Preening goose

A Canada goose at Midlothian Mines Park in spring 2014 wiping her head all over her body.

Vertical Frog

A frog clinging above a leafy pool next to Reedy Creek at Forest Hill Park in fall 2014. My best guess at an ID would be Acris crepitans, the Eastern Cricket Frog.

Aphids

Red-spotted purple (Nymphalidae)

Limenitis arthemis at Belle Isle in fall 2014

Lesser Scaups

Male and female lesser scaups (Aythya affinis) in early spring 2014 at Midlothian Mines Park.

Lichen Diversity

The tree that lichen loves at Midlothian Mines Park in 2014.

You can see three different lichen growth forms: foliose (the flaky, leafy one), fruticose (the one branching out in plant-like tufts), and crustose (a really flat coating on the surface of the bark, especially in the second photo).

Toad

A humble, well-camouflaged toad at Forest Hill Park the same day I saw the vertical frog, in fall 2014. It might be Anaxyrus americanus.

Handsome Meadow Katydid (Tettigoniidae)

Orchelimum pulchellum on the floating boardwalk at Dodd Park in fall 2014

Dayflower (Commelinaceae)

A dayflower at Belle Isle in fall 2014. I think it's either Commelina erecta (native) or Commelina communis (introduced).

Grasshopper (Acrididae)

A short-horned grasshopper at Dodd Park in late 2014

Alder

An alder tree at Midlothian Mines Park with male (yellow) and female (dark) catkins in early spring 2014

Beetle