Fauna/flora surveying at Gatineau Park (2015) - Part 1

These past two days (Wednesday and Thursday) I was helping out with a fauna and flora surveying project at Gatineau Park (same as last year).  The weather was very pleasant and I felt great (but exhausted) from being outside most of the day.  It's a great way to prepare my body and mind for the upcoming field season.

I took this picture on Tuesday when I walked along the canal during my lunch break.  The ice has pretty disappeared by now.

Spring is here because of flowers and pollinators

Last night, I was planning where to go today and considered taking the bus to Stony Swamp, a natural area southwest of Ottawa where photos of interesting animals are frequently shared on Facebook, such as Black-backed Woodpecker during the winter, porcupines, frogs, etc.  But the thought of the trip taking almost two hours, while it is located 15.6 km west of where I live, is kind of ridiculous (Ottawa transit system is quite poor compare to the Metro Vancouver transit system).  Anyways, I decided to walk to the bus station (via Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland) and visit the Arboretum in the end.

Little did I know I would see several interesting things today.

First was this pair of Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris) - first of the year!

Pictures prior to passing my examination

One of the first milestones as a graduate student in the doctoral program is passing the comprehensive/qualifying examination.  This exam is designed to get you to think about your research from a broad perspective, as well as to test your general knowledge about your research.  I have heard different opinions about this type of examination, some said it was fairly easy, while others said they blanked out during the questioning period, got sick, etc.  After months of preparation, I passed my comprehensive exam this morning without too much trouble, and so I am now officially a Ph.D. candidate (I am not entirely sure what am I before this - just a regular graduate student?).

Anyways, due to this nerve-wrecking examination, I have not been out taking as many photos (with my new camera) as I would have liked.  Nonetheless, I still tried to take some photos when I came across critters in my place or during my walk to the grocery store/bus station.

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) in flight.

March Update

Sorry for not posting anything in March until the very last day.  Life is just too hectic at the moment.  I sometimes still bring my camera with me and take photos whenever opportunities arise, but it's hard to dedicate time solely just to go out searching for wildlife and taking photos.  Plus, the freezing temperature dampens my enthusiasm when I stay outside for too long and start to lose feelings in my face and hands.  The weather is getting warmer now though, so hopefully I will get back out photographing again in April.

Here are some of the photos I took this month.

March 3rd - walked along the canal on a nice but cold day (I think).

Another new beginning

Well, I hope everyone is having a great 2014 so far.  I have been working hard these last few days trying to work on my manuscript and data analyses (from my Masters work), and also writing up a research application (for my PhD work) that is due at the end of this month.  Thus, I haven't really gone anywhere yet this new year, plus the weather has been too cold lately here in Ottawa for me to go out and take photos.  I only went out twice so far this year to get some groceries, and here are the only photos I had taken this year inside where I live.

This is a tiny spider crawling on my bedroom wall last night while I was working.

This is Pearl, a dog that sometimes visits my landlord and her dog.

Pearl stretching

Pearl playing with a tennis ball that is probably too large for her.

Classes officially start tomorrow, and so is my PhD program at uOttawa.  Another new chapter begins in my life.  Hope it's a great one!

Holiday season update #2 from Peterborough

Hope everyone had a spectacular Christmas day.  This is another photographic update from the past few days.  I was busy cooking a turkey (for the first time) yesterday so I didn't get any chance to sort through yesterday's photos.

December 22nd (Sunday) - I shoveled snow in the driveway and was exhausted in the end to walk to school just for using internet.  I took the dog out for few short walks and that was about it.

Kami the cat.

Happy holidays & Update from Peterborough

Happy holidays to everyone!  I returned to Peterborough last Wednesday to stay at a friend's house to take care of her pets while she's away for Christmas break.  The wifi access is limited at her place, so I walked to school almost everyday (with the dog) to use internet.  I am still taking photos everyday, but uploading them won't happen immediately, hence there are a lot of photos in this (and upcoming) posts spanning several days.

A festive photo from Ottawa two Sundays ago.

Honey Island Swamp Tour in Louisiana

On my second day in New Orleans (July 28), my lab-mate and I signed up for a swamp tour at Honey Island Swamp near Slidell, i.e., a chance to see American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in the "wild".

American alligator is endemic to southeastern US and is the official state reptile of Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  It and the Chinese alligator are the only two living species in the genus Alligator.  Alligators belong to the family Alligatoridae, and crocodiles belong to the family Crocodylidae (and both families belong to the reptilian order Crocodylia).  They are real "living dinosaurs" because their lineage goes back to about 240 million years ago, and they are still surviving and thriving in the present (way beyond the extinct dinosaurs).

One common question from most people is what are the differences between alligators and crocodiles.  Basically, alligators have a wider snout and expose only the upper jaw teeth when the mouth is closed.  Meanwhile, crocodiles have a long and narrow snout, and upper and lower teeth are both exposed when the mouth is closed.

To get to Slidell from New Orleans, we drove across Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway which is the second longest bridge in the world.  Pretty awesome.

Recap of the week - new macro technique and critters saw during Enrichment camp

While experimenting with my Nikon P&S lately, I found out that if I hold my small hand lens (for plant identification) in front of the P&S lens, then I can get a pretty decent close-up photo of the critter/flower (but I need to get very close).

