Was elated to find a pair of chum salmon paired off and spawning in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today. The female was flipping sideways and using her tail to dig a nest in the gravel for her eggs, while a male monitored her progress.
This year chum have been late returning, and sparse in numbers.
Nurse Sora. I’m certain cats know when we’re sick. Despite my heaving coughing bouts she’s stuck to me all day long and even placed a moratorium on her usually incessant demands for play. Thanks, sweetie…
Volunteer streamkeepers have now seen both coho and chum salmon returning to spawn in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby.
We were getting a bit on edge, as they usually start showing up in mid-October. Fingers crossed that we’ll still get a decent run.
Checked out lower Byrne Creek in south Burnaby, BC, this afternoon.
Red on red in south Burnaby:
We saw two Pileated Woodpeckers on our Byrne Creek walk in SE Burnaby, BC, today. Love these spectacular birds!
Between the two of us, Yumi and I shot 110 photos of Sora basking in the sun today. Here are a few of the better ones:
This and following are Yumi’s shots. Great eye!
Yumi and I did a spawner patrol on Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby, BC, and still did not see a single salmon. That puts them nearly ten days late compared to the usual first sighting each year. But we still enjoyed the lovely colours!
This big shelf fungus almost matches one Yumi found a few years ago.
Steller’s Jay
As I was waiting for my ride to work this morning around 6:25, the moon was playing peekaboo.
There was just enough fog in the air that my Canon pocket cam had trouble finding focus.
Volunteer streamkeepers make dog posters that the City of Burnaby’s Parks Department gives us permission to zap-strap to trees to remind dogs to stay out of the creek during the salmon spawning season, and until salmon eggs hatch in the spring.
Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers Maho and Yumi have created several whimsical posters that impart the information with humour.
We’ve been doing this so long on Byrne Creek that dog walkers start asking us in the fall when the posters will be up!
They’re also a conversation piece, and we chatted with several walkers about them today.
