Goodbye to my Four Thirds equipment & Hello to a new lens.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post was that I recently sold my unused Four Thirds equipment (Olympus E-620 and three lenses) as a part of the Olympus trading promotion, and I bought a new Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 lens.  I really enjoyed using E-620 and the associated lenses, and hopefully the company receiving it will find it a good home.

I have been using my new lens for a while now, and it is versatile, sharp, and quick.  For example, I can shoot landscape and portrait with this lens.

Autumn colours along the canal at the beginning of the month.

Autumn colours in Ottawa and Montréal

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I attended the Festival végane de Montréal, and I took some photos of the autumn colours in Montréal and compared them to the photos I took last month in Ottawa.

Autumn colours along Rideau Canal.

Early fall colours in Quebec

My parents are currently visiting me and wanting to see the changing fall colours here in eastern Canada.  I booked a tour trip to Mont-Tremblant today, and although some of the views were spectacular, the fall colours were not at peak yet.

We first visited Gatineau Park and then took a boat ride on Lac des Sables in Saint-Agathe.  Lac des Sables is probably most well-known for the expensive houses owned by rich people along its shoreline.

Autumn colours, birds, and a butterfly(!)

This past week was probably the last few days of the year when signs of autumn are still pretty evident.  Soon the trees will be bare and the ground will be covered by snow once again.  I have an uneasy and sickening feeling about the future of the world given what happened just four short days ago in America.  But there is not much anyone can do except to stay positive and hang on tight to anything that brings you happiness, whether it is spending time with your friends and families and/or being outside and enjoying nature.

People going out for a morning stroll.

Tracking down pumpkin pollen & Autumn photos

The temperature has been dropping steadily since the last weekend, when I was helping my friend searching for male pumpkin flowers with viable pollen.  We traveled to two different farms outside of Ottawa, but we only got about three small vials worth of pumpkin pollen because of the recent frost.

One of the farms we visited was Saunders Farm, a popular place to go during autumn with all of its pumpkin- and Halloween-related activies.  We got to go on a hayride to look for flowers.

September update

Ever since school has started, I have not been diligent in terms of bringing my camera with me and taking pictures, even though most days in September are quite pleasant.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Fall- and bird-watching at Fletcher Wildlife Garden & Arboretum

Near this time last year, the fall colours at the Arboretum were around peak-time, so I came to the Arboretum yesterday and today to see if the timing is still similar.  Sadly, the timing is a bit advanced this year so most leaves are on the ground now.

Yesterday, I came with a friend and we bird-watched as well.  I forgot my binoculars and telephoto lens at home, and only had the OM 50 f/2 lens on my camera (which is why I returned again today).  I discovered a new birding spot behind the Fletcher Wildlife Garden's Interpretative Centre so we spent some time looking for birds there.

We saw this bird which we think may be a Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus).  This is a 100% crop of the original image.
 

Limnology field trip - Part 2

This past weekend, I was back at Station de biologie des Laurentides for another weekend field trip with the students.  The autumn colours have mostly disappeared from the landscape, and most of the leaves are now on the ground.

The yellow trees are Tamarack (Larix laricina).

Searching for fall colours in Ottawa

Since last month, I have been watching leaves slowly changing their colours on my way to school.  This past Thanksgiving long weekend, I finally had some free time to go outside and enjoy autumn up close.

The week before, I saw an Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) at Sawmill Creek while I was taking a break from sitting in front of my computer all day.

Remnants of Autumn

I finished grading a bunch of lab reports yesterday, and when I woke up this morning, the weather was so nice that I decided to visit the Arboretum for a long overdue nature walk with my camera.

I have been so busy lately that autumn is slowly disappearing in front of my eyes and yet I haven't got any free time to take some photos with my camera.  I was very happy today when I got to the Arboretum and saw there were still some trees with their fall leaves.

Tree on fire

Ecology labs and autumn colours

I have been incredibly busy this school semester demonstrating labs for the ecology course, grading lab reports, as well as preparing for my PhD comprehensive examination.  I tried to take some pictures whenever I am outside, otherwise I am indoors working away.

The ecology course consists of two field labs - first on the effects of abiotic factors in the stream on benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity and second on tree diversity in different successional stages - both of which take place at Gatineau Park.

Last month (September 12th), the teaching assistants and lab demonstrator went out to familiarize ourselves with the study area.

Old Chelsea Stream (upstream)

(Long) walks around Peterborough and Trent

I have been very busy lately because I am working on my funding applications for my potential Ph.D. position due next week.  I took a little break on Thursday morning when I had to drive the lab vehicle to get serviced.  After dropping the truck off, I walked to Jackson Park to photograph the fall colours.

The colours were mostly here, although there were still some green leaves.

Sparrow, warbler, and a snake = good day

Came to school for a meeting today, and then I went behind the building to take some photos while eat my lunch.

Red leaves.

Aquatic plants in Pigeon Lake

This afternoon I had the fortunate opportunity to learn about identification of aquatic plants in Pigeon Lake from one of Trent's graduate students and a contributor of the guide "Aquatic Plants Guide: Aquatic plants in the Kawartha Lakes - their growth, importance and management".

An overcast day.

Wolf Lake, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park

A couple of friends and I went for a nice canoe paddle at Wolf Lake in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park today.  Our original destination was to portage to the adjacent Crab Lake, but we couldn't find the route so we ended up just paddling around the lake.

We launched our canoe at this spot.

Check up on the fall colours at Jackson Park... not yet

While I was working from home today, I could hear the winds blowing quite fiercely.  Worried that the wind might blow down all the leaves from Jackson Park, I biked to the park after work.  When I got there, it appeared that most of the leaves still had not turned their colours yet (even though most of the trees on the streets are red by now).  I did a quick walk around the lake and headed back home for dinner right after.

Still green.

Beautiful Fall Colours in Algonquin

We left for Algonquin Park early this morning hoping to be there before most of the visitors arrive, but due to construction and like-minded people, the park was packed when we arrived.  As we slowly drove north from Peterborough, the fall colours did not change very much (even outside the park), but as we entered the park itself, the changes became evident and there were some leaves falling already.

We started off with hiking along the Peck Lake Trail.

Assortment of vibrant colours (pretty much the theme of today) - green conifer trees, yellow/orange/red deciduous trees, and blue sky/lake.

No fall colours yet in Peterborough

I spent all morning and most of the afternoon yesterday at home working on data analyses.  Afterwards, I biked to Jackson Park to see if the fall colours have arrived or not, and then got some groceries on the way home.

Not yet, I'd say, compare to 2011 and 2012.

Thanksgiving Autumn

One thing I really want to do lately is to go out and take photos of the gorgeous display of autumn here in Peterborough, especially as I walk through neighborhoods with beautiful red and orange maple leaves every morning to the bus stop.  This Thanksgiving break finally gave me a chance today to bike to Jackson Park and take some photos.

The explosion of colours is just astonishing!

Getting outside again

I finally did something outdoorsy this week.  Went to school on Sunday, but not before I went for a walk through the Lady Eaton drumlin next to the campus.

Unknown kill.  Pigeon feathers?