tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36293631375248474262024-03-13T08:19:19.242-07:00Bob's Spring JournalBob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-52069806617210431362017-01-14T09:58:00.001-08:002017-01-14T09:58:18.933-08:00April 2 to 14, 2002<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In 2002 I extracted stills from the videos I took rather than use a camera. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">April 2 chilly day, 40 degrees, with the sun
diminishing as it clouded up. I crossed the soggy golf course
discomforting some geese and then went down the farther valley
because once the course is open I won't go down it anymore. Of
course with all the snow gone, the valley is all litter and no
lessons. I checked the old lodge for otter scat; the little cove
there had a slight sheet of ice, so nothing had been there that
morning. While there were no fresh scats, there was a stunning
scent mount with a cattail stalk, a pine bough, and leaves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Probably done by a beaver. Walking around the
edge of the pond I saw a scent mound down at the dam, by the
shore and behind the dead limb I often sit on. Much grass had
been scrapped up. This is a spot the otters usually decorate but
there was no scat around, so again, I assume, a beaver made it.
They haven't wasted their time pushing mud up on the dam, which
is still overflowing from the thaw. In the water behind the dam,
I saw two shoots just peaking up. At the tipped up pine stump I
saw muskrat scat on a log floating in the water. I went up to the
lodge, which seemed quiet and snug. I continued along the shore
until I found a grand beaver highway into the bush. It seemed
like they were using it at the moment, though they also used it
in the fall because there were many old cuts. Their path led up
to the old overgrown road, so I walked along that and saw a tree
they had felled a good 70 yards from the pond. Then I went up
into the red pine grove and saw some coyote scat next to grouse
droppings. There was fur in the scat, not feathers. As I came
down to the Lost Swamp I saw several ring neck ducks,</span><br />
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<img dynsrc="ringneck.WMV" start="fileopen" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">and then as I walked closer, a pair of black
ducks took off. I moved out to the log on the point because I was
expecting to see muskrats, and I did. One crossed far off in the
pond -- going rather fast for a rat</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">and not climbing up on any logs to mark. Then I
heard a splash in the ground behind me. Unfortunately the rat
stuck its head out of the water before the camcorder was going.
It dove immediately at the sight of me. A few minutes later a rat
swam out from the other side of the rocky point. I bet there is a
connecting tunnel that somehow gets around or under the
granite. On my walk around the pond I saw beaver markings at the
mossy cove, at the foot of their favorite fall trail up to the
west end lumbering, and at the rolling area. But their trail of
the moment is on the north shore. I think another red oak is
freshly down and well on its way to being stripped and segmented.
Here there is a scent mount about 10 yards from the pond up on
the little hill. But the big find of the day here was a small,
dusty looking garter snake curled on some leaves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">There were no new scats, nor much sign of
beaver work around the dam, save for a small root a beaver had
dug into. How did it know it was there -- smell the sap in it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">At the East Trail Pond I came down the hill
above the rocks and sat on the log just above where the otters
had been scatting. To my delight there was a fresh scat, a light
brown mucousy one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">That kept me still but nothing was stirring.
When I crossed the dam I saw a whiter scat and then on the other
side of the dam there were several scats smeared on the grass and
one very fresh squirt of brown scat on the trail to Otter Hole
Pond. The otter is here and certainly there's enough scat for
otters making them. No otters in Otter Hole Pond. I sent off a
score of geese, but the two resident geese stayed rooted in the
middle of the pond. I walked down to beaver point to see if an
otter scatted there. No otters signs nor beaver signs. I did see
two phoebes or flycatchers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Their tails were active but they made no calls.
Ice still hangs on in the corners of the East Trail, Otter Hole
and Beaver Point Ponds. The ice is away from the slant of the
sun. However, at the New Pond the ice remains on the north side
of the pond. Indeed this pond is still half ice. Perhaps this is
a case of the trees helping the ice stay on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 4 a frosty night and then wet snow at
dawn, which gave me some impetus to get out, hoping to find otter
slides in the snow. I went directly to the East Trail Pond, where
I last saw signs of otters. I came via the trail and then up over
the rock ridge, slowly, because I could see ripples, but ducks
and geese were about, hooded mergansers and mallards. I sat on my
hat and waited. Wood ducks flew in, and not much else stirred.
Down at the dam there were no slides, nor up the ridge trail. I
could see that the beavers had done more stripping, though they
still haven't touched the birch that fell over in their way. From
atop the ridge I could both see Otter Hole Pond and half of
Beaver Point pond and also eventually scare every duck off the
ponds. The first two mass flights I expect, but I was
disappointed at the pairs of mallards that flew off. The pair of
geese remained. Otter Hole Pond seems even fuller, almost at its
former glory, but I didn't go down to check the dam for
improvements. I headed for Audubon Pond. I checked the New Pond
lodge and once again it seems like a beaver is there</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I even heard a noise inside the lodge, but
nondescript. This is a most solid lodge, who can blame a beaver
for using it.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As usual I was daydreaming as I approached
South Bay and once again the heron flew off before I saw it. This
time it flew into the marsh, perhaps a measure of the water level
rising. Then as I continued it flew over to the other cove of the
bay. I wasn't daydreaming when I approached the pool below the
Short-cut Trail Pond but I still didn't see the muskrat before it
dove. It was on the side of the channel. I saw bubbles going
under the bridge and it even surfaced there because the beep from
turning on my camcorder sent it into a panic dive. The beavers
continue to work. The promise of sunshine was not fulfilled and
the wind was up, so I didn't strain looking for the lonely little
beaver. On my way to the bench at Audubon Pond I saw more beaver
work where I've been seeing it.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One tree they had cut was gone, another smaller
tree was just down, and there were stripped branches in the
water. Plus there were several mud scent mounds. There was a
small one next to a huge one,</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">evidence that the family I saw in the fall is
still in tact and the little beaver I saw in that upper pond was
not an orphan from Audubon Pond. This was good to see, though I
am amazed at how long these beavers remain dormant. The pond is
still half iced but most of the shores the beavers are usually
interested in are open. Plus the pond has never been fuller. I
couldn't cross the little bridge because of the flooding. At the
muskrat dens on the west shore I could see that yellowish green
fanning trail</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">on the bottom of the pond where the muskrat
had, I guess, eaten all the plants on the bottom. Not all the
dens seemed used. No otter signs on that shore, nor on the big
causeway. My eyes were so glued to the shore that I did not
notice a large dead deer on the small causeway until I was almost
upon it.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Evidently it was killed when the ground was
frozen because I could see no prints to the carcass. There were
tail parts on both sides of the deer. The head red with blood,
and the skin was ripped away to reveal the lower skull and jaw,
and the ripping and gouging continued down the neck. This is
consistent with a coyote attack. They are usually neater but this
was a large deer. However, not much of the meat was taken. There
was a hole at the tale, but the guts had not been ripped out.
There were cuts in the carcass along the belly, but that could
have been from birds, and I did see bird poop on the corpse.
Perhaps it was killed by a group of domestic dogs not interested
in the meat. Or the deer died a natural death and smaller animals
like raccoons, fox or even an otter were gnawing on it. Not that
I saw otter signs there. However when I walked down to South Bay,
I dutifully checked the rock along the shore where they sometimes
scat. On the ground above the rock, a ledge really, say, four
feet above the rock,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVInap9qfuSZPe6TjosJoEegiCm7dCHXD-tXfuasKB1LekTiP_s_Vjjg3fw3m_MJVwRyxu6qmtBd5GHsMpEns1n33yJN-GL0R2peLFoGBZuMcwUoYzKzkxNFjeSI-i4vtnsQOFbs-rakE/s1600/rock4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVInap9qfuSZPe6TjosJoEegiCm7dCHXD-tXfuasKB1LekTiP_s_Vjjg3fw3m_MJVwRyxu6qmtBd5GHsMpEns1n33yJN-GL0R2peLFoGBZuMcwUoYzKzkxNFjeSI-i4vtnsQOFbs-rakE/s1600/rock4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw three or four piles of grass not in a
place where runoff from the heavy rain would have made them. As I
looked closely at them I found little bits of otter scat.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then down on the rock, I found an old scat and
another collection of leaves and grass with a little bit of scat.
I have never seen this type of marking along this shore, as if an
otter was claiming the whole island and warning other otters off.
But what if an otter was marking the shore showing where the deer
corpse was? Indeed, one scat seemed coyote like, with hair in it.
Then again I have never seen any such otter interest in a deer
carcass before. Walking along the South Bay trail, I flushed a
group of deer, but one stayed and as I approached even began
browsing the brown vegetation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="deertail4.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This stuff seems deader than dead to me.
However, could a winter under the snow and a spring with melt
water oozing out of the pores of the earth in some way make this
desirable food? As I continued around the bay I saw many scats
that looked like fox, perhaps one coyote. Then at the top of
horseshoe, as it were, I saw remnants of otter scat in a place I
wouldn't suspect it, though not far from one of the drains they
have under the path. So I had a teasing time during the dull
chilly day, the damp always seems to reveal hidden lives.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 5 another cold morning, below freezing,
and just above freezing when we set out for Audubon Pond. I
wanted to check the otter scat for deer hairs and see what
happened to the carcass. On the way we saw three garter snakes
together. Out on the on the Bay we saw mergansers and hooded
mergansers, but not that that many, I've seen more together in
the ponds. Well, on closer examination there were no deer hairs
in the scat, but there was a fresh scat -- brown and scaleless.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up by the pond, the carcass had been
reoriented, torn a part and properly scavenged. Its rear ripped
open with the femur bone bare and one hoof thrust up at its slit
neck.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Again because of the freeze there were no good
prints, save for a couple that looked more like dog than coyote.
We also saw some beaver prints evidently going over the causeway
but I couldn't be certain. A goose was on duty atop the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObw5zQj5ZRFGQ850vAvyqwGGGWRC9SmRc7xlfEjFU6xo-uu4Np1UfPgFBf91_DJ17sp3R__Exi3hRd1AxkZK9jCBNa6l4p8l-Mn5m9QzmES5Tn0EWOUNiDoEWDBjH9sMotHu755T6xj4/s1600/goose5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObw5zQj5ZRFGQ850vAvyqwGGGWRC9SmRc7xlfEjFU6xo-uu4Np1UfPgFBf91_DJ17sp3R__Exi3hRd1AxkZK9jCBNa6l4p8l-Mn5m9QzmES5Tn0EWOUNiDoEWDBjH9sMotHu755T6xj4/s1600/goose5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing new at the Short-cut Trail Pond, though
it was nice hearing Leslie's oohs and aahs at the beaver work.
Then we checked the New Pond lodge and I couldn't discern any
difference from yesterday. L then went home and I continued up to
beaver point where there was no scat and no beaver work, but the
remains of a dead red-wing on the small dam leading to the point.
I crossed the dam and went up and sat above Otter Hole Pond.
Without investigating closely it didn't look like they were
building up the dam. They have work to do in three or four spots
to get the water even higher. Again I was entertained by the slow
dispersal of the mallard couples. I decided not to exert myself
to day, check the rock dens for otter scat and go home. As I was
about to go down to the dens I saw a furry lump just out of the
water -- a beaver. Its fur still looked wet and it was doing
nothing with its nose down almost to the grass, sitting on its
tail. Eventually though it had its tail out in the sun.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This was not the best place for sunbathing, a
little breezy, but there it was obviously doing just that. I got
a look at its eyes that were blinking like it was very tired.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I eased closer and it started for the water,
touched fringe ice, and then came back, sniffed again, and
finally lay on its side. Like a dog, its hind legs seem to twitch
in scratching mode, and then with a sigh it was still.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I thought of scaring it to see where it would
go, thinking that it acted like it didn't belong in the pond, but
thought better of that. I started easing away, and then like that
it was up, in the water, and splashing me with its tail.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went back to my perch. It circled around in
the pond and was back at me splashing. I retreated. When I looked
around I saw it dive about 20 yards from the lodge, which was
what a beaver should do. I began to leave, then when I turned
around again, I saw ripples at the dam. Then I saw the beaver in
Beaver Point Pond, cruising quickly. The chase was on. I've never
seen a beaver move with such dispatch for so long in so straight
a line. I saw it cross Beaver Point dam and swim in the Porcupine
Hotel pool. When I got to the New Pond, I did not see it. I saw
some ripples at the edge of the remaining, but it didn't take
long for the wind to repeat the pattern. I assume the beaver went
directly to the New Pond lodge. I didn't go over to bother him some more. I
also assume that it doesn't quite belong to the Otter Hole Pond
colony.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 6 another cold day but the sun was out. I
left the car for Leslie at the Nature Center, and then walked
down to Audubon Pond. On the way I saw a dozen turkeys hurrying
through the woods. Down at the pond, the beavers continue to
segment the little dead tree they took down. No otter signs.
However there was a lone male merganser on the pond. Today the
geese were together and floating around the pond. The deer
carcass has been pulled at and gnawed some more. The chest was
open, the ribs picked clean and much bile souped inside.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Again with the freeze no good tracks around it.
