I heard this woodpecker long before I spotted it at Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, today.
I’m thinking Downy Woodpecker, as it was on the small side.
There were also lots of bold chickadees looking for handouts. They will land on you if they think you’ve got seeds.
I spotted this pretty little hawk at Fraser Foreshore Park when it tried to catch something on the forest floor, and the motion caught my eye. Sharp-shinned?
Also a Cormorant taking a small fish in the river.
Ordered winter tires and wheels from Canadian Tire tonight. Their website is flaky, kept kicking me off at various points in the process. I think it took three tries to actually check out and get a confirmation email.
Anyway, I’m a firm believer in winter tires.
I’m also a believer in having them mounted on an additional set of wheels.
Yes, there’s the initial expense, but if you keep tires mounted, the cost to swap them is much less than having to remount tires on wheels every season.
Found a gorgeous male Coho on a spawner patrol on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, this morning. Unfortunately not spawned, as his milt sacs were full and firm.
Also got some video of Chum spawning in the creek.
Well, at least temporarily distracting powers of passion. . .
I’m getting increasingly creaky. I’ve had scoliosis and a fused back with supportive surgical steel rods installed along my spine from major surgery since I was about 14. Yep, the rods are still there at 65. . . .
And over the last few years the hips and knees have begun complaining more often.
Friends five to ten years ahead of me in life say I should start getting on joint replacement lists now, because it will likely take five or more years to actually get a surgery slot. . .
And then, when I get excited, the aches temporarily dissipate.
Patrol for spawning salmon? Start out sore, gradually feel better, start seeing salmon spawning, and. . . what pain?
Well, heading back home up the ravine, yeah, that pain.
Same for nature and wildlife photography. The excitement and the endorphins kick in and I’m good to carry cameras with big lenses and tripods for hours. . . and it’s not until I’m home much later that I’m reaching for the Ibuprofen. . .
It’s a progression. I’m dealing with it. It’s life, so no point in getting upset about it.
Life just is. How you choose to react to it is up to you.
Volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers in SE Burnaby, BC, are happy to be seeing one of the best returns of spawning salmon in the creek in many years.
Volunteers have counted over 60 spawners so far, with about 90% of those being chum.
Yumi and I have also been checking out other creeks in the lower mainland of BC, and there are tons of chum everywhere. We also visited the Tenderfoot Hatchery north of Squamish, BC, a few days ago, and were blown away by the number of chum in the area.
Video here: https://youtu.be/7YKntHUkAdQ
Some are saying there may be a relation between the shutting down of fish farms resulting in vastly reduced sea lice numbers on juvenile pink and chum salmon for this year’s abundance of chum spawners. . .
Chum Salmon spawning in Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC.
Great Blue Heron at Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, this afternoon with autumn tones. . .
Got out to take some photos and videos of the Chum salmon that volunteers have been spotting in the lower ravine area of Byrne Creek.
In this video there are at least two females digging redds (nests in the gravel/cobble) and several males hoping to add their milt to the process after the females release their eggs. . .
The females flip sideways and use their tails to scoop a depression to deposit their eggs into.
A couple of volunteers from the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society in #Burnaby, BC, spotted the first Chum salmon spawners of the year today.
This is so exciting, because our Chum returns have been very low the last few years. It’s great that they are back!
When I heard the news, I ran down to get some photos and videos, since it was my day off.
Here’s a video:
And a photo of a female Chum turning sideways to dig a nest (redd) in the gravel and cobble with her tail. She’ll eventually deposit her eggs in the depression that she is making. There were a couple of males keeping close tabs on her, to scoot in and fertilize the eggs.
