Rain, rain, rain ... Sorry to say that not more news can be forthcoming... We were just observing the other day that it has been raining solidly now since, what, early October? Sure, with the occasional sunny day, but still ...
Anyway, that´s not going to stop some of the critters around us. It is the season of animal reproduction, and a day or two ago, we (almost literally) ran into the golden web of one of the many Orb spiders, and what a wonderful web she had weaved. It was triangular and hung between the branches of a tree and a fenceline, about 2 metres long. Interestingly, we caught her (and an aspiring male) in the advent of sexual adventurousness ... the male perching himself precariously above her (OK, on the other side of the web, but oh so close to her deadly fangs and surely she would know the secrets of her web as she weaved it... ). Isn´t the photo beautiful? (Taken with Niki´s new camera). Just to give you an idea: the male was approximately an inch long...
There are many Orb spiders, I found out when I started to research them on the web, including the terribly ugly but very impressive Garden Orb. If you are of an arachnophobic bent you might not want to read this link. The setting we ran into is described in much detail, with lots of interesting background information. Worth a read.
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