I checked the rock along South Bay and there were no fresh scats
there. The brown one of yesterday got an old look in a hurry. I
did notice, for the first time, how much otter scat was
underneath the tree tilting up on the rock.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUYS23SqeJbtfci5Ig7bSmQoXMjKjGzYB0Og4j56DhCUq6eap_tm-UEnjy8OXZb0mhL4-eH91HYKVu__9IPoMlz_UN_28RCc2WN8i_YxYrwEeXOhPOtN_dq2fqA7ljT33C7tRY1rZFro/s1600/treeden6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUYS23SqeJbtfci5Ig7bSmQoXMjKjGzYB0Og4j56DhCUq6eap_tm-UEnjy8OXZb0mhL4-eH91HYKVu__9IPoMlz_UN_28RCc2WN8i_YxYrwEeXOhPOtN_dq2fqA7ljT33C7tRY1rZFro/s1600/treeden6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">None of it fresh. I couldn't see any hole into
the tree or bank, but even without, it is good cover. Out on the
Bay I saw two herons, and right along the shore a pair of what
looked like goldeneyes, though they didn't act that much like
goldeneyes.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibG-99l_A0JwW0ZVG4XTsq65DVsVC2zS4VgeKQs9Q6Z13-QXlE_yxpQHkJmw45Yd0hzsJ_bjrNRCosxr7hmMaAyNLAj5B-ykToy-tCYDBnCnE1Ppl968V9el97jWrbDD2MLQnXYmA8AwA/s1600/goldeneye6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibG-99l_A0JwW0ZVG4XTsq65DVsVC2zS4VgeKQs9Q6Z13-QXlE_yxpQHkJmw45Yd0hzsJ_bjrNRCosxr7hmMaAyNLAj5B-ykToy-tCYDBnCnE1Ppl968V9el97jWrbDD2MLQnXYmA8AwA/s1600/goldeneye6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="geye.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any fresh work around the New Pond
lodge, but didn't look closely and, of course, without the ice,
the beaver can range anywhere at ease. Up at the East Trail Pond
there were fewer ducks. There was one new otter scat, just
freezing up,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAMI_i5eoXC9lgoxA5iy7DFG4C4tEz0uy_L2vfio2IMYYtgJ-Re7V87ip479Yd16-ZiC1Zy276jgsUIxxqRt8ozHRysRe2gMYeLt6N6OqGyZiyYhqFqZVk5uY0YfALhi3oeLTGmiS6NQ/s1600/scat6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAMI_i5eoXC9lgoxA5iy7DFG4C4tEz0uy_L2vfio2IMYYtgJ-Re7V87ip479Yd16-ZiC1Zy276jgsUIxxqRt8ozHRysRe2gMYeLt6N6OqGyZiyYhqFqZVk5uY0YfALhi3oeLTGmiS6NQ/s1600/scat6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">at the foot of the trail up the ridge to Otter
Hole Pond. I found the most ducks on the Second Swamp Pond which
has grown quite a bit. I will have to check the dam. When I came
up on the Lost Swamp I saw the usual complement of hooded
mergansers, and this time the honking geese. As you can tell, I
was under time constraints for this hike. I did pause to
appreciate the array of leftovers that the beavers have left by
the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyMjNWPVCpXqbhIjsmabCF4S4suRqwXmvxOC2_RGVNF7kdLzou99S40ugR_VlZT-aZ1t0VXqHU04T_KSBhnru2Mhf_qGGTt-hdDKufEGdbt54NdCS_nLvgCtzC3Oxig1fTU1smQjqsrs/s1600/bvsticks6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyMjNWPVCpXqbhIjsmabCF4S4suRqwXmvxOC2_RGVNF7kdLzou99S40ugR_VlZT-aZ1t0VXqHU04T_KSBhnru2Mhf_qGGTt-hdDKufEGdbt54NdCS_nLvgCtzC3Oxig1fTU1smQjqsrs/s1600/bvsticks6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I hurried along the Big Pond dam, noticing
some patching especially along the north end, but still much
water flowing over.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 8 showers let up and I went out a little
before ten. On the way to the East Trail Pond, I paused at the
South Bay cove to wonder if a small squirt of otter scat might be
fresh. There were hooded mergansers on the East Trail Pond and I
thought I might get to a good vantage point and sit down before
they flew off. No such luck. A lone goose remained in the pond, a
sentinel, for I saw another goose folded elegantly on the side of
the beaver lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVfc2gffsfr6t-Ut4lKKuh7yQ_XchHLetWAqXkEAceveXh0Dr0rtkjVf_I_3ZSWPJYg_0Ik1EjU498zKCqE3aXi4uZO1ZXL5G8VsSeTzooUSmEpyIGTXTLKTNb1zI-hCBfsqxnRq2bK0/s1600/goose8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVfc2gffsfr6t-Ut4lKKuh7yQ_XchHLetWAqXkEAceveXh0Dr0rtkjVf_I_3ZSWPJYg_0Ik1EjU498zKCqE3aXi4uZO1ZXL5G8VsSeTzooUSmEpyIGTXTLKTNb1zI-hCBfsqxnRq2bK0/s1600/goose8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat for about fifteen minutes, and the wind
picked up as I did rippling the placid pond. There was fresh scat
at the west end of the dam, two very large groups of smears and
they were different in color and consistency. One was gray and
the other black. One tubular, the other flatter. Both had a
generous amount of fish scales.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYjcyzOMfuyzmUDkKuyeue9GFM0LnLKMX2TvjxRo67jfxYDl5cX5sbRnir3W2MoYV_9DgkmH3TtAx8HYMG8QhVZMqaYBN4Xi7E5Fj5dT1WAD2vYYiuo7fIrwaHbQNKlktr_pkNhMX4k4/s1600/scat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYjcyzOMfuyzmUDkKuyeue9GFM0LnLKMX2TvjxRo67jfxYDl5cX5sbRnir3W2MoYV_9DgkmH3TtAx8HYMG8QhVZMqaYBN4Xi7E5Fj5dT1WAD2vYYiuo7fIrwaHbQNKlktr_pkNhMX4k4/s1600/scat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Not far from it, a beaver made a bodacious
scent mound with grass formed in a two foot wall and a stick
crowning that. Perhaps the beavers are trying to tell the otters
something. There was a squirt of scat on the way to Otter Hole
Pond. I decided to cross the dam and go to the Lost Swamp Pond
first. In the middle of the dam, after kneeing my way through a
flock a mosquito-like flies, I found two whitish scats, or otter
upchuck. They were of the consistency, texture, and almost color
of cold fried egg whites.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_rO_fGhxc0M1QQ1kUaD02XX_1PlrN5WcLd-LpGLBi_VpVsQbc0DWwhyAWHxTzT88vNCaAgrVMD6n8-_iHOsglwwAJg5kMkOB6YPzWAp0MchWaIZuyw173jppxsR4lGjLax79qvUS6TA/s1600/scatwhite8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_rO_fGhxc0M1QQ1kUaD02XX_1PlrN5WcLd-LpGLBi_VpVsQbc0DWwhyAWHxTzT88vNCaAgrVMD6n8-_iHOsglwwAJg5kMkOB6YPzWAp0MchWaIZuyw173jppxsR4lGjLax79qvUS6TA/s1600/scatwhite8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'd say they were older than the other scat,
and there was the same type of scat on the slope east of the dam,
but older than the other scats.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhojuxdUNPq4P75dXlPfNvJoT-VATbGFB5yrRRDvZkjPdCRwcs_lUZtN5hr8lBwY-Advkeo3dWCvL4GhbBc04ErlvVw9UcAWjrI5w4ABD63zlgF72xMJudqTl9peb0to_xtXeIllZ1FFkI/s1600/scatwhite8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhojuxdUNPq4P75dXlPfNvJoT-VATbGFB5yrRRDvZkjPdCRwcs_lUZtN5hr8lBwY-Advkeo3dWCvL4GhbBc04ErlvVw9UcAWjrI5w4ABD63zlgF72xMJudqTl9peb0to_xtXeIllZ1FFkI/s1600/scatwhite8a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the lower Second Swamp pond, I saw a pair of
black ducks, that impressed me with their size. They seemed brave
as I approached, but then a wave of black ducks on the upper pond
flew off, then another wave, then another, and then the two in
front of me, perhaps 50 black ducks in all and a few mallards.
Then as I passed the upper pond, a pair of wood ducks flew in,
the male, I'd say, quite ardent. Of course with me around they
soon flew off. As I came up to the pond below the dam, I thought
I saw the usual hooded mergansers, but they appeared to be scaup,
ten males and a female. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdxbLM1hShV0W31HoRO9BjBGXQK5BtY3CpqDP7L-axya25RsT6hfQcZCXOmUk5rO-Xs0RO3WTILYp31hV20gCLRwrBShR0B1b1hm7sEah22VYbch5ssdv7cVHMrDW-l0licBV0_pNJpI/s1600/scaup8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdxbLM1hShV0W31HoRO9BjBGXQK5BtY3CpqDP7L-axya25RsT6hfQcZCXOmUk5rO-Xs0RO3WTILYp31hV20gCLRwrBShR0B1b1hm7sEah22VYbch5ssdv7cVHMrDW-l0licBV0_pNJpI/s1600/scaup8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="ducksev8.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then they flew off they flew together in tight
formation and landed just on the other side of the pond. Down at
the north slope, I saw scuffing in the grass and then when I
walked further up the slope I saw several otter scats, perhaps
from today. I went down to Otter Hole Pond instead of my usual
route to the Big Pond. The pond is so full that otter rock could
be back in business. Indeed some moss had been scraped up but I
didn't see any scat nearby. I checked the rock den area for signs
that otters had been there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4pcEwfTo9GJ9OabR8K9fdmUu_jvirMQAvChCXehd025apTGyrDLWpl_6QpsHn3HR9ca6D8TxiPsnjnvH2rcuPLcxtLsJjqDg-ziMN7fNLcdq73n9rW0wGQpGhxLDSATWKXeIVjDA394/s1600/rockdens8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4pcEwfTo9GJ9OabR8K9fdmUu_jvirMQAvChCXehd025apTGyrDLWpl_6QpsHn3HR9ca6D8TxiPsnjnvH2rcuPLcxtLsJjqDg-ziMN7fNLcdq73n9rW0wGQpGhxLDSATWKXeIVjDA394/s1600/rockdens8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A beaver had left a scent marking at the spot
where the beaver was trying to sleep the other day. I don't know
if that beaver did it or another resident beaver trying to tell
the stray beaver to get lost. There were no otter signs and I
also fell in the pond as one of the rocks I jumped on flipped
over into the pond, but I had a grip on the rock wall. I crossed
Otter Hole dam and there is now only one major leak and one very
minor leak. The beavers have been working.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkTVXcqmRZLzSj4_Gg0HbpOCoeXJwfTgoQJGztUuxUqBMtO_WVz9FjhhGRdxJ11UIBfIGIDbwina5ZfvAqynAlw1w4yW3mrn2e-ndeMM8-8yr4xTCQgf3uhul55foOQhWAXLsz-CduYA/s1600/ohdam8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkTVXcqmRZLzSj4_Gg0HbpOCoeXJwfTgoQJGztUuxUqBMtO_WVz9FjhhGRdxJ11UIBfIGIDbwina5ZfvAqynAlw1w4yW3mrn2e-ndeMM8-8yr4xTCQgf3uhul55foOQhWAXLsz-CduYA/s1600/ohdam8a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've crossed this dam many times but this is
the first time I've kicked down a loose rock. The beavers must
have just pushed it on the dam and had no time to anchor it. And
in doing the patch on the hole farthest west on the pond it
looked like they may have made a little dam behind the leak to
back up the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q-u8Yo_VHpEXJ9ix0D8O19d-ZS3-5b9-Akmzu_wHnP_EmEyj7kR3jHjIBLw0FaBQQDuGQMbH6nNOkSVEtr-YzCcP1Gkr6-tKZ0I8apxL5wsliXFkG3zFx8IHWZnv6VIkRzTfu334xVc/s1600/ohdam8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q-u8Yo_VHpEXJ9ix0D8O19d-ZS3-5b9-Akmzu_wHnP_EmEyj7kR3jHjIBLw0FaBQQDuGQMbH6nNOkSVEtr-YzCcP1Gkr6-tKZ0I8apxL5wsliXFkG3zFx8IHWZnv6VIkRzTfu334xVc/s1600/ohdam8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were no scats on the dam, but down at
beaver point, I saw some scat, not too fresh. So the otters seem
to be going from pond to pond; their scats are large. I'd guess
that the East Trail Pond is still where they are denning. I
suppose I should check up stream from it the next time I am
there. The repairs on Otter Hole Dam mean that Beaver Point Pond
is losing water. The algae is now hanging dry along the shore. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqGroVTPv2ZKByLU3ry8zzt4T_-7gGbikjgm6uLpYtZPNjUDCrIAtRv-N9yMjpMANffCTauY2DUSKG-YDNgD6Jbr6QIyKAV5-pAidMOFp6sWk5KYk8mBjM7PzQuk8xJvOcteus8FcbuM/s1600/bppalgae8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqGroVTPv2ZKByLU3ry8zzt4T_-7gGbikjgm6uLpYtZPNjUDCrIAtRv-N9yMjpMANffCTauY2DUSKG-YDNgD6Jbr6QIyKAV5-pAidMOFp6sWk5KYk8mBjM7PzQuk8xJvOcteus8FcbuM/s1600/bppalgae8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 9 a warm day with showers that ended
about 4; I went off to check on some beavers at 5, primarily I
wanted to see who was in Audubon Pond and where they were
lodging, as I think the old lodge too low in the water. I took a
detour at the East Trail and went up to that pond in hopes of
seeing otters and since I had a little time to kill before
beavers could be expected out, I wanted to spend it at the most
beautiful pond. The wind and sun did play nicely on the pond.
