Assorted photos in February

Here are some photos I took the past several days.

The Rideau Canal Skateway officially closed for the season yesterday and ended the shortest season on record (18 days).  Thankfully I got a chance to spend some time (walking) on the canal last Friday and to test my new lens.

Hiking around Canal Nature Area at Trent University

The weather here in Peterborough has been quite similar to the typical weather that Vancouver gets at this time of the weather - overcast, rainy, and depressing.  So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I saw nothing but blue sky when I opened the window in the morning.

As I grabbed my bike and headed to school, I kept debating if I should do work in my office or at least spend a few hours outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.  In the end, I decided to do the latter before I go working in my office.  Last year, around this time of the year, I was hiking on the other side of the road, this time, I visited the Canal Nature Area.

Sign.

Shaw Nature Reserve

In the morning we learned about the botanical and floral diversity in pollination biology. For example, the different mating and breeding systems for plants, as well as the history of categorizing flower types to better associate the pollinators and the appropriate pollinator syndrome.

Photographed a Syrphid during a break.


Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis)

In the afternoon, we headed to a different part of Missouri Botanical Garden outside the city. It is called Shaw Nature Reserve.

Friday before the long weekend

Yesterday, I found a shield bug outside a glass door on campus and since I didn't bring my macro/telephoto lens, I brought it home in a glass jar.

And today, I brought it back to school (along with the lens) and took photos of it on the dead yarrow.

Don't know what species this is, but it is still pretty cool-looking.

Flowers and Insects from GRCG

Here are some photos from Gilbert Road Community Garden. On my way there, I saw a sign that said "Welcome to Gentle Cove" (or something like that) with many filming equipments around, must be for that TV show "Once Upon A Time" currently being shot in Steveston and Richmond. It would be kind of interesting to watch it just for the sake of seeing Steveston on TV.

Bright colours

More photos from May and June

Today is the second day of my days-off. Yesterday I went to nearby towns in Fenelon Falls and Beaverton, I quite like Beaverton, especially a cool little shop called "Shirley's Country Clutter" where I found two door hangers with Loggerhead Shrikes on them and I also saw a Blue Jay nestling in the back of the store too.

Anyways, here're more photos from my days-off in May, as well as some photos in the field. A couple weeks ago, our field was covered with beautiful wildflowers, definitely a great place to be.

From my last days-off (May 24 & May 25)

Lifers and Sights from Carden and surrounding areas

It has been a while since my last post. Many of good things had happened and work is going well too. And the best things are probably all the new lifers that I am seeing and the beautiful country that I am currently living in.

Lifers:

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)


Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)