Happy World Photography Day! We’ve had a summer FULL of orb weavers here at The Curio Cat headquarters in Los Angeles County, much to the delight of our resident photographer Hannah because she loves to play with her new macro lens!

We measured these tiny little arachnids at less than 3mm – see the white spot in the pic below? That’s the spider in our first picture below – just to give you a sense of how miniscule that is – and how powerful those dedicated macro lenses can be!

This was by far one of the tiniest spiders our photographer has been able to capture. Orb weavers are known for their spiral wheel-shaped webs, and what a beautiful web this miniature one created!

And he’s not alone! He has two very hungry neighbors that Hannah managed to capture mid-meal!

Orb weavers are one of the largest families of spiders in the world. They’re super beneficial to your gardens as they eat TWICE their weight in insects each day, keeping your gardens free from pests! So if you see them, let them be!

Check our our short on YouTube here!

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Come with us as we take you up over 8400 feet elevation and through a magnificent alpine wonderland on this incredible Utah hiking trail – as a thank you for reaching 600+ subscribers on YouTube!

For our thank you videos, we like to break from our normal content style. So we hope you enjoy this Utah hiking trail asmr. All the sounds you hear – from the abundant birdsongs and wind shaking the aspen leaves to all the waterfalls – was recorded on the trail as we hiked. So it’s real-time, blissful, peaceful immersion! That being said, please excuse the few moments where you can hear our videographer breathing – the trails are real butt-burners with lots of elevation gain LOL!!

The prominent birdsong you’ll hear is the Warbling Vireo and a little MacGillivray’s Warbler except where otherwise noted in the video itself. (Spoiler alert: we got some great audio of the very elusive Hermit Thrush!) And be sure to keep an ear out for all the croaking frogs!

This area ended up being one of our ultimate favorite hiking destinations of all time! Let us know your favorite trails in the YouTube comments. Maybe we’ll feature it in our next thank you video (and give you a shout out of course)!

We truly are so grateful for everyone’s support of our little channel! Thank you so much for subscribing and we look forward to sharing more nature content and student conferences with you as we go along!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about our videographer, Hannah, click here!

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The joyous, uplifting cadence of the elusive Western Meadowlark! A bird that is often heard more than seen. Witness this marvelous melody in our latest video! And check it out to learn some fun facts like why the song of the Western Meadowlark was played in the House of the Oregon state legislature!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about our videographer, Hannah, click here!

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World Bee Day is May 20th – help us support and save some of our most important pollinators by checking out our latest video and learning all about the wild mating habits of one of California’s most interesting native bees – genus Diadasia!

In this video, we feature what we believe to be Diadasia bituberculata, aka Bindweed Turrett Bees. See them fight each other in their frenzied beeballs as they battle it out over the ladies! We also give you an extremely up close and personal view of some of their day to day activites and sprawling colony of nests!

Native pollinators like these are extremely crucial to our own survival as humans. Our video teaches you some reasons why, as well as provide some tips on how YOU can also protect and save these wonderful creatures.

We found this colony while birding California’s newest nature preserve for this year’s Global Big Day. It’s an incredible, truly wild place, so full of life. So be sure to also check out our posts from Global Big Day here to experience it!

We’d like to give a shout out to awesome bee expert Krystle Hickman at BeeSip for helping us identify the bees we found!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Hannah, our videographer, click here!

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Birding’s biggest day was May 11, 2024 and we had a special treat for everyone! We revealed a brand new birding hotspot! We were the first birding team to EVER bird at this location on a Global Big Day! Our team was lucky enough to do our bird count at California’s newest nature preserve and had the place to ourselves all morning!

We saw all of our target species and tons of others as well. This spot truly is a vital and vibrant stop for these migratory birds making their journey along the Pacific Flyway. Check out our videos below to get a glimpse of California’s latest wild space as well as our stats and favorite pics from the day!

So just in case you don’t follow along on all our socials – here’s our reveal video:

And if you’re curious about our stats and highlights from the Global Big Day count, here’s our results video that includes a look at the new preserve and some of our favorite bird photos of the day!

