SEHAB, or the Salmon Enhancement and Habitat Advisory Board to the Dept of Fisheries and Oceans, met for 1-1/2 days of meetings in Port Alberni, BC, on May 18-19.
Board members meet three times a year to collate and discuss successes and concerns from streamkeeper groups around BC, and share them with DFO Pacific Regional Headquarters.
Spotted this lovely mayfly hanging on to a railing on the old steam train near Port Alberni, BC.
Got some nice shots today at the pier in White Rock, BC.
Liftoff!
The heron kept shifting its head from side to side to locate prey
Grooming gull
Well, I was hoping it wouldn’t happen.
I was hoping it wouldn’t rain, because rain flushes all the crap off our roads and into our creeks. Gasoline, oil, antifreeze, metals from brake-lining dust…
But today one of our volunteers from the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society observed 130+ dead coho smolts in the sediment pond, near where they had been released just two days ago. See photos in previous post.
Anger. Sadness. Frustration.
We’ve had years where we’ve counted over 700 dead smolts, or a mortality rate of over 25% of those released, and I’m sure we always miss many morts. Mother Nature cleans up damn quick when a smolt buffet is set for all the birds and beasts who love fish.
The weirdness is that indigenous fish appear to be fine. You’ll see fry and trout swimming about unaffected by the pollutants that kill the coho.
You can see live fry on the right-hand side of this photo
This one was barely alive. It sat on the bottom barely moving, then turned a few circles, and banged its head into the concrete wall of the sediment pond.
Our DFO Community Advisor released about 5,000 coho smolts in Burnaby, BC, south slope creeks this morning. Byrne Creek, on which I volunteer, got a total of about 3,000 of those.
The yearlings are transported in a special tank and then transferred into the creek in buckets
A closeup of the seething mass of life. It appeared that we lost just two or three out of the thousands
DFO is now saying to clip the adipose fins on hatchery coho again, which means streamkeeper volunteers will be able to distinguish hatchery from wild coho when they return to spawn in a few years.
The habitat was looking lush following this morning’s rain
Rain beading on blossoms
Lonely blossom in the rain
I got these new rubber/PVC chest waders for 50% off at Canadian Tire recently. Thought I’d show them off :-).
Work it! That’s it! Hold the smile!
I have a set of fancy Browning chest and hip waders (bought at blowout prices at Surplus Herbies) that have “stocking” feet that require separate boots. I have felt-soled boots for them, but sometimes a simple one-piece rubber outfit is better for muddy in-stream streamkeeping work.
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.
Thanks Mary!
You can find other New Westminster Jane’s Walks here, and while at this time Burnaby so far appears to lag in variety, there are walks popping up here.
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.
Thanks to the City of Burnaby and its Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Dept. for organizing such tours!
A few photos from today’s rambles:
Kamui Mintara, or, Playground of the Gods
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.
Burnaby Mountain picnic tables
Bold blackbird!