The ditch this morning was alive with the movement of small and large crayfish. It helps that the water level was low and the water was clear. They vary in size from the size of a small aquatic insect, to longer than my hand.
We got to see damselfly larva; they look just like the adults, but have three small gill feathers at the end of their abdomen, and no wings. I collected three tadpoles for my personal menagerie: one has no tail, one has only back legs and other has a stump of a tail left.
The spiders down in the ditch are awesomely huge. I think they are funnel spiders.
This picture shows one on cider blocks, but they seem just as at home running across the water. For reference, this specimen is about 4 inches across. We are still not seeing or hearing any owls, but there is an increasing number of night herons around
We got to see damselfly larva; they look just like the adults, but have three small gill feathers at the end of their abdomen, and no wings. I collected three tadpoles for my personal menagerie: one has no tail, one has only back legs and other has a stump of a tail left.
The spiders down in the ditch are awesomely huge. I think they are funnel spiders. 
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