Lovely morning with lots of wildlife at Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC, today.
Canada Goose goslings
The parents are very protective
Mallard Mom taking the kids for a stroll
She was snacking on dandelions along the way
Caught this Great Blue Heron in flight heading home to the Deer Lake colony with material to repair a nest
Hummer coming in for a landing. These wee birds are very territorial, and once you spot them, you can be nearly assured of seeing them using the same perches
Had a long walk both west and east from Byrne Road along the Fraser this afternoon. Lots to see and photograph. One advantage to having aching knees is that you slow down and see more. . .
One day after schoolchildren released coho smolts into Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, fish were found dying. Studies show that coho are particularly sensitive to road wash that contains a toxic combination of pollutants including gasoline, oil, antifreeze, and metals.
They actually try to swim with their heads above the water as they try to escape the pollutants
It would likely help if the City of Burnaby council would actually implement the Byrne Creek Integrated Stormwater Management Plan and the Environmental Sustainability Strategy.
The watershed needs rain gardens, swales, and biofiltration ponds. The more road wash that is intercepted and naturally filtered in the ground the better.
I heard woodpecker-like noises as I walked around the lake. I saw a dying tree, and figured that’s where the action would be. I finally spotted this sapsucker excavating a cavity. You can see wood chips flying in a couple of the photos.
A Brown Creeper
I think this is a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, aka Audubon’s Warbler
We took a long walk at Burnaby Lake today, first checking out Piper Spit for bird action, and then going west, back to the spit, and then east.
At one point as we were walking a trail I said “this looks like a place owls would like.” About five seconds later, Yumi says, “and there’s one there.”
A little further on and we saw a raptor high in a tree, eventually getting close enough to see it was an osprey with a fish.
