Category Archives: General

Photo of the Week – December 10, 2010

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Sunrise over frozen wetland. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Springer Basin Waterfowl Production Area - Nebraska

First light is a great time to have a camera in hand, especially when there are a few clouds on the horizon to diffuse the sunlight slightly .  In this case, the sun was so low that only the tops of the wetland plants were lit up.

Springer Basin is one of hundreds of shallow wetlands scattered around south-central Nebraska.  Called “rainwater basins,” they are created by many years of wind scouring the soil away from underlying clay soils.  They fill with water when it rains or snows and provide great habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl, and many other wetland creatures and plants – until they dry up again.

Ambush in the Prairie

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Like crocodiles in African water holes, crab spiders sit patiently on prairie flowers, waiting for prey they know will eventually come.  For crab spiders, that prey is most often an unwary pollinator looking for nectar.

A crab spider with a recently caught orange sulphur butterfly. The Nature Conservancy's Platte River Prairies.

Crab spiders are not built for speed and they have poor eyesight – even for a spider.  However, they’re well built for ambush.  Both sets of front legs are extra long, and the spider snaps them shut to catch any insect that happens to come within reach.  In addition to those legs – and a good dose of patience – some species of crab spiders can also change their color to better camouflage themselves.  They’re not quite on the level of chameleons, but over a day or so, those species can change from white to yellow – or vice versa – to match the color of the flower they’re on.

Read more about crab spiders in my NEBRASKAland magazine article here: CrabSpider-July2009 and about spiders in general in another article here:Spiders-AugSept2010.