Monthly Archives: October 2022

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Chum Salmon Arrive on Byrne Creek in Burnaby

We were happy to finally see a pair of Chum salmon spawning in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today. For decades, Chum would start arriving like clockwork around Oct. 18, depending on rain, but the last few seasons we haven’t seen them until the end of the month.

chum salmon spawning byrne creek burnaby bc
You can see the pair of Chum just upstream of the redd, or depression in the gravel, that the female has been digging with her tail.

unspawned coho female byrne creek burnaby bc
We also found a dead Coho. Unfortunately it was another female that had died without spawning. We see this a lot on Byrne Creek as the water quality is very poor in this urban area. Fingers crossed we’ll eventually find some that have spawned. . .

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Coho Return to Spawn in Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC

I was happy to see a Coho salmon on a Byrne Creek walk in Burnaby, BC, today.

And I was unhappy that it had died before even colouring up, and that it was a female full of eggs.

We have had problems with Coho pre-spawn mortality on Byrne Creek for many years, and also with released Coho smolts in the spring.

Research in Washington State by Dr. Jenifer McIntyre has linked such Coho deaths to a chemical found in tires that washes off roads and into creeks.

NOTE: Streamkeepers have training and permission to assess salmon after they have spawned and died for species, sex, size, and spawning status. Is is illegal to interfere with spawning salmon.

dead unspawned female coho byrne creek burnaby bc

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Salmon Spawner Patrol Training on Byrne Creek, Burnaby

We had a good spawner-monitoring orientation tour this morning on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC. We didn’t see any fish aside from a few coho/cutthroat in the smolt-size range.

I hope that with the rains coming this week, the salmon will respond to rising water in the creek and start moving upstream to spawn. Fingers crossed for exciting days ahead.

It was great to get some new volunteers out!

byrne creek spawner patrol burnaby bc training
On the dyke south of Byrne Road/Southridge Dr.

Nature, Streamkeeping, Writing

Welcome Sound of Rain in Burnaby, BC

I hadn’t heard the sound of what woke me this morning in so long that for a moment I was confused.

Ahh.  .  . Rain!

What a sweet sound and smell.

And not too much rain that would have pounded off the baked ground and gushed into drains and into pipes to blast through the creek, but a nice, gentle, steady drizzle.

Exactly what we need to revive the forest, slowly swell the creeks, recharge groundwater, and welcome the salmon back to spawn in  Burnaby, BC, creeks.

It has been scary dry for so long all over BC.

Hope to see you soon, chum and coho!

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

More Sediment Dumped Into Byrne Creek in Burnaby

I saw another dump of sediment into Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, on a pre-dinner walk today. Reported it to the City of Burnaby and they asked for photos.

The creek was running clear around 3:30pm, but Griffiths Pond near Edmonds Skytrain Station was murky, there was fresh sediment visible all along the bottom of creek from the bottom of the ravine stairs to the footbridge near Southridge Dr., and both ponds in the artificial spawning habitat were cloudy.

Likely a construction site pumpout in the upper watershed somewhere.

Sigh. . . This was happening repeatedly earlier in the year and the City finally tracked it down and shut it down, and here we go again. . . .

Construction sites are not allowed to pump out into storm drains! All dirty water from construction sites is to be remediated on site.

sedimnet dumped byrne creek burnaby bc

Nature, Writing

Mug of Green Tea Saves Hundreds of Spiders

How a mug of green tea saved hundreds of baby spiders.

A true story. . . by me. . .

Late this afternoon I made myself a large mug of green tea and went out on the balcony to enjoy it.

The sun was sinking behind the tree line and it was pleasantly warm for mid-October.

As I took a steaming sip, a small cloud drifted down in front of my face. I glanced down to see dozens, if not hundreds, of baby spiders on my lap.

Now I like spiders for the most part, and appreciate the role they play in nature taking care of even less likable things like mosquitos, but as with many folks, I tend to react reflexively if a spider, or a mess of them, drops in unexpectedly.

I credit my Zen state of sipping green tea from a heavy stone mug for  not swatting, but simply sighing, and wondering how I was to remove the wriggling mass while causing the least amount of injury.

The babes were teeny tiny, each not much larger than a sesame seed.

I slowly got up, took a step to the table, and gently shook them off, one area of my clothing at a time.

Then I bent over and did a full body shake, and after nothing more dropped off, I ran my hands over myself from top to bottom.

I was free, and so were the babes.