Greg Shchepanek

 Britannia Conservation Area American Red Squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Hiking the Britannia Conservation Area with my new camera gear seems I am still a professional squirrel photographer. It has been some time since I upgraded my camera gear so this time I went all out purchasing a Canon EOS R7 and two macro lenses a 35 and a 100. All packed away in a brand new camera backpack that is so comfortable and nice a snug.  Wild Columbine  ( Aquilegia canadensis ) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Canada Anemone ( Anemone canadensis ) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Just a few flowers from my father's garden using the 100 macro lens. This weekend I plan to photograph wild orchids in the Marlborough Forest here in Ottawa, it is the largest Conservation Area that our city has. Anyways back to Mud Lake, where I photographed a Giant Swallowtail for the first time. I have photographed the caterpillar before at Shirleys Bay bu...

 Here are Just a few I Have Come Across A Happy Couple Every year the Wood Ducks ( Aix sponsa ) come to Ottawa to spend their summer and sometimes overwinter here as well. The male is the more colourful of the two but I find the female to be just as beautiful.  Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake is where I find these stellar ducks in perfect poses for the photographer, and over the summer they have their broods of little ones each year.  All over the conservation area the ducks can be found along the shoreline of the lake or river, the young ones more commonly on the lake. But it's the mature adults that blossom with rich colours that capture the interest of the Nature Lovers galore at the conservation area. Other than the Harlequin Duck there is no other ducks that display such colourful plumage. Let's take a look at some males. Adult Males Juvenile Male And the less colourful females : Whatever the season the Wood Duck is always a great pleasure to see at the local ...

 For Nuthatches My first publish in Canadian Geographic Magazine Venturing out in the cold of the season and finding Nuthatches galore. These friendly little birds are a sheer delight to come across while out and about.  They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. You will always hear the Nuthatches before you see them with the insistent nasal yammering usually high up in the trees but they soon come down to investigate your presence insearch of a free meal. We are blessed to have two varieties : the Red-breasted and the White-breasted. This year there is an abundance of the White I have only come across one Red while visiting  Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. White-breasted Nuthatch ( Sitta carolinensis ) Britannia Conservation Area, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Ottawa, ON, Canada. No matter wha...

  The Little guy was Doing his Thing Eastern Chipmunk ( Tamias striatus ) was on the shoreline of the Ottawa River performing all kinds of cute acts. He was totally unafraid of the clicking camera & I was able to come quite close to him while he was doing Chipmunk things. To tell the truth this was I believe the first time I have seen one of these little critters yawn, I don't know if he was bored or just tired from the day. I do love to document these little guys for they do the darnedest & cutest acts infant of the camera at times. He was aware of me but just didn't give a damn while he preened & carried on. He was such a nice little surprise at the Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Big Yawn. Playing with his nose. Wishing for more nuts ... possibly ? Very aware of the camera.

 Let's get Back to Photography Up top is a friendly guy I had a pleasure to photograph :  Hairy Woodpecker  ( Dryobates villosus ) Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is the most popular photo from my photography site :  My Photo Site  and had took me by a bit of a surprise to find how popular it was. Coming in second place is my Max Relax Squirrel :  American Red Squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This little guy was so LMAO funny to watch and I call him the ultimate TreeHugger .