Hello?

I had so many interesting choices today but when I chanced across this Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) sitting on the coneflowers, I knew what my choice was going to be.  I have a long history with spiders ... I spent most of my life terrified of them and I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many spiders met untimely ends at my hands.  But, as I started following various people here who photographed spiders and as I learned more about them, my attitude slowly started to change.  There are some spiders that still give me the heebie-jeebies, but the jumping spiders?  Well, I happen to think they are really cute.  There, I said it.  Cute and spider, all in the same sentence.  God help me.

If you'd like to see six other shots from today, click HERE to start with a very cute Ruby-crowned kinglet - first two shots are birds and the rest are crawly things.  A little sex thrown in for good measure.  Hey, I like to do what I can.

Beautiful weather today and more to follow for the next few days.  I feel pretty confident that the next few blips will be bugs of some sort.

New Jersey decided to add a bow hunting season this year for bears and I'm kind of sorry to report that over 500 bears were taken in the hunt (which concluded yesterday).  While I understand that the black bear population in our area is way above what is sustainable, it still kind of bothers me that this bow season was added.  It's so early and non of the pregnant females have denned yet; whereas the December bear hunt (using firearms) really only affects males as the pregnant females are all denned by then.  Biologists who determine what the optimum bear population should be will determine if the December hunt will still go off.  I hope it doesn't.  Much as I dislike having bears come around our garden, I think 549 is enough to cull in one year.  

Over and out,
Debbi