Added another ladybug species to the lifer list :)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191320642
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I had never heard about it but a month ago someone posted a Lunularia picture from Texas in the inat discord and I read that it occurs worldwide in cities. Ever since I’ve been searching my city for one.
Yesterday I noticed a lot of liverworts growing in an open ditch next to the road. Despite the curious looks of tourists walking past I climbed down and started examining the ground through my macro lens. At first it seemed to just be common liverworts but then, I hardly could believe my eyes at first, just two out of 100ds of lobes had a small crescent moon! State first Lunularia lifer: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191852261
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Two days ago I completed my personal challenge of 1000 RG-species for this year. And # 1000 was a lifer!
Chrysodeixis chalcites
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191799106
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Have been uploading more moth photos from a tunnel on the outskirts of town and got a lifer with this one, a member of the genus Agathia:
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I was inspecting a tree last night and found what appears to be Dromius quadrimaculatus, the second observation of it in Amsterdam and the 12th in the Netherlands (on iNaturalist). Its four spots appear almost golden to me, very pretty 
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A new lifer that wasn’t found in the tunnel on the edge of town this time – Hexacentrus japonicus.
Found this one inside an apartment complex and snapped a dozen photos with my phone hoping at least some of them would turn out okay. Also my first observation within the subfamily Hexacentrinae, which have the English common name ‘Fierce Predatory Katydids’.
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A sea bean has been on my beachcombing want list for a very long time and when I finally found this one I didn’t even realise it was a bean. It feels and sounds like stone but it rattles and floats so I brought it home just to find out what it was. It’s a Nickernut and probably floated all the way to the UK from somewhere tropical. I figure it still makes a good observation even this far from home. If anyone knows how to narrow it down to species that would be very helpful.
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Have you tried the Drift Seeds and Sea Beans project? https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/drift-seeds-and-sea-beans
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This Western Kingbird was my iNat lifer and the first time I’ve seen this species in my home state (Georgia).
And this Savannah Holly (ID currently unconfirmed) was neat to read about! This is a naturally occurring hybrid of two native hollies (American x dahoon), although the grove I observed likely escaped cultivation.
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Yesterday, Sunday December 2nd. I was delighted to find and photograph a Downy Yellowjacket Queen right outside my building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC, USA.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192844258
On Monday November 27th I was able to see and photograph the immature male Black-chinned Hummingbird that has been in a small flower garden on Randall’s Island for about a week already:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192347379
If you want to see a great photo that a friendly birder took of the bird, look at the third image here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192349371
NOT MY PHOTO, but I was given permission to post it on iNaturalist by the photographer:
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It seems you meant December.
Ah yes! Thank you! I have changed that now.
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I adore manzanita and this hike near San Luis Obispo, California, had so many colorful and mature bushes. One of 3 possible species, none of which I’ve encountered before.
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It’s not everyday that I get to add an entire class to my lifelist, but during the month of November I found not one, but three – all from Crustacea. It probably says a lot about my naturalizing habits that this makes up about a quarter of my crustacean observations so far, with the remainder being isopods.
Due to the regrettable seasonal shortage of hymenopterans, I’ve been going out (weather permitting) with my macro lens to investigate some of the local bodies of water. So far I haven’t had any luck finding the floating springtail mats I was hoping for, but it turns out there are lots of other interesting tiny aquatic organisms occupying the ponds and puddles. I can see why these tend not to get observed very often, though – without a microscope, it’s rather difficult to get the sort of detail that would be required for anything other than a very general ID.
Ostracoda
Branchiopoda (genus Daphnia)
And, apparently, discovered belatedly in one of the Daphnia photos, Copepoda
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This week was a pretty bad week for me with observing, but on saturday I managed to get some observations while doing some yard work. There weren’t many lifers for me and neither of the two that I got particularly stuck out to me, so I think I’m just going to put them both. One was a Rustic Wolf Spider and the other was a tiny fungus in the genus Hyalorbilia
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It’s not very interesting but I have a soft spot for this mottled umber moth which I found whilst walking my dog, I’ve christened him ( def a him since the females are wingless) with the name “Wren”. Ever since I saw Wren on November 30th he’s stayed in the same spot ( save for a slight movement) for nearly a week, Rain, frost, sun, predators have crossed paths with him but he’s still alive and well. I view it as my duty to check on him every evening when I walk my dog.
also saw this Common house spider whilst visiting Stratford Butterfly Farm, it has a vague smiley face on its abdomen.
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Unconfirmed ID as Operophtera brumata.
With the first frost and snow, I wasn’t expecting much in terms of insects, but I found that one randomly outside my window at night. Reading up on the species after I got the ID, I’m fascinated by the wintery seasonality and the sexual dimorphism with females with only vestigial wings.
I’ll definitely be looking around for the females and/or couples mating, that’s really neat!
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Today I added Gelis to my list. A flightless parasitic wasp which usually is off the stage by September.
Spotted on my way to the grocery store in a fifteen minute ‘detour’ at the park.
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I suppose one of the benefits to having a four month backlog when it comes to uploading photos to iNaturalist is that there’s the initial excitement of encountering a species I’ve never seen before and then, a few months later, I get the delight of both remembering that I have a new lifer and finding the name of the species. This one is a larva of Epicopeia mencia, a member of Epicopeiidae (Oriental Swallowtail Moths):
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My favorite lifer this week is Amara pennsylvanica, an under-reported ground beetle species that likes to live in open fields. My observation is the first inat record from Virginia!
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