Closing Blogger account

Hello friends,

For anyone following this blog (which I realize I haven't updated in awhile... sorry about that), please note that I will be closing my Blogger account.

Google is changing its privacy policy to sync up any and all personal information within its family of services. This seems a little too Big Brother for me, so I am moving my information away from Google before the changes take effect (March 1, 2012).

When I know of my new blog location, I'll post it here. Till then, here is some info on the new privacy policy, if you're interested.

Porch find: Maimed grasshopper

I swept off my back porch today, delighted to find that the recent rain had cleared away most of the bird mess left below my feeders... When I was sweeping off brush, leaves, seed pods, and stink bugs (ick), I saw something bright green and stopped to examine it. 

What I found was this poor little guy. It clung to the porch, so I ran to get my camera (of course!). I noticed that it only had one back leg while I was taking pictures. It's remarkable how these little guys survive with fewer limbs than intended.

Beetle beat

I found this little guy in my mulch one day when I got out of the car. I was carrying in groceries, but I ran in to grab my camera so I could get a shot before it went away.

According to my entomologist friend, this is a spotted pelidnota or grapevine beetle, which is a cousin of the Japanese beetle.

It's fun to find things like this out of the blue. I know I probably should have begun paying closer attention to nature earlier in my life, but I guess what matters is that I'm doing it now!

Adorned web

 So I didn't get to post during September. It was a busy month for sure. I did get to take in the splendor of my backyard in its gradual change from summer to autumn. With the exception of the rain (read: cold and rainy for four days straight), autumn crept in gracefully.

The spiders on my back porch have been quite active again. The first picture shows what I saw one morning. The beautiful display got me to come closer (after grabbing my camera, of course!). Dew drops were strung like beads on this most perfect web. I was really glad I got to see it like this before the dew evaporated. 

The big maple tree behind the web (out in my yard) is all orange and yellow now... These photos were from a few weeks ago. Hopefully I'll get to take some autumn photos soon. 

Reprise: Arachnids abound

Last year on my old blog, I wrote about the abundance of spiders on my back porch.

This year, I let them run rampant in an effort to rein in the population of insects calling my porch home.

I'd like to report a screaming success. That is, until I decided to have guests.

As I'm sure you're aware, most people are not too friendly to our eight-legged friends. These octolegarians  (my puns are getting worse, I can see...) are frequently seen as pests, rather than purveyors of a healthy ecosystem. Since most folks don't open two (let alone eight) arms to spiders, I decided I'd clean my porch in preparation for the birthday party I held for myself. I took down all the webs (sorry!) and scrubbed my porch.

But first, I captured a magnificent spider (watching as I desecrated the homes of his family *sob*). you can't see its web, but the spider itself is gorgeous.