What is your Favorite Lifer from this week?

It was a surprising week for me. The discovery of lots of crawlies in a half-fogotten pedestrian tunnel in a local park was a great boost, certainly at this time of year.

In that spirit, a few days before I spotted this in my local wood park:

There was a gash in a small tree trunk and sap was running… and so were the Winter ants!

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I was organizing old photos today and found a few worthy of uploading. So, this sort-of counts as an iNat lifer https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143381221

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This bugger here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143505036 No clue what it was when I saw it (firefly?? beetle???) Glad someone here had a name for it!

And not from this week (earlier this month) but I was very impressed with real-life Kudzu in Japan. I’ve heard lots about it but never saw it directly: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143452964

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Saw my first Western Leopard Toad this past Thursday 01 December!

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I have lots more lichen lifers from this week, but it’s hard to pick just one favorite so I’ll instead pick this very hungry springtail I literally found between the lichen and which is also a lifer (and who may or may not have eaten some of the lichen).

observation is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143610053
and video of grooming himself and eating is here: https://flipping.rocks/@elias/109453261242698097

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Great spotted and booted eagles!


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It’s been raining more or less all week. Even though it’s really necessary, I don’t enjoy it much. But it makes fungi grow. So I saw this Astraeus hygrometricus for the first time.


https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143951345

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This Roger’s Pygmy Snapping Ant (Strumigenys rogeri)

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Looking through more photos from before I joined iNat … so not a true lifer but worth sharing
Anthopleura xanthogrammica (Giant Green Anemone) from Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, Douglas County, OR, USA

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I’m borrowing a camera, so my photos look a lot nicer and I’m finally able to photograph birds.

Blunt Woodsia: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144630004

American Sycamore: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144630002

Bacterial Crown Gall: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144629540

Rock Polypody: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144629409

An Exidia species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144628795

Tufted Titmouse: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144628145

Great Blue Heron: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144560741

European Starling: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144545224

Mallard (not a lifer, but I’m proud of this photo): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144561340

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I’m still fascinated with lichen and finding more stuff on and between them… and while it’s probably weird this red fungus is my favorite lifer of the last week or two.

It just was so red and strange and something I had never found before, a lichenicolous fungus eating its host lichen: Illosporiopsis christiansenii

Also, maybe that’s common with fungi, but if you check taxonomy of this species on inaturalist it has no family and most mushroom sites in Google list the family as unknown :open_mouth:

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I think I observed about 20 lifers this week, most of the records are on eBird if you know me or follow our work in Ecuador.

standouts were definitely seeing a King Vulture for the first time, I couldn’t believe my partner could see it, the sun was very bright and the birds were extremely high in the sky.

we had the pleasure of encountering one of the rarest hummingbirds in the world, the
Esmeraldas Woodstar in 4 completely unique locations and habitats over the past week.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144791534

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We are visiting my family in Sydney for Christmas. So I’ve had lots of firsts in my parents’ backyard this week, including the following.

This amazing turreted wraparound spider (Dolophones turrigera). The only reason I spotted it was because I happened to notice it dangling from a thread before it scurried back up to its perch.

This beautiful empty cocoon of what seems to be a Charops sp. ichneumonid wasp.

This Odontomyia hunteri.

This spectacular leaf beetle.

Among lots of others!

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Whenever I think now I’ve seen all the insane animals you have in Australia …

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You should be; that’s a fantastic photo, and your Great Blue Heron series is gorgeous as well.

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Thank you! I really appreciate it.

This little trio of Brown-headed Cowbirds!

I just happened to look out the window because I heard some grackles. Wasn’t expecting this little group of ladies to be out there too!

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They’re so much more unusual here in Florida, so nice one!

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I saw a Marsh Harrier for the first time, unluckily I couldn’t take a photo, typical. :pensive:

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This observation is already from the 17th Dec, so more than a week ago.
When I saw it, I thought, that it looks interesting but will probably never be identified, because I had no idea if this “growth” was induced by a virus, a bacterium or some kind of insect. And I didn’t know the plant either.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144568816
But already the CV came up with a suggestion, which turned out to be correct and which identified the plant as well - so two lifers! Aploneura lentisci & Pistacia lentiscus

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