Red-banded Leafroller Moth (Argyrotaenia Velutinana), Taken February 27, 2025, In Georgia, US

Braconid Wasp (Family Braconidae), female, taken April 23, 2025, in Georgia, US

A elegant woman with an even more elegant butt-katana! This little lady was flitting around slowly in the wake of brief rainfall, likely cautious of flying, so she made an easy subject. My favorite types of wasps are ones who sit still and stare off into space for long periods of time—easy pickings!

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), taken April 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

What I believe is my first butterfly of the year, at least that I've been able to photograph! I saw what I think was a Blue Morpho in early, early spring, before almost anything was awake, but it flew off before I could get a picture. Since then, it's been some skippers and a few Tiger Swallowtails, but never when I have my camera on me! This guy was touched down because of a storm. I went out right after the rain, when many flying insects are still reluctant to fly, and was able to get a couple decent pictures!

Brave Squirrel...

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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?

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

Getting a tasty sip of water! He was nervous to drink with me there and sat in a tree eyeing the bird bath for a few minutes, but he was brave and took the risk! Once he realized it was fine, he even came back for seconds later. His little drinking face is very cute!

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.

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), female, taken April 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lovely woodpecker mom visiting the feeders! Usually this species is very shy, and I wasn't being particularly quiet this day, so I'm not sure why she even came over lol. Regardless, I got some good pictures of her looking at me over her shoulder between bites! It's about time for me to start seeing her baby (or babies) at the feeders. Juveniles of this species completely lack the red head pattern of adults, having a plain gray head, so they're pretty easy to identify. Maybe I'll see them around!

Pale Green Assassin Bug (Zelus luridus), taken April 20, 2025, in Georgia, US

Behold: an adept assassin! This is the earliest I've seen an adult of this species—usually I only find nymphs until around July. Whether that's because there are less adults or because they're too good at camouflage I do not know! Assassin bugs move slowly and strike their prey with their proboscis, injecting paralyzing venom and sucking the juices out of their prey, similarly to spiders. Because they have venom, their "bites" can be quite painful, but are generally harmless and quite rare. I can't imagine they're any more likely to bite than spiders, and I handle spiders safely regularly, so I'd say they're safe to hold as long as you're respectful!

Tube-dwelling Spider (Ariadna bicolor), female, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

Well, good news is that she definitely is living in a tube! Bad news is that it is no longer inside the log she was in, but instead on the chunk of wood I ripped off the log. This provides and excellent view of the nest structure, but doesn't serve very well as a home anymore. I put the wood chunk back as well as I could, but whether it was good enough is still up in the air!