Posts Tagged “goose”
A selection of some of my bird photographs so far for the summer of 2023
On August 24, there was a three hour power failure in Kitimat. With not much else to do and because it was a sunny and warm afternoon I sat out on my back deck. One of the steller’s jays that lives in the cedar trees beside my deck decided to join me.
On August 25, a flock of cedar waxwings, most of them juveniles, descended on the trees in my backyard to sample the berries.
Canada geese over Minette Bay,

Canada geese crossing Kitimat’s Minette Bay, photographed from Minette Bay West Park, August 18. (Robin Rowland)
On August 2, I drove to the old Eurocan pulp mill site, where there is an osprey nest, and then drove a few kilometres on where luckily at Kitimat harbour I captured one of the ospreys hunting.
On Thursday, April 19, was a soggy, to say the least, with wind-driven, cold, pouring rain when I went down to Kitamaat Village and Kitimat harbour to photograph the spring bird migration. The highlight were the snow geese I saw both at MK Bay (above) and at the Kitamaat Village soccer field. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle, drenched in the pouring rain, at the mouth of Whatl Creek near MK Bay Marina. (Robin Rowland)
A crow takes off from the sea grass in pouring rain near Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
Snow geese feed at the Kitamaat Village soccer field (Robin Rowland)
A snow goose at the Kitamaat Village soccer field. (Robin Rowland)
Snow geese fly past MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
An Oregon junco on the waterfront. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards take to the wing as a bald eagle passes overhead (Robin Rowland)
A gull passes two bald eagles in the low tide puddles of Whatl Creek near Kitimat Harbour (Robin Rowland)
Two bald eagles in the low tide puddles of Whatl Creek near Kitimat Harbour (Robin Rowland)
Raindrops fall on the head of an American robin who posed on a log beside my car just as I was getting ready to leave. (Robin Rowland)
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 these probably stopped in Kitimat on their way south.

A cackling goose. smaller than a Canada goose, hides in the grass along Whatl Creek. (Robin Rowland)
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 spent some time with cousins in Oxfordshire and finally went to London to see some shows and some friends. I didn’t set out to concentrate on bird photography but that was what the photographic gods provided,
Stratford-upon-Avon

The River Avon (the famous one in Warwickshire) with its swans and the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. (Robin Rowland)

A grey heron in a park on the banks of the River Avon. I usually photograph their cousins the great blue herons in our much wilder Kitimat River estuary. The grey heron resembles the great blue but is a bit smaller, with no brown feathers and more grey than blue. (Robin Rowland)
Oxfordshire Upper Thames River

The upper Thames River near King’s Lock, Oxfordshire, one of the 45 locks on the Thames from London to the river mouth. (Robin Rowland)

A pied wagtail (also known as a white wagtail) looking for opportunities at one of the Thames’ locks. (Robin Rowland)

A narrow boat moored on the banks of the Thames–they have to fit through the narrowest locks. (Robin Rowland)

A coot in Farmoor Reservoir. (Robin Rowland)
Our route in the Miss Moffat II along the Upper Thames River. King’s Lock is at the beginning of the line following the route of the river and the Farmoor Reservoir is the large body of water in the lower left (where we stopped for lunch). Wytham Woods are the wooded area roughly to the right of the river.
Wytham Woods – Oxfordshire
Wytham Woods are an area of ancient semi-natural woodland to the west of Oxford, UK, owned by the University of Oxford and used for environmental research for the past sixty years, including climate change research for the past eighteen. Hiking is permitted by special permit.

Tangled trunks in Wythams Wood, Oxfordshire (Robin Rowland)
The Serpentine – London
The Serpentine is a small lake between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens in London.