Denman Conservancy Association
P.O. Box 60 V0R 1T0 Denman Island, BC, Canada

BREAKING: LOTS OF ACTION NEAR SHORE IN LAMBERT CHANNEL Sat 6 Mar: 1315hr There is a new Herring Bulletin out this morning, but I won't post a thorough summary until later today. I was at the CHI Herring School virtual panel all morning (quite worthwhile but bad timing). Dennis Forsyth (and many Denman residents) were gathered along the east side between Lindsay-Dickson reserve and Fillongley watching the full-on predation spectacle: fish in the shallows, Sea Lions, birds--b...ut no sign of spawn so far. DFO sounded ~36,000tn of Herring in Lambert Chan this morning. I'm off to the beach now, hoping the serious rain will hold off for a while. Mike Morrell for DCA. Posted to FB: 1315hr.

DFO ROE HERRING BULLETIN #13 [sic: Should be #14. MM]: Fri 5 Mar: 1910hr FN0222 - Herring - Roe: Strait of Georgia There has been no new assessment information posted today (Fri) from the Denman/Hornby area nor from anywhere else along the east coast VI. Weather has hampered the assessment vessels on this side of Salish Sea and the aerial spawn survey scheduled for today has been rescheduled for Saturday.... Three assessment vessels will be working tonight along the east shore of Denman and around the scallop farm off Bowser, where mature fish were sampled yesterday. They will be trying to find an opportunity for test sets to get further information on the roe maturity of the concentrations of fish in all those areas. The most interesting data from today's notice were the results of sonar surveys on the mainland side of Salish Sea from Lund south past Powell River Thurs and today. They estimated 3,000tn in the area surveyed, including 2,000tn around Sliammon village. This area is in the heart of the territory of the Sliammon First Nation, who have a traditional Herring roe fishery that they are still able to pursue in some years even though the stock that spawns there is much diminished in the last 100 years. This is one of the best-documented of the resident Herring stocks, most of which have been decimated or extirpated. A related notice: In February the Comox Valley Naturalists sponsored a series of webinars on Salish Sea Herring. Recordings of the webinars are now available from the CVN website. The first of the series was "Herring 101", a review of important basics of Pacific Herring biology, population status and historyit lasts about 1hr. The recording is publicly available at https://register.gotowebinar.com/reco.../7012731754785382928 You will be asked to "register" with name and email, but there is no further requirement. The presentation includes a very useful animation of Salish Sea spawning ground utilization year-by-year since about 1950 that demonstrates the disappearance of most of the presumed resident Herring stocks along the mainland coast, southern Gulf Islands, and Juan de Fuca between the mid-1960s and the 1990s. The guest Dr John Neilson, DFO scientist emeritus, did a very professional and even-handed presentation on the present state of scientific knowledge about Herring in BC in general and Salish Sea in particular. Mike Morrell for DCA. Posted to Facebook Fri 5 Mar: 2255hr.

DFO ROE HERRING BULLETIN #13: Thur 4 Mar: 1842hr FN0210 - Herring - Roe: Strait of Georgia The 5 assessment vessels now working have produced new sonar soundings for most of the east coast of Vancouver Island plus Denman/Hornby and also made 2 new test sets. The largest concentration of fish viewable from Denman with binoculars is between Deep Bay and Nile Cr, and a test set offshore in that area tested 10.7% Roe Yield, which is well within the range of interest to fishermen.... All the new data suggest that a major spawn and fishery may occur soon, most likely around the south end of Denman and down toward Bowser and Qualicum Bay on Vancouver Island. TODAY'S SONAR ESTIMATES NE coast Denman/Tree Is, 4 Mar: 3,400tn (up from No Fish Found 3 Mar) Lambert Ch. to Chrome Is, 4 Mar: 8,000 tn (down from 40,000tn 2 Mar) NE Coast Hornby Is, 3 Mar: 300 tn Tribune Bay/Lower Hornby, 4 Mar: NFF (No Fish Found) (down from 1,000tn 24 Feb Upper Baynes Sd, 4 Mar: 400 tn (up from 50tn 3 Mar) Lower Baynes Sd, 4 Mar: 450 tn (up from NFF 27 Feb) Deep Bay to Nile Cr, 4 Mar: 28,000 tn (way up from 3,000tn 3 Mar) Farther south along VI shore Nile Creek to French Cr, 4Mar: 8,000 tn (down from 11,000tn 1 Mar French Cr to NW Bay, 4 Mar: 20,000 tn (up from 15,000tn 24 Feb) NEWLY REPORTED TEST SETS 3 Mar, Chrome Is: Roe Yield 7.1%; 55% of females with #1 grade roe, 10% juveniles. 3 Mar, Scallop Farm (offshore, SE of Chrome I, W of Bowser): Roe Yield 10.7%; 87% of females with #1 roe. Another spawn survey flight is tentatively scheduled for Friday the 5th, subject to weather. The DFO assessment vessel "Denman Isle" is planning sonar assessments Friday in Area 15 along the mainland coast between Texada and Desolation Sd. This is of interest in that that area is not normally opened for the roe fishery, and it is one of the mainland areas where traditional knowledge attests to the presence of a resident Herring stock that persists today as a remnant population. These resident stocks are probably separate from the large migratory stock that spawns along the east coast of VI and which supports the only remaining roe fishery in BC. The resident stocks are very poorly known to biologists and probably are all either extirpated or endangered today. While of little interest to industrial fisheries, these small stocks may have been the ones that supported historical local fisheries along the mainland coast and inlets, and also in the southern Gulf Islands. Mike Morrell for DCA. Posted here 4 Mar:2400hr.

