I decided to move the camera uphill to see what there is to see. I found a small stream that flows down to Minebank Run. I placed the camera next to a small animal trail that crosses the stream.
Herewith, a review of the animals follow that trail.
The raccoon was a common sight. I found several pictures of it hunting for food.
It probably goes without saying that a deer walked in front of the camera. Sometime in the future, I hope to look at deer, and their effects on the environment.
The fox was another animal that came to the stream several times over the last few days. If you look closely at the first two photographs, you'll see an animal in this fox's mouth. Probably a dead rabbit. Perhaps being brought home to feed the children.
Birds also need to drink too, don't they?
Do you have a birdbath in your yard?
And, finally, people and their best friends. The park is for them too.
And we will finish with an interesting tidbit. If you look at this last photo, you might notice that the camera switched to black and white. The forest floor is actually darker in the summer than the winter. This is due to the heavy leaf cover from the trees.
So, it appears than the beavers, like Elvis, have left the park. I expect that one will venture back sometime in the future, but for now the park is bereft of beavers.
I have decided to lift my camera up to the hills, and to explore what may be seen there. With the help of my son, I placed to camera along a deer trail. After about a week I had a chance to retrieve it a and check to photos. Turns out some animals can be pretty hard to pick out of the background. It certainly was fun, though, looking closely to see what tripped the camera.
Take a look at the pictures below and see how you do. Each has a mammal in it. Some, though are pretty hard to identify. I really don't know for sure what a couple of them are. Do you?
Remember that flood? I had a a chance today to take a good look at Minebank Run. Among other
things, I found this tree. It used to be part of the beaver's den, but was washed about 30 meters downstream. Man, that was a lot of water.
I am happy to report that the ruined camera has been replaced as an early birthday present. I might also take the opportunity to compliment www.trailcampro.com. They are a great outfit, with splendid customer service.
The camera is in the park. Who knows what we might find? (Personally, I'm still hoping for sasquatch.)
I checked on the beaver pond today.
It appears that the recent heavy rains have done some damage to the dam. You can see in the photograph that some of the dam in the foreground is missing. I also noticed that the water level in the pond is lower than it has been. And there is a lot of silt deposited on the shore of the pond. Given the heavy rain, though, I was expecting to see even more damage than this.
In my observations I have also seen two new things. An animal that hasn't been around before, and new behavior among the beavers. That behavior, especially has me curious.
a frog by the beaver pond.
You'll recall, perhaps, from earlier entries that beavers create habitat for other animals. The ponds they create are places of slower, deeper water that is attractive to other animals and fish. This probably explains the frogs that have been around the pond for the last few weeks. And this may well explain the Great Blue Heron that I captured on camera recently Among other things, Great Blue Herons eat frogs. Indeed, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says: "Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory
Beavers create a lot more than they destroy, don't they?
The new behavior that I captured with the camera is what really has me intrigued.
I have two photographs of a beaver carrying a bunch of leaves toward its den. I have never observed this before, nor have I captured in on camera. What is going on? This isn't the usual caching of food for winter. Beavers usually just eat their greens where they find them.
hmm mm....
Is this perhaps the beaver father carrying food to the mother, or to a newly weaned baby? I haven't yet read of this behavior.
I'm open to suggestions.
There is confirmation that we still have two adults living in the pond. They were both seen by one of the park naturalists on the 2nd.
I'll leave you with a video I captured recently. Just one of the beavers being a beaver.
The college year is finished, so I was delighted to have my son join me as we checked the camera yesterday. The dam is about the same as it was last week.
Last week I placed the camera in a new location, only inches above the water line. My hope was to get a better view of what I believe is the beavers' home--maybe even to get a picture of a beaver going into or out of that home. No luck there.
But I did capture several birds, and a couple other mammals. That was a surprise;and a lot of fun.
the man-made dam. 27 May 2013.
I also discovered that someone has built a dam of stones at the upstream end of the beavers' pond. That's the second art installation I have found in the past couple months.
Enjoy the birds, and video proof that our rodents are still there....
I checked the dam today, and all is well. I have no evidence that the kits have been born yet. Of course, you can't prove a negative, can you? So it is possible that they have been.
Beavers are one of the few animals that pair for life. I found a nice description of their family life:
"Beaver usually live in family units consisting of the older mated pairs, young from the previous year, and young from the current season called kits. Breeding season takes place in late January or February in most states. Young from the previous year are about 22 months of age at this time and they are evicted from the colony to relocate and seek mates of their own. The gestation period of beaver is 107 days and the adult male and kits usually take up a temporary residence in a bank den while the new litter is being born in April, May or June. The birthing process may take several days, and 3 to 5 kits are a typical litter size. Beaver kits are fully furred when born, their eyes are open, and the incisor teeth are visable. Newborn beaver kits take to the water easily, and they might be swimming before they are one day old. Most adult beaver are monogamous, and stay with their mate throughout life." (http://www.nationaltrappers.com/beaver.html)
So we still wait for news. And wait.
While we wait, I got a nice daylight video of one of the beaver swimming. I enjoyed this for two reasons. 1--It's a great video. 2--the camera was tripped by a nice man mugging for the camera. At 7:48 pm on the 16th a nice man wearing a blue t-shirt with some stick figures running on it mugged for the camera. (I will not post the picture as I will not post any pictures of people.) While mugging, he tripped the camera, then walked away. By an amazing coincidence, the beaver decided to go for a swim while he walked away...
The rest is history.
I also got a couple nice pictures. One of one of our beavers, another of a Great blue heron. Enjoy them.
I decided to move the camera uphill to see what there is to see. I found a small stream that flows down to Minebank Run. I placed the camera next to a small animal trail that crosses the stream.
It probably goes without saying that a deer walked in front of the camera. Sometime in the future, I hope to look at deer, and their effects on the environment.
Birds also need to drink too, don't they?
