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Recent Posts

  • June birding: An immature bald eagle, western tanager and more
  • Haisla Bridge Replacement Project Girder Launching Ceremony
  • A mink on a log. How I got the shot (plus some bald eagles)
  • Canada Geese overhead
  • “It’s not a costume” Racism protest in Kitimat

RSS Model making and diorama photography

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Posts Tagged “snow”

Birds in a blizzard

Birds in a blizzard

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.

January 3, 2020 Robin Rowland
Alpha 55, birds, Kitimat, Photography, snow, steller's jayBird , Bird feeder , Bird photography , birds , Kitimat , snow , steller's jay

New Year’s Day at Minette Bay

Photos from the annual local photographers’ walk around Minette Bay. The deepest cold passed, leaving ice everywhere. There was a heavy overcast and occasional fog.

A female bufflehead duck in the tidal flats of Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)

Previous New Year’s walks

January 1, 2017
January 1, 2016

January 2, 2018 Robin Rowland
BC, birds, Douglas Channel, duck, eastuary, fog, forest, ocean, Photoblog, Photography, snow, Sony RX10iii, wetlandDouglas Channel , Kitimat , Minette Bay , Minette Bay Lodge , snow

A snowy Remembrance Day in Kitimat, November 11, 2017

A near blizzard did not stop the people of Kitimat turning out for the Remembrance Day service on November 11, 2017.

Building a snowman before the Remembrance Day service (Robin Rowland)

 

Laura Mckenzie and Linda Lewis checking the wreaths prior to the service (Robin Rowland)

 

An RCMP officer leads the colour party (Robin Rowland)

 

The colour party (Robin Rowland)

 

The RCMP march to the cenotaph. (Robin Rowland)

 

The invocation, left to right, Dwight Magee, Royal Canadian Legion, Rev. Dr. Dona Lethbridge, Legion chaplain, Marg Bogaert, Royal Canadian Legion. (Robin Rowland)

 

Cubs and scouts at the Remembrance Day service (Robin Rowland)

 

Lucy Beatty of the Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary lowers the flag during the two minutes of silence (Robin Rowland)

A moment of silence. (Robin Rowland)

 

Veteran Jason Parrill lays a wreath on behalf of Canada. (Robin Rowland)

 

Anne Berrisford lays a memorial wreath  for Captain (Chaplain)  D. Schmidt. (Robin Rowland)

 

A cub lays a wreath. (Robin Rowland)

 

Mayor Phil Germuth lays a wreath. (Robin Rowland)

 

The wreaths (Robin Rowland)

A Mountie salutes during the playing of O Canada. (Robin Rowland)

November 11, 2017 Robin Rowland
Alpha 7II, Alpha6000, ceremony, news photo, Photo gallery, Remembrance Day, snowArmy cadets , British Columbia , Cubs , Kitimat , Phil Germuth , Photo gallery , RCMP , Remembrance Day , Royal Canadian Legion , scouts , snow , Weather , wreathes

A driftwood stump alongside a sea monster

The root side of a driftwood stump creates a wonderful pattern, January 1, 2017, at Minette Bay Lodge. (Robin Rowland)

While this stump, emerging from the icy waters of Minette Bay, sort of looks like a sea monster. January 1, 2017 (Robin Rowland)

January 2, 2017 Robin Rowland
Alpha 7II, Alpha6000, Kitimat, landscape, nature, Photography, seascapeBritish Columbia , Douglas Channel , driftwood , estuary , Kitimat , landscape , ocean , snow , stump

Views of the Kitimat River estuary

Some more views of the Kitimat River estuary that I took during the Christmas bird count.

An old stump covered in snow. (Robin Rowland)

Old root stumps in the fog of the Kitimat River estuary (Robin Rowland)

 

Pylons emerge from the fog (Robin Rowland)

December 19, 2016 Robin Rowland
Alpha 77, fog, Kitimat, Photoblog, Photography, seascape, wetland, winterfog , Kitimat , landscape , ocean , snow , stump

Kitimat River estuary Christmas bird count 2016

Canada Geese on a take off run in the Kitimat River estuary, Dec. 17. 2016. (Robin Rowland)

 

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 previous ten days. That meant many of the creeks and wetlands that were open in previous years were totally or partially frozen over.

Parts of the estuary were completely or partially frozen in the cold snap (Robin Rowland)

So that meant we saw lots of Canada geese and ducks.

 

Canada Geese flying over the frozen wetland (Robin Rowland)

And up into the trees. (Robin Rowland)

 

A northern shoveller. (Robin Rowland)

An American coot with a bit of a plant in its beak. (Robin Rowland)

A bald eagle looking through the gloom. (Robin Rowland)

A gull at the end of a snowy log. (Robin Rowland)

A Christmasy scene, ducks and geese by two evergreen trees. (Robin Rowland)

 

December 19, 2016 Robin Rowland
Alpha 77, Alpha 7II, Bärbl, birds, Christmas, duck, eagle, gull, Kitimat, landscape, nature, Photography, winterbald eagle , Bird , Bird photography , birds , British Columbia , Canada Goose , coot , duck , Kitimat , landscape , northern shoveller , snow , Weather

A New Year’s photography party on the mudflats of Minette Bay, Kitimat

Minette_frozencreek1bw

As the tide goes out, the ice  covering a briny tidal creek collapses, leaving  patterned cracks. Minette Bay, Kitimat January 1. 2016. (Robin Rowland)

I spent New Year’s Day on the mudflats of Minette Bay, near Kitimat, with other local photographers.   At low tide,  of course.   Ruth and Howard Mills who run the luxury B&B the Minette Bay Lodge invited us for the photo walk on the ice and mud followed by  hot soup and great New Year’s snacks.

Most of my images look best in black and white.  There are few in colour at the end of the blog.

Instagram
minetteby_MtEliz_1bw

Looking across Minette Bay with Kitimat’s iconic Mt. Elizabeth in the background.  Just after noon the water was just a couple  of centimetres deep, covered in thin layers of ice.  The cold made the mud solid enough so that it wouldn’t be boot grabbing ooze you experience in the summer. January 1, 2016 (Robin Rowland)

minettebeach_1bwThe beach, covered in seaweed, snow and old logs looking west from the trail,  January 1, 2016. (Robin Rowland)

Minette_mudflats1bw

Looking west toward Douglas Channel, and the Rio Tinto aluminum plant with the winter sun low over the hills to the south. January 1, 2016. (Robin Rowland)
stumpthrone1bw

The twisted roots of a dead tree lying on the beach in some ways reminded me of the Iron Throne. Game of Stumps, anyone? (Robin Rowland)

Minette_2frozencreek2bw
Walking back to the lodge along the creek trail. January 1, 2016. (Robin Rowland)

Minette_2frozencreek4bw
Another angle on the creek from a bridge a little further along the trail. (Robin Rowland)


iceandlog1

Ice on a chunk of rotten log on the mudflats. January 1, 2016. (Robin Rowland)

icecrystal1

An ice crystal floats on the thin layer of water on top of the frozen mud. (Robin Rowland)

lightinforest1

The winter sun shines through the rain forest. January 1, 2016. (Robin Rowland)

photogs1

Happy New Year! Kitimat’s photographers celebrate in the middle of a day on the ice. (Robin Rowland)

January 2, 2016 Robin Rowland
Alpha 77, Alpha 7II, Alpha6000, black and white, Douglas Channel, ice, Kitimat, nature, Photoblog, Photography, seascape, snow, sunBlack-and-white , British Columbia , clouds , Douglas Channel , forest , Kitimat , low tide , Minette Bay , New Year , seascape , snow
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