Ivvavik National Park - Views from Above

Some more photos from Ivvavik National Park from a high vantage point.

Quick photographic post from the past week

Life lately has been quite hectic with little time for other activities, such as blogging or photography, because the "official" deadline for thesis submission happened last Friday.  On top of that, I have teaching, marking assignments, doing my tax forms, writing abstracts for presentations/conferences, planning to meeting potential PhD supervisors, reading papers, and writing/editing my thesis.  Therefore, little time for anything else, I am afraid.

I still managed to take some photos here and there though.

Saw this hawk out in the backyard last Saturday.  I think it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which I have seen around the neighbourhood before.

Ecology lab - week 2

This gorgeous morning was the second section of the ecology lab.  We saw two more interesting trees that I thought was worth photographing.

Blue-Beech (Carpinus caroliniana) - the current existing trees on the drumlin are fairly small, the largest a student measured was 28 cm in circumference.  Some people call them "muscle trees" because of the muscle-like ridges on the trunks.  Even though it's call Blue-Beech, it is actually in the Birch family while the American Beech is a true beech belonging in the Beech family.  Confusing, I know.

Wild birds and captive mammals at the Peterborough Zoo

I unintentionally walked all the way to school today because I kept missing the buses at the stops that I want to get on.  Plus, I detoured a bit and went to the Peterborough Riverview Zoo to photograph the animals.

A Mourning Dove, one of the two "wild" animals that I photographed today.  I have heard many cardinals singing nowadays.  Must be getting closer to Spring.

Walks to school - ice, Mallards, and chickadee

Here are some photos taken yesterday and today while heading to my office at school.

Macro photo of ice formation.

The lack of wildlife seen on my walks to school is quite a let-down.  Seeing anything, even this pair of Mallards, uplifted my spirit immediately.

Ecology Lab - identifying trees

The invasive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been making its northward invasion into eastern Canada since 2002.  It affects many tree species, including the ashes (Fraxinus spp.) and the American Beech (Fagus grandifolia).  The latest Advanced Ecology lab asks the students to identify the trees on the South Drumlin at Trent University, and then predict what surrounding tree species will replace the ash and beech trees if EAB arrive at the site and the trees are killed by EAB.

Since it's winter, identifying trees is mainly done based on its bark and buds, and not so much on its leaves.

Beech (Fagus grandifolia) - bark is thin, smooth, and people usually like to carve their names on it.