Kitimat River estuary Christmas bird count 2016

Robin Rowland 
Canada Geese on a take off run in the Kitimat River estuary, Dec. 17. 2016. (Robin Rowland)

 

I made the annual trip with Walter Thorne into the Kitimat River estuary on Saturday,  Dec. 17 for that leg of the Kitimat Christmas Bird Count.

We didn’t see as much variety as in previous years because the region had been the grip of an icy -15 C at least cold snap for the previous ten days. That meant many of the creeks and wetlands that were open in previous years were totally or partially frozen over.

Parts of the estuary were completely or partially frozen in the cold snap (Robin Rowland)

So that meant we saw lots of Canada geese and ducks.

 

Canada Geese flying over the frozen wetland (Robin Rowland)
And up into the trees. (Robin Rowland)

 

A northern shoveller. (Robin Rowland)
An American coot with a bit of a plant in its beak. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle looking through the gloom. (Robin Rowland)
A gull at the end of a snowy log. (Robin Rowland)
A Christmasy scene, ducks and geese by two evergreen trees. (Robin Rowland)

 

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