Images

Nature, Photography

A Few Fave Wildlife Shots from 2014

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Here are a few wildlife shots I like from my photography in 2014. I’ll add more over the year-end as I look for them:

heron flight
This is one of my most-commented-on photos posted to Facebook. A heron shot in flight yesterday at Garry Point Park in Steveston, BC

Coyote Banff AB
Coyote near Tunnel Mountain campground in Banff National Park

Deer Banff
Deer near the town bridge in Banff, Banff National Park

moose jasper
Moose in Jasper National Park

Raven Banff
Raven in Columbia Icefields parking lot

coyote banff
Coyote just off Bow Valley Parkway in Banff National Park near Castle Mountain

sockeye adams river
Male sockeye cruising up the Adams River in BC

red_winged blackbird
Red-winged blackbird, Burnaby Lake Park, Burnaby, BC

Male wood duck
Male wood duck, Burnaby Lake Park, Burnaby, BC

crow burnaby lake

spider luncheon

squirrel burnaby lake

goldfinch elgin surrey
Goldfinch, Elgin Heritage Park, South Surrey, BC

gull with clam
Gull carrying shellfish to drop and break, Birch Bay State Park, WA

heron acrobatics
Aerobatic heron, Birch Bay State Park, WA

Pets, Photography, Sustainability

Lighting the Fire

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We don’t use our fireplace much because it’s gas-fueled, and is not very efficient. Most of the heat goes up the stack, with little going into the house. For years we’ve aimed to rectify that, but other reno priorities always win the budgetary battle.

So we light the pilot light for only a couple of weeks each year, from near Christmas to New Year’s.

Here are two of my girls, my wife and cat, enjoying the fireplace. The third girl, the turtle, was under her broad spectrum lamp.

Yumi Choco fireplace

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping, Sustainability, Travel

Searching Squamish, BC, for Salmon and Eagles

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This is a great time of year to see salmon and eagles up the Sea-to-Sky highway heading north from Vancouver to Squamish.

Didn’t see that many of the magnificent raptors today, but enough for some decent photos.

eagle_paradise_valley_road_squamish_20141122Eagle soaring above the Paradise Valley road north of Squamish, BC

eagle_squamish_river__chum_20141122
Lunching on what appears to be a chum salmon on the Squamish River

eagle_squamish_river_20141122
Cruising along the Squamish River

eagles salmon squamish bc
A mass of  biomass. Lots of carcasses near the Tenderfoot hatchery off the Paradise Valley road north of Squamish. It looks gross, but salmon bring nutrients back from the ocean that enrich our coastal forests and other wildlife.

Nature, Photography

Frosty Deer Lake Circumrambulation

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I was expecting a nature tour around Deer Lake in Buranby, BC, today, but I couldn’t find the group. I ended up taking a bit over two hours to walk around the lake with my camera on a crisp, sunny morning. Here’s a set of 30 shots in  a Flickr album.

Yes, I know circumrambulation is not a word, but I think it should be. It’s what you do when you ramble entirely around a lake : -).

Deer Lake photos Nov. 16, 2014. Flickr

 

I also counted about 30 chum salmon carcasses in Buckingham Creek, in the short stretch where it runs north of the parking lot and into the lake. I was impressed. Salmon had disappeared from the creek for decades, and began returning again only recently after restoration efforts including making culverts more fish friendly. The first time Yumi and I saw a salmon carcass there was in 2009, documented on my old blog.

Pets, Photography

Catgirl Senses a Mouse in the House

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I’m wondering if the colder weather has enticed a mouse into the house. The cat’s antsy, and wants to check out all the less used spaces behind closed doors — the storage under the stairs, the utility room, etc.

She rid us of a couple of mice a few years ago that sneaked in from the garage. Didn’t kill them, but caught them and brought them to us, and we released them outdoors.

She’s certainly fixated:

cat in sweatshirt cave

Ensconced in her cat cave, yet vigilant. The door to the under-stairs storage is about three bounds straight ahead, and is slightly ajar for access.

