Wooly Bear Caterpillar

The wooly bear caterpillar is the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella).  His body consists of thirteen distinct segments and, according to folklore, the more reddish brown segments there are, the milder the coming winter.  While this little guy seems to be forecasting a mild winter, human weather prognosticators are predicting the opposite.  I'm rooting for the caterpillar!

Leucism

I had been trying to get a photo of this leucistic Junco (snowbird) all winter.  Every time I’d get the camera, he’d take off.  This is the best I could do a few weeks ago, shooting quickly through double glass.  I had never seen one like him before and, at first, I thought he was a different species of bird.  Then I did a little research on the web and learned about leucism, a genetic condition that affects proper pigmentation, causing varying degrees of white feathers to occur.

I haven’t seen him in a while so I presume he has headed north to breed.  I keep thinking he’ll soon be in someone else’s backyard perplexing them as to his identification…

Nursery Web Spider?

I think this is a nursery web spider keeping guard over her eggs, although it seems a little late for her to be having babies. Babies usually hatch in June and July. This shot was made yesterday right outside the door. They do like to come indoors when the weather gets cold. We have a "bug" jar (although spiders aren't technically bugs) to catch them and place them back outside.