I joined a Jane’s Walk today led by Mary Wilson that began in New Westminster BC, and crossed the border into Burnaby to explore the urban trail system. Mary pointed out that while there were great trails in the Edmonds area of Burnaby, there was no connectivity to neighbouring New West. Perhaps this is something that the two municipalities, and particularly NW, could look at.
Mary had come to last month’s Byrne Creek Streamkeeepers Society meeting, since these volunteers help care for the urban creek and ravine park in the area. I tagged along on the walk today, and welcomed the opportunity to chat a bit about urban watersheds, daylighting creeks, the importance to wildlife of natural areas and corridors to connect them, etc.
Looking at the massive, near-50-acre former Safeway distribution lands that will be redeveloped soon. There’s an ambitious plan for a walkable, transit-friendly, mixed-use residential and commercial area.
I spent several hours wandering Elgin Heritage Park in South Surrey, BC, this afternoon. It’s one of my favourite places for bird photos in the lower mainland.
Northern Flicker
Red-winged Blackbird
Anna’s Hummingbird?
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee
I’m guessing Spotted Sandpiper?
European Starling
Bald Eagle
BTW, if I misidentify any birds, give me a shout. I’m always happy to learn.
We put out a box for blue orchard mason bees on our balcony, along with some cocoons, but we hadn’t seen any action. The cocoons were all holed and empty, and we feared predators like wasps had gotten all the bees.
Today I was happy to see a slow-moving, but live, mason bee. Hope to see more as the days go by. We’ve set out lots of flowers on the balcony of various species.
Master birder George Clulow led a group around Burnaby Mountain today. It was great fun, but the birds were on the sparse side, so he suggested ending the morning at Piper Spit on Burnaby Lake, which proved to have an abundance of feathered friends to observe.
I’ve shot Kamui Mintara many times over many years, yet I think this may be the first for me to approach the totems from behind, move around, and deliberately expose for a silhouette effect.
Yes, they do stand upright. But I like this tilted angle.
Chatted with employees today at the Maxxam Analytics “Day of Caring” at their Burnaby, BC, location. It’s an opportunity for Maxxam employees to learn about local NGOs that they can volunteer with.
Thanks to Karen M and Christy T at Maxxam for the invitation and handling the logistics.
We had a sunny, warm day for our chum fry release in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, this morning. We arranged for a couple of classes of students from Taylor Park Elementary to come down and help with the release. Kids, teachers, parents, and streamkeeper volunteers all had a great time.
Thanks to our DFO Community Advisor Maurice, and technician Scott. They’re been doing this for years, and are always a pleasure to meet, even for an hour or two.
Thanks also to the volunteers at the Bell-Irving Hatchery out at Kanaka Creek in Maple Ridge, who put in so many hours collecting eggs in the fall, and raising them through to releasable chum fry and coho smolts. It’s a huge task, and we appreciate your ongoing efforts.
Such releases are truly joyful occasions. The kids love scrambling down from the tank to the creek with baggies full of fish, and even adults succumb to the adventure. Everyone feels good about giving back a little.
Mark Sloat from the City of Burnaby and I (Byrne Creek Streamkeepers) tag teamed tonight on talking about watersheds and storm drains to a group of Brownies who will be out marking street drains with yellow fish next week.
