Greg Shchepanek

 Merivale Gardens in Ottawa Saturday this weekend went exploring the sand dunes of the Piney Forest and was lucky to find the Tiger Beetles out on the dunes in the warm sun. I didn't get a chance to photograph any last year but I did come across a number on the sandy beaches of Petrie Island in eastern Ottawa. I think this is the first time I photographed Tiger Beetles with my new Canon EOS R7 with the 100mm macro lens. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the photos being that the insects are hard to find not moving or flying about. The sand dunes at Merivale Gardens has three species of beetle including the Ghost, LeConte's and the Eastern Sand. This time I came across the most common LeConte's/Festive Beetle. LeConte's Tiger Beetle ( Cicindela scutellaris lecontei ) Merivale Gardens, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Hoping I will get some more varieties this summer I would most definitely like to get some shots of the Ghost but unfortunately they are getting hard to...

 Presqu'ile Provincial Park Last weekend went for a four day visit with my friend Marci in Trenton, Ontario. We went to Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Saturday which turned out to be a beautiful day with a cool wind blowing. Didn't see many birds but you could tell they were around by all the songs that were being sung.  Searching for birds The Boardwalk The Lighthouse

   Welcome to the New Year And looking back on the old 2025. Exploring the new Fork Lake Trail was a highlight of 2025, not seeing much but it was great exercise going up the staircases in the woods to reach the overlook of the lake most notable fauna of the trail were the squirrels and the Blue Jays. The trail was a new addition to the park and opened in June of 2025. Fork Lake Trail American Red Squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) Fork Lake Trail, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Most notable photography for 2025 was again a frog year on my Flickr site. Even though the photo was taken in 2024 of a Northern Green Frog ( Lithobates clamitans melanota ) Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was highlighted to be my most popular upload for World Frog Day which was on March 19, 2025. Subsequently garnering even more views and likes when I included the photo on Flickr's Your Best Shot 2025 in the Nature category. Some other notable photos of the yea...

 The Two Most Well Behaved ... KC Angela Bader Ginsburg Wall Nigel Big Balls Booger Johnson Angela Wall Are the two most chill kittens one can come across. It was my great honour and deep pleasure to take care of these furry little guys quite recently. My super best friend had gone out of town for awhile so I had a super great time hanging out with these adorable well behaved kittens.  Mission Wet Food Feeding proved to be a bit of a frenzy but I soon learned a method to the madness ... have to have two locations for mission Wet Food to come off as a success. Firstly KC the little lady was always ready for the mission to commence while Nigel was distracted in the living room with a box of treats not knowing what was going on. Once KC had completed the feeding it was now down to tracking Nigel down for his Wet Food otherwise KC would gobble down Nigel 's portion in a flash ... Ohm nom nom. Ohm nom nom After the Feeding Storm Playtime After feeding then would come playti...