Fall, Looking Forward, and 2017 So Far

Not sure what kind of snake this is. It doesn't look like a plain bellied water snake to me but it may be. It was just resting at the bottom of this pond just watching us as I took pictures. I see a lot of snakes out there from time to time.

This thing is one of my newest little snout beetles. This dude was just crawling in the mud just minding his own. It was not one I am familiar with and it was one of the more brightly colored beetles I have ever seen in the Texas area. This one was black with a little peachy pink color or something like that. This guy was very interesting. @sambiology @borisb what do you think about this one?

Not sure what kind of Yellow Jacket this is. This guy was about an inch or so long and was giving me the run around. This dude would not sit still for long and I was only able to get only a few photos of the creature.

Possibly found the thing that the nymph I found last week turns into. My mother is the one who found this sucker. It looked like it was made out of solid gold. This is one insect I have never seen before. @kimberlietx @sambiology what do you think about this one? It had the very interesting dots on its back. It didn't really move at all. This was one of my favorite observations from today. This dude was so fascinating. This is a very nice looking insect. It reminds me of some kind of lost Artifact that Indiana Jones would go after if this thing was a little bit bigger. This one was about the size of a Number Two Pencil Eraser. I just can't get over the beautiful color of this beetle. It reminds me of something from the Prehistoric era. This is one is really awesome! Sorry kind of went on a nerd out rant but I couldn't help myself this is one cool insect! @borisb anything from your end? That clear membrane or whatever that is around the beetle is something else. It makes it look kind of like a flying saucer or something. It is really wild!

This was the third Weevil I have found this week. This one as a little bit differnent from the other two I have found in recent days. This one was dark with some red lines which is very interesting. This one was very interesting and was one of two species I found today. @sambiology @kimberlietx @borisb what do you guys make of this one?

@borisb @sambiology @kimberlietx I think this one might interest you. There were a bunch of these Tiger Beetles in the muck at the side of the lake I was on. This was one of the largest Tiger Beetles I have ever seen. I couldn't get too close because it was a very skittish insect. This thing was a very interesting and differs from the other Tiger Beetles I have seen out and about my adventures. This one had a massive set of mandibles and was more of a dark green and more weirder colors on its back. It was hard to make out which kind this one is. Maybe you guys could give me a hand with this one?

This guy whipped out right in front of me when I was on my hike today. I had not encountered one of these in a while. This is the second species of snake that I have photographed at Oliver Nature Park. This dude was so cool. I did handle it for a little bit just to get a better look but didn't handle it too much. We let him go after we got a few shots of him. He was an absolute beauty. I thing he was about a foot in a half in full length. I just love these guys. My first one in the wild to photograph was during the City Nature Challenge 2017 back at OS Gray. I just love these guys. He was a very cooperative snake and wasn't very skittish or quick to escape us.

This thing was very interesting little Damselfly. This thing had different coloration. I am defiantly not familiar with anything like this one. It was fairly small but very pretty. I think it might be one I have encounter before but I am not sure. @greglasley @sambiology @brentano @briang could yall kind of point me in the right direction.

This one is one of the prettiest flies I have ever photographed. This thing was so full of color and was one of most interesting things I have observed in recent days. This thing was very small and hard to get in focus but luckily I was able to get it in focus before it flew off. It would hover and then land and then repeat. These guys are cool but they can be a pain to get into focus. These things are just so cool. This one was black, yellow, and red, and brown. It was just super interesting. I have never seen one like this before.

This was a very interesting little scene. This was a hunt and I am not sure what it was they were eating. They were sitting on the side of the road without a care trying to get every last scarp down as they could. This thing was very interesting I have never photographed this kind of scene involving vultures and their meal.

This one was a very interesting Butterfly. It was almost the same size as a Pearl Crescent. This one had a little bit more darker tones to it. It was a very interesting little butterfly. I am not sure if I have encountered this one before or not. This one was very pretty though.

This one I am not too familiar with. This one was a very pretty yellow one. Each flower looked kind of crinkled and looked like it had five petals on it. They were mustard yellow with red centers. Not sure what this one is? @suz what say you.

I hate it when these things get stuck on my shoe laces. Anything like this is so tedious to handle and hurts to get off your shoes or clothing. Any type of grass bur, cocklebur, beggartick is a mess to get off of one's self. Yet they are interesting but man don't you hate it when they get in your laundry. These suckers are huge. This is not even the stage when they are most tedious to work with. Anytime that a bur dries out that is when it becomes a gigantic pain in the hind quarters. These are thick this side of the Lake although I have tracked them at Bowman Springs park near the lake shore there. You have to be extremely careful with these especially if you have kids. My mom wouldn't let me enter the car with out de-burring my socks and shoes. These guys are a mess to deal with and are not one of my friends how interesting they might be they maybe important to a plant's defense but take my advice and watch where you tread.

