Peeps

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), male, taken January 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

The lighting in the photo made this bird turn out the bluest I've ever seen a bluebird. The males already get a gorgeous sapphire in the winter, but this takes it a step above! He was also a great model and sat nice and still for me!

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), juvenile, taken May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

A disheveled young cardinal stopping for a few sips! Someone had been in the bath prior and made it absolutely filthy with dirt, but this guy didn't really seem to mind. The bath water is replaced daily, but it tends to get dirty pretty fast if there are lots of baths in a day. The birds could just go to the koi pond literally 5 feet away, but I guess it's too scary for everyone but the song sparrows!

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), taken April 30, 2025, in Georgia, US

A chickadee fluttering around the suet feeder! This individual seemed quite reluctant to use its right foot, possibly due to an injury. Despite that, it was able to perch upright and on the feeder bars fine after a bit of adjusting. The chickadees are always very bold, and even injured this one is no exception!

Spiny Assassin Bug (Sinea spinipes), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Spiny, indeed! Look at those legs! The nymphs of this species are mostly black with a yellow abdomen, quite different from the brown camouflage of adults. If you're not looking closely, adults can be overlooked at a brown spot on leaves or part of tree bark. They're quite good at what they do! I usually only find nymphs, so finding this adult hiding in the leaves was a nice treat!

Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), taken April 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

Quite the wise-looking toad! His eyes look like they see all—or maybe they see too much. I did almost step on him. While he was processing his near-death experience, I took the opportunity to get some nice macros of his face, and, even though I couldn't get the whole thing in focus, they turned out nice! This was my favorite of them because you can better see the curve of his mouth and the reflection of the woods around us in his eyes. After he finished recovering, he hopped off, likely in search of dinner!

Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea), taken May 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

I've begun seeing G. coccinea about! This leafhopper's patterning is quite variable, often overlapping with the patterning of G. fennahi, the Rhododendron Leafhopper, and making it hard to ID. If the leafhopper has any hint of an isolated stripe on the wing (seen very clearly in this image), it is G. coccinea, as G. fennahi's stripe connects fully to the edge of the wing. It can also be helpful to check if the leafhopper is feeding on the plant it sits on and documenting what the plant is, as G. fennahi is only known to feed on rhododendron species while G. coccinea is far less picky and feeds from a wide variety of herbaceous plants!

Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US

Just a mom and dad trying their best. The individual in the top right image, who I believe is mom, seems to have used some of her breast feathers for their nest. During breeding season, they're pretty territorial of the feeders, but not so much that nobody else can eat. In recent years, they've actually chilled out. The dad used to sit on the feeder for up to an hour chasing other birds off but never eating himself!

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!

Turquoise Bluets (Enallagma divagans), teneral (top) and adult (bottom), taken April 13, 2025, in Georgia, US

A couple lifer damselflies from yesterday! I actually initially thought they were different species because I didn't see the black stripe on the top individual immediately. The difference in their coloration is due to the top individual being teneral, a term referring to any arthropod who has recently molted and not had time to harden their exoskeleton. In almost every case, teneral individuals are much paler than more developed ones. In comparison to the fully-formed adult below it, this damselfly is nearly colorless! You can see some blue beginning to develop, but it's mostly metallic brown and lacks black venation on the wings. Soon, its new exoskeleton will dry, and it will be beautiful and blue like the others!

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), male, taken March 7, 2025, in Georgia, US

The house finches are coloring up for the spring! This guy is sporting some very deep reds, much deeper than they usually get here. He's going all out for the ladies!