Beaver Tale

More than a month ago on a day that had dawned with a misty rain falling, a misty rain that continued throughout the morning and early afternoon. As we ate supper the precipitation ended and that was all it took for me to decide to head for a nearby beaver pond.

This is a beaver pond that I’ve walked past and where I’ve photographed waterfowl. The dam has been in good repair, but I’ve never seen a fresh-cut stump nor a lodge nor a beaver – although there are a lot of old stumps. The beaver pond is less than three miles from the house as the crow flies, but I’m not endowed with wings so I drove a circuitous route as far as I could and walked the last half mile.

Taking a seat at the end of the dam, I set the camera with its longest lens on my monopod. It wasn’t long before my expectations were realized and a beaver appeared –

From where had it come? At that point it was clear that the beavers didn't have a lodge but were instead what are called “bank beavers”, living in an underground burrow at the edge of the pond.

After a few minutes a second, smaller beaver appeared but it quickly swam behind a clump of arrowhead, a plant at home in wetlands and along the edge of ponds, and disappeared from view –

Meanwhile the larger beaver continued to swim in “S” curves and gradually work its way toward me –

It would get just so close and then turn, swim away and repeat the whole process. After more than a half hour it apparently had enough of that –

As I waited for the beavers to reappear I had plenty of time to look around the pond and its bordering wetland –

Far across the pond a Baltimore oriole hunted insect larvae in a tree –

A band of young wood ducks also hunted insects, but they searched among the pond lilies –

Not too far away a solitary sandpiper waded in the shallows –

The sun was setting and the beaver hadn’t reappeared so it was time for me to also head for home. On the way back to the car I came face to face with a cottontail rabbit –

The last wild creature of the day.

Day by Day Throughout the Year - 2nd quarter

In this post are the photos taken day by day throughout the second quarter of 2024 as I strive to take an interesting or at least good photograph of the natural world each day; the photographs from the first quarter are in this post.

It had been spring for a month as we started the second three months of the year. Last winter was warm without much snow. Streams have been high, but not as high as in years with normal snowfall. There were few birds at the feeders during the winter and early spring, and few to be seen in forest and field as well – perhaps due to the reported 30% drop in bird populations throughout North America. Spring flowers have been blooming earlier than in past years and trees' buds opened earlier – climate change at work.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy these photos –

Spring wildflowers have come and gone, white-tail fawns and elk calves are quite mobile now, most birds have nested and their young are, or soon will be, on the wing. Summer has arrived with its heat, humidity and haze and I’m still taking photos – which will be posted in early October.

From my camera traps: 4/3, 6/3, 6/5