Psyllid (Genus Craspedolepta), Taken April 4, 2025, In Georgia, US

Smoky-winged Dancer (Argia fumipennis ssp. fumipennis), teneral female, taken May 6, 2025, in Georgia, US

Here I am again, filling my blog with damselflies... Update on these guys: the males are STILL brown. It's been 3 weeks!!! When will they turn purple?? They look nice brown as well, but they're not even the pretty brown they get when they're mature. When fully adult, females will become a nice golden brown and males become a vibrant violet, both having black patterning as well. It looks gorgeous, but right now all of them are this sad, pale brown. The day I see a purple male I am going to jump for joy and scare it away lol.

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!

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), juvenile, take May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little guy! I've been seeing this young fellow flying around the bird feeders for a few days and was finally able to get some good shots of him. I never see him with any parents, so I have no way of telling if he's a nest parasite or was raised by the local starlings, though the previous year the starlings raised their own babies, so I assume they did this spring as well. He's looking lively and healthy and eats on his own, so he's well on his way to becoming a strong adult!

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!

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.

Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata), female, taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

Behold: my first dragonfly of the year! This lady landed right in front of me on the creek bank, and who am I to say no to a dragonfly, especially one I didn't recognize? I would love to see more of these—the shade of brown on her is absolutely gorgeous! I presume that since mosquitoes aren't out much yet, she's eating other midges and the small caddisflies that are currently abundant here. Now that I know there are dragonflies out and about, I'll have to start checking all their favorite perching spots again!

False Mealworm Beetle (Alobates pensylvanicus), taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little beetle, as a treat. Look at this wonderful individual! I found him sheltering under pine bark I was peeling up, and I must have woken him up because he was very slow to start. It took me poking at him a few times (to check for life) before he decided he hated that, actually, and slowly lumbered underneath the log!

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!

Probably already been added by someone but I'm making this addition for the pair in my backyard specifically.

Northern Mockingbird, 9/10

I have allowed 1 point for the times they are nice, but 90% of the time this mf spends the whole day bullying everyone else off the feeders and not eating anything himself. WHAT is the POINT if you don't EAT.

Rating the birds in my backyard by tendency toward violence

Northern Cardinal, 4/10

I'm sometimes worried the male is sexually harassing the female but I'm pretty sure they're just doing some elaborate public pickup roleplay. The rest of us didn't agree to participate in your kink, guys.

American Robin, 1/10

Literally just some dude hanging out. Never bothered anyone but worms. Big fan of the way you just stand there in the middle of the grass like you forgot what you were supposed to be doing.

House Sparrow, 10/10

You're a gang. You're participating in gang violence. There's ten billion of you living in a single wood pile and it's been civil war for three years now. When will the bloodshed end?

Tufted Titmouse, 1/10

A shy baby. A pretty little guy. I saw you on the neighbor's garage roof and time stopped. There were anime sparkles around you. Come back.

European Starling, 9/10

Why is it always you? Listen, I know, I KNOW the sparrows are the problem, and YET. When the fighting starts, it's always you in the middle of it, provoking them and then screaming like you're an innocent bystander defending yourself. I'm onto you.

Carolina Wren, 3/10

This rating is not for physical violence, which you don't engage in, but for your role as an incurable narc. A tattle tale. I know they're fighting again, okay? I see it. Our yard has been a warzone for years, you don't have to make a big announcement every time someone misbehaves.

Eastern Wood-Peewee, 0/10

If this were "birds who think they're better than everyone else," you'd get 10/10.

Red-bellied Woodpecker, 6/10

It's a utility pole. It's not a tree. You're surrounded by trees that are full of bugs. But there you are, on the utility pole. Committing vandalism.

American Crow, unrated

For who am I to cast judgment on the actions of La Famiglia? I assume you are doing what is best for the neighborhood. If I could, though, without criticism, make a single observation. That when large numbers of you gather in the ominous dead cottonwood - no? No, you're right. None of my business.

Great Crested Flycatcher, 5/10

Frankly, I think you could be doing more. I think your name implies a great potential. I think you should massacre the insects. I think your beak should drip with viscera.

Stay tuned for more criminal activity!

Non-Biting Midge (Xylotopus par), male, taken February 26, 2025, in Georgia, US

Despite how he looks, this guy is very much alive and flew off shortly after I took these pictures! I swiped him out of the sky and shook him around in my hand to stun him so I could get pictures, hence his totally shocked appearance.

This guy is one of the cousins of the arguably less friendly mosquito! I really enjoy photographing midges, but as I'm not super knowledgeable of them yet, I mostly rely on IDers (THE IDer in the case of this family) on iNat to point me in the right direction. One of the first things I learned is that males of this family can easily be differentiated from females by their long, thin abdomens and big, fuzzy antennae! This is also the case for mosquitos and most other nematoceran flies, though it can be very hard to tell when it comes to groups like crane flies, who can be more reliably sexed by their abdomen!