Birds around Sawmill Wetland (Ottawa)

I returned back to Canada on Wednesday night, and since then I had been searching for my own place (and not sharing with any roommates or landlords) for the remainder of my degree (another 1.5 years left).  I submitted a rental application on Friday and now I am just waiting to hear back from the apartment manager.  This afternoon, I walked around Sawmill Wetland (maybe for the final time) and looked at the birds around the wetland.

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

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.

Canadian Tulip Pre-Festival (2016) & birds (and one squirrel) at FWG!

The popular Canadian Tulip Festival will begin in two days (here is one of my posts from two years ago).  To avoid the crowd, I went to Dow's Lake this afternoon to see if there are any tulips flowering beforehand.

And indeed there were!

August's Photographic Update

Sorry for not posting anything since my return from Windy Pine.  I have been working on my project either from home or school, plus I do not have a student bus pass so my destinations are limited to places I can walk and/or bike to.  I still went out a few times, and here are photos from most of those outings.

August 6 - Went for a walk to Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland, and I was surprised at how much vegetation have grown compared to the first time I was there.

There weren't many bird species that I saw - mostly just Mallards (and one heron in this image).

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.

Good start to June - flowers, insects, and birds.

Came to school today to do some work.  Along the way, I saw this single yellow iris among the grasses next to the Otonabee River.  Strange place for a garden plant to be.

Very pretty nonetheless.

Exploring the Lady Eaton Drumlin

Went out shopping in the morning to get a few more things that I still need for my new place, e.g. kettle, spatula, etc.

On the way to the store, I spotted this toad on the hot gravelly trail.  It's good to always bring my P&S camera with me.  You'll never know what you might encounter.

Grant's Woods and George Langman Sanctuary

It's been a while since I last posted a post. Between today (my off-day) and the last time I posted, I had two more off-days when I went to Orillia and checked out the city and the surrounding natural areas - Grant's Woods and George Langman Sanctuary, both of which I would definitely recommend for people to visit and enjoy nature.

Grant's Woods

More photos from May and June

Today is the second day of my days-off. Yesterday I went to nearby towns in Fenelon Falls and Beaverton, I quite like Beaverton, especially a cool little shop called "Shirley's Country Clutter" where I found two door hangers with Loggerhead Shrikes on them and I also saw a Blue Jay nestling in the back of the store too.

Anyways, here're more photos from my days-off in May, as well as some photos in the field. A couple weeks ago, our field was covered with beautiful wildflowers, definitely a great place to be.

From my last days-off (May 24 & May 25)

More photos from Carden

Here are more photos that I wanted/needed to share:

Mama robin feeding her nestlings. At this moment, the nestlings had already fledged and the nest is now empty.


I think this is one of the fledglings. Who knows, there are many robin nests around our cabin and in the field site.

Photos from many days ago...

Hi all. Work and life are good here in Ontario. For the past few days, the weather has been very summer-like and I am definitely experiencing the insect annoyance here, but overall, I am having fun and learning a lot.

Here are some of the photos that I took on my off-days on May 6 and 7, and during other working days.

The scenaries: