Here’s one I saw a few weeks ago, but the place I’m in is supposed to be a tropical rainforest!
Those legs are a spiders! The observation of the beetle is at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/313306564.
Those legs are a spiders! The observation of the beetle is at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/313306564.
11 Likes
They are really cool, I luckily have seen a few of those as well.. my favourite is rather similar to your target tortoise, from Ecuador as well but with just this one observation from that side of the continent (and interestingly in the middle of urban area on a roadside)
5 Likes
They do seem quite similar. In terms of low observation species in South America, big gaps dont surprise me. I have a few obs which seem to have big gaps also based on like 5 obs.
4 Likes
I was lucky enough to find mine on the underside of a leaf to a stubby little plant on a hiking trail–and it was pretty willing to get some pics! The first one quickly skedaddled before I could get anything good, and I didn’t pursue because it had been perched on a tall thin plant over a river 
3 Likes
Probably in the last couple of weeks is Rainbow Darter. Like I previously said, I got underwater housing for my camera and its opened up a whole new world. Rainbow Darters are super common now that I’ve been checking all of the creeks within an hour of me for things but they are just so darned beautiful and I haven’t even gotten to see them in their breeding colors in the summer. Darters are just so freaking cool.
11 Likes
Permit me to enter my time machine and travel w-a-a-a-y back to the year 1983, when I took this photo of the first Moose I ever saw:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/322450152
I am stretching my interpretation of the thread a bit to include it as a Lifer this week, because I only just scanned the photo and made an observation of it.
It was a lifer in the truest sense of the word, because I have remembered that moment my whole life since, as clearly as if it were yesterday.
And after all, this topic is all about the joy of encounters with new organisms!
9 Likes
Mile End Jumping Spider, my 13th species of jumpies!
16 Likes
This is probably my favorite, as well as the coolest:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/322595957
I was the only one to get a photo of this butterfly in the entire group! It’s a pretty rare sight here.
Also this pea blue:
9 Likes
I was admiring this juniper tree covered in “juniper berries” when I noticed a sharp brown contrast among the verdant greens and dusky blues. On a branch right at eye level I was able to get some decent photos.. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, a gall maybe? Circling the tree I saw another brown mass but this one looked spent / ripe.. again not sure what these were I took a couple more photos. After getting home and looking into associations with junipers in my area I’m pretty sure they are Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae aka Cedar Apple Rust. They look pretty wild when they fruit.. Ill have to keep my eye out for them next time im in that area..
12 Likes
Those have alternating generations: last year I observed this or a related species on its alternate host of Callery pear: cedar rusts (Genus Gymnosporangium) from Greenville, NC
3 Likes
Not this week but last week I found a broken white-tailed deer skull on the side of the road. I got a picture of the cranial sutures which was interesting. I was very happy to find it.
6 Likes
No it was the week before last week sorry
1 Like
Yesterday and again tonight I found a new moth on my “moth-walk”. Antilurga alhambrata only has 24 observations including my two.
9 Likes
This is my first time hearing about heteroecism.. a new rabbit hole to fall into!
1 Like
XD that’s what my mom would call anything that interfered with my studying
My knowledge of the Higgs Boson, heat death, and a whole range of other things all come from rabbit holes. iNaturalist is my biggest rabbit hole, though 
1 Like
I found what I think is bear scat, but I didn’t take a photo because the terrain (vertical) wasn’t too friendly to cameras.
3 Likes
Went to a bog today and found a pitcher plant!
Also:
American red squirrel
A rove beetle with a very long name
Some cranberries, poison sumac, and a pawpaw.
My first time going to a bog was not disappointing!
I didn’t realize pitcher plants grew in Ohio, so I was very excited when I got that opportunity.
20 Likes
Two young Liquidambares styracifluae in one day!
Both of them have a growth on the branches; I’ve known about this since I was a kid, when I didn’t know sweetgum from maple (their fruits are completely different, but their leaves look similar). Any idea what it is?
My first marsupial I observed the previous week, but it wasn’t identified as an opossum until last Monday. I originally thought it was bird bones.
5 Likes
Great Southern Bioblitz time. A new lifer for my local bird list: Arafura fantail (Rhipidura dryas).
19 Likes
I got a juvenile yellow-crowned night heron the other day. Seems they’re somewhat rare in my area (Middle Tennessee), so I feel lucky to have gotten to see it.
11 Likes