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Mer Bleue & Lyn Valley Conservation Areas

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 Thousand Islands National Park It is really fortunate that Canada's National Parks admissions are free this summer and you just have to pay for parking. Conservation Areas usually have no parking fees and the admissions are always free. So my father and I took a little trip down to the Thousand Islands to visit the national park but unfortunately no nature discoveries or photos were found but it was a decent hike along the St. Lawrence. After the park visit we went to Lyn Valley Conservation Area in search for orchids that we had seen there before, Ladies Tresses and Green Bog Orchid but they were nowhere to be seen in the overgrowth along the old quarry just outside of the conservation area. But we did discover some interesting captures that we have yet to see this summer.  Silver-spotted Skipper ( Epargyreus clarus ) at the Lyn Valley Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada. Greater Bladderwort ( Utricularia macrorhiza ) at the Lyn Valley Conservation Area. I do love the carni...
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Story of an Endangered Turtle

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 Blandings Turtle Yawn The Blandings Turtle  ( Emydoidea blandingii ) is one of our rare and endangered turtles, I was lucky to come across two at the same location in Stittsville, Ontario, Canada. Evaluated as Endangered by IUCN Red List : http://www.iucnredlist.org/species/7709/155088836 . NatureServe evaluates the situation as Vulnerable in Ontario and Canada. I have only come across this species once before and that was in Dunrobin and that was years ago in 2013. Dunrobin, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It came as a great surprise that there was actually two of these turtles in close proximity I am hoping that one was female and the other male but I have no idea how to figure out their sexes. They were buried in the muck of the stream and I first thought was it was a large frog than a Blandings. I photographed the two from the position along a bridge that crossed the stream. It was only when they began to move that you could identify them as turtles. Looking like a frog. S...
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Northwest Territories (NWT) Trip

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 September 2019 Self portrait of me at the Yellowknife River in the Northwest Territories. My last great adventure with my father, he is now too old to travel and hike the nature trails in the wild. I just have the Yukon to visit then I am finished all my provinces and territories. Can't believe I didn't blog about my trip to the NWT it was a grand adventure with ultimate nature parks and great food in my stay at Yellowknife. I do love to visit the North of Canada and the Nunavut still is one of my most favourite places on earth to visit. The amount of stunning waterfalls that are found in the NWT makes this visit one to remember. Cameron Falls is most notable as a water cascade that we discovered deep in the woods. Wonderfull waterfalls My Hiking Attire at Cameron Falls Dear old Dad McNallie Creek Territorial Park, Northwest Territories, Canada.   Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park, Northwest Territories, Canada. Cameron River Rampart Falls, Cameron River Crossing Territ...
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Snake Weekend

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Spring has Sprung with Snakes  Eastern Garter Snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis ) Bill Mason Centre, Dunrobin, Ontario, Canada. Surprising all the snakes I saw this weekend they were in the leaves and in the water at times. Went to the Bill Mason Centre which is an educational centre for students with trails throughout marshes and mixed woods. I went looking for Wood Frogs mating, heard a few but they were well camouflaged in the vegetation of the marsh. So my main subject turned out to be snakes. I was with my father and we spent sometime exploring the trails noting a good variety of bird calls and seeing the warblers that have returned to the area. But like I said only the snakes were posing for the cameras.  Getting fire tongue photos is always a favourite of mine and I believe this female was not shy in showing hers. It was Garter Snake galore and they were not shy to go for a swim in the cold water, the sun was warm but the wind was quite blusterous. My father fell ...
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Ghost Tiger Beetle

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 Adoption on NatureServe.org Ghost Tiger Beetle ( Ellipsoptera lepida ) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Conservation Status: imperiled (N2N3) in Canada (NatureServe) I recently discovered that I can adopt a species on the NatureServe Explorer website and I was able to choose my most prized and favourite little species the  Ghost Tiger Beetle . On the site you can choose almost anything under the  Adopt a Species  initiative and even request a special adoption which is what I did and chose to honour my father with a gift a species. The initiative is probably not on your radar and I wanted to let you know what a wonderful option it is as a gift idea. Just imagine that your favourite species out there can be help and supported through this action. The staff of NatureServe were so helpful and committed during the adoption process and they also featured one of my photographs, the one featured above. I may continue to adopt the ghost because in Canada they are imperiled but ov...
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Photo Competitions & Publishing

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 Popular Photography It is always a great pleasure to win competitions or get your photo published be it in a magazine, website, social media campaign or just featured along with your name. I find it mind blowing   when they go  viral  and move like a shooting star through the internet. I like to enter photo competitions that is why I don't post-process editing and retouching on any of my photos. Most competitions ask that you don't enter manipulated photos, you need to let the camera do its job. I recently won first prize in a competition called  Nature's Camouflage  where I entered a photograph that was taken with my first digital camera purchase  Panasonic DMC-ZS20 .  The photograph that came in first place was of a frog, one of my favourite subjects, immersed in duckweed and water vegetation : Northern Green Frog  ( Lithobates clamitans melanota ) Baie de les grenouilles, Lac Saint-François National Wildlife Area, Quebec, Canada. Ram...
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My Involvement in Project Noah

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 Nature & Wildlife Site Northern Green Frog ( Lithobates clamitans melanota ) Foley Mountain Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada. Featured on the Project Noah Facebook page on November 7th, 2024. About the Project Project Noah is an award-winning software platform designed to help people connect with the natural world and learn about wildlife. Launched out of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program in early 2010, the project began as an experiment to mobilize citizen scientists and build a digital butterfly net for the 21st century. The original Project Noah platform was founded by Yasser Ansari , Martin Ceperley, Peter Horvath, and Bruno Kruse with support from New York University and the Joan Ganz Conney Center . Participation I have been an active member on the Project Noah   community website pretty much since its inception in 2010. I first learned of the site from my participation in the National Geographic Your Shot global photo community. " NOAH " ...
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