Cixiid Planthopper (Xenoliarus Placitus), Taken May 25, 2025, In Georgia, US

Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius), taken August 4, 2024, in Georgia, US

What a talented model! These guys and Zabulon Skippers often sit on the same patch of leaves in the sun and spread their wings. It makes for excellent photos since they have a really high tolerance for me getting up in their business! Clouded Skippers have some gorgeous chocolate brown wings, and this guy really wanted me to know that!

Toothy Skink (Genus Plestiodon), taken April 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A cute skink licking its lips after snacking on a tasty worm! I happened to look out the window while preparing to go outside just in time to see this lizard eating a big worm on the bank of my koi pond. After eating, it slowly slunk away into the grass. Despite there being lots of worms, this is a bit of a dangerous place to hunt, seeing as a watersnake is currently living at the pond!

Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta), female, taken April 28, 2024, in Georgia, US

A lovely young lady! I believe she's still subadult because she isn't very dark yet, but she's still beautiful! Orchard Orbweavers can be identified by the orange smiley face on the ventral (under) side of their abdomen, which you can see a bit of in this image. They're one of the most common orbweavers in my area—absolutely all over grasses and shrubs during the spring!

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!

Magnolia Green Jumping Spider (Lyssomanes viridis), juvenile male, taken February 7, 2025, in Georgia, US

This streak of warmer weather has reawoken the magnolia greens, and I am very happy to see them again! I saw two individuals this day, both juvenile males. This one was very nice about jumping at the camera, while the first one proceeded to climb up my phone, onto my arm, and into my hoodie sleeve. I took off and inverted my hoodie, but I never found him so I suppose he dropped to the ground somewhere. His tricks worked for once!

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 Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), male, taken February 25, 2025, in Georgia, US

Bald!!!!! The spring molt has taken him... Every spring all of the cardinals become bald, and it is both pathetic and wonderful. This guy has started a bit early, so he's the odd man out of the bunch until they all follow!

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), taken July 19, 2024, in New Hampshire, US

Looking down at me from above... Though these birds would never get very close, I still find the few pictures I got of them wonderful. This one in particular is very nice! The fact that he perched right in a gap in the branches so he could look at me was pretty fortunate, since it turned into a really cool picture!

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), taken March 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little sparrow frolicking in the moss and newly-sprouted grass. I could watch these guys for hours—they're just so charismatic! I especially like the dappled light of this spot, as it accentuates their camouflage. Rooting through the leaflitter under dappled sunlight, you'd be hard-pressed to find these guys!

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!