Silver shining in the dawn

So, Thursday morning as I was walking towards work, the sun was just rising over the edge of the trees and the mist was rising off the ground. From the length of the fence line I saw something silver shining in the slanting light - silver, roundish, and well off the ground.

It took a few seconds for me to identify it, but once I had it was obvious: a spider web, wet with dew.

I'd seen a large one behind a catbird earlier this week, but that one had been flat against bushes and almost invisible. This one would be hard to see once the dew dried, but it was suspended between two Bradford pears to catch insects flying through the trees.



I'm not sure what this spider is - some sort of garden spider, I believe, but which kind specifically I don't know. She is a garden spider - to be specific, a cross spider, aka diadem spider, or European garden spider (thanks, Weeta!). And what a hard worker she is, to spin this thing anew every morning. (Yes, she was there again Friday, and may have been there all week, just not so obviously.)