Aquatics

Oops. I am so out of the habit of daily blogging that I almost forgot I had pictures to post today. No wonder my evening seemed to have extra leisure time in it...

My bug walk today was pretty unsuccessful overall, but I found a couple of interesting water bugs in the woods today, and then found one very interesting thing when I did my bug walk, so at least I've got some cool things, even though there aren't many things.

I saw at least 3 new bugs for my backyard today, which I only saw because my backyard has expanded to include bodies of water. There was no way to find water bugs in my backyard before. I saw quite a few different species of new-to-me-and-my-backyard bugs today, but unfortunately I only have a picture of one. Well, half of one. I didn't have my camera with me in the woods, only a phone, and it's not so easy to take pictures of things that are underwater. Particularly when they don't want their picture taken. One of the bugs I was was a water beetle. Another was... I have no idea. In the small pond I saw what I think are mosquito larvae, and some very tiny things that were so small I could not tell what they were, but they were swimming all over in large numbers. And, I found a Backyard Co-Bug of the Day:

 I think this is some kind of mayfly larva.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day:

 And this, I think, is some kind of beetle larva. It only has 3 pairs of legs, at the front of its body, so it's not a centipede. It's going to be a pretty big beetle, though; it's at least an inch long. I knocked the bark off of a fallen log and found two of these underneath. I then felt bad for knocking the bark off the log, and exposing them.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Jumping spider

Reptile of the Day:
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I saw my first snake of the year.

 Obviously I did not get a good look at this baby snake, or a good shot of it, but I think it is a juvenile eastern milk snake. Or possibly a juvenile northern black racer. I am not good at snake identification.

Just once I wish that the Reptile of the Day could be a tortoise.