There were a couple of Anna’s Hummingbirds at our front door today, and American Robins were chowing down on these berries in Byrne Creek Ravine Park in SE Burnaby, BC. An Orbweaver spider was also at our door.
All posts by Paul Cipywnyk
Byrne Creek Invasive Species Pull
To celebrate River’s Day, the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society, the Lower Mainland Green Team, and the City of Burnaby partnered to pull invasive plant species.
It was a gorgeous, sunny day for an outdoor activity.
It’s great volunteering with the Green Team for they provide sanitized equipment and oversee protocols for the safety of participants.
Vulture, Raven, Warbler, Hummers at Fraser Foreshore Park
Anna’s Hummingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Raven, Turkey Vulture at Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, this afternoon.
Stream of Dreams Watershed Education/Community Art Program
It was great to be back in an elementary school helping to deliver the Stream of Dreams Murals Society watershed education and community art program!
There has been some remote program delivery, and while getting the message across, it doesn’t compare emotionally with being in a school.
With careful protocols, some adjustments to delivery, and repeated and thorough sanitization between each class, today’s sessions went smoothly, and several teachers said they loved the program!
And of course team members, teachers, and students are masked at all times.
Team members are cross-trained to do both the watershed/environment education part of the program, and supervising kids through the Dreamfish painting.
The fish will eventually be installed as a beautiful mural on the school’s chain-link fence to remind students, their families, and the entire neighbourhood that All Drains Lead to Fish Habitat!
Video of Pink Salmon Spawning, Paradise Valley Road, Squamish
Pink Salmon spawning in a small creek off the Paradise Valley Road near Squamish, BC, today.
Pink Salmon on the Cheakumus
Pink Salmon spawning in the Cheakamus near Squamish, BC, today.
This cycle of life is amazing to behold.
Look at the tail fin on that female, abraded down to a stub as she dug a redd — a depression in the gravel and cobble in which to lay her eggs — and then covered it up after a male released his milt.
I don’t know how many years we’ve been heading out to observe this miracle of life-death-life, but we never tire of it.
It’s awesome and humbling.
Pink Salmon Spawning in Cheakamus River
Pink Salmon duking it out for spawning rights on the Cheakamus River near Squamish. Also a Turkey Vulture chowing down on a Pink near the west end of Lillooet Lake.
Byrne Creek Bug Count in Burnaby
Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society volunteers conducted an aquatic invertebrate survey (bug count) on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today.
Bugs give us an indication of water quality because some are more pollution tolerant than others. Our surveys over many years have steadily found mostly pollution tollerant species, and they also tend to be small in size compared to more pristine creeks.
As usual, our results were in the poor to marginal range using the methodology in The Streamkeepers Handbook and Modules.
The creek gets a lot of road wash that carries contimanants down street drains, and we also get point-source pollution events when deleterious substances are emptied into street drains, or when construction sites are illegally pumped out.
Please rember that All Drains Lead to Fish Habitat!
The new shelter near the wading pool in Ron McLean Park proved to be a great place to count the bugs and enter the results on data sheets.
Fish Trapping on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC
Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers set out Gee traps in the creek yesterday and came back this morning to see what we got. Trapping requires a permit. Today’s results included coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and crayfish.
It was a lovely morning to be out on the creek, and we were happy to be able to get the trapping, IDing, measuring, and releasing done before spawners start to retun to the creek.
We usually do this activity earlier in the year, but were advised to postpone it because it was so hot this summer that the fish were already stressed.
It was also great to chat with folks who came by, and explain what we were doing!
Midori the Turtle Asks for a Cuddle
So we’re zoned out late afternoon, watching a travel doc on TV Japan, when Midori the Turtle ambles over to my recliner and looks up at me.
Cuddle?
Yes, please, Daddy.
A few minutes of warmth and she fell asleep. . . 
She’s been slowing down a bit the last while — we’ve been caring for her for some 27 years. . .
