Posts Tagged “bald eagle”
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.
UPDATE: February 13, 2023. The Townsend’s solitaire back on Monday afternoon.
And two bald eagles over MK Bay on February 11.
Early summer is often a great time to photograph birds in the Kitimat Valley.
An immature (about two and half years old) bald eagle near Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
An immature (about two and half years old) bald eagle near Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
A soggy crow near Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
Fledgling starlings in flight in the wetland waterfront of Kitamaat Village (Robin Rowland)
A pair of bald eagles at MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
A western tanager in a tree near MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
A western tanager in a tree near MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
A mink (neogale vison) on a driftwood log at the Kitamaat Village beach, February 12, 2022 (Robin Rowland)
It was a cool, over cast Saturday afternoon when I accompanied birders from the Kitimat Valley Naturalists on the monthly shorebird count.
Just after we arrived at our first stop, the Kitamaat Village seawall and beach in Haisla traditional territory, I (and the others) saw something out of the corner of my eye, a flash of black with a tail scampering along a driftwood log on the beach. A few minutes later the animal appeared again, coming up from another log. So while the birders put up their scopes and scanned the shoreline, I walked up on a pile of dirt and kept watch for the mammal.
I kept watch. It was dashing along the logs and under others. Had the camera on high speed burst mode and missed it about twenty or so times.
Then the mink decided to pause (or to do me a favour) and stopped on one log, looked up and I captured this portrait. It looked around and then dashed into a hollow log and disappeared.
A mink (neogale vison) on a driftwood log at the Kitamaat Village beach, February 12, 2022 (Robin Rowland)
Cloudy day. Sony RX10M3, Iso Auto shooting at 2000 ASA. 1/1000 at F4.
A lot of other usual shots, even at low tide the beach is far off so it’s often hard to get good shots.
Then I spotted a bald eagle high over Douglas Channel.
A bald eagle flies over Douglas Channel. (Robin Rowland)
Then I got lucky again, the eagle flew right toward the beach, coming in for a landing.
Bald eagle coming in for a landing at Kitamaat Village beach. (Robin Rowland)
And then perched on a driftwood stump.
A bald eagle perches on a driftwood stump in late February afternoon sun at Kitamaat Village, Feb. 12, 2022. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle perches on a stump in Kitamaat Village, (Robin Rowland
Look closely and you will see the white head of a bald eagle perched in a tree at MK Bay, taken from MK Bay West Park.
A red-tailed hawk surveys the bush just outside Kitamaat Village, BC, Dec. 14, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
For the Christmas Bird Count in Kitimat, there’s usually a lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time–that’s because here in the northwest daylight hours are limited as we get closer to the Winter Solstice. So we started before dawn, which is OK for those who are counting but not so good for photography.
A belted kingfisher is seen on a snag near the Kitamaat Village dock in the pre-dawn light on Dec. 14, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
The highlight of my day came at what is known as the Maggie Point trail to a gazebo overlooking Kitmat harbour built by members of the Haisla Nation. The problem is as you get older, hiking a trail in icy weather can be quite dicey, especially for me who has had minor hip problems since I was a kid. So with ice on the trail, I decided to stay by the cars and wait while the rest of the gang went to see what they could see from the gazebo. Then a swift flying bird landed on the branch not far from the parking area. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I began shooting with my SonyRX10iii which is 24 to 600 mm 35mm equivalent.
I wasn’t sure what the bird was, but I guessed it was a raptor since it sat there for almost ten minutes, surveying the area. At one point a crow flew by and the raptor didn’t budge. Then it swooped down over my head and into the bush. It was only then I checked the display to see the yellow rimmed eyes. The birders debated whether the raptor was a merlin or a sharp-shinned hawk and then came to the conclusion looking at the eyes that it was a dark red-tailed hawk.
The red-tailed hawk perching on a branch, watching over the trail. (Robin Rowland)
The red-tailed hawk. (Robin Rowland)
The red-tailed hawk looking down at me and the trail. (Robin Rowland)
And here are some other views from the Christmas Bird Count 2019.
Two bald eagles fly low over Kitimat harbour. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle high over Kitimat harbour. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle takes a traditional perch on an old snag at MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards fly by Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards fly “in formation” over Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards flying over the wetlands at Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Canada geese and mallards in the wetlands of Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
All the images were taken in the morning up until about 11 a.m. I went home for lunch, ingested the morning images and then we went out again. But with heavy cloud cover, fading light and fewer birds, the afternoon session was a bust. No photos worth posting.
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 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.
The crow mobs the eagle, at first the eagle ignores the crow.
The crow mobs the eagle, at first the eagle ignores the crow.
As the crow returns, the eagle looks back at it.
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.
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.
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.
A juvenile bald eagle prepares for take off at the Kitamaat Village waterfront. (Robin Rowland)
Portrait of a juvenile bald eagle at Kitamaat Village, March 10, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
The juvenile bald eagle just after take off, March 10, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
A flock of Barrow’s golden eyes hug the shore off Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
A crow caws on a snag at low tide at Kitamaat Village, March 10, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
A song sparrow on stump on the Kitamaat Village waterfront. (Robin Rowland)
Storm clouds over Douglas Channel, March 10, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
A crescent moon sets over the mountains of Kitimat, with “earthlight” from our home planet illuminating the sphere, March 8,2019. (Robin Rowland)
A seagull hunts for oolicahn on the Skeena River, March 6, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
