The sun came out yesterday along with the spiders. Spiders, spiders everywhere and I am loving every minute of being a "spider paparazzi" . I don't know about the spiders though. I think they may be a bit sick of me disturbing their stillness as they wait for prey to land. But I can't help myself. They are the coolest things to watch and try to capture on my camera. I haven't quite got the photo technique down yet and I am still enjoying every moment of trying.
The coolest yesterday and today is the spider that is living in the yellow sunflower that popped out this past week. It is the same type of spider I saw a few years back that popped out of a dandelion as I was snapping away at the wonderful colours on the dandelion's wilted petals. That spider was yellow and perfectly camouflaged. I only knew of the spider's existence when I got really close and it moved. WOW. I was stunned and quickly changed my settings on the camera to take a small video. (Link to video below the spider pictures).
Spiders haven't always been my favorites and I would probably still scream if one landed on me, especially if it landed on my head. As I was out spider hunting in Pat's apple trees I realized that might come to pass. The spiders can really hide under the leaves, many of which are above my head.
But I still go on. The joy of discovery is too great to give up on this pursuit. And the sunflower spider is so perfectly suited to its environment. The spider is able to hide amongst the petals and you can't help but be in AWE when you find her. Yes, I have decided it is a "her". She is so lovely and this afternoon as I was trying to get my "jittery" husband to pull back a petal so I could take a picture (he likes spiders from a distance - a great distance!), we saw a baby spider identical to the mother. I am sure there are spider experts out there that will contradict me and tell me that it is a male - that's okay. I want to learn more about these amazing insects. At the same time I just want to open my eyes and be awestruck with wonder every single moment.
What a wonderful world we live in.
Little Yellow Spider from Edith Mackenzie on Vimeo.