What is your Favorite Lifer from this week?

My lifer this week is Galactia spiciformis, the fifth Observation of it on iNaturalist. (It is actually the sixth because I observed the same vine previously and linked them using data fields, but the other one has not been identified and likely won’t be given it lacks flowers.) This plant is native to Mexico but while CICY has a page for it, I cannot find a key for it (or much of anything, really), so I cannot say if it is uncommon or just overlooked.

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I observed my first thrush (American robin) on Saturday when I left the surveyors’ conference, at which I plugged iNat and mentioned my recent observation of a Virginia pine (it’s not a lot corner, but it is next to an iron monument, and is thus a witness). I don’t know which week to count it in, as I observed it on Saturday, but didn’t upload it and get it identified until the next day.

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That’s such a great part of iNat — the constant surprise of discovering something new :blush:

This week my favorite find was a species I hadn’t noticed before in my area — a tiny leafhopper with really vibrant markings that I almost overlooked at first. After taking a closer look and uploading it, I realized it was something completely new to me, which made the moment even more exciting.

I also love those situations where one discovery leads to another, like your aphids on the Phantom Orchids — little ecosystems within ecosystems. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has found this week!

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Found my first dipluran and a possible Satchellius mammalis recently!

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How cool! I love microleafhoppers! Welcome to iNat!

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Nice! Welcome to the Forum!

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i think it is this little guy

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/340169400

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Not a lifer to see, but an iNat lifer for me and the cherry on the top of a nice little walk around the neighborhood with my kids: I got some phone photos of a pair of eastern bluebirds.

I had been trying to take a picture of the MANY American robins that seemed to be everywhere, but my crew wouldn’t stand still and kept scaring them away. I finally settled for some mistletoe :joy: then when we were almost home, I saw this pair in a tree right next to the sidewalk. The kids moving and talking didn’t seem to bother them. I came home and immediately pulled out all of my birdhouses to put up. I would love to have a nesting pair in my yard!

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I had a bunch of lifers on Wednesday. Among those I considered for favorite, I was most impressed with the Florida Woods Cockroach (Eurycotis floridana). And I didn’t even get to experience the defensive spray that gives it another common name, the Florida skunk roach. :grinning_face:

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2 weeks ago… ORCAS!!!

Identified as T124A2 and offspring. Still have to upload a ton of stuff from my trip to Seattle.

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Awesome! Especially when you get to observe a wild animal that has a name! (Or at least a serial number.)

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Two different millipedes!



After the conference, I headed to church, where I heard a wren, didn’t even bother taking pictures of some Lagerstroemiae which were obviously planted in a row, and headed to a friend’s house. The next morning, I heard a flicker (woodpecker, different from what I heard before) intrude in a cardinal’s song.

Heading out somewhere on Wednesday, I heard a chickadee along with a cardinal.

Heading out to a meetup on Thursday, I noticed daffodils and what CV says is jasmine. Looks like spring, though technically it’s still winter for a few more weeks.

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An East Atlantic Sally Lightfoot Crab, or Cangrejo Moro as it’s known locally. Perhaps one for the long and unusual names thread.

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I might’ve got an iNat first aphidiine wasp!

Also this other wasp which only has 4 observations globally!

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I went to Florida a couple weeks ago and got a bunch of lifers! My favorites were Roseate Spoonbills and Florida Scrub-Jays!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/340869131

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I almost ignored it as i walked by thinking I already took a picture of it. I’m glad I backtracked and took a picture anyway. Ischnura heterosticta (Common Bluetail)

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A really sweet moth which went unnoticed for probably more than an hour until it was almost crushed by a chair! I was given a few odd looks for randomly photographing something on the wall but definitely worth it! Still not too sure about the ID, but it’s a lifer!

Maltese bloom (Isturgia disputaria)

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Finally I’ve got a lifer again! A beetle, and not Chrysomelidae as I first thought but Meloidae.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/131041-Leptopalpus-rostratus#map-tab

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Berthelot’s Pipit - I went for a walk on Monday and found a Berthalot’s Pipit sitting on an advertising hoarding. A new lifer for me, Hooray! But, it was at a distance, it started raining and the bird flew off quickly. I did manage to get an identifiable picture, but nothing good.

I returned to the same spot the next day. No sign. Just as I said to my wife, “I knew it was too hopeful to expect it to be here again”, a pair of them flew down and landed on the same hoarding. This time, I got some better shots before one of them flew off. I carried on through. Just as my wife said to me “I wonder where the other one went”, it flew straight back. So two coincidences with one observation. Then a Kestrel landed on the other end of the hoarding disturbing them, but one of them flew nearer to me rather than flying off, so I got an even better view.

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This observation is from last Saturday. Since I already posted a favorite from last week, it’s cheating a bit to post this one, but I can’t let it go by without recognition. Lots of butterflies have been playing hard to get (particularly since there aren’t many flowers blooming in Florida to keep pollinators busy), but this one at least stayed in the general area long enough for me to capture a good photo.

Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Heraclides cresphontes)

My immediate impression was that this was the largest butterfly I had ever seen in the wild and Wikipedia confirms that it is, indeed, the largest butterfly in North America.

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