This post came to me after my trip into Austin the other day to search for the Tropical Fire Ant Solenopsis geminata. Seeing it surviving on it’s own would have given me some satisfaction, but in fact I saw 4-7 young colonies in a single stretch. Seeing a ton of natives just dominating an trail, especially with a direct invasive counterpart present in the wider area just gave me a particular sense of hope, and a bit of pride in the natives. Not to mention that it’s been a huge bucket list item for me. It almost made up for the lack of those majors the species is known for.
I was wondering: Has anyone else experienced a similar sense of profound joy or hope in a seemingly ordinary, everyday natural observation? What “normal” sighting turned out to be a massive win for you?
As someone who identifies a lot of ladybug observations, I’m used to seeing the countless species through the screen, but not so much in person. So, whenever I find a ladybug out in the wild, I always get excited.
Last summer, I found a patch of plants that the ladybugs like to hang around. I’ve been able to return to this same spot over and over and still find more ladybugs, lots of different species too!
I love northern flickers lol. If it’s migration season and I dip on all warblers and flycatchers and other migrants on a birding outing, I usually am happy if I get a good look at a flicker