Only a few ducks were on it. A pair of mallards shopped the shore
unimpeded by other ducks. In about 15 minutes a beaver appeared.
I do think traveling under the ice speeds beavers up. This one
paddled slowly toward the dam, seemed to bump into something to
nibble, then swam over the to rock on the west side of the dam
and climbed up a bit. I couldn't quite see what it was doing.
probably marking. It got back in the water touched a few sticks,
and then swam up and around the pond. I saw what the ice conceals
-- the beautiful ripples a beaver can make.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5CcSLv33JYPU4BJ31kRSd-jNLtZh4s61M2kKdh5E-Gjn2duHC8p01glkdOr3erzDwQD_8lIUxmZE32GAwKg88Ba-0YdxIdKX47lsl4enMJxBHoQ81PqCWj3kllDyxidPY6tkDIFNhqY/s1600/ripples9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5CcSLv33JYPU4BJ31kRSd-jNLtZh4s61M2kKdh5E-Gjn2duHC8p01glkdOr3erzDwQD_8lIUxmZE32GAwKg88Ba-0YdxIdKX47lsl4enMJxBHoQ81PqCWj3kllDyxidPY6tkDIFNhqY/s1600/ripples9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I backed out the way I came and didn't disturb
the evening calm of the pond. I heard sporadic bursts from chorus
frogs and peepers. The birds were steadier. This pond had the
jays. Audubon Pond was surrounded with robins. But before I got
to that treat I got a chance to inspect the beavers at the
Short-cut Trail Pond. As I came up a beaver was pushing some mud
up on the dam below. I settled in to watch that, but it walked up
on the dam, then into the water and swam toward me with a little
stick in its mouth. It reached a log in the pond and climbed up
on that to eat the stick. There is no accounting for this
wandering about. I moved closer, since the wind was in my face,
but with a glance to my right I noticed two beavers swimming out
behind the Short-cut Trail dam. One was right behind the other.
They both seemed small and the one behind seemed tiny. It all but
latched on to the back of the bigger beaver, and floated higher
in the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pF0wHdZT1DDUTdwhBNpcITLnXWVFxuUyHN1WheHl6khzBUWNTUEhEjXHbmoZNrEh2SuvXsgLotjCbvSJN_rw6XcKyD95rV1zpF7Dju71IeB5HyTR1dTcsONJE0PXnAfIOa9qf5OHfyE/s1600/bvs9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pF0wHdZT1DDUTdwhBNpcITLnXWVFxuUyHN1WheHl6khzBUWNTUEhEjXHbmoZNrEh2SuvXsgLotjCbvSJN_rw6XcKyD95rV1zpF7Dju71IeB5HyTR1dTcsONJE0PXnAfIOa9qf5OHfyE/s1600/bvs9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They swam out into the shallow pond then
circled back toward me, then right for me, and the bigger got
half way out at the shore to sniff me. The little one remained
quietly in the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GPnBNQZMRQPzR2TO9RGIH-8FqtEVtnF6wnLXKiYyVLYia0p8lwUfkv4UI1Mi4eAifmTPj9WePqqXq32IwblVToOOgh96Uha5Zs_cBAUJeR_zyHW85drSQkS-x3XoqeN-QLGQX4K5BHA/s1600/bvs9a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GPnBNQZMRQPzR2TO9RGIH-8FqtEVtnF6wnLXKiYyVLYia0p8lwUfkv4UI1Mi4eAifmTPj9WePqqXq32IwblVToOOgh96Uha5Zs_cBAUJeR_zyHW85drSQkS-x3XoqeN-QLGQX4K5BHA/s1600/bvs9a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="beavs9.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When the big one swam back, the little
followed. They did a tighter circle and then dove into the dam
lodge. I was hoping they'd swim through but they didn't. Could
this have been a baby born in the lodge during the winter? I
don't know how else to account for it. I tried to sneak across
the bridge without disturbing the beavers below -- I spied
another one in that pond. But the first beaver I saw did some
powerful tail pounding. I moved swiftly on, which the beavers may
have noticed because they stayed out in the pond. When I came up
to Audubon I saw a wake, but from the two geese. I sat on the
bench and waited, and waited. Different ducks flew in: scaup,
then mallards, then wood ducks. I heard some splashing in the
water over by the shore where one of the wood ducks was sitting
innocently on a log. I was about to decide it was a fish, when I
saw a muskrat nervously touring the far shore. It stayed right
along the shore I eventually lost it in the grasses in the
shallows. I waited until seven, still no beavers, and there was a
half gnawed stick right in front of me, perhaps moved there by a
person, but along the shore, the pile of freshly gnawed logs
grows.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCqu1nNiEWdiqkk7izkBFKw8FRQRLk4KP0rPIRhflAE6KVp0FACRfbFCym6DC_IM-HTR4GnAOfy5g8dkdMU4QDaz_v3LEtNqitPVCWz5Lixvtf9-uEdbq02HTaSpLeQj_8-LJAIxS-G8/s1600/bvwk9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCqu1nNiEWdiqkk7izkBFKw8FRQRLk4KP0rPIRhflAE6KVp0FACRfbFCym6DC_IM-HTR4GnAOfy5g8dkdMU4QDaz_v3LEtNqitPVCWz5Lixvtf9-uEdbq02HTaSpLeQj_8-LJAIxS-G8/s1600/bvwk9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked down the long causeway another
muskrat came swimming close along the shore. It ignored me and as
best as I could see was just nibbling what grasses -- still
mostly brown -- that it bumped into. It too made striking
ripples.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kziH7MYfG8P4NB0WXgvFClzvIaEUBiPcllPELnUt3asE7K9Xaxgo_dzAv4Woso8RE32ZFO-qAWidngDhnaFRgq6EDyvnD-ywH9mQxh3-9GnHvNqKT9piAYeQGIOCK1W1gBD2Zsq1JBw/s1600/ratrips9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kziH7MYfG8P4NB0WXgvFClzvIaEUBiPcllPELnUt3asE7K9Xaxgo_dzAv4Woso8RE32ZFO-qAWidngDhnaFRgq6EDyvnD-ywH9mQxh3-9GnHvNqKT9piAYeQGIOCK1W1gBD2Zsq1JBw/s1600/ratrips9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="muskrat9.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Both muskrats struck me as small, but it takes
a while to adjust once again to the sizes of these critters that
I haven't seen for a while. The park people had been around the
pond, beaver felled limbs were moved out of paths and the deer
carcass was gone. A dozen crows flew over, seemed to caw over the
situation and most moved on. Here too I heard sporadic frog
calling. Out in South Bay I saw a few more scaup, quite frisky,
and a pair of buffleheads.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 11 only a slight chill in the morning,
but still need a jacket. I went straight away to the East Trail
Pond and sat. The goose was at his post, and one mallard swam
back from the lodge and soon commenced quacking. I had time to
reflect on a poor prediction. I thought the beavers would stand
on the ice and finish stripping the cherry tree they so enjoyed
in the fall. They didn't. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZXhzwEtNA2FF0erw15dbxEZgHO3ySCOyqA36wzdaNblRgI3r9sxPl_tyQ1j97ZQBg_L4sWQjR4PweZdMSwT9PSTxC39jOP8HfC-ZAqozE_FD52HY_QmVSFkuN0ZcCOEithTqQ6rLk6c/s1600/etcherry11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZXhzwEtNA2FF0erw15dbxEZgHO3ySCOyqA36wzdaNblRgI3r9sxPl_tyQ1j97ZQBg_L4sWQjR4PweZdMSwT9PSTxC39jOP8HfC-ZAqozE_FD52HY_QmVSFkuN0ZcCOEithTqQ6rLk6c/s1600/etcherry11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Finally I walked down to the dam and saw
evidence that I may have missed some excitement. A beaver made an
even larger scent mound between the pond and where the otter has
been scatting. And then right at the scat site, there was a bit of
mud with a stick on it, beaver-style.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<center>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw_cmx_lJGaP40E18Hky19zoIUswT2aAz7sYrtFgP1L922OxUTA05gFbWDhY6N3EGSd3AVPS4ZdV7GNyHBZow3RR-0tk3tR3Fpt42Zny7aRzeOaPtHQV6mmMc-TeSLjnk7h4wrvhARJI/s1600/bvmd11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw_cmx_lJGaP40E18Hky19zoIUswT2aAz7sYrtFgP1L922OxUTA05gFbWDhY6N3EGSd3AVPS4ZdV7GNyHBZow3RR-0tk3tR3Fpt42Zny7aRzeOaPtHQV6mmMc-TeSLjnk7h4wrvhARJI/s1600/bvmd11.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEf-LxqI2YhCnRsyGHOJuw5CepKygldCeu3TW8DpWZwZR8buDEABLwRND2gEmLymQ9k2UWTF62h5Mu6GxICLlDHlPTarc7xWBJHcGJVOdGUh2-O__51XLEK_laf4YFaNlpBI2IpviiFkk/s1600/bvmd11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEf-LxqI2YhCnRsyGHOJuw5CepKygldCeu3TW8DpWZwZR8buDEABLwRND2gEmLymQ9k2UWTF62h5Mu6GxICLlDHlPTarc7xWBJHcGJVOdGUh2-O__51XLEK_laf4YFaNlpBI2IpviiFkk/s1600/bvmd11a.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Just beyond that was a fresh otter scat -- bug
fresh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaQf4sieFZaPmOaeQIpF4xQ_onVAqUNsgHop8232En1RFYOFL4y0Ukb02ec4oZ1ZdY8np1ba6eUY1Yo2XFeRwgU4aI9IDZACXuA4t95bJK8RzuzXTkmYtniyAqB7xs635xDdVulDhr2g/s1600/scat11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaQf4sieFZaPmOaeQIpF4xQ_onVAqUNsgHop8232En1RFYOFL4y0Ukb02ec4oZ1ZdY8np1ba6eUY1Yo2XFeRwgU4aI9IDZACXuA4t95bJK8RzuzXTkmYtniyAqB7xs635xDdVulDhr2g/s1600/scat11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It also had bits of thin, brown shell. I have
suspected this comes from the bullhead but I've never really
crunched a bullhead head to find out. There was only one scat. I
should go up the third swamp ponds, but if there is a otter
mother looking for privacy.... The beavers have pushed mud up
along much of the dam, which they aren't so apt to do since this
pond gets so much water. I went down to the Mother-of-All-Dams to
see why the Second Swamp pond is holding so much water. On the
north side of the dam there was much work -- some good size elm
and ash down or gnawed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZG9OM_3agDWevZlsygRAVFZrToPArmJNW7I9GxNk-F88gQcU5WvmKwCXY7mlBeRMNkIxEASCmj9Kmr5b8a-CHJeptzuoYAdaS9VF9cRbcVgBpgcNJnAquM92VszvN9ZzAOm47lQFCus/s1600/madwk11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZG9OM_3agDWevZlsygRAVFZrToPArmJNW7I9GxNk-F88gQcU5WvmKwCXY7mlBeRMNkIxEASCmj9Kmr5b8a-CHJeptzuoYAdaS9VF9cRbcVgBpgcNJnAquM92VszvN9ZzAOm47lQFCus/s1600/madwk11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">All tracks led to the dam. And the dam has been
repaired -- not very solid work, mostly sticks and grass, but up
at least one foot.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4-6laP-7iwFNg72SHix6rCjJMknspnLT5muaJtjX5GzoDSGQYjm3YDcNwuCO6ll-1wczWmBPw-vq-qvS19UY8EpRreGk1I8PYwdd_DIjfQufNZuz2fjcd6Pm7HvMl_eRHG2tr-KWktk/s1600/mad11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4-6laP-7iwFNg72SHix6rCjJMknspnLT5muaJtjX5GzoDSGQYjm3YDcNwuCO6ll-1wczWmBPw-vq-qvS19UY8EpRreGk1I8PYwdd_DIjfQufNZuz2fjcd6Pm7HvMl_eRHG2tr-KWktk/s1600/mad11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the south end of the dam they are ruining an
old treasure.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIL6qEqPX-dzECf6AmvD3DhODH0HnaCJ-H1UADO78izMJUgyCAr93PISEzRvtmm1NHpjysKcHh4XKhSKvGYKaxXffc-RPrAxPPVFNJh4Z_GEWfMNM1vqfq4v4Ud52ki1wqSk9iipRg5Os/s1600/sqtree11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIL6qEqPX-dzECf6AmvD3DhODH0HnaCJ-H1UADO78izMJUgyCAr93PISEzRvtmm1NHpjysKcHh4XKhSKvGYKaxXffc-RPrAxPPVFNJh4Z_GEWfMNM1vqfq4v4Ud52ki1wqSk9iipRg5Os/s1600/sqtree11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I scanned the pond for any sign of a lodge and
saw none. I couldn't even see the old lodge. Apparently it had
gotten so worn down that now it is flooded over. I think this
area is short of burrows, so I guess the beavers must either be
coming up from Otter Hole pond or down from the Lost Swamp. I'll
have to camp out there some evening. Last year I think when they
were here briefly they came up from Otter Hole. Of course, while
mumbling to myself about this, I sent a legion of ducks up into
the air. This shallow pond has always been their favorite, and
its increased size has increased its popularity. The Lost Swamp
pond was quite taken over by geese. I didn't really scare them,
just that every time I moved they redoubled their honking. I
admired how as they swam along they used the beaver logs floating
in the water as a perch to do some sprucing on.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQHgtyWc0aHgfnbZiyDBANQLt2DDjlH3B9jm2kyxgYiH_JhfC7KbFOFxoDWgAhLNZtzlCpS91-MUoi-QO9zaWpcpfS7xPubYVe7JxltQlqBqWkXcZEdv9xdO-1AA8SlTTE6N7u_hdV_M/s1600/goose11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQHgtyWc0aHgfnbZiyDBANQLt2DDjlH3B9jm2kyxgYiH_JhfC7KbFOFxoDWgAhLNZtzlCpS91-MUoi-QO9zaWpcpfS7xPubYVe7JxltQlqBqWkXcZEdv9xdO-1AA8SlTTE6N7u_hdV_M/s1600/goose11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Swallows have been on the river about week.
