Touring Toronto and Niagara Falls

My mother is leaving Ottawa this coming Saturday.  This past weekend, we went on another two-day tour - this time to Thousand Islands, Toronto, and Niagara Falls.

Our first stop was seeing the islands at Rockport, Ontario.

St. Brendan's Church

Touring Quebec City and Montreal

I have been slowly getting settled in my new apartment for about two weeks now.  It is at a convenient location close to Dow's Lake, Arboretum, bike path to school, Ottawa River, and more.  Shortly after I moved in, my mother flew from Richmond for a month-long visit, so I have been hosting her since then and that explains why I have not been photographing or blogging as much.

This past weekend, we visited Quebec City and Montreal with a mostly-Asian tour group.  And like most tour groups, the schedule was packed and there was little free time to do anything else.

We left Ottawa early Saturday morning, and the first attraction was Château Frontenac in Quebec City.

Great Backyard Bird Count in Ottawa

I returned back to BC last night for a week off from school.  Before I went to the airport in the afternoon, I went out bird-watching with a friend for the Great Backyard Bird Count in the morning.  We actually went to Strathcona Park on Valentine's Day to scout some of the species found there (e.g., Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, etc), and then began our Monday bird count there as well.  It was quite cold on Saturday and Monday morning, so I didn't bother taking photos then.  After surveying the birds at Strathcona Park on Monday morning, we took the bus to Remic Rapids along the Ottawa River, which was my first time there.  The temperature felt warmer by then and so I started snapping some photos.

Remic Rapids and some impressive rock-balancing.

Winter Uplands

I went out for two short walks around my neighbourhood this past weekend.  I didn't see much of anything, but I did come across this poem that perfectly described the feeling during my strolls.  The poem is titled Winter Uplands by Archibald Lampman.

Stroll along Rideau Canal & Yellowjacket & Knifefish

Here are some photos I took last weekend while walking along Rideau Canal.  Originally I was hoping to take some more photos this weekend but ended up too busy working.

A kaleidoscope image of water reflection.

Culture Days at National Gallery of Canada

This weekend (September 26 to 28) celebrates a national event called Culture Days where activities took place throughout the country to promote art and culture in Canada.  Here in Ottawa, one of the activities is visiting the National Gallery of Canada for free, which I partook today.

My first time inside the gallery.

Along Rideau Canal

The 11th annual Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology (OCIB) Symposium took place yesterday and today.  I didn't participate in this symposium since I just started, but I did attend to a few presentations.  Most of the presentation were pretty good, although only some were in the field of ecology so my understanding is limited.

On the way to the bus stop, I took out my camera with the OM lens and snapped some photos.  

There was one day when the water on the canal was still and the refelection was perfect (but I didn't bring my camera then).  Today was just a bit too windy.

Frog-eating Mallard at Brewer Park

I took care of some business at the bank this morning at Billings Bridge Shopping Centre, and then I went to Brewer Park nearby (across from Carleton University) because the weather was nice.

Ice forming on the Rideau River.

Being a tourist in Ottawa

One thing I enjoy about being in Ottawa is that there are so many interesting things to see and photograph.  I bused to downtown today to get next month's bus pass and then I wandered around and took photos.

Parliament Hill and Rideau Canal

Trip to Ottawa

I just returned from a five-day trip in Ottawa where I looked for a place to move into next week, visited the professor whom I will be working for, and took care of some administrative stuff for my admission to the University of Ottawa.

I arrived on Friday evening and I spent the entire Saturday looking at (three) different places and decided on one later that day.  Then I headed over to the chosen place on Sunday morning to hand in a deposit for the place.  Afterwards, I bused to downtown to take a break and took some photos.

National Gallery of Canada.  As you can probably tell, the weather was kind of crappy that day.  Definitely visiting this place at least a few times for the next few years.

(Long) walks around Peterborough and Trent

I have been very busy lately because I am working on my funding applications for my potential Ph.D. position due next week.  I took a little break on Thursday morning when I had to drive the lab vehicle to get serviced.  After dropping the truck off, I walked to Jackson Park to photograph the fall colours.

The colours were mostly here, although there were still some green leaves.

Audubon Park, New Orleans

This is will the final post from my New Orleans trip.  I presented my research on Wednesday (July 31) afternoon and we left New Orleans the following morning, so Tuesday was my last opportunity to explore New Orleans.

Based on the recommendation from one of my supervisors, I woke up extra early on Tuesday morning and took the streetcar through the famous Garden District and arrived at Audubon Park to do some wildlife-watching.

The first thing I saw at the park was this beautiful garden and fountain.  There were some Monarch butterflies visiting the flowers and I was planning on taking some photos, but there was a strange individual talking to himself so I gave up on that idea.

