Ok, so this is from a couple of weeks ago but after living in Colorado for 10 years and spending a lot of time at Rocky Mountain National park, I found one of my top 3 targets here. I found a Canada Jay, which might not sound unique but the amount of time I put in to find this thing and some others is crazy. On top of that, this is a Rocky Mountain Jay which is from what I have heard, the most unique subspecies of Canada Jay out there and I’m happy I found it. It also happened to be a very cooperative bird which was very nice to take pictures with my phone (my camera is currently broken because a wave hit my camera when I was visiting Hawaii)
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Its exactly this. Anyone can say they have the appropriate experience, but its trickier to prove.
There was one time on this trip when I was up a ridge in bamboo forrest where a sudden downpour hit with high winds. Lots of bamboo snapped, and there was no way to see the already over grown path. My GPS also wasnt able to pick up a signal in the thick cloud. When things were happening, I found a safe enough place where I was unlikely to be hit by anything, and accepted a thorough drenching. I have enough experience to stay calm and ride it out. But it was really disorientating, the bush was thick enough, and changed enough I couldnt tell which direction I came from. There were no real visable frames of refference. I made several attempts to get through the fallen bamboo, but didnt have much luck. About 30 mins later my signal came back, and it wasnt so tough to get back to a good spot, and get out. That was sliding down some banky stuff, quite a bit of climbing, and quite a lot of crawling. But there were many things in that scenario that could have gone very wrong for someone with less back country experience.
In thick endless jungle, its easy enough to make mistakes. Mistakes cause many problems for everyone.
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I’m just glad that two out of the three were open to having it proven! Even that isn’t a guarantee anymore.
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I haven’t got any lifers this week but I’m hoping to get some new lifers this spring during spring migration.
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I saw my first horned grebe this week. It’s only the second observation on iNat for the entire Kachemak Bay area.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/258696581
EDIT: I also saw a sharp shinned hawk, but only after I already posted the grebe on this thread. So two great new birds in one week!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/258894649
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Not really from this week, but it was only IDed now. I had collected this individual for @pepe_rando, who suspected another species. Since then, he has IDed more photos, also by me, so it is not even a lifer :-)). Still, I am very happy and grateful.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/257370038
Now, I just have to learn to recognise it. Oh, by the way, it is Porcellio flavocinctus and not P. hoffmannseggii.
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This little louse: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/257896314 is the first observation of the species on Inat and one of the very few images of it online. I was suprised that the species hadn’t been observed before because they are extremely easy to observe, as any emu on the side of the road will be chock-full of them!
I also got a nymph(first one is an adult female): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/257895253
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Congratulations! Very exciting.
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Carolina Wren but this is just the first time I submitted a observation for one on INaturalist, I have seen them one time before but I couldn’t take a photo and heard them singing and calling so many times. This is because it’s the only thing that just became in my life list this week I’m pretty sure. So yea speck.
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Apparently the old garden’s not quite done coughing up the lifers! Passiflora, species TBD, but definitely not one I’ve had before.
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Congratulations! But, ummm, it is wise to get within grooming distance of an emu? 
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I was talking about road kill, probably should have clarified that lol!
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Safer than a cassowary. Relatively speaking, anyway.
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My family and I visited a beach about an hour south of Christchurch, New Zealand today and were fortunate enough to spot this huge mola!
It came in on the surf and flapped around on the shore for a minute or two before the tide dragged it back out again. As soon as it got back to deep enough water, it started flapping its tail fin hard to power itself away.
What a cool thing to see!
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I found a neat little moth inside my house this week. I was going to put him outdoors, but he hid inside a cupboard full of china and I couldn’t find him. I saw him the next day, though, and evicted him then.
Today I found the exact same species of moth (most likely the same individual, too!) inside (again!). Evidently it had snuck in with the firewood. A sneaky little fellow.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/259180817
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/259558501
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This is not a favorite in the sense of liking it; on the contrary, I find it disturbing. But it’s my first observation of bacteria.
The other day I discovered a House finch with Avian mycoplasmosis, a.k.a. “Finch eye disease.” (The picture is unpleasant so I’m not posting it here.) I could not see this with the naked eye while watching the feeder birds, but through the lens of my camera it was unmistakeable.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/259688526
In accordance with recommendations, I have take down my bird feeders for sanitization, and won’t put them back up for a while. It’s a grim reminder that I haven’t been careful enough.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a good article about the spread of House finches across N. America, the spread of Avian mycoplasmosis, and best practices for avoiding it:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/house-finch-eye-disease-outbreak-then-understanding/
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/259754407, a nice plant I’ve found the other day
IDs welcone
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I’ve seen a few new bird species! I won’t add any pictures, since my bird photography generally isn’t particularly stunning, but I’ll add links:
This Sharp-Shinned Hawk seen killing and eating a NOCA was awesome. It’s technically from last week, but I thought it was a Cooper’s Hawk until it was correctly identified yesterday. This is one I’ve been wanting to see, so it’s nice to finally have it on my list!
I saw this American Black Duck today at the Red Cedar River at Michigan State University. It was hanging out with some Mallards, and I think there were a couple of other ABDUs, but this was the best picture I got of one.
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Well done! It’s too cold windy today!
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/259134109
I saw some yellow-billed loons last Monday, which was pretty cool! They were in their winter greys, but still nice to see.
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