Today is the first time I noticed them working the air above the
ponds. There were no fresh otter scats and really no discernible
fresh beaver work. I assume they continue their old projects. At
the Big Pond, the beavers have done some work on the dam, but the
dam is so long and seemingly fragile with high water, that there
isn't much they can do. I think logs are being moved around at
the dam, but I don't think the beavers are doing much nibbling
there, though I'm sure a brief evening visit might very well
disprove that. I walked down the small ponds below the Big Pond.
The Middle Pond doesn't have its usual amount of water. The
smaller ponds get a pleasing green color. At the pond below
Double Lodge pond I noted the low water, leaking dam and need for
a beaver, then saw some freshly gnawed sticks on the shore.
Actually right next to the bones of the small deer that died two
years ago. How white its skull is now and how large and white are
its young teeth.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzVY99jxlwU_jdGfdIhIo9ugtiiAVKMkzhVuFL-OUa6SMcJ9DAeH-pRpMS1KUGX_3LsOj0buLTNF1JAQs0_UaWReulBGpxPkoD4hF-qQsX6Dhq1ObArMemcwRUcWaOjqLw3sDexU61f0/s1600/deerskull11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzVY99jxlwU_jdGfdIhIo9ugtiiAVKMkzhVuFL-OUa6SMcJ9DAeH-pRpMS1KUGX_3LsOj0buLTNF1JAQs0_UaWReulBGpxPkoD4hF-qQsX6Dhq1ObArMemcwRUcWaOjqLw3sDexU61f0/s1600/deerskull11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nearby was a muskrat skull with one half of the
lower jaw. I took it because I just noticed how sharp the lower
incisor of the muskrat is.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fGMJ4SG8DKiyW8-CtpceOxPu8w3DcSZ9gztdXDvcrIorCQUdRsyDPzIffRgxaS2RmRMNKj8cm0ypDl16ed_wFVQdxK_h7Zov_1fgsaLflL96rx-1YCHdju2wsB1uV-5HrUiZ_FuJZEc/s1600/ratteeth11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fGMJ4SG8DKiyW8-CtpceOxPu8w3DcSZ9gztdXDvcrIorCQUdRsyDPzIffRgxaS2RmRMNKj8cm0ypDl16ed_wFVQdxK_h7Zov_1fgsaLflL96rx-1YCHdju2wsB1uV-5HrUiZ_FuJZEc/s1600/ratteeth11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The upper end of the Middle Pond had an
interesting site. The thaw flood cut through the meander of the
creek</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pY3QkD76LTqjilDQ1IngLJIIyFI68jo-3UTA-hZ9fccPotqMMoXAeEZlYgrge3-fSI1SQRUkYCsisc0SpMQd71QSfLR5CGxxS5HpQRGXKnUXiIDOpHoX5Hz9IXDJc5i6zrH-ZETkHXU/s1600/meander11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pY3QkD76LTqjilDQ1IngLJIIyFI68jo-3UTA-hZ9fccPotqMMoXAeEZlYgrge3-fSI1SQRUkYCsisc0SpMQd71QSfLR5CGxxS5HpQRGXKnUXiIDOpHoX5Hz9IXDJc5i6zrH-ZETkHXU/s1600/meander11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The creek used to cut into the
high bank on the south side. Now that channel is drying out. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">After dinner the wind died down (not that it
had been that strong earlier) and I had the motorboat gassed up
and ready to go again. I wanted to see the Audubon Pond beavers.
As I came up to ridge of the pond, I saw about ten vulture</span><span style="font-size: medium;">s
sitting in the trees.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBehy3ptPvZqltVopnCx2f7DNgITAl67nzzbGvrWxOdjN2i990FicKn6z5iVOZJ1uqcYMaoIkFQq9mqSeX6PSQuJlzcdpSiCdoZKyW3FvpOp9GtvEBRglqPa26fM0ZdgGikUDn-iyh8o/s1600/buzzard11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBehy3ptPvZqltVopnCx2f7DNgITAl67nzzbGvrWxOdjN2i990FicKn6z5iVOZJ1uqcYMaoIkFQq9mqSeX6PSQuJlzcdpSiCdoZKyW3FvpOp9GtvEBRglqPa26fM0ZdgGikUDn-iyh8o/s1600/buzzard11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They can pound the air when a number take off,
and with their penchant for roosting on dead limbs, they drop a
few bombs as they go off. Thinking the carcass had been taken
away by park staff, I wondered what brought them here. Then I saw
that the carcass was just up on the hill. Perhaps dragged their
by human or animal. Its picked bones were bleeding red.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUtOjn59NJBdO7G8MNitj44Q5vr4JAal2b9kyikMZfFxfyJzTvZVcBvPGe_e4XsRB60tfUmNngMsEDck6X9pmTabaPvtBVlaTJNNI27hdG-kuoaCMiKx_cJdQkORvIN4OyeL_gnk9cB8/s1600/deercar11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUtOjn59NJBdO7G8MNitj44Q5vr4JAal2b9kyikMZfFxfyJzTvZVcBvPGe_e4XsRB60tfUmNngMsEDck6X9pmTabaPvtBVlaTJNNI27hdG-kuoaCMiKx_cJdQkORvIN4OyeL_gnk9cB8/s1600/deercar11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile on the pond, a goose and a few ducks
steamed away from me. The pond is quite scummed over with pollen.
I also noticed this the other day, but just a small portion. I
got to the bench and waited until 8pm, almost dark, but no
beavers came out. I did see a new stick on their pile, but the
one half gnawed stick in front of the bench was still there.
Perhaps what work I've seen has been done by beavers coming down
to the pond from up creek. Toward the Short-cut Trail Pond, the
peepers set up a deafening din. The other big news is that
mosquitoes were out and angling in for a taste of me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 14 I headed off mid-morning on a cloudy,
humid morning, rapidly warming, and went directly to the East
Trail Pond, but deigned to notice some small fish swimming at the
South Bay causeway perhaps contemplating a run through the
conduit pipe and up the creek. As we got to the ridge over
looking the East Trail Pond, Leslie was distracted by a possible
pine warbler. I kept my eye on the pond, and ducks made all the
ripples, and there were not many of them. A heron also flew off.
I sat and watched and soon saw two flickers, three swallows, two
pileated woodpeckers, close to each other but not dancing to the
same beat. A vulture hovered above them all. The leopard frogs
were in good voice, at times roaring like a crowd. I went down to
the dam side and found a fresh otter scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JfnQ7vVBQoC2SMZefdIqrDDdU_5wyKa21TvmuSSXdTXsiQj_qYdXrT-DaIRmMBxYN_fPrOkQXfAlYSiZ4EAnDTqYeuw6EmNnbid8AcPl6OqtQ1Li6IkhE2qluul6K1mm2okoIqbl1gI/s1600/scat14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JfnQ7vVBQoC2SMZefdIqrDDdU_5wyKa21TvmuSSXdTXsiQj_qYdXrT-DaIRmMBxYN_fPrOkQXfAlYSiZ4EAnDTqYeuw6EmNnbid8AcPl6OqtQ1Li6IkhE2qluul6K1mm2okoIqbl1gI/s1600/scat14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This scat also had shell like material, but
tubular. I scrape through this stuff and just can't picture what
it comes from, not crayfish, not turtle, not bullhead; other new
scats, not so fresh, were on the trail up the ridge. In the chess
game between beavers and otters, the beavers had made no major
move. Just one stick and small, very small, blob of mud on it.
However, the beavers have been raising the dam, principally with
mud, but I found two rocks on top of the mud.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFurIu9-Gn3md_mGl4neiwwS8Xwtuw9Uu6xWcOOY9o56c-PaWkr84m_hNv7LCnykmS0Aq_Dhd5HKKSHLvYSylsbxQAVh66aBt7s4EvyJ62RVF8rg9RXyM33ZP37y68ICeBaByg7l2AIWE/s1600/rockdam14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFurIu9-Gn3md_mGl4neiwwS8Xwtuw9Uu6xWcOOY9o56c-PaWkr84m_hNv7LCnykmS0Aq_Dhd5HKKSHLvYSylsbxQAVh66aBt7s4EvyJ62RVF8rg9RXyM33ZP37y68ICeBaByg7l2AIWE/s1600/rockdam14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On one beaver stick I found what looked like
fresh goo. I don't think anything so pure ever came out of an
otter.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vLVtfhPQXWK7A3tgtRAPXo_bnyqXrVdPMxHphCsf6NVyQ6jm7kNm6fIa3CMwuHeNOzuYdgf8D4BqroUNCbf3qfffnN_ZmC0oeAh0lzAjfFWI0JmFLlhLxqkFRvOmTkDgIryS9MeKbFw/s1600/goo14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8vLVtfhPQXWK7A3tgtRAPXo_bnyqXrVdPMxHphCsf6NVyQ6jm7kNm6fIa3CMwuHeNOzuYdgf8D4BqroUNCbf3qfffnN_ZmC0oeAh0lzAjfFWI0JmFLlhLxqkFRvOmTkDgIryS9MeKbFw/s1600/goo14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps this was pure unadulterated castoreum.
Then at the end of the dam I saw a handsome leopard frog.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04qaIDCD9szR6DyxmtY0LkrGDufPF_HW4QevSNvRpOReezmhJhmqC9I22mupXxKMWQx3klpgApqLvy0ZXZAY4RuxXCZsSazYHXLtScVTV18rsazGd0vH-MqSvn6POYf0Chk2uiiwtVMk/s1600/frog14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04qaIDCD9szR6DyxmtY0LkrGDufPF_HW4QevSNvRpOReezmhJhmqC9I22mupXxKMWQx3klpgApqLvy0ZXZAY4RuxXCZsSazYHXLtScVTV18rsazGd0vH-MqSvn6POYf0Chk2uiiwtVMk/s1600/frog14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Over on the other side of the dam, on the slope
where the otters scat, there was a very fresh leaving, off white
with the consistency of fried egg whites.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfcJl4CoKGqkmGZr-qXOQiafEYMLgNq8ltbY3gz6hDw2DZCIqWJDfb2WDygy6E5u30nXMgMNWkZgtt81GTcoxbEd5ur8p5YrFMMYkxNztjXt1lSztJ77cU8meQkY056hReCnzdRvmhs0/s1600/white14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfcJl4CoKGqkmGZr-qXOQiafEYMLgNq8ltbY3gz6hDw2DZCIqWJDfb2WDygy6E5u30nXMgMNWkZgtt81GTcoxbEd5ur8p5YrFMMYkxNztjXt1lSztJ77cU8meQkY056hReCnzdRvmhs0/s1600/white14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This was exactly at the spot where a similar
leaving was. I say leaving because I think this was upchucked by
the otter. (I just read an 18th century report on yellow fever
patients -- human, who vomited something described as "a
viscid, tough mucous, similar to the white of eggs.") Now
why an otter might upchuck the same stuff in the same place, I
don't know. Clearly the otter or otters are making this their
primary pond of residence. And I think there are two otters
because I see two different colors of scat. So I poked around the
rocks, smelled and saw nothing, and then walked up the creek
coming down from the third swamp ponds. I found a beaver marking
midway, and signs that something had gone over the third pond dam
but saw no prints. The pond dam is not in good repair.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0dahWYrYK-D-DTZV7vGphYdMcir7RRcNW6vxNkSmNj8ANnyw7xKfhFPWdb08z3sO_GtAea8p4KMP1-DUbIKueuvfEHWeEYYbEJZ60romb4Ryph-iGhqiqxkMKy4biBoIbTEn3jdm6u4/s1600/thirdsdam14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0dahWYrYK-D-DTZV7vGphYdMcir7RRcNW6vxNkSmNj8ANnyw7xKfhFPWdb08z3sO_GtAea8p4KMP1-DUbIKueuvfEHWeEYYbEJZ60romb4Ryph-iGhqiqxkMKy4biBoIbTEn3jdm6u4/s1600/thirdsdam14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This exploration cost six ducks and two geese
their peaceful day, and don't forget two grouse and three
entangled garter snakes in the bush. This, of course, was a good
area for frogs, especially comb frogs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="combfrogs.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">The Second Swamp continues to swell, to the
delight of ducks. From 50 to 100 flew off as I walked along.
