Backyard nature, mid-May

[urbpan]

Sunday morning there were clouds of flying insects emanating like smoke from the ground!


I got up close to photograph them--at the time I thought they were ants, but when I looked at the photograph, their wide waist and cylindrical abdomens revealed that they were termites instead.

Over at the chicken coop the baby cross orbweavers had hatched out!


And in the Virginia creeper by the compost container, one of our resident garter snakes warmed up.