Creatures along Rideau River

Sorry for not posting in a while.  Everything is going well, but I just haven't really had the time to be outside for extended periods of time (especially during the miserable winter weather) and photographing things.  Hopefully with the start of spring (yay!), I can start spending more time outside again.

Spring has begun in Ottawa, and the other day, I saw from ebird that a Harlequin Duck had been sighted along the Rideau River.  The weather was quite nice today, so this afternoon, my girlfriend and I walked over to Strathcona Park and did a little bit of bird-watching.  Along the way, we ran into a friend who mentioned that the water level was quite high and a Snapping Turtle was spotted feeding under a flooded swing set right next to the river recently.  

Once we arrived at the park, we immediately saw a Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus - a bird I haven't seen in six years) swimming with some Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula).

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.

Going outside and waiting for Spring

With rising temperature and melting snowpack, it is difficult not to think about Spring.  Nowadays, I try to go outside whenever the weather is nice and I need a break from computer work so that I can discover that first hint of Spring (from a flower, insect, bird call, anything!).

Almost a week ago, it was still pretty cold when I was walking along the Rideau River.

Male Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Last (bird-watching) day of 2015

I was hoping to do more nature-related things when I came back home, but various tasks took place and I ended up not bird-watching until this morning when I drove my mother to the library to borrow some books and then went to Terra Nova for a walk.

I miss this view.  You can't see mountains and ocean (sort of) in the same view back in Ottawa.

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.
 

Wildlife observed (so far) this week

Now that the weather is getting warmer and sunnier, I went out to a few different spots this week and brought my camera with me.

Strathcona Park (Tuesday)

I went out to Strathcona Park during lunch break.  I had the 40-150 lens on my camera, and I was practicing the continuous auto-focus (with tracking) on the gulls.

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

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.

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.

Christmas Bird Count 2014 - Ottawa

Today I did the Christmas Bird Count with people whom I have gotten to know this semester that enjoy bird-watching too.  It has been a while since I bird-watched with other naturalists, and I have forgotten how fun it can be (and less awkward compared to birding by myself in the suburbs and/or parks with children around).

Focusing on the Goldeneyes on the Rideau River.

We saw a total of 26 different species (the others kept actual counts for each species), and below were the more interesting species that we observed and that I photographed.

Rideau Canal, birds, and full moon

The school semester is finally over, but work (i.e., preparing for qualifying exam) still continues no matter what.  I took some photos the past two weekends just walking along the canal and hiking in the Arboretum hoping to see some wildlife.

Preparation for Winterlude has begun even though the ice is not thick enough yet.

New Orleans, the Crescent City

This is going to be my first post from the New Orleans trip and it will a lengthy post with a lot of photos.

My accommodation during my stay was at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in downtown, so aside from attending to various talks during the Botany Conference, I had a lot of opportunities to explore the downtown area, especially the infamous Bourbon Street and French Quarter.  Therefore, this first post is a photographic collection of downtown New Orleans during my 5-day stay there.

Canal Street with palm trees and streetcar tracks.  Can't imagine being here when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Sunday Collage

Some photos taken on the drumlin this afternoon before I went to my office and did work.  Nothing overly exciting.  Saw a Pileated Woodpecker but missed the opportunity of taking its photo.

Biked to Lakefield on Sunday and now I am sick

The weather last Sunday was quite nice but it was definitely colder than the last time I biked to school.  I decided to bike to Lakefield Sewage Lagoon to do some bird-watching.  I saw many Ringed-billed Gulls, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Lesser Scaups, Chipping Sparrows, and maybe some Goldfinches.

However, by the time I returned from the lagoon and came back to my office, I immediately know I caught a cold because of a sore throat.  Three days after, here I am sick as a dog.  Hope it passes soon.

Here are some photos from the trip.  The photos are pretty self-explanatory and I am too sick to describe each of them.

Birding in Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Sorry for the delay, but here are the photos from last Sunday when I was birding at Presqu'ile Provincial Park with Trent's ornithology class.

Waking up early and waiting for the school bus just after 6am.

Pretty good day - wildlife-wise

This Glaucous-winged Gull was staring at me when I arrived at Phoenix Pond in Steveston. Looking around, I realized there was a dead salmon in the water below.

Chickadees' and Killdeers' potentially nesting?

This was one of the few photos taken from our 'backyard' yesterday when it was grey and wet out using the OM lens.

This was taken at f2 as you can tell by the blurriness behind the flower in focus. The colors captured by this lens is not as saturated as the digital lenses, but it is fixable with some post-processing.

Keep on birding

Feeling the need to start building my insect knowledge, I first went to South Dyke Sharing Farm to see if I can spot any insects. No such luck.

Keep on birding until spring arrives, I suppose.

Weather was nice today when I went out. Mew Gull (I think) flying by.

Pretty good birding afternoon at Garry Point

I thought it would be colder today, apparently not. Maybe because I had another sweater and a warmer pants on. Nonetheless, it was another beautiful day out.

The first birds I saw were four Killdeers in this field sticking their bills into the water.

Making up for the cloudy days...

I totally forgot what I did for the last four days now. This is what happened when it's cloudy and I ended up staying indoors most of the times.

Well, I better make up for the missing days by going outside to enjoy this beautiful Friday.

Blue sky and white puffy clouds.

Sunny in the afternoon

Like I said before, the weather forecast can't be more wrong lately. Calling for rain when it is nice out and sunny when it is raining out.

Anyways, it was raining pretty hard in the morning. Thankfully, it stopped and the sky cleared in the afternoon. Time for the much-needed bike ride and some shutter therapy.

The bird feeders along the South Dyke Trail (in the dog park) were dominated by the Red-winged Blackbirds. But while I was photographing, they stayed away and gave opportunities to the White-crowed Sparrows and juncos.