A section of the dam had failed. The bank on the left side of the stream failed. It was incised already, and seems to have failed. the failure point was just downstream from the dam, and caused about seven feet of the dam to collapse.
The beavers have wasted no time in repairing the dam. You can see the repaired section in the foreground of this picture. The sticks are newer and less weathered. You might also see that there are no leaves stuck in between the sticks as there are in the older section of the dam. Those leaves are an important part of the benefits of beaver dams. They provide food for insects. And those insects provide food for trout and other fish. And trout provide sport and food for humans. In one study, winter survival rates for salmon and trout was 2 or 3 times greater in streams with beaver dams than streams without beaver dams. (www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress.)
I've never been successful in capturing the beavers working on the dam. But I'm trying again. I hope to get some video of the dam repairs. Wish me luck.
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And an Eastern bluebird. That's a nice reminder that spring is coming.
Soon the bluebird boxes in the park will be humming with activity.
More later.
I believe the bluebirds are always around, just not as prominent. I was there the other day and saw a few. In fact, 90% of the times I will see one or more. Love seeing them though.
ReplyDeleteDean
Hi Dean,
ReplyDeleteI hope you're enjoying the blog, and I thank you for commenting. As I understand, Eastern bluebirds have a unique migration pattern, where some migrate only short distances. Others migrate long distances; and some don't migrate at all.
http://lansingwbu.blogspot.com/2010/02/migration-of-eastern-bluebirds.html
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/eastern_bluebird/lifehistory
I hope to place the camera overlooking one of the bluebird boxes at Cromwell this spring and summer. Maybe we'll get some neat video.
cheers.