Lovies

Bird enthusiast Yellow-Breasted Chat fan club #1 Merlin and eBird fan

[jauniegal]

I love wikihow so much

[sixbigideas]

thinking “i probably shouldn’t spend the entire day today laying completely horizontal in bed… there should be a way to sit up comfortably in your house…”

and then remembering. Couch…

[backyard-birding]

My couch is actually evil. :(

[backyard-birding]

It’s been just about 365 whole days. What a night to change everything. A day when most people are celebrating, and a small group of people will never be the same again

A year of melancholy and feeling like my feelings aren’t deserved

A year of people telling me how I should feel and being told that total strangers know better than somebody who has lived in a similar region for years

A year of thanking as many people as I meet for helping with relief

A year of avoiding news stories and driving down roads that will never be the same

357 days since my classmates banded together to help a friend and family mourning the loss of a loved one

I sincerely hope nobody has to search through Facebook groups trying to find out any information of if their friends or acquaintances have been recovered ever again, but I know this will continue to happen.

So in the off chance somebody is reading this, hug your family, hug your friends, be happy, and keep the 100+ families who have to face a year without their loved ones in your thoughts.

To all I have met because of this flood, to all the survivors, to all who did not. To R and your friends, with love

[backyard-birding]

It’s Theona Checkerspot season!!!!

I’ve started seeing their chrysalis pop up all over in the last week, which is weird because I haven’t seen any caterpillars or butterflies! Just chrysalis!

I love how pretty the chrysalis of this butterfly is. Those little orange spots?? The black stripes??? She ATE. And they can have their fill of cenizo. It’s everywhere and blooming like crazy (👀 good omens?)

Anyway, soon they’ll be dropping like flies from the office doorway. And that means I’ll be saving butterflies from getting stepped on like nobody’s business

Chlosyne theona

[backyard-birding]

OMG ONE JUST EMERGED

[backyard-birding]

It’s Theona Checkerspot season!!!!

I’ve started seeing their chrysalis pop up all over in the last week, which is weird because I haven’t seen any caterpillars or butterflies! Just chrysalis!

I love how pretty the chrysalis of this butterfly is. Those little orange spots?? The black stripes??? She ATE. And they can have their fill of cenizo. It’s everywhere and blooming like crazy (👀 good omens?)

Anyway, soon they’ll be dropping like flies from the office doorway. And that means I’ll be saving butterflies from getting stepped on like nobody’s business

Chlosyne theona

[backyard-birding]

Whoever made he HEB snickernut and texas pecan coffee packaging the EXACT same color, I want to have a conversation

Good news I guess, texas pecan is 100% artificially flavored. Otherwise my morning would have been largely out of it and incapable of functioning from antihistamines

I wanted a pick-me-up, not a put-me-down

[backyard-birding]

I shall introduce to the world: The peep peeps

We call them the peep peeps because thats the sound they make. Omg little killdeer are so cuuute. I love how they can't run around for very long. They just dash and stop, dash and stop. And when mama (or parent) calls them over and they all go sit under her??? Ugh, they're adorable. I love a good killdeer

Killdeer Chardrius vociferus Texas, USA June 28, 2026

[cardineve]

Old drawing of mine from November. It's a giraffe weevil! The picture was just a reference, did not trace!

[backyard-birding]

I like whatever happened when this guy was made. “Yes. You shall be allowed to hinge your neck 90 degrees”

I’m sure theres a perfectly explainable reason his neck hinges that way. And highly specific.

[backyard-birding]

Do not recommend not biking for years, then suddenly deciding to bike 3 miles in one, hot summer day, to a birthday party and biking back in the dark with a tummy full of cake

Horrid

[backyard-birding]

Some of my favorite birds! The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher!

This guy was one of two that we saw. He just kinda flew in, stuck around for a moment, then left. I just absolutely LOVE their tails! Such pretty birds!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus June 6 Texas, USA

[backyard-birding]

I've been manifesting and manifesting and its finally happened.

SNAKES!!

