Double-banded Grass-Veneers (Crambus Agitatellus), Taken June 20, 2024, In Georgia, US

Went out somewhere new yesterday and was lucky enough to bump into both forms of Maevia expansa male! Top images are the "tufted" morph and bottom are the "gray" morph.

They look absolutely nothing alike, and both males even use different courtship rituals to attract females! Like I've said before, the easiest way to differentiate this species from the much more common M. inclemens is to look for the bold white markings around the eyes of M. expansa, which are displayed in the pictures I have provided. The white is very bright and obvious, which makes distinction very easy, especially since jumpers love to look at you head-on!

Jumping Spider (Maevia expansa), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

A curious jumper making her way along a twig! She was not very happy with me but ultimately cooperated enough to get a single good picture. Like the Dimorphic Jumping Spider (Maevia inclemens), this spider's males have two different morphs: a "gray" morph that is gray with black stripes and bright orange palps and a "tufted" morph that is black with white legs and 3 black tufts of hairs above its eyes. The males of the species look nothing alike, which may cause them to be misidentified. This species can be differentiated from M. inclemens by the presence of white patterning on the head of the female and around the eyes of the males. You can also use locality, as they have currently only been found in Georgia and once in Tennessee.

Banded Fishing Spider (Dolomedes vittatus), female, taken September 27, 2024, in Georgia, US

Aside from maybe Joro Spiders, this is one of the largest spiders I find in my area. I almost stepped on this girl while I was circling a tree, and she shot out of the leaves and scared the crap out of me! She was a wonderful model, though, unlike her cousins the White-banded Fishing Spiders (Dolomedes albineus) who are hateful and cannot sit still.

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), male, taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

After weeks of staking my feeders out, ONE brave soul FINALLY inched forward onto the feeder perches. Even if all he did was look around and stare at me judgmentally, he still let me get some nice pictures of him before leaving (without even grabbing a snack..) and I respect him for that. Clearly, blackbirds are braver alone than in groups!

Cambarid Crayfishes (Genus Cambarus), taken June 30, 2024, in Georgia, US

Assorted crayfish faces! These are both most likely Variable Crayfishes (Cambarus latimanus), though I do not know anything about crayfish ID so I don't want to assume anything lol. As it warms up I plan to spend more time catching salamanders and crayfish, though it can be a bit painstaking if they're smart. Once i got them into the container I was using for photos, I had to use a stick to gently push them to the edge to get my macro lens close enough. They behaved well, but it took forever!

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), male, taken February 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

A beautiful drinker!! This lovely male bluebird came to the bird bath for a few sips and stayed long enough for me to get some nice photos! His blue stands out against the tan and green background so nicely. In the video, he gets spooked at the end by a robin who flew away noisily overhead!

THANK YOU!!! I am a total noob at cameras, so this is all really really helpful!! I haven't adjusted most of my settings (other than the obvious, like sound and timezone and other basic stuff) other than switching my focus to manual when using the raynox like you suggested—definitely a good tip, I can guess what the camera does when it's on auto lol.

I am certainly feeling the learning curve right now, but I find the increased challenge really rewarding. It also forces me to slow down and spend more time on each individual I photograph, which makes the whole process feel more personal. You said the 70-300mm was wonky when you tried it, but I'm actually enjoying it a lot lol. It allows me to tailor the magnification for each subject I photograph depending on size and produces a higher quality image than my 18-55. After a certain point (~100 or 135mm I think?) flash is inviable with it, though, because the lens starts interfering and causing a shadow, so I have to stick to sunny areas with it if I want to go up to 200mm. I'll have to play around with flash more on both lenses since I think most of the clarity issues I'm having with the 18-55 can be fixed with it, and flash usually makes everything better anyways.

Again I really appreciate these tips!! I'll have to try them out when I go out tomorrow, especially playing with the flash and aperture settings, and see how that changes things!

i am photographing hymenopterans that are smaller and more indistinguishable than you could possibly imagine

I'm also in Georgia and my university has a herpetology club that does nature walks, I love seeing your renditions of the species we usually see!!

I'm glad you enjoy the little guys I find!! There are so many wonderful species here that don't get much attention because they're easy to miss. I'd love to include more herps in my selection, but I have horrible luck finding anything that isn't a toad!

Have an anole for the road, one of the few non-toad herps that I see somewhat regularly:

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!

Really really love the additions to this—they're all very correct lol.

Most prey animals, especially birds, have a notable field of binocular vision. Binocular vision offers both enhanced vision quality and depth perception, which is why most predators have a larger field of binocular vision than prey animals. Predators need to know exactly where their prey is in relation to them and need to be able to accurately assess the state of the prey which requires depth perception and detailed sight. Prey animals need a large range of monocular vision to scan for movement and a small range of binocular vision to better assess the possible threat once it's detected.

One of the coolest things to remember is that because prey animals have eyes on the side of their head, they are looking at you when they're in profile, not facing you! Hot tip for artists and animal lovers!

Oh!!! I love!! Hehe admiring his reflection..

Treehoppers are so hard to come by, for me at least. I have lots of 2 species in my area, and likely more, but they're just so rare as adults lol! Interestingly enough, when I don't have a camera on me, they come and land on me. They know what I want, and how to not give it to me :(

Oak Treehopper (Platycotis vittata), taken October 23, 2024, in Georgia, US

A beautiful, freshly-peeled treehopper! This was my first time seeing one of these guys in person, and their colors are just magnificent. This species has two main morphs: one with a horn on the pronotum (one of the segments on the back) and one without. It would have been nice to see a horn-morph individual, but this one is nice as well!