American Goldfinch (Spinus Tristis), Taken February 27, 2025, In Georgia, US

Conifer Bark Beetles (Boros unicolor), larvae, taken February 26, 2025, in Georgia, US

I spent like two hours running around peeling the bark off of fallen pine trunks and found tons of these bad boys. I had no idea that they existed or what they were until I found them, but they're kind of epic! They remind me of if a beetle and an earwig had a child, but a termite became involved somewhere along the way. Just a weird mixture of morphological traits, though they're perfectly adapted for life under pine bark!

You can see the individual in the video almost snag the smaller insect as a snack. I came across one shortly after this eating a potworm!

Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum), male, taken September 5, 2024, in Georgia, US

In terms of dragonfly season here, these guys fly really late, right about at the end. I think this was actually one of the last ones I saw last year—he was definitely the last I photographed. What a fiery way to end the season, though! This guy is gorgeous, and he posed very well for me! Sometimes I swear bugs want me to take their pictures, and who am I to say no to such a handsome guy?

Still a bit too early in the year for my mothing sheet to be as busy as I'd like, but I've still gotten a handful of interesting visitors

Ichneumonid Wasps(Family Ichneumonidae), Genus Raphia Ornate Tiger Moth(Apantesis ornata), Genus Eteobalea Genus Cameraria, White-lined Sphinx(Hyles lineata) Marbled Oak Dagger(Acronicta marmorata), Leaf Blotch Miner Moths(Family Gracillariidae) Two-spotted Leafhopper(Sophonia orientalis), Zale Moths(Genus Zale)

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

Despite how common they seem to be for many other people, this is the first time I've ever seen a junco! It approached me from behind and I only realized it was there because I happened to see it out of the corner of my eye. I barely got a look before it flew off, so I had no idea what it was, only that it wasn't a bird I'd seen before. It took me another 10 minutes before I even saw it again, then another 5 or so for it to end up behind me where it started. In the end, I was able to get a good picture!

when u are holding a hammer everything looks like a nail -> when u are holding a point and shoot camera every sight looks incomparably ephemerally beautiful

Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa), taken August 25, 2024, in Georgia, US

This is about the only sphinx moth I can ID from memory, which is kind of sad, but I don't see many of them so I have no reason to become better at ID! I happened to look down while perusing the grasses at the edge of a creek and saw this guy hanging about. This species is gorgeous, and I especially love the orange stripes on its shoulders. Hopefully I find more this year, though larger moths tend to elude me!

American Robins (Turdus migratorius), males (1-3) and females (4 & 5), taken January 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

The robin-pocalypse is currently happening at my feeders. Hundreds of robins are migrating in from north and stopping to eat. It's both annoying because of how much they eat and nice because they make great photos. They're the exact same color as the dead leaves on my japanese maple and are a nice pop of color in the snow, which looks nice in photos!

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!

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!

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!