Tailed Garden Spider

Description:

When walking around our backyard, this morning, I spotted this spider, about 6 or 7 feet up from the ground. As I approached and raised my camera, it ascended rapidly and was very high by the time I took the first picture I got the dorsal view when I was facing South and repositioned myself to get the ventral view when I was facing North.. The uncropped photos are include to give a better idea of what I saw.

Habitat:

This spider was spotted in our backyard It was hanging on a thread, close to, but not directly under a Mahogany Tree.