No, not those kind.
This kind.
It's a woolly aphid, sometimes called a... FAIRY APHID! Also called Fairy Flies.
I first saw these last fall. And again this fall. They only appear in the fall. I thought they were wood ash from the woodstove. But after watching, I noticed they were very tiny insects. Fairy aphids are sucking insects that feast mainly on apple trees and hawthorns. The "wool" are actually filaments that help carry it aloft on the winds.
See? Sasquatch, and now fairies!
Great photo of the winged form of a Wooly Alder Aphid. If you search among the alders, you may find clusters of the wingless forms, looking like clumps of cotton wool arrayed along the twigs. I have a blogpost about them with photos of both forms, on October 21, 2013, with a link to further fascinating information about them: http://saratogawoodswaters.blogspot.com/2013/10/autumns-embers.html
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