Wrapping up 2014

After the school semester ended in mid-December, I continue to stay in Ottawa to work on my research, as well as taking care of Mertensia seeds and bumble bees for myself and others in the lab, and helping another graduate student with her project on spiny lizards.  I did the same things even in Christmas and felt I needed to get out of Ottawa and take a break.  Thankfully, a friend from Trent kindly invited me back to Peterborough for a few days and I had a great time there (I just returned from there this afternoon).

I bought a tripod this Boxing Day and will use it to stabilize my moon and macro photos in the future.

Snowy Owl (still) in Ottawa

Got some photos to share from last Monday and today.  Last Monday, I went out for a stroll at McCarthy Woods near where I live.

All the snow are gone, but nothing flowering yet.

SNOW seen in Ottawa

On my way back to Ottawa, I learned there was a Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) seen in Peterborough near where I used to live, so I was quite disappointed that I did not hear about this news sooner during my time in Peterborough.  Once I got back to Ottawa, I started searching for information on owl sightings here.  I know Snowy Owls visit Ottawa because I saw them here last winter.

Information about owl sightings is usually very secretive among naturalist groups because of the human disturbances to wildlife and private property (which I totally agree).  Observing wildlife in their habitat is a great way for people to learn about nature, but it is importance to treat wildlife as other human beings and keep a respectful, non-disruptive distance because I doubt most people would like it when others start to invade their personal space.  The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club has listed code of conduct and ethics here. 

Nonetheless, there are usually some clues left on internet (e.g., eBird, Flickr, general news media) that give people an idea of where to look for them.  Then the rest is just being at the right place at the right time.  I followed this news article, and looked for owls south of the airport today.  It took me some searching, but I eventually saw this Snowy Owl about 200-m away from where I stood.

This was as far as I could get with my 70-300 lens (i.e., 140-600 lens).

Sitting and watching around.

Three crows briefly mobbed it while they flew by but the owl stayed still.  It flew to a hay bale shortly after I walked to another spot.

Such a beautiful creature!

Second outing of 2013 - Boundary Bay revisited - Attempt 2

The past few days my mother and I have been paying close attention to the weather forecast and hoping for good weather so that we could go out to Boundary Bay again to look for Snowy Owls (since last time was unsuccessful).

Despite the 90% POP, the rain still did not show up in the morning, so my parents and I decided to take the chance and go out to Boundary Bay again right after lunch.  The rain did not come at all this afternoon and we even saw a bit of sunshine, so that was pretty much a success in itself.  The lighting wasn't that great today, so I had to set most of my minimal ISO to 800 for the birding shots, hence the "noisy" photos.

Lots of Northern Harriers flying around today.

First outing of 2013 - Boundary Bay revisited

It has been more than four years ago when I first visited Boundary Bay Park.  With another year's Snowy Owl migration, (fairly) good weather today, and recent news report about starving owls, my parents were intrigued to see these owls for themselves.  After some searching, I found out the best spot to see these owls is Boundary Bay, and that was where we headed to today.

Before I start on today's post, I strongly suggest people read this person's post about Snowy Owl photography or any wildlife photography in general - treat the owls (and other wildlife) with the same private space as you would with any other creatures and humans.  I personally would not like it if I know people are photographing me, especially from close distances.

Entrance

Birding in Ottawa/Gatineau - Prior and after the "Waxwings Edition"

Two days ago, it was snowing pretty hard here in Ottawa, and although we had arranged with the course instructor to go out birding on Saturday, we feared it might be cancelled the following day due to the poor weather conditions. However, the weather wasn't that bad yesterday, except that it was windy and very cold at times.

First, we drove to Gatineau Park on the other side of Ottawa River. This is my first time entering Quebec!

AAA trip to Amherst Island, Ontario

Trent's Avian Appreciation Association (AAA) has been planning a birding trip to Amherst Island for quite a while now, and I was glad to take a break from sorting my insect collection and go outside for a much needed birding experience. Amherst Island is an island in Lake Ontario and accessible by ferry (or air) and is home to many species of owls during summer and winter.

Leaving Peterborough around 8am.