Posts Tagged “Bird”
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.
The weather in Kitimat has been awful during most of the fall, cold, windy, rainy, foggy and generally miserable. Not unexpected in a La Nina year.
I went down to Kitamaat Village for the monthly bird count in a rain squall. So the visibility was pretty bad. As I was about to leave, a half dozen northwestern crows landed right beside me, in the pouring rain and stayed long enough for me to shoot their portraits.
A varied thrush confronts a steller’s jay at my feeder during the blizzard of January 3, 2020. (Robin Rowland)
The decade of the 2020s came in like a mountain lion on January 3, 2020 here in Kitimat, with (up until now) 75 centimetres or 30 inches of snow.
I came inside after digging out the first time (I would dig out twice more today) and sat down for lunch only to see at least a dozen juncos at my feeder in the midst of the wind and blowing snow. I have an older camera on the table so I can photograph any birds that might come to the feeder. A varied thrush flew down, scattering the juncos. The varied thrush was too big for the feeder (or at least it thought it was) so it waited while the juncos gorged themselves and picked up and seeds that dropped from the feeder.
About an hour later a steller’s jay joined the group. The thrush and the steller’s jay seemed to get along at first but later this was a confrontation between the two while the juncos watched. The steller’s jay, being a smarter bird (like all corvids) did find a away to get at the feeder.
Juncos congregate at my feeder in the midst of the blizzard. (Robin Rowland)
A junco waits its turn at the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush perches just below the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
The patient varied thrush waits for the juncos to drop some seeds. (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush lands under the feeder beside the steller’s jay (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush looks up at the feeder (the juncos had temporarily departed) as the steller’s jay watches. (Robin Rowland)
A shot of the steller’s jay. (Robin Rowland)
The steller’s jay finds a way to get at the seeds in the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
Most of the juncos and the varied thrush were still there a few hours later as it began to get dark.
I usually take a morning walk through a forest park near my house. We had the first major frost this morning, and so the resident birds, steller’s jays, American robins and juncos were very active.
A steller jay in an old tree. (Robin Rowland)
A steller jay explores through the cover of grass. (Robin Rowland)
A steller jay peeks through the cover of grass. (Robin Rowland)
An American robin in a forest mountain ash tree. (Robin Rowland)
An American robin in a forest mountain ash tree. (Robin Rowland)
An Oregon junco hides in the underbrush. (Robin Rowland)
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.