There couldn’t have been a perfect place for that young salmon masquerader to play during Sunday evening’s annual gathering at the Fauntleroy Creek overlook – the rock-sculpture rendition of a stream – as more than 60 people of all ages sang and drummed to celebrate coho spawners’ anticipated return.

More than a decade after the creek’s restoration, neighbors gather each year with high hopes it will play host to spawners. Led again this year by Jamie Shilling, they sang and chanted songs of celebration and welcome:

And they told stories, enhanced with native art:

A human bridge symbolized safe crossing:

What’s next: Fauntleroy Creek Salmon Watch starts today, as creek steward Judy Pickens explained (after noting that recent Puget Sound passers-by might be delaying things):

Here’s the “salmon sock” that Judy mentioned – installed atop a pole anchored in the Darwin’s-barberry hedge on the north side of the overlook:

If you can volunteer some time to join the salmon watch, go here to find out how. It’s scheduled to last about a month, and as you heard Judy say in the video, they hope at the very least to have people on the lookout for the five hours after high tide each day.