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...

On the Ottawa River  Northern Green Frog ( Lithobates clamitans melanota ) Petrie Island, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Another great weekend to discover amphibians at Petrie Island Park, this little guy was just a baby he will be having a tough winter due to his size seeing Autumn just began this weekend. Came across two Green Frogs one an adult and this wee little who was sunning along the shore. These photos turned out a lot better than the adults capture. Surprising for such a small guy to steadily pose for the camera with no flight or movement. Still getting used to the new camera but sometimes it takes stunning photos. Especially when up close I find that the  RF100mm F2.8 L MACRO IS USM and even some distance photos turn out so very nice,  colourful and sharp. One of my distance shots was of this little Muskrat who was feeding on vegetation along the shoreline he sat there for quite awhile and was not disturbed about the camera. This photo was cropped for a better...

 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...

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 ...

 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...

 Just Because Found this little guy on the the appropriately named Chipmunk Trail in the Stoney Swamp. Here is another video located in the Stoney Swamp but on the Jack Pine Trail. 

Snowshoe Hare Featuring a Snowshoe Hare ( Lepus americanus ) grazing the springtime grass at Shirleys Bay, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is my most popular video that I created on YouTube with 337 views and eight likes. It is very hard to keep the subject in focus, but over time I will get better and it is keeping the camera steady. I think I shot this using my Nikon Coolpix A900 but it could be very well my Canon EOS M100 seeing that I more commonly use the Canon. I do hope I shot this in 4K but I am not a seasoned videographer so I am still goofing around when it comes to video.  Now you can tell that this is probably the Nikon due to the quality of the video. The top video is much more clearer and there is a format difference that is very visible. I shot this video on the Jack Pine Trail and you can see it was later in the springtime due to the hare's colouration.  To see all my videos please check out :  My videos : https://www.youtube.com/@gmspanek/videos

 Winter is Finally Hare Eastern Cottontail ( Sylvilagus floridanus ) Britannia Conservation Area, Mud Lake, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Time to spot bunnies in the snow, be it your Cottontails or Snowshoe Hares, winter is a season for seeing them. Especially Snowshoes the wild white bunnies of the snow. This year will prove to be a difficult time to see my favourite Hares due to the National Capital Commission (NCC) blocking off and restricting visiting of Hilda Road at Shirleys Bay. This is the location where most commonly the rabbits are found but I can still search for them on the Jack Pine Trail and the Mer Blue Conservation Area. But it is more uncommon to find them in theses locals. I have gotten most of my decent photos at Shirley's Bay and videos of the white Hares over the years but it seems a more common practice to restrict access and block off the common nature areas I choose to visit in the Ottawa area.  Snowshoe Hare ( Lepus americanus ) Shirleys Bay, Ottawa, Onta...

 Amphibians Galore American Toad ( Anaxyrus americanus ) Surprising to find so many amphibians hopping around the Fletcher Wildlife Gardens in downtown Ottawa. First, there were rabbits found pretty much everywhere which is not surprising but nice to see and photograph. Most notable was finding an American Toad close to the Amphibian Pond and later finding a pool just filled with Northern Green Frogs and their tadpoles which was a great setting to photograph the frogs. Usually we go to Fletcher for some bird sightings but this time proved to be the amphibians that were present throughout the Gardens leading to a most pleasant surprise and an opportunity to get some great shots. The Gardens are located next to the Dominion Arboretum and situated within the Central Experimental Farm and is known for its floral arrangements of natural Canadian plants and ornamental water ponds situated throughout the property.    Always happy to come across a Toad on my adventures usually f...

 The Disappearing Monarch Monarch Butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ) Jack Pine Trail, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Conservation Status: imperiled (S2N,S4B) in Ontario, CA (NatureServe). Taken July 20, 2018. Once bountiful and ever present, is a thing of the past for the Monarch Butterfly as it slowly disappears from the landscapes of North America. Once every year I could visit a location and was sure to find my beloved Monarchs doing their thing. Even with some years a more proliferation of the butterflies was witnessed but sadly this has all come to an end and with only one single sighting this year in Alleyn-et-Cawood, Québec where the species once had a stronghold in the Milkweed fields. One could venture to the Arboretum in downtown Ottawa and find the Monarchs in full flutter on the varieties of flora arrangements of the gardens. Here I will look at the presence of the Monarch Butterfly over the past five years noting that documentation of the butterfly has fallen and 2022 mark...