(Wild)life back in Ottawa

I have not done a lot of wildlife-watching since I returned from Baltimore - mainly because I do not have a valid bus pass yet and I only try to go to places within walk- and bike-able distances.  Besides where I live, the other places I go to for the past two weeks are: Sawmill Creek Wetland, the Arboretum, McCarthy Woods, and the university.  Here are some interesting things that I photographed.

Sawmill Creek Wetland

Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar (Euchaetes egle)

Fauna/flora surveying at Gatineau Park (2015) - Part 1

These past two days (Wednesday and Thursday) I was helping out with a fauna and flora surveying project at Gatineau Park (same as last year).  The weather was very pleasant and I felt great (but exhausted) from being outside most of the day.  It's a great way to prepare my body and mind for the upcoming field season.

I took this picture on Tuesday when I walked along the canal during my lunch break.  The ice has pretty disappeared by now.

Wordless Wednesday - Dead wasp inside, birds and squirrels alive outside.

European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

 Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

 

 Barred Owl (Strix varia)

 

Daily life in Colorado - Part 2

Images since the last post.

Scenery

Mount Crested Butte

More flowers and insects at McCarthy Woods

Here are some photos taken today.

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) near the feeder at the place where I live.

Moving from Peterborough to Ottawa

I officially moved to Ottawa on Friday, thanks to my parents who flew from BC to Ontario to help me move.

Here are some photos from the past few days.

On Wednesday (Nov 20), while bored from packing, I looked at the wasp nest next to the house and found that all of the wasps were dead (probably from the cold) and so I took the nest out of the crevice.

Close-up on the nest.

Lady Eaton Drumlin in late Summer

I had been busy this past week working on my thesis revisions, so I didn't really take any photos during the week.  It had also been relatively uneventful this week, aside from the fact that another graduate student in my lab successfully defended his Master research and we went out for lunch at a popular BBQ place in Keene, and then last night we had a post-defense party at my supervisor's place.  Weather-wise, it definitely feels that autumn is approaching (although it was really hot on Wednesday) with the evenings getting colder now.

On a somewhat unimportant note (to most people), Olympus announced the release of a new camera called E-M1 on Tuesday (news here).  As my Olympus E-620 DSLR is getting older, I am thinking about upgrading the equipment to improve my photography skills.  However, this new camera is very very expensive and I need to buy an addition adapter for my current lenses (which kind of defeats the purpose of using a small and lightweight system like Olympus).  So eventually I will be in a dilemma of continuing with the Olympus brand or switching to a new system (e.g., Nikon) that is more well-supported by the company and its customers. 

In the mean time, I will continue to enjoy my E-620 and the photos that I can get with it.  Today, I hiked around the Lady Eaton Drumlin before going to school to do some work, because I seriously needed to be outside and enjoyed nature a bit.

First wildlife I saw was a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens).

Dead bumble bee and wasp & my macro-photography set-up

As summer slowly comes to an end, flowering plants are slowly losing its colourful attractants and producing seeds of various sizes and shapes for future years.  Insects that had fulfilled their roles in life will also perish and become a part of the natural cycle.

On Saturday evening, as I returned home from school, I found this bumble bee on the sidewalk.  I thought it was dead at first, but then I realized it was just very weak.  I brought it home with me and tried to give it some sugary water, but it didn't respond.  After my dinner, I realized it wasn't getting any better, so I decided to put it in the freezer to end its struggle earlier.  Afterwards, I decided to take some photos of it and keep it  with the insects that I have found dead (not in the hands of me).

I think I am getting more comfortable with my macro-photography techniques and set-up, given the limited resources that I have (see below).

Windy Pine BioBlitz - Day 1

This past weekend I was at Windy Pine documenting the fauna and flora of the area.  It was sort of like a bioblitz but with only three people.  Once we arrived, the first thing we set out to do was sampling the aquatic invertebrates.

Skullcap flowers at the lake shore.

