Merry Christmas!

The school semester ended this week and I almost near the end of my degree.  I have not been photographing or blogging as much as before, but hopefully I can resume once I am less busy.  Yesterday morning I went out for a walk to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden hoping to photograph some wildlife.  But it was too snowy, and not many creatures were out and about.  I saw one cute American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) crouching on top of a branch looking a bit cold.

Sights from Portland, Oregon

My girlfriend and I just spent a rewarding but exhausting week in Portland, Oregon attending the Ecological Society of American (ESA) 2017 Annual Meeting.  Aside from going to presentations, eating, and sleeping, there was not much time to explore this interesting city.

For example, we woke up very early one day and went for a stroll around a park (Laurelhurst Park) in the neighbourhood, where we came across two young Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii).

An afternoon at Fletcher Wildlife Garden with M.Zuiko 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II

Compared to the last few days, today's weather was a bit more agreeable - sunny and not too frigid, so I went to Fletcher Wildlife Garden to test out my new lens.

Because of the sunny weather, I was able to increase the ISO to get faster shutter speeds and increase the depth of field, resulting in sharp images.  The auto-focus was also speedy and accurate, which was the main reason why I got this new lens.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) enjoying the sumac.

Big Sky Ranch & Sarsaparilla Trail

This week is reading week at the university, so there are no classes for the undergrads and more free time for us grad students.  Today, I visited a place I have been hearing a lot about from my friend - the Big Sky Ranch Animal Sanctuary in Kemptville.  Big Sky Ranch is a place where animals (abandoned or unable to care for by their previous humans) are able to be adopted by new humans or to live permanently at this no-kill sanctuary.  The sanctuary is open to visitors most times of the year and is free of charge, but donation is definitely appreciated especially during the colder months when there are little to no visitors.  While my friend and I were walking around the sanctuary and enjoying the presence of all the animals, I cannot help but feel sad and angry at the people who would abandon their care for these animals.  But I am glad places like Big Sky Ranch exist and there are nice people who invest their time and money to improve the lives of these animals.  During our visit, all of the animals seemed to be well-cared for and their living conditions were clean and comfortable.

Here were some of the interesting animals we saw:

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

July update - Fourth of July celebration

My field season is slowly coming to an end.  I will be flying back to Ottawa in one week, and now I have more free time to do data entry and sort through all of my photos taken (thus far) this month.

On July 4th, in the past I tended to avoid people and all the associated celebrations by going on solo hikes.  This year, since this might be my last summer in Colorado, I decided to enjoy the festivities by going to Crested Butte and watching the annual Gothic to Crested Butte 1/3 Marathon and the Fourth of July parade.

The marathon finish line in Crested Butte.  I arrived early in the morning so there weren't many people around yet.

Wildlife at Mud Lake

Before checking out the blossoms at Lincoln Fields today, I was at Mud Lake watching birds.  One of the first birds I saw was this singing Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), which I think is a lifer for me.

Checking for Spring around South Keys area

I went for a long walk around my neighbourhood this afternoon trying to document some of the organisms that are emerging and becoming more active/abundant with every passing day.

Hepatica (Anemone sp.) - always the first ephemeral to emerge in McCarthy Woods.

Who is ready for Spring? Flowers, birds, and I.

Knowing that I was already two days behind in my "annual spring check-up at the Arboretum" (see my 2014 and 2015 posts) because of my busy work schedule, I decided to finish work earlier today so that I can go find the flowers afterwards.

The flowers seemed to bloom right on the calendar date (regardless of the type of winter we had) and when I got there this afternoon, most of the flowers appear pretty old already.  Sadly, there were no pollinators visiting the flowers.

This was the best image of the blooming Crocus sp. that I photographed.

Bird-watching Tuesday along Rideau River

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) pecking into the bark.

Checking to see if winter is gone yet

I did some bird-watching this and last weekend.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) at Fletcher Wildlife Garden last Sunday.

Bird-watching in FWG

I took the long way to school today via Fletcher Wildlife Garden hoping to see some signs of Spring.

One of the first things I saw was this pair of Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) fighting along the tree trunk.

Updates & Visiting Mud Lake

This week is reading week at University of Ottawa, so there are no classes for undergraduate students, which also means a less hectic week for me.  One thing I was planning on doing this week was looking for Snowy Owls.  The approximate location of the Snowy Owls is not very close to where I live and public transportation does not even come close to the area, so I have been waiting for some free time and good weather in order to make this thing happen.  And today is finally the day!

