Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Webby wonders


I am aware that I have probably photographed and posted dewy spiders' webs every year since the dawn of blogging time, and that in fact as photos these are not particularly good examples of the genre, but they were rather good spiders' webs. It was a misty morning in early September. What I wonder is, are the webs there all the time but one only sees them when the dew is on them, or are the wee arachnids particularly active at those times, and if so why?

They were en masse on a gorse thicket:











with some small outposts on the sallows and hogweed skeletons:









The inhabitants were clearly at home on some of them, seemingly making repairs (arachnophobes look away now):









and just when I thought I'd probably got enough, I walked on and found a fresh crop on a chain-link fence which made an intriguing meshes-within-meshes effect:











 

 


I walk with the camera less often, and take fewer pictures.  To some extent it's the editing that puts me off; at one time I enjoyed this very much, and still do sometimes, but it can seem like a time sink, and the serial making of small decisions holds less appeal these days. At other times I fear repetition, that I can't really find anything new, but perhaps that doesn't always matter, dewy morning spiders' webs never cease to be a source of wonder, and there's always room on the external hard drive.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh these look gorgeous! One can never have too many dewy spiders' webs I don't think :)

christopher said...

I bet if it makes any sense for a spider to opine on things, that the dew on the webs is a serious point of frustration. The best that can be of it is the web being too visible to prey for a little while. At worst there is too much weight and the web gives way. No prey means no energy in. Web repair means substance and energy out. Not good. They don't care for rain much either.

Catalyst said...

They look crocheted, rather than woven. Beautiful.

Stella said...

I thought it too.....they look like crochet, or lace knitting. In such abundance! I just noticed this morning, that some enterprising spiders have been at work up on the cornice in the bedroom. Too much blogging, not enough housecleaning!

Zhoen said...

Amazing artists, sometimes they catch dinner, sometimes they are just lovely, perhaps the spiders appreciate both. Well, or they get their water from the dew?

Every time you see it, everything is new.

Fire Bird said...

Webby wonders. I never tire of them. They happen a lot here too where we have many misty mornings.

Lucy said...

Cheers,good people. I seem to be running at about seven comments a post so far including my responses, and not always the same people, which really isn't bad for daily posting, so my thanks to you!

It seems that in fact the spiders, who are particularly active at this time of year, make the webs in the night, when there are more insects flying about, but they become visible to us only in the morning with the dew on them. There wasn't much evidence of prey in them, but presumably it had been wrapped and put away in the larder like poor Frodo in Shelob's lair. I don't know if excess of water does damage them, they are amazingly strong, I've found the ones on the car wing mirrors can sometimes withstand the high pressure hose at the car wash. I could have found out more I dare say, but have to admit that, fascinating though it was, and though I am not as badly arachnophobe as some, I was beginning to get a little uncomfortable with too much detail about their lives and habits!

Nimble said...

I like the pictures and am glad there's plenty of room on the drive. I hope you don't mind that I saved one of your past shots as a desktop background -- droplets looking like jewels on a string.

Lyse said...

Magnifique , une splendeur!

Sheila said...

Lucy, these are magical! Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful glimpse into a world I never see. I'm so glad you did have your camera for these!

Rouchswalwe said...

Ach sweet Lucy ... I don't have wireless, so it takes quite some effort to hobble to my desk and check my computer for new blog posts. I am catching up on your wonderful November posts and especially love these webs. As soon as the doctor clears me to put a wee bit of weight on the broken limb, I hope to get back out and about to take some photos. I do miss it and am ever so grateful for yours!

the polish chick said...

oh lucy, how utterly lovely!