Frosty walk on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC. Herons, Teal, Wood Ducks. . . We were looking for salmon, and spotted about a dozen coho and large trout.
Category Archives: Streamkeeping
Lush Byrne Creek Stroll in South Burnaby
Didn’t expect to see spawning salmon on a dark, overcast, rainy day, but I did spot one coho and one chum in the Byrne Creek sediment pond.
It was a lovely walk, though. . .
Chum Salmon Spawning in Byrne Creek
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.
Coho, Chum Salmon Spawners Seen on Byrne Creek
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.
Byrne Creek Spawner Patrol Still Comes Up Empty
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
Streamkeepers Install Dog Posters on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby
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.
Byrne Creek Spawner Patrol, No Fish, Fishing Heron
Yumi and I did a two-hour patrol of Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today, looking for spawning salmon. We were skunked again. With the recent rains, chum and coho should be moving up the creek from the Fraser River any day now.
But it was still a lovely ramble, and we spotted a Great Blue Heron successfully fishing in the creek.
Tagged tree down! Many years ago, volunteer streamkeepers laid out a system of numbered tags along the creek to which we reference data collection and activities. This tree has toppled, so we’ll move the tag to another nearby.
Let’s play Spot the Streamkeeper : – ).
Even with hi-viz vests on, you can lose your patrol partners even on this urban creek in the middle of the city.
OK, here’s an easier one!
Great ‘Conservation Connections’ Forum Today
Thanks to the South Coast Conservation Program for organizing an excellent Conservation Connections workshop today.
Enjoyed all the speakers from BC Forestry, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (yes that’s just one ministry there : – ), Metro Vancouver, City of Surrey Sustainability Office, Fraser Valley Conservancy. . .
Great stuff!
Byrne Creek Autumn – Bring on the Salmon!
I love autumn, and while the colours are starting to diminish, next up will be spawning salmon. We volunteer with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers in SE Burnaby, BC, and for us this is the most exciting part of the year when salmon start returning to spawn and die.
There’s so much anticipation to see how many fish we’ll get as our numbers vary considerably over the years. Some years have been very poor with only a few dozen spawners counted, but last year we had over 100.
We have permission from Burnaby Parks to zapstrap two or three funny dog posters to trees in the lower ravine during the spawning season. We’ve had excellent responses to them, with dog walkers asking us when they’ll be up.
While we haven’t seen any salmon yet, they should start arriving any day now. Yumi spotted this disturbance which is likely a redd, or nest of eggs, so they may be here and hiding. That could mean coho, as they are very secretive, while chum, the other species in our creek, is readily observable.
Unfortunately the creek also attracts irresponsible types and we often find garbage dumped in it. This speaker was tossed off of the Meadow Ave. bridge.
Plastics Street Garbage Entering Storm Drains
Street garbage seen today, much of it plastics, leading straight to a storm drain at the corner of Edmonds and Fulton in SE Burnaby, BC. This was perhaps a 5-meter stretch of curb.
I am documenting more of this when I run across it because the Stream of Dreams Murals Society is researching how plastics are impacting local streams, and eventually the Fraser River and Pacific Ocean though storm-drain pollution.
The City of Burnaby is providing some support for this project.
All drains lead to fish habitat. When this garbage is washed into street drains, it ends up in local creeks, begins breaking down, and keeps moving downstream affecting fish and wildlife along the way. It will eventually arrive in the ocean, perhaps as microplastics.
