Spider search

It was the tail end of Arachtober, and I was running out of spider photos. Oyster Bay seemed a good place to look for a new candidate. I stopped first, to look at the trees in their glorious late fall outfits.

From the meadow, looking back at the parking lot.

Then on to snoop in the corners and crevices.

First find: a cherry-faced meadowhawk. On the parking lot fence.

Under the eaves of the public washroom (centre, top photo); a tightly-wrapped cocoon.

I found one of these cocoons on my doorstep four years ago. I kept it in a container for a month, and a wasp emerged. BugGuide identified it as a parasitoid wasp, but the cocoon would have belonged to the larva of a caterpillar. I couldn't reach this one to capture it; I may go back with some long-handled tool.

Also on the washroom: a house spider with her four egg cases. Too small, too high above my head for an Arachtober photo.

And finally, on the pilings by the shore, a running reddish and black spider. Mission accomplished.