Stealth Deer

This afternoon there was a funny moment as I was getting ready to go outside and do my bug walk. I happened to look out the back door and saw a deer walking across the backyard, probably about twenty-five feet away from where my husband was sitting at the picnic table eating his lunch. The deer strolled casually along, and my husband didn't see it at all. I had a better vantage point, being higher up, but I still thought it was funny to see the deer saunter past without being noticed by the person sitting nearby. I couldn't alert my husband, either, because anything I did would have been seen and heard by the deer, which would have bolted instantly. So I enjoyed the moment on my own, and told him after the deer had disappeared into the woods. He was nonplussed.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Leaf hopper nymph

Other Bugs:

 Lots of bees around today, and new things blooming. This one is on tall cinquefoil.

 On daisy fleabane

 On red clover

 Skipper

 Check out that proboscis!

I am not sure if this is another skipper or not:

 It landed in front of me, so I took a couple of pictures, and then it took off again and flew in circles right in front of me for about a minute. If I use my imagination I can picture it trying to send me a message, but I didn't get it because I don't know the language of flying circles.

 I only found one katydid nymph today. It looks like it has grown a little bit.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 So many jumping spider pictures look like glamour shots.

 I think you can just barely see that this spider is under a bit of web. These spiders spin a web on a leaf and then "hide" under it. They are usually less visible than this, the web is usually more thickly woven. Maybe it's meant to help them hide from prey so they can ambush bugs, but I don't really see how it's going to work in this situation. Notice the spider is missing a leg on each side.

Orchard orb weaver