The baby spiders nestle together

I haven't felt good for a couple of days with sneezing, a blocked head and all the signs of a summer lurgy.  I had to cancel a couple of events including a blipmeet this morning and now Helena has succumbed to similar complaints.

I went to the shop to get some decongestant powders to clear our heads and I took a hot cup of it to the cabin on my return.  It did me good to get some of the late afternoon sunshine and to sit quietly in the garden.  I had my camera hoping for some birds to pay a visit to the feeders I replenished.

But all i got was one nuthatch who did admittedly stay for several minutes gobbling both peanuts and sunflower seeds before heading back to its young.  I have added a picture of it to the "Extra photos'.

I also spotted this amazing collection of baby spiders which must have recently hatched out.  They had congregated on the topmost leaves of a rose bush in a pot.  This whole bunch is probably about half an inch in diameter when the collect into a ball.  When I knocked the pot to see what happened, they all scattered along the tiny web filaments you can see.  Then they quickly returned to the safety of the bunch.  I have noticed that some of the filaments seem to refract the light when they vibrate and you get beautiful separations of colours in thin bands, which are actually more apparent on some of the other pictures. I see these little collections every year but I'm not sure what sort of spiders they turn into.  When this small they have quite clear markings but I don't relate them to any spiders with similar patterns.  Someone may know what they are.