Vesper Bluet (Enallagma Vesperum), Male, Taken May 5, 2025, In Georgia, US

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata), male, taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

This guy looks a little rough, but I believe he's just in molt! His spring colors are coming in, and you can see a bit of his golden crown becoming visible. I think he needs a good bath to wash out all those old feathers. It's just about nesting season, so hopefully he finishes his molt soon!

Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica), taken September 15, 2024, in Georgia, US

Some of my favorite bee photos! I think I had my nicer lens on for these, so they turned out a bit higher quality than others. Taking pictures of bees moving frantically from flower to flower is hard enough already—add in needing to get close and it's near impossible because they run away! My more ranged lens is nice for insects like bees, butterflies, and dragonflies that are large enough to focus easily from afar and are too skittish for getting super close. These turned out pretty cute!

Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis), female, taken June 29, 2024, in Georgia, US

I only have a small collection of dragonfly closeups, but they're some of my favorite pictures! When I took this one, this lady wasn't doing too hot. It had rained earlier in the day so she may have been tired, but she let me hold her and lift her onto a tree! This was taken before I gave her a hand, and you can see all of the little hairs on her body. Super neat!

Crab Spiders (Genus Mecaphesa), taken April 12, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some crab spiders hiding underneath flowers! This is a known undescribed species, currently labeled "black tibia spot" (for obvious reasons) as far as I know. I see them pretty often hanging out, especially on fleabane flowers like this. Crab spiders are ambush predators, and most in the genus Mecaphesa lie in wait on similarly-colored flowers until a prey item (flies, beetles, and perhaps small bees) lands on it. The spider quickly overtakes its prey and hides underneath the petals of the flower to enjoy. A rather boring life for us, but these guys don't seem to mind!

Wilke's Mining Bee (Andrena wilkella), taken July 12, 2024, in New Hampshire, US

I always love getting pictures of hymenopterans stuffing their little faces in flowers! This bee was a little skittish but ultimately found a flower she liked enough to eat off of while I photographed her.

Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), males & juvenile male (2), taken February 25, 2025, in Georgia, US

More blackbirds!! Migrating flocks are still passing through all day, so there are plenty of opportunities to get pictures. The video is of one of them shuffling around on their preferred perch, participating in the cacophony of calls. They're so much louder in person...

Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon), male, taken May 14, 2025, in Georgia, US

My first skipper of the year, proudly showing his colors in the sunlight! Unlike most butterflies, this species displays very noticeable sexual dimorphism, males having bright orange/yellow blotches on their wings while females are mostly brown with some white spotting. They can often be seen perched on leaves, spreading their wings in the sunlight like little orange flowers!

Red-banded Leafroller Moth (Argyrotaenia velutinana), taken February 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

What an ornate moth! I always find it interesting how intricate the patterns of moths can be despite their small size. This guy was maybe as long as my fingernail, and yet he has the most gorgeous coloration!

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!

Today's bug of the day is the common silverfish! I hope you like it I've never drawn a silverfish before so I hope I didn't get any of the major details wrong :]