Warm day = first ants of the year!

you look really dorky on video

As opposed to real life?

loves it

Squint nothing! What type of camera are you using?

The background is in focus with you walking up to the tree and I can still make out the ants in the foreground.

That's my latest toy, a Panasonic DMC-ZS3.

Little digicams generally have better wide-angle macro than dSLRs. It's good value for the price.

You're way ahead of us: our temperatures are still in the 40s, and there's still over a foot of snow on the ground. We are finding some insects: my daughter caught a tiger moth caterpillar and a grasshopper nymph already. And the winter crane flies and cluster flies have been coming out in some numbers. No ants visible yet, though.

Yesterday, here in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I saw a northern flicker pecking enthusiastically at something on the ground only about ten feet away from me--usually flickers are too shy to let a human that close. I think the bird had found the first ants of spring too, and really seemed to relish them.

I like the Attenborough-esq shot in the middle with you walking up to the camera on the ground.

If only I had Attenborough-esque lenses that were wide enough to get my face in the shot, too...

Well, that's easy enough. All you need is an Attenborough-esque production budget, and you're all set.

Heh. Maybe I'll put my hat out for donations next time I'm looking for ants on the quad.

I take that back - I spotted some ants today. Granted, they were *inside* one of the campus buildings (they were coming out of a small hole in a concrete-block wall to devour a dropped potato chip on the floor), but they were certainly ants!

We all look like dorks. :P

Wow! This was welcome relief to the flu-like condition I have had for the past week! What a pleasant surprise to see you and the ants out cruising the campus Thanks a bunch! This sorta kick-starts my spring!