The calendar says that it is not quite spring, but after the cold weather we have had recently, it sure feels like spring when the temperature reaches 60 degrees F (15.5 degrees C) on consecutive days. As I walked about in my marshland park this past Monday I noticed some small flying insects, giving me hope that dragonflies and damselflies will be on the scene soon.
As I was climbing down the stairs of the observation deck, I noticed something hanging in the air. When I bent toward it, it seemed to move farther away from me and eventually came to rest on the surface of the boardwalk. I was a little shocked to see that it was a tiny spider.
There was no way that I was going to be able to get a shot of the spider with the 150-600mm zoom lens that was on my camera, but fortunately I had my 100mm macro lens in my bag. With one eye on the spider, I rapidly changed lens. As I tried to figure out a way to get a shot, the spider started moving, which, of course, increases the challenge of getting a macro shot.
I managed to get a few shots of this early-appearing spider, which I have not yet been able to identify, before it crawled into a crack in the boards and disappeared from view. I’m pretty confident that I will get some better images of spiders as the weather continues to warm up, but this one is special, because it is the first one of the season for me, so I am more than happy with my record shots of it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
The luck of the chase. Great capture.
I’m glad they’re coming around now. I saw a few insects yesterday too, but was only able to get a shot of a winter stone fly.
Sweet! I can’t wait for my first spider this year, and flower for that matter.. 😉
When I’m oot and aboot its the 175-500mm on the camera and my Sigma 100mm macro in the vest.
Great shots! I really like spiders and am accustomed to being able to pick them up so I’m having to train myself to not touch spiders before identifying them now I live in the US. I’m looking forward to seeing my first outdoor spider as that’s a sure sign Spring has arrived.
I too like spiders, though I have no desire to pick them up. Keep your eyes open for spiders–jumping spiders are my favorites with a whole row of eyes.
Oh yes we’ve had jumping spiders before. They are lovely. Unfortunately we also had two black widows (not at the same time) in the garage at the house we rented when we first moved to America. They were less lovely.
Yikes, black widows! Indeed you need to be cautious.
Thankfully they are distinctive. My husband never saw a single one in all the years he lived in the US. We move back here and within months I find two. Weird.
cool – love spiders.
Thanks. I too love them and can’t wait for more to appear.
You get the prize for the first one! Unless I greatly miss my guess, I’d say it’s a bark crab spider, Family Thomisidae, Genus Bassaniana. Here’s a link:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/1957/bgpage. Luck you!
Thanks, Gary. I had no idea where to start on the spider identification and it sure does look like the photos of the bark crab spider.
Beautiful capture but such a creepy critter. Dont like spiders at all.
I try not to include too many creepy photos, though I am aware that many folks do not like or are afraid of spiders.
I never thought of spiders as signs of spring but I guess they are