Umbrella

I bought a new umbrella a couple of months ago, one with a looped handle that can slide over my arm so I don't have to hold onto it, figuring that, leaving both hands free, it would make it possible for me to take pictures while using an umbrella to keep my camera dry. Today was the first time I really got to try it, and I now don't think it's really going to work out. It might be better on less windy days, or when there's more growing so all of the bugs are not at ground level when I am trying to take their picture, but today I basically just managed to whack myself in the head with it twice. And I discovered that it's too wide to go through some of my forest paths. Anyway, because of my umbrella failures, I didn't get to do a full bug walk today. After a morning of dramatic storms the sun came out and everything was lovely... for a brief period. Since the umbrella didn't work out, I didn't find many bugs.

Interestingly, they were almost all bees. There were not as many around today as yesterday, I think because it had been pouring rain all morning, but the flowers were still an attraction. And yet, the bug that is Backyard Bug of the Day was not on a flower when I found it.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Honey bee

 

 It got caught in the rain.

 Bumble bee

 Sweat bee

 Some kind of really tiny wasp

 The winter fireflies are no longer just hanging around on tree trunks:

But the sap is running in the black birch trees; on non-rainy days you can hear, and sometimes see, the sap dripping onto the ground. The ants like to eat the sap, so they go up and down the trees to get it.