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I feel like I have failed you a bit today. It was a GORGEOUS spring day in February, topping 60ºF, and I had a limited time to do a bug walk today, and I squandered most of it taking pictures of a snake (more on that later). Then I had to cut it short to go inside and take a phone call (which turned out to be unpleasant, so I wish I had spent the 15 minutes outside looking for bugs). Then we went to the movies, and saw two movies, which was, perhaps, a waste of a gorgeous day, but it's what I did. I had hoped that there would be bugs on the porch when we got home, as I had left the porch light on, knowing it would be dark by the time the movies go out, but there wasn't so much as a gnat attracted to the light. Ah, well, I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Here's the exciting bit: Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I actually hoped to see a bee or wasp today, since it was so warm, but I didn't really expect to. And there it was, about a foot away from one of the snakes!

The other insects I found were something I expected to find. There is a particular oak tree in my backyard that is very popular with winter fireflies, and on the warmest winter days I will often see quite a few of them on this tree. I have been looking all winter with no success, but...

Today I spotted about a dozen or so. Can you find the three that are in this picture?

 These three are easier to spot.

 Arachnid Appreciation:
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Jumping spider! What a pleasant surprise!

And, the snakes were back today! Of course I wondered if they would be, but in general, seeing a snake in my backyard is a rare thing. I don't see them two days in a row, in the same place. But there were two snakes today, on the same slope down in front of the house. One of them was in almost the same place it was yesterday:

 It is a short, but steep slope, and I do my bug walks in gardening clogs, which are tricky on a steep slope, so this is as close as I got to this one.

This one was near the bottom of the slope:

 The snake I took so many pictures of yesterday (which could be this same one) was very docile, and I was able to get very close to it without it caring at all, and the most it did was to turn its head as I moved around it to take pictures from different angles. This one was more aggressive, or maybe I should say curious. It moved toward me, and would move as I moved. Notably, it never fled into the leaf litter, to try to get away. It pulled back a tiny bit a few times, which made me a tiny bit concerned that it might strike if I got too close. I don't know what kind of snake it is, but it is not one of the two venomous species we have in this state, so I was not that afraid, but I was still cautious. A snake bite even from a non-venomous snake can give you a bacterial infection that would be nasty.

 There was a LOT of tongue flicking today.

 

 And a bit of slithering about, but no mad dash for escape. Curious, because my guess is that they are black racers, which are very shy snakes, and zip away immediately when you get near them. Or they brush their tails against the leaf litter to sound like rattlesnakes, which I can tell you is very effective and quite terrifying when they do this right at your feet, before you have seen them to know they are Not rattlesnakes. And maybe you're thinking I am silly to be worried about rattlesnakes, but we do have them in this state. Not in this area, supposedly, but that's not a very consoling thought in the moment that you hear the threatening sound. I know this from experience.

Okay, I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures of this snake sticking its tongue out: