Four-banded Stink Bug Wasp (Bicyrtes Quadrifasciatus), Female, Taken August 3, 2024, In Georgia, US

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), male, taken January 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

Nothing exciting, but I can't help but find this guy charming. His red feathers are dull and thus unattractive to a female, but I find the dull coloration nicer to look at than the bright red of other males. He's probably young and hasn't had the time to get super red. Hopefully he does soon—he needs to pick up chicks in the spring!!

White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis), taken January 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

Georgia got its first decent snow in years, so I sat outside in the freezing weather for hours yesterday and took pictures of the birds. Some of my favorites are of White-throated Sparrows—they're surprisingly photogenic for a bird their size!

Now that it's spring, wet days bring out salamanders here too, which is a nice bonus lol! And thank you!

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

False Mealworm Beetle (Alobates pensylvanicus), taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little beetle, as a treat. Look at this wonderful individual! I found him sheltering under pine bark I was peeling up, and I must have woken him up because he was very slow to start. It took me poking at him a few times (to check for life) before he decided he hated that, actually, and slowly lumbered underneath the log!

Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee (Colletes thoracicus), female, taken April 19, 2025, in Georgia, US

The best photo I've gotten so far of one of the most frustrating subjects. There are currently hundreds of cellophane bees swarming in an area of my woods. New adults are emerging and in the process of recreating all of their parents' nest holes. Many would disagree, but there's something calming about sitting in the center of hundreds of buzzing bees, especially when you know they won't hurt you! The only bad thing about these guys is that they hate to sit still. Any time they land to inspect a prospective nest site, they do so fleetingly. There are so many bees that many are willing to fight for good spots, and males are simultaneously trying to mate with females that land for too long. It's chaos, but the welcome kind!

American Robin (Turdus migratorius), male, taken February 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

A drinker, I fear... The robins were incredibly bold today, though that isn't unusual for them! This guy allowed me to take some nice pictures and a short video of him before he took off. With the sound on, you can hear the cacophony that is 20 birds screaming and my pond waterfall all layered on top of one another. Be grateful the blackbirds hadn't arrived yet—they're deafening.

Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth (Anticarsia gemmatalis), taken September 28, 2024, in Georgia, US

Aside from Renia moths, these are some of the most common lepidopteran inhabitants of the leaflitter in my back woods! They're terrible to photograph because they startle when leaves crunch near them, so I always have to creep up on them really slowly. Even then, it sometimes takes several minutes for me to finally catch one! Despite their drab coloration, I still find them quite beautiful. They're perfectly made for forest floor life!

He hath returned...

He visited again twice today. Not sure what he's doing, but during this visit he borbed it up on a branch in the sun and then looked at things on the ground for a couple minutes before flying off. It's possible he's just weathering the winter in the area, but it'd be nice if he was thinking about spending his first nesting season here :)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), taken February 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

My feeder had a very large visitor this morning! Despite how close to the house it is, we get hawks perching on the feeder much more often than you would think. This guy spent over 20 minutes soaking in the late-morning sun and getting screamed at by hundreds of birds before he finally decided it was too loud. At one point a bluejay perched a few feet away in the nearby japanese maple and used up his entire arsenal of calls yelling at the hawk lol! It was extremely loud...

After a few minutes of him sunning, the smaller birds said fuck it and started eating again, and I got some decent video of him watching them flit around that I'll probably post later. I also got a video of him taking off, which I'll definitely post, but I have to figure out how to export the videos from my camera first! I've never taken video on this one before. So enjoy only photos for now!

Black Rat (Rattus rattus), juvenile, taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

The warming weather has brought with it new additions to the rat family living under the feeders, for better or for worse! I only saw one adult and two babies, though there were almost certainly more with how much rats reproduce. This little guy was very brave and came out pretty far to find fallen peanuts, so I was able to snap a shot of his cute face!

Keeled Treehopper (Entylia carinata), taken April 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lifer treehopper for me! This guy flew in and landed right on top of a fly. Because of that, I thought it was another fly but noticed the pigmentation was strange, so I bent down for a closer look. Thank god I did, because this guy is epic! I'm always on the lookout for treehoppers, but they seem so rare to me. Hopefully this spring brings me even more hopper luck!