One of the things that I miss the most in winter is insects. I love insects and spiders and I really enjoy photographing them and their activities. Even the insects that do survive through the winter are generally dormant, so they’re difficult, if not impossible, to see. Now that spring is here I’m starting to see more and more insects every day. It was only a few days ago that I spotted my first butterfly of the season. Since then I’ve seen quite a few more butterflies, some grasshoppers, and now I’m starting to see other pollinators, too. Yesterday I took a local road trip to try to photograph some of our early blooming flowers. Along with the flowers there were quite a few bees including some springtime only southeastern blueberry bees (Habropoda laboriosa) (see the photo below) and of course, honey bees. Today there were quite a few of these fine-backed red paper wasps (Polistes carolina) flying in and out of one of my boxwood bushes. They were also being attracted there by the many tiny little white flowers that boxwoods are known for. It has made me really happy to see insects again and I’m very much looking forward to the return of even more.