We watched a Common Loon fishing off the White Rock pier, and saw a Bald Eagle soar overhead.
Monthly Archives: March 2023
Deer Lake Bird Walk in Burnaby, BC
There’s always something to see at Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Northern Flicker at tree cavity
Ring-necked Duck diving. Going, going, gone!
Heron Fishing at Fraser Foreshore in Burnaby
I get down to Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, nearly every week, and 90% of the time I’ll come across a heron, or two, or three.
I love to watch them fishing.
Northern Shrike at Iona Beach, YVR
A birding first for me. . .
I was out at Iona Beach Regional Park near YVR when I saw a bird whose profile looked different.
It turned out to be a Northern Shrike. Cool!
Burnaby City Council Hits the Brakes on Removing Parkland
Happy that community came together.
Happy that new voices took leading roles, not just “environmental activists.”
Happy that Burnaby Council responded to the public outcry.
Happy that the City will take a new look, and consider other alternatives to removing parkland for an organic waste processing facility.
Yes, the initial aim to process more of our local organic waste locally was, and is, a good idea.
Just not on rare and sensitive habitat that has been almost completely wiped out on the lower Fraser River.
And not by un-dedicating parkland that was specifically dedicated for its unique values.
We share this Earth. It’s not only for people, and parks are not only for human recreation. Parks, the more natural the better, have value beyond playing fields.
I hope that we have all learned through this process.
(If you’re new to this blog, scroll down, down, to see several of my posts on the proposal to build an organic waste processing facility in unique habitat. . .)
Northern Flickers in Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC
Spotted these Northern Flickers at Fraser Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC, this morning.
Salmon Fry Spotted in Byrne Creek in Burnaby
I took advantage of the sunny day to look for salmon fry in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today — and success!
Volunteer streamkeepers were hoping that some eggs in the gravel survived a major kill in the creek on Jan. 25 (see my blog post about the kill here.)
I think these are chum fry.
Remembering Dad, 20 Years On
I realized tonight that tomorrow will be the 20th anniversary of my father’s passing.
I will always be awed by his work ethic and volunteerism.
Doctor, Psychiatrist, born on a homesteading farm in Saskatchewan. There were many obstacles, but he went on to graduate high school in his early 20s and continued to undergrad and grad degees, and med school.
Enventually:
President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress
President of the Ukrainian World Congress
Perogie boiler/server at community events in Saskatoon 
.
.Loving son to a mother he phoned every day when he could not visit her in person.
Likely one of the last of the generation of MDs who made house calls. Yes, real house calls. I remember riding shotgun as a kid, eh?
Dad embraced his immigrant and farm roots, honoured them, honoured his parents, his culture, his language, his religion. . .
I think the family best remembers Dad as not the doctor, not the “prez” of this or that, but as the cuddly, cheerful guy with an apron on, cooking, cleaning, providing a sympathetic ear to anyone, with any problem.
Love you, miss you. . .