Not much to report

Hi.

There is no sign of beaver activity in the park. I've no idea where they have gone, but I hope they are happy there. It'll be interesting to see how long it is until they return, or others move in to the park.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/baltimore_oriole/id

Meanwhile there are Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, and lots of other birds in the park. Why not stop by and see why the local baseball team picked those colors for their uniforms?

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/blue-gray_gnatcatcher/id

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has built a nest in a tree close to the Nature Center. Extra credit if you can find it as they are well disguised nests.

Beginning of a Chickadee nest. 17 May 2014.

And the camera is still out there. Last week I tried to capture an Eastern Bluebird on film and failed. I think because the camera was too far away from the nest box. Poking around today, I found the beginning of a Carolina Chickadee nest in one of the boxes.  They are beautiful nests, made mostly of moss.

If I'm lucky, I will have some fun videos of a pair of Chickadees building a nest and feeding their young. Stay tuned.




Go outside and Play.

Another flood, another dam gone

Where the dam was. 

And this time the dam is gone gone. Every single stick of it it gone.

You might remember the heavy rain we had last Wednesday. As you can see from the stream data that rain caused very high water. And that washed away the dam.

I poked around the area and saw no signs that the beavers are still there. I looked in what I believe was their bank den and didn't see any tracks.

This is, of course, very disappointing, but not really surprising. Twice before in the last three years, beaver dams have  been destroyed by flash floods in the park. Those flash floods, and the damage they do, are one of the reasons that Maryland has adopted a stormwater fee. But you probably know that already, don't you.

Please let me know if you see any beaver sign along Minebank Run.

I just read a fascinating story in a recent Bay Journal. It discusses, among other things, the positive impact that beavers have had on the bay.  Here is a link: http://www.bayjournal.com/article/core_sediments_reveal_when_a_wetter_bay_was_wildly_healthier



Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Last Sunday I took the youth of my church to the park to see what there was to see. We looked at the camera and they held a vote on where they would like to place the camera. They chose an animal den on the slope about 40 yards from the dam, on the east side of the run.

We captured some videos that I hope you will enjoy.

So, we are off on another mission. Stay tuned.

Go outside and play.