Farewell Winter... Technically

The last day of winter (astronomically, anyway):

 First crocus!

 But the daffodils...

 Irises are coming up.

I haven't done a bug walk in a couple of days because I thought it was too cold to find anything. I wasn't home much, but I didn't really think it was worth trying to get out there in the short time I had because I didn't think I would find anything. Today when I went out to get the mail the temperature was only 37ºF. But later, when it had warmed up to almost 40ºF, I figured I might as well go out just to be outside, and I might as well bring my camera. There were a lot more bugs around than I expected.

 Mostly, there were flies. This is the only one that would sit still for a picture, but I saw possibly around ten of them, in different areas of the backyard (a caveat: they were all warmer areas of the yard, near rocks, sidewalks, or the sunny side of the house). This is the only one that would pose for me.

 Tiny crane fly

 Snow fleas

 There's more than just a couple of winter fireflies here. Can you see the other insect?

 How about now? There was an ant in the woodpecker hole.

I got a package today, and when I pulled it out of the package bin, which is a dark brown color, and therefore absorbs a lot of heat from the sun, I found something crawling on it. Arachnid Appreciation:
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It would not sit still, so I didn't get a clear picture. I did not bring the spider in the house with the package.

The first day that I saw a snake this winter (I can't remember if it was at the end of January, or in February) it was only 39ºF. I thought maybe there would be one out today, and so I looked when I went out to get the mail, and didn't see one. Then I looked again at the start of my bug walk, and didn't see one. But very shortly thereafter I happened to walk by the snaky knoll (the little hill where I have seen most of the snakes these last few weeks), and there was...
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... a snake. It's head up, looking around, I suppose. I don't know if it had been there before and I missed it because I had walked by the other side of the area, or if it appeared there after I walked by the first time.

 I moved to get a better look...

 ... Eventually it decided I was too close, and started to move in the direction of the hole where I have seen it disappear before. However...

 It changed its mind, and decided to confront me instead.

 It took on an increasingly threatening posture.

 I didn't get a shot of its tongue out, but it was definitely tasting the air, generally any time I moved.

 Then it turned and headed in the other direction again...

 ... and after a few feet turned around again. Then it settled in like this, and I went off to look for bugs.

Later I came back...

 ... and it had curled up. It started to move when I got close, so I backed off.

 Later it was still there, but had curled up even tighter.