All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

Nature, Photography

Heron Flyby Minutes From Home

I was a few minutes from home on a rainy morning walk in Byrne Creek Ravine Park in SE Burnaby, BC, when two Great Blue Herons soared overhead and landed in trees in the ravine.

Though I was not carrying a DSLR, I had my ever-present Canon SX730HS pocket camera with me.

I love living in a suburban area with lots of green space and trails out the back gate. A balm for the soul, not to mention the exercise while enjoying nature!

great blue heron byrne creek burnaby bc.

Nature, Photography

Heron Takes Fish at Historic Stewart Farm in Surrey, BC

In this series of photos a Great Blue Heron takes a fish off the dock at Stewart Heritage Farm in Surrey, BC.

The heron grabbed the fish, shook it, and put it down in the mud and stabbed it a couple of times. It then swished the fish in the water to clean off the mud, and down the hatch.

Unfortunately it turned its head just as the fish started down, but you can see the distended neck in the last two photos as the fish proceeds down the heron’s neck.

great blue heron fishing historic stewart farm surrey bc

Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping

Byrne Creek Bug Count in Burnaby, BC

Volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society took samples of water bugs (aquatic invertebrates) at five sites along the creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today.

We then gathered at Ron McLean Park to ID and count what we found. Final calculations are not in yet, but the results looked meagre as usual, due to the road runoff in our urban watershed. We have fewer inverebrates, with less variety, and even smaller in size than less-impacted watersheds.

byrne creek bug count burnaby bc
Transporting gear


Heading out to collect samples


Taking water temperature — it was 8 C.


Collecting a sample with a D-net


IDing and counting the samples


Recording data


Oops! We found what appeared to be an eyed Cutthroat egg in a sample.  It’s unusual to still have eggs in the gravel this late in the year. . . Colder winter?

UPDATE: Hm, according to the BC Cutthroat fact sheet, they do spawn into April or even May in places. . .

yellow-rumped warbler burnaby bc
Nice to spot a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the park

ruby-crowned kinglet burnaby bc
Also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet

lady beetle burnaby bc
Found this Lady Beetle hitching a ride on our equipment case. A seven-spotted?

Nature, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Salmon Rescue Plan for Burnaby’s Byrne Creek Dating to 1995

How about a “Salmon Rescue Plan” for Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, dating back to October 1995?

Found in a box of records collected by the late Ken Glover, one of the Vancouver Angling & Game Association members who began cleaning up Byrne Creek about 30 years ago.

I am struck by how many of the issues/impacts on the creek have little changed in all those years. . .

We are still seeing regular sediment flows from construction sites, we are still having pollution events, and we still have nearly no systems (particularly on City land and around City buildings) to “hold back, filter and gradually release rainwater runoff.”

The photo is hard to read, so allow me to share the last two paras:

“The Byrne Creek volunteers have one major frustration–the water quality sometimes kills the fish. The quality deteriorates most following a rainfall after a prolonged dry spell. Toxic chemicals and silt wash down from roads, lawns, and construction sites.

“The runoff pollution is getting worse as construction increases in Edmonds, which is slated for a major population increase.”

Remember, this was written in 1995.

Uh-huh. . . Just in the last few months volunteer streamkeepers and concerned citizens have been calling the City about repeated silty flows from construction sites, and other spills into the creek . . .

byrne creek salmon rescue plan 1995