Cute dog in a shop window. If I didn’t know better I’d think he/she was laughing.

Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 FE

I came across this little beast last weekend. At first I was a little concerned. I thought it was a brown recluse, which would have been a concern because along with the black widows it’s the only seriously venomous spider in the US. I was once bitten by a spider, which produced a painful, necrotic sore that took some time to heal. At the time my wife had been visiting South Africa quite a bit, and I thought that she had perhaps brought back a poisonous spider in her luggage (I found a picture of a South African spider that looked very much like the one that had bitten me). I have since begun to wonder if it might not have a been a brown recluse.

However, on further consideration I no longer think the spider above is a brown recluse. It doesn’t seem to have the typical brown recluse markings on the dorsal side of its cephalothorax: a black line coming from it that looks like a violin with the neck of the violin pointing to the rear of the spider, resulting in the nicknames fiddleback spider, brown fiddler, or violin spider. And the eyes don’t look right for a brown recluse. Also the abdomen of a brown recluse looks longer, almost tubular where this one has a more globe like abdomen.

I don’t really know what it is. Maybe a common house spider? Or some kind of orb weaver?

Taken with a Sony A77II and Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro lens

While walking in my local park, Law Memorial Park I noticed this rather impressive school of fish swarming in the pond (Do fish swarm? flock?).

“Located in the heart of the Village on Pleasantville Road, this seven (7) acre park was gifted to the Village by its first family, Mr.& Mrs. Walter Law. The Village Pool complex is the park’s biggest attraction, featuring a 120′ x 75′ main pool and a 30′ diameter circular wading pool. A new two-story Bathhouse/Pavilion was completed in 2001 in conjunction with a major rehabilitation project. The park also offers four tennis courts with lights for evening play; three clay courts and one year-round all-weather court. Adjacent to the tennis courts is a playground that includes swings and play structures for children 2-5 and 5-12 years old. Two (2) platform tennis courts are located just north of the park and the Village Library/Community Center can be found on the Park’s eastern edge.” (Briarcliff Manor Village website)

Taken with a Nikon D800 and Nikon AF Nikkor 28-80 f3.3-5.6

As I was returning home the other day, walking down my driveway I came across this deer in the adjacent meadow. I see deer quite often by my house, but they don’t often have horns. I assume the males have horns and the females don’t so I guess this one is male.

Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon AF 24-70 f2.8 FE