Asian Oak Weevil (Cyrtepistomus Castaneus), Taken May 25, 2025, In Georgia, US

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), taken July 19, 2024, in New Hampshire, US

This guy sat on this branch and preened for a few minutes. It's the longest I've ever seen a nuthatch sit still! He almost looks like a completely different bird all calm and ruffled like that lol.

Stretch Spiders (Genus Tetragnatha), female (top) and male (bottom), taken July 7, 2024, in New Hampshire, US

This pair was set up under the awning of a dock lamp. It was an extremely effective setup, seeing as I had to hang out over the water on my stomach and put the life of my phone at risk to get pictures lol! In the top photo, there's a good view of the horrifically large fangs of this genus, while the male on the bottom is showing off his lovely gold coloration! He's a catch!

Round-necked Longhorn Beetle (Clytus ruricola), taken May 2, 2025, in Georgia, US

A cool longhorn beetle who's slumber I disturbed! This guy was hiding under a leaf after a storm. I didn't recognize the beetle, so I flipped his little leaf over for pictures. He was disturbed but didn't seem afraid, slowly exploring my presence and staying after I left him alone. I'm seeing lots of new longhorn beetles outside, but most of them are so skittish that they fly away as soon as they see me. I just happened to catch this guy at a lucky time!

Freshwater Planarian (Family Planariidae), taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

Who is this silly little guy!!! He was in a little puddle in the woods, living his best life. When out of water like this, planarians move in an inching motion, pulling themselves along like a worm. It seems as though his epidermal layer is transparent, allowing you to see his stomach and some mystery white stuff (probably patterning)!

Maple Looper Moth (Parallelia bistriaris), taken April 19, 2025, in Georgia, US

A gorgeous moth amongst the grass! This is good proof that just because an animal is brown doesn't mean it's boring. I find that brown animals are often some of the most gorgeous, especially through the camera lens. I initially startled this moth into flight, but recognized it as a maple looper from afar. A good thing, too, because I would have ignored it if I thought it was a Genus Renia moth! Looking for moths in the leaves often feels like trying to find a rare, unique moth in the midst of a sea of Renias—they're just so numerous...

What they don’t tell you about getting into bird watching is that once you get into it, you do not get to decide when you bird watch. You can be on the beach of some distant tropical country with nothing planned except relaxing. But then you see a Common Fluttering Nut Buster and you’re like fuckkkkkkkk holy shit guys the Common Fluttering Nut Buster is not supposed to life this far west holy shitttttttttt

Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus), adult (top) and juvenile (bottom), taken March 7, 2025, in Georgia, US

More hawk news... It seems as though one of the juveniles was able to chase the other out of this area and has staked a claim on the woods here. I've been seeing the red-tailed hawks less, and today the victorious juvenile showed up with a partner who already has adult plumage! I haven't seen adults here in at least a couple years, so this is a good sign that these two will be nesting this spring. It's fairly unusual for a hawk without adult plumage to be breeding, but definitely not unheard of and can still result in a successful brood!

The adult hawk was not happy with me taking pictures and flew to a further branch when I went outside. As usual, the juvenile was much more tolerant of my presence (likely used to my dumb ass at this point) and let me get closer before the adult called for it. It then joined the adult in a tree where they began calling together. Hopefully they nest somewhere close enough that I can monitor their progress. I'd love to see their babies once they fledge!

Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), male, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lovely hover fly perching on a dandelion! Pollinators are out full force now, and that means that hover flies have more competition. Most hover flies have adopted a bee-mimicking appearance, likely to reduce competition and predation. This works a charm, as even most people can't tell the difference!

Double-banded Grass-Veneers (Crambus agitatellus), taken June 20, 2024, in Georgia, US

A peek at one of the many tiny white flying things in the average suburban lawn! Most of them are leafhoppers, but many of them are moths as well, especially grass-veneers. This species is particularly beautiful with its brown and black coloration and can be distinguished from others by the paired black bands on the latter half of the wings. You can even see some decent variation between these 3 individuals!

Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), female (top) & male (bottom), taken May 22, 2025, in Georgia, US

A beautiful pair of ebony jewelwings that were fluttering around each other! I wouldn't put it past them to be flirting lol. These pictures are a great side by side comparison of the sexual dimorphism of the species. Females are a dark metallic blue/green with a bold white spot on the apex of each of their four wings, while males are a brilliant metallic green with solid black wings. There are also slight morphological differences, but those are very hard to see unless you have a camera or the insect is very still, which jewelwings are not. I've just learned to remember that white spot = female!