Category Archives: Nature

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

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 cheakamus squamish bc

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

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!

bug count aquatic invertebrates byrne creek burnaby bc


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.

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

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!

fish trapping ID byrne creek burnaby bc

Nature, Photography

Pre-Dinner Walk with Owl, Jay, Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker, Barred Owl, Steller’s Jay on our Byrne Creek Ravine pre-dinner walk in SE Burnaby, BC.

I always end up kicking myself for not bringing a DSLR as my pocket camera does not do well in falling light. . . But sometimes you just want to get a power walk in, and get sidetracked 🙂.

pileated woodpecker byrne creek burnaby bc
Pileated Woodpecker

barred owl byrne creek burnaby bc
Barred Owl

steller's jay byrne creek burnaby bc
Steller’s Jay

Nature, Photography

Gorgeous Garter Snake at Fraser Foreshore Park

I came across this beauty at the pond just west of the Byrne Creek outfall in Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC. this morning.

garter snake fraser foreshore park burnaby bc

I was at the edge of the pond looking for dragonflies when I caught some motion from the corner of my eye and turned to find the garter snake coming down the slope toward me.

I actually had to back up to get this shot as I had Big Bertha (Tamron 150-600 zoom) on my camera and couldn’t focus that close.

Odd for these very shy, harmless snakes to “approach” you, and then I realized it was just trying to get to the closest cover.