Oak Treehopper (Platycotis Vittata), Taken October 23, 2024, 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!

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!

Black Rat (Rattus rattus), juvenile, taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

The warming weather has brought with it new additions to the rat family living under the feeders, for better or for worse! I only saw one adult and two babies, though there were almost certainly more with how much rats reproduce. This little guy was very brave and came out pretty far to find fallen peanuts, so I was able to snap a shot of his cute face!

Wait a minute. Stink Bugs don't have a larva stage. They're just born as little guys and slowly get bigger as they get older??? 🥺

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!

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!

Domestic Cat (Felis catus), taken March 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

Random cat that lives in my neighborhood, probably a neighbor's. We have a few outdoor cats and strays that we see occasionally. This is the newest one. I almost poured water on it the night before because it was hiding in the shadows when I dumped aquarium water from my water change off the back deck! I apologized and clearly there's no hard feelings because it seemed very relaxed around me when I saw it again! Despite it roaming free, it's a really pretty cat!

Vetch Looper Moth (Caenurgia chloropha), taken April 2, 2025, in Georgia, US

It's new moth season! I'm seeing lots of inchworms dropping from the trees as well as lots of seasonal moths! It's nice to see something more than renia moths for once lol. This guy was a little skittish, but ultimately let me get some pictures. Most moths are much worse subjects!

Humpbacked Orbweaver (Eustala anastera), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some shots of a beautiful wild diamond... I intercepted her as she tried to web her way to the ground and placed her on a fallen tree in an attempt to get photos. Luckily for me, she curled up instead of running away! This spider is quite variable, some being brown like this and others having a coloration similar to lichen!

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), taken February 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

My feeder had a very large visitor this morning! Despite how close to the house it is, we get hawks perching on the feeder much more often than you would think. This guy spent over 20 minutes soaking in the late-morning sun and getting screamed at by hundreds of birds before he finally decided it was too loud. At one point a bluejay perched a few feet away in the nearby japanese maple and used up his entire arsenal of calls yelling at the hawk lol! It was extremely loud...

After a few minutes of him sunning, the smaller birds said fuck it and started eating again, and I got some decent video of him watching them flit around that I'll probably post later. I also got a video of him taking off, which I'll definitely post, but I have to figure out how to export the videos from my camera first! I've never taken video on this one before. So enjoy only photos for now!