And yes, Daddy’s sweatshirts are great for sleeping on, under, in. . .

So are his outdoor fleeces, if he forgets to hang one up and just tosses it on the chair :  -).  That scenario results in a mass of cat hair matted onto the fleece.

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Returning Salmon Highlight Wonders of Autumn

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I like getting out in nature any time of year, but autumn is the season that evokes the most intense responses. Of course there’s the amazing display of colour, but there’s also a sense of excitement as the salmon return to spawn, and harvest reaches its peak with grain, fruits, and vegetables in abundance.

For me, autumn is the most stimulating time on my local waterway, Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby, BC. I’ve volunteered as a streamkeeper for many years, and the return of salmon to spawn in this little local creek is an affirmation of efforts to maintain and restore some semblance of a natural world in an urban area.

Walking the creek and finding spawners is exhilarating. And I love to connect other folks to the creek through the awesome fish. Today I found a pair of chum spawning in an area easily viewed from the trail, and I pointed them out to several people who passed by.

“O my God!” “Really? That’s amazing!”

People are enchanted by the sight.

Sometimes the fish are not easy to see, even in a small creek like Byrne. Here’s an example of a “stealth chum” that I initially didn’t notice, though I had carefully scanned the area it was resting in.

chum salmon byrne creek

I saw a total of six spawners today, a pair of chum that were actively spawning, with the female flipping sideways and digging a depression in the gravel and cobble in which to deposit her eggs.

Then there was the fish in the photo above, a few meters away.

Later in a different part of the creek I saw two coho, a male already sporting bright wine red colours, and a speckled silvery female. There was another salmon in that vicinity, but I couldn’t get a good enough look at it for an ID.

Here’s to seeing more over the next month or two!

Business, Photography, Society, Streamkeeping

Burnaby Unveils Refurbished Citizens’ Plaza

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I attended the “Official Dedication and Unveiling of the New Commemorative Paving Stones at Citizen’s Plaza” at Burnaby City Hall today.

It was a lovely, sunny, autumn day, with a congenial crowd of local volunteers, City staff, and politicians. In addition to the unveiling of redone commemorative paving stones (they’d faded over the years), the event was also an opportunity to recognize several Burnaby Citizen of the Year Kushiro Cup award recipients, inductees to the Burnaby Business Hall of Fame, and the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame. These awards had been presented at previous events, but it was nice for recipients to get another round of public appreciation.

The event was combined with an Open House at City Hall, and many City departments had displays.

Burnaby Citizens' Plaza
People checking out commemorative paving stones

Burnaby Aft Gallery display
Burnaby Art Gallery booth

Sheep eco-sculpture
Burnaby has an ongoing eco-sculpture program. There were several sheep on display in readiness to be planted for the upcoming Year of the Ram (Sheep)

Burnaby Fire Department
Burnaby Fire Department presence

Burnaby RCMP booth
Burnaby RCMP booth

Burnaby volunteer monument
Monument in City Hall garden commemorating volunteers

Byrne Creek Streamkeepers founders paving stones
Paving stones commemorating the four founding members of the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers

Photography, Society, Streamkeeping

Alta Vista Community Picnic in South Burnaby Great Fun

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The Alta Vista Park Community Picnic in South Burnaby is always a great event. It’s truly a community gathering, and the organizers are excellent.

Byrne Creek Streamkeepers have participated for many years, and it’s one of our favourite events.

Some photos from yesterday:

Alta Vista Park Picnic - Streamkeeepers
Byrne Creek Streamkeepers booth

Alta Vista Park Picnic - Pols and Orgnaizers
Organizers with local politicians

alta_vista_2_20140913
Arts and crafts

Alta Vista Park Picnic - Fire TruckBurnaby Fire Department

Alta Vista Park Picnic - Mini GolfMini golf

Alta Vista Park Picnic - Air Guitar ContestAir guitar contest led by the popular band Rainshadow