Daily life in Colorado - Part 2

Images since the last post.

Scenery

Mount Crested Butte

Grizzly in Ivvavik National Park

This field season, I saw a total of five grizzlies.  The closest encounter was on May 31 when we were setting up experiments for my soapberry project near campground.  During the set up, I looked around and saw a bear crossing the creek to the other side - meaning it was very near us just a few moments ago.  We abandoned what we were doing and cautiously went over to the kitchen shed.  Sensing the bear was not interested in us, we took some photos from our side of the creek.

The grizzly on the other side of the creek.

Study Site 3, Ivvavik National Park

My co-workers and I just finished a whirlwind road trip through the Yukon on July 27 to 31, and I am now in Edmonton Airport waiting for my flight back to Vancouver. The last couple of days have been crazy, fun, and tiring at the same time. Hopefully I will have sorted out some of the photos from the road trip by the end of the week. But now, more photos from Ivvavik National Park.

The pristine landscape of Ivvavik never ceases to amaze me, even if it is a study site that I go every 3 to 7 days. These photos are from one of my study sites or on the way to it. Beautiful, isn't it?

One more post before leaving for fieldwork

Hi all, this will probably be my last post for the next ~70 days as I will be leaving for fieldwork tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

Left the office a bit early yesterday morning so that I can check out some wildlife along the way.

American Robin singing.

Returning to Grouse Mountain

Long story short, my friend from Taiwan invited me to visit Grouse Mountain with her and knowing that I haven't been there in more than 10 years, I can't say no to the opportunity.

Starting the trip across the Burrard Inlet by SeaBus, definitely my favorite method of public transportation in Vancouver.

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

Update post, inc. trip to Dyer's Bay

Hi all. I am back at the cafe using wireless internet. This might be the only post for the upcoming weeks/month as the birds are arriving next week, and after that everyone will be very busy and has less time for non-work related things.

While driving to the cafe this morning, my colleague and I saw an Eastern Meadowlark and 3 Wild Turkeys - both of which are lifers for me. I will share them next time.

Now, the usual views and creatures from the Fox Den (where we are currently housed). Once again, please click on the photos for more descriptions about each image.