It's the first time I've seen a rattler (as far as I can remember), despite living in prime rattler territory. This guy sat with his back towards us while a group of us observed him for several minutes. He only rattled twice, both for less than a second, and just stayed put under a cactus, What a chill guy!

There was another one that slipped into the rocks before I got to it. Shucks!

Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake Crotalus atrox June 6 Texas USA

[backyard-birding]

Its time for... ANOTHER DUMP!

Yes, indeed, twelve indicidula grasshoppers. It Is Time

I'm not separating these guys as I'm not a grasshopper aficionado. I dont know most... or any of these guys.

And I'm a liar. there's two katydid

Idk I don't have much to say about these guys. Just a bunch of cool little hoppers hoppin' around. There were a lot more grasshoppers, but grasshoppers weren't a target species, so i didn't focus on them. But some really pretty guys in this set

[backyard-birding]

Good gravy, so many rabid wolf spiders!!

These little guys were absolutely EVERYWHERE! I've only seen one other rabid wolf spider, and not as big as these guys! I cant really recall how large the biggest one I saw was (this was 8 days ago as I'm writing this) but I feel like one of them (Image 1) was larger than a half-dollar coin.

Found these guys while doing a volunteer survey/BioBlitz! They were so jumpy, yet I didn't consider the fact that they were rabid wolf spiders until I got home and put them on iNat.

There were so many more that I didn't capture. But they were so goofy, jumping around everywhere.

Rabid wolf spider Rabidosa rabida June 6 Texas, USA

[backyard-birding]

And for the lady... Perhaps an assortment of bees..?

Okay so the Sonoran Bumblebees were absolutely EVERYWHERE. Can I confirm every bumblebee was Sonoran? no. Im just assuming. But the first guy was interesting. I'm still not sure what he is, but I thought he was just a mimicking fly at first. It appears to be a California Digger Bee! Its so cool to find different bees than just honeybees! I love biodiveristy!

California Digger Bee (Anthophora californica) (Presumed) Sonoran Bumblebee (Bombus sonorus) June 13 Texas, USA

[backyard-birding]

I don't have much to say about this guy, but its ALL good things

Okay what do I love about her? Uh, first of all, her big oll blue eyes. WHAT?? she's so gorgeous. Secondly, the fact that she's sat on some chicken-wire type fencing. Let her out!! Somebody help her!!

I've seen this butterfly several times and their eyes never fail to delight me. their orange is also just so marvelous. Put the two things I love about them together, big blue eyes and pretty orange and you get...

Orang Beggar! She definitely looks like she could use those big oll puppy eyes to get what she wants. I'd certainly do anything for her

Orange Beggar Eubaphe unicolor June 16 Texas, USA

[backyard-birding]

Oh how I love Pipevine Swallowtails

Easily one of the most recognizable caterpillars for me. It hit me today that they kinda look like centipedes a little bit. their filaments (? Tentacles? I really don't know anatomy) kinda look like the antennae of giant desert centipede, and their coloration is... sorta the same? Some reds and yellows and blacks. not in the same places, certainly. I wonder if thats what they're supposed to look like

This only hit me because I just cleared a giant desert centipede from a car the other day, and got a chance to see one (very much alive) up closer and even feel its lil leggies on me (for a split second)

I kept finding this guy walkin; on the ground, and I kept trying to move him out of the obvious walking area, as there were kids running around play hide and seek. I think I got him out of the way enough. And I didn't really see those kids after I sat him down for the last time. There was also a pool nearby that I was really worried he would find himself in.

My favorite thing about Pipevine Swallowtails are their little defense mechanism horns, and also how different they look from the butterflies! I also love seeing both the butterfly and caterpillar versions hangin' around.

Wow nature is cool!

Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor June 13 Texas, USA

[backyard-birding]

Not crap in the typical circumstance. @crapbirdphotography I humbly submit him for your review

Bloodcheep, mini. He’s actually sipping nectar from right behind me at this moment

I would have submitted this as normal but idk how to add multiple photos or if it’s possible

I’ve only seen molt in cardinals and, now, apparently, black chinned hummingbirds. Crazy times