It is 10 years since A Nature Guide to Boundary Bay was published and much has happened locally and globally since I described the wealth of animal and plant life in the Fraser delta.
For some species, the effects of habitat loss and changing climate are becoming more evident, while others have benefited from focused conservation efforts.
In 2006, humpback whales were just beginning to be seen in the Strait of Georgia after an absence of 100 years. The population rebound continues, and last summer these magnificent whales were recorded regularly around the southern Gulf Islands. In contrast, the once common purple ochre star succumbed to a virus and virtually disappeared from rocky shores along the North American west coast.
Iconic Fraser salmon continue their unpredictable boom and bust cycles. Coho populations continue to be low, chinook showed some slight improvement and the summer of 2010 unexpectedly saw the largest sockeye salmon run in a century.
Chinook-eating southern resident orcas continue on the endangered species list as their numbers are perilously low, but hopes were raised as eight calves were born in 2015, the most since 1977, although not all survived.
Warmer winters keep insects alive, helping Anna's hummingbirds thrive. In 2006, I described them overwintering "in a few sheltered areas, such as White Rock ravines" yet nowadays these feisty little birds are widely distributed.
Mild weather has also ensured good snow goose, brant and waterfowl survival. However, disturbance on estuary marshes and loss of farmland sometimes force snow geese onto unsuitable habitat, such as school playing fields.
Migratory shorebirds that depend on undisturbed beaches are struggling with changing
intertidal conditions and increasing human demands for the same spaces. Western sandpiper need biofilm to fuel their long journeys, yet only certain areas of Roberts Bank at the mouth of the Fraser River can still supply this.
Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area was designated in 2004 and since then Metro Vancouver parks staff have focused on maintaining the hydrological regime, keeping the bog wet. The bog hosts many beautiful wild flowers, native pollinators, nesting sandhill cranes, and healthy populations of deer, coyotes and beaver.
Yet there are apparently no longer any black bears. In 2006, it was considered that about five bears lived in Burns Bog and sometimes wandered into North Delta. Today, four lanes of highway ring the bog on all sides and the roaming days of these large carnivores are likely gone forever.
Anne Murray's books on Delta's natural and ecological history, A Nature Guide to Boundary Bay and Tracing Our Past, a Heritage Guide to Boundary Bay, are available in local stores or from www.natureguidesbc.com.