Okay I got a four-fer on this observation so I am just going to take things one at a time here. This first one I am trying to ID the creature in the red circle. @sambiology @kimberlietx @brentano what say you on this one? This guy was black with white stripes and was very very small. All of the creatures on this were small and hard to get individual pictures of. So that is why I have circles on these. I really hate to do this but it does help sometimes.

It thought that this was in the same family as Eumenes but I was wrong about that assumption dude to the shape difference. This wasp was a black and white one that was about an inch long or so. At closer examination it does appear to have just a hint of yellow on it. This thing was really interesting I am not sure if I have seen this one before or not.

Finally got a decent American Crow for iNaturalist. Every time I would attempt to get a crow photo it wouldn't look right and it would look like a grackle or something hard to make out. This guy was sitting on the condo next to the lake. These guys are all over place down at the lake constantly squawking and cawing.

This moth was out this morning at my house. This dude was pretty interesting. He was long and skinny (possible leaf-roller moth not sure though) this guy had an orange bar on its back with some dollie pattern on the base of its wings. It was so docile I was able to touch him. He must have been cold because it is a chilly day but he took of and flew around my porch light. This guy is very interesting. Haven't seen one like this before. @sambiology @kimberlietx @brentano @lulubelle do you guys know which this one is?

Yesterday at school these guys were hanging out around school. The storm had stopped them from their migration. It was a horrible event to see some of these birds attack their reflections and hit the windows. Some killed their selves right in front of me which was horrible. These are one I am not too familiar with. I did manage to these two live ones that I managed to save by shooing them away from the windows. There were dozens of these birds just dropping left and right out there. I am telling you we need bird tape out by that school so that way incidents like this don't happen often. Yesterday was a bummer for the birds on campus.
I am not sure what kind this one is it is rather pretty though.

This guy was sitting on the bank of the lake when I found him. It was with another of the same species of tiger beetle. Not sure what this one is it doesn't have a pattern I am familiar with. And it was not like the one I saw last week. @borisb @sambiology what do you guys suppose this one is?

This was growing on the sandy bank. It had vine like leaves and also had a little white flower that had a similar shape to that of a Tievine but it was not the same color. Have not seen a plant like this before that was growing where the water had receded. The flower had a slight purple center and was not that tall. The plant stood up about six or seven inches from the ground.

This guy was on the other side of snider creek. this is the first Northern Flicker I have ever seen. I have been trying to nail this sucker for years now. This one was a male and was a Yellow-shafted. You can't tell here but when he flew of you could see the colors. Now I just have to find a red shafted one. I love woodpeckers and to note that this one loves ants is kind of cool. I mean I like ants but I find this Woodpecker to be one of my favorite Woodpeckers in the whole world. It is a very nice addition to the old life list. I will be updating the life list I have made on Excel later on today and I will be updating the old ABA Lifer list. Such an Awesome day today. I was not at all disappointed with my catch. I never am disappointed with my old catches either I am always happy with my finds even if they are old favorites. It is however very exciting to find a new one every now and then. This one is cool and one of the best so far. I totally when crazy over this little guy. Such a pretty bird.

Check out the second photo to see the stinger. I have never got this close to one of these before. These are some pretty strange insects. I found my first one here a couple of years back but these are much better photos. This was a very cool encounter. These guys look so much like a moth, mosquito, and a scorpion combine. These things are something out of the pages of a comic book or a science fiction movie; they are so odd.

This guy was really small but not too small like a Gall Wasp. This guy was black and white and was really interesting. I have never seen one of these guys before. I have been noticing a lot of new bugs recently. This was a very fascinating.

This guy was huge and I thought he was not going to land but he did and he was beautiful. This is one I have not seen before. This thing was deeper into the woods near the science center. This guy was just so cool to observe. I just love the pattern and the size. This day was a great day to observe new species. I was not disappointed with any of my finds today. This was a very special day.

This guy looked like one of the species I saw when I was in Arkansas. I am so sure I am betting my bottom dollar on it. It had the same stripes and stuff and did the same rear end bobbing motion. These are wild looking. That is some ovipositor it has on its rear. This thing was really cool. I am not sure what species this is because the last photo I took didn't really turn out. This thing was very interesting. It was a very pretty wasp but I am sure what this one was.