Round-necked Longhorn Beetle (Clytus Ruricola), Taken May 2, 2025, In Georgia, US

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!

Made awkward eye contact with an Osprey flying overhead today

Tube-dwelling Spider (Ariadna bicolor), female, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

Well, good news is that she definitely is living in a tube! Bad news is that it is no longer inside the log she was in, but instead on the chunk of wood I ripped off the log. This provides and excellent view of the nest structure, but doesn't serve very well as a home anymore. I put the wood chunk back as well as I could, but whether it was good enough is still up in the air!

Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), taken October 6, 2024, in Georgia, US

I hiked a mountain and these guys were all over the top! Before this, I'd never seen this species despite living only 20 minutes from this mountain. They must prefer the more arid, primarily pine forest as opposed to my creekside, primarily deciduous one. I've been up this mountain several times before, but I guess I never cared to look for microfauna before. Not sure how I missed these guys!

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), juvenile, taken May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

A disheveled young cardinal stopping for a few sips! Someone had been in the bath prior and made it absolutely filthy with dirt, but this guy didn't really seem to mind. The bath water is replaced daily, but it tends to get dirty pretty fast if there are lots of baths in a day. The birds could just go to the koi pond literally 5 feet away, but I guess it's too scary for everyone but the song sparrows!

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!

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!

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!

woke up this morning to ABSOLUTELY NO BIRDS WHATSOEVER when we always have a couple dozen every morning

Waited half an hour and still none

No squirrels either, no woodpeckers, no chickadees, not a single junco

What the fuck is going on