Posts Tagged “crow”
A crow flies near my gear bag, May 11, 2014. (Robin Rowland)
Sometimes the most interesting things are happening behind you. A crow flies past my gear bag. I heard the crow’s call and turned from shooting birds at MK Bay to catch this shot.
A trumpeter swan feeds in the Kitimat River Oxbow, during the world wide annual Christmas bird count, Dec. 17, 2011. The reddish neck comes as the white feathers are stained by high levels of iron oxides in this part of the river as the swan dips into the river to feed.
A view of the Kitimat river estuary on the day of the annual Christmas bird count, Saturday Dec. 17, 2011. It had started snowing on Thursday. By noon Friday, that had changed to freezing rain which continued over night. At midafternoon Saturday,the rain had stopped but it was still a gloomy day.
A crow flies over Kitimat harbour.
A heron in flight over the Kitimat River estuary.
A tundra swan, among the reeds of the Kitimat River estuary.
Another view of the tundra swan in the Kitimat River estuary.
A juvenile bald eagle perches over one of the ponds in the estuary, looking for a meal.
A pair of mallard ducks fly over the Kitimat River estuary.
Trumpeter swans, seagulls. Canada geese and ducks live in the estuary.
The sun sets over the mountains and the estuary.
Look closely and you will see a pair of bald eagles on the transmission tower.
(Update Dec. 18, 2011 1730. The identity of the second swan has been corrected after local experts reviewed my pictures and my guide’s notes)
So I had some interesting visitors at my bird feeders for Thanksgiving Dinner today.
I think this is a gorgeous male red winged blackbird.
The redwinged blackbird and his mate on my deck beam.
The BC redwinged blackbird is is somewhat different from the birds I photographed in Ontario, that at first I didn’t recognize it. This bird has a yellow tuft and the red isn’t as prominent, so that is why I am not certain (Comments please if I need a correction)
This female does look like the red-winged blackbirds in my bird books.
The stellar jays that live in the cedar trees around my house are regular visitors.
A crow prances on my deck.
Earlier on the weekend
And there were visitors who were also my guests for an earlier dinner.
A northern flicker samples the suet.
The northern flicker perches on top of the suet feeder.
Another crow at the suet.
Dark-eyed or Oregon juncos at the suet feeder.
A Savannah sparrow samples the suet.
The local stellar jays on the deck feeder.
A Barrow’s Goldeneye duck swims in the Houston, BC, Duck Pond, May 7, 2011. (Robin Rowland)
One of the reasons I decided to return to northwestern British Columbia is that this area is an untapped photographic paradise.
It’s not just the mountains, the forests and the seas, the variety of birds should be a draw for not just birders and photographers but all tourists.
This week I came across a small wetlands bird refuge, that as far as I can find out, is not listed on any birding guide to the province of British Columbia. Of course, the big, brash Houston down in Texas may unknowingly be responsible, overshadowing the small town of the same name along the Yellowhead Highway in northwest British Columbia.
This week I drove from my base in Kitimat to Prince George, to see the premiere of the stage adaptation of Robert Sawyer’s novel, Rollback. I also arranged some business meetings in Prince George and planned to do some location scouting for my planned photographic workshops on the way back.
Houston was not on my location list.
As a little kid, when my parents drove south to the Lower Mainlaind for vacation, it was a town we just drove through, between Smithers and Burns Lake. My plans called for me to do the location scouting on the second day of my drive and since I wanted to take it fairly easy and stop in the afternoon of the first day, Houston was a convenient location. So I booked into a bed and breakfast called the Bear’s Claw Inn. A small guide to Houston I picked up earlier mentioned the local Duck Pond walking trail as a place to see birds right in the heart of town,
I settled into the B&B and my ears soon told me Houston is a place for birds, you could here the birds songs from the nearby Duck Pond.
The Duck Pond is the grey brown circle in the green in the middle of town, just northeast of the high school running track. As the sun set, Canada geese landed in the fields by my B&B (just to the west of the track).
The early morning was cloudy with drizzle. Got up anyway and by the time I had finished breakfast, the sun had broken through. Took a side trail through the woods to the pond and was immediately rewarded when I came across some mule deer looking for food. Spring always comes late in the high country of the BC interior and so food is scarce, the first green shoots are just starting.
I found the Duck Pond. The viewing platform is on the west side of the pond, so not the best location for morning shooting, but I was late enough, it was getting on for nine when I arrived, that the sun was shining, sidelighting, not back lighting, the northwest corner of the pond. There are benches on the east side and at some clear spots, so there are number of shooting locations.
For this shoot, I didn’t have much time, just 90 minutes, before I had to get back on the road. It was a very rewarding 90 minutes, where I photographed Canada Geese, mallards, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Lincoln’s Sparrow, ravens, crows, my namesake bird, the robin and just as I was about to leave, this Common Yellowthroat popped up among the reeds and marsh grass in the northwest corner of the pond, nicely let by that mid-morning sun.
View the complete slideshow Birds of the Houston Duck Pond.
The guide promised, and this time I didn’t get, Common Goldeneye, Pintail and Blue-winged Teals, not to mention reptiles and amphibians (probably a little early for the latter)
So that just means, to quote an old phrase, “I’ll be back.”
I checked my BC birding books when I got home and found none of them mention Houston (and all are generally weak on the northwest in any case), Future customers can be assured, the Houston Duck Pond will be one of the stops when I get my workshops up and running,
