Coffee break drop-in

She waits by the coffee press ...

"None for me, thanks. A juicy fly would hit the spot, though."

I always feel like petting the cheetah-skin back; they look so soft!

Eggs in a blanket

A few weeks ago, searching for spiders for Arachtober, when we post a spider a day to the Flickr pool, I found a pretty, chocolatey cobweb spider under a brick, and brought her inside. I put her in a glass box, and she quickly made herself at home, building a messy web in the corner, and settling in to wait for sowbugs, her favourite food. I'd removed the brick, so I let her stay in the box, and have been providing her with groceries.

Two weeks ago, I found her busy making a blanket for a batch of eggs.

Steatoda bipunctata, with egg case.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see a dense white ball in the centre of the silk fluff she's making. Those are the eggs.

(The other cobweb spiders, the American house spiders, that I've watched making egg cases cover them in a brownish, rumpled, papery skin. It's impossible to see the spiderlings developing until they break out, some weeks later.) "Brownie's" silk blanket is a nice change.

After a week, the eggs were darker, and spreading out a bit.

Egg mass against the window and blue sky.

Brownie is a sleek, glossy spider, with a fat ball of an abdomen. After she laid her eggs, she was really thin, as thin as a male would be. I fed her more sowbugs, and she bulked up again. And this afternoon, when I went to see how the eggs were developing, there she was, weaving a blanket for another batch of eggs!

I left her to it; I'll pester her with a camera once she's resting.

And I'm wondering: she obviously hasn't seen a male since her last batch of eggs, locked in her box as she is. Does she save sperm for a second batch, or will these not be fertile? Will there actually be spiderlings in that second egg case?

Time will tell.

Unlucky spider

I always (for certain values of "always") shake out my garden shoes before I put them on, in case of spiders. Today, I didn't. And something tickled my insole. Oops!

I kicked off the shoe and a crumpled spider fell out, still twitching.

This girl:

Big spider, on a happier occasion.

I'd met her three days earlier, hunting on the bathroom wall, took her photo and let her go about her business. Should have warned her about shoes!

Enough for company, but she's not sharing

This is the spider that I blame for me putting my head through another's web.

The extra leg, I think, is one discarded by her lunch in the fruitless struggle to escape.

That's a big meal! She'll have leftovers for the next day.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're heading to the beach for one of the last lowish afternoon tides this year.

September sampler

While I have been spending all my spare time recently staring into the aquarium or checking yet another page on Google, the world has gone on its way. (Inconsiderate of it, that!) The long summer is winding down; out near Chilliwack, the trees are turning yellow. My little maple has begun to drop leaves, and the tiger lilies that I barely had time to notice are bare stalks. Winter shadows lie across my garden plot. The first pair of juncos are back. My daughter is talking about Christmas plans.

But I haven't been entirely oblivious. I've paused, now and then, to take a quick photo or two of non-aquarium residents. See:

A black and yellow bee on Canada thistle. Cougar Creek.

Back view. Elbowed antenna just visible.

On the sheltered wall by our front door, assorted moths sleep through the daylight hours. I saw, one day, an orange one, very tiny. I dashed in, dropped off the groceries and grabbed the camera. And when I got back to the door, it was gone, though I searched high and low.

Other moths were less flighty:

Brown moth. I found a match on BugGuide, id'd only as "moth". Not much help.

*Update: In the comments, Sara Rall identified it as Neoalcis californaria, the Brown-lined Looper.

He's hiding his feathery antennae, but I got a glimpse of one side.

'way up at the top of the wall, wedged in beside a beam. I had to stand on a chair and stretch for this photo.

Today's offering; a 1/2 inch plume moth.

Beside my desk. A big spider carrying her egg case.

From my desk, through the window. A Steller's Jay eating peanuts.

Took a quick walk down Cougar Creek. I love the patterns water striders make with their feet. This one is superimposed on reflections of tree branches in the fog.

More water strider patterns.

And from the BirdCam, a robin in for her bedtime bath. 8:00 PM and already dark out.

What else have I missed?

This. While I was typing that last line, I heard a rattle outside and went to look. A raccoon was drinking from the birdbath. I hadn't set the BirdCam (too busy), but I managed to get the door open a crack and the camera poked through without startling the 'coon.

Finished his drink. Now for a bit of salad.

Caught in the act, digging a hole under my London Pride. Looking for slugs, maybe. He's welcome to them.

And with the third flash shot, he turned and fled. Goodnight, 'coon! Happy hunting!

Laurie brings me the nicest presents!

See...!

Ms. Hairy Fangs. Isn't she pretty?

She looks worried, but I'm sure she'll be happier in my spider house than running around a kitchen floor, dodging feet and looking for non-existent bugs.

All my fault

Laurie caught this spider and brought it to me in a pill bottle.

He hadn't noticed, but she was carrying her egg case, holding onto it even as she scrabbled frantically at the sides of the bottle. It was all too much for her, though; I was busy, and by the time I'd got around to releasing her, she was in such a panic that she dashed for freedom, leaving her family behind.

Sorry, little mother. Better luck next time!