Wordless Wednesday - Dead wasp inside, birds and squirrels alive outside.

European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

 Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

 

 Barred Owl (Strix varia)

 

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.

Return back to Ottawa & receiving my new camera - Olympus E-M1

I flew out of Vancouver on Monday night and arrived at Ottawa after midnight on Tuesday.

 

Goodbye, Richmond.

Birds saw in Richmond

Aside from working from home most of this week, I went out twice to do some bird-watching and six times to dine out.  Here are the birds we saw on Thursday (at Terra Nova) and Saturday (at Richmond Nature Park).

Terra Nova

The only Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) I saw this trip.

Getting a taste of spring in BC

While most parts of Canada are under deep snow and freezing temperatures, the west coast has been experiencing springlike conditions.  My mother and I went for a drive/walk to West Dyke Trail this morning to do some bird-watching.

View from West Dyke Trail with Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) scattered across the land.  I took this image with my new phone (Xiaomi HM Note 1W) which has pretty good camera capability (13 megapixels).

Great Backyard Bird Count in Ottawa

I returned back to BC last night for a week off from school.  Before I went to the airport in the afternoon, I went out bird-watching with a friend for the Great Backyard Bird Count in the morning.  We actually went to Strathcona Park on Valentine's Day to scout some of the species found there (e.g., Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, etc), and then began our Monday bird count there as well.  It was quite cold on Saturday and Monday morning, so I didn't bother taking photos then.  After surveying the birds at Strathcona Park on Monday morning, we took the bus to Remic Rapids along the Ottawa River, which was my first time there.  The temperature felt warmer by then and so I started snapping some photos.

Remic Rapids and some impressive rock-balancing.

Rideau Canal in January & Alan the cat

Rideau Canal is perhaps the most convenient/interesting place for me to photograph because it is so close to the university.  Here are the photos I took along the canal this month.

Mudpuppying Night - 2015

This evening, I went to my second Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills with another grad student in the department.  I described the event quite extensively in my first visit, so you can refresh your memory in my first blog post about the event.

Dr. Fred Scheuler wandering away from the shore and counting the mudpuppies found towards the middle of the creek.

2015 Winter Celebration at Rideau Hall

The one-day Winter Celebration at Rideau Hall is to celebrate winter traditions, sports, and foods from various Nordic countries and Inuit groups.  I heard about this event last year and have yet visited Rideau Hall since I moved to Ottawa, so I thought today is a great opportunity to do both things.

Entrance sign.

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.