Geese continue to predominate at the Lost Swamp Pond. I checked
the rock by the lodge for otter scat and an otter did make a mark
and mound a few days ago; and also at the north slope. Nothing
fresh. I headed back toward Beaver Point Pond to see if the
otters had scatted there. I went via the Mother-of-All-Dams which
almost sent me spilling into the pond. The beavers are making
progress on repairing the dam, but nothing permanent yet. They
continue to work on the squared tree,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzPXg42hCeb2vywlt3EeDI8aX6YKZij-jhlfR3Ihw00fIjpzQBHGAnu1d5Fe7J3BBjxNkDK0sE-NnypluQ9umYLI_lALNoqHSYcHpUQ4NeB2lBhpufSwYMk7voIksvMryQGMeodEHdEI/s1600/sqtree14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzPXg42hCeb2vywlt3EeDI8aX6YKZij-jhlfR3Ihw00fIjpzQBHGAnu1d5Fe7J3BBjxNkDK0sE-NnypluQ9umYLI_lALNoqHSYcHpUQ4NeB2lBhpufSwYMk7voIksvMryQGMeodEHdEI/s1600/sqtree14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and perhaps a little more work on the other
side of the dam. I think this is all being done by a visiting
beaver, not a prospective resident. I took a look at the old
lodge in the middle pool of Otter Hole Pond. It is surrounded by
water for the first time in three years, but it is in such
disrepair. Down at Otter Hole Pond, the beavers continue to work
on the large pine tree despite the impressive amount of sticky
sap coating it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eUjrZBj9kdTNnBRTlkMYqykfAY_SrgJ_pVIkxlZ3Ns9syU_ezw3wEbYhJxWCDsuUUv4Zuj9WPD4Uixs52z0dFVXxhEtrM3ih4FmbZra9HAhY34-QMbtjfzKlm97iW3NQJnDoV0bJBAg/s1600/pinewk14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eUjrZBj9kdTNnBRTlkMYqykfAY_SrgJ_pVIkxlZ3Ns9syU_ezw3wEbYhJxWCDsuUUv4Zuj9WPD4Uixs52z0dFVXxhEtrM3ih4FmbZra9HAhY34-QMbtjfzKlm97iW3NQJnDoV0bJBAg/s1600/pinewk14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I should try to get a photo of them working on
this. I finally saw a painted turtle.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlxUvmC9Yk5F1mdiOktTVjldVTpBMLKZo1fYpAwI2GjKtRSgRLQh_E-tnqXyEtFBdPncOs5thq95Q2k2wvcCgemlHFUs7yibecTQ1qsyjhZDd0No_hLnv1a7H2NJn6IqdCDh98xSIkIQ/s1600/pturtle14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSlxUvmC9Yk5F1mdiOktTVjldVTpBMLKZo1fYpAwI2GjKtRSgRLQh_E-tnqXyEtFBdPncOs5thq95Q2k2wvcCgemlHFUs7yibecTQ1qsyjhZDd0No_hLnv1a7H2NJn6IqdCDh98xSIkIQ/s1600/pturtle14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the leaf litter I saw a large spider,
reddish brown,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eLitFcEC2oNVFyBY7xVsnk1E69Qpr_Xoutq8zl2N4IQpfloPkMZY4MmTk89NgkOfkvcyH6JmppaEALZdvqhXLtCZFYI7Iyd1UJrl9Zq1uBayogVEcRdO7Vqyru1v9bqRxozn2gxvsa0/s1600/spider14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eLitFcEC2oNVFyBY7xVsnk1E69Qpr_Xoutq8zl2N4IQpfloPkMZY4MmTk89NgkOfkvcyH6JmppaEALZdvqhXLtCZFYI7Iyd1UJrl9Zq1uBayogVEcRdO7Vqyru1v9bqRxozn2gxvsa0/s1600/spider14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="spider.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Crossing the dams the soggy turf almost oozes
with little spiders. Down at Beaver Point Pond there was no sign
that otters had been there. Some beaver stripped logs were about
and the water around the old lodge there was murky. Beavers
must enjoy putting a little space between themselves and their
mates in the colony who they spent the winter with. A song
sparrow sat on a stick above the lodge, then dove right into the
lodge -- another kind of precision flying. The leak in Beaver
Point dam to the north of the lodge in the dam is quiet, perhaps
patched. But there are three leaks still on the south side of the
dam. Going out we didn't notice any flowers by the side of the
road. Going back I saw these worthies</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lR-Yo07z8fNxh5acCXNu4FQ8DYGyyPbr7yJIb1pebQV1uSi_P-NN7tjhX1c4qpDmoDLACwhKshJaGvmLzn4nPk5_457krGKJvzfJW9qRVOMldPRAknqwGSX2rVoSPCzcgSwkt6IUZjc/s1600/yflower14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lR-Yo07z8fNxh5acCXNu4FQ8DYGyyPbr7yJIb1pebQV1uSi_P-NN7tjhX1c4qpDmoDLACwhKshJaGvmLzn4nPk5_457krGKJvzfJW9qRVOMldPRAknqwGSX2rVoSPCzcgSwkt6IUZjc/s1600/yflower14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">whose name I have to look up every spring.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 15 true to my resolve, I woke up before
dawn and was on my way to the East Trail Pond by 6am in a fog
left by a rainy night. There was no excuse for the frogs to quit
singing, and the birds, robins especially, added to the melody.
At the little South Bay causeway I paused because an otter had
left a pert pile of leaves with a squirt of scat on top. I hoped
this wouldn't complicate my quest because I wanted the otter
staying put in the East Trail Pond. Then crossing the next creek
I saw the remains of a bullfrog on the log bridge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSvyW5Z0aFP1U9chI2vxiQ1Oqhpk3Vtnximfe6sJe2DWQlA3-pOscWYsr2BXYfc84xuSwKz4qdLGGaTQoQzqVGtnkmIIqMWaHBWTnvG8cNfRLBjrak8PZj3Jt9yYf36gh9vUqROGiGcA/s1600/frogdead15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSvyW5Z0aFP1U9chI2vxiQ1Oqhpk3Vtnximfe6sJe2DWQlA3-pOscWYsr2BXYfc84xuSwKz4qdLGGaTQoQzqVGtnkmIIqMWaHBWTnvG8cNfRLBjrak8PZj3Jt9yYf36gh9vUqROGiGcA/s1600/frogdead15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but no sure sign that an otter left it. Up on
the ridge over looking the pond, I first noticed </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">the song of the
hermit thrush. Not quite as noticeable as in summer evenings
when it's often the last bird singing. A few ducks flew off as I
looked for a perch on the rocks. Then I saw beavers below and
they quickly took alarm and splashed me. There were at least
three cruising about behind the dam. I worried that this might
complicate seeing an otter, but I enjoyed their antics. One
little one made a point of nosing me and splashing me, and then
climbed up on shore below me, tried to eat some grass and then
groomed itself.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoWONz3bXM-v_MzQUqWDk29oEJTqtd4NvkYYozB63V_n0aXOU2AD6ihM8NO8W8Jp1tw-zPCOTFX90KMzSElO9mrwuBr90T1meD-OU4lJnuNRNXpcRcVvUARJOUsZ5S99EKZV6_NIhuZ0/s1600/bvgrm14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoWONz3bXM-v_MzQUqWDk29oEJTqtd4NvkYYozB63V_n0aXOU2AD6ihM8NO8W8Jp1tw-zPCOTFX90KMzSElO9mrwuBr90T1meD-OU4lJnuNRNXpcRcVvUARJOUsZ5S99EKZV6_NIhuZ0/s1600/bvgrm14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A few days ago I had noted that through the
long winter they never finished debarking the cherry tree in the
pond. Well, this morning they went to work on it. Eventually
all three took their gnaws at it. Then I saw a different kind of
ripple out in the middle of the pond. One otter was fishing. It
went past the lodge toward the far shore and I could barely see
its ripples in the fog. Then it cruised toward the dam. No
beavers swam into its way, though one was stationary, watching,
about ten yards away. The otter came toward the shore I was on,
and glanced up perhaps at me, perhaps at the beaver behind it</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNbKRpYzISfaGQOcKS0TCWpUqslCYf785LOAjWscM7soJlzD62RifYHAovLeDbrHQjG2oJ5WMBrD-us05agXfjn9dc3wc49SCF4zWiZE1Fg1Gt_KF02mK82J_WdCxlvC24X2kCXnpEuc/s1600/otter14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfNbKRpYzISfaGQOcKS0TCWpUqslCYf785LOAjWscM7soJlzD62RifYHAovLeDbrHQjG2oJ5WMBrD-us05agXfjn9dc3wc49SCF4zWiZE1Fg1Gt_KF02mK82J_WdCxlvC24X2kCXnpEuc/s1600/otter14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then hurried down to the area where it usually
scats. It came on shore</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRz_15b6UCam1E9m4AVdZ87goHV-TUerOFvwrkOdENWFvvslmC5TdUsQ-FstTDzYltc8Y37dj9yt2nMqc17rwAIhGvDcai8xj9QRkYSCSZ-wPDmXxpqiLCDHwKwYarGbr4FCjbWs5xiCY/s1600/otter14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRz_15b6UCam1E9m4AVdZ87goHV-TUerOFvwrkOdENWFvvslmC5TdUsQ-FstTDzYltc8Y37dj9yt2nMqc17rwAIhGvDcai8xj9QRkYSCSZ-wPDmXxpqiLCDHwKwYarGbr4FCjbWs5xiCY/s1600/otter14a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was hard enough to see because of the fog,
which was getting worse, plus the trees blocked my view of it but
I could see bits of its jumping and tail action. It was taking
its time and then a beaver, the large beaver, swam over toward
it. The otter screeched, with pressing insistence I thought. The
beaver dove and swam away and the otter came into the pond
swimming back along the near shore, and no beaver followed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="otter15.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">While the beavers demonstrated no fear of the
otter, they gave it some space. I lost the otter in the far
shore, then saw it again as it swam toward the lodge. This time
the sentinel goose started honking. I began to feel for this
unwanted otter. It stayed away from the geese and swam toward me,
propping itself out of the water to look up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnLe4yEkJ950uW52QM0zyI9IRdcsvyVRE66JqW8cjfyw4VN1v5jGbzp7z4TGJ_BhMMXk4CBPwV0PuXn8jESpVsF9h4SK2Sf-4Fn6SxICCdUpKnszb7q5AKTrSLwhnof9SsSV9y0A0Arw/s1600/otter14b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnLe4yEkJ950uW52QM0zyI9IRdcsvyVRE66JqW8cjfyw4VN1v5jGbzp7z4TGJ_BhMMXk4CBPwV0PuXn8jESpVsF9h4SK2Sf-4Fn6SxICCdUpKnszb7q5AKTrSLwhnof9SsSV9y0A0Arw/s1600/otter14b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It didn't blow at me, so perhaps I wasn't the
cause of its hurrying along. While it dove several times in a
foraging fashion, I didn't see it eating anything.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="otter15a.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers seemed to purposely keep away from
the otter. Indeed, it surfaced near the now desirable cherry
tree. With the otter gone, all three beavers were back at the
tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGt25PIxnODZRJvXle7RZlpK3mIudc1lnT24HZuBbi_J6JYj6kXVLS8LcUa85VkcgUCSa-ZL9v3Xvs0naTr7DDCLlyeXgpzMXEXVe5iQvtpgDulArqfZ3x-IpCEDyeY7SJbwqU7JYhGs/s1600/bvs14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGt25PIxnODZRJvXle7RZlpK3mIudc1lnT24HZuBbi_J6JYj6kXVLS8LcUa85VkcgUCSa-ZL9v3Xvs0naTr7DDCLlyeXgpzMXEXVe5iQvtpgDulArqfZ3x-IpCEDyeY7SJbwqU7JYhGs/s1600/bvs14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><img dynsrc="beavers15.WMV" start="fileopen" /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Another beaver was up on the shore </span><span style="font-size: medium;">grooming itself </span><span style="font-size: medium;">near where
the otter scatted. There was some shoving around
the tree. Once out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw one
beaver splash another with its head, either that or it blew water
at it! The larger beaver rather unceremoniously pulled another
beaver off the log. At first I thought it might have smelled me
and was pulling the little guy to safety, but the big one curled
up on the log. It wanted it all. I was getting chilled and was
curious if I could see the otter elsewhere. There was no sign of
it in the upper shallows of the pond. I went to Audubon Pond,
entertained by two pileated woodpeckers in the logs and leaves on
the way. Only one goose was out in the Short-cut Trail Pond area,
and the two geese were at their usual positions in Audubon Pond,
beautiful, gray and quiet in the fog. All the frogs were at a
distance. I thought I heard a beaver gnawing in the lodge. There
has been a little more work left on the usual shore. Perhaps
there is just one beaver left there and it lives a quiet life. I
checked the rock down at South Bay but there was no sign an otter
had been there. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-7393362178149166012017-01-08T12:29:00.000-08:002017-01-08T12:29:38.173-08:00June 20 to 30, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">June 20 I wanted to take a tour in the kayak
but a brisk wind deterred me for an hour or so, then I decided to
go anyway. I battled the waves in good fashion, got around the
headland, and then breezed to the end of the south cove of South
Bay. With the brisk wind there were not as many herons, but I saw
two. A few turtles were up. Scudding through the emerging grasses
I marveled at how many leaves and stalks were free floating and
wondered if more were cut by motors or geese. I didn't notice any
fish until I paddled out along the north shore of the point and
under the willow tree where I saw an otter eating a carp two
years ago. I saw a large carp lollygagging in the water. There
was no wave in his dorsal find. Indeed part of it looked
collapsed. It swam away slowly and I got the impression that it
was dying. I didn't see any gash on its back, so I think it was
being claimed by old age. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The north cove was more out of the wind
and at several points I noticed a bit of scurrying in the water.
