
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.
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

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)
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

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)

birds, crow, duck, eagle, Kitamaat Village, Kitimat, moon, nature, oolichan, Photoblog, Photography, Skeena, Skeena Riverbald eagle , Barrow's Goldeneye , Bird , Bird photography , birds , British Columbia , clouds , crow , Douglas Channel , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , landscape , Moon , moonset , photoblog , song sparrow
Went out for the monthly shore bird count this morning in the midst of the Polar Vortex hitting the west coast.About -8 C with a cold wind off Douglas Channel which probably made it even colder than airport windchill of -15. Even the birds, it seems, were huddling some place hidden for warmth.

A bald eagle hovers over Douglas Channel at sunrise. (Robin Rowland)

Ice on a snag (an old log) at the Kitamaat Village waterfront looks like alien invaders. (Robin Rowland)

Sunrise over Douglas Channel on an icy Sunday morning. (Robin Rowland)
birds, eagle, ice, Sony RX10iii, winterbald eagle , Bird , Bird photography , Black-and-white , British Columbia , Douglas Channel , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , photoblog , polar vortex , winter

Trumpeter swans, signets and canvasback ducks in the Kitimat River estuary, Dec.15, 2018. (Robin Rowland)
My portion of the Christmas Bird Count in the Kitimat River Estuary (courtesy Rio Tinto) was in an afternoon blizzard which cut visibility by up to about 80 per cent at times and was no help to the cameras, whether or on auto focus or manual.

A killdeer hunts for food on a patch of wetland grass as the tide rises (Robin Rowland)

A rare sighting of a Wilson’s snipe out in the open on the river estuary. (Robin Rowland)

A bald eagle overhead. (Robin Rowland)

Another shot of the killdeer. (Robin Rowland)

Another shot of the Wilson’s snipe. (Robin Rowland)

The Wilson’s snipe getting a last shot at a meal as the tide rises. (Robin Rowland)

The trumpeter swans, signets, canvasbacks and mallards. (Robin Rowland)

A great blue heron huddles against the snow storm. (Robin Rowland)

Another great blue heron. (Robin Rowland)

A loon in the choppy waves of Kitimat harbour. (Robin Rowland)
Alpha 77, birds, Christmas, Douglas Channel, duck, eagle, heron, Instagram, Kitimat, Minolta 500mm f/8 RF mirror lens, nature, Photography, seabird, snow, Sony RX10iiibald eagle , Bird , Bird photography , British Columbia , canvasback , Douglas Channel , great blue heron , killdeer , Kitimat , landscape , loon , mallard , ocean , snipe , trumpeter swan , Wilson's snipe
Shots from the November shore bird survey.

A Western grebe off the Maggie Point gazebo. (Robin Rowland)

Common mergansers off Maggie Point. (Robin Rowland)

We spotted gulls in a feeding frenzy off the Kitamaat Village soccer field. (Robin Rowland)

Another shot of the feeding frenzy. (Robin Rowland)

Detail of the feeding frenzy in the above shot. (Robin Rowland)

Common loons off Kitamaat Village (Robin Rowland)

A flock of starlings off Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)

A song sparrow off at Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)

A red neck grebe off Maggie Point (Robin Rowland)
Douglas Channel, gull, Kitamaat Village, Kitimat, Photography, Sony RX10iiiBird , Bird photography , birds , Douglas Channel , feeding frenzy , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , loon , merganser , song sparrow , starling
There were more crows than usual Sunday morning at the Kitamaat Village waterfront. Crows perching on old driftwood roots….

…or in the air along the shore line.
Suddenly all the crows took to the air….that murder of crows (or as one of the other birders said “it looks like two murders”).
It was soon clear that they were mobbing a juvenile bald eagle.

The eagle escaped the crows. And we saw it about 20 minutes later, a little further away over the mouth of Whatl Creek at MK Bay, flying over some gulls skimming the water.

BC, birds, crow, eagle, Kitamaat Village, Kitimat, nature, Photographybald eagle , Bird , Bird photography , crow , Douglas Channel , Kitamaat Village , Kitimat , ocean , seascape