Familiarizing with winter once again

Winter feels like it has arrived in Ottawa last week; and now, everyone (including myself and the animals) is getting used to the frigid temperature and icy/snowy road once again.  I have been very busy in November and December, mostly working on my research while maintaining some work-life balance.  Sadly, I have not taken as many pictures as I would like.

It was kind of sunny this afternoon, so I went out to the Arboretum and brought my camera with me.

One of the first birds I saw today - a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens).

Autumn colours, birds, and a butterfly(!)

This past week was probably the last few days of the year when signs of autumn are still pretty evident.  Soon the trees will be bare and the ground will be covered by snow once again.  I have an uneasy and sickening feeling about the future of the world given what happened just four short days ago in America.  But there is not much anyone can do except to stay positive and hang on tight to anything that brings you happiness, whether it is spending time with your friends and families and/or being outside and enjoying nature.

People going out for a morning stroll.

Christmas Bird Count 2015 (Ottawa) & Return back to BC

Hello from BC!  I returned back to BC early yesterday morning for the holiday break.  Before Tuesday, I participated in the Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Bird Count on Sunday with mostly the same group of people as last year.  As you may already know, it has been a warm December in Ontario and the weather is completely different from the previous year.  Compared to last year, our section did not record as many species, although the region as a whole has received a record number of individuals, with more than two-thirds of the total count (about 25,000 individual birds) being American Crows and Canada Geese (read the news report here).  Unfortunately, I stupidly forgot to put my freshly-charged battery into my camera and was not able to take any photos of the birds we saw.  In the end, I only snapped two photos with my phone.

The starting point of our bird count early in the morning.

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)

Bird-watching before Ottawa's first 2013 winterstorm

Before heavy snow started to fall yesterday afternoon, I went out to Mooney's Bay Park, a 45-minute walk from where I now live, to do some bird-watching.

With the city in the background, this scenery reminds me of being in Vancouver.

Quick photographic post from the past week

Life lately has been quite hectic with little time for other activities, such as blogging or photography, because the "official" deadline for thesis submission happened last Friday.  On top of that, I have teaching, marking assignments, doing my tax forms, writing abstracts for presentations/conferences, planning to meeting potential PhD supervisors, reading papers, and writing/editing my thesis.  Therefore, little time for anything else, I am afraid.

I still managed to take some photos here and there though.

Saw this hawk out in the backyard last Saturday.  I think it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which I have seen around the neighbourhood before.

Better day than expected

It was a better birding than I expected, given that it was spitting rain when I left the house and a few more times while outside.

Unstable weather.

Gulls at low tide

Biking along the South Dyke Trail, I noticed this immature Bald Eagle on the tree.

It seemed to be perching awkwardly, so I looked at its talons and noticed it was only perching on one foot and withdraw its left foot. It was difficult to tell if it is injured or something because it looks alright. I hope I am just imagining it.

Gulls and Yellowlegs on a cloudy afternoon

The weather was quite nice this morning - sunny with some blue skies. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to go out until the afternoon, which by then was cloudy and windy. I ended up just biking to South Dyke Trail and part way into Steveston before heading back home.

Across from London Farm, there is a little beach where you can wander into. There were some gulls resting on the logs, so I thought it was a good opportunity to get some bird-in-flight shots. I took a lot of shots, but only these ones were presentable.

Like its yellow bill and pink feet.

Practicing my E-620 with flying gulls outside patio

Just when I was about to go out for my bike ride, rain started pouring down. So I stayed home and took photos of gulls from our patio instead.

Great way to start off December - beautiful sunny day & full moon

With the high pressure system arriving here in coastal BC, the weather will be perfect to start off December! What a change from the miserable (and soon forgotten) November!

Morning Sun

Glaucous Gull - I like its feet very much, especially with the black claws hanging over the edge.

Two Gulls

During lunch break, I had a little time to spend, so I went outside and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful blue sky.

Views to the snow-capped mountains

Cormorant drying itself

A lady was feeding the gulls, causing a feeding frenzy. From the chaotic mess, I managed to take a shot of the gull in flight!

In the afternoon, I had to go outside and pick up somethings for work. By then, the sun was almost set and Downtown Vancouver was in a festive atmosphere.

Harbour Centre looking like an ice cream cone or something.

I took this shot at Four Seasons Hotel. Long exposure and moved my hands around resulted in this interesting photo. Unfortunately, I have no idea what's the proper orientation of this image anymore.

This was from Sutton Place Hotel. It looked like beautiful golden drapes or something. I am starting to like night photography and long exposure shots!

And finally, the whole purpose of today - to take a picture of the full moon of 2009-12-01!

365 days ago (2008-12-01) - Testing Flickr ...
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Finally, a clear day

The rain has finally ceased today!

Taking a quick photo of the sky before I enter Canada Line.

I had a busy work day today, but I still managed to go out for a quick stroll during my lunch break.

Crooked beak of a gull.

This particular cormorant is a bit intriguing because its white tufts above the head indicate it is a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) adult in breeding plumage, but I thought their breeding season occurs during the spring and summer?

These, I am pretty sure, are Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus). Look how stiff-looking those tails are! Must be a powerful swimming tool.

Cormorant and gull

Nice shots of a Pelagic Cormorant.

Another dark bird, but it's a crow - trying to be a pirate or something.

The views were fairly nice at the waterfront.

Sunshine!

This moon shot was taken when I arrived home in the evening. Not out-of-focus, but the moon was just trying its best trying to shine through the clouds. No such luck.

368 days ago (2008-11-23) ...

366 days ago (2008-11-25) ...
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Birding Sunday - Saw Killdeers!!!

Today, before driving my parents to grocery shopping, I brought them out to Terra Nova to enjoy a little bit of nature walk.

American Wigeons in the distance.

It was a gray day but at least it was dry and not too cold. One of the birds that my parents wanted to see was the Bald Eagle. Since we didn't walk all the way to the nest sites at the golf course, we only caught glimpses of two of them flying over our heads.

One of the eight Great Blue Herons out in the marsh.

Walking towards the Terra Nova Rural Area, my parents experienced the magnificent landing of the Snow Geese. Thousands perhaps?

And they came in two waves.

One of the birds that my mother enjoys of seeing is the Great Blue Heron. This one was standing on the road just a few metres away from us. It certainly had my mother excited.

Passing by the Terra Nova Community Garden, it was bare soil with little vegetation. But there were still several American Robins around looking for things to eat on the ground.

When we arrived at the "pond", a flock of American Wigeons took off flying. Leaving behind two strange looking birds. Giving them a second look, I realized they were Killdeers! Killdeer, Charadrius vociferu, is one of the most common and widespread plovers in North America because they are quite adaptable to human-modified habitats and not to live close to humans. One of the interesting things about Killdeer is their "broken-wing" act - a method used to lead predators away from nests, as experienced by Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard months ago.

My first sighting of Killdeers ever.

There was also a group of Canada Geese. I saw them two days ago, but didn't bother to post pictures of them. Well, here they are today. One of them was quite cautious and continued to look at us until we were out of sight.

It's good that you are looking out for your family.

Saw these Mew Gulls (I think) as we were heading back to the car.

Overall, a good birding day considering the number of people out by the dyke, and I still can't believe I saw Killdeers. Wow!
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