All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

Photography

First Snow in Burnaby, BC

I have several errands to run, but I think I’ll postpone them. The first snow of the year is always crazy around here, because snow at all is rare. So why drive if I don’t have to? I need to drive to work tomorrow anyway, so I can cross items off the to-do list on the way home.

burnaby snow

Camping, Canoeing, Fishing, Hiking, Photography, Technology

Ode to a Knife

OK, let’s get one thing clear off the top. I love this knife, but I’m not homicidal. I just have a long history with this sturdy implement, and I admire its durability.

It’s a US Boy Scouts sheath knife circa 1970. I bought it when I was living in New York City, and was active with the local troop in my ‘hood, so it’s at least 45 years old.

It’s all original, including the leather sheath.

It has been much used, and, for a knife, abused. As you can surmise in the scars in the detailed photos below, it’s pounded nails, stripped 14/2  wiring, split kindling when an axe was not available and a rock was used to pound the blade into the wood. . . In addition to more “knifely” duties such as cleaning fish.

And it’s still solid, still takes a good edge, and will long outlive me. I may ask to have it buried with me when I depart, just in case there are zombies on the other side :-).

If you check the BSA online store, it appears nothing like this is available anymore.

I still take it hiking and camping, though I’ve retired it from streamkeeping — I have an excellent, inexpensive, plastic-handled stainless-steel knife from MEC for that duty now.

Beauty, eh?

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1960s US Boy Scouts Sheath Knife

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Lovely Day for Byrne Creek Salmon Patrol

We retrieved a pile of dead chum and one dead coho today on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, and processed them for size, sex, and spawning status.

If you see fish carcasses cut in half, don’t worry, that’s done by volunteer streamkeepers after they have assessed the dead salmon. We cut them in half so it’s easy to see that they have been processed and the data collected. Streamkeepers have training and permission to carry out this activity.

Note that it is illegal to interfere with spawning salmon, and that includes removing dead ones.  Please watch from a distance when observing this amazing natural spectacle.

Byrne Creek

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One coho salmon in a row of chum

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Chum Run Setting New Records on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby

Wow, what a season it’s shaping up to be! Nearly every day that volunteer streamkeepers patrol Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, new records are set for chum salmon spawner returns. We’re finally seeing a few coho, too!

Byrne Creek spawning salmon
This lovely coho shot past us upstream as we were patrolling, and then rested long enough to grab a photo or two.

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Big male chum at the lower end of the culvert, which has become one huge redd.

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Several pairs of chum spawning at lower end of the culvert

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A few of the fish that volunteer streamkeepers processed today for length, sex, and spawning status.

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Lots of chum in the lower ravine.

Food, Pets

Aging Cat Still Displays Amazing Sensory Skills

The sensitivity and prescience of the average house cat boggles the mind.

I just spent 45 minutes banging around in the kitchen making oatmeal, choco chip, sesame cookies, while the cat slept in my office in the basement. She did not stir.

Last batch of cookies out of the oven, I fed the turtle in her sun lamp-lit corner of the living room, turned around, and there’s the cat sitting by her dish. Sheesh.

You know the rule, Daddy, feed one, gotta feed the other!