nature & environment

He just blends right in. Photo by Luc Rioux , who says: “Here is a photo I took on Saturday at Mud Lake. This little guy looks a lot bigger then he is. He`s about the size of my thumb. ...

_ We’re on hiatus this week, so instead of new blog posts we’re re-publishing some fun content from the past couple years. Remember this from July 2009 ? _ I’ve been enjoying all of the conspiracy theories surrounding the police search today for an unidentified object (it may or may not have been flying) on the Ottawa River. ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-04-campground.jpg) Photo by [ Glen Gower ](http://about.me/glengower) . We recently launched the Ottawa Campgrounds and RV Guide , a new page on our site with a huge listing of Ottawa and Gatineau campgrounds. ...

Last week was busy with prep for Canada Day, and the week before I was on vacation, and the email box is overflowing. So in an attempt to clear it out, here are a few reader photo submissions. Alicia Wanless sent along these two colourful photos from the recent Spencerville Mill Heritage Fair. ...

I’m nominating @hmsurfacing for today’s Ottawa Tweet of the Day: [ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/squirrels.png) …with honourable mention to @stumillscbc : [ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/bears.png) ** See also: ** Ottawa Nature Guide If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to our blog via email, Twitter, Facebook or RSS. ...

** UPDATE: ** Not to be outdone, Gatineau has a rain barrel rebate program too ! [  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rain-barrel-art.jpg) Rain barrel art from [ RainBarrel.ca ](http://rainbarrel.ca/) Did you know? The City of Ottawa offers a $50 rebate for all residents who purchase a rain barrel. ...

Inspired by one of Andrea’s blog posts last week, I started looking into how much electricity we’re using at our house, and found MyHydroLink , a new tool from Hydro Ottawa . Once you’ve set up an online account, you can log in and see your daily hydro usage, broken down by hour. ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Ottawa-20110530-00185.jpg) The buzz in Ottawa today was about this piece of unbeelievable news: A swarm of wasps (not bees as originally reported) forced the shutdown of part of Clarence Street in the Bee-ward market earlier today. Police were on the scene first and performed a sting operation / conducted a RAID / called in the SWAT team. ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/plug.png) ** ** Martha McLean took this shot of a car being recharged in front of the Chateau Laurier. She writes: “The Chateau had to break put the extension chord but nice to see this!!” (Photo used by permission. ...

[  ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG-20110521-00009.jpg) Photo by Maddie Gower Enough [ complaining ](http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/royal-wedding/Kelly+Egan+dandelions+make+crazy/4823039/story.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) about dandelions, let's celebrate 'em. After all, they are on proud display in lawns and parks all over the city. Here's my proposal for an annual ** Ottawa Dandelion Festival ** , starting in 2012. ...