The Ant People Are The Only Ones On Inaturalist That Consistently Use The "favorites" Button. Unfortunately

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), taken February 25, 2025, in Georgia, US

One of the birds that I guarantee you has been here the whole time, but I only noticed for the first time this winter. They blend into the ground perfectly, especially in the shade or when the weather is cloudy. Now that I know to look for them, I always enjoy seeing this cutie running about!

Metric Paper Wasp (Polistes metricus), taken April 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A beautiful, sleek wasp in the afternoon sun! This individual was an extremely good sport and let me get in very close for photos! Typically, paper wasps are a bit skittish and prefer to keep their distance, but this one just seemed curious. It's always a good day when a wasp stops buzzing around and lets me get some nice pictures! They're usually so busy that it's impossible to get anything!

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), male, taken January 11, 2025, in Georgia, US

The lighting in the photo made this bird turn out the bluest I've ever seen a bluebird. The males already get a gorgeous sapphire in the winter, but this takes it a step above! He was also a great model and sat nice and still for me!

Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis), taken April 27, 2024, in Georgia, US

Catbirds, I feel, are inherently chaotic birds. They always bring the party to the feeders when they bring the year's fledgelings! They also sound like fucked up little kittens. So there's that. But I always enjoy seeing them! They're pretty brave and always arrive in groups so there's lots of photo opportunities, which I of course appreciate.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US

Nature's police, fittingly blue-colored! Sometimes the jays will sound the alarm to get everyone to leave the feeders so they get VIP access to all the seeds. Sometimes the jay alarm call is actually a starling, and all of the birds get double-tricked!

Flatid Planthopper (Family Flatidae), nymph, taken May 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A little planthopper nymph on a blackberry stem! I'm not very good with IDing flatid planthopper nymphs, as most of them look generally the same. That's alright, though, because this nymph is cute regardless! I'm not sure how people get nice group photos of them—I only ever find nymphs alone. Maybe one day I'll be blessed with a giant cluster in an easy to photograph location. That's the dream...

Common Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), juvenile, taken September 2, 2024, in Georgia, US

I found this little guy while flipping rocks in my creek looking for salamanders! I'm obsessed with how the water makes his face look angry while he's submerged, but he's adorable and friendly looking when he pokes his head out. I don't see enough snakes! Literature says they're all around me, but clearly they don't want to be friends because they never show themselves!!

Marbled Oak Dagger (Acronicta marmorata) + wing detail closeups

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), taken May 20, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lovely crow yelling back to their partner who sits a few branches away. These two flew overhead and stayed a while to (I assume) yell about me from the trees. I think they were sandwiched between me on the ground and a hawk circling a little ways off behind them, and they clearly had a lot to say about it! They circled around above me a few times before continuing in the direction they were headed, and after they left the hawk started yelling instead. You can never have quiet in the woods!

Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), male, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lovely hover fly perching on a dandelion! Pollinators are out full force now, and that means that hover flies have more competition. Most hover flies have adopted a bee-mimicking appearance, likely to reduce competition and predation. This works a charm, as even most people can't tell the difference!