All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

Sick Pine Siskin in SE Burnaby

Sad to come across this ailing Pine Siskin near Edmonds Skytrain Station in Burnaby, BC, today.

Initially it was unresponsive, just sitting on the ground and swaying a little. It fluttered into a tree, so I couldn’t capture it to take it in to Wildlife Rescue, but it was obviously ill.

They have been hit by a salmonella outbreak, and we’ve come across three or four dead ones so far this year.

Aquatic Bug Survey on Byrne Creek in Burnaby

A small group of Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers sampled four sites in the creek for aquatic bugs in SE Burnaby, BC, today. Such surveys give us an indication of the water quality.

We kept everything outdoors, and limited to just a handful of volunteers.

While we haven’t tallied the numbers yet, I’d guess from what we were observing that the ratings will be pretty low. Our bug counts tend to be poor and our bugs tiny on this creek in a highly urbanized wateshed.

byrne creek streamkeepers bug count burnaby bc