I patrolled Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today looking for salmon fry. I spotted coho a couple of weeks ago, and today there were schools of wee chum salmon out and about.
It’s great to see them! Now we know that both coho and chum salmon successfully spawned in this urban creek, and that their progeny are appearing.
Shot from the upstream side of the Meadow Ave. bridge
A few meters d/s of the wooden footbridge in the ravine.
My wife has since pointed out that these are likely a mix of coho and chum, since several have orange tails and large parr marks.
As I entered the spawning habitat this heron spooked from the overflow pond, and landed in a tree overlooking the sediment pond
I’m certain it’s been chowing down on chum fry! But that’s nature…
I enjoyed a birding tour in Fraser Foreshore Park in SE Burnaby, BC, this morning, led by George Clulow. I’ve taken a number of tours with George, who has a wealth of knowledge. The tour was part of a series organized by Burnaby Parks.
The mighty Fraser’s north arm as viewed from Fraser Foreshore Park
Selfie at the start of the tour
One of the highlights was hearing and spotting several sandhill cranes in flight
George answers lots of questions!
Checking out the viewpoint east of Byrne Rd.
It was fun to see a beaver!
It was a good morning, and George always emails a list of all the birds seen or heard.
Several large trees came down in Byrne Creek Ravine Park in southeast Burnaby in the windstorm today.
These toppled just a few meters from our townhouse complex. Sure glad the wind wasn’t blowing the other way!
Just by chance I saw the one that landed on the trail come down (the one with my foot for size reference). I’d just peeked out the front door this morning, and saw it come crashing down.
Yumi and I wandered the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Delta, BC, for hours today. Tired, but happy with the number of species spotted and successfully “shot”.
My self-assignment today was to walk Byrne Creek Ravine Park in SE Burnaby and shoot photos using only my 35-year-old Micro-Nikkor 55mm/3.5 all-manual macro lens. I had a great time, and here are 32 shots on Flickr.
The experience was stimulating. Limiting the technology, and reverting to all-manual focus and exposure really made me concentrate, and look, and think.
I’ve been looking for salmon fry in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, the last several times I’ve gone on ravine walks. Today I spotted what was likely a coho fry, judging by its orange tail. Chum would likely have a clear tail, and I think it’s too early for cutthroat fry.
Not the greatest photo, but I’ll be shooting more whenever there’s a sunny day…