Another thing that happened this week was that I came across an ad of someone selling one of the lenses that I have been waiting for a while now - the Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens.  After some online negotiation and postponing the transaction because of Tuesday's record-breaking snowfall, I finally received this lens yesterday, and it is beautiful!  Because of the two above things, I set some goals for myself today - find Snowy Owls and test the lens.

Long story short, the first goal was unsuccessful because the road where I thought the owls may be found was not the right one and walking along a busy rural road (during wintertime) without sidewalks does not make me feel very safe (just like the time when I tried to bike to Bridgenorth).  After feeling a bit bummed and tired out, I decided to visit Mud Lake and photograph some birds (and macro shots too) instead.

Mud Lake is completely snow-covered now.  I took this photo with my new lens.  It is so much fun shooting with a sharp prime lens (not really the case for my OM 50mm f/1.8 lens).

November update

I apologize for not posting anything until the end of the month, but life is getting too busy for me to take breaks just for photographs.  During this month, I bought a year-long student membership to the Museum of Nature (and went there twice already), took up swimming during lunch breaks, and went out bird-watching three times.

Early November when the temperature was still pleasant enough to sit outside.  I was sitting on a bench and studying for my biological modeling midterm before taking this photo.

Fall- and bird-watching at Fletcher Wildlife Garden & Arboretum

Near this time last year, the fall colours at the Arboretum were around peak-time, so I came to the Arboretum yesterday and today to see if the timing is still similar.  Sadly, the timing is a bit advanced this year so most leaves are on the ground now.

Yesterday, I came with a friend and we bird-watched as well.  I forgot my binoculars and telephoto lens at home, and only had the OM 50 f/2 lens on my camera (which is why I returned again today).  I discovered a new birding spot behind the Fletcher Wildlife Garden's Interpretative Centre so we spent some time looking for birds there.

We saw this bird which we think may be a Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus).  This is a 100% crop of the original image.
 

July update - Trip through Four Corners, Grand Canyon, and Wyoming

Over a span of four days (July 12th to 16th), I traveled across five states and drove more than 2,400 km.

The trip began from Colorado and passed through Blue Mesa Lake again.

Bird-watching on long Easter weekend

I hope everyone is having a good long Easter weekend thus far.  My Easter weekend involved bird-watching and spending time with new friends (humans, birds, and one dog).  Here are bird pictures from different places.

Strathcona Park

Male Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Mid-week birding - hints of spring returning

I recently learned that McCarthy Woods near where I live also extend to the other side of McCarthy Road and wildlife is more active on that side of the road (probably because that part is behind houses and some people have put up feeders).  I walked through there two Saturdays ago, but it was drizzling so I didn't took any photographs.  I did a lot of errands today, and before I went to the grocery store in the afternoon, I detoured to that area and did some bird-watching.

Unidentified finches - either house or purple.  I am never good at telling them apart.

Weekend activities - helping a friend & bird-watching

I really should take pictures every single day, otherwise I could not remember what I did each day (unless something really significant happened that day).  For example, I didn't take any photos last weekend and now I couldn't remember most of what I did then.

Well, I did bring my camera with me this weekend to record helping out a friend on Saturday and then bird-watching this morning.

Photograph of a staircase.  I really like patterns and lines when looking up/down stairways, such as these inspiration images (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) captured by one of my favorite photographers.  My image was taken inside one of the biology buildings on campus, but it wasn't very interesting so I replicated and flipped the image next to the original image.  Not too bad.  I need to find more interesting staircases in Ottawa.

Birds saw in Richmond

Aside from working from home most of this week, I went out twice to do some bird-watching and six times to dine out.  Here are the birds we saw on Thursday (at Terra Nova) and Saturday (at Richmond Nature Park).

Terra Nova

The only Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) I saw this trip.

Macoun Marsh in Beechwood Cemetery

Today's weather is really nice - sunny and not too cold.  The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club had a birding event at Mud Lake this morning at 8 AM, but it was too far and too early for me to go on a Sunday morning.  I instead went to Macoun Marsh, a part of the Beechwood Cemetery.

The marsh is located at the southeast corner of the cemetery.