Guest post by Jennifer Sutherst As our noses are affronted with the smell of salmon carcasses feeding our aquatic habitats, our local streams and rivers are playing host to the completion of the salmon life cycle as adult spawners return to lay their eggs and die. We saw a huge run of pink salmon a reasonable run of chum are just …
Tsolum River
A Few More Chums
A Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and fall colours on the banks of the Puntledge River. The weather has been rather wet and dark over the last couple of weeks making photography challenging. Fortunately, the rain has brought a rise in the water levels of rivers emptying into the Courtenay River estuary (both the Tsolum River and the Puntledge River join …
The Tsolum Celebrates Another Year in the Right Direction
The Tsolum River Restoration Society is celebrating a positive year of conservation and restoration work in the Tsolum River watershed, Comox Valley, British Columbia. Water quality continues to improve, our understanding fish is improving and we have small improvements in pink and coho salmon and cutthroat trout numbers. In addition we have been active with bank stabilization, riparian zone replanting. …
Refresh the Spirit at Tsolum Spirit Regional Park
Guest Post by Jocie Brooks This week I put on my gumboots and headed into the heart of Merville, British Columbia to explore Tsolum Spirit Regional Park. It’s a nice place to take a leisurely stroll (the trail isn’t too long, so no need to rush) and enjoy the fall colours as well as a viewpoint overlooking the river. The …
Pink Fawn Lilies Down by the Tsolum River
A cluster of Pink Fawn Lilies (Erythronium revolutum) showing a variety of different shades of pink. This time of year is excellent for spring lilies and there is a short trail near the Courtenay Exhibition Grounds that loops through prime lily habitat. The river edge near the Tsolum River floods regularly depositing fine river sediment and sand throughout the forest …
Ephemeral
While walking along the Tsolum River this week I took the time to turn a few stones in a fast flowing riffle. Under one of the rocks was a pair of mayfly nymphs (Order Ephemeroptera from Ephemeros – short lived and Pteron – wings). While the nymph part of the life cycle can be anywhere from three weeks to two …