From a distance, this grasshopper looks so much like a bit of plant debris – a bark chip, a fragment of twig, a flake of dried leaf – I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t watched it alight:
But zoom in, and the detail work is amazing:
I am happy to say that my outings during the CNC period has produced a plethora of lifers! I’d love to share all of them, but that’s going to be quite a scroll:
Let’s start off with some moths!
The patterning of this Archips argyrospila certainly impressed me:
And so does this Mathildana newmanella:
This Monopis longella was literally my last observation of the CNC:
Of course, this Emmelina monodactyla certainly makes up for its drabness with its fantastic plumey posture:
My favorite Hemipteran lifers happen to be all treehoppers:
In terms of beetles, Brachys ovatus is one of the larger Buprestids I have encountered:
I just took a few record shots of this since I thought it was something I saw before, but upon returning home I realized it was a Platycerus quercus:
I saw a number of these Podabrus sp. hanging around, and this one has a small parasitoid wasp next to it:
There is a certain adorableness to this Copelatus sp.:
I did not see many spiders this time round. This Peckhamia sp. is certainly a good ant-mimic:
I definitely did not expect to see a stonefly, but having seen this next to a river this probably was a good a place as any to find them:
Finally, I was able to get some bird observations too!
This Spotted sandpiper was an unexpected find:
And I often see swallows fly about but never had the opportunity to record them until now; these are Northern Rough-winged Swallows:
Two weeks ago I found a nice bunch of moths at Brazos Bend. Moths and various insects were all over the walls of the nature center. The emerald moth was a delight, but my fave was this painted lichen moth (observation).
Last weekend I went to Corpus Christi. I’d been hoping to spot a yellow-billed cuckoo for years, I’ve listened to recording of their calls and when I saw sightings occur in Austin I’d go out to check, always in vain. I finally spotted one last Sat., and it was even sitting still out in nice light. (observation)
I also have been trying to get out to the Rockport area during the winter for years to see whooping cranes. I skipped getting out there in the winter twice due to ice storms, and once due to terrible work things happening, but we finally saw one even though we weren’t actually expecting it. An honorary favorite since you have to love seeing whoopers in the wild. (observation).
Not a lifer, but I just found a painted lichen moth on my back door, and as far as levels of wonder and delight at recent finds go, it’s pretty close to the cuckoo, perhaps a little higher since what a moth.
A few of these are just over a week old. Hope that’s ok.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/157725956
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/157726280
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/156634855
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/156035446
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/156067971
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155893623
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155937086
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155936483
Well the City Nature Challenge just finished last weekend and I got plenty of new lifers:
Florida Cottonmouth:
Banded Watersnake:
Echo Moth (Didn’t get a great photo):
Palm Flatid Planthopper:
I found lots more cool stuff but I won’t get carried away…
Caddisfly or moth?
I love Yellow-billed cuckoos. I believe they are a beautiful bird. I saw one very recently and they’re all migrating North now.
More than a week ago I saw my first Blackburnian Warbler. This weekend also saw my first Sooty tern (a stunning species in my opinion), and two days ago I saw some sort of Catharus thrush (definitely a new one for me), a Solitary Sandpiper on a pond, and a Yellow-winged tanager.
Hmmm, good question, I have not thought about this before. I personally don’t see how this can’t be a moth. The scales that are ubiquitous for all Lepidoptera can be seen relatively clearly here (hopefully). Caddisfly wings are indeed covered in hairs, but not scales. Those labial palps are also pretty distinctive for the superfamily Gelechioidea I believe. Now I do agree the overall shape is quite caddisfly-like (Trichoptera is a sister order to Lepidoptera), but keep an eye out for those scales (as well as that proboscis if possible, if you spot those two features on the insect, I’d think it’s safe to tick Lepidoptera…unless I’m forgetting some other order). I don’t think any other insect order possess them. Now in the case of photos that aren’t clear enough to see those scales, well…hmmmm…I don’t have a good answer now, for me it just comes from some experience having seen lots and lots of moths both in the web and out in the field, but hopefully you have taken a look at a number of research grade photos of Mathildana newmanella too?
Not a full on lifer, but a lifer for Washington state - White-tailed Kite!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/159531229
This species has been my #1 dream bird to see in WA for years. They used to be fairly regular up until the early 2010s, but I think a major ice storm we had at the time drove them all away. At least that’s the theory I remember reading. Now we get maybe one or two a year? I’ve chased them in the past but without success, but today I was successful!
Nobody would see it as a caddisfly I hope, palps alone scream it’s a moth, and nothing else matters after that.)
Here, isn’t this just the most exciting species you’ve ever seen? Not the plant, the leafminer, that is.
The miner is Pseudodineura parva, a sawfly. Here’s the observation. Thanks to @ceiseman for teaching me this species!
That’s true. 
Finally a Least Bittern today! I don’t have a photo though. I didn’t take my long lens camera since my neck/shoulder is sore. Here’s my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S136045912 . I took some plant photos including a few lifers. I’ll post them on iNat when I have time. Now I just need to see an American Bittern (dipped a couple times) and I’ll have seen every species of Ardeidae in the US (not counting vagrants).
Hrd to summarize last weeks of discovering insects, but I’d choose a first for iNat fly, a family of moths with 4 species on me so far and a tiny daddy-long-legs I looked for for ages! There were also many species with less than 10 obs on iNat and iNat first for the country, but it’s hard to find them all at once to even choose!
Wow! Gorgeous moths 
Ovenbird and a ground beetle are the only two this week! But both are welcome.
I’m going out early as heck tomorrow to look, once again, for timber rattlers…maybe this’ll be the year.
A couple of lifers, no great photos.
Here’s a great-crested flycatcher, a true lifer I’d never seen before:
I also photographed myrtle warblers and a Baltimore oriole for the first time, and photographed… this. Is it a warbler? Is it a goldfinch? Who knows:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/159985903
