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Researching this guy was a surprise. I found four spiders in the same woodpile. One was a classic black, large, bulbous and glossy female; another looked just like her, but smaller and with some stripes (male).

Then there was this guy, who ran away before I could flip him over. Turns out that this is also a male Black Widow. They are apparently often grey or brown like this.

The fourth was a wolf spider who zipped off before being photographed :)

Almost certainly porcupine tracks but I can’t figure out what in the world the orange is or where it came from. It continued along the tracks for more than 50 yards. Such an unnatural color and it was found in an area pretty far from any human interference

A small live Porpita porpita was found near Packery Channel, Padre Island. The diameter of the round float was about 12 mm, about half of the maximum diameter.

Porpita porpita is a condrophore, a colony of organisms in the phylum Cnidaria. It drifts on the surface of the sea. A close relative is Velella velella, which also has a disc with a sail. Physalia physalis is also colonial, but belongs to a different order, Siphonophorae.

The specimen was placed in a container for photos. The second photo shows the underside of the disc. All photos were taken with a cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S7 with a macro lens).

Several beached and mostly dried specimens of Blue Button were also observed. Also observed were some purple snails, Janthina globosa:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15218146

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

First 5 photos of this Leucistic Hummingbird are from June 28, 2017, first sighting in Palm Desert, CA. The last 4 photos are from August 16, 2017. This gorgeous creature is so friendly with a huge personality. It comes when called and eats one gnat after another with so much to say! I feel he/she likes the yard because the concrete walls and house are painted bright white making this hummer feel protected. Keep in mind there are no feeders on the property. 1. Can you please help me identify the type of Leucistic this is. 2. Male or female? 3. Does this Hummingbird look healthy? I've noticed possible missing feathers on its wings. I'm not sure if it has worsened over time.Thank you :) all photos are mine and taken by me, Nicole Campanaro