I took photos of this spider just outside my office window on Monday.

On Tuesday and Thursday, I assisted with two of the mini-course programs held here at Trent.  One was getting elementary students "Wild About Nature!", and the second was teaching students about "Habitat and Organisms".  It has been a while since I worked with children, but it's quite rewarding especially now that I am teaching them about nature.

For "Wild About Nature!", we first made a field kit, consisting of a clinometer, a plant press, and an insect-collecting container.  We then took the children outside to measure tree heights using the clinometer.  We also played games with the children - one called "Predator & Prey" (three trophic levels - grasshoppers, orioles, and hawks) and one with three different feeding apparatuses (modified plastic knifes, spoons, and forks) to collect different prey types.  We also took the children outside to collect plants and insects.

Walks to school & Woodcock video

Came to school during the weekend to do some work.  The weather was so nice today that I decided to walk to school instead (as well as take some photos along the way).

 

Lots of American Robins are back.  Here is one watching the road.

Happy Halloween from the Jumping Spiders of Ivvavik

Personally, I wouldn't consider Jumping Spiders (Family Salticidae) scary at all (they are darn cute, if I'd say so), but there are many people out there who are just misinformed and scared of spiders in general.  So, to these people, hopefully these will scary the bejeezus out of you (and then visit this post to be better informed about spiders).

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.

Photographic Post - Flowers at London Heritage Farm

Out at the London Heritage Farm on this hot afternoon looking for wildlife and photographing flowers.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Shaw Nature Reserve

In the morning we learned about the botanical and floral diversity in pollination biology. For example, the different mating and breeding systems for plants, as well as the history of categorizing flower types to better associate the pollinators and the appropriate pollinator syndrome.

Photographed a Syrphid during a break.


Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis)

In the afternoon, we headed to a different part of Missouri Botanical Garden outside the city. It is called Shaw Nature Reserve.

Deer on the way from school

It has been another fine and strangely warm weekend. After finishing up the movie I watched last night and getting groceries in the morning, I biked to school again to do some more work.

It seems that the warm temperature has been signaling the insects from emergence, however, I have yet to see any flower buds opening yet on any of the trees. I wonder if this is going to cause some problems with insects needing plant nectar and pollen for survival. On the way to school, I stopped at one of the feeders to see if there are any birds. Instead, I photographed these insects and spider.

Some Hemiptera.


One of the wolf spiders always hopping in the leaf litter and substrate.


Unknown fly lost part of its fore leg already.

Even without the grackles, chickadees, or blackbirds, you can always count on the robins to show up and give you some interesting photographs.

Robin with a worm.


Looking at me.

After finishing up work around 6pm and biking back home, I noticed there were something through the sumacs on the side of the trail. Then I realized it was a White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)! It was merely about 10 meters away from me, and it didn't react at all when it saw me photographing it.

Eating away.




Beautiful animal.

It wasn't until two other bikers and a couple with a small dog that deer decided it had enough of us and pounced away with its white tail in the alarming position. Then I saw it joined up with another deer not too far away from the bike trail, but I decided to leave them be and be on my way.

Not something you see everyday on the way to school, I'd say.

366 days ago (2011-03-17)...

Spiders of Ivvavik National Park

It is slowly getting to that stage of feeling excited and overwhelmed at the same time about the upcoming field season. I am excited about this new season, but there's still so many things to be done before that; for example, finish posting the photos that I took this past field season.

Here are some spiders I photographed in Ivvavik National Park. Without the kind folks at BugGuide, I probably couldn't come up with the identification at all.

Possibly Xysticus sp. in the family Thomisidae


Araneus yukon


Araneus yukon in the orb weaving family (Araneidae)

This is probably one of my best shots in the summer. It may be another Xysticus sp., but the photo couldn't provide any distinguishing features and so the higher-up people in BugGuide classified it as "frass" and deleted shortly after. That's the difference between a nice looking image and a scientifically useful one.

Note: all of these spiders were found on my study plant, soapberry (Shepherdia canadensis).

An assortment of photos and topics - flies, spiders, wasp, outdoor, and others

Many photos to share, so I thought I organize them chronologically.

Jan 25 - (Possibly) figured out where the bristles on the meron (the plate just above and behind the mid coxa) are.

Look near where the lower calypter is.

Presqu'ile Provincial Park - Part 1

As I mentioned on Friday, my supervisor asked me if I want to tag along with her class (and a few people from our lab) on Sunday to Presqu'ile Provincial Park to do some bird-watching. Of course I said yes!

I went a little bit overboard with photo taking today, so today will be split into two parts.

Walking to the bus stop to get picked up at 6:40am. Haven't woke up this early in a long time, but the morning sky is so pretty!

Orange-crowned (or Yellow?) Warbler spotting

This morning, my mother called me to the bathroom to check out this spider, as well as to move it outside.

After dropping it in a plant pot, it stayed still for a few moments for me to snap some photos.

B's of the day: blossom, bumblebee, and bittern

A much nicer day compared to yesterday. Is spring break going on right now or something? I am out of school for so long that it such a surprise to see so many kids outside during school hours.

Sunny day.