Saturday, September 26, 2015

Migrating Salmon in Owen Sound

Every year the Chinook Salmon and Rainbow Trout return to spawn in the Sydenham, Bighead and Beaver Rivers, which enter Georgian Bay in Owen Sound, Meaford and Thornbury respectively.  We were in Owen Sound yesterday and stopped to have a quick look in Harrison Park.  At this time of year, it's the Chinook Salmon you'll see.

The Sydenham Sportsmen's Association has been one of the most active in Ontario, working to protect and improve salmon habitat, and holding a major Salmon Derby in early September.  They also supported the construction of the first fish ladder in Ontario.

Here are three more on the far side of the river, two right beside each other.  They will float in the current for several minutes at a time, even though they have to work to stay there.

Then with a few trashes of their tail, they'll move upstream a short distance.  These ones have already climbed the challenging fish ladder downstream to get here.

Viewing the salmon is pop ular enough that Owen Sound promotes the 'Great Salmon Tour', with several spots where you can see salmon over a few miles of the river, along with educational interpretive signs.  But they can't get beyond Inglis Falls, which is only a couple of miles south of this point.  I've featured it in this blog several times.

This is the part of the river where we saw the salmon; I'm standing on the bridge right beside the restaurant in Harrison Park.

Nearby there's a small waterfowl sanctuary, and wild ducks invade it for the easy meals.  These ducks were thrashing madly, mostly upside down, after someone threw handfuls of corn into the creek.

It was a duck feeding frenzy, their little orange feet paddling like mad to help them reach down to the bottom to grab the feed, splashing like children.

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16 comments:

  1. Magnificent salmon and duck butts - what a combination!

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  2. Those ducks look so funny diving for the corn! Great shots of them and the salmon too.

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  3. Like the photos of the duck butts! :) We have salmon running here in Oregon too.

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  4. Adorable shots of the duck diving for the food and great shots of the salmon!

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  5. Clear,clear water, and those salmon have to fight mighty hard to get upstream. No wonder the ducks were diving, free food for all, super series as always.

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  6. Looks like a great spot to watch the wonders of nature.

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  7. Cool shot of the salmon migrating in the stream. And I love the cute bottoms up captures of the ducks. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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  8. Those duck butts sure made me smile! And I hear salmon are running around these parts, too, and I hope to get some pictures as well. Thanks for the great duck shots. :-)

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  9. nice!!! i do love those butt shots!!!!

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  10. The water is very clear here! And ducks will be ducks!

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  11. Such crystal clear water!
    Fun shot of the ducks. : )

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  12. They struggle so much to make it upstream. We have several salmon streams around Powell River, but I haven't been out to see any salmon yet. But the bears sure have. - Margy

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  13. I always like little duck feet! ;-))

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  14. Apparently your water levels were not lower by the PNW drought we have been experiencing, Many of Oregon's rivers have been closed to fishing with the low levels of water in the streams. -- barbara

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  15. Wonderful post and photos . Love the photos of the duck diving for fish lol ! Thanks for sharing .

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