Mud Lake and Petrie Islands (Post #1,000)

Knowing that I will be very busy this coming school semester - teaching, taking one class, and working on my own research project, I doubt I will be spending a lot of time outside and enjoying nature.  So for the past few days, I have been going out and taking advantage of the last free days before school begins next Tuesday.  The places I went to were Mud Lake and Petrie Island, and I went to each place twice because there are so many things to see.

Mud Lake

A lot of Water lilies (Nymphaea odorata) floating on the lake.

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).

UBC Botanical Garden & Greenheart Canopy Walkway

The past few days has been quite rewarding - volunteering at two different sessions, listening to different researches, and not stressing over the presentations like most of the presenters.  I saw presentations discussing from lizard diversity in Chile to genetically identifying shark species all over the world to the threats to Japanese Giant Salamanders.  Today was the last day of the conference (to be followed by the huge bird conference - NAOC), and I was assigned to help out with the registration table.  A few days ago, I saw a special discount for going to the UBC Botanical Garden plus walking the Greenheart Canopy Walkway for only $11.  I bought the ticket right away and thought this afternoon would be a good time to use it.

A Barn Swallow nest right outside the gift store at the botanical garden.  The parent(s) were flying in and out feeding the young chicks.

Biking to West Dyke Trail

Here are some of the things I encountered while out biking at West Dyke Trail.

Red-eared Slider, one of the many in the ditch.

Trading dragonflies for people

I wasn't in a particular good mood early on in my bike ride when some morons in a car decided to yell when coming up right behind me on a bike. Not cool at all.

So I pedaled past Steveston (so many people, with the festival and the farmer's market going on at the same time, as well as the event going on at London Farm) and headed towards Terra Nova. Terra Nova now is like a dragonfly heaven, so many individuals (compare to the ones I saw up North) flying around and claiming territories. That put me in a good mood already.

Wordless Wednesday & Photos of the day: Common Flangetail, Red-bellied Skimmer, Black-crowned Night Heron, and Water Lily

.

Showing my mother around Taipei

Yesterday, I brought my mother to Taipei Botanical Garden and showed her around in my work areas and some special sights to to see. We saw many beautiful animals and plants, but it was too hot for my mother to cope with.

The first bird that we saw a Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica), which was pretty exciting to see since Chinese people call them Lucky Bird. What a way to start off the day! Sadly, it was too well hidden for me to take decent photographs. Nevertheless, it was a sight to see.

Afterwards, I showed my mother around to see some nests of Muller's Barbets and other nesting birds that I know, such as this relatively effortless nest by the Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus) made out of few grass straws.

My mother was pretty excited to see the beautiful Muller's Barbets, especially when they poked their heads out of the cavity hole and looked around. Near the Lotus Pond, we also saw this pair of Red-bellied Skimmers (Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum) mating and laying eggs on the water surface. We observed that while the female lays her eggs, the male flys above her to protect her.

Red-bellied Skimmers (Central Indian subspecies)

After we had lunch outside the garden, we headed to the college where my aunt teaches at. The college is located up on a small mountain so the view is quite nice. Over there, I saw quite a few of the common Formosan Grass Lizards (Takydromus formosanus) hiding in the roadside shrubs.

I hope I am right with my identification since there are a couple of lizards in the family Lacertidae found in Taiwan, and they all looked quite similar to me in the field guide. One main distinction is that T. formosanus has two pairs of inguinal pores, but I didn't want to stress and pick up this little fellow up to examine it more closely.

In another shrub, I saw this beautiful White-spotted Longicorn Beetle (Anoplophora macularia). They are about 24 to 35-mm in length, not including the super long antennae.

In their school garden, I also saw a couple of ladybugs, such as this Six-spotted Ladybird Beetle (Monochilus sexmaculatus).

Today is Sunday, and it is my mother's last day in Taipei. My mother, aunt, and I went shopping in the neighbourhood before we brought my mother to the train station to head back to Central Taiwan. I will not see my mother again for another three months, since she is heading back to Canada in a couple of days while I'm still staying for my volunteer work and internship. Sigh.

.