2017 11-27 Yolo ByPass
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The rain stopped in the wee hours of the morning and left the skies mostly sunny and little to no wind on the ground. We spent a few hours on the auto tour roads at the Yolo ByPass. There were a few harriers, one large red tailed hawk, and a lone kite near the main entrance parking lot atop a tree near the levee.
We took a new route that followed the freeway west across several flooded fields before turning south near the line of telephone poles, continuing around for quite a while surrounded by shallow water. Clouds and flying ducks reflected in the glassy ponds.
The most striking phenomenon today was the fact that practically all the shrubs and reeds alongside the road to the west and south of the auto tour were totally covered by ballooning spider’s gossamer threads. Although few of these silky, sticky strands were actually up and ballooning, the plant coverage was unexpected. Along the road running east the strands stretched across the road and stuck to my truck. It was then that we noticed there were a quite a lot of little tiny spiders hitchhiking on the hood and exterior roof, still attached to gossamer. Both the gossamer and spiders made interesting photographic subjects.
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Read MoreThe rain stopped in the wee hours of the morning and left the skies mostly sunny and little to no wind on the ground. We spent a few hours on the auto tour roads at the Yolo ByPass. There were a few harriers, one large red tailed hawk, and a lone kite near the main entrance parking lot atop a tree near the levee.
We took a new route that followed the freeway west across several flooded fields before turning south near the line of telephone poles, continuing around for quite a while surrounded by shallow water. Clouds and flying ducks reflected in the glassy ponds.
The most striking phenomenon today was the fact that practically all the shrubs and reeds alongside the road to the west and south of the auto tour were totally covered by ballooning spider’s gossamer threads. Although few of these silky, sticky strands were actually up and ballooning, the plant coverage was unexpected. Along the road running east the strands stretched across the road and stuck to my truck. It was then that we noticed there were a quite a lot of little tiny spiders hitchhiking on the hood and exterior roof, still attached to gossamer. Both the gossamer and spiders made interesting photographic subjects.
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