Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus Fowleri), Taken April 21, 2025, In Georgia, US

Cuckoo Wasp (Family Chrysididae), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

I fear my photography career has peaked with this one. I don't think I've ever seen anything so cute in my life. This little lady was simply just sleeping on the stem of a leaf, completely unaware of the fact that I was frantically taking as many pictures of her as possible. In the end, she put out a single antenna to sense me better but never ended up moving, so I'd say my attempt to not disturb her was successful! I had no idea cuckoos slept like this—it's adorable!!! One billion more, please!!

100% agree lol. I've gotten better over the years, but my astraphobia combined with liking to look at bugs and southeast tornado shenanigans makes storms suck a lot.

You're right that the best part of a storm is directly after when the sun has just started to come back out! A lot of insects that are usually flying out of reach are grounded from the weather and easy to photograph, and some that prefer wet weather are more common after rain. I remember going out the day after hurricane Helene hit last year and finding a ton of bugs I'd never seen before because everything was out of sorts from the unusual weather. It was a nice reward for weathering the storm!

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

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), male, taken March 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

A fun new birding lifer for me! This guy was a pain to photograph, though that's only partially because he was flitting around constantly and mostly because the sun was making it hard to see if my camera was in focus or not :'). I got some nice pictures, though, and a video of him singing I have to review. This bird's song is so quiet that I'm not even sure my camera picked it up over the ambiance. It's like a whisper!

Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita), male, taken April 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

The fragilist, but not the smallest, of forktails... This species is the third most common damselfly in my area, surpassed only by smoky-winged dancers and turquoise bluets. Despite their small size, they're actually much more amenable to being photographed than the much larger smoky-wingeds. All damselflies are skittish about being photographed, though, so I've been getting a lot of exercise in the form of lunges and squats while chasing these guys around! Sometimes it's not even me scaring them, but other damselflies chasing them off their spot!

Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon), male, taken May 14, 2025, in Georgia, US

My first skipper of the year, proudly showing his colors in the sunlight! Unlike most butterflies, this species displays very noticeable sexual dimorphism, males having bright orange/yellow blotches on their wings while females are mostly brown with some white spotting. They can often be seen perched on leaves, spreading their wings in the sunlight like little orange flowers!

Eastery Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), taken January 23, 2025, in Georgia, US

Just a little guy trying to stay warm. This picture shows off its soft underbelly quite nicely—it looks so comfortable! With how cold it is right now and the regular presence of several hawks in the backyard, there are few squirrels visiting the feeders. I never thought I'd say it, but I actually kind of miss them!

Double-banded Grass-Veneers (Crambus agitatellus), taken June 20, 2024, in Georgia, US

A peek at one of the many tiny white flying things in the average suburban lawn! Most of them are leafhoppers, but many of them are moths as well, especially grass-veneers. This species is particularly beautiful with its brown and black coloration and can be distinguished from others by the paired black bands on the latter half of the wings. You can even see some decent variation between these 3 individuals!

Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), taken September 2, 2024, in Georgia, US

Just a polite toad. Fowler's toads the most common Anuran I see in my area, but I always enjoy coming across them regardless. They breed like crazy in my koi pond every summer, and it's always fun to see the tiny froglets emerging from the water!

Red-headed Ash Borer (Neoclytus acuminatus), taken May 21, 2025, in Georgia, US

Another lifer beetle for me! It shouldn't be surprising, but it feels like everywhere I go I'm finding new longhorn beetles—round-necked ones especially! A lot are just the same colors recycled in different patterns, and I find it a bit funny. This guy was quite pretty and allowed me to take several photos before getting too shifty. I would also be bothered if a giant appeared and started manhandling the leaf I was sitting on, but this individual was brave and waited patiently for me to leave. How generous!

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!