Kool Dude!

This is a new one for me....the Orange Assassin Bug, Pselliopus barberi. 
I found him at Kirby Preserve, in Clark County, on Goldenrod.
He reminds me of a Beetlejuice Bug. 

Kingfisher Fishing

 I stopped at the First Christian Church grounds, where there's a pond that turns into a mudflat about this time each year. I draws shorebirds, and I wasn't disappointed....there were several.
My best find though, was this Belted Kingfisher. Because of the shallow depth of this pond, the fish are quite small. Enough so that the Kingfisher would dive, grab a small fish and immediately hover for another dive as he swallowed his catch. 
I was able to capture some action shots using the Olympus EM1 M3 and Ziko 300mm F4 in C-AF Tracking mode. 

Eastern Hornet Fly

 This is the Eastern Hornet Fly, Spilomyia longicornis, from Kirby Preserve in Clark County yesterday. The Hornet Fly is a species of syrphid fly (Hover Flies and Flower Flies). They are harmless and don't sting or bite.They are great wasp mimics, utilizing coloring as a protection by appearing to be a wasp or bee....something called "Batesian mimicry." Sources state that "some species even go so far as to wave their front legs in front of their face to mimic the jointed antennae of the potter wasps." I think that's what this fellow was doing. Didn't fool me a bit, though.

National Trails BioBlast

 Thursday and Friday I participated in the BioBlast hosted by National Trail Parks and Recreation "Parks for Pollinators."
The goal was to record observations of pollinators and document them in the iNaturalist app. 
I've been using iNaturalist for a couple of years, and had over 900 observations. During the BioBlast, I added 64 observations. Here's some favorites....