Doing a bit of fieldwork at Gatineau Park

This morning, I helped my friend with her trout lily (Erythronium americanum) research at Gatineau Park (click here to read more about it from last year's post).  When we arrived at the park, the weather was not optimal to perform hand-pollination, so we grabbed coffee from the nearby Siberian Cat Café, where I took photos of these gorgeous cats.

Trout lily survey

Why are the anther colours different in trout lilies?  This might be a question that enters your mind every spring if you enjoy exploring forests and watching ephemeral plants flower before the canopy closes over and the presence of biting insects dissuades you from entering the forest.

For those not sure what I am talking about, here is a photo I took this morning (in McCarthy Woods) of two trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) growing side-by-side that have different anther colours (red versus yellow).

Spring fauna and flora at McCarthy Woods

I went to McCarthy Woods today to practice UV photography on the flowers.  I am still missing the 40.5 to 48 step-up adapter ring, so handholding the filter in front of the camera lens is not ideal.  Plus, there may be focus shift that I need to adjust once the adapter ring arrives.  While photographing the flowers, I saw many interested things that I photographed with my E-M1.

The first was this Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus) pecking a fallen tree.

Update for the week

I bought a bike at a garage sale on Sunday, so on Monday (12th), I attempted to bike to school.  There isn't a straight-forward path from where I live to the university, but there is a path along the canal that gets me to school in about 45 minutes (by biking through some neighbourhoods and parks first), which is not bad, especially when the weather is nice.

Biking past Hog's Back Falls - man-made waterfalls.

Bee flies, bumble bees, and butterflies

Went out for a walk in McCarthy Woods this afternoon.

A lot of new growth are sprouting out from the forest floor.

More flowers and bees in McCarthy Woods

The weather was suppose to be poor this weekend, so when I saw some sunny breaks this afternoon, I quickly grabbed my camera and headed to McCarthy Woods to take some photos.

I saw more Trout-lilies (Erythronium americanum) in flower.

Signs of Spring - native flowering plants and bees

After yesterday's post about the emerging plants seen last Monday at McCarthy Woods, I decided to go there after school today (and before I mailed my tax forms) to see if the plants started flowering yet.  And indeed they were (but in very small numbers)! 

The first thing that caught my attention was a wild Nomada bee (as oppose to the honey bees observed more than two weeks ago) with yellow pollen on its body!