Crab apple blossoms and birds

My parents left Ottawa this afternoon, but in the morning, I took my mother to the Arboretum to look at the crabapple blossoms that usually bloom at this time of the year (e.g., last year).  My mother loved how colourful the flowers were and took a lot of photos.

Close-up on a flower.

Wildlife around Mud Lake - lifers!

This morning I brought my mother to Mud Lake, which she thought was the nicest place in Ottawa I showed her so far.

The first bird that welcomed us was this American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).

June update - Everything

Since arriving in Colorado, my life has been incredibly busy and interesting, which is why I have not updated my blog until now.  This post is a quite poor in terms of topic organization, I apologize.

Researches

One of my many research projects is to examine if Mertensia plants with different floral orientation are influenced by rain differently, and one measure of this effect is the number of nutlets (seeds) each plant produce.  To test this, I constructed and placed a rain shelter over a plot with several Mertensia plants, manipulated floral orientation (upward or pendant) of haphazardly chosen plants, supplemented pollen to these plants, and waited until the end of the flowering season to collect the nutlets.

Exploring McCarthy Woods for new warbler lifers!

Yesterday I came across this blogger's post about all the interesting birds found in McCarthy Woods and nearby areas.  So today, I went there to look for them myself.

McCarthy Woods is quite beautiful this time of the year where the White Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) dominate the forest floor.

Blossoms and a sad finding

Last week at the Arboretum, I made a mental note of when I think the crabapple trees will start flowering so that I can return and photograph the blossoms.

I went back today and the trees were just before peak-flowering.

International Migratory Bird Day (2016)

Today is the International Migratory Bird Day, and here in Ottawa, there was an event at Brewer Park that included bird banding, birds-of-prey show, and guided walks around the park.

I was there mostly for the birds-of-prey, which was presented by the same organization from the Science by Night ten days ago; therefore, I had already seen three of the four birds.  But at least this time the birds were outside and able to show off their flying skills.

The new bird was Fergus the Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus), a bird found in southern US and Mexico.

Halictus bee at school & birds near home

Took more pictures of the Halictus sp. bees outside the school building this afternoon.

So much pollen on its hairy legs!

Mud Lake and Petrie Islands (Post #1,000)

Knowing that I will be very busy this coming school semester - teaching, taking one class, and working on my own research project, I doubt I will be spending a lot of time outside and enjoying nature.  So for the past few days, I have been going out and taking advantage of the last free days before school begins next Tuesday.  The places I went to were Mud Lake and Petrie Island, and I went to each place twice because there are so many things to see.

Mud Lake

A lot of Water lilies (Nymphaea odorata) floating on the lake.

May update #2 - From Colorado

Since my last post, the weather has been a roller coaster ride.  It can be snowing in the morning, the snow melting and sky clearing up by mid-day, but then back to snowing in the afternoon.

Anyways, while it is snowing really hard outside right now, I have entered the data I collected yesterday, sorted my photos taken the past few days, and then decided to write this post.

May 9th

My labmate was examining cocoons and saw these spirally frass inside a cocoon.  Based on the orange colour, we suspect it is one of the composite-specialist bees - either Osmia montana or O. coloradensis.

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.

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.

Birds and bees at Sawmill Creek

Few days ago, somebody posted a photo on Facebook of several Black-crowned Night Herons at Sawmill Creek.  I decided to see if I could see them for myself this afternoon.

Once I got there, I unknowingly spooked one heron from its hiding place and it took off, but at least I saw it today.

Then I saw this Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), which was the second time I had seen this species.  The last time was almost three years ago in Ivvavik.

Sparrow, warbler, and a snake = good day

Came to school for a meeting today, and then I went behind the building to take some photos while eat my lunch.

Red leaves.

Field course in Algonquin - Part 3

Aside from working on their projects around the research station, the students had not really had any opportunities to explore other parts of Algonquin.  On Thursday morning (20th), a group of us woke up extra early (~ 6:15) to go birding at the Hardwood Lookout Trail.  Aside from myself, I don't think any of the students are really bird-waters, so even though we heard birds singing in the forest, we couldn't really identify them (neither could I because I am more of a bird-watcher than birder).

Anyways, we saw several flowering Indian cucumber-roots, as well as this Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca).

This was the best photo I could get, and you can sort of see the orange throat.

Recap of the week - new macro technique and critters saw during Enrichment camp

While experimenting with my Nikon P&S lately, I found out that if I hold my small hand lens (for plant identification) in front of the P&S lens, then I can get a pretty decent close-up photo of the critter/flower (but I need to get very close).

I took photos of this spider just outside my office window on Monday.

On Tuesday and Thursday, I assisted with two of the mini-course programs held here at Trent.  One was getting elementary students "Wild About Nature!", and the second was teaching students about "Habitat and Organisms".  It has been a while since I worked with children, but it's quite rewarding especially now that I am teaching them about nature.

For "Wild About Nature!", we first made a field kit, consisting of a clinometer, a plant press, and an insect-collecting container.  We then took the children outside to measure tree heights using the clinometer.  We also played games with the children - one called "Predator & Prey" (three trophic levels - grasshoppers, orioles, and hawks) and one with three different feeding apparatuses (modified plastic knifes, spoons, and forks) to collect different prey types.  We also took the children outside to collect plants and insects.

Worm-eating Warbler in Peterborough!

Yesterday morning/afternoon, there was a buzz within the Peterborough birding community about a Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) here in Peterborough.  It is quite rare because Ontario is just beyond the northern limit of its range.

I am not very knowledgeable about warblers in general because they are always found near the treetops and move too fast for me to see/photograph.  However, this particular bird was actually foraging on the ground and not very shy about people watching it.

What a curious individual.  I wonder where it will go next in the season, back down south?

Since we were already at the Beavermead Park, we decided to look for other birds too, especially Fox Sparrows for someone's ebird list.

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.

Visitng Riverview Park and Zoo for the second time

I biked to school early this morning to meet with my supervisor to talk about a potential paper that we can write.  In the afternoon, since I didn't bring the power cord for my laptop to school today, I had to go back home early once the battery was drained.  When I bike to school, I have to pass through the Riverview Zoo, so I decided to stop at the zoo today and take some photos.

Serval cats (Leptailurus serval) enjoying the afternoon sun.

Exploring the Lady Eaton Drumlin

Went out shopping in the morning to get a few more things that I still need for my new place, e.g. kettle, spatula, etc.

On the way to the store, I spotted this toad on the hot gravelly trail.  It's good to always bring my P&S camera with me.  You'll never know what you might encounter.

Insects on dandelions & New birds of the season

I biked to school today to print off some documents.  Afterwards I went behind the office building to do some photography. 

Found two of these Ragweed Leaf Beetles (Zygogramma suturalis) scurrying away from me or playing dead.