Last year at this time of the year there were lots of large Argiope orbweaver spiders at my local marsh, but I couldn’t find a single one this past Monday, when I showed up just after sunrise. I was able to find a number of smaller spider webs, however, on the railings of a raised section of the boardwalk. The photo looks to be more appropriate for a Halloween posting, but hopefully I can find something a bit creepier for that day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I thnk all the big ones have moved north. I saw a fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus?) the other day that was BIG. That’s a nice shot of the web-it’s not as easy to get good photos of them as it looks. (As I’m sure you know)
Thanks. I had to focus manually on the web, which is always tricky with my DSLR (hard to tell when it’s perfectly in focus). I really like fishing spiders, but haven’t seen one in months. I am hoping that the big spiders are still here, though usually they are easiest to spot as the morning light hits the webs–that was not the case on Monday.
nice shot–you should work for National Geographic
Thanks for the compliment. It would be fun to work for them, but I need to improve my skills some more (and I am working on that).
To me, you are an expert in this area — but there is always room for improvement I suppose.
I just returned from visiting relatives on Lake Norman in North Carolina. LOTS of big spider webs there! Walked through many of them in a week’s time! 😀