I got a call from City of Burnaby staff today that people were reporting dead fish in Byrne Creek. Sure enough, yet another first-flush road-wash coho kill.
This is how the creek was running during the rain on Monday. Photo by volunteer Joan.
We released 3,700 coho smolts last Thursday. It rained Monday, and the creek was running awfully dirty. I will add a photo by another volunteer of the dirty creek.
This has been happening for many years on Byrne Creek. We pray for no rain following a coho smolt release, because if road wash enters the creek while the coho are still in the system, they die by the hundreds.
I met a City staffer for a walkabout. I counted four or five dozen dead smolts beteween the sediment pond and the downstream side of Byrne Bridge.
There were several happy herons about, and with this kill likely occuring Monday/Tuesday, probably dozens if not hundreds of dead smolts had been scarfed already. Mother Nature’s cleanup crew is fast and efficient!
Raptor staredown on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, this evening. Bald Eagle vs Barred Owl.
Yumi had seen a Barred Owl a few times in the ravine over the last few weeks, but while I’d heard them several times, I hadn’t spotted one. This evening she took me out for look, and we came across two photographers shooting this scene.
The birds were perhaps 20-30 meters apart, and didn’t take their eyes off each other.
A couple of American Goldfinches, an American Robin, a couple of Anna’s Hummingbirds, and a couple of Eagles way up high.
In and around Taylor Park in SE Burnaby, BC, on my morning ramble.
I’ve seen goldfinches around the ‘hood almost daily for the last several days. These were across the street from each other near the entrance to the dog park from Southpoint Dr.
Anna’s Hummingbirds are territorial. I’ve seen them at both of the above locations — the wire and this tree — almost daily for the last few weeks.
American Robin
This was a stretch even for Big Bertha. They kept circling together, but stayed way up high. . .
I had a bizarre experience while shooting this Great Blue Heron that was fishing at Fraser Foreshore Park in SE Burnaby, BC, today.
I was standing on a narrow strip of sand on the river bank at a respectful distance with my camera and long lens on a tripod, taking dozens of shots.
A woman walked by on the trail four to five meters away, saw me, and ambled over. She walked in front of my camera and right toward the heron, stopping just a few meters away from it.
I was flabbergasted and didn’t say a word.
She stared at the heron for a minute or two, and then ambled back onto the trail and walked away.
