Saw these Bald Eagles on our patrol for salmon spawning in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today.
I saw the one sitting in the tree, and then the other came screaming in and the two of them did a bit of aerobatics before disappearing.
Category Archives: Streamkeeping
Sharing My Mom’s Love of Teaching
Today would have been my late Mom’s 88th birthday.
Sharing our love for teaching in a post from my old blog, 14 years ago.
April 19, 2007
Thank You South Slope Elementary
I would like to thank South Slope Elementary students in Burnaby for the package of thank you cards that I received today. It was unexpected and greatly appreciated.
They have participated in the Salmon in the Classroom program for many years. They receive chum salmon eggs from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and care for them in their classroom until they hatch as alevins. They feed them until the tiny fish reach the fry stage, and then the kids release them into Byrne Creek.
As volunteer streamkeepers, my wife Yumi and I have had the privilege of guiding the kids to the creek for several years now.
This year’s South Slope Elementary release was particularly meaningful to me, because my Mom was dying of cancer.
It was uplifting being with the kids that morning, and seeing them so full of life and wonder.
Later that day I told Mom about the fry release, and though she was heavily medicated, she indicated that she understood, and was happy.
She loved kids, she loved teaching, and she was a teacher of teachers.
She died the evening of the fish release, surrounded by love.
Today:
I am happy that the day she died, my Mom knew that Yumi and I were teaching children.
Coho Salmon Spawning in Byrne Creek
There were three Coho males fighting over one female in the lower ravine. The big wine-red bruiser kept driving off two smaller males, likely jacks.
Elated to See Coho Spawning in Byrne Creek in Burnaby
Yay! Saw a pair of spawning Coho salmon in the lower ravine today.
We’ve been getting so few spawners back that this is a wonderful sight to see. Especially with Coho, since many of the few females that come back to our creek die before spawning.
I spotted the female first. You can see her white, abraded tail, worn down from digging her redd (nest for her eggs). And you can see the redd, the bright patch of cleaned gravel and cobble.
I suspected there must be a male nearby, and then the female spooked and ran about 10m d/s to hide under a log. I took another quick look, not wanting to disturb her again, and was elated to see the larger, wine-dark colour of a male beside her!
The female with her tail abraded from digging in the gravel/cobble. You can see the redd, or nest of eggs, to the right.
A few mintues later when she hid under a log with the larger, darker colored male
Fraser Foreshore Flooding in Burnaby, BC
On the way home from a meeting today I thought I’d take a peek at Fraser Foreshore Park in SE Burnaby, BC.
Yowza, sure was a lot of water! And the mouth of Byrne Creek was about as high as I’ve ever seen it.
With the winds still strong, I didn’t tarry. . .
Byrne Creek Spawner Patrol in Burnaby, BC, Nov. 13, 2021
A male Coho jack, only 31 cm.
1 live chum about 10m u/s of Meadow Ave. bridge
1 live chum at the flow notch in the spawning channel
5 live chum in the sediment pond
2 live coho in the sediment pond
1 barely alive chum about 20m u/s of the footbridge
1 live chum monument in ravine
1 dead coho, sediment pond, 31cm jack, male, loose milt but lots of it
Totals:
8 live chum
2 live coho
1 dead coho
Volunteer hours: 6 X 2 = 12
Byrne Creek Patrol for Spawning Salmon in Burnaby, BC
Volunteers patrolled Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today for spawning salmon. It was a good count for our little urban creek, but unfortunately we are yet again seeing Coho prespawn mortality.
This means that Coho die before they spawn, and the first female we found this year was dead yet full of eggs. This issue has been studied in Washington State, and the smoking gun is a chemical in tires that washes off roads and into creeks. For some reason it kills Coho but Chum are not affected.
We get so few Coho back every year that each unspawned female is a small tragedy.
Today’s count below. . .
Female Coho
Dead yet full of eggs
Chum Salmon
Partly predated Chum Salmon
2 live chum, sediment pond
1 live chum, near the log pond in lower ravine
2 live chum, lower ravine
1 live chum, near monument
1 dead chum, sediment pond, 54cm, male, no milt, partly eaten
1 dead chum, 10m d/s of weir in lower ravine, 53cm, male, looked spawned, partly eaten
1 dead chum, near the log pond in lower ravine, 58cm, female, spawned
Total chum:
6 live chum
3 dead chum
1 dead coho, sedpond, 48cm, female, not spawned
5 live coho, sedpond, all looked on the small side
Total coho:
5 live coho
1 dead coho (prespawn mortality again)
1 redd near the log pond in lower ravine
Volunteers Spot Chum Salmon on Byrne Creek, Burnaby
It’s been a late start to the Chum salmon spawning season on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, and numbers are far below usual. Apparently Chum returns in lower mainland Fraser River watershed creeks are critically low.
Byrne Creek Streamkeeper volunteers were happy to spot three Chum in the creek today. Here’s a short video of a pair hiding.
Byrne Creek Patrol for Spawning Salmon in Burnaby
Volunteers processed one dead Chum male, saw two live Chum females, and noted two redds (nests of eggs in the gravel/cobble) on a spawner patrol today.
Chum numbers are very low this year.
Volunteers have training and permission to process dead salmon for species, size, and spawning status.
This chum female was just downstream of the footbridge in the lower ravine
Same fish viewed from the bridge
A big male chum
It can be tough getting at dead fish at times!
Chum Salmon Spotted Returning to Spawn in Byrne Creek in Burnaby
The Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society had a tour of the creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today to orient new volunteers to monitoring spawning salmon.
We had a great turnout, lovely weather, and YAY, saw a male and a female chum salmon. The fish have been late this year, to the point that we were getting concerned if they’d show at all . . .
Here are a few photos and a short video.