Sights from Portland, Oregon

My girlfriend and I just spent a rewarding but exhausting week in Portland, Oregon attending the Ecological Society of American (ESA) 2017 Annual Meeting.  Aside from going to presentations, eating, and sleeping, there was not much time to explore this interesting city.

For example, we woke up very early one day and went for a stroll around a park (Laurelhurst Park) in the neighbourhood, where we came across two young Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii).

We took one morning off and visited Powell’s City of Books, the largest used/new bookstore in the world and a must-visit place for book lovers.  I used the opportunity to search for this beautiful and informative book ("The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees").  Unfortunately, the only book in the store was slightly damaged so I received a 10% coupon and bought the book from another location later that day.  While we were in downtown, we made our way to Washington Park, where we checked out the Rose Garden and Japanese Garden, which were packed with tourists (like us).

A cute Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii).

Inside the Japanese Garden.

Water striders (Family Gerridae) against a surreal background.

We tried to do a bit of bird-watching in the Japanese Garden.  Most birds (nuthatches, creepers, andc chickadees) were too far away for me to get a good photograph, except this young-looking Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) preening itself.

We arrived back in Ottawa yesterday morning (around 2AM) and we were completely exhausted.

Few more months left in our degrees and then we shall see what awaits us after that...