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.

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.

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.
 

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.

Spring fauna and flora at McCarthy Woods

I went to McCarthy Woods today to practice UV photography on the flowers.  I am still missing the 40.5 to 48 step-up adapter ring, so handholding the filter in front of the camera lens is not ideal.  Plus, there may be focus shift that I need to adjust once the adapter ring arrives.  While photographing the flowers, I saw many interested things that I photographed with my E-M1.

The first was this Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus) pecking a fallen tree.

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)

Guelph University & The Arboretum - Part 2

It was rainy and cold on Monday, so I attended the conference throughout the day.

My presentation took place on Tuesday, and in the afternoon I went the Arboretum again to get some fresh air.

A peaceful place to settle one's mind.

Guelph University & The Arboretum - Part 1

When I arrived at Guelph on Sunday afternoon, I first checked into the hotel, then headed to the university to get my registration kit.  Since the weather was not too bad, I decided to take some photos and tried to find the Arboretum.

This scenery reminded me of New Orleans, such as this image.

Busy life...

One of the reasons I am extremely busy these days is that I am temporarily employed by my supervisor to analyze the data from my deceased labmate's project.  In the end, we will publish the results on her behalf with her being the first author.  I will also be presenting her research at the ESC-ESO conference next week at Guelph.

I walked to school yesterday to get feedback from my supervisors on the presentation slides.  I took some photos on the way there.

Maples leaves on the ground.

(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.

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.

BEE-tiful Saturday

Once again, I came to school to do some work.  One thing I found quite inconvenient about coming to Trent on the weekend is that all the buildings would be locked (that I have no access to), so there is no direct route from the bus stop to my office.  I guess the silver lining is that I can walk around the buildings and take some time to appreciate the nature around me.

Close-up on the lichens on the rock.

Visiting Ottawa for the second time

During my first time in Ottawa, I was here with my (now deceased) labmate learning how to identify bees and flower flies.  Along the way to Ottawa, I could not help but feel very sad about my labmate and the things we talked about and saw during last year's trip.  Nonetheless, I think me being here in Ottawa will definitely help in terms of moving on and appreciating life even more.

Waiting for the city bus in Peterborough to catch the Greyhound bus to Ottawa.  It takes about four hours from Peterborough to Ottawa.  I think this is a maple tree, and the flowers are showing signs of blossoming now.

Slow Down

Reading two different blog posts with the same title must be a sign for something, I believe, especially when they are titled "Slow Down" (posts 1 and 2).  I definitely need to slow my life down a bit and not get overwhelmed with all of the things I have to do and complete.

I am still taking photos, but just can't find the time to upload them onto my computer or blog about them.  Until now, that is.

2013.03.23 - walking to school on a Saturday.  The snow is mostly gone now.