I first thought insects were doing it, but stopped seeing them
and only saw minnows at the surface where I saw the scurrying.
The activity made for bubbles and I could never see a minnow
leaving a bubble. The bubbles certainly weren't coming from the
depth of the water. Curious. I also saw a painted turtle floating
on the algae -- seldom see them use so insubstantial a platform.
Meanwhile the wind picked up and to get out of South Bay I had to
do a little tacking at the end, and then I had a wild but easier
ride home.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Ottoleo, and his friends Jonah and Justin,
joined me on a Father's Day hike to Otter Hole pond, where I
hoped to crawl into the large beaver lodge now left high and dry,
though there is still enough water in the shrunken pond to
attract a pair of mallards. I formed this notion back in the
early spring when I saw the water level dropped revealing what
looked like a commodious entrance to the lodge. Alas, upon close
inspection I found that as all the mud packed on the untended
lodge washed away,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJV-3HBpO8Ag03DJwoQoEaxb_iSMKQ1aDVah81vN733MZn9MtFIOhxYGneS7_agqf9Glr2ZDwdBVYIEQNxXyeNEBPBpH9VeDxXzEVxPgIdPDbeEC2ktzhUP-B_B4u33Hwd2wMdG5wugw/s1600/ohlodge20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJV-3HBpO8Ag03DJwoQoEaxb_iSMKQ1aDVah81vN733MZn9MtFIOhxYGneS7_agqf9Glr2ZDwdBVYIEQNxXyeNEBPBpH9VeDxXzEVxPgIdPDbeEC2ktzhUP-B_B4u33Hwd2wMdG5wugw/s1600/ohlodge20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">the entrances to the lodge looked smaller.
Plus the logs on the lodge must have settled down, no longer packed up in the mud. Looking into
the holes I saw no inviting tunnel, only a jumble of logs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEM0NjMvzOyJ-7Dh72W5SPByVK4hhqkdglXsveZnpsh9Q8wCiVrtApWkLSDswfuvur4GZ5qLK1vHCR_uAIZRvO8U9k8rLYvDNXGsjqp6vR7_YiJWjZ8zJiIFd4WIRvUzfoawFgbMBOHg/s1600/lodgeentrance20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEM0NjMvzOyJ-7Dh72W5SPByVK4hhqkdglXsveZnpsh9Q8wCiVrtApWkLSDswfuvur4GZ5qLK1vHCR_uAIZRvO8U9k8rLYvDNXGsjqp6vR7_YiJWjZ8zJiIFd4WIRvUzfoawFgbMBOHg/s1600/lodgeentrance20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I pulled out some logs on top of the lodge in a
way that I hoped might provide entree to an inner chamber -- I
did find that the beavers used at least one large flat stone to
make the lodge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5TdnjQKiveRtZK3W860PNbTyZUlUaU4ERZeWx0APrEmsNSnVSsitpKb0dJWlpSb4gGWscmRqLhrkBPGlmQnpeMg-HMsuGVQ2U2s3Y8Ve5dwWlzsGdL2IQ50eT9Amyzi6Z0luiIFWoMw/s1600/lodgerock20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5TdnjQKiveRtZK3W860PNbTyZUlUaU4ERZeWx0APrEmsNSnVSsitpKb0dJWlpSb4gGWscmRqLhrkBPGlmQnpeMg-HMsuGVQ2U2s3Y8Ve5dwWlzsGdL2IQ50eT9Amyzi6Z0luiIFWoMw/s1600/lodgerock20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I found no smoother tunnel, only more
jumble. This was disappointing. So I led the kids to the lodge
Ottoleo and others went into two years again. Here again the logs
had fallen in and the channels had silted up. There was no more
inviting entree, and I checked all of them. So I led them up to the
Thicket Pond so they could at least see a successful and
remarkable beaver pond. The water is about six inches lower but
there were still signs the beavers are there. I noticed the crown
of two downed trees and waded through the high reeds in front of
the dam and inspected a freshly cut elm, a twined elm in fact,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMH2zLbycs1V3glzXJTSqMmDLQu3qksLAvoevSMfVZ6fpJ5npDqk_pQlJ_XcDm5z242xJ1jv-awCcLvi1F5oi3FOUsQ46yNDSrLLX-B6xF3ED8wjd3Qczm3VAgQA625DG6oRT6YSNJBxk/s1600/bvcutelm20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMH2zLbycs1V3glzXJTSqMmDLQu3qksLAvoevSMfVZ6fpJ5npDqk_pQlJ_XcDm5z242xJ1jv-awCcLvi1F5oi3FOUsQ46yNDSrLLX-B6xF3ED8wjd3Qczm3VAgQA625DG6oRT6YSNJBxk/s1600/bvcutelm20.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a freshly cut maple.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcRBzro-wiE0ELqQnS2OV80NyJpR0BsJyl880FR4CbueKLjiTDHApml98vOp5EG7xw5uwWoJHFP7NQUN0iNURRzV2SdjoKnv8s_aswpTE1FnxCd7qOGDKAqH5rQH2ktbkaaNdBPdR9FI/s1600/bvcutmaple20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcRBzro-wiE0ELqQnS2OV80NyJpR0BsJyl880FR4CbueKLjiTDHApml98vOp5EG7xw5uwWoJHFP7NQUN0iNURRzV2SdjoKnv8s_aswpTE1FnxCd7qOGDKAqH5rQH2ktbkaaNdBPdR9FI/s1600/bvcutmaple20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I saw a beaver galloping away disappearing
in the Meander Pond below. If we had been a little quieter we
would have seen it. As we inspected the trees Ottoleo noticed a
large longhorn beetle in an elm.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXZsIOhlDwLaOvbDrur1raDd0a967ovpyxPnncLjuqQ8jmT73HHK6ZnF3U6OVtWzw4WPcceAEbBibP6n5dCWNnjbllXoYFZObMrnP_l9MAWMJN27FCT4Su-XHrfmJGg71tYfcYY9MeXo/s1600/longhorn20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXZsIOhlDwLaOvbDrur1raDd0a967ovpyxPnncLjuqQ8jmT73HHK6ZnF3U6OVtWzw4WPcceAEbBibP6n5dCWNnjbllXoYFZObMrnP_l9MAWMJN27FCT4Su-XHrfmJGg71tYfcYY9MeXo/s1600/longhorn20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the way back to the South Bay trail, Ottoleo
entertained us by trying to stare down and then catch a small
doe.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODd87ys_34iUqeNInJfSPIz-FUOS601baiwAb9AAsMSdgMQqALMsFnYA-YcrqBMCNI-VbzkrPfOpLdulhHzmIIi6YrzTat-AiUJdijkbBj99hIHRUUWI0sy96gbb6FpJIq8OYzaB0H3o/s1600/deerottoleo20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODd87ys_34iUqeNInJfSPIz-FUOS601baiwAb9AAsMSdgMQqALMsFnYA-YcrqBMCNI-VbzkrPfOpLdulhHzmIIi6YrzTat-AiUJdijkbBj99hIHRUUWI0sy96gbb6FpJIq8OYzaB0H3o/s1600/deerottoleo20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I, at least, was excited to see a new
otter scat on the large pipe next to the outlet creek.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24kGAokVfpv2hB8o5BLFmZA6r-ywkILvpwwOsir1wmCnJbhhV-6ngTIv0YfN_8TuMn6jO5X4VgH5r_RVNNO6w78h9zbt_fODiShdTYSqqPJL9w2S1yEJi5WhNZRR88WGBNe2JoEkPLs4/s1600/scat20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24kGAokVfpv2hB8o5BLFmZA6r-ywkILvpwwOsir1wmCnJbhhV-6ngTIv0YfN_8TuMn6jO5X4VgH5r_RVNNO6w78h9zbt_fODiShdTYSqqPJL9w2S1yEJi5WhNZRR88WGBNe2JoEkPLs4/s1600/scat20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went up and found a small new scat on the
crest of the New Pond knoll, right next to the last two scats
there. No action up on the knoll, and, of course, we hadn't seen
any signs of otters on Beaver Point Pond dam or the lodge in
Otter Hole pond.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 21 I waited until 7:30 pm to go out on the
longest day of the year to check on the beavers at the Big Pond.
I took the TI Park trail and then went along the first swamp
ridge. I flushed two medium sized birds, a black bird and then a
smaller lighter bird, that I thought was a catbird. The former
flew right off and the latter stayed long enough for a photo, and
now I see that it was a cowbird.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy02b_90ZrYv_jkkAnaeYXZ1jSl11yBuNVYsxhJId_TtuQT88sSQlRIR3gEPKSdQ2MMX3AAdoHoZmgiRXlWckOnXkGRupHkMhhhg9Qz7cCGroCPMWJKzktGgogDVnCR4o4Nr949WP-kNU/s1600/cowbird21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy02b_90ZrYv_jkkAnaeYXZ1jSl11yBuNVYsxhJId_TtuQT88sSQlRIR3gEPKSdQ2MMX3AAdoHoZmgiRXlWckOnXkGRupHkMhhhg9Qz7cCGroCPMWJKzktGgogDVnCR4o4Nr949WP-kNU/s1600/cowbird21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The camera froze up after the photo and if it
stays busted once again offers the opportunity to stop taking
photos which, while they aid accuracy and memory, make me
somewhat lazy in my seeing and thinking. I continued on to the
pond. Along the river there was still a nice southwest breeze and
I was planning to situate myself at the northwest corner of the
pond, but as I approached the pond I noticed that there was no
wind. I also noticed a pervasive small like the men's room at a
poorly kept rest stop, a smell of uncleaned urinals. I saw the
source all around me, the exuberant white blooms of the scrawny
dogwood common to these parts.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaGY-3jHvFfuCzuM487mmmQEkvM4A-WjplhCqGgdW2EqyufDLhZsjgAClllT9VATD4H2Fe2dH7aHcgbQy1-Cax01ZRcMDxvrjzv97ktMG9U7z2YqQ5qert6MBlOiQbOzYbiHofU2hGgg/s1600/dogwood21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaGY-3jHvFfuCzuM487mmmQEkvM4A-WjplhCqGgdW2EqyufDLhZsjgAClllT9VATD4H2Fe2dH7aHcgbQy1-Cax01ZRcMDxvrjzv97ktMG9U7z2YqQ5qert6MBlOiQbOzYbiHofU2hGgg/s1600/dogwood21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I sat on my usual perch and straight away
noticed a beaver bobbing out in the middle of the pond. Its head
was tilted up like a beaver working on a root, though I was too
far away to be sure what it was gnawing on. Meanwhile there were
some large wood duck ducklings making a ruckus in the grass and
through a break in the grass I saw their wild gyrations as they
followed their mother up pond. They must be trying to catch bugs
which I suppose is great sport for a ducking. A mallard couple
swam near me, no ducklings followed. Then the beaver in the pond
swam back to and into the lodge. About ten minutes later a beaver
which seemed to look like the one that just went in, swam back
out, and it was followed by a smaller beaver that came out toward
the middle of the pond and then swam right back to the lodge. The
larger beaver swam up pond and out of view toward the southeast
corner of the pond. About fifteen minutes after that two beavers
swam out of the lodge. The first veered up pond and foraged along
the edge of the grasses, and the second angled toward me. It
smacked its tail when it was still well out in the pond, and I
noticed a muskrat swimming out in the vicinity. This was the
second muskrat I saw. The first swam past the lodge and then
turned into the muskrat borrows behind the lodge -- actually a
hole with some sticks over it that the beavers had used. But I
think the beaver was nosing me because it swam to the dam and
then began going back and forth, slowly approaching me. This
appeared to be the small beaver that often splashed me as I
crossed the dam coming from the Lost Swamp Pond, often at this
time. It didn't get as close as usual, then turned and splashed</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYJv7I-iVSWNyNpx27BCePpIHy7ZA2_OBJYLhyphenhyphenuQ6ynfCRSBNPryke194jJ7jNJ2iDj1mnIqrk4xO-9MiiVJ1XTTnXgLUKmTds2lGaPb58Z2kgKwKZ9GP2nKWOJ8SKgoDsWTxYa7U7u8/s1600/splash21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYJv7I-iVSWNyNpx27BCePpIHy7ZA2_OBJYLhyphenhyphenuQ6ynfCRSBNPryke194jJ7jNJ2iDj1mnIqrk4xO-9MiiVJ1XTTnXgLUKmTds2lGaPb58Z2kgKwKZ9GP2nKWOJ8SKgoDsWTxYa7U7u8/s1600/splash21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It stayed around still watching me and I bade
it a fond goodbye. There were a few mosquitoes but what really
bothered me were these tiny flea-like gnats that got on my skin,
but didn't seem to bite. The wood thrush was singing in the woods
on the way back, but no whip-poor-will.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 23 I went for an early afternoon hike to
check for otter signs on a perfect blue bright day of 70 degrees.
