Greg Shchepanek

 These are Some I Have Come Across They are found all over the world and are sometimes the most colourful plants to be seen, there are enthusiasts' that plant and garden their own.  Wikipedia : Carnivorous Plants  has an extensively detailed write up on these wonderful oddities in nature. I love to spend my time in wetlands of North America be it lakes, marshes, swamps bogs and fens. And in these locations carnivorous plants can be found, some times in abundance and other times just a few. The thought of these plants catching any type of prey to feed on is just a wonder of nature. I have found the most variety of these plants at my father's cottage in Alleyn-et-Cawood, Québec, Canada, some being a rare find and endangered. Bogs & fens are a most popular location to view these almost animal plants of the Flora kingdom. I am a member of the Carnivorous Plant Society of Canada (CPSC)   where I have participated since May 9, 2020. Spatulate-Leaved Sundews ( Drosera ...

 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...

 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...

 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...