On this date 33

We’re cheating a little here, but I said to myself, Why upload images that are identical to ones already uploaded? Which I’ve said a few times in the past, digging through the blog media library, but in this case, I’m sending you to a page in the main site gallery, because this black racer was taken on this date in 2008.

We go a little fartsy for 2011, with a tiny jumping spider all alone in the big jungle, or at least on the grape vines on the fence.

unidentified jumping spider on grape vine
The flatulence continues the following year, with a single frame of a female ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) failing to hold still at the feeder.

female ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris showing motion blur at feeder
Granted, it was a pretty slow shutter speed at 1/8 second, so many subjects could blur in that time, and hummingbirds can move a lot in much shorter time spans – I’ve had one start to fly off from the sound of the mirror slapping up, and while I was seeing it perched when I tripped the shutter, what I captured was it leaning back with the wings raised. But yeah, I am still reminded of those tippy drinking bird toys from my youth with this image.

jagged ambush bug genus Phymata beginning to show color changeWe have to have a callback in here, because you’ve seen this jagged ambush bug (Phymata) two weeks ago, as it was two weeks younger – or at least, I think it’s the same one. It’s really hard to tell arthropods apart in the best of circumstances, and much harder when there are chances for multiple individuals and you don’t see them every day. For the same date, I have photos of one that is distinctly different in color, and if I recall correctly, much bigger, but then again, a couple of decent meals and a molt can produce drastic changes, so who knows? I’ve said it before, but if anyone knows a method of easily distinguishing individuals, especially without contact, let me know. Maybe some kind of laser DNA plotter or something…

The next year, we have an entry from two different categories at the same time: Reptiles/Amphibians and Arthropods.

juvenile green treefrog Hyla cinerea with unknown insect on head
In 2014, we’d moved to the new (current) place, and I found a nearby pond that had large patches of pickerel weed, which attracted its share of pollinators and treefrogs. I have been unable to identify the parasite that adorns this green treefrog (Hyla cinerea,) and it may not even be a parasite, but simply a midge that found a handy perch. The frog certainly doesn’t seem too concerned.

In 2015, we have possibly the smallest snail that I’ve ever photographed.

tiny unidentified snail on misty leaf
tiny unidentified snail on author's fingertipYes, that’s my own fingertip over there to the right. This one’s so cute (the snail I mean,) it seems like it should have its own children’s book or animated special. Now, it may be hard to imagine what kind of adventures a snail could get up to, but then again, the same might have been said about a freaking sponge, so…

And far be it from me to abandon a tactic too quickly, so for the final images, we’ll refer to this post from last year; all of the bird photos therein were taken on this date a mere year ago, while I was in New York. Which probably means I should polish off the last of the Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beers that I purchased while up there…

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