Unshaded

Once again we have blasted through spring at high speed and gone right to summer. Sunday was in the 40s, Monday in the 50s, Tuesday in the 60s, and today was almost 90ºF. It's tough to take at this time of year because the trees are not leafed out yet, so there is no shade. Alas. They are coming along, though:

The robins have made their choice about their nest; egg #1 has been laid. The female will lay one per day until they have 3 or 4, and she will not start incubating them until all of them are laid, so they will hatch at the same time. The day after I first posted a picture of their nest there was a bit of a calamity and half of the nest was knocked down, but it has since been rebuilt, and looks better than the original one did, much tighter and neater, so I wonder if they knocked it down themselves to improve it. Anyway, for the time being we will have to use the back door to avoid distressing the birds by our comings and goings, and to avoid having them dive-bomb our heads. That reminds me, I have to make a sign for visitors...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Six-spotted tiger beetle. I know, not a good picture, but WAY better than the one I got yesterday. There's always a dilemma about choosing a six-spotted tiger beetle for Backyard Bug of the Day, and it has to do with the pictures. The vast majority of the time I can't get a close shot of one, because they are skittish, so I have to decided whether to choose it and use a picture like this, or gamble that I will get a better picture another day. Since yesterday's single shot was so bad I didn't even post it, this is a bit like a bird in the hand.

 I really like six-spotted tiger beetles because not only are they bright metallic green (and sometimes blue depending on the angle of the light), but they have fun personalities. Also, they are a little bit predictable. They like to hang out on rocks, and if you get close and they fly away, sometimes you can just stand there and they will come back. Sometimes that means you can get a better picture. The picture on the rock above is the time it came back, so I didn't get a great picture, but the first time around I didn't get one at all. Anyway, they're fun to watch, so if you come across one, watch for a while.

Other Bugs:

 Bee on bluets

 Can you see the bee on this log? Hint: it's facing right at you.

 Here it is again, right in the middle of the picture. This turned out to be a better picture of the photobombing beetle at the top of the picture.

 Another one of the beetle

 Bees on dandelion

There are still a lot of bees visiting the pussy willows, but unfortunately most of the plant is too tall for me. And the most interesting thing is really seeing the bees flying all around it. I tried today to get a picture of that spectacle, and that didn't really work. Here's the best shot:

 There are at least 5 bees in this picture.

 Juvenile assassin bug. I don't know why it's all covered in dirt, maybe it just emerged from wherever it spent the winter?

This caterpillar was in the exact same spot where I saw it yesterday. I moved it a bit so it would not get stepped on, because it was in a walking path.