Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee (Colletes Thoracicus), Female, Taken April 19, 2025, In Georgia, US

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), taken April 1, 2025, in Georgia, US

Preening time! This dove sat and preened vigorously for several minutes, likely staying pretty for his partner! I love seeing the doves all puffed up like this. The local pairs will often sit in the morning sun all puffed up and warming up for the day—their little morning date :)

They stopped after I took this photo, I embarrassed them

🪲ID Guess: I-Mark Leaf Beetle (Calomela crassicornis) 🌿Date: 25/01/2025

Coppery Leafhoppers (Jikradia olitoria), nymphs, taken May, 2025, in Georgia, US

A small collection of J. olitoria nymphs to showcase how variable they can be, even when found in the same place! Even with all this color, some colorations are still missing—green and brown most notably. Despite their highly variable colors, these nymphs can still be easily IDed due to shared pattern traits and their signature curled posture, which they only share with a few other leafhoppers (in the US and Canada). I feel like a Pokémon collector trying to collect all the forms of this species' nymph when I put them all side by side like this lol!

i'm trying to write about The Wonders Of Nature again and it's like...such a Big thing that has a strangle hold on peoples brains its hard to articulate it powerfully enough to break down that barrier.

Essentially trying to say, "There is so much stuff in the natural world that is so beautiful and so cool it puts anything your imagination could come up with to shame. And I don't just mean in a remote jungle reserve somewhere, I mean where YOU live. HOME."

but it's just hard to convey the Intensity of it. cause im not exaggerating when I say that the coolness and fantastic beauty of the world so far exceeds the access most people have to information and experience of it, that starting to learn can provoke this kind of defensive reaction or even like. automatic dismissal or blindness to these experiences when they DO happen.

At least it happened to me. I remember when i was a kid a purple passionflower grew in our yard and i automatically assumed it was someone's weird garden plant that had escaped, rather than a wild plant that was growing naturally in its habitat.

it just kind of breaks the logic of the world I guess? why, in a world where purple passionflower grows by itself, would the landscape be a razed, sterilized wasteland of turfgrass maintained by homeowners that destroy every unfamiliar weed like theyre fighting off a zombie apocalypse

Shore Spiders (Pardosa milvina), male (left) and female (right), taken July 3, 2024, in Georgia, US

I only discovered after I was sorting through my photos from this trip that I had coincidentally gotten a male and female of this species in the exact same position, which helps emphasize their differences. You can see the difference in coloration, abdomen size, and palp size pretty well! This species is everywhere where I am, and they're especially prevalent on the shore of the creek, as their name suggests!

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), juvenile male, taken February 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

I believe I am in love with this beautiful fucking bird!!! Despite how pretty the males are, I might prefer the appearance of the female RW blackbird more. The brown tones and subtle red on the face are just gorgeous. This juvenile male has a combination of both sexes' best traits—intricate browns as well as a vibrant orange patch on the wing! Hopefully I'll be able to get more pictures before all of the blackbirds are gone!

Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii), taken February 13, 2025, in Georgia, US

He is assessing the situation after catching a lovely robin lunch! I saw him come in quick through the trees to land before he was spotted, and no watchful birds (blue jays, starlings, mockingbirds, etc.) were around to raise the alarm for everyone dining at the feeders. He swooped in fast and made a quick kill, then flew off after, perhaps to make it on time to a lunch date with a mate :)

Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis), female, taken March 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

This warm day brought out not only a big wave of pollinators, but also my first reptile of the year! I turned my back to go inside and switch lenses for pollinator pictures and happened to hear leaves brush against each other. When I turned around, I saw the moving leaves where this little lady landed and was able to get some nice pictures before she decided she wanted back on the tree she was originally on!

Chaos

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!