A lot of rattlesnake species (Crotalus sp.) in the western US look quite similar, but there are a few characteristics you can look at to help you identify them. The body pattern, facial pattern, tail pattern, and head scalation can all help lead you to the correct ID. While identification is not critical for envenomation treatment, it's fun to know what you're looking at (kind of the point of this community).
A couple of immature red-tailed hawks duke it out for some reason. This was at a hawk watch in central Pennsylvania, October 2022.
I love finding huge flocks of ducks and picking through them to see which species are hanging out. This flock has gadwall, American wigeon, and a northern shoveler.
Trogons are incredibly fun to find and photograph. This is the only individual black-headed trogon I came across this year.
Sometimes, plain snakes are the most beautiful and interesting.
In the right areas, these guys are downright common. I'm surprised I don't see more posts about them. They're like adorable tiny leopard geckos.
Pennsylvania, July 2023
Honduras, June 2023
Cliff swallows aren't as ubiquitous in the northeastern US as other swallow species, like barn and tree swallows. However, where there is one, there are probably 100 in the same area!
Pennsylvania, July 2023
While we're not seeing a lot of purple finches around the US right now, it's always good to brush up on your bird ID knowledge. Here is a good comparison between these two commonly confused species. You should primarily focus on the lack of distinct stripes on the body, the raspberry tones in the purple finch wings, and the facial coloration and pattern. Male house finches usually have a gray ear patch that lacks any reddish color, whereas the purple finch usually has a really distinctive pattern covered in raspberry.
Harmless watersnakes (Nerodia sp.) are oden mistaken for venomous cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorous/conanti) in the eastern US, even outside of cottonmouth range (the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain). Here is a nice graphic depicting visual differences in their body shape, face, and pattern. Note: this doesn't include all North American watersnakes, but it includes the species more likely to be encountered in the same range.
Momma pushed em out of the house early. There were a lot of them moving in the same direction. I hope they made it!
Utila, Honduras, July 2022
