Metric Paper Wasp (Polistes Metricus), Taken April 18, 2025, In Georgia, US

Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), taken April 4, 2025, in Georgia, US

Toads have begun to emerge from their slumber! Many are likely making their way to my koi pond, where they'll deposit thousands of eggs and screw up the water balance... I love them regardless, because getting to see them frolicking around the pond is fun lol. Lifting the filter cover and seeing toads swirling around is not fun, but they're usually okay!

Longhorn Beetles (Euderces pini), taken March 22, 2025, in Georgia, US

This guy is clearly having trouble keeping up with his lady. I originally thought these guys were carpenter ants and got closer to see why there were so many just hanging about and instead discovered half a dozen of these beetles all gathered around. The female must have sent out pheromones because she was surrounded by interested males. However, she was clearly taken, even if her suitor was struggling to keep up with her while she wandered!

Conifer Bark Beetles (Boros unicolor), larvae, taken February 26, 2025, in Georgia, US

I spent like two hours running around peeling the bark off of fallen pine trunks and found tons of these bad boys. I had no idea that they existed or what they were until I found them, but they're kind of epic! They remind me of if a beetle and an earwig had a child, but a termite became involved somewhere along the way. Just a weird mixture of morphological traits, though they're perfectly adapted for life under pine bark!

You can see the individual in the video almost snag the smaller insect as a snack. I came across one shortly after this eating a potworm!

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!

Now that it's spring, wet days bring out salamanders here too, which is a nice bonus lol! And thank you!

It sucks that I can't enjoy thunderstorms that much comparatively to a lot of other people, but as someone who currently lives in a tornado zone and whose hobbies include going outside and walking around looking for bugs, the thing I like most about rain is the immediate aftermath—otherwise it's just, like, a loud, stressful inconvenience to me, sadly

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US

Very cute and pretty brave, as is the case with most sparrows! This guy has a preferred spot directly underneath the feeder pole. It's a highly contentious seat, but he had it all to himself this time!

Coppery Leafhopper (Jikradia olitoria), nymph, taken April 12, 2025, in Georgia, US

A teeny leafhopper nymph on a flower stem! My favorite leafhopper species is finally returning for the year! I can't wait for these nymphs to grow larger and gain their bright colors. The ones in this area tend to be orange and green, though nymphs of this species are highly variable, also coming in yellow, tan, brown, black, red, and white. All young nymphs look like this individual, being very dark brown and, in later instars, gain their unique colors!

How cute!! I'm glad the males and females have finally reunited for spring! Down here they didn't spend the night, but we have a bunch of feeders so flocks of males were coming through constantly. It wasn't unusual to see 30 or 40 on the ground at once, milling around in a sea of black. It was incredibly loud! We also had the migrating robins visiting in the hundreds, and along with all the year-rounders it was a very very busy winter.

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), juvenile male, taken February 26, 2025, in Georgia, US

The last of the blackbirds are finally making their way out! Instead of hundreds in a day, we are now only seeing 1 or 2 stragglers stop for a snack. Kind of sad to see them go because they're beautiful, but I can also hear the song of other birds now that they're not screaming over them lol, so that's nice! The woods are quiet without them, but that's not such a bad thing.

Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta), juvenile, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

Behold, a spider belly! In even the smallest orchard orbweaver, the orange smiley on their abdomen is visible. This is diagnostic for the species, along with 3 stripes that run down their cephalothorax, one down the center and 2 on the margins, but that isn't visible here. Those markings allow you to differentiate the species from Joro Spiders, which look extremely similar as juveniles. A smiliar species, the Mabel Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge argyrobapta), is often confused with this one but can be distinguished (if not by range) by its blue hues and larger, more yellow smiley. This is only the case for some individuals, though, as females of the species are nearly identical and males can only be distinguished by the shape of their palps. Both are beautiful regardless!

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), male, taken January 23, 2025, in Georgia, US

There are currently several pairs of bluebirds sharing the feeders, but come spring there will only be one! They're quite territorial nesters with their own species, but they're easily beaten out by more aggressive species like starlings and house sparrows, which, along with several other factors, drove them to concerningly low numbers in the mid-1900's, going so far as to be listed as endangered in some states. Conservation efforts by professionals and the general public in the mid-late 1900's quickly caused a rebound in the population, and we are now seeing their increase slow, indicating they are almost at maximum population capacity!