DFO ROE HERRING BULLETIN #11: Wed 3 Mar: 1844hr FN0203-COMMERCIAL - Herring - Roe: Strait of Georgia This Weds evening Bulletin contains no new information on sonar soundings or test sets.... The only fresh info is a brief report on the Weds aerial spawn survey. The flight left Campbell River at 1000, crossed the Strait to Powell River (which isn't routinely surveyed), then returned to cover Hornby, south to Qualicum Beach and back to CR via Denman. The only spawn observed was what they term "a very light spot spawn" about 2km S of Big Qualicum River. The next spawn flight is scheduled for Friday the 5th. Late Weds afternoon I scoped Lambert Channel from Fillongley to the Bill Mee boat launch, and lower Baynes Sound from Repulse Pt (opposite Deep Bay) to Qualicum Beach. I saw lots of birds in the area but no intense activity except in one small area near the mouth of Beadnell Cr, where Eagles were fishing near shore and there were lots of Gulls in the air. I didn't see any Gulls chasing fish at the surface, so it's possible that the Eagle activity had just flushed the Gull flock that is usually present washing and preening at the creek. In my tour I did see 4 of the 5 assessment vessels. "Canadian Shores" and "Viking Cavalier" were off Komas Bluffs, where the latter was making a set. And in the Repulse Pt/Deep Bay area, I encountered "Denman Isle" (the DFO charter) and the new industry charter "Western Investor" (intriguing name). I expect a fresh Herring Notice this afternoon. Mike Morrell for DCA. Posted 4 Mar: 1210hr.

BREAKING: BIRD ACTION OFF FILLONGLEY At 1320 this afternoon Paula Courteau scoped the Denman shore from Phipps Pt on Hornby. She could see thousands of Pacific Loons and other diving birds actively feeding off Fillongley. She wrote that things were quiet south of Fillongley as far as Gravelly Bay, where there was another bird feeding event in progress. Looking from the road above Ford Cove she saw very few diving seabirds off the south shore of Hornby, though the heavy chop made detailed viewing difficult. Mike Morrell for DCA. Posted 1350hr.

The Fillongly Beaver: while camping at Fillongly last summer my granddaughter Sage (age 12) spent hours waiting to get a good photo. This is one of her best:

Beaver: our theme for the month of February Please add your pictures and stories:

Spectator Sport Dennis Forsyth writes: Yesterday around mid-day the adult Eagle below swam into a rocky ledge just below our place with what I think was a large Lingcod carcass and began feeding while fending off other eagles and a few crows. Almost at the same time a flock of eight Trumpeters swam in from the south of us and seemed to settle in as spectators. Actually, they took turns standing guard while everybody got in an afternoon nap. Eventually the tide came in and the Eagles left and soon after the Swans made their departure as well. We have been seeing Swans on Lambert fairly regularly this past month or so. I don’t think we have had serious enough freezing on our lakes and ponds that would push them into the salt chuck so I’m not sure what brings them here. I never see them feeding while on salt water. Dennis

Winter Thrushes Dennis Forsyth writes: On Denman we have three Thrushes, the American Robin, the Varied Thrush and the Hermit Thrush. Robins and Varied Thrushes are sometimes referred to as true thrushes while the Hermit is a member of the Spotted Thrush family. You could rank them in terms of shyness - Robins rarely exhibiting any reluctance to associate with humans, Varied Thrushes being fairly shy creatures, while Hermits live up to their name with a vengeance. The Va...ried Thrushes are, of course, also one of our more spectacular songbirds in both colour and pattern. The Varied’s generally like to stay in the depths of our dark, wet forested areas and only occasionally do they venture out into the open to be admired by birders. Considering their preferred habitat, cool and damp, maybe they are our truest west-coasters. Generally I tend to see them in the open during the heart of winter. If there is a heavy snow fall making it difficult for them to forage on the ground- their preferred feeding technique- they will come out onto the edges of our roads when the plows have cleared the shoulders or onto our lawns and gardens if they have bare spots. I have also often seen them in these conditions on the beach rifling through piles of seaweed hunting arthropods, their favourite food. Usually though I don’t see them at all but do hear that haunting, eerie, high-pitched nearly monotone call while walking in the forest. I was a little surprised today to find a Varied Thrush in my yard ripping through the leaf litter on the ground. Since there is no snow here today I’m not sure what brought the bird out but those brilliant orange patterns in what I think of as a heraldic display certainly made my morning. Dennis

Aconites behind the Arts Centre - I saw a violet there too.