More urban insects on campus - August 2017

Our pollinator group did two more pollinator observations (plus an single-audience pollinator talk) on campus this month since my girlfriend and I returned back from Portland.

And here are some of the photos.

A Bombus griseocollis queen missing her left antenna on anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum).

Enjoying springtime in the Arboretum - pollinators visiting squill flowers

I went to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden and the Arboretum today hoping to photograph bees visiting flowers, since I know that Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) should be flowering by now and they usually get visitation from pollinators (based on last year's observation).

At the Arboretum, there were many birds species.  Here are some of them:

Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) keeping an eye out for his female companion.

Arboretum and UV photography

For the past two days, I attended the annual Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology (OCIB) Symposium at Carleton University.  Yesterday, I went for a walk at the Arboretum after lunch.

Mourning Cloak visiting willow flowers.

Daily life in Colorado - Part 6

My work here in Colorado is coming to an end as my plants are producing nutlets and ready to be collected.  Technically, we will leave this coming Saturday, but we may stay for an extra couple of days to tidy up all the loose ends.

Research

Each Mertensia flower has four ovules and thus can produce up to four nutlets per flower.

Bee flies, bumble bees, and butterflies

Went out for a walk in McCarthy Woods this afternoon.

A lot of new growth are sprouting out from the forest floor.

Things I saw when I moved at a slower pace...

I missed the bus a few times today, so I ended up walking to and from school today.  I had not done that in a while, and I missed the things I can come across with when I am moving at a slower pace.

Found these small egg shells on the trail.  The parent bird probably took them away from the nest.  I wonder what kind of bird laid these eggs.

Lady Eaton Drumlin in the Spring

The weather was so nice (and warm) today that I decided to check out Lady Eaton Drumlin before I went to my office.  It was during mid-day so the highlights of some of these photos are quite bright.  One thing I didn't prepare for was the mosquitoes and so they annoyed me quite a bit today.  This is my first being on the drumlin during the month of May.  I was here last year in April and the trees were still leafless and only hepatica was flowering, but that was not the case in May.

Star-flowered Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

BEE-tiful Saturday

Once again, I came to school to do some work.  One thing I found quite inconvenient about coming to Trent on the weekend is that all the buildings would be locked (that I have no access to), so there is no direct route from the bus stop to my office.  I guess the silver lining is that I can walk around the buildings and take some time to appreciate the nature around me.

Close-up on the lichens on the rock.

May days so far

May days so far have been pretty hectic (as expected).  I need to finalize what I will be doing this summer with my supervisors, pack everything, and figure out where I am going to be living next September.

2012-05-04

I handed in my post-dated cheques to the housing unit today at school.  After that, I walked along the river towards my building.  And as expected, when I don't bring my DSLR, I ended up seeing some pretty cool wildlife.

For example, this Osprey about 20 metres away from me looking at the river.

Then I heard this knocking sound.  Looking around, it was a Pileated Woodpecker.  I have seen this species a couple of times, but no good photos to show for it.  This one is pretty decent when resized.