Posts Tagged “trumpeter swan”

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

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)