Very late last night, wildlife researchers at the D. Mills Baker International Lawn Refuge, responding to signals from highly-sensitive and enormously expensive sensors in the preserve, conducted a helicopter flyover to observe and study animal activity.

What they captured astonished them: an extremely exciting photograph of the rare Asterias sodametri lawnstar, a skittish nocturnal native to Southern American lawns, shown here in the canopy where it is believed to seek its prey.

The lawnstar was tagged and released, and its movements will teach the scientific community much about this delicate ecosystem and the role of keystone species within it.