Before I went I checked the camera which I had massaged a bit
yesterday and it worked! At the first latrine along the South Bay
trail, which hasn't been used for a while, I saw a flattened scat
that was perhaps too brown to be an otter's, but I could see fish
parts in it. At the second latrine along the trail, I saw more
scat on the pipe,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8mQtp-RQaTeLHE_ssRoztBfFmPr5ZvHgqF2SAVCM6jl07vY_pxCO1m2LMQxKeGU9J_lSksw-WgnajYBA6R8QMP4vMDfcteg6w9J1At-r8ZSzn1UVvTNBLVyQFeUsCezfcZMwZaCQFbz0/s1600/pipescat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8mQtp-RQaTeLHE_ssRoztBfFmPr5ZvHgqF2SAVCM6jl07vY_pxCO1m2LMQxKeGU9J_lSksw-WgnajYBA6R8QMP4vMDfcteg6w9J1At-r8ZSzn1UVvTNBLVyQFeUsCezfcZMwZaCQFbz0/s1600/pipescat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then up on the New Pond knoll, overlooking
the creek, there was a new scat, which is the one up in the top
left hand corner. The scat before that is in the lower center
right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-0pcZjuwVpQTsUHveLonD8RkykPwDBwafVkc1Fb-BX-FKaaEpibKX0kpytZoa6cTiXe6JAqfK28_qB45yuLwSSNb_tL3O4euRNwNfoSVhD01R8iH6Qtj9neIg9gBjxMzaXK4WcbxtV0/s1600/knollscat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-0pcZjuwVpQTsUHveLonD8RkykPwDBwafVkc1Fb-BX-FKaaEpibKX0kpytZoa6cTiXe6JAqfK28_qB45yuLwSSNb_tL3O4euRNwNfoSVhD01R8iH6Qtj9neIg9gBjxMzaXK4WcbxtV0/s1600/knollscat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The creek was completely dry, despite a quarter
inch of rain which got my hopes up that a beaver had done
something. I walked up it from the pipe to the trail up to the
knoll but saw no otter prints, or any other prints for that
matter. And there was no sign that the otter had gone over the
knoll. I did flush a heron out of the New Pond so thick with duck
weed and algae that I wonder how the heron finds a fish. Perhaps
it is after frogs that poke their heads up. I crossed the dam and
judging from the squeaks, green frogs predominate. As I walked up
the dry ponds I saw that no beaver had been patching anything. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">These longest days of the year have been sunny, great
evaporators, and the ponds have simply gotten too low to keep up
a flow to the creek. Coming up to Otter Hole Pond, I saw
something brown on the lodge, light brown so I didn't think it
was a beaver or otter. Indeed it was a groundhog, sitting on the
crest of the lodge. I know a groundhog has been living around
here for a few years. One denned in the rocks below where I used
to sit to look at the otters and beavers. So like me, this
groundhog's dreams may have come true -- a chance to sit on top
of the lodge. It got down and started grazing in the grass,</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">heading my way. I think it smelled me and then
when I inadvertently snapped a twig, it did what I was unable to
do -- went inside the lodge. I stopped briefly to look at the
Second Swamp Pond and then went up to the Lost Swamp Pond. I
should have had the camcorder running, first one heron flew off
from the west end of the pond, then another flew off and then the
goose family swam by. Then all was quiet. I checked the trail
over to the Second Swamp Pond for otter scats and found none. I
sat for a while looking at each pond and other than briefly
seeing a muskrat swim up the Lost Swamp Pond, all was quiet but
pleasant all the same. The milkweed is blooming and one plant
with floppy flowers had a yellow leaf -- fall is in the air.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLNvLQZlcIBxGN3MRyXC5-CtK-ruUf8kedHpPTuxZt87iTErbWBHrBhepuNui8cctcIcCGMNiYT_rYhHiGmmK98UOSNyYiOwIhHss76vaimXNaB-0J4Wcf4lipyZQM-kmNwfciflv3Oo/s1600/milkweed23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLNvLQZlcIBxGN3MRyXC5-CtK-ruUf8kedHpPTuxZt87iTErbWBHrBhepuNui8cctcIcCGMNiYT_rYhHiGmmK98UOSNyYiOwIhHss76vaimXNaB-0J4Wcf4lipyZQM-kmNwfciflv3Oo/s1600/milkweed23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I headed for the East Trail Pond, and
crossing the upper dam, I flushed several frogs and sent
pollywogs diving into the mud bottom. Then I stopped to check the
Second Swamp Pond lodge. I saw a huge snapping turtle draped
greenback and all on a log.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I forgot to mention that a snapper was on top
of the little lodge out in the Lost Swamp Pond. It was that kind
of day. In the woods on the way to the East Trail Pond I saw
these berry blossoms.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22amW92hmZTdFZO2G-ZseVLYTL1eAMoKaAvXk2NnkE_VuscW-bfT1eMZIpFCyHyMIp_kJcrFCl2ZqsiFYuX8cGqvKQZi3UZkNWjdK77zGHtcDWsHNoa_73AAmsprs5-UDAzv9kIiUg-0/s1600/berryblo23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22amW92hmZTdFZO2G-ZseVLYTL1eAMoKaAvXk2NnkE_VuscW-bfT1eMZIpFCyHyMIp_kJcrFCl2ZqsiFYuX8cGqvKQZi3UZkNWjdK77zGHtcDWsHNoa_73AAmsprs5-UDAzv9kIiUg-0/s1600/berryblo23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At the pond, I flushed a heron, then there was
nothing to be seen save that when the ponds get so shallow,
especially in a bright sun, every motion under the water seems
reflected on the pond surface. And I still marvel at the patch of
big leaved plants that I thought should bloom and instead turned
out to be grasses.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crossed the dam and then sat in the shade --
no scats there either, but still I watched for a mother otter and
her charges. I headed for Thicket Pond taking the north side
hoping to surprise a beaver working on the fresh work. No such
luck. I did admire the canal curling around the pond.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers seem to have trimmed the maple we
saw down on Sunday but have done no work on the elm, which seems
typical. Maple always seems to get gnawed first. I wanted to
continue the tour, especially check the docking rock, but I had
chores to do at home. I have a hankering to see otters in South
Bay early in the morning, but I also have plans to try to stay up
all night on the land to get a better measure of the beaver
family there. That said, this seems the lazy time of year for
these critters with the grub coming easily.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 25 a nice inch of rain last night and a
cool, mostly cloudy day, and the lack of wind lured me out in the
boat to check the otter latrines in Eel Bay -- and the sun stayed
out for most of the trip. What is most remarkable is how little
life there is on the water and above it, especially if you stay
away from the herons on the shore. Few ducks, geese, terns, or
cormorants, and because of the chill not that many people. The
Murray Island latrine looked unused -- one clump of grass bent
over. And all the scats at the Picton Island latrine looked old
and the trails in the grass went along the shore, not up and down
like an otter would use them. This was disappointing, but this is
the first year I've consistently checked these latrines so I
don't know what to expect as the summer wears on. Next I stopped
at the docking rock and here again I saw some bent grass, but no
new scats, and I don't think the rain washed it all away. I
walked up to Audubon Pond and by the looks of the mud the beaver
is still battling to plug the drain, in vain unfortunately. There
were no trails in the grass going up the embankment but in my
tour around the pond I saw the beaver was busy in the usual
spots. More small trees, elms, I think, were cut in the southwest
corner </span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and another mid sized pine tree was down in the
southeast corner, where, by the way the beaver had quite cut up
and moved the first pine it cut.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Otherwise there was no activity along the
shore. I spotted seeds on the beardtongue flowers.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were possibly some cut branches around
the lodge, I could see leaves in the water, but no sign that the
beaver was gnawing on them there. The goose family was grazing on
the causeway and I moved them into the pond.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the goldfinch were checking out the
milkweed crop though it is too soon for them to feast on it. I
also checked the latrine at the inlet creek and there didn't seem
to be any fresh scat there or up on the knoll, but I got the
feeling that something, perhaps an otter, had scooted through.
And I saw a bit of fall, or at least an oak gall</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">had fallen from a tree.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 26 we've had a cool spring and cool early
summer and today's high was in the mid-60s, yet we still had a
brief, violent, afternoon thunderstorm. After dinner I headed off
to see the beavers, and finding the vegetation mostly dry, I went
through the meadow behind the golf course. The grass is thick,
and though the creek running through it appeared dry, I heard the
quock of a green heron. Two deer hopped away but I didn't get a
good look at them. As went up the ridge on the rocks the
vegetation danced around. The recent rain has everything popping.
All my old paths are grown over and I even got stuck in a jungle
of willows which I thought might not be a bad thing. I fancied
that the odors sticking to me as I scraped through would be
attractive to beavers. This ridge is famous for towhees and I
heard two very close to each other trading calls. On this fresh
evening, cool, clear and with a breeze, there was no choking odor
of urinals. I sat briefly on my perch beside the Big Pond dam,
and there was nothing to be seen but a solitary tern. I crossed
the overgrown dam and didn't see any recent beaver work but I'm
sure the beavers are still about. I took a photo of the morning
glory like flower as I crossed the dam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie5AZq3p5vQ9dRKBeHRTXH_BecQmE2HGuwtCylWTZlwVj6LSbRTeHFEZytgWfRS_OexP1aSm7LdkVZpHS2ADcjEED71E3mWuZpLjnmOzRqgSYrsgsAl3aHPcxBgo41sfSEtNql9Lzhg7g/s1600/primrose26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie5AZq3p5vQ9dRKBeHRTXH_BecQmE2HGuwtCylWTZlwVj6LSbRTeHFEZytgWfRS_OexP1aSm7LdkVZpHS2ADcjEED71E3mWuZpLjnmOzRqgSYrsgsAl3aHPcxBgo41sfSEtNql9Lzhg7g/s1600/primrose26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I came down to the Lost Swamp Pond just above
the bank lodge on a perfect angle to see two beavers munching on
twigs along the shore nearby. This was the scene I plotted to get
the last time I came out here when I had the wind facing me.
Tonight I misjudged the wind -- though a brisk southwest wind is
always hard to adjust to around these ponds, and an adult beaver
soon got my scent, swam out toward the middle of the pond and
splashed with authority. The other beavers didn't panic and one
stayed munching on the shore. The alarmed beaver pounded its tail
some more, and the other cruised off shore a bit.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq87pomR-sNxJh6SCfI2LVjSkeUGelM5VCBwRvEgxKSLFsTaU4Tjmrn2iliWsztLKXP3UkgSx3mnrUuOFAhTUX8uwvAESFaYOF09nyiXarzF3zhYCNRiYyW7icusuBl-d9XJbW1zN_bFQ/s1600/bvs26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq87pomR-sNxJh6SCfI2LVjSkeUGelM5VCBwRvEgxKSLFsTaU4Tjmrn2iliWsztLKXP3UkgSx3mnrUuOFAhTUX8uwvAESFaYOF09nyiXarzF3zhYCNRiYyW7icusuBl-d9XJbW1zN_bFQ/s1600/bvs26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I noticed a deer grazing not far from me -- and
it didn't smell me yet. Every time the beaver splashed it
twitched in a fright and looked around.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aWXBJTpMqQZInnJ6eqQrC0SjcM31IhE_71ue8NdtvID6MY2nbsEWXH8oaOzjXa-1zcb0Udvsjgxk3FUZzXVHr8j5WBx48oEiHCRuwaRm3wC_KDMae4n2MCpDIgWzOyDdCkbHQ2_AzLA/s1600/deer26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aWXBJTpMqQZInnJ6eqQrC0SjcM31IhE_71ue8NdtvID6MY2nbsEWXH8oaOzjXa-1zcb0Udvsjgxk3FUZzXVHr8j5WBx48oEiHCRuwaRm3wC_KDMae4n2MCpDIgWzOyDdCkbHQ2_AzLA/s640/deer26.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That impressed me, because once again I heard
coyotes yodel and the deer didn't betray any fear at that. Anyway
I decided to move along up the pond figuring that would get me
out of wind enough to calm the beavers. Of course, the deer fled.
I also flushed a small deer family. I scanned the pond for more
beavers and as luck would have it another adult beaver swam by,
coming toward the lodge, and it pounded its tail at me. After I
scared off a heron who was fishing at the point across from me, I
decided to move on to the Second Swamp Pond. I saw beaver wakes
far across the pond toward the dam so was surprised when I walked
past the lodge to see a small beaver back at the feeding spot
working on a twig. Then an adult beaver surfaced and the juvenile
moved off a bit. So I stopped and took some video. The light was
bad but I could get some good silhouettes thanks to the beaver's
propensity to strike interesting poses. When the adult swam off
toward the lodge, the juvenile immediately went to where it had
been, fishing up a nondescript stick that appeared to be a couple
of feet long. Then another juvenile came loitering into this
feeding zone. Then I noticed an adult beaver swimming toward the
shore with its nose in the air. When it got next to the lodge it
banged its tail. Both juveniles immediately swam out from the
shore, but not far, they swam in circles, like they may actually
be in a panic, but in a few minutes one swam back to where it had
been munching on a stick. This happened again: the adult
splashed, the juveniles swam out a bit and went in circles, then
one returned to the stick. The other drifted out into the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
moved around the pond and had just enough light to check the
north shore trail for otter scat and to my delight I found two
squirts and the grass and leaves looked like an otter or two had
been through. I continued up toward the dam but saw no more otter
scats. I saw the results of a successful raid on a turtle nest.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvovenJrLtp9idp2WNixULPMPzIr-eY6Sy72ssefiwIpfuuyFxz-ep54PRGdcGYipFpywEYVcOTRB7xwgOrlCcNOQg5ibwBfBigvRreSWKIXVN7L3qjHNUULFaEloTPj6M4ZRHFTz_7WE/s1600/teggs26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvovenJrLtp9idp2WNixULPMPzIr-eY6Sy72ssefiwIpfuuyFxz-ep54PRGdcGYipFpywEYVcOTRB7xwgOrlCcNOQg5ibwBfBigvRreSWKIXVN7L3qjHNUULFaEloTPj6M4ZRHFTz_7WE/s1600/teggs26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I went back to follow their trail over to
the Second Swamp Pond, and I saw two scats at the crest of the
trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvUw9xZbdxHgo4IInEZzLO7PMTazGpe9mtVCKZm0Vkm8Cu0IjTEDrqKTQFB27b3H-NTlljMSwXXGpzVYe-WAUuRsDQ4RdkzYCVXZJzTtDsWVFm2a6Iq6tEBVbxHFifOosqzCPp7lNaTg/s1600/scat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvUw9xZbdxHgo4IInEZzLO7PMTazGpe9mtVCKZm0Vkm8Cu0IjTEDrqKTQFB27b3H-NTlljMSwXXGpzVYe-WAUuRsDQ4RdkzYCVXZJzTtDsWVFm2a6Iq6tEBVbxHFifOosqzCPp7lNaTg/s1600/scat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see signs of much activity near the
Second Swamp Pond, so I continue to be puzzled at why I don't see
scats at the other Lost Swamp Pond latrines. I saw a small
muskrat swimming in the upper Second Swamp Pond and just as I was
losing the light saw a wood duck family swim across the pond. I
went home via Otter Hole Pond where I saw a heron in the very
shallow water. I remember a few years back when I marveled at
the herons foraging in the Second Swamp Pond which back then had
been reduced to a small pool of water. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 28 continued cool, and cloudy today. When
I got to the East Trail Pond at about 5:30 there was a pleasant
shower. I went along the tangent to South Bay to check the otter
latrines and found nothing new along South Bay and one new but
dry scat on the mossy rock latrine at the East Trail Pond (though
all the moss has been scraped away!)</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtZY75UA0VKa99R9AX1ztvoauIJIhPAjmakv8Y-VoyrFOdCIaIQxnFtRC6OHicaudRb0zfj17FeFADei_Rw7mdov7ZRgIjp-y1ak4MbesGt0iApqbwjWLla949zBNuMu5RpIQWe1FoE4/s1600/scat28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtZY75UA0VKa99R9AX1ztvoauIJIhPAjmakv8Y-VoyrFOdCIaIQxnFtRC6OHicaudRb0zfj17FeFADei_Rw7mdov7ZRgIjp-y1ak4MbesGt0iApqbwjWLla949zBNuMu5RpIQWe1FoE4/s1600/scat28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It's possible this is an old scat pawed around
by a raccoon looking for turtle eggs, but I might as well be
optimistic. As I came down to the mossy rock, I flushed a green
heron that flew off quocking and that inspired a blue heron to
fly off croaking, and they seemed to compete to express their
contempt for my intrusion. I sat a bit under the pine while the
rain played on the pond and once again I saw the grass twitch
independently of the elements, and a black furry critter briefly
appeared. I checked the trail over the ridge for scat, and saw none
going up it, but the grass up on the hill was mussed a bit and I
found a trail going down the other side leading to a hole under
the trunk of a downed tree -- perhaps a groundhog. I decided to
cross the Second Swamp Pond dam, pausing to look at a deer
grazing in the tall grass. I saw no sign that the beavers have
been below the dam. The pool around which they did much
harvesting last year is about dry, and even the channel and pond
below the dam is quite low. However, there was dollops of fresh
mud on the dam, so the beavers are still tending it. The great
pleasure was the flowers and grasses, especially the vervain.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IzCAbkSnVMAjAnzH_dQWybg3ZDOnu0G_9T-tcvzxVmcELnvCCcyM6agqTjV78TsaU-Te0aEZcM9bSwsDWmwN79xIVElUC4gaftt66khU63UYNR8CdjACfiwk_BkqcJ-IDy1lvbH_vpQ/s1600/vervain28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IzCAbkSnVMAjAnzH_dQWybg3ZDOnu0G_9T-tcvzxVmcELnvCCcyM6agqTjV78TsaU-Te0aEZcM9bSwsDWmwN79xIVElUC4gaftt66khU63UYNR8CdjACfiwk_BkqcJ-IDy1lvbH_vpQ/s1600/vervain28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and some plants had more violet than purple.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTOnOXbJLlUVmID-At0EczoB63XpYVgJYUl9xtNl45kZlz3WwOq04qn3YC_Noth5iPp_-xvXyVfegDHjk_NIpiCBlc38sPDOVo8bE3sWBWp13S9oN8xbdXoU6b03HlK5qBGbl3cjFPV8/s1600/vervain28a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTOnOXbJLlUVmID-At0EczoB63XpYVgJYUl9xtNl45kZlz3WwOq04qn3YC_Noth5iPp_-xvXyVfegDHjk_NIpiCBlc38sPDOVo8bE3sWBWp13S9oN8xbdXoU6b03HlK5qBGbl3cjFPV8/s1600/vervain28a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And there were three different grasses with
bold fruits or flowers.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMb4SNuJywcsm5D7KQ9B883l3zKWap1Q2wsFVCyr6gUHNmYzi1MujI7pRO9ZQjA-rghEfPUJnzXTTC8RvuSWjwCpXuxkxnxYTaqFxLc2hVabEyDKbHYPmkLkIyV2-9rpFVWu3txmolJM/s1600/grasses28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMb4SNuJywcsm5D7KQ9B883l3zKWap1Q2wsFVCyr6gUHNmYzi1MujI7pRO9ZQjA-rghEfPUJnzXTTC8RvuSWjwCpXuxkxnxYTaqFxLc2hVabEyDKbHYPmkLkIyV2-9rpFVWu3txmolJM/s1600/grasses28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The frogbit is also blooming but there is not
that much here. There are luscious clumps of beardstongue.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YKCCYbkjrrUZwHQoevSdYorLiYzgDkxrCVG7N1E10SCHSy-lpb-16vX22wyifr9XQgco11qC8v3n4mUsVJHftSZBXcaAWn1GXavRPPdmZgtyoMWNrxd020YwHaMUPlD6sXZ3W9Ve388/s1600/flower28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YKCCYbkjrrUZwHQoevSdYorLiYzgDkxrCVG7N1E10SCHSy-lpb-16vX22wyifr9XQgco11qC8v3n4mUsVJHftSZBXcaAWn1GXavRPPdmZgtyoMWNrxd020YwHaMUPlD6sXZ3W9Ve388/s1600/flower28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked up the south shore of the pond, I
flushed a bevy of wood duck ducklings with the mother wailing
behind them. I checked the otter trail between the ponds and saw
a scat under a tree on the north side that is probably new, but
not very fresh. It was probably made at the same time as the new
scats I saw the other day and I just missed it in the evening
shadows. So I can't say an otter has been back yesterday or
today. Over on the Lost Swamp Pond side I didn't see any new
otter scats, but a small beaver steamed toward me, but not for an
inspection.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugvQC15sWEJwmbUrghieInP7Xq60kX6SaLddi8vWBd5lEZVVo1VQrz7ekr2aKsaEk7FSFcdLBLbV3ZEkUsJHUa5p6CR6v7uEYJ7kHYPMT8jPS54GaTqzcg4JbV6xrIkTp62ovtQMAbaY/s1600/bv28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugvQC15sWEJwmbUrghieInP7Xq60kX6SaLddi8vWBd5lEZVVo1VQrz7ekr2aKsaEk7FSFcdLBLbV3ZEkUsJHUa5p6CR6v7uEYJ7kHYPMT8jPS54GaTqzcg4JbV6xrIkTp62ovtQMAbaY/s1600/bv28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It pulled up and dove for a snack. Meanwhile an
adult beaver swam down from the dam, with nose high in the air,
and still well away from me and the small beaver, it banged its
tail. The small beaver didn't react but I heard a flush of
activity around the bank lodge which puzzled me because I hadn't
noticed any beavers out there. Then I saw three beavers swimming
away from the lodge, as if the loud tail splash was not a signal
to hide but to get out and get to work! The three beavers went in
opposite directions, one toward me, one to the west, and one to
the east. I didn't tarry since my dinner was waiting. As I
approached the Big Pond I saw what looked like a beaver swim into
grasses along the south shore near the dam. Crossing the dam I
saw the beavers' mud work but the beaver didn't swim out to greet
me. At the end of the dam I saw the iris seeds and framed a photo
to include a cattail head.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXs58GclUgR-XeyUXpcqMEM3iO8qunVf2AyBlEAO2c3r72rneAEfZfj3XZLKSFlZTpQDzpQNN6NaKpvs4tZ4oOP7y_Z0NpXI5wLmDgmwtnRSrP_cH5XWZosyHhHD3k_xeTWHwNp-srF2A/s1600/iriscats28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXs58GclUgR-XeyUXpcqMEM3iO8qunVf2AyBlEAO2c3r72rneAEfZfj3XZLKSFlZTpQDzpQNN6NaKpvs4tZ4oOP7y_Z0NpXI5wLmDgmwtnRSrP_cH5XWZosyHhHD3k_xeTWHwNp-srF2A/s1600/iriscats28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Crossing the dam I also flushed a large furry
critter perhaps a shrew, and I flushed a woodcock which I haven't
done for a while. Then below the dam I saw two deer grazing in
the pond below,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8eiNDfwK_SgyRs_vyX8WL1yaDcutnQ2FsEdF62Yu9jYn8YA2nUYVPAVvo-4jSJBSVMwnKapFpDNEAc50JPDeqNY86BvqoKiiWEMgywry1__m8N9HIYDI4ucLP99gepbpUKKrfr28sxw/s1600/deer28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8eiNDfwK_SgyRs_vyX8WL1yaDcutnQ2FsEdF62Yu9jYn8YA2nUYVPAVvo-4jSJBSVMwnKapFpDNEAc50JPDeqNY86BvqoKiiWEMgywry1__m8N9HIYDI4ucLP99gepbpUKKrfr28sxw/s1600/deer28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and admired their white flags as they
retreated.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicX36SHo6WLlbk1EZBSBfy6JNQHNq8RM8TsymZIQiAbnObdFYFQzxrI9lgON9REmYE7CVofQDkwzE5MLbywnaibY3O1fZbhPlqsSV2nnubswWaET1xpgNYpQL-A9FYqxZ4u8Pm_J5dtNo/s1600/deer28a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicX36SHo6WLlbk1EZBSBfy6JNQHNq8RM8TsymZIQiAbnObdFYFQzxrI9lgON9REmYE7CVofQDkwzE5MLbywnaibY3O1fZbhPlqsSV2nnubswWaET1xpgNYpQL-A9FYqxZ4u8Pm_J5dtNo/s1600/deer28a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Their flight inspired two more to run further
down stream. Plus I saw two deer grazing together around the
Second Swamp Pond. I might have glimpsed a doe and fawn fleeing
around the Lost Swamp Pond dam - certainly no shortage of deer.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 30 I took a tour of South Bay in the
kayak. A brisk wind seemed to keep the herons moving around more.
There were certainly not more than usual and perhaps a few less.
I saw one tern, and with the clouds and wind, not many painted
turtles. I did see one good size turtle on a log that was like a
painted turtle but missing much of the paint. The vegetation is
coming up in the shallows, and there is quite a collection of cut
grass, whether from boat props or geese, I know not, but my guess
is the latter. Justin reported seeing a beaver off his dock early
in the morning, and I saw some beaver work on the willows along
the south shore of the cove. I also saw a few nibbled twigs under
the willow on the opposite shore, where I once saw an otter. From
an otter's point of view the edges of the cove are still
swimable under water. But I saw no sign that otters had been
around. A few waterlilies are out and right on the edge of the
cattail marsh. The water level is keeping up which might effect
the blooming. Coming out of the north cove, I heard an osprey
call. I looked up into a pine and didn't see it until it flew off
a dead limb with a fish clutched in its claws. I didn't notice
fresh beaver work along the north cove, nor any hint that an
otter might have been around. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-9192616471485902812017-01-06T13:01:00.000-08:002017-01-06T13:01:28.621-08:00June 11 to 17, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">June 11 I am back after four days away at a
dismal conference on otters. Naturally I hurried out to the ponds
to see what was going on. There was one rainstorm while we were
gone and with the front having gone through, it was a bright,
cool day with a north wind -- what I fancy is an otter wind, given
the direction I approach their favorite ponds. I headed to the
South Bay trail and