Here’s the Fauntleroy Creek fall coho watch wrapup from Judy Pickens, who also just reported these results to government agencies for their tracking purposes:

We closed Salmon Watch 2008 today with a grand total of one coho spawner (code name “Hillary”), who appeared on Nov. 8 in the fish ladder and waited in vain for a mate. We didn’t see any cutthroat or pesky river otter.

During this return season, fishers reported seeing a few coho in the cove but also sea lions and seals, plus tribal purse seiners along the West Seattle peninsula. Creek conditions were excellent (at least .7′ of water at the gauge), and rains were periodic and generous.

Our watch ran Oct. 27 to Nov. 24 and involved 16 volunteers. They recorded some 35 visitors at the fish-ladder viewpoint or creekside.

As we reported this time last year, the 2007 salmon watch counted 90 — the 2006 salmon watch, zero. Here’s hoping for a better year in 2009.