Category Archives: Nature

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Elated to See Coho Spawning in Byrne Creek in Burnaby

Yay! Saw a pair of spawning Coho salmon in the lower ravine today.

We’ve been getting so few spawners back that this is a wonderful sight to see. Especially with Coho, since many of the few females that come back to our creek die before spawning.

I spotted the female first. You can see her white, abraded tail, worn down from digging her redd (nest for her eggs). And you can see the redd, the bright patch of cleaned gravel and cobble.
I suspected there must be a male nearby, and then the female spooked and ran about 10m d/s to hide under a log. I took another quick look, not wanting to disturb her again, and was elated to see the larger, wine-dark colour of a male beside her!

coho spawning byrne creek burnaby bc
The female with her tail abraded from digging in the gravel/cobble. You can see the redd, or nest of eggs, to the right.


A few mintues later when she hid under a log with the larger, darker colored male

Camping, Nature, Technology

Updating Quake/Go Kits, Car Kit

Taking a lesson from the flooding and refreshed our quake/disaster Go bags today.

They are backpacks that we keep at the front door with changes of clothing, rain jackets, toques, heavy socks, mittens, emergency sleeping shelter (a reflective sleeping bag that weighs a few ounces), flashlights, extra batteries, granola bars, chocolate, water, Life Straw personal water filter, fixed-blade knife with a fire-steel in the handle, first aid kits, etc. . .

His and hers.

Oh, yeah, also a Zip bag full of cat food and a small carrier.

We also keep some gear in the car at all times, but I should probably upgrade that. . . So I just ordered some emergency gear to update the quake kits and pad the car kit from Mountain Equipment Company.
Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Byrne Creek Spawner Patrol in Burnaby, BC, Nov. 13, 2021

coho jack byrne creek burnaby bc
A male Coho jack, only 31 cm.

 

1 live chum about 10m u/s of Meadow Ave. bridge
1 live chum at the flow notch in the spawning channel
5 live chum in the sediment pond
2 live coho in the sediment pond
1 barely alive chum about 20m u/s of the footbridge
1 live chum monument in ravine
1 dead coho, sediment pond, 31cm jack, male, loose milt but lots of it

Totals:
8 live chum
2 live coho

1 dead coho

Volunteer hours: 6 X 2 = 12

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Byrne Creek Patrol for Spawning Salmon in Burnaby, BC

Volunteers patrolled Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today for spawning salmon. It was a good count for our little urban creek, but unfortunately we are yet again seeing Coho prespawn mortality.

This means that Coho die before they spawn, and the first female we found this year was dead yet full of eggs. This issue has been studied in Washington State, and the smoking gun is a chemical in tires that washes off roads and into creeks. For some reason it kills Coho but Chum are not affected.

We get so few Coho back every year that each unspawned female is a small tragedy.

Today’s count below. . .

coho female byrne creek burnaby bc
Female Coho


Dead yet full of eggs

chum salmon byrne creek burnaby bc
Chum Salmon


Partly predated Chum Salmon

2 live chum, sediment pond

1 live chum, near the log pond in lower ravine

2 live chum, lower ravine

1 live chum, near monument

1 dead chum, sediment pond, 54cm, male, no milt, partly eaten

1 dead chum, 10m d/s of weir in lower ravine, 53cm, male, looked spawned, partly eaten

1 dead chum, near the log pond in lower ravine, 58cm, female, spawned

Total chum:
6 live chum
3 dead chum

1 dead coho, sedpond, 48cm, female, not spawned

5 live coho, sedpond, all looked on the small side

Total coho:
5 live coho
1 dead coho (prespawn mortality again)

1 redd near the log pond in lower ravine