The 3D lab

America

Posted on August 9, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

Let’s celebrate my first ever entry into the United States of America with some American eagles!

I am on my way to Sacramento, California, for my first big international scientific conference. I will present some brand new results on friday, and use my time to network and dive head first into the vast ecological community.

It is the reward for the first part of the summer, which I spend collecting data in the field and processing datasets, all to get an interesting story together to present to my fellow scientists.

So by now, I am in Charlotte, North Carolina, getting my first experiences of North-America as I am passing through on my way to the west coast.

Six more hours to fly. ‘We will start boarding in some minutes’, but I will check in with you soon again.

Posted in USA | Tagged America, American bald eagle, Birds, Conference, Eagle, Ecology, ESA2014, Photography, Science, Travel, USA | 2 Comments

Hedgehog parade

Posted on August 5, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

We have a real hedgehog invasion in the garden!

A whole nest of tiny little hedgehogs is roaming over the terrace and sniffing around over the lawn.

They even leave their hiding places during the day, brave and without any fear defying the openness of the garden to feast upon the cat food.

One of them is really tiny, almost not strong enough to carry his own weight on his little paws.

We tried to make him stronger with some delicious snails and cat food, but he seemed totally confused, forgetting which side was up and where he wanted to go.

The cats were not so sure about those prickly intruders. They watched them with a worried look in their eyes, safely from a long, long distance.

The little guys did not let the big cats bother them though. Their defense was already kitten proof, so they had no need to worry.

We will keep an eye on them, to make sure they make it to the winter with enough reserves to battle the cold.

(I will come back to you with more science-related stuff soon, but I could not deny you these little cuties, could I?)

Posted in Belgium | Tagged Animal, Cats, Garden, Garden safari, Hedgehog, Home, Mammal, Nature, Pets, Photography, Pictures | 6 Comments

Keep an eye out for the butterflies!

Posted on August 2, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

This weekend nature-lovers all around Belgium (and the Netherlands) get outside to count butterflies. Natuurpunt, the nature conservation organization, asks everybody to spend at least half an hour of this sunny weekend in the garden, preferably when the sun is shining, and write down all species of butterflies that you can spot.

The campaign to count butterflies for one weekend a year already exists since 2007 and provides a fantastic opportunity to combine ecological research with the broader public (oh, and that is exactly what we on this blog want!). It brings people in contact with the nature in their garden ànd with the science of nature conservation.

So, the task is simple, you do not have to do anything different than planned: just put yourself in a relaxed chair in the garden and look at all the beauty around you. We have a warm summer, so the butterflies might be plentiful. Every counted butterfly provides information on their distribution and how to conserve them. So, please, help us to count them all, and sent your information from this weekend to Natuurpunt.

More information and species names can be found here on the website of Natuurpunt! Everything on how it works!

By the way, it might be nice to post a comment here if you participate, I would be happy to hear it from you!

Posted in General | 7 Comments

The beauty of the north

Posted on July 25, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

The Scandinavian mountains have photo opportunities around every corner. Click here to see a photo gallery, where I celebrate the amazing beauty of the north.

You should pay it a visit to enjoy angry lemmings, stunning lakes, beautiful flowers, endless sunsets or breath-taking mountain hikes.

It will show you a summer as you have never seen one before.

You might recognize some of the pictures from my previous posts, but all together, they summarize the atmosphere even better.

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Europe, Hike, Holiday, Mountains, Nature, Norway, Photography, Photos, Scandinavia, Subarctic, Sweden, Travel, Wild | 4 Comments

Sweet summer child

Posted on July 24, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

I am a true summer child. I love the sun, the flowers, the birds and all nature’s activity in summer. I brighten up under a warm blue sky.

I do not know a thing about the Scandinavian winters, with their eternal nights, mountains of snow and freezing temperatures. When the first northern light hits the sky, I flee to the south.

Torneträsk lake with rowing boat

The only Scandinavian snow I know is from the stubborn little patches that resist the changes of the seasons and do not want to melt before the end of July.

Hiking in the Swedish mountains

I only experienced the Scandinavia with its abundant flowers, seeking cooling underneath waterfalls and dipping toes in the lake.

Waterfall in Swedish mountains

I must admit I also know those summers from endless rains and late snow storms that bite your fingers off on top of the mountains, but those harsh feelings are soon forgotten as soon as the shiny sun is back.

Orchid flowers in subarctic forest

I have to repeat it to myself every sunny day again and again: northern Scandinavia is a hostile place. It is not always like this. The seedlings in your experiments might soon die from the cold. Never forget this while you gaze at the blue sky and cool your burning skin with fresh melting water from a stream.

Posted in Sweden | Tagged Abisko, Fieldwork, Hiking, Holiday, Lake, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Scandinavia, Summer, Sweden, Travel | 2 Comments

Fjord and fjäll

Posted on July 22, 2014 by lembrechtsjonas

We ended our Scandinavian fieldwork trip with two days at the other sides of the mountains. We had to find back the Norwegian plots of the roadside research of two years ago to install temperature sensors in the soil.

This little trip brought us the highlights of the Norwegian summer in a peaceful valley called Sjkomdal, in this season a true example of a Scandinavian paradise.

We traveled up and down between the softness of the grasslands in the valley and the breathtaking views from the mountain tops.

The ultimate goal was to find back the sticks that had been waiting for two years in the immense eternal forests and tundra to mark the location of all plots. For the next year, they will guard the temperature sensors until I come back to pick them up.

Luckily, we had gps-coordinates, pictures of the locations and some marks in the field to help us on this true treasure hunt. This facilitated the search drastically, although some sticks still managed to disappear untraceably over the years.

It was nice to be reunited with my plots after two years; coming back there felt like revisiting a childhood playground. With the help of two days of fantastic summer weather, I now finally realized the full beauty of the area and the luck we had to do science up there.

After a long and hot day of climbing the mountains, we set up our tent close to a lovely and cute ‘Fjällbuhytta’, right above a river perfectly suited for an evening swim. We took our time to swim away the dust of the working day and watched the alpenglow on the mountains at midnight.