when I found the next one...

 ... I realized I was wrong. Anyway, these might be thrips? Or another kind of springtail? I don't know. I don't feel like looking it up, either... I am so lazy...

Here's some geology in action:

 This rock is about to lose a slab. I could just break it off - it's quite thin, but I want to leave it and see how long it takes for nature to break it. A bit of water freezing under there should do it...

And more interesting nature:

 Something has been shedding in the backyard.

 And this thing...

I don't know if this is just part of the tree, but it looks kind of like a chrysalis of some kind... So hard to tell... It was quite small, less than a half inch long.

Another surprise for me today was that I found a spider! So, time for Arachnid Appreciation:
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I love these spiders that stretch their legs to try to blend in to branches and twigs and such. It doesn't work quite as well here, on the male flower buds of a hazelnut tree, but I still think it's cool. I don't think I have ever seen one of these so big before. Big being relative, of course, it's not that big a spider anyway. But definitely one to appreciate.