92 species of birds can't all be wrong

30 March 2013.

I checked on the camera today, and am delighted to see that the beaver is still active.

 It is still chomping on the big tree that it has been chomping on for a couple weeks.  This is , by far, the biggest tree in Cromwell Valley Park that it has  cut down or tried to cut down.  I don't know if that is significant or not. One source I checked says that beavers only cut down large tree when smaller ones are unavailable.  That does not seem to be the case here. 

the old dam. 30 March 2013.

I also took a walk down to the first dam and den that the beaver built. You may recall that a flood at the

end of January, forced the beaver to look elsewhere for a home. The remnants of the dam are still visible, but with a large hole eroded in the center. Similarly, the den is still visible, but the hole made by an animal has eroded, and is filled with sticks.

the old den, probably home to a new animal. 30 March 2013.

the collapsed secondary entrance hole. 30 March 2013.

So, we all know that beavers destroy a lot of trees. But they do more than destroy. They create as well.
Bernd Heinrich, studying geese living in a beaver pond, found 92 species of birds in the pond. He counted 28 of them using the beaver-created habitat for breeding. (The Geese of Beaver Bog, Bernd Heinrich) His list is below:

1. Horned grebe
2. Pie-billed grebe
3. American Bittern
4. Great Blue Heron
5. Canada Goose (breeds in pond)
6. Mallard (breeds in pond)
7. American black duck
8. Green-winged teal
9. Blue-winged teal
10. Wood duck
11. Ring-necked duck
12. Lesser scaup
13. Common goldeneye
14. Bufflehead
15. Common merganser
16. Hooded-merganser
17. Virginia rail (breeds in pond)
18. Killdeer
19. Solitary sandpiper
20. Spotted sandpiper
21. Common snipe (breeds in pond)
22. American woodcock (breeds in pond)
23. Bald eagle
24. Northern harrier
25. Sharp-shinned hawk
26. Broad-winged hawk
27. Osprey
28. Ruffed grouse
29. Wild turkey
30. Mourning dove (breeds in pond)
31. Black-billed cuckoo (breeds in pond)
32. Barred owl
33. Ruby-throated hummingbird
34. Belted kingfisher
35. Northern flicker
36. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
37. Downy woodpecker
38. Hairy woodpecker
39. Pileated woodpecker
40. Eastern kingbird (breeds in pond)
41. Olive-sided flycatcher
42. Eastern Phoebe
43. Least flycatcher
44. Willow flycatcher
45. Alder flycatcher
46. Tree swallow
47. Bank swallow
48. Barn swallow
49. Blue jay (breeds in pond)
50. American crow
51. Common raven
52. Tufted titmouse
53. Black-capped chickadee (breeds in pond)
54. Winter wren
55. Golden-crowned Kinglet
56. Ruby-crowned kinglet
57. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
58. American Robin (breeds in pond)
59. Veery (breeds in pond)
60. Northern shrike
61. Gray catbird (breeds in pond)
62. Bohemian waxwing
63. Cedar waxwing (breeds in pond)
64. Red-eyed vireo
65. Warbling vireo
66. Tennessee warbler
67. Nashville warbler
68. Chestnut-sided warbler (breeds in pond)
69. Yellow-rumped warbler
70. Palm warbler
71. Yellow warbler (breeds in pond)
72. Northern waterthrush (breeds in pond)
73. Common yellowthroat (breeds in pond)
74. American redstart (breeds in pond)
75. Rose-breasted grosbeak breeds in pond)
76. Northern cardinal (breeds in pond)
77. Song sparrow (breeds in pond)
78. American tree sparrow
79. Dark-eyed junco
80. White-throated sparrow
81. White-crowned sparrow
82. Fox sparrow
83. Swamp sparrow (breeds in pond)
84. Red-winged blackbird (breeds in pond)
85. Brown-headed cowbird (breeds in pond)
86. Common grackle (breeds in pond)
87. Northern oriole (breeds in pond)
88. American goldfinch (breeds in pond)
89. Pine grosbeak
90. Common redpoll
91. Purple finch
92. Evening grosbeak

 More later.

squirrels, deer, rabbits, fox, and a beaver. Oh My!

It's spring break so I had the pleasure of my son's company this week. We had a great week, and a very successful one. So let's not waste a lot of time with words. Let's just enjoy the results.

Eureka! Let's enjoy this as long as it lasts.

I checked the camera yesterday afternoon, and again this afternoon. I am glad to report that I've finally caught or favorite rodent on the camera. What fun.

I also observed an interesting phenomenon. 

I saw a tree nearly cut down by the beaver.

When I looked closer, though, I realized that the tree was ready to fall. Sadly for our rodent friend, it was hung up in branches of other trees, so couldn't fall. All that work and no food. Drats.

One last note. While out today I met a man who is attempting to trap the beaver, apparently at the request of the Park Manager. He said that he is going to relocate the beaver if he succeeds in catching it.

More later.