Tag: birds

Cackling Geese at Whatl Creek and more

Cackling geese (Branta hutchnisi) make look like Canada Geese, but they’re a separate species, smaller (close to the size of a mallard duck) with a shorter neck, rounder head and a stubbier bill. The west coast species often spend summers in the Aleutian Islands and then fly south to the Central Valley of  California, so […]

The feral parakeets of Kensington Gardens

  Walking through London’s Kensington Gardens I saw a crowd of people around some trees and a loud screeching of birds.  Then I saw flashes of green as the birds flew between the trees and often landed on people’s hands and even heads, as they were (sometimes) fed. This was a flock of what is called […]

Birds and water: shots from my trip to England

So what did I do on my summer “vacation”?  I am (semi) retired, so  it isn’t a formal vacation, but I did have some relaxing down time on my trip to England in June. After attending a conference in Liverpool, I went to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Julius Caesar, then […]

Aerial combat II: Crow versus buzzard

I was able to photograph my second sequence of aerial bird combat in a few weeks on June 15, on a boat trip on the upper Thames River in Oxfordshire, in England, above me a carrion crow (Corvus Corone) was taking on what in Britain is called a buzzard and internationally the common buzzard (Buteo […]

A red-winged blackbird takes on a “dogfight” with a hawk

Driving back to Kitimat from Prince George on May 20, I stopped at the Topley rest area. Not only is Topley a good place to break up the drive, there is a small marsh that if the time and season is correct provides an opportunity for great bird and landscape photography. Moments after I got […]

Kitimat River estuary Christmas bird count 2016

  I made the annual trip with Walter Thorne into the Kitimat River estuary on Saturday,  Dec. 17 for that leg of the Kitimat Christmas Bird Count. We didn’t see as much variety as in previous years because the region had been the grip of an icy -15 C at least cold snap for the […]