As summer slowly gives way to fall, people begin celebrating with pumpkin spice, skeletons, and scary movies. Frankly, I don’t really get it. Is it because Halloween was never a huge deal growing up? Or is it because I routinely paint scary miniatures, play Dungeons and Dragons, and photograph people in a variety of “costumes”. I feel like those things might blunt the heady October celebrations. For me, it is just another block of roughly 30 days with a special name. And a time to get outside and take photos, of course!
Annual Visitor Check-in
While not exclusive to October, we know we can count on certain visitors every year. The question is always which variety of orb weaver will string up a web this time? I’m rather fond of the kind many call garden spiders. The female sports bright yellow colors and wears knee-high, black, stiletto boots. While I’m not really a fan of spiders, I always enjoy seeing her amazing web weaves. But there are a lot of orb weavers out there and we don’t always get this colorful beauty.
October Window Denizen
We noticed an orb weaver, possibly a “cross spider”, in our kitchen window last week. Smaller, far less colorful, and skittish, they are not as easy to photograph. I found myself checking every day to make sure she was still there. Even when I didn’t see her, it was obvious the web was being well-maintained. Eat those insects!
Then, Sunday morning, I step outside to an unexpected show. Two more orb weavers had built magnificent webs between the roofline, the birdfeeder, and our raised garden’s fence. Another had built in a corner running from the eaves down one of the columns on the porch. While I couldn’t find what appeared to be at least three, probably four, spiders in these webs, two were waiting for their photos.
October Sunrise
So it was that, on the first morning of October, I introduced myself to two of the orb weavers. One was similar to the kitchen window resident: Skittish. It thought about hiding and ran from the web’s center towards an escape line before stopping. The other, somewhat larger and more confident, shows her best side, never flinching.
Ah, the joys of capturing nature at it’s best just outside my back door.
