|
Mule Deer Mountain Lion (cougar) Bobcat Striped Skunk Short-tailed Weasel American Mink Northern River Otter |
Common Raccoon Harbor Seal Black Bear Coyote Black Rat House Mouse Vole sp. Common Muskrat |
American Beaver Townsend’s Chipmunk Eastern Grey Squirrel Douglas’s Squirrel Eastern Cottontail Little Brown Myotis Coast Mole Trowbridge’s Shrew |
The endanger Pacific Water Shrew is also present in the Miami but seldom seen.
Photo: Douglas Squirrel on Western Red Cedar trunk
Species in Purple nested or brought young to feeder
|
|
Photo: Hairy Woodpecker
Salmon fry released May 19th 2015. Read all about it: http://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/community/304436871
Harrison Hot Springs Elementary School is pleased to announce that our class will be participating in the Project. We have had a lot of support from the local Miami Stream Keepers and are moving forward with the project.
Raising salmon in the classroom is an opportunity to teach students to understand, respect and protect freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems, and to recognize how all humans are lined to these complex environments.
The project was undertaken by the Grade 2 and 3 students at the end of January 2015 when the fish eggs were delivered. Miami River Streamkeepers received grant money from the Pacific Salmon Foundation to help finance the project. Four members of the Miami River Streamkeepers viewed the newly set up operation on Feb 4, 2015 . The Chilling Tank is kept at a constant temperature and is covered with an insulated wrap to keep the light out. The children test each day to make sure the temperature is between 5 & 10 C. The students also check th ATU (Accumulated Thermal Units) by adding each day’s temperature to the previous day’s total temperature. The second time the streamkeepers went for the viewing was Mar 2,2015. The eggs had not hatched yet but Mrs Emsley said she comes in even on weekends to check the temperature and the progress. There is information about fish up on the walls and everyone is very enthusiastic about the whole process of the fish cycle. We just noticed on the Harrison Hot Springs Elementary School site that six of the eggs have hatched and are now in the alevin form.
Northwestern Salamander
The Northwestern Salamander is a stout, 5 1/2 to 8-inch long uniform dark brown to black, amphibian (cold-blooded animal that start life in water & later transform to a terrestrial form) with a oval tail flattened towards the end. It has strong , well-developed legs and prominent parotoid (swollen area behind eye). Salamanders are voiceless.
It is found mainly in south-western BC. Eggs are laid in February to May in jelly-like masses about the size of a elongated grapefruit. The larvae hatch in about a month and stay in the water about a year. Some metamorphose (change into adult form) in the second summer but others remain in the larval stage indefinitely (neoteny) and breed without gaining adult form.
In the aquatic form they eat voraciously preying on all other living things small enough to swallow. On land look for them under leave litter.
Western Toad
The Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) (formerly Northwestern toad – Bufo boreas) is a stout, squat 2-5 inch amphibian of the west found from Alaska to northern California. It has shorter front than hind leg. The skin is rough with large warts. Colour is variable from dark brown to reddish brown background with lighter warts.
Adults congegrate in early Spring along margins of wetlands and lakes to spawn. The male calls with a high pitched note. The eggs are laid in long strings in shallow water. Jet-black tadpoles hatch in a few days and gather in large swarms. Growth is rapid and they exit water at 1/2 inch long to migrate to near by woods. Highway crossing prove dangerous and many toadlets are squashed. Ryder Lake road is a well known hazard.
Adult toads wander considerable distance form water and can be found foraging at dusk for insects and other small creeping organisms. At dawn they retire to damp holes and shaded spots. Look for them along the Miami greenway riparian area. Western Toads are a species of conservation concern.
This Page is Under Cnstruction
Species of Conservative Concern are those whose numbers and well-being is in question. Their status is assigned by various agencies including the BC Ministry of Environment, Canada’s Species at Risk Act(SARA) and by the Committee on the status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. (COSEWIC)
Peregrine Falcon
Bandtailed Pigeon
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Barn Swallow
Red-legged Frog
Oregon Forest Snail
Pacific Water Shrew
Links:
Letter to the Editor Agassiz-Harrison-Hope Observer Summer 2012
Jill Miners, Agassiz
For the past four months I have had the opportunity to study the Agassiz Slough and Miami River watersheds as part of my Masters thesis at UBC. Part of my project is to estimate the population size of the endangered Salish sucker and also look at other fish presence and abundance. In Agassiz Slough I set traps from outside the dyke, all along Tuttyens road and along McDonald road. The Miami River was trapped from McCallum road to the floodgates. In total I caught almost 800 fishes and 40 amphibians in Agassiz Slough and nearly 4000 fishes and 20 amphibians in Miami River, including juvenile salmon and adult trout. I identified about 20 different species in each watershed. The table below highlights some of the interesting species and abundance from each watershed. So next time you wander by or along your local watershed watch to see if you can see fish jumping.
Salish Sucker
| Salish Sucker | Agassiz Slough = 197 Miami River = 134 |
| Coho and Chinook Salmon fry and smolt |
Agassiz Slough = 2 (last year I found 30) Miami River = 632 |
| Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout | Agassiz Slough = 24 Miami River = 23 |
| Large-scale Sucker | Agassiz Slough = 6 Miami River = 14 |
| Red side shiner | Agassiz Slough = 194 Miami River = 2175 |
| Three-spine Stickleback | Agassiz Slough = 246 Miami River = 708 |
| Roughskin Newt and other amphibians |
Agassiz Slough = 40 Miami River = 20 |
Coho Salmon
