Updated with habitat shot. Despite numerous ephemeral bodies of water around, I only observed these in a very small pool in the base of a hollowed out tree.
Backyard birding, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.
My first River Otters within the Oke Refuge... two of them!
Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. October 29, 2022. Paddling green canoe trail from Kingfisher Landing entrance southward to Durdin Prairie and back.
See and learn more about the incredible Okefenokee at www.okefenokee.photography
Eating a Chinese red-headed centipede
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Monday, April 17, 2023.
See and learn more about the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on my blog at www.okefenokee.photography
shaking w happiness!! dream fish
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Sunday, April 16, 2023.
See and learn more about the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on my blog at www.okefenokee.photography
At a granitic gneiss outcrop (background); for the bark fungus, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/199043637
More of it on this tree: inaturalist.org/observations/198669024, inaturalist.org/observations/199068527, inaturalist.org/observations/199068942, inaturalist.org/observations/199069798, inaturalist.org/observations/199070627, & inaturalist.org/observations/199072128
For the Spotted Ruffled Lichen (Parmotrema ultralucens), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/198746914
For the Obscure Shield Lichen (Heterodermia obscurata), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/198749140
With natural daylight and using a 365nm UV light to show how it fluoresces
More of it on this tree: inaturalist.org/observations/198746908, inaturalist.org/observations/199068527, inaturalist.org/observations/199068942, inaturalist.org/observations/199069798, inaturalist.org/observations/199070627, & inaturalist.org/observations/199072128
ID tentative. Accepted iNat's top suggestion.
Found inside some well-rotted wood. (I broke into it trying to identify the host of a fungus: 198023950)
This cyanobacterium, initially a small, hollow gelatinous globule, becomes a leathery, flattened, convoluted, gelatinous mass with other nearby colonies; inside the thin sheath numerous unbranched hair-like structures (trichomes) is a string of short cells that are bacteria, thus having no nucleus nor internal membrane system
What I just found in the fireplace! I caught & released it; when it didn't run, I got my camera to photograph it.
This monotypic species of waterfowl is in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, and here in Chile, its closest relatives the black swan (C. atratus) & mute swan (C. olor); Chilean Flamingos used to be in this park but an official told Joe and me they had a virus that may be transmitted to humans and got put in a zoo ...purchased pellets for the animals dispense by this viewing deck – swans glide up when they see people – as I didn't give food, this one appraised me, gave me a chance to change my mind, & with no hand-out, it left
For the American Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) last photo, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/194469547
As of the upload, this is the only Fragrant Virgin's-Bower (Clematis flammula) Observation in Latin America
My best naturalist observation ever, on Christmas day
About 25 mm long. Matthew, I have emailed you re these.
First photo close-cropped to show flight, the rest of the photos full size, with them roosting high up in the big, tall tree below this one flying, and then, when we came out from visiting the museum, they were gone!
For a fruit bat roosting kind of solo, above the others in this tree, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/192439294
Fruit bat acro*bat*ics here: inaturalist.org/observations/192435661 & inaturalist.org/observations/192437621
Larva of some sorts? Beetle?
For the Blotched Nerite, (Nerita albicilla), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/191433639
Had a very coppery sheen as Captured in first pic
Feeding on crustacean (crab or crayfish). In corner of old concrete stock tank with no outlet — prey may have been caught and unable to climb out.
Very close-cropped to show white on head above orange beak, and orange legs, then full size photos
When I stepped out into the dark, I felt a soft lump. No shoes were involved. We both survived without serious injury. Toad moved to opposite side of doorway. I apologized. I feel tolerated, but not accepted and will never be sure if I've been forgiven. That is fair. Be well, Toad.
There was a toad at the door the previous night as well, maybe the same?
Caught a bee! She snagged it right off a flower.
seemingly playing with a stick, holding tight and rolling around with it
O. ventralis, the only glass lizard that appears green, a distinguishing Notes detail thanks to @graytreefrog
That's a funny-looking cat!
I know, terrible lighting, but I was just about to leave because it was getting dark and look who I found in a web of Frontinella pyramitela!
