Guelph » Biodiversity in Focus Blog

Midnight Meteors

Astrophotography, Photography 7 Responses »

Dec 152012

I ventured out to Guelph Lake Thursday evening to observe and try to photograph this year’s Geminid meteor shower. For about an hour, from 12:30-1:30 AM, I sat on top of the dam and watched as more than 50 pieces of ancient asteroid burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. It was one of the most spectacular meteor showers I’ve witnessed, and was well worth bundling up and staying out late!

While just witnessing this year’s Geminid Meteor shower was exciting, I was finally able to capture a few pieces of the doomed asteroid on camera.

Geminid meteor - Facing North - Guelph Lake 2012

Geminid meteor – Northern Sky – Guelph Lake 2012

Geminid Meteor over Guelph Lake - Facing East - 2012

Faint Geminid Meteor (just to the left of centre, parallel to the Big Dipper) over Guelph Lake – East – 2012

Guelph Lake is a mere 5 minutes outside of the city of Guelph, and as you can see in the second photo, there is plenty of light pollution affecting our view of the sky (that big yellow glow is the Greater Toronto Area off in the distance). Luckily there are some places that still enjoy dark night skies, but for the most part they require some dedication and travel to get to.

Phil Plait (aka @BadAstronomer) has some beautiful photos of the Geminids shared by his readers over at his blog Bad Astronomy.

Stars over Guelph Lake, with only clouds to fill the earthly sky.

Photos captured with a Nikon D700 & Nikkor 18-70mm lens (F3.5, 20 secs, ISO 500, Tripod).

Spring Peepers: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Biology, Natural History, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized 11 Responses »

Mar 252012

This past week saw some unseasonably AWESOME weather around Southern Ontario, allowing me to break out the shorts and sandals nice and early. Better yet, our local fauna has started to emerge from their winter hiding places, with flies buzzing, ants battling, and frogs calling!

Thursday evening I went out to a local conservation area with a few of my labmates in search of the early indicators of vernal vertebrate life: spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). It wasn’t long until we heard the high pitched squeaks of males calling throughout a small pond, so we donned waders and headed in to the water! Of course, just because you can hear the males doesn’t mean their easy to find, especially in a mucky-bottomed pond hiding logs just waiting to drag you (and your photo gear) into the depths, and among clumps of reeds forming perfect hiding places & bandshells for their performances. Add to that dozens, if not hundreds, of calling frogs, and you have an ear-splitting distraction which makes it difficult to hone in on a single individual!

Eventually I did find a male who was out in the open and doing his best to seduce any potential mates in the area. While being in the open made it easy for me to see and photograph him, it also made it easy for him to see me coming, causing him to stop calling as soon as I crawled in close for a photo. With some patience, a better angle, and some interesting body contortions, I finally got a few photos I was happy with.

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)? More like Spring Peeker...

Why you no call for me Spring Peeper?

Success! Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) in mid call

Presumably this male will eventually find himself a mate, hold on tight and contribute his spawn to the pond ecosystem. Perhaps one day his progeny will emerge as tiny froglets, like this young’un I found in Maryland a few summers back.

Spring Peeper froglet dealing with the jungle of a lawn!

Funny story to finish off; when I got home Thursday evening I posted to Twitter:

Spent the evening in hip waders slogging through a pond shooting spring peepers! Frickin’ awesome to be outside shooting again!

— Morgan Jackson (@BioInFocus) March 23, 2012

It was a good lesson in word choice, as I had several followers asking why I wanted to hurt these innocent little frogs or what caliber firearm I was using… Oops! Rest assured that no spring peepers were harmed in the production of this blog post!

Lunar Eclipse of the Blog

Environment, Nature, Photography No Responses »

Dec 212010

EXIF - 1.6 sec, f/5.0, ISO 400, 70-300mm lens set at 122mm, tripod+remote shutter release

Happy Winter Solstice! It might not be as exciting as Christmas, but the winter solstice signals the lengthening of days, shortening of nights, and the return of summer and insects. Ya, it might be awhile still, but a guy can dream can’t he?

This year also saw a rare occurrence of a full lunar eclipse occurring on the winter solstice. Does it mean anything? Nope, just a special day for a special occasion. Since the next time these two astrological events coincide is in exactly 84 years on Dec. 21, 2094, it would have been a nice time to do some moon-gazing! Of course if it occured at 3am EST on a cloudy night and you have a committee meeting the next day like I did, you had to settle for photos you took in years past!

This shot was from the lunar eclipse of February 2, 2008 and shot from the middle of a rural road north of Guelph. Getting away from the light pollution of cities is the first step in astrophotography. A tripod, a remote shutter release (or warm mitts to guard against the cold while you press that button) and a hot drink all help to get the shot. Unless you live in Western Africa or the South Pacific, you’ll have to wait until June 2012 to try your hand at photographing the next partial lunar eclipse!

Distractions

Life as a Grad Student, Nature 5 Responses »

Nov 242010

This isn’t an insect you say? You’re right; I’m using this Cedar Waxwing to distract you from the recent lack of posts. I’ve been juggling several pressing issues (thesis writing, ESO business, deadlines for external projects, you know the deal) and the blog has been the ball that got bobbled lately. Don’t worry though, I’ve got a couple of important topics lined up to discuss in the near future! Until then, enjoy this symbol of urban Canadian winters, and check back soon for an examination of Canadian Biodiversity Science!