From the Field
Monthly Archive: December From
BioBlitz Bits - Elusive At-Risk Birds
![ROM Scientist Kevin Seymour studies a map of Rouge Park during the 2012 Ontario BioBlitz with the bird team. Photo by Stacey Lee Kerr ROM scientist Kevin Seymour looks at a map with the bird team at the 2012 Ontario BioBlitz in Rouge park, deciding where the team will survey](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2013-09-15_slk_bioblitz2013-5-2.jpg?itok=paSvQoUR)
Blog by ROM Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology Kevin Seymour
This is the fourth installment of our "BioBlitz Bits" Series - ROM scientists share their favourite stories from past Ontario BioBlitz events
BioBlitz Bits - A Tale of Two Bugs
![ROM scientist Antonia Guidotti collects insects at night during the 2012 Ontario BioBlitz. Photo by Evan Hall ROM scientist Antonia Guidotti lifts a jar up to a white sheet lit by a blacklight to collect insects attracted to the sheet during the 2012 Ontario Bioblitz](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2012-06-15_ewh_-13-3.jpg?itok=FcvO13V2)
Blog by ROM Entomology Technician Antonia Guidotti
This is the third installment of our "BioBlitz Bits" Series - ROM scientists share their favourite stories from past Ontario BioBlitz events
BioBlitz Bits - Fungi Findings
![ROM scientist Jean-Marc Moncalvo explains the finer points of fungi to a young bioblitzer. Photo by Vincent Luk ROM scientist Jean-Marc Moncalvo gestures to a young boy to explain something about fungi during a guided bioblitz hike through the forest during the 2014 Ontario BioBlitz](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2014-05-24_bioblitz45-2-2.jpg?itok=oKKokbWE)
Blog by ROM Senior Curator of Mycology, Jean-Marc Moncalvo
This is the second installment of our "BioBlitz Bits" Series - ROM scientists share their favourite stories from past Ontario BioBlitz events
BioBlitz Bits - Night of the Newts and Salamanders
![You never know what you'll find in the forest at night during an Ontario BioBlitz event! Photo by Brennan Caverhill A forest scene at night lit only by headlamps from the ontario bioblitz teams as they survey in the dark](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/1-2012-06-15_119_.jpg?itok=GMdsVs6G)
Blog by ROM Herpetology Technician Amy Lathrop
This is the first of our "BioBlitz Bits" Series - ROM scientists share their favourite stories from past Ontario BioBlitz events
The Monastery of St Moses, Syria: The Prehistoric Remains
![The largest corbelled structure, in fact a complex of three (Feature 56 - 58), with the Qalamoun mountains in the background. The largest corbelled structure, in fact a complex of three (Feature 56 - 58), with the Qalamoun mountains in the background.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/julias_photos_117.jpg?itok=m7ADMsaS)
Since 2004 I had walked the Qalamoun mountains around the monastery of Deir Mar Musa looking for archaeological features to record. In all that time I found one lithic, a stone tool from humanity’s prehistoric past. My colleagues back home that specialised in these objects would say that I just didn’t know what I was looking for. In the last days of the 2009 season, what turned out to be my last season at the monastery, I thought I would reconnoitre the southern part of the field area.
The Monastery of St Moses, Syria: The Cave Survey
![This cave would have been a home for one of the monks of the Deir Mar Musa community, the wall at the front of the photograph shows that they had a small terrace outside the cave, either for a living area or for growing food. This cave would have been a home for one of the monks of the Deir Mar Musa community, the wall at the front of the photograph shows that they had a small terrace outside the cave, either for a living area or for growing food.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/img_0860teaser.jpg?itok=L4AhHjwU)
The monastery at Deir Mar Musa would not have just comprised the main buildings, the monks would actually have been dispersed in hermitages across the landscape.
The Monastery of St Moses, Syria: The Frescoes
![The fresco of the Last Judgement on the West wall of the chapel at Deir Mar Musa. The fresco of the Last Judgement on the West wall of the chapel at Deir Mar Musa.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/dscf0274teaser.jpg?itok=c9QnP5pf)
The third in a series on the monastery of St Moses in Syria comprises a detailed examination of the important cycle of 11th-12th century frescoes found in the chapel.
Triceratops Dig Week 2: June 20 - June 27
![Figure 1. The @ROMPalaeo team working in the Triceratops quarry. ROM Palaeo team working in the Triceratops quarry.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/tricera-blog-week2_page_1_image_0001.jpg?itok=Hko0Z1uB)
@ROMPalaeo Triceratops Dig Week 2: June 20-June 27
Triceratops Dig Week 1
![The Triceratops quarry was under water when we arrived. Land with water on it](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/tri-quarry.jpg?itok=tjess9fL)
For the past week, a small crew from the Royal Ontario Museum’s palaeontology division has been excavating a Triceratops site on private ranchland in Harding County, South Dakota.