Birds of the Bear Forest (Take 2)

16 Oct

*Belted Kingfisher in the rain. Shot at 784mm @ f/5.6, 1/1250s, ISO 4500*

This is a quick update to last year’s post on the birds of the northwestern British Columbia (the previous post can be found here). Whilst the main aim was, as with last year’s expedition to The Great Bear Rainforest, to photograph bears and wolves, I did not miss the chance to photograph the region’s birds – a small passion of mine 😉.

*Surf Scoter taking off ... Shot at 560mm @ f/4, 1/2500s, ISO 1600*

In my other recent post of this year’s trip I cover the expedition more broadly and particularly the truly wet weather we encountered. This post, though, focuses on the birds. In addition to this post, I have added further images to the The Great Bear Rainforest gallery section on this website.

*Bald Eagle taking flight in the late evening gloom - hence the high ISO and marginal shutter speed. Shot at 784mm @ f/5.6, 1/640s, ISO 18000*

I cannot get enough of the Bald Eagle. It is such a majestic bird, and the setting of the rainforest provided some excellent opportunities to photograph this magnificent bird of prey.

*A very wet Bald Eagle with water dropping from its beak. Shot at 560mm @ f/4, 1/1000s, ISO 2500*

My other favourite from this region is the Belted Kingfisher. Last year I found few opportunities to photograph this skittish fish catcher. Every time we got relatively close to its perch it would fly on 20 yards to a more distant perch. This year I had more luck, particularly in one rivermouth where a pair of Belted Kingfishers seemed more relaxed and gave an exhibition in crab catching in front of my eyes. Marvellous!

*This kingfisher had no problems devouring a crab! Shot at 560mm @ f/4, 1/2500s, ISO 2200*

*Steller's Jay in the dark dense forest. Shot at 560mm @ f/4, 1/500s, ISO 1100*

In addition to the eagle and the kingfisher, there were several shore birds and seabirds to observe along the coast. Venturing into the forest along a creek on my first day I encountered smaller birds new to me which was a bonus, such as the Brown Creeper, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Steller’s Jay and the lovely Golden-crowned Kinglet. The Bald Eagle may be impressive, but these smaller birds are rather rewarding to photograph too 😊