Byrne Creek Streamkeepers create whimsical and funny dog posters to put up along the creek in the fall to remind dog walkers that salmon are coming back to spawn. We have excellent relations with dogs and their owners — they are out there nearly every day and are excellent “eyes on the creek.”
Over the years dog walkers have come to expect the posters, and even start asking about them if they are not up by mid-October.
We have permission from Burnaby Parks to put these posters up, and we use zap-straps to attach them to trees without harming them.
Yumi preparing a poster
Yumi’s latest creation
Maho’s dog poster
Gee, wonder where Yumi got the inspiration for this one? : -)
We’re not expecting spawning salmon for another week or so, but Yumi and I did a ravine loop along Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby today for exercise, and to catch what was left of the autumn colors.
Found this long, thin bone, along with a few others near the artificial spawning habitat.
I was doing some baking and couldn’t find one of our glass loaf baking dishes so I used a square one.
As I returned to my basement office, I passed Yumi’s seasonal display in the foyer, and silly me, there was the dish, full of salmon coming back to spawn in a colourful bed of glass beads : -).
Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers and Wild Research members enjoyed a fish ID workshop this morning, and then we went out and retrieved traps from Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby.
Thanks to biologist Jim Roberts of Hemmera, who gave an excellent presentation on the complexities of identifying salmonids and other BC freshwater fish.
It was a lovely sunny day today at the Alta Vista Park Community Picnic in south Burnaby. This event has been happening annually for, I believe, over 25 years. Just local folks, mostly women, organizing this small fundraiser to keep the park equipment updated and in good shape.
Volunteers from the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society have been attending this event for around ten years or more. We love this event because it’s NOT an environmental event, it’s truly a local community party, and it’s a great chance to talk to folks about their local watersheds and streams.
Wow, thanks to everyone who helped with the bug count on Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby, BC, today. We went full out (10 volunteers for a total of 35 volunteer hours) and got all nine sites sampled and counted in one day — something that usually takes three days to do!
While the totals haven’t been tallied yet, as we surmised, it was pretty slim pickings.
Using a D-net to take a sample. The variety and quantity of aquatic bugs is a good indication of water quality. Unfortunately, Byrne Creek regularly runs poor to marginal, or 1.5 – 2 on a scale of 4, using the methodology in module 4 of The Streamkeepers Handbook.
And here’s why we have poor water quality in the creek. As we were taking our last sample today just upstream of Edmonds Skytrain Station, a slug of milky blue stuff came down the creek. We immediately reported it to City of Burnaby Environmental and they sent a tech out to try to find where it was coming from.
Years ago we learned how to count in comfort. Here we are in a volunteer’s kitchen with coffee and muffins.
Checking out Pamela’s bags of goodies — snail shells, feathers, and other cool stuff.
I’ve been volunteering with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers for over a decade, and I always enjoy getting out in the park and down in the ravine with knowledgeable folks, be they biologists, or birders, or geologists… There is always something to learn!
There have been some questions about lamprey on the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers mailing list.
Here’s one that I shot just below the stop log in the sediment pond on July 30 this summer. It was about 15 cm long, give or take a few.
They may seem icky for their snake-like appearance and because many are by nature parasitic, but they are part of the great scheme of things, and have coexisted with salmon, trout and other fish for millennia.
We have observed them spawning in Byrne Creek, in the lower ravine, and in the sediment pond. They are actually quite beautiful to watch when they are mating for they dance and twine together.
I was happy to see that water temperatures have eased in Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby.
Today I got readings of 10/11 C in the ravine, and a high of 13 C at the downstream end of the sediment pond. That’s off from 17+ a few weeks ago, which was getting high for the health of salmon and trout.
It was also interesting to note that the air temperature in the thick, tall woods of the ravine was 15 C, while the air temperature standing on the median of Southridge Drive, a four-lane road running past the ravine, was 24 C.
Another example of the natural services provided by woods and forests!
I took a one-hour loop in Byrne Creek Ravine Park this afternoon in SE Burnaby, BC. I was happy to see lots of salmon fry, and possibly trout fry. I took water temperatures at three points in the lower ravine, and they ranged from 14.5 – 15 C, so not too bad for fish. Other volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers had recorded temps as high as 17 further downstream.
Aside from lots of fry, I also saw thirsty wasps and bees. Some wasps were rolling and collecting mud.
Lots of fry in the pool upstream of the wooden footbridge
Wasp rolling mud on the bank of the creek
One of several bees seeking hydration
I like how the sun and moving water created this dappled appearance
