Evidently, some old dogs get lost, sad.
There was a light dusting of snow this morning. And on our walk, I saw, several saw the grey-black dust on the snow. Only I thought that it was from a dirty atmosphere. Instead, Carol took out her magnifying glass and looked at - snow fleas or Springtails, technically not insects! - beyond me.
These animals are alive - one burrowed out of sight while I was trying to focus on it. They are quite small, but very very numerous - as black specks on white snow. I have seen this "phenomenon" many times without "thinking" twice about it. However, they have a bag of tricks and are scientifically/medically very interesting. My bias and prejudice exposed for me to see myself.
Springtail
a wiser old bird! (maybe?)
Great photos.
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Thanks - thank Carol for stopping to point out something that fantastic. Orillia Naturalists.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were excited by springtails. If you go to the ONC web page, find of the month, you can see that they were a "find" in March 2013, with photos in snow and in water. And a discussion of their life cycle, and role in ecology. Nice photos. Nancy I
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