Chatted with employees today at the Maxxam Analytics “Day of Caring” at their Burnaby, BC, location. It’s an opportunity for Maxxam employees to learn about local NGOs that they can volunteer with.
Thanks to Karen M and Christy T at Maxxam for the invitation and handling the logistics.
We had a sunny, warm day for our chum fry release in Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, this morning. We arranged for a couple of classes of students from Taylor Park Elementary to come down and help with the release. Kids, teachers, parents, and streamkeeper volunteers all had a great time.
Thanks to our DFO Community Advisor Maurice, and technician Scott. They’re been doing this for years, and are always a pleasure to meet, even for an hour or two.
Thanks also to the volunteers at the Bell-Irving Hatchery out at Kanaka Creek in Maple Ridge, who put in so many hours collecting eggs in the fall, and raising them through to releasable chum fry and coho smolts. It’s a huge task, and we appreciate your ongoing efforts.
Such releases are truly joyful occasions. The kids love scrambling down from the tank to the creek with baggies full of fish, and even adults succumb to the adventure. Everyone feels good about giving back a little.
Mark Sloat from the City of Burnaby and I (Byrne Creek Streamkeepers) tag teamed tonight on talking about watersheds and storm drains to a group of Brownies who will be out marking street drains with yellow fish next week.
I spent nearly three hours wandering the trails in Burnaby, BC’s, Fraser Foreshore Park, at the west end estuary/wetland nature area.
Lots of birds, a few people and dogs, some work action on the river, the wooden railway bridge, and even an incinerator.
Rufous hummingbird
Song sparrow?
Varied thrush?
Northern flicker
Northern flicker
American robin
Balancing homo sapiens sapiens 🙂
Metro Vancouver incinerator
Railway bridge
Busy bee
Gorgeous fungus
Yumi and I walked up the hill from our place to the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre here in Burnaby, BC, to take in their Celebrate Spring event.
We enjoyed the crafts, displays, performances, and, of course, the food.
Yumi with a handmade decoration for her hair. Happy girl! : -)
I attended a birding tour around Burnaby BC’s Deer Lake today led by master birder George Clulow. It was a crisp, sunny morning, and great fun. There was plenty to see, but I ended up splitting my photography efforts between birds and blossoms, since I’d decided not to shlep the heavy artillery for the two-hour walk. It’s hard getting a decent hummingbird shot without the big lens and tripod.
The heron rookery. Here’s one carrying material for a nest
Mallard couple at the east beach
American Wigeon couple at the east beach
Snoozing mallards at the east beach
Frog in the lake, likely invasive
Turtles in the lake. They all look like invasive red-eared sliders, though one may not be
Sparrow in the gardens near the Burnaby Art Gallery
Burnaby RCMP sponsored a safety forum today with community partners. The event at Lougheed Town Centre Mall attracted lots of folks. I was out running errands so I dropped by, and enjoyed chatting with RCMP, City of Burnaby staff, and community groups that I’ve worked with through volunteering over the years.
I also reconnected with Transit Police Sergeant Hawthorne, and let her know that Byrne Creek Streamkeeper volunteers would have a registration booth and dumpster set up at the Edmonds Skytrain Station on May 2 from about 9:45am to 11:30am for a community cleanup organized by EPIC. Everyone is welcome to join in!
I had a great time on this glorious afternoon taking about a dozen students studying education at Simon Fraser University on a tour of Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby.
They had their own questions and activities related to community sustainability. I provided them with an overview of what volunteer streamkeepers do, and how we relate to the broader community through umbrella organizations, the municipality, and DFO.
While my wife foraged in the Salvation Army store for bargains, I pulled out my pocket Canon and got some shots of nearly buildings, the sunny sky, and some cool clouds.
On a ravine walk this evening, Yumi and I noticed that stones in Byrne Creek between the stairs and the footbridge had a white coating. Not all stones across the width of the creek, more like some giant gently dragged a paintbrush a few feet wide across the tops.
Didn’t see any distressed or dead fish.
