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Recent Posts

  • June birding: An immature bald eagle, western tanager and more
  • Haisla Bridge Replacement Project Girder Launching Ceremony
  • A mink on a log. How I got the shot (plus some bald eagles)
  • Canada Geese overhead
  • “It’s not a costume” Racism protest in Kitimat

RSS Model making and diorama photography

  • A cold, wet winter on Arch-to
  • Dollar Store Dinosaurs
  • Star Wars #ourgreatindoors
  • The Rusty Romulan
  • Hot chicken Jedha

Archive For The “garden” Category

Bees harvesting nectar from mountain cornflowers

A few morning shots of bees harvesting nectar from mountain cornflowers (centaurea montana) in my front garden.

June 6, 2020 Robin Rowland
Alpha 7II, flowers, garden, nature, Photographybee , bees , cornflower , mountain cornflower

Fall feeding frenzy in my backyard

Fall feeding frenzy in my backyard

I looked out into my back garden on the morning of October 2, 2019 to see more flocks of birds flying around in an early October downpour. Far more birds than I expected. It is bear season and there are more black bears around town than usual, which means my feeders are currently empty. No matter, the birds were concentrating on a mountain ash tree in the backyard.

In less than a hour I visited by a raven, a varied thrush, a northern flicker, steller jays, juncos and too many robins to count. I managed to get good photographs of the robins, the raven, the northern flicker and the varied thrush. I had no luck capturing the juncos and steller jays. I didn’t see any sparrows.

A robin grabs a mountain ash berry. (Robin Rowland)

I used two cameras for this shoot. I normally keep an older Sony Alpha 55 with a Tamron 70-300 lens on my dining room table all the time to shoot birds in the garden. Once I realized that the feeding was going to continue for a while I grabbed my Sony RX10-iii which has a 24 to 600 lens.

The raven (Robin Rowland)

American robin at the top of the mountain ash (Robin Rowland)

A robin grabs a berry from the top of the mountain ash. (Robin Rowland)

A pair of robins at the top of the mountain ash (Robin Rowland)

Varied thrush. (Robin Rowland)

A robin perches in the mountain ash. (Robin Rowland)

This morning the garden was quiet, so it looks like that for some reason, the gathering only happened yesterday,

October 3, 2019 Robin Rowland
Alpha 55, garden, nature, Photoblog, Photography, raven, robinAmerican robin , Bird photography , birds , fall , mountain ash , Northern Flicker , rain , raven , Robin , varied thrush

The varied thrush – one of my favourite local birds in Kitimat

One of my favourite birds in here in Kitimat is the Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius).  There were a lot more than usual this spring for one reason or another. So here is an album of  images.

A varied thrush on my back deck.  (Robin Rowland)

 

There was still snow in a hollow in a small woods near my house in mid-April. (Robin Rowland)

The snow in the hollow which lasted for about a week after all the snow had gone elsewhere attracted varied thrushes almost every day. (Robin Rowland)

 

The spring melt advances on the last patch of snow.  A pair of varied thrushes.  (Robin Rowland)

As the spring buds come out in the nearby woods. (Robin Rowland)

 

And in my backyard.

And on an old log in the same hollow a couple of days later. (Robin Rowland)

 

In early May on the waterfront at the Minette Bay Lodge. (Robin Rowland)

A closer shot of the varied thrush at Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)

On an driftwood stump at the mudflats of Minette Bay at low tide. (Robin Rowland)

A closer view (Robin Rowland)

June 7, 2018 Robin Rowland
BC, birds, garden, nature, Photoblog, Photography, snow, Sony RX10iii, thrushBird , Bird photography , British Columbia , Kitimat , spring , varied thrush

Catching a dragonfly

Catching a dragonfly

Rowland_dragonfly1

On a warm Kitimat sunny afternoon a couple of days ago a beautiful blue dragonfly was circling my back yard. So I decided to find out if I could get a shot of the speedy creature as it circled and whizzed and looped and dived. Camera Sony Alpha 6000, Sony E-mount, 55 to 210, set at 210, ISO 1600, Shutter 1/2500 at F13. The only one that worked was actually the third frame I shot, got a couple of hundred more (thanks digital) but only one other one came close and at 1/2000 was just a bit too slow so it was a bit blurry.

Instagram

August 22, 2015 Robin Rowland
garden, grass, Instagram, Kitimat, nature, Photoblog, Photography, Techniquesdragonfly , high speed , insects , Sony , Sony Alpha 6000

“I’m here for lunch” and other spring bird shots (plus a salamander or two)

One of the at least three families of stellar jays that live in the cedar trees at my house is bolder and smarter than the rest.  Or maybe it’s a “point bird.”   If I go out with a bag of seeds to refill the feeder, there is the harsh call of the stellar jay and in a few moments,  the bird is close by (often on my deck) and watching me pour the seeds into the feeder.

Stellar jay flies to the feeder

So a couple of days ago, the stellar jay was sitting  on my fence, watching, as I filled one feeder.  Went back in the house to get a different bag, for a second feeder.  Brought my camera along this time and caught the jay as it took off, heading right for me.  Bold or what?

Stellar jay on my deck

Here’s the stellar jay just a few seconds later on my deck.

Yellow-rumped warbler

A yellow-rumped warbler, a “common migrant” along the BC coast, sits on a branch on the new trail to Maggie Point near Kitimat harbour.

Mallards on Douglas Channel

Mallards flying over  the choppy ocean of Douglas Channel near Maggie Point.

Male harlequin duck on Douglas Channel

A male Harlequin duck skims the choppy waters.

A Savannah Sparrow another “common migrant” along the BC coast, sits on my neighbor’s roof.

 

Robin

A robin checks out a Robin on my front lawn.

Golden crown sparrow

Golden-crowned sparrows are also regular lunch guests at my feeder.

bird at feeder

Not sure who this little guy is.  He was determined to get seeds and was good at finding the best spots in this feeder.

Salamanders

When I went out with the Kitimat Valley Naturalists, we went to special protected sites at Pine Creek, near Kitimat, to look for salamanders, part of a province-wide salamander count.  Taken with a macro lens, but not exactly the best light. Next time I go out I will bring a small reflector.

Salamander

salamander

 

 

May 27, 2012 Robin Rowland
birds, duck, garden, jay, Kitimat, nature, Photo gallery, robin, sparrow, warblerBird , Bird feeder , Bird photography , British Columbia , Douglas Channel , golden-crowned sparrow , Harlequin duck , Kitimat , Kitimat British Columbia , mallard , Robin , savannah sparrow , stellar jay , Yellow-rumped warbler

CBC Photo gallery: Canada Blooms 2010

CBC Photo gallery
Canada Blooms 2010: Ideal gardens

87-01_canadablooms10-thumb-220x156-86.jpg

Photo gallery of ideal gardens and winning flower arrangements from the Canada Blooms 2010 flower show at the CNE in Toronto.

March 17, 2010 Robin Rowland
gardenCanada Blooms , flowers , garden , garden show

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