Wildlife photography of all kinds in no particular chronological order... call me North!All photos posted are taken by me, and everything that appears here is documented on iNaturalist as well.
242 posts
Latest Posts by northerlyy - Page 8
Rough Stink Bugs (Brochymena arborea), taken September 17, 2024, in Georgia, US
My favorite stink bug friends to see around!! There's honestly nothing about them that really stands out, but they have neat spiny protrusions on their shoulders that can be used to ID the species and cool camouflage for life on trees! Occasionally I'll see a fresher adult that's almost completely black and white instead of brown, which looks pretty neat!
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), taken February 11, 2025, in Georgia, US
The wrens and sparrows prefer this one specific area underneath two bushes for foraging. Luckily, if I sit in a specific spot, it's the perfect distance for them to feel comfortable while also being close enough that I can get decent pictures! The greenery brought on by the grass coming back in suits the sparrows well, I think!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US
The "king" part of this bird's name has certainly gone to their heads. I've seen these little guys pick on some pretty big birds, with notable success. It pays to be little and mean in the bird world!
Downy Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens), males (1 & 3) and female (2), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US
Their youthful looks and shiny eyes captivate me... They just make such good photos lol! There's so many of them here that I honestly don't know how often I'm photographing the same individual. The male here is the same one, but once they leave the feeder it's impossible to keep track!
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US
Getting a tasty sip of water! He was nervous to drink with me there and sat in a tree eyeing the bird bath for a few minutes, but he was brave and took the risk! Once he realized it was fine, he even came back for seconds later. His little drinking face is very cute!
European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), taken February 10, 2025, in Georgia, US
The starlings are getting pretty for spring!! I can't wait to see their full gloss come in—they're such gorgeous birds. I'm definitely a big fan of this in-between with both winter spots and a subtle colorful sheen, though!
Magnolia Green Jumping Spider (Lyssomanes viridis), juvenile male, taken February 7, 2025, in Georgia, US
This streak of warmer weather has reawoken the magnolia greens, and I am very happy to see them again! I saw two individuals this day, both juvenile males. This one was very nice about jumping at the camera, while the first one proceeded to climb up my phone, onto my arm, and into my hoodie sleeve. I took off and inverted my hoodie, but I never found him so I suppose he dropped to the ground somewhere. His tricks worked for once!
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!
Globular Springtail (Ptenothrix renateae), taken February 7, 2025, in Georgia, US
I spent about half an hour yesterday inspecting a wet, rotten log and found some absolutely epic looking springtails!! This guy is probably my favorite of those finds, but I also found a different black and gold one who from the naked eye literally just looked like a speck of dust. The only reason I saw him was because he was on a pretty smooth spot of wood and he was running like mad. When stuff is that small, it really helps if it's moving!
Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum), male, taken September 5, 2024, in Georgia, US
In terms of dragonfly season here, these guys fly really late, right about at the end. I think this was actually one of the last ones I saw last year—he was definitely the last I photographed. What a fiery way to end the season, though! This guy is gorgeous, and he posed very well for me! Sometimes I swear bugs want me to take their pictures, and who am I to say no to such a handsome guy?
Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa), taken August 25, 2024, in Georgia, US
This is about the only sphinx moth I can ID from memory, which is kind of sad, but I don't see many of them so I have no reason to become better at ID! I happened to look down while perusing the grasses at the edge of a creek and saw this guy hanging about. This species is gorgeous, and I especially love the orange stripes on its shoulders. Hopefully I find more this year, though larger moths tend to elude me!
White-jawed Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata), juvenile, taken October 8, 2024, in Georgia, US
Videos of jumping spiders jumping at my camera are one of my favorite nature-related things to collect. On top of it being adorable, there is also variation in how each spider approaches the jump, especially their windup. I like scrolling through and looking at how all of them differ as individuals! This one was pretty calm about it, but I sometimes get jumpers who only aim with one leg, or even wave their legs around wildly while preparing to jump!
Common Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa), taken July 25, 2024, in Georgia, US
The most common slime mold in my area! This particular colony lives in a rotting tree trunk and has a bloom of fruiting bodies if it rains hard enough, always in the same spot. I find slime molds fascinating—they're just so weird and unique! Under a macro lens like this, they look like something from an alien planet!
Wilke's Mining Bee (Andrena wilkella), taken July 12, 2024, in New Hampshire, US
I always love getting pictures of hymenopterans stuffing their little faces in flowers! This bee was a little skittish but ultimately found a flower she liked enough to eat off of while I photographed her.
