Category: birds

Gulls feed for oolichan on the Skeena

The Skeena, the oolichan and the frenzy of the gulls

The oolichan, the tiny oil rich fish that sustained the First Nations of British Columbia for millenia come up the rivers in the early spring. At least they come up those rivers where oolichan (Thaleichthys pacificus) still survive. Like the salmon, the oolichan live their adult lives in the ocean and then return to their […]

Great blue heron near Kitimat River

Birds at Christmastime in Kitimat

A Great Blue Heron perches on a tree overlooking the Kitimat River during the Christmas Bird Count, December 15, 2012. The bird count photo op wasn’t as good this year as it was last year. It was just as overcast with low late December light, but this time it was high tide with wind gusts […]

Ravens in flight

Breaking the high afternoon summer sun rule and getting the “white raven” effect

So one of the “rules of photography,” especially nature photography, is you don’t shoot on a clear, bright, blue sky, summer afternoon with the sun high overhead. So today I broke all those rules and got a shot I’ve been trying to get for some time–the “white raven.” So what is a “white raven?”  One […]

Spring and the stellar jays go for my feeder

View photo gallery Stellar Jays in spring on my back deck   Spring is coming quickly to Kitimat, but with a near-record snowfall this winter, where more than two metres or six feet of snow filled my back deck, it was impossible to get to my feeders.  With most of the snow gone from the […]