Robin Rowland Photography | Robin Rowland's site for editorial, commercial, wildlife and nature photography

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 view from Trapline Mountain

A small lake in a bowl at the peak of Trapline Mountain on a sunny August morning. (Robin Rowland)

GPS route to Trapline Mountain (Google Earth)

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 the peak is a BC Hydro microwave communications tower. The area is popular with photographers, ATV enthusiasts and the occasional campers in the summer and snowmobilers in the winter.

Black and white images

I have converted most of the images to black and white. Depending on the image I either used Photoshop or SilverEfx.

Another view from the peak of Trapline Mountain. (Robin Rowland)

Another of the mini-lakes at the peak of Trapline Mountain. (Robin Rowland)

The peak of Trapline Mountain. (Robin Rowland)

The tree line just below the peak. (Robin Rowland)

A vertical view of the lake. (Robin Rowland)

A sharp distant peak. (Robin Rowland)

Another view of the mountains. (Robin Rowland)

Flowers and reeds at the shore of a lake a little lower on the mountain. If you look carefully you will see a swarm of flies. (Possibly mayflies?) (Robin Rowland)

Bright plants track a small stream through the alpine. (Robin Rowland)

Ferns and flowers among the broken rocks of the peak. (Robin Rowland)

Colour images

The peak of Trapline Mountain is absolutely beautiful. So I have included some colour images.

A view from the peak. (Robin Rowland)

A closer view. (Robin Rowland)

Another view. (Robin Rowland)

GPS track to the peak of Trapline Mountain (Google Earth)

Haaland Ave. Waterfall

Haaland Ave. Waterfall tumbles off a cliff into the Copper River.

The Haaland Avenue falls on the Copper River, (Robin Rowland)

A pole among the rocks below the falls. (Robin Rowland)

August 7, 2019 Robin Rowland

Alpha 77, alpine, black and white, Canada, flowers, mountains, nature, Photoblog, Photography, Sony RX10iii, summitBlack-and-white , British Columbia , landscape , mountain , peak , Terrace , Trapline Mountain , waterfall

Student dancers celebrate Haisla Guatlap...

As part of the Haisla Nation’s solstice Guatlap Days at Kitamaat Village, Friday, June 21, the audience saw a performance from the student dancers and drummers from the ‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School in Kisumkalum. June 21 was National Indigenous Peoples Day. The Kitsumkalum or Gitsuklaum are part of the Ts’myen (Tsimshian) Nation.

A student from the ‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School from Kitsumkalum drums at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre, (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla rec Centre. (Robin Rowland)

”Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days perform to a ratttle at the Haisla Recreation Centre (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre (Robin Rowland)

Elementary school students from ‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School from Kitsumkalum dance at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre. (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre, (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre. (Robin Rowland)

A ‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yooo School drummer from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre. (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre. (Robin Rowland)

‘Na Aksa Gyilak’yoo School dancers from Kitsumkalum perform a paddling song at Guatlap Days at the Haisla Recreation Centre. (Robin Rowland)

June 22, 2019 Robin Rowland

Alpha 7II, Guatlap Days, Haisla Nation, Kitamaat Village, Kitimat, National Indigenous Peoples Day, Photoblog, Photography, Sony RX10iiidancer , drummer , First Nations , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , Kitsumkalum , photoblog

“Get off my perch,” crow te...

A crow mobs a bald eagle at the mouth of Wahtl Creek, MK Bay marina, Kitimat, BC. I was out shooting for fun along the Kitimat/Kitamaat Village waterfront when I captured the story of a fiesty crow that demanded a bald eagle get off an old log in the Wahtl Creek estuary. The crow apparently thought it was its perch, not the eagle’s.

The crow flies to the perch and finds the eagle on top.

The crow circles the eagle.

The crow settles on a lower branch of the old dead tree.

The crow leaves and the eagle takes off from the perch.

The eagle skims over the low tide estuary.

The eagle flies over the Wahtl Creek low tide estuary.

The eagle circles over Kitimat harbour/

The eagle circles around, flying right past me, so I was able to capture this magnificent close shot.

For a few moments I lost site of the eagle as it flew over Kitamaat Village, then it flew back.

The eagle has landed–back on the perch.

Almost immediately the crow comes back and mobs the eagle again.

The crow mobs the eagle, at first the eagle ignores the crow.

As the crow returns, the eagle looks back at it.

It certainly looks as if the eagle is getting annoyed with the feisty little crow.

The crow settles back down on the lower perch.

A few minutes later, the eagle decides to leave, as the crow looks up at the coveted perch.

That’s my perch, the crow is the winner and flies up to the upper perch.

The eagle flies by me once more heading out over the harbour.

The eagle heads across the Kitimat Arm of Douglas Channel toward the mountains.

Cameras, Sony RX10iii and Sony Alpha 77 with Minolta 500mm mirror lens.

April 21, 2019 Robin Rowland

Alpha 77, BC, birds, crow, Douglas Channel, eagle, Kitamaat Village, Kitimat, Photographybald eagle , British Columbia , crow , Douglas Channel , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , MK Bay , photoblog , seascape , Wahtl Creek

A smokey Kitimat Sunday morning sunrise ...

The 93% waning gibbous moon sets over the mountains of Kitimat early Sunday March 24, 2019 as the sun rises. (Robin Rowland)

A closer view of the waning moon over the mountains of Kitimat (Robin Rowland)

The rising sun begins to illuminate the mountain slopes as the moon sets. (Robin Rowland)

Smoke from the Rio Tinto plant over Kitimat harbour as the sun rises on a frosty Sunday morning March 24, 2019. (Robin Rowland)

March 24, 2019 Robin Rowland

BC, black and white, Douglas Channel, forest, Kitimat, landscape, moon, mountains, Photography, Sony RX10iii, sun, sunriseBlack-and-white , British Columbia , Douglas Channel , Kitimat , landscape , ocean , photoblog , Rio Tinto , seascape , smoke , spring

Beyond reach

An American robin reaches for berries on a tree in Kitimat, BC, March 23, 2019. (Robin Rowland)

Today is the first day the snow has melted enough that I could go for a walk in the play bush near my home. An American robin was on a tree branch and kept stretching its neck to try to get berries that were just beyond reach. After numerous tries, it finally realized it was a futile effort and flew off another branch where the picking was easier.

March 23, 2019 Robin Rowland