Spider

Lemoine Point, Kingston, Ontario
7 January 2007

I don't have a good field guide for spiders so this one is unidentified. I found him under a rock and as it was a cold day he was not interested in running away.

Spring Migration Continues

Winter Wren
Lemoine Point, Kingston, Ontario

Jumping Spider of some kind
Lemoine Point, Kingston, Ontario

I took the two pictures above at Lemoine Point yesterday. The Winter Wren is secretive and very small. I spent about an hour getting close enough to take this distant shot. I first saw it on the edge of a swampy area near a limestone ledge. It always kept low and was very furtive in its movements. It wasn't until another Wren came along that the two became more comfortable with me being there. By the time I was finished I was covered in burrs and had lost my cell phone. An hour's work removed the burrs from my fleece and a kind stranger found my cell phone and turned it in to the police. Does birding kill brain cells???

The small spider above was found in the dragonfly field. There were quite a few of this species and they were always on the move. Many spiders are predatory and don't build webs. This one could move quickly as well as jump when it wanted an extra burst of getaway power.

I went to the Amherstview sewage lagoons this morning to check on the waterfowl. As you can see there are no pictures. I had the scope but forgot the camera (although I had extra batteries for it in my pocket) - what was I saying about brain cells? I was able to add a new species to my list, the Redhead. I also saw numerous pairs of Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, and an American Wigeon.

Unidentified Spider

Here is another picture of the unidentified spider I posted earlier. This is a top view. I was lucky to get this picture as another family member tried to do him in. He escaped under the deck and returned to rebuild after his brush with Hurricane Mary.

Unidentified Spider

This spider has been living on my deck for a while now. I haven't been able to identify him yet. Click on the picture to get a bigger image. You can clearly see the hairs on his legs that help him detect any subtle movement of his web. He can tell immediately how big his catch is by the vibration.

Banded Garden Spider

(Argiope Trifasciata)
Lemoine Point, Kingston, Ontario

These colourful spiders appear in abundance around the end of August. Once their prey is struggling in the web it is injected with a paralysing poison and in a short time: dinner is served.