This predator was hanging onto a fly which had already been caught by an Ambush Bug.
Crop/full size; Engelmann's Arrowhead (Sagittaria engelmanniana) inaturalist.org/observations/180717109; for the pinkish Swamp Smartweed (Persicaria hydropiperoides), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/180701285; & for the coppery Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) butterfly, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/137375641
The ID app threw up its metaphorical arms and said ANIMALS right off the metaphorical bat. You can see that this clump is of a lot of tiny creatures, each with a head (one where you might make out an eye) and a tail section. Can anyone help narrow this down a large or small bit?? Thanks!
“Primrose” (Old French primerose, < medieval Latin prima rosa), one of the earliest spring flowers in Europe
Wow, super cool to see one!
The entomopathic fungus attacked and killed this ant: spores from a fruiting fungus body infected the ant passing by, the mycelium (branching, thread-like structures) grew inside the body, ultimately killing the host, and these forms sprouting from the corpse are fruiting bodies of the fungus preparing to start the cycle again
Our guided nature walk leader showed us a similar parasitic fungus, inaturalist.org/observations/158479395
Who can ID to species this entomopathic fungus that attacks and kills, a phenomenon that started when it invaded the grasshopper, eventually multiplying and becoming master, forcing the Zombie Grasshopper to crawl up to die as the insect-eating fungus (collectively called Zombie Fungi, for the way they infect, and ultimately kill, their hosts) matured, and then fungal stalk-like structures burst through weak points (joints) in the grasshopper’s exoskeleton and exploded out of the host, for the fungus needs the victim to take it high enough so the fungus' spores will blow in the wind and spread most efficiently, an environment favorable to their dispersal, a good spore-release position on the underside of a twig a few of feet above the ground
These parasitic fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually asexual, mitosporic spores, conidia); under the right conditions of temperature and (high) humidity, these spores germinate, grow as hyphae and colonize the insect's cuticle, and they bore through the exoskeleton by way of enzymatic hydrolysis (use of a specialized pressing structure called an appressorium, an organ that forms a needle-like peg pressing against the cuticle and puncturing it), reaching the insect’s body cavity (hemocoel), where the fungal cells proliferate in the host body cavity, usually as walled hyphae or in the form of wall-less protoplasts (depending on the fungus involved), and once inside, the fungus starts to grow mycelia (the vegetative part of a fungus composed of long strands of hair-like hyphae that worm their way through the insect’s innards, feeding on tissues but not killing its host, not at least yet or quickly), and the fungus can then absorb nutrients from its host and grow until a critical fungal mass develops, and then the Cordyceps moves to the insect’s head, where the fungal parasitoid forces its victim to climb to a prominent perch in a tree or shrub, causes it to clamp down tightly, and kills it, for the fungus, which has mostly consumed the insect’s inner workings by this point, prepares to reproduce, sending stem-like spikes called stroma to shoot from the victim’s body, capped by perithecia, until the insect bristles with these fungal fruiting bodies, the perithecia soon rupturing, releasing scores of windborne spores, the reason for the fungal reprogramming of the victim: to force it into a breezier location for successful spore dispersal
Our guided nature walk leader showed us a similar parasitic fungus, inaturalist.org/observations/158411706
I spotted bioluminescence on the hillside beside the trail on the Night Owl Hike; some photos with flashlight
The larvae look typical of beetle grubs, females look like the larvae (larviform, neotonous, or paedomorphic: retaining juvenile features into adulthood), both larvae and females having luminescent organs ("lanterns"); however, females communicate with males via pheromones (chemical perfumes), not light intensity, (explaining the male’s lovely, sensory antennae, for in his brief life he does not eat but lives only to mate), and then the female lays eggs in clusters on the ground, encircles and guards them, glowing the whole time, until her death about a week later; eggs may not glow immediately but may luminesce before hatching
For the adult male beetle here at the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Center, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/157456482
I've never seen it in bloom before!
Very light grey, also easily spooked..not sure was a catbird, didn't see rusty bottom ... didn't look like northern mocking bird ...or act like the ones I'm used to..I will probably be able to get more pictures as been hanging around