Summer Garden: Mimicry and Camouflage

    This story really begins last spring; one day, I was sitting in my garden on a rare sunny day, sipping coffee, camera in my lap, looking, watching, waiting.  To my surprise, right next to me, I noticed a little yellow spider sitting in the soft ripples of a daffodil. 

Amazed by how its color was strikingly the same as that of the flower it sat within, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to photograph such a tiny creature. I tend to notice the small things in my garden, and I was sure that I had seen a light colored spider before, but I didn't realize that there was more to the story.

I had another spider encounter this past weekend, but this time it was the most surprising and delightful encounter with a spider I'd ever experienced!  

When I looked out the sliding glass door into my garden on Saturday, I saw that my favorite flower of all, the Star Gazer Lily, had its first bloom.  Of course I had to investigate, camera in hand.  As I was photographing this flower, I saw something inside it move, and I was shocked to see a spider that had the same exact coloration as the Star Gazer!  

Not only did these two spiders mimic the flowers they were sitting within, but they also resembled each other; they both have the same body type, with slight indentations on the top, and similar legs and faces.

Coincidentally, on Sunday I spotted a hummingbird in my garden while I was in the kitchen.  I quickly grabbed my camera, set it on burst mode at 1600 speed and began photographing it through the window.  Notice how the hummingbird has the ability to camouflage itself as it did here in Jimmy's still growing maple tree.  

What kinds of mimicry or camouflage have you seen in your part of the world?