Making Assumptions About A Frog

 It was raining and nearly dark when I went for my walk today, so it never even occurred to me to bring my camera. So naturally, I soon wished I had it (and only then remembered that my new camera harness came with a rain cover, so I could have kept my camera dry). Not that I saw a lot, but I saw enough that was not only interesting but photogenic that I really wanted my camera.

For instance:

I assume this is a tree frog, because it was in a tree. I should have walked around to look at the back of it. It was quite small, only about an inch long (the body, that is). It just sat there and let me take pictures with my phone, using my flashlight as a spotlight. It was one of many tiny frogs of various species I saw on my walk today.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Caddisfly. A caddisfly flew into the beam of my flashlight and landed on a tree next to me. This is not that caddisfly, but another one that flew in after, just before the first one took off before I could get a picture. This reminds me, I have started to see caddisfly larvae in the stream again, after a few months without seeing any. I suspect that has to do mostly with life-cycle timing. They have probably been there all along, but too small or hiding in sheltered spaces.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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I spotted a sort of messy spider web and assumed it was not a current web, but then I noticed that it was attached to a leaf that was curled in unnaturally. It looked like a spider's bower to me, so I peeked inside, and there was this marbled orb weaver:

Yes, I know, it's a bad picture. This was the moment I began to regret not bringing my camera out.

It looks like a marbled orb weaver. I haven't seen one of these in a long time. Maybe years.