Brydon Lagoon

Ask a Langley parent where to take a toddler for twenty minutes of fresh air and there’s a good chance the answer is “the duck pond.” That’s Brydon Lagoon: a shallow stretch of water off 53 Avenue with a trail around it, benches, and more birds than you’d expect a few blocks from Fraser Highway.

How a sewage pond became a bird sanctuary

It wasn’t built for birds. In the 1950s the young City dug a settling pond here to handle sewage from new development, on land bought from Jim Brydon, whose father John had logged it in the early 1900s. By the 1970s the City had hooked into the regional sewer system and stopped using it.

The birds found it anyway. In 1984 the Langley Field Naturalists proposed better trails and habitat so the lagoon could become a community park on a small budget, and that’s more or less what it is today. The water is shallow, under two metres, which has caused trouble: in the hot summer of 2014 low oxygen killed thousands of fish, and the City set up a task force to look at aeration and the lagoon’s health. Some of the trails nearby follow the old route of the Interurban electric railway.

What you’ll see

Mallards, mostly, and Canada geese. Look harder and there are grebes, mergansers, coots and great blue herons; on one winter outing the naturalists counted 41 species. Bring binoculars if you have them.

Feeding the ducks, the right way

People do feed the ducks here, and kids love it. We couldn’t find a City rule against it, but watch for posted signs, and know that less is better: this is a shallow lagoon with a history of low-oxygen problems, and food that sinks and rots adds to that.

If you’re going to feed them, skip the bread. It fills ducks up without giving them much, mouldy bread can make them sick, and leftovers rot in the water and draw rats. Better choices, in small handfuls:

• Frozen peas or corn, thawed first (not cooked)
• Rolled oats or plain porridge oats
• Torn lettuce or kale, in small pieces
• Birdseed, or plain cooked or uncooked rice

Ducks don’t chew, so keep pieces bite-sized. Throw a little, and stop when they lose interest. If another family is already feeding them, let the ducks finish there. Pick up anything that lands on the path.

Make it a longer walk

The lagoon trail joins the Rotary Nicomekl Trail, so you can turn a short loop into a long walk along the river. Penzer Action Park is a short drive south if the kids still have energy. Our hikes and walks guide has the rest.

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