Or check out the videos on our YouTube channel here! To learn more about our lead birder, photographer, and videographer Hannah, click here!

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Tomorrow is birding’s biggest day – Global Big Day – and we’ve got a big surprise for you: a new location for a birding hotspot that’s NEVER been birded before on a Global Big Day!

Here’s a little sneak peak…can you guess where this new hotspot is? Let us know what you think in the comments and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay tuned to find out where we’ll be on tomorrow’s big birding adventure!

This year’s Global Big Day theme is insects and how important they are to birds. Join our birding team – The CurioCat Conservation Team – and bird with us virtually, even from your own backyard for a chance to be the top birding team of the day! Email hannah@thecuriocat.com for details. (more about our birding guru and media manager Hannah here!)

Here’s some helpful links if you’d like to learn more about Global Big Day (which is also World Migratory Bird Day) and other ways to participate!

https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-2024

https://www.migratorybirdday.org

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Today is International Bat Appreciation Day AND National Haiku Poetry Day – how to celebrate? By writing a haiku about bats of course!! Here’s the first ever haiku attempt by our photographer Hannah to go along with some of her photos of the largest bat colony in North America:

Consumer of mosquitos
How important you are
Loved, feared, misjudged and revered

As the haiku states, bats are incredibly important mammals! Not only do they rid us of a vast quantity of disease-carrying mosquitoes, but they’re also vital pollinators!

You can find North America’s largest bat colony on the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. Approximately 1,500,000 Mexican Free-Tailed bats live there and they eat around 10,000 to 30,000 lbs of insects each night!!

Bats are unique in their ability to fly. Bats are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight!

Help us celebrate the day by writing your own bat haiku and sharing it with us via our contact page for a chance to be highlighted on our socials!!

Or simply learn more about these amazing creatures and watch the bats emerge from under the bridge by checking out one of our earliest videos on our YouTube channel here:

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of people flock to witness the splendor of the desert wildflowers. But humans aren’t the only super bloom enthusiasts that come out when Mother Nature bursts into life!

Get up close and personal with the wildlife that depend on these beautiful blossoms for spring feasts in our video!

We take you on a journey beneath the wildflowers to examine the lives of the White-lined Sphinx Moth larvae (aka Hummingbird Moths) and then up to the skies for a look at hundreds of migrating Swainson’s Hawks that visit during these abundant seasons – all in stunning 4k!

We’d like to give a huge shout out to Alicia and Hal with the Borrego Springs Hawk Watch – they (and their team) are incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Swainson’s Hawks and the desert – it was truly a pleasure meeting you and learning from you! Thank you for all that you do for the wildlife! Learn more about them here!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Hannah, the videographer, click here!

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March 3rd is World Wildlife Day – and this year’s theme is Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation – which is right up our alley! Check out our latest video to see some of our favorite wildlife moments from the field, to learn how The Curio Cat team is bridging the gap between digital innovation and wildlife conservation, and what you can do to join in to help save our wildlife! #worldwildlifeday

For more information on World Wildlife Day, check out the UN’s website: https://www.wildlifeday.org/en

And visit our AI program info page or email hannah@thecuriocat.com to learn more about our programs that can help any student conduct high level AI research with a conservation-forward appproach!

To see a detailed list of all of our previous student acheivements over the years, check out our student accomplishments page!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about our videographer Hannah, click here!

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Come with us as we take you for a terrifying walk among over 300 giant spiders!! You’ll get up close and personal to some of North America’s largest orb weavers and learn all about these frightening natural wonders!

Be sure to watch until the end for an adorable spider BONUS!! (Hint: if you like the cute little Jumping Spiders, then you’ll love the bonus content!) Happy Halloween from The Curio Cat!

**We’d like to say a special thank you to the staff at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for being so passionate and caring with these lovely, important creatures! And for helping educate so many as well as trying to help them overcome their fears!** If you’d like to visit the Spider Pavillion at the museum, it typically runs from late September to November – click here for more info!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about our videographer, Hannah, click here!

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