Nature, Photography

Great Fun ‘Shooting’ Birds at Reifel Today

Yumi and I spent several hours today wandering the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. We try to get down there at least three or four times a year.


This fella reminds me of a story my late Dad used to tell about a psych patient of his who told him: “You know Doc, I get up in the morning, I look in the mirror, and I like what I see.” 

Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary
And that confidence was not misplaced as this girl showed up and chased away any other female that got too close . . .


You look for the tallest tree, and there’s where the bald eagles be. . .


This Northern Harrier was trying hard to have duck for lunch


Then a second harrier showed up, assisting in setting off a duck explosion in the reeds, flushing them to try to pinpoint the young, the sick, the old, the weak. . .


Raptors may have me beat for grandeur, and wood ducks for slick colours, but ya can’t get any cuter than wee me! 


We could hear shotguns far off in the distance, but here’s an example of the only kind of wing-shooting I did today


No, I haven’t had any coffee yet today, is it that obvious? You got a comb?


Here’s a parent/kid shot. Good to see the cranes slowly building up their numbers.

Society, Technology

Small Wins. . .

I am so proud of myself.

I had two watches that needed new batteries, and I drove to Crystal Mall in Burnaby and had them replaced.

I drove into the underground parking, I parked, I walked up several floors, I walked around and around the mall (it’s circular so you can do laps) while I waited for my watches.

I walked back down into the underground parking — and my car was RIGHT THERE! I didn’t need to go looking for it. SCORE! 

Fishing, Nature, Photography, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

More Coho Dying Unspawned on Byrne Ck in Burnaby

Volunteers with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society are seeing more coho prespawn mortality this season. That’s when coho that return to spawn die before they can do so.

This has been a recurring problem on the creek over the years, and is likely due to polluted road wash that carries contaminants into the water. There are ongoing studies in Washington State that point to a toxic brew of contaminants in stormwater as being lethal to coho, which seem particularly susceptible to it.

male prespawn mortality coho
We found this coho male today

female prespawn mortality coho
And this coho female full of eggs a couple of days ago

We get so few coho back to Byrne Creek that we treasure every one, and it’s so sad to see them die without completing their life cycle.

We desperately need to infiltrate water washed off from roads and parking lots into the ground through swales and rain gardens. The ground acts as a natural filter. Yet the Byrne Creek watershed in Burnaby, BC, is seeing more and more ground paved over despite hundreds of hours of professional and public input into Stormwater Management Plans and a recent Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Note that it is illegal to interfere with spawning salmon. Streamkeepers have training and permission to process dead salmon to collect data on species, size, spawning status, etc. We return the carcasses to the creek after processing as they provide food and nutrients to other fish, animals and the overall ecosystem.

UPDATE (Dec. 7, 2017): More research coming from the US northwest. 

Streamkeeping, sustainability, community, business, photography, books, and animals, with occasional forays into social commentary. Text and Photos © Paul Cipywnyk