Northeastern Hammertails (Efferia aestuans), females, taken July 15, 2024, in New Hampshire, US
I have too many pictures of these things... They were the beginning of my love of robber flies! You can't see in these images, but females of this genus can be distinguished from males by the large blade-like ovipositors on the end of their abdomen, while males have a white strip on the abdomen and a large hammer-shaped bulge on the end, hence their name! Two of these ladies are enjoying tasty moth (left) and plant bug (right) meals, while the third looks to have recently had a meal herself, if her enlarged abdomen is anything to go by!
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), taken January 30, 2025, in Georgia, US
My best raptor photos yet! It's not very often that they sit long enough for me to get any decent photos. This guy was being harassed by a crow and was kind enough to sit and let me take pictures while he yelled back. This hawk is part of a pair that's been in my woods for probably almost a decade (if it's the same pair, that is)! They've had to relocate their nesting site in recent years due to neighbors messing with trees, but they seem to be having success still, which is great!
Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Just a mom and dad trying their best. The individual in the top right image, who I believe is mom, seems to have used some of her breast feathers for their nest. During breeding season, they're pretty territorial of the feeders, but not so much that nobody else can eat. In recent years, they've actually chilled out. The dad used to sit on the feeder for up to an hour chasing other birds off but never eating himself!
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Just a beautiful, solid sparrow! The more I photograph them, the more I come to like sparrows. They're much more colorful than they seem from afar, and I love all of their intricate patterning! This individual sat very politely for me, what a champ.
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Behold, the Georgia state bird! Quite pretty, but also will throw all of your woodchips/mulch onto the sidewalk to get to the tasty bugs inside. I suppose they're living up to their name by giving the landscape a thrashing...
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), juvenile, taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Fledgeling season is so fun when there's a bird bath because you get to see baby birds have pool parties! This particular individual injured its leg in some way and lived exclusively at our feeders for weeks, eating seeds off the ground and begging for handouts from any adult bird who got close lol. Surprisingly, it didn't get picked off and its leg ended up healing, so we got to see it reach adulthood with its siblings!
Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
The chipmunks here have a deep and sophisticated network of tunnels spanning all around my house. They could be anywhere, at any time. Sometimes this means lots of good pictures! Other times this means seeing stripped corn cobs from the squirrel feeder 100ft out back in my front yard and knowing who did it.
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), taken June 28, 2024, in Georgia, US
Pondering, I believe. Sometimes life is just sitting on the edge of the bird bath and overlooking the koi pond a few feet ahead.
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!
Downy Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens), juvenile males, taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Preparing for this spring and staving off the baby bird withdrawals by posting all of my spring 2024 stuff... Downy fledgelings are the cutest! The babies always look lost, slightly to extremely ruffled, and love looking cutely into the camera because they don't know what the fuck that thing pointing at them is!!
Tube-tailed Thrip (Genus Neurothrips), taken January 30, 2025, in Georgia, US
What a cool tiny beast!! I can't get over the fact that he wagged his little tail at me... So cute! In reality this guy is about 2 1/2mm long, so he's not very ferocious—unless you're a fungus! Most thrips, like this one, feed on fungus, but some are known to cause some damage to crops in large groups. I suspect this individual is N. magnafemoralis, but I don't know enough about thrips to be certain. The genus is certainly distinctive, however! Little boneless dinosaurs!
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina ssp. carolina), juvenile, taken May 25, 2024, in Georgia, US
Literally the most tiny and pathetic thing I have ever seen in my LIFE. Its eyes are too big for its tiny turtle head!!! It was in my front lawn moving Southeast, maybe for spring migration purposes, so I helped it across the road. When I picked it up it let out the most tiny and pathetic squeak of a hiss I have ever heard. Absolutely precious.
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.
Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis), taken January 29, 2025, in Georgia, US
Nobody was very brave today aside from a couple robins and a mockingbird that gave me the stink eye. These chickadees chased each other around a good distance from me, though! Along with downy woodpeckers, they're usually the bravest around people, at least at bird feeders!
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!!
Banded Snipe Flies (Chrysopilus fasciatus), males, taken May 26, 2024, in Georgia, US
What handsome flies! These guys only fly for about a month here, but I love to see them while they're in season! I've yet to see a female, but maybe someday I'll get lucky and see a pair breeding!