Silky skies

  

Silk!  After hearing about Eric's dragonfly and butterfly observations last night, I was scanning the San Francisco Chronicle headlines and noticed an unusual one -- something like "Baby spiders are falling from the sky..."  

Young spiders drift on silk threads to disperse to new areas, and there were reports from the Bay Area of clumps of silk both in the sky and on the ground.   I wondered if they were in Sonoma County, too, so while eating lunch today we kept an eye out and sure enough, we saw several clumps of silk crossing our view.

Then I went out to try to photograph a few for the record and these are the results.  Often there was a larger, denser clump of silk at the end of a very narrow thread-like strand:

 

 

I was photographing these bundles of silk almost directly overhead and they were fairly high up, so I couldn't always see the entire streamer at the time.  I was impressed to see how long some of them were when I started to review the photos.  Look carefully to see how far the slender threads extend from the clump:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of the concentrated clumps of silk were about half the size of my palm.  And I estimate the lengths of the strands in these photos range from ~2 feet (0.5 meter) to ~5 feet (1.5 meters) long.  

 

I wondered if you could find a spider in the silk, so I walked briefly to check for silk on nearby vegetation.  I found several, but I didn't have any luck finding a spider.

I'm curious about why these silk balloons are so prominent this year.  Is it a certain species of spider?  Or are spiders producing more silk this year for some reason?  Or are there just more of them this year so they are more noticeable?  Or was it something about the weather that caused larger clumps of silk to form?  Hmmphhh!

September stunner

This morning Eric called me over to point out a nice-looking spider web lit up by the sun in the backyard.  It was a special one.  Here are a few of the highlights:

 

 

 

 

Ladder of color

This morning, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a beautiful spider web in our backyard.  I ran out to take a few photos before leaving for work, but tonight I'm having trouble deciding which photo I like best.  So, here's a spider silk series from 24 July 2019.

The first two images show the same strands, just from slightly (very slightly) different angles.  By comparing them, you can see how small adjustments can change how the colors appear:

 

 

The next three images are the same "color ladder" running up the web, but framed differently, with more or less of the web showing around the lit up strands.  See what you think!

 

 

 

Morning silk

I wandered into the backyard again this morning to look for spider web strands.  Below are a few close-ups from 29 June 2019.

Strand with satellite:

 

A colorful intersection:

 

Most of the time when I photograph spider web silk, the color order seems random.  However, this morning I captured one strand with colors that were very close to being in "rainbow order" — that is, the colors were almost displayed in the same order you'd expect in a rainbow (starting from the right and running to the left) = red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet: 

 

A light celebration

If you've been reading this blog for the last few years, you might remember previous posts about color patterns in spider web silk.  Since it was the solstice today, I was thinking about light.  So I went out quickly before work to see if I could find a nice spider web strand.  I'm a little out-of-practice, but here are a few examples to help celebrate the summer season.  Pick your favorite!

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Here are links to some past examples:

Celebration of light -- 20 June 2017

Silk Road to Enlightenment -- 22 June 2017

 

Spiderworks -- 3 July 2017

Early evening light -- 5 July 2017

Color combinations -- 9 July 2017

Game of threads -- 17 July 2017

Shifting sun -- 31 July 2017

 

The thread continues -- 13 August 2017

Bands of light -- 14 August 2017

Solstice, silk, and light -- 21 June 2018

 

Solstice, silk, and light

Last year I took a series of close-up photographs of spider webs.  Since the first images were around last year's summer solstice, I tried again this year.  Ta da!  Happy Solstice!

P.S.  For an example of last year's spider web series, check out "Game of threads" from 17 July 2017, or search "spider silk" in the search box at the very bottom of the blog web page.

 

Bands of light

Well, I didn't have a chance to take any pictures today, but here are a couple more spider silk photos from yesterday.  Sometimes it's fun to think about what the color combinations remind you of:

 

 

 

The thread continues

 

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I might not be sharing photographs of spider web threads for a while (see "Shifting sun" post from 31 July 2017).  However, I searched a different spot in the backyard this morning and I found a nice orb web with the sun hitting it just right in a few places.

 

 

I continue to puzzle over these dramatic colors.  And I've been wondering — as the angle of the sun shifts with the seasons, will the colors in the spider web strands change? 

Perhaps not, but it will be fun to explore.

Shifting sun

This might be the last post about colors and spider silk (at least for a while).  The point where the sun rises along the eastern horizon has shifted to the south.  The sun's rays no longer strike the corner of our backyard (where I had been photographing the webs) in the same way .

Here's the last set of images taken on 22 July 2017.  The scene is a little different.  Instead of an orb web, this was a group of strands against a tree trunk, with some overlapping.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy August!

Game of threads

Next up in the spider web series!  Here are some highlights from the past week of trying to photograph the diversity of colors created by silk threads and morning sun.  Feel free to pick your favorite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Maybe they will be inspiration for a knitting or weaving project?

Color combinations

I've continued to photograph spider web strands in our backyard.  I'm so taken by this phenomenon and the amazing color combinations, it's hard not to take a few photos when the conditions are right.  It's especially nice in the early morning, when the light is interesting and the air is calm (and the spider webs are still).

These are my favorites from the past two days, although it's hard to choose.  See what you think:

 

 

 

 

The pictures above show highlights on single strands, but sometimes several strands are lit up at once:

 

 

And here's one series that shows the same two highlighted areas, just in slightly different positions along the strands:

 

 

 

Whenever I look at these colors, I just shake my head in disbelief.  The diversity and beauty is astounding.

With many thanks to the spiders and the sun, for creating such colorful works of art!