Early fall colours in Quebec

My parents are currently visiting me and wanting to see the changing fall colours here in eastern Canada.  I booked a tour trip to Mont-Tremblant today, and although some of the views were spectacular, the fall colours were not at peak yet.

We first visited Gatineau Park and then took a boat ride on Lac des Sables in Saint-Agathe.  Lac des Sables is probably most well-known for the expensive houses owned by rich people along its shoreline.

Tracking down pumpkin pollen & Autumn photos

The temperature has been dropping steadily since the last weekend, when I was helping my friend searching for male pumpkin flowers with viable pollen.  We traveled to two different farms outside of Ottawa, but we only got about three small vials worth of pumpkin pollen because of the recent frost.

One of the farms we visited was Saunders Farm, a popular place to go during autumn with all of its pumpkin- and Halloween-related activies.  We got to go on a hayride to look for flowers.

July update - Conundrum Hot Springs (July 15 - 16)

For my final hiking trip of the season, I wanted to go somewhere farther and a bit more strenuous.  I decided to hike from Gothic to Conundrum Hot Springs via Triangle Pass.  I invited my friend to come with me, and we left Gothic early in the morning and headed towards Copper Lake.  Before we get to Copper Lake, the trail splits into two and one directs us towards Triangle Pass.

View from Triangle Pass

July update - Rio Grande and San Isabel National Forests (July 5 - 8)

From July 5th to 8th, I traveled to Rio Grande and San Isabel National Forests to search for Mertensia lateriflora and M. ovata, respectively.

Stopping along the Silver Thread National Scenic Byway to take a look at Lake San Cristobal.

Canadian Tulip Pre-Festival (2016) & birds (and one squirrel) at FWG!

The popular Canadian Tulip Festival will begin in two days (here is one of my posts from two years ago).  To avoid the crowd, I went to Dow's Lake this afternoon to see if there are any tulips flowering beforehand.

And indeed there were!

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.

Winter bird-watching at Fletcher Wildlife Garden

I went to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden today hoping to see some birds (especially this one recorded from two weeks ago).  I did not see the owl but ended up seeing many regular wintering species, and most of them were hanging around feeders or trees with fruits.

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

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.

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.
 

Limnology field trip - Part 2

This past weekend, I was back at Station de biologie des Laurentides for another weekend field trip with the students.  The autumn colours have mostly disappeared from the landscape, and most of the leaves are now on the ground.

The yellow trees are Tamarack (Larix laricina).

Limnology field trip at Station de biologie des Laurentides

I am assisting with a limnology course this semester, and one component of the course is going to University of Montreal's Station de biologie des Laurentides this weekend and demonstrating to the students some of the sampling and analyses techniques in limnology.  Then next month, the students will apply the techniques to perform their own research project over a four-day period.

The weather during the weekend was fantastic, but I was too busy with my duties to take a lot of pictures.

Sign welcoming us to the station, which is about 2.5 hours northeast of Ottawa.
 

July update - Places & Happenings

In two days, I will be on my way back to Ottawa once again.  Overall, this has been a great field season and I am saddened to see it coming to an end.  After returning from Grand Canyon, I have been working on my data analyses and other research-related things, but I still tried to do some outdoor activities and fieldwork just to keep my mind sharp.

July 21st - Rainbow

Saw a rainbow after poor weather prevented me from staying out and taking photos of hummingbirds visiting flowers. 

July update - Research-related photos

This month I planned three road-trips measuring vegetative and reproductive traits of several Mertensia species in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah.  These road-trips brought me to many interesting places that I wouldn't otherwise have the chance to go to.

July 1st to 3rd (M. ciliata and M. bakeri)

Blue Mesa Lake, the largest lake in Colorado.

June update - Assorted

After all that snow and rain in May, June pretty much provided the best conditions one can ask for in terms of doing fieldwork - sunny, dry, and warm.  I did fieldwork almost every single day in June, except for last Sunday and a couple of rainy days, which explains the lack of posts until now.  Now that many of my plants are done flowering and starting to set seeds, I can slow down for a tiny bit.  I have divided my all of my photos from June into six different topics.  This one is just an assortment of different photos.

Full moon on June 2nd.

Remnants of Autumn

I finished grading a bunch of lab reports yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, the weather was so nice that I decided to visit the Arboretum for a long overdue nature walk with my camera.

I have been so busy lately that autumn is slowly disappearing in front of my eyes and yet I haven't got any free time to take some photos with my camera.  I was very happy today when I got to the Arboretum and saw there were still some trees with their fall leaves.

Tree on fire

Mud Lake, Ottawa revisited

Given that school begins tomorrow and I now have a valid bus pass, I decided to go to Mud Lake today to do some wildlife-watching before the hectic school semester begins.  The last time I was there was almost nine months ago, so everything are different now, especially temperature-wise.  To read more about the different types of wildlife one can encounter at Mud Lake at different times of the year, read this post at the blog The Pathless Wood.

A true summer (sunny, hot, and humid) day today.

Long way back to Ottawa

On Wednesday (July 23rd) when we left RMBL, we drove through Cottonwood Pass trying to get to Arapaho National Forest where Mertensia perplexa is found.  Unfortunately, we didn't make the correct turn past Taylor Park Reservoir and wasted at least an hour going the wrong direction.

Taylor Park Reservoir

Hiking to my 2nd tallest mountain so far - Gothic Mountain (3,850 m)

Today, my labmate and I hiked to the top of the mountain that towers over our cabin (and Gothic) - Gothic Mountain. Its height is 3,850 m, which is just four metres short of Avery Peak that I climbed last week.

Quick picture of Gothic Mountain before we left.  To get to the top, we followed the trail descriptions in this website, which we found to be accurate and useful.

Daily life in Colorado - Part 5

Random photos taken from last week.

On the way to work one day, I saw the soft morning sun shining through the lupines.

Daily life in Colorado - Part 4

Research

My field season is slowly winding down with the flowers setting seeds (a.k.a. nutlets).  However, the nutlets contain elaiosomes that are removed by ants (and the plants are also eaten by deers), thus I have to be extra diligent in nutlet-collecting before other creatures get to them first.

Ants also steal nectar from flowers.  Here is one removing the flower.