Category Archives: Photography

Birds at Boundary Bay

I took a 3-hour stroll along the dyke at Boundary Bay, starting from 72nd and heading west, and then back again. Lots of eagles, both golden and bald, some harriers (of which I didn’t get any usable shots), and assorted waterfowl and smaller birds.

golden eagle boundary bay
I’m thinking Golden Eagle?

golden eagle boundary bay
Up…

golden eagle boundary bay
Up, up…

golden eagle boundary bay
Up, up, and away!

bald eagle boundary bay
Bald eagle

bald eagle boundary bay
Bald eagle in flight

great blue heron boundary bay
Great Blue Heron having lunch

great blue heron boundary bay
Head shot

great blue heron
Preparing for takeoff

american robin boundary bay
American Robin in Canada

tree swallow boundary bay
Tree swallow

Herons Building Nests at Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC

We walked around Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC, today, spending half an hour or so observing the heron colony. It’s busy season, with herons building nests, flying in and out collecting branches.

great blue heron making nest
Making adjustments

great blue heron standing guard
Standing guard as others focus on building

great blue heron ruckus
Making a ruckus

great blue heron selecting branch
Selecting a branch to break off for nest building

great blue heron carrying nest material
Taking off with branch

great blue heron carrying nest material
In flight with nest material

rufous hummingbird
And a bonus — a rufous hummingbird

Byrne Creek Runs Milky Green

I put in two calls to the City of Burnaby today. The first was about a house construction site where dirt was not being properly managed, creating a situation in which silt would likely flow into Byrne Creek.

Then about half an hour later on my walk, I saw that the creek was running milky green. I traced the source to the stormwater line that drains Edmonds St. above Kingsway, and then joins the pipe that runs along 18th Ave and that empties into the creek on 18th just upstream from Edmonds Skytrain Station.

sediment from house construction
Mud building up on Hedley from house construction

mud from house construction
Sites are supposed to be managed so this does not happen, or at least immediately cleaned up. This is just a few meters from a storm drain that goes directly into Byrne Creek, where volunteer streamkeepers have been seeing coho salmon and chum salmon fry hatching out over the last few weeks.

milky green flow in Byrne Creek
The fish ladder at Griffiths pond

milky green flow in Byrne Creek
The sediment/substance appeared to be coming from the 18th Ave. stormwater pipe.

Folks, nothing should go down street and parking lot drains except rain.