Me too!
3 Likes
I’ve never not wanted to go to Peru. Marvelous Spatuletail!
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Definitly can recomend.
How in the world did you get a velvet ant to hold still long enough for a picture?
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Same as many other ants/critters, shoot in burst and hope that one or two hit focus.
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Ash-throated Flycatcher
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256296934
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That is a beautiful bird. Is it a northern species?
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He should be in southern Mexico/Central America right now. Very, very lost bird. Definitely took a “wrong turn at Albuquerque”.
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Jason, does your camera record 4K video? And better, can you change the shutter speed of the video? Almosy like burst mode except you get 30 ‘shots’ a second to choose from.
I saw a mountain beaver! Two, actually! But, sadly, no proof… they have the big burrow systems, which I didn’t know about, so I was sitting there with my camera, waiting to take a photo, and poof! They vanished!
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Lucky you! As houses were built where there used to be an orchard I barely see some deer and pheasants, without including perching birds.
And before the orchard there used to be a small pond, that attracted black crowned night herons, but that was in 2014 though 
Pics aren’t yet obs, these are the only cropped ones I could find. I’m hoping to make them obs when I find the non-cropped photos.
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The only new lifer this week was a muskrat. I’ve seen their lodges before and even the odd one scuttling about, but this is the first time I managed to get a photo. Not that great, alas. I wonder what it’s snacking on?
But the slow pace of life list sightings has made me more aware of the work of the army of dedicated Identifiers. I’ve had at least six species confirmed in the last two weeks that were observed mostly from last spring/summer but even some from the year before.
Maybe I should start a new ‘What is your Favourite Lifer THAT WAS IDENTIFIED THIS WEEK?’ thread.
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Yes! I get very excited when an old observation is IDed as something new to me, which I had no clue about. (Happens most often with insects, especially bees.)
I seldom make many observations in the winter, so I don’t get many lifers this time of year. But a lot of dedicated IDers are spending their winter going through old observations, so I do get that kind of lifer.
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Phycomyces sp.
Despite it growing on scat, it’s just so pretty. Looking at it from very close up, it looks almost looks like an alien landscape. And I’ve rarely seen a nicer yellow than in those immature sporangia.
These kinds of observations are the whole reason for why I love macro. :D
20 Likes
This was in a park about 20 minutes from where I live. At home, I mostly see songbirds and raccoons. I’ve seen deer a couple of times, and I think there might be a coyote or two where I live, but unfortunately, the cat lovers have gotten most of them killed :(
This dead gumboot chiton I found was a neat surprise. I’ve never seen one before, but I have wanted to for a while.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256450413
These were the first bering hermit crabs I have seen (at least I think they’re the first).
I’m not completely sure these are both bering hermit crabs, but I’m hoping someone on iNat can confirm my IDs.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256332985
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256333018
These sea snails were interesting. I’ve probably seen them in the past, but I’ve never posted any on iNat before.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256332992
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256332991
I also found the first bluespine hermit crab I have seen in many years.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/256333014
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I haven’t the faintest idea. How would I find out?
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I’m still smiling at the name of that one beetle – ‘superbum’
Man, it practically sells itself.