Beautiful sceneries in Colorado

Quick update on some of the photos I had taken in Colorado.

A map of the general area I am staying at.

Road trip from Ottawa to Colorado

I had arrived safely in Colorado on Sunday evening.  The drive from Ottawa to Colorado was relatively uneventful until the last leg of the trip where it started to hail and the scenery changed from the flat landscape to high-rising mountains.  Interestingly, the two places we stayed overnight were hosting dog or horse shows.

We drove from Ottawa to Kalamazoo, MI in the first day and spent a night in a smoky motel room.  We powered through Illinois and Iowa on the second day and ended at Grand Island, NE.

Crossing to Iowa.

Egret and deer at Sawmill Creek

I went for a bike ride around Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland this afternoon.  While scanning the edge of the wetland for birds, I first saw an egret!

This is the first time I seen a Great Egret (Ardea alba) in Canada, even though I had seen it before in Taiwan and New Orleans.  According to members in the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Facebook page, egrets can be seen along the Ottawa River and sometimes a bit inland (such as here) as well.

Canadian Tulip Festival - Blast of colours (Part 2)

I biked to Commissioners Park this afternoon to check out the tulip festival once again.  Along the way, I saw many (crabapple?) blossoms in the Arboretum.

Beautiful.

Tulip Festival in downtown Ottawa and Gatineau

Today, I went to downtown Ottawa and Gatineau to check out the Tulip Festival in these parts of the cities.

The blossoms are here!

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.

Canadian Tulip Festival - Blast of colours!

One of the things I have been looking forward to since I moved to Ottawa is the Canadian Tulip Festival.  It is apparently the largest tulip festival in the world and symbolizes the friendship between Netherlands and Canada (especially since WWII).  Tulips are also Ottawa's official flower, so it makes sense for National Capital Commission (NCC) to put a lot of effort into this festival.  There are 30 flower beds at Commissioners Park, which consists of 60 different varieties of tulips and almost 300,000 plants in total!  For more information, please visit the main website - http://tulipfestival.ca/site/home/en.

One of the main information boards about the establishment of the festival.

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.

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.

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.

Along Rideau Canal

The 11th annual Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology (OCIB) Symposium took place yesterday and today.  I didn't participate in this symposium since I just started, but I did attend to a few presentations.  Most of the presentation were pretty good, although only some were in the field of ecology so my understanding is limited.

On the way to the bus stop, I took out my camera with the OM lens and snapped some photos.  

There was one day when the water on the canal was still and the refelection was perfect (but I didn't bring my camera then).  Today was just a bit too windy.