and a salmon in a plum tree

coho salmon fry

walklog:

nanaimo fish hatchery 1.72 km 0:35 and chase river estuary 2.07 km 1:05.

once a year i go to the hatchery for their fundraiser and to look at salmon babies (i got quite attached to salmon when we were working on aquaculture software). the hatchery got some spanky new equipment (an egg chiller and sorter), so that was exciting (even though we didn't see it in action since this isn't the time for it). i got to feed some pre-smolt (the lifestages for most pacific salmon are egg, embryo, alevin, fry, smolt and adult; smolt are the young fish that undergo physiological changes in order to migrate into saltwater -- fish are released from this hatchery just when that's supposed to happen).

after walking along the release stream it was still early, and i wanted to walk more. but first i stopped at kleijn nursery and was delighted to see that they were growing paulownia tomentosa and they _are_ apparently hardy. first time i've seen them in the area! i guess i know what i want in front of the house now. though she also recommended an ornamental plum, prunus cerasifera 'pissardii' -- she says it's lovely; it's hard to tell in this state. i am not sure its growth habit will please me. i'm also thinking about a red horse chestnut. and i am still dithering about whether to get a native tree instead. but since this isn't my land, and the landlord will cut the tree down anyway, it doesn't so much matter (i wouldn't mind getting the wood from the paulownia though).

then i went to the chase river estuary, which has two short trails -- nice, but really too short. i wonder whether i could extend that trip by walking along the railroad.