The Urban Pantheist

This adorable little dope was flitting around the yard in a panic. My old half deaf half blind dog Charlie was oblivious, but the bird was aware of me and was trying to escape. I went inside for a while so it could sort itself out. The next day we heard three of these things begging their parents for food, in the neighbors trees and bushes that overhang our yard.

If they are robust and fortunate, these Baltimore oriole Icterus galbula* chicks will spend the winter down in the neotropics somewhere. Bright orange and black males and yellower females probably look more in place at the edges of rainforests and coffee plantations than they do in the suburbs.

* "Small jaundiced bird"

This Canada goose family is enjoying the protection of a rope barrier intended to keep zoo guests from wandering off the path.

Early on Sunday we discovered two charismatic predators in the yard. Neither one is native to North America, which is a little sad-making. I wonder how we could get some Argiope spiders onto the property...


This tiny Chinese mantis hunts on the tops of the sunflower leaves. That's great for now, as it will likely catch mostly pests feeding on the plant. If it is still there later, when the flowers open, the mantis will be something of a pest itself, feeding on pollinators that visit the blossoms.


The clumps of pinpoint baby spiders are gone, and now this 2mm cross orbweaver sits in a web by itself, hopefully catching aphids and whiteflies as they pass along the grapevined fence.

This orb-weaving spider is about 2mm across. I noticed the tiny web catching the sun as I talked to a coworker. I set the camera for manual focus and took the shot. I zoomed in to look closer and saw the details visible here in this cropped version. It was only then that I began to suspect that this is a cross orbweaver.

A couple weeks ago I took photos of a recent hatching of hundreds of cross orbweaver babies, so I know they are out and about. I will continue to take photos of spiders as the year progresses, so we should get an idea of how fast cross orbweavers grow, or perhaps whether or not I am totally wrong with my identification.

I found another cluster of baby orbweavers! These had been disturbed somewhat by the weed trimmer. I got down and put my hand amongst them for scale.