Photographic update

Sorry for the lack of update lately, I have been working hard on my thesis so that I can complete my degree before the new school year (so that I don't have to pay any more tuition).  I am also working on another research project, preparing my PhD application, arranging travel arrangements, and so forth.  I will be flying back to BC this coming Wednesday for a few days, then I am off to Whitehorse to attend an Arctic/Alpine Pollination workshop (information here), and my summer travels will wrap up in New Orleans (via Vancouver and Toronto) where I will be presenting my research at the Botany conference.

I don't have free time to go anywhere to take photos, but I still bring my camera everywhere I go just in case.  Here are the photos I took this past two weeks.

July 1

Attending the Multicultural Canada Day Festival 2013 in Peterborough.  The low-point of the day was that a friend had her kayak stolen from top of her car while we were at the festival.  To have this kind of thing happening, especially during Canada Day, is just not acceptable.  The kayak (see posting here) was brought over from Europe, so it is likely the only one of its kind in Canada, if anyone has seen it (anywhere in Canada), please contact the Peterborough police (more info in the link above).

Photos from last Saturday - Pollinators, Waxwings, and Groundhog

A week of field course has gone by and left me with a new appreciation for plants and tons of photos.  Another week will start tomorrow at Algonquin Provincial Park and I will be away from technology during that time.

I have not yet sorted out my photos from this past week, and I only just finished the ones from last Saturday (June 8th).  Here they are.

I went over to Trent's Ward Garden last week to test myself on plant identification using the field guide.

Came across a wasp on the stairs with many red mites crawling all over the rocky surface (one is to the left of the wasp).

BEE-tiful Saturday

Once again, I came to school to do some work.  One thing I found quite inconvenient about coming to Trent on the weekend is that all the buildings would be locked (that I have no access to), so there is no direct route from the bus stop to my office.  I guess the silver lining is that I can walk around the buildings and take some time to appreciate the nature around me.

Close-up on the lichens on the rock.

Bridgenorth Trail & Miller Creek Cons. Area revisited

Last year, I biked to a nearby conservation area called Miller Creek.  However, the biking was not as safe I preferred since I was basically biking on a busy country road.  However, near where I live now, there is a close trail that takes me there and through the countryside.  I biked through it today and like the trail quite a lot - quiet, safe, easy, etc.

Saw a dead frog on the hot gravel road.

Wordless Wednesday - Biked to Phoenix Pond & Finn Slough

Pair of Yellowlegs

Hummingbird at GCCG

A warm and sunny Saturday - good day to be outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Bald Eagle perched on Shady Island, not very shady at all.

Driving around Richmond

After dropping my father off at work, my mother and I went to Iona Beach to do some bird-watching.  Besides the swallows flying back and forth over the pond, it was a pretty quiet day, bird-wise.

A couple of Mallards on the water, including this female duck and her six ducklings.

St. Louis Zoo and Insectarium

After the field project presentations and clean-up the field equipments in the lab, all the students decided to go to St. Louis Zoo (free, by the way) to pay Mr. Ed Spevak and the insectarium a visit.

Before heading back to the apartment to put my stuff away first, I came across this Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) on the sidewalk in the drizzling rain.  I gently picked it up and put it on a tree where it has more shelter.  What a beauty!


We were at the zoo with only about 1.5 hours to spare before closing, so we only had time to visit the insectarium.

Quick post about past week - mostly pollinators

Long story short, I am heading to St. Louis this weekend to participate in a pollination field course in Missouri Botanical Garden. Before I leave, I had many many things to do. Most of the more important tasks are done now, and now onto posting photos and blog writing about what I did since last Friday.

2012/04/07

I biked to Jackson Park hoping it would be nice and pretty by now.

Unfortunately not. The lake/pond is still really low and the trees are just producing buds.

Learning in CNC (Canadian National Collection)

The place where the course is being held is Canadian National Collection, and yesterday we got a tour of the Diptera collections by one of the course instructors, Dr. Skevington. It is quite an amazing place to see all these wonderful creatures treasured by taxonomists who started these collection centuries ago.

Walking through the hallways where the insects are being kept.

An assortment of photos and topics - flies, spiders, wasp, outdoor, and others

Many photos to share, so I thought I organize them chronologically.

Jan 25 - (Possibly) figured out where the bristles on the meron (the plate just above and behind the mid coxa) are.

Look near where the lower calypter is.