Author: Robin Rowland

Mystery photos of Vimy Ridge

A week or so ago, I was going through box and box of old photos in the collection of my late mother, Catherine Rowland (nee Hill).  Almost all of the images are people photos, my mother, her brother, parents and friends from 1914, when she was born, until the Second World. I was surprised to […]

A rare winter bird in Kitimat, Townsend’s solitaire (plus a couple of eagles)

A visitor to my backyard mountain ash tree the past couple of days (February 9 and 10, 2023) a Townsend’s Solitaire (myadestes townsendi).  It is a thrush, usually found further inland along the Pacific Northwest but rare on the coast, especially in winter. a UPDATE:  February 13, 2023.  The Townsend’s solitaire back on Monday afternoon. […]

Saturday morning on the Thames at Brentford

Saturday morning, September 9, 2022 was my last day in London. With an afternoon flight,  that morning, I walked down to the Thames from my hotel, enjoyed the late summer sun and photographed the birds gathered along the low tide shoreline. There were boaters and scullers on the water and people walking along the shore […]

Cormorants on the red Triassic cliffs of Devon

Just to the east of Exmouth, Devon, you find the “Triassic Coast,” the western most part of Britain’s famous UNESCO World Heritage “Jurassic Coast.”  Wikipedia says of Orcombe Point “At the base are cross-bedded sandstones. Towards the top, the rock types are those deposited by quieter, slower-flowing waters (i.e. siltstones and mudstones). The sediments are markedly […]

The Bowling Green Nature Reserve, Topsham

During my trip to Topsham, Devon, I visited  the Bowling Green Marsh Nature Reserve. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Bowling Green Nature Reserve is on the junction of the River Exe and the River Clyst, close Topsham. The Lookout Hide viewing platform is described as “an ideal spot to watch birds up […]