Honey Island Swamp Tour in Louisiana

On my second day in New Orleans (July 28), my lab-mate and I signed up for a swamp tour at Honey Island Swamp near Slidell, i.e., a chance to see American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in the "wild".

American alligator is endemic to southeastern US and is the official state reptile of Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  It and the Chinese alligator are the only two living species in the genus Alligator.  Alligators belong to the family Alligatoridae, and crocodiles belong to the family Crocodylidae (and both families belong to the reptilian order Crocodylia).  They are real "living dinosaurs" because their lineage goes back to about 240 million years ago, and they are still surviving and thriving in the present (way beyond the extinct dinosaurs).

One common question from most people is what are the differences between alligators and crocodiles.  Basically, alligators have a wider snout and expose only the upper jaw teeth when the mouth is closed.  Meanwhile, crocodiles have a long and narrow snout, and upper and lower teeth are both exposed when the mouth is closed.

To get to Slidell from New Orleans, we drove across Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway which is the second longest bridge in the world.  Pretty awesome.

Back from OE3C (at Western University)

I just got back from London, Ontario for the OE3C conference.  Overall, I think it's went very well, especially for my first "actual" conference - the venue/school is beautiful, just the right size in terms of attendees, and the weather is pleasant for the past three days.

We resided at the "Guest House on the Mound" for the duration of the conference.  Nothing to complain about the location.

Collection of assorted photos in November

November had been extremely slow, photography and blogging-wise due to the combination of poor weather, thesis writing, and uninteresting things to blog about.

Here are some photos taken in the second half of November.

Found a bird nest on the ground on the 14th when the weather was nice and I walked from where I live to school (takes about 1 hour).

Exploring the Lady Eaton Drumlin

Went out shopping in the morning to get a few more things that I still need for my new place, e.g. kettle, spatula, etc.

On the way to the store, I spotted this toad on the hot gravelly trail.  It's good to always bring my P&S camera with me.  You'll never know what you might encounter.

Going to school again on a Saturday

Biked to school again on a nice sunny Saturday.

A warm day compared to the past week.


People were out canoeing! Beautiful sceneries.


Like the last time, I went behind the building to photograph things (before I spend the rest of the afternoon indoors doing statistics). There were many sparrows (Savannah, I think) singing and hiding in the dense grasses when I walked by.


Looking out to the field.


Goldenrod gall. From this fly?


Found a tiny leafhopper while searching for pollinators on the flowers.


Since last Sunday, the weather has been very cool and almost very winter-like. I tried looking for the bees again on Monday but the flowers were closed when I got there. When I got there again today, the only pollinator I saw was this fly dunking its head deep into flower for nectar. I brought my Raynox-250 for these close-up photos.


Since there was nothing else visiting the flowers, I turned my attention to the dew found on some leaves.


You can see the sun, the clouds, and half of me in the droplet!


On the way back to the building to do some work, I came across this Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) trying to hide from me.


Biking home. The weather has been like this recently - sunny in the morning then overcast in the afternoon. Weird spring weather here in Ontario, I'd say.

Biking to school

Despite me wanting to exercise more by biking to school everyday, I only got the chance to do it this Thursday and today (Saturday) when the weather is decent.

The sunny bike ride to Trent.


Came across a (Downy?) woodpecker drumming on the dead part of a tree.


It feels strange being in a different part of the country in the spring, especially when encountering different kinds of birds. For example, it still takes a while to get use to hearing the cardinals, grackle, and doves singing and calling every morning.

This was the weather today, cloudy, but still nice enough to bike to school on a Saturday.

Came across a resting white cat.

First time in Ottawa

After a beautiful drive from Peterborough to Ottawa, my labmate and I first checked into the hotel around 4pm, and then we went for a quick sightseeing of the infamous Ottawa, the capital of the nation. It was my first time visiting and I have heard good things about the city, but I was still astonished when I first saw the Parliament! It was amazing! The architectures of the official governmental buildings are incredible and definitely worth seeing for someone like me who appreciates architecture (although knows nothing about it).

Parliament

First time visitng Miller Creek Wildlife Area

Today I decided to take my biking trip further and go to the Miller Creek Wildlife Area (MCWA) in Bridgenorth. I learned about this place from my friends who took their ornithology class there earlier this semester. Plus, the sun was out when I first woke up this morning so why waste a beautiful day inside.

However, biking to MCWA was tougher than I thought. It is probably because I haven't bike in awhile, or that there are many "hills" along the way, or that there are no bike trails and I had to bike along 70km-limit lanes. Nonetheless, I surprisingly found the place about an hour later without getting lost at all.

Along the way, I saw this snake in the middle of the road with some blood around it. At first I thought it was dead, but a closer look showed that it was still alive. I was unsure if I should leave it be and have other cars end its life sooner or bring it aside and hopefully it will still survive. I chose the latter.