It wasn't entirely a failure....

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. After the beaver dam was washed away by the flood, I thought it might be fun to see if I could capture activity in the bluebird boxes.

Several dedicated volunteers in the park have maintained a trail of 27 boxes starting in 1994. For a variety of reasons, mostly habitat loss and pressure from invasive species, Eastern bluebird populations have plummeted. From this trail alone, though, over 1000 bluebirds have been fledged.

Huzzah for volunteers!

So, I found a tree close enough to a box that I thought I might see some fun bird activity. After two weeks, and fiddling with the location--no luck. I think this is because the birds are too small to activate the motion sensor on the camera. But I did find another fox.

Cromwell Valley Park is apparently fox heaven.

The second location

Then I thought that maybe I could find some bird activity with another strategy. I placed the camera overlooking Minebank Run. In the background, barely visible is a Belted kingfisher nest. I later learned that that nest was destroyed by a flood, and that the eggs in it are dead. Didn't know that at the time, though. The camera is set on time lapse. That is to say, it takes a photograph every five minutes all day.

I found a place with remarkably few animals. But I did find an interesting rain event.

On the 27th of May, at 5:42 pm and 5:54 pm there were two thunderstorms recorded, followed by rain at 0.05 inches of rain at 6:33 pm. Some more rain fell that evening, for a daily total of 0.30 inches. That is a trifle less than a third of one inch of rain.
 (See httttp://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBWI/2014/5/27/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Baltimore&req_state=MD&req_statename=Maryland)

This video shows what that amount of rain looks like in Minebank Run.

You'll notice the rain in the first pictures. These small puddles correspond with the thunderstorms. Then, at 6:25 pm, about 30 minutes after the second thunderstorm...the water rises dramatically, and carries trash downstream. (See 7:05 pm.)

This rush of storm water, going too fast, carrying too many pollutants, and washing away the stream bottom, is one of the main causes of urban stream syndrome. (http://www.epa.gov/caddis/ssr_urb_urb2.html)



This is not a problem without solutions. A section of Minebank Run itself has just been restored by Baltimore County  The city of Baltimore is making significant strides to reduce the amount of impervious surface in the city limits. What are you doing to help?

Go outside and play.

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. 

The beavers are still there, and it's a beautiful spring day

19 April 2014. The dam is in the right background.

It's a beautiful spring day.

The dam is still there, and survived the recent heavy rains intact.

While I was looking around at the dam, I noticed a large log, probably five inches diameter and five or six feet long leaning against the front of the dam. It struck me that it was too big for one of the beavers to have put it there. I thought probably a person did.



Later, at home, I checked the pictures.You'll never guess, even in a million years. Turns out that a beaver did move that log. Look closely at the sequence below, of three photographs taken only seconds apart. You'll see that the log is being moved by a beaver. The beaver itself is barely visible on the left end of the log. It's barely more than a gray shadow, but it's there.

The other animals in the park are also out and about. The bluebirds and tree swallows are starting to nest in the boxes. I believe some have laid eggs already. Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Easter.

Go outside and play. 

Gratitude

Wow, I'm knocked off my pins, thrown for a loop, and otherwise quite pleasantly surprised.

It seems that several people other than me didn't like the fact that my camera was stolen. So they passed the hat around and collected enough cash to buy me a new one.

I really am at a loss for words. Thank you very much, I am very grateful for your generosity.

So, we're back in business.

The dam. 6 April 2014.

The dam is still there, and still looking very strong.
The pond is getting active with the spring weather. I noticed several water striders and one turtle enjoying the still water of the pond. Not to mention several people.










I also noticed how clear the water is downstream of the dam. Part of the reason for that is that the dam acts as a silt fence. A silt fence installed at no expense to the taxpayers, I might add.

I took this photograph just upstream of the dam. Perhaps you can see the silt collected by the dam. You can also see tracks left by the beaver as it swam to the dam, probably to add leaves and sticks to it. The tracks run through the stream bottom from lower right to upper left.


Beaver ponds have an effect on aquatic insects because they slow down the water flow. Some insects like to live in fast water, and others on slow water. (http://www.ecology.info/beaver-invertebrates.htm) So, I anticipate that a stream like Minebank Run which is primarily fast water will see a wider variety of insects with the dam than without.

It's a beautiful day.

Go outside and play.

Bad news

Someone has stolen my camera.

There are of course, pictures of the thief or thieves in action. I can only hope that they will be sent to the police.

Anybody know how to do that crowdfunding thing.......

The dam bigger than ever, and interesting raccoon behavior

The dam. 23 March 2014

It's hard to tell from this photograph, but the dam is longer, and I think a little higher than it has ever been. Some water had been flowing around the dam on the the east side. The dam is now about 10 feet longer in that direction, and almost rises over the bank.

The dam on the west side is also longer, but not as dramatically as on the other side. The water level also seemed higher than I recall. That may have something to do with spring ice melt.

Another view of the dam. 23 March 2014.

The beavers also built up the entrance to their den. There had always been some sticks around it, but only a very few. Now there is a real structure, and the hole in the stream bank is completely covered. I wonder if that has something to do with preparation for birth. But then again, I may be anthropomorphizing.

Most sources say that we can expect to see the kits born in May or June.





Meanwhile, as you can see below, they are still active, and still cutting trees, eating, and building their dam.

In several of the videos, raccoons appeared, Including a video of two raccoons together. As you may know, raccoons eat almost everything they can get their paws on. They eat insects, worms, fish, crayfish, nuts and bird eggs, among other things. Their territory size varies, but in rich habitat such as Cromwell Valley Park seems to be about 2/10th of an acres.  While looking up some information about raccoons, I ran across a great explanation of their behavior. One researcher observed that "typically you'll find 10 to 15 percent who will do the opposite" of predicted behavior. I guess those animals didn't read the manual.

Get outside and play.

More later.