I’m unlikely to go observing this weekend, but I think I 've got my favourite already:
A not insignificant reason for choosing the yellowhammer is that after struggling to get a proper focus on grey partridges with their camouflage as well as desperately trying to find the skylarks I could hear around me, a bright yellow, not shy at all and inquisitive ball of joy was a blessing.
I mean, even if it was released after it was caught, I feel like it probably wouldn’t survive? Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t most of these deep water fishes basically… explosively decompress when they get pulled up, and that’s why they usually look like garbage when they’re topside
Is there an actually way to do that? and that is a really neat observation! Hopefully the new observer is hooked now!
I don’t know why, but these are my fav butterflies. I’ve only seen one in my life.
My personal fav from the week: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162408846
Yellow Pimpernel
Was walking through the woods for some cave bio work, and spotted it, naturalist friend who knows her botany well told me what it was :) It’s not rare but not common, and in our state, it is listed as critically endangered. It was just the cutest plant ever!
Yes, we don’t know the circumstances that brought it up to the surface, but it probably was in distress before it was ever hooked by a fisherman on that pier. Maybe that bright red color isn’t natural, but a sign of blood vessels bursting from decompression.
Sure, iNaturalist Staffer @tiwane writes the iNatBlog. Just send him a message with your suggestions.
This was the first time I’ve tried that! 
Cool! Hey I agree with Larry, that would be excellent observation of the day/week :D
I’m on a 13 day observation streak after I lost my previous one of 25 days in April. My favorite sighting in the last week was not a lifer, rather my 2nd ever male Phengodidae https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162091885
My favorite lifer of the week is this white and gold moth in the genus Leucoptera or Paraleucoptera, which was a whole new family for me and the only verifiable sighting of Lyonetiidae in New Mexico on iNaturalist! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/162091927
Two days ago just saw my first Chesnut-sided Warbler. Most neotropicals have left by now but not all.
It’s warbler week for me, here in Niagara. I added 3 new ones to my list.
But by far, the cutest award goes to this little guy, a Bay-breasted who just hopped right in front of me when I wasn’t even looking for him. (Don’t you just love ‘naturalist freebies’?)
Just saw one of those for the first time last week, though I didn’t get photos even close to this nice. What beauties they are!
Been getting really into dragons and damsels this summer. Here’s a female Eastern Pondhawk, which was a lifer for me:
That gold moth is a stunner! Listen, would you mind if I tried a little of my photo rescue skills on seeing if I could get you some crisper focus?
Yesterday I went on a birthday visit to Roosevelt Island and found two lifers, a plant and a toad.
The plant was a very big Asian creeper, Fallopia baldschuanica, the Bukhara fleeceflower.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163042860
And the toad was a very cute little Fowlers Toad, Anaxyrus fowleri.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163041734
4 days in Georgia with a bunch of nice lifers that would easily take the prize most weeks.
Transcaucasian long-nosed viper, Caucasian toad, European roller, Caspian green lizard, Mesobuthus eupeus, Empusa pennicornis, Micrommata virescens, Phelypaea coccinea, Libelloides ustulatus, Nocarodes serricollis, etc.
Even a vertebrate iNat first: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163144310
Yet it was not even close
Count me in also as a huge fan of those moths. The colors! The metallic appearance! The “fur”!
It may not seem very exciting but I always knew there’s three local species of petasites: albus, hybridus and paradoxus. I found plenty of albus and the occasional hybridus - but despite keying out plenty of petasites plants all throughout spring (they all look very similar) never found a paradoxus.
When I saw lots of petasites on Saturday I didn’t even bother to check and just took pictures of one and assumed it must be albus or hybridus - except when putting it in inat at home the CV had paradoxus as top choice. And indeed, going through the key again - I finally found one!
I absolutely adore this little white tiger moth I found! No one can seem to decide on what it is but I’ve never seen anything quite like it so I think it counts.
Also I’m not sure if this ant is a lifer yet or not but I’m going to give it an honorable mention anyway for being such a wonderful model (along with its little bee friend)! :)
This one was back from the CNC period, but it is interesting that this is so far the only observation of this beetle in the Americas (the reason being may be found in the comments)!
I went observing pretty late by my standards, hoping to catch some mammals around sunset. All I found on that front were cats, but honestly this crested tit more than made up for it!
I seem to have caught it right after its evening bath, at first from afar I thought it was a dishevelled blue tit covered in muddy water, but as I got closer I noticed what it was and got very excited.
