Relearning the wildlife of Gothic

Yesterday I showed my labmate some of the common plants and insects (and birds) that she will likely encounter during her own research, which provided a good refresher lesson for me as well.

Gothic Mountain

Blossoms and a sad finding

Last week at the Arboretum, I made a mental note of when I think the crabapple trees will start flowering so that I can return and photograph the blossoms.

I went back today and the trees were just before peak-flowering.

Daily life in Colorado - Part 4

Research

My field season is slowly winding down with the flowers setting seeds (a.k.a. nutlets).  However, the nutlets contain elaiosomes that are removed by ants (and the plants are also eaten by deers), thus I have to be extra diligent in nutlet-collecting before other creatures get to them first.

Ants also steal nectar from flowers.  Here is one removing the flower.

Bird-watching at Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland

I was debating where to spend some time outside this long weekend, especially because the public transit schedule is different every single day.  Looking at eBird, I realized there was a bird-watching spot very close to where I live called Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland, so I searched for instructions on how to get there this morning and walked there right after.

The main purposes of this man-made wetland are to collect run-off water and de-silt the water before it flows into Sawmill Creek.

Birding in Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Sorry for the delay, but here are the photos from last Sunday when I was birding at Presqu'ile Provincial Park with Trent's ornithology class.

Waking up early and waiting for the school bus just after 6am.

Mystery death of a Cuckoo Leafcutting Bee

Yesterday, after working from my office for a while, I went out behind the office building and looked for wildlife. First creature I saw was this Metallic Green Bee (Genus Agapostemon) visiting these aster flowers.

Love its colour.

Bridgenorth Trail & Miller Creek Cons. Area revisited

Last year, I biked to a nearby conservation area called Miller Creek.  However, the biking was not as safe I preferred since I was basically biking on a busy country road.  However, near where I live now, there is a close trail that takes me there and through the countryside.  I biked through it today and like the trail quite a lot - quiet, safe, easy, etc.

Saw a dead frog on the hot gravel road.

Last few days in Inuvik

I flew out of Inuvik this afternoon and am currently in Edmonton, where I will be spending a night before flying back to BC tomorrow afternoon.  The past few days in Inuvik had been more fulfilling than expected.

2012/7/17 (Tuesday)

After dropping off some field equipment at Parks Canada office, I was rushing back and forth between the transient housing and the cafe (with internet connection) to change all of my flights.  In the afternoon, I visited the Great Northern Arts Festival.

Beautiful but expensive carvings by the artist John Sabourin.

Dead wasp came out too early

Today, while leaving school, I found a dead wasp outside one of the buildings. It was really cold at night and I was surprised to see an insect coming out this early in the year (although it was unusually warm yesterday). Poor critter.

So I brought it home and took some photos. It looks like it belongs in the family Pompilidae (Spider Wasps). Unfortunately, I haven't seen any spiders yet this time of the year for it to prey on.

Strolling in Terra Nova and seeing a lifer - Greater White-fronted Geese

Today, I drove my father to work so my mother and I could use the car to run errands, e.g. buy groceries, etc. Afterwards, we went to Terra Nova for a stroll.

Reflection on the slough

Heron and other critter watching

Haven't gone out biking in a few days - busy with stuff, bad weather, etc. Anyways, there was a couple of sunny breaks in the afternoon and so I thought it might be good enough to bike to Terra Nova.

Sky-watching from Garry Point Park. The large puddle/pond has disappeared!?

The final part of my southern Taiwan trip (2009-10-17)

Doing some internet surfing on Flickr when I came across this picture and chuckled at myself at the caption below "...in BC if you're waiting for the rain to stop before you go out, there's every chance you'd die of old age first." Very true.

I have been putting off writing the last few parts of my southern Taiwan trip, and I think I will continue today (from last month). One of the things that we were there to do was to find some Taiwan Barbet nest cavities, as well as to witness and gather some information about the famous raptor migration occurring during the beginning of autumn. It is a spectacular sighting to see tens of thousands raptors flying and gliding on currents of hot airs rising through the peninsula.

On October 17, we woke up quite early, had simple breakfast, and rode our scooters back to Sheding Nature Park where many bird-watchers and photographers gather to see and capture this phenomenon.

Shortly after leaving the dormitory, we saw a Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus). It was definitely to find a lifer for me, as well as the idea of another cavity-nester sharing the same habitat as our Taiwan Barbet. I wonder if there are direct competitions between the two species in terms of cavity resources.

Later on, we also came across a group of Formosan Rock Macaques which are pretty common in the area.

On the way to the platform of the highest point in the park, we encountered a few more interesting animals/plants.

Plank Root Tree (Heritiera littoralis). From its root system, you can probably guess that this is a species that live near mangroves with fluctuating tides.

Taiwan Giant Cricket (Brachytrupes portentosus) - it was already dead but I uprighted it for a documentation.

A friendly dog belonging to the person in charge of the dormitories.

Candidiopotamon rathbunae with my shoe stopping it from moving for a second. C. rathbunae is a freshwater crab and has the widest distribution in Taiwan. Even though both pincers are about the same size, the left is slightly larger. They are the largest and most fierce freshwater crabs in Taiwan, and they can be found underneath rocks or leaves alongside streams, as well as in muddy holes.

Athyma cama zoroastres.

An unknown species from Family Pompilidae.

Once we arrived at the platform, there were probably tens of photographers and birders there. Even though I can see many birds flying in the sky, there were too unfamiliar for me to identify right away (and plus they were just too fast). I didn't capture any images of the must-see Grey-Faced Buzzard. Instead I got a couple of shots of bird-in-flight (one of the reasons why I would like to own a DSLR) and identified only after I sat down and opened my field guides. Needless to say, they are all lifers for me!

Besra (Accipiter virgatus)

Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)

Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) - a honey-feeding accipiter. I believe this is a male because it is lighter in color.

After lunch, we headed to the Manzhou Eagle-watching Expo, but it was too far away and by the time we got there, the expo already came to an end.

Near dark, we scootered back towards our dormitory (along the windy waterfront and the dangerous encounter of a bull out-of-nowhere in a dark road) to pack up our luggages and prepare heading to Taipei.

Along the dark roads, we came across a roadkilled Taiwan Green Snake (Cyclophiops major). RIP.

As well as finding a stickbug (Entoria koshungensis) right outside or dorm. So cool! The people that helped me id this believe it is a male.

After dinner, we took a taxi ride to Kaohsiung (about 2 hours). Spend another hour or so in Kaohsiung waiting for the shuttle bus to Taipei. We left Kaohsiung just past midnight, and when we woke up in Taipei, it was almost 6-am (of October 18th, Sunday)! We ate some early breakfast and said good-bye to each other and headed to our own homes - because we have a get-together later that night in a friend's home again.

So early...and so tiring!

That concludes my work-trip to Southern Taiwan which was both memorable and important (to me) at the same time. I miss it so much.

366 days ago (2009-01-29) ...
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And the dyin' is easy too.

Just as Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard mentioned this being a good (warm) month for critters, including squirrels, I came across a dying squirrel in front of our road where squirrels like to run back and forth all the time.

At first, I noticed a crow in the middle of the road. Then I saw it was beside something. As I got closer, I realize it was a furry animal, most likely to be a squirrel.

I ran back home to grab my camera and took a few shots. Apparently the squirrel was still alive because its tail was still twitching. There were two squirrel on the neighbor's tree yipping and watching this dying squirrel. I wonder if they are family.


Life and death. Both are easy, I guess. RIP, little squirrel.

365 days ago (2009-01-28) ...
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