Enjoying the almost Fall weather

The weather has been quite perfect lately.  It is approaching those days when some of the leaves are just starting to turn their color but are still on the trees, and you just want to be outside and bask in the warmth from the sunlight.  I walked to the Ornamental Gardens and Fletcher Wildlife Garden (FWG) yesterday to take some photos.

Bombus sp. at the garden.

More urban insects on campus

As I mentioned last month, there is a group of pollination-enthusiasts conducting weekly pollinator observations on uOttawa campus.  Here are some of the insects and plants we have observed this month.

Because of all the insect photographs I am taking, I bought a small flash this month and started incorporating a diffuser and reflector into my macrophotography based on the tutorial from this blogger.

Rose Curculio (Merhynchites bicolor)

Urban insects on campus

This summer, I am staying in Ottawa and focusing on writing my thesis and not doing any fieldwork in Colorado.  To maintain a good work-life balance (especially when the weather is nice out), my labmates and I are helping setting up a group that focuses on enhancing our understanding about urban pollination on campus - by planting native plants and recording plant-pollinator interactions.  Yesterday, we walked around the campus and I photographed some of the floral visitors that we observed.

An Agapostemon sp. visiting and resting on a sage flower - definitely my best photo of the day.

Flower visitors behind DNA building

I finally cleaned out my office space and returned my office key to the department today.  It was a bit sad to leave a space that I used so much during my 2+ years here at Trent.  From now on, I will either work from home or from the research lab.  One disadvantage of working in the lab is that there are no windows, so I need to go outside for a break eventually, otherwise, I'd have no idea if it's sunny or rainy outside.

I went behind the building after working in the lab for a couple of hours.

A metallic green bee on Queen Anne's Lace.

Critters found in Trent Ward Garden

I am back!  Well, I was actually back from Algonquin on Saturday, but there are more important priorities than blogging at the moment.  As I mentioned before, I have a lot of photos and new knowledge about plants to share, but I'll probably be sharing just a piece at a time.

Let's start with the Sunday (June 16th) before the field course actually started, when I went to Trent Ward Garden to take some photos and identify some plants.

Bumblebee visiting Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) flowers.

Photos from last Saturday - Pollinators, Waxwings, and Groundhog

A week of field course has gone by and left me with a new appreciation for plants and tons of photos.  Another week will start tomorrow at Algonquin Provincial Park and I will be away from technology during that time.

I have not yet sorted out my photos from this past week, and I only just finished the ones from last Saturday (June 8th).  Here they are.

I went over to Trent's Ward Garden last week to test myself on plant identification using the field guide.

Came across a wasp on the stairs with many red mites crawling all over the rocky surface (one is to the left of the wasp).

Interesting coloured critters during the weekend

Biked to school yesterday and today to work on my thesis.  I stopped at the soccer field again to see what kind of wildlife I could find.

On Saturday, I saw an all-green bee that I assumed is an Agapostemon sp., and Silvery Blue butterflies again.

Metallic Green Bee (Genus Agapostemon)

Mystery death of a Cuckoo Leafcutting Bee

Yesterday, after working from my office for a while, I went out behind the office building and looked for wildlife. First creature I saw was this Metallic Green Bee (Genus Agapostemon) visiting these aster flowers.

Love its colour.