Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis), Taken October 29, 2024, In Georgia, US

Globular Springtail (Ptenothrix renateae), taken February 7, 2025, in Georgia, US

I spent about half an hour yesterday inspecting a wet, rotten log and found some absolutely epic looking springtails!! This guy is probably my favorite of those finds, but I also found a different black and gold one who from the naked eye literally just looked like a speck of dust. The only reason I saw him was because he was on a pretty smooth spot of wood and he was running like mad. When stuff is that small, it really helps if it's moving!

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), male, taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

After weeks of staking my feeders out, ONE brave soul FINALLY inched forward onto the feeder perches. Even if all he did was look around and stare at me judgmentally, he still let me get some nice pictures of him before leaving (without even grabbing a snack..) and I respect him for that. Clearly, blackbirds are braver alone than in groups!

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

A small flock of waxwings visited a couple days ago! They're very skittish, so it's hard to get any decent pictures, but even from far away they make nice subjects. When they stop by they usually ransack the holly tree in the yard, but the robins have already picked it clean, so they combed over the leftover seeds from the tulip trees and whatever else they could find instead. Late birds earn no berry snacks!

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), taken March 12, 2025, in Georgia, US

The bloodroot is finally showing its pretty face! There's tons of flowers blooming out of the leaflitter. This is my first time catching them in full bloom, and they're gorgeous! This plant is named after its red roots, which can sometimes resemble the color of blood. Its flowers can also take many different shapes, some having shorter petals with round edges similar to a daisy, and others like these, though they also exist in every form between those two extremes!

Whitman's Jumping Spider (Phidippus whitmani), female, taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

A jumping spider lifer for me! I initially caught a glimpse of her while trying to photograph a bee and thought she was a mutillid. That was until she peeked back out of the leaves to watch what I was doing! She was an excellent model, turning in all directions and moving slowly and calmly so I could get the best photos I could. It's almost like she knew what was happening!

Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), male, taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

Gloomy days that are just slightly cold and a tad misty make for good days to hunt down sleepy flying insects! Although there are less around, those you find are much easier to photograph since they're all bedded down. This guy didn't even flinch when I got all up in his face. He kindly allowed me some side profiles, which show off his cool leg anatomy!

100% agree lol. I've gotten better over the years, but my astraphobia combined with liking to look at bugs and southeast tornado shenanigans makes storms suck a lot.

You're right that the best part of a storm is directly after when the sun has just started to come back out! A lot of insects that are usually flying out of reach are grounded from the weather and easy to photograph, and some that prefer wet weather are more common after rain. I remember going out the day after hurricane Helene hit last year and finding a ton of bugs I'd never seen before because everything was out of sorts from the unusual weather. It was a nice reward for weathering the storm!

It sucks that I can't enjoy thunderstorms that much comparatively to a lot of other people, but as someone who currently lives in a tornado zone and whose hobbies include going outside and walking around looking for bugs, the thing I like most about rain is the immediate aftermath—otherwise it's just, like, a loud, stressful inconvenience to me, sadly

European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

The starlings are getting pretty for spring!! I can't wait to see their full gloss come in—they're such gorgeous birds. I'm definitely a big fan of this in-between with both winter spots and a subtle colorful sheen, though!

Humpbacked Orbweaver (Eustala anastera), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some shots of a beautiful wild diamond... I intercepted her as she tried to web her way to the ground and placed her on a fallen tree in an attempt to get photos. Luckily for me, she curled up instead of running away! This spider is quite variable, some being brown like this and others having a coloration similar to lichen!