Monday and Tuesday this week had the two biggest low tides of the year for my area and I went to the beach both days, so as you might guess, I got quite a few lifers. It’s very hard to choose a favorite out of so many cool species, but the one I probably liked best was this really cool little nudibranch.
Awesome find! Also added to Masters of Mimicry: Pseudo-Salticidae
What? There are two projects for this?
Last week we took our-of-town guests to see the ruins at Dzibilchaltún, and because I was tired from a wedding the night previously that had gone until 3 AM, I begged off climbing and instead found a lovely place to sit and be still.
Then I realized amongst the low growth between the ruins were growing small aster family flowers here and there. I fairly ran to get photos and was excited to upload an Observation.
I was rewarded to find this plant has one of my favorite things: a chicken-based common name (long story), Ojo de Gallo (rooster’s eye)! This sweet bloom is Sanvitalia procumbrens, which is not rare but a new species for me.
(edit to take out image because I did the thing where I put the image from the Observation (amazon image) and then “system” downloaded it so it was hosted on discourse? Sorry! Obviously I do not know how to add photos correctly.)
Over the weekend, I got my first American Bitterns, which I’ve been looking for for a while.
Yesterday I got my first recording of the calls of an ovenbird
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/278481060
I don’t think this is as cool as actually seeing the bird but it still counts as a lifer for me.
My species list is going up steadily at the moment.
A new spider for me, which I never observed before in northern Germany due to its southern distribution
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/277323646
My favourite non-spider lifer, which was tricky to get a shot.. but as I knew this was something special for me, I insisted on getting that observation in the end 
My only lifer of the week :(
Vesper Sparrow - Point Pelee National Park
Hehe just kidding: A lifer’s a lifer!
What a ridiculously sweet bird. Is it as tiny as it looks?
I don’t understand where the joke is.
“My only lifer of the week :(”
Oh, 
Yes, quite small. I didn’t understand why there were ~20 birders huddled around it until I realised it was the Vesper Sparrow!
Finally!
I’ve seen kestrels lots of times over the years, but ALWAYS while driving.
Today, I finally got close to one while walking. Whew!
Worth the wait though. What a gorgeous bird.
Catching up with observations from the CNC, this Northern Threetooth (Triodopsis tridentata) earned the title of my favorite lifer by being the first iNat observation of its species in Cortland County, NY. The Computer Vision Model is still pending for this species, so this observation brings us a step closer to including that.
An honorable mention goes to this Oak Stag Beetle (Platycerus quercus) which obliged me by getting caught in a spiderweb as I was walking by.
Technically not a lifer in a way, seeing as I think I once glimpsed one in the very early hours of the morning, and I found a flight feather in the pool where I used to live many years ago, but just now, I heard a Great Horned Owl for the first time!
I got 13 observations today, which is unusually many for an excursion close to home on a familiar route. My favorite is this leaf covered with what I think are Genus Neuroterus. The CV suggests Neuroterus tantalus, which the taxon page says forms galls on White Oak. That makes sense because the host here appears to be Swamp Chestnut Oak, which is in the white oak group.
These weevils were pretty neat, especially considering that this is the first iNat observation of this species in my state and only has 19 observation in total.
