Category: nature

The Kitimat branch line operating trestle bridges

The 38.5 mile (62 kilometre) Canadian National Railways branch line from Terrace to Kitimat is one of the last working rail lines in North America that still uses wooden trestle bridges. There are three large and three smaller trestles along the line, as well a large bridge built to cross the Skeena River at Terrace […]

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 […]

The view from Trapline Mountain

On Monday August 5, friends invited me along for a trip to Trapline Mountain to photograph the alpine. Trapline Mountain is about 30 kilometres east of Terrace, BC. You get to the mountain first by driving along the road that follows the Copper River and then taking a rough access road to the peak. At […]

Christmas bird count 2018 in a snow storm

Trumpeter swans, signets and canvasback ducks in the Kitimat River estuary, Dec.15, 2018. (Robin Rowland)   My portion of the Christmas Bird Count in the Kitimat River Estuary (courtesy Rio Tinto) was in an afternoon blizzard which cut visibility by up to about 80 per cent at times and was no help to the cameras, […]

A raven, the rain and some berries

The weather here in Kitimat on Saturday, November 3, 2018, was miserable, with heavy rain. I don’t often get ravens in my backyard but on Saturday morning, one landed in the mountain ash tree in my backyard to sample the berries. You can tell just how wet it was from the drips on the berries. […]

A murder of crows mob a juvenile bald eagle

There were more crows than usual Sunday morning at the Kitamaat Village waterfront.  Crows perching on old driftwood roots….   …or in the air along the shore line. Suddenly all the crows took to the air….that murder of crows (or as one of the other birders said “it looks like two murders”). It was soon […]