This week I am definitely seeing an increase in my observing that I like to call the spring pickup. So far this week I have had a few lifers byt my favorite would have to be this Zavrelimyia sinuosa , a member of the non - biting midges family.
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More of this genera would be greatly appreciated to help train the CV. Z. bifasciata, Z. fragilis, and Z. sinuosa are all active right now in the northeast.
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Lifer season (spring) is off to a good start. This cute seed moth is one of a few new moths.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209207340
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Three favourites so far this week:
Dichelotarsus cavicollis
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209064756
Microlipus moerens
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/208684441
Nematodes from a bucket of algae I am keeping in the school greenhouse:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209097184
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Hello! Yesterday, I saw my first Pigeon Guillemots! They were really cool!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209160440
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Those are cool. Unlike some alcids (and seabirds in general) who like to nest on remote cliff islands, I think that these will nest on the undersides of docks.
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Got a couple of very pleasing lifers since mid March here:
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This quite large stonefly Pteronarcys sp. was the last thing I saw after a semi-unsuccessful outing.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202932015
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The only reason why I spotted this Perilampus chrysopae was because I was wondering why this black dot is scuttling around.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/206722696
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I literally was walking back home from the bus stop after a long day and this Sphecodina abbottii was just lying in front of my path.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/206722695
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Finally, this stunning Vanessa virginiensis
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/207526024
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My lifer Forest Tent Caterpillar. I’ve wanted to find one for a long time, famous for the pattern on its back that looks like a row of little penguins.
Also, my lifer Buck Moth caterpillar.
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I also saw my first Surf Scoters, but I don’t have an accompanying iNaturalist observation.
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Found my first Gibellula, though I feel I may have noticed something similar before without looking close enough to notice what it was.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209179424
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this miniscule Lime Bent wing moth found on my door was pretty cool and one I’ve never seen. Suppose it’s one of the benefits of having lots of tilia trees on the sidewalks, hopefully a lime hawkmoth will come calling in the moth trap this year. Garden mothing this year has been fairly slow due to the overcast weather sadly.
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I was in Tuscany, Italy for three weeks and got 107 lifers. There is one absolute clear favourite out of all those. Upon seeing it I was delighted by the geometry of the Rhombic Leatherbug (Syromastus rhombeus).
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One week has passed and here I am again… Haha
I told myself, I wouldn’t post every week, but I found something I really, really like, so I had to share it.
My favourite new lifer this week is Cicindela campestris:
Not only is it one of the most beautiful beetles I’ve seen so far. This sort of green isn’t all that common in beetles around here. (As with almost everything, the photo doesn’t really do it justice, and it looked quite a bit more stunning in person)… It also had a really interesting behavior of jumping, or rather hopping, every so often, and it was really fast. I’m happy I got this picture. :D
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It’s a beautiful photo of a beautiful beetle.
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Thank you! :)
Went on a trip again and saw several new taxons. My favorite has to be this hybrid: × Serapicamptis rousii
Hybrids are always a bit strange, they are not a real species, and I have seen both of the parents in the past (I pasted my pictures of them into the hybrid picture). It still was very exciting finding it and figuring out what it was. Actually that last part was kinda easy since the only other orchids on the same meadow were the two parents 
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The other day I saw my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ! It’s a surprisingly uncommon species observed in Plymouth county, as the last research grade photo was from 2022. Additionally, I have never seen or heard of this little guy so I’m very surprised this first interaction was so late.
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Lot’s of lifers this time in Quintana Roo’s small piece of the Gulf of Mexico in January.
Birds:
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Lesser Black-backed Gull, which has become increasingly common after colonizing America. Saw two.
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American Oystercatchers! Two of them.
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Also saw my first Western Sandpipers. Not uncommon, but for some reason I had never seen them before.
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Also saw my first Caribbean Flamingos, WILD flamingoes, not the ones in zoos or Xcaret park.
Also saw many different shells I hadn’t seen before, as well as live snails on a sandbank (for some reason it is so hard to find live snails other than queen conchs and snails stuck to rocks), as well as two new sea stars (they are not fish) that I’ve never seen by the peninsula’s Caribbean coast. One was a species of Astropecten, and the other was some species of Echinaster. Both were alive, but the Astropecten was buried in the sand!
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Recent INaturalist lifer Chironomids IDed.
Stenochironomus fuscipatellus
Phaenopsectra dyari
Stenochironomus browni
Helopelopia cornuticaudata
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