Here is a great shot my brother got using his iphone of Catherine posing with a male widow.
This weekend, our last for winter break in Victoria, Catherine, my brother and I headed up to Island View Beach to see what we could see. After the hectic holiday family-related chores (presents and cooking) it was great to get outdoors on a non-rainy day.
First up was a Tegenaria, which like most of the spiders we found was dewy under the frozen boards and logs we turned.
This doesn’t really count as a natural pose, but I was taking advantage of the dawn sky.
Centipedes are much much more cooperative when cold!
I think that winter centipede photography will be my go-to technique from now on.
We actually have no real idea what this spider is… Possibly a gnaphosid, but we did not get a great look at it.
The winter sky at dawn is often quite beautiful, provided there is not an impenetrable cloud bank to the east.
Again, a centipede, looking elegant and not thrashing about wildly!
We found some winter male widows, which are almost always big and black and female-like.
Catherine found an overwintering queen Vespula pensylvanica. She was totally quiescent and could not be woken up for a photo shoot.
More obligatory widow shots! We were quite happy to see the widows doing so well.
Some kind of tiny Lentinellus-like fungi.
This is a recently-metamorphosed ground beetle of sorts. So nice to see these not scurrying around rapidly! The non-black colour is also really helpful for making a good exposure.
This one is definitely a gnaphosid. we saw the prominent spinnerets!
Catherine provokes a penultimate male widow into defensive silk-throwing.
Just after this, he was docile and cooperative for some photos showing his beautiful palps.
On the way out, we saw a number of Golden-crowned Sparrows.
Winter time can be a great time for photography, even of insects and spiders!
Loved all these wonderful pictures. You have changed me into a person who carries out all possible insects and feels badly when one of them does not live through the transfer due to my awkward, terrified handling.
Thanks! Insects and spiders are generally a good thing to have around. They are a good reminder that there is a wider world out there beyond our human concerns.
“Winter time can be a great time for photography, even of insects and spiders!”
And the dried seedheads of Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)!
Yep. Those are cool in the summertime to, although exposing them correctly with an insect on board is a challenge.
We appreciate your work and dedication.