Salmons in Steveston

I drove my mother to Steveston this afternoon to see the salmons.

Salmon jumping out of the river.

My home (range)

Today's weather was so nice that I biked from my house to the South Dyke Trail, to Steveston, then to my old West Dyke Trail.

Ship and Wind Waves

Painted Turtles enjoying the Sun

South Dyke Trail

My new home is now very close to South Arm Park. The weather was quite nice today, so I took my bike and explored the neighbourhood a bit. Afterwards, I slowly biked towards the Steveston along the No. 3 Road. I found out that I am fairly close to the south dyke, so it will probably be the place that I frequently visit from now on.

New view towards the North Shore Mountains.

Back in B.C. & new home & walking along Lake Ontario

I landed in Richmond early yesterday morning (just after midnight). My family bought a home in Richmond when I was away in Ontario, and so it was my first time seeing the new home. It's nice, still in Richmond, but now I live right across from a shopping centre and no longer within a easy biking distance to the dyke, so I will have to figure something out in the coming days to keep me from being deprived of my doses of nature-watching.

Yesterday, though, I drove my mom to Terra Nova and walked around the share farm. Lots of flowers!

Royal Ontario Museum & Toronto Zoo

My friend and I visited the Royal Ontario Museum two days ago. It's a great place to visit as a tourist, plus the building from the outside looks absolutley ridiculous, but keep in mind that it is quite impossible to tour the entire museum in one day, so pick your exhibits wisely.

One of the Chinese art pieces that I really like - from the 7th century, Three Kingdoms Period.

Yesterday, I visited the Toronto Zoo by myself. Having spent some time in Taipei Zoo and working behind the scene and along side zookeepers and vets, as well as taking care of animals this summer, I began to view the zoo from a different perspective. I no longer looked at it as a place of just animals in display, but looking at the behaviors of the captive animals, the enclosure set-ups, and sometimes peeking behind the back to see the work areas of the zookeepers.

As always, here are some photos to share. I tried avoiding taking them in their enclosures (omitting or cropping out the wires or fences) and focusing on the animal's behaviors or reactions in their captive environment. Yesterday's weather was nice and cool, with some downpours here and there, so the animals were either sheltering from the rain or taking a nap when the sun came out.

Polar Bear

Carden memories come to an end & Niagara Falls

My summer field season concluded yesterday. I am now in my friend's home in Ontario before I fly back to B.C. on Saturday. There are many memories, photos, thoughts, emotions, and experiences from the last 4.5 months that I would like to share, but now they remain unorganized in my head. Hopefully, I will be able to share them as time progresses.

Here are some photos from the last few days on the field site and last boat rides on Lake Dalrymple.

Orange Sulphurs enjoying the salts on the road.

A juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird posing for the camera.

Photos with captions

One day, a juvenile White-throated Sparrow hit our cabin window. We quickly took it off the ground and put it in a small cloth bag (for birds), waited for it to gain conscious, then my co-worker Kat released it back to wherever it belong. It didn't want to fly away right away but did soon afterwards.


It was always strange to see a woodpecker hanging on a Mullein looking for insects.

Shrikes!

Just can't get enough of shrikes!

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Trip to Algonquin Provincial Park

I am currently sitting in a cafe in Bobcaygeon trying to sort out my photos, upload them, and write a blog (or two). Basically, a very time-consuming process.

There is one more week left here in our field site before we pack everything up and call this a season, and a week-and-half before I fly back to B.C. I'm definitely going to miss this place - the animals, the field site, the people, and more.

Anyways, here're some photos from my trip to Algonquin a couple of weeks ago. I am very glad my co-worker persuaded me to take this trip and allowed me to borrow her camping equipment to make this trip possible! Thanks!

From my campground - Tea Lake

More photos - Awenda & Muskoka Wildlife Centre & others

Good evening everyone. I just spent the past two-and-half days camping in Algonquin Provincial Park and enjoying my long off-days. It was an amazing experience. Hopefully by next time I post, I will have sorted the photos to share, e.g. otters, moose, beautiful lakes, etc. But now, here are photos from the past two weeks and my last off-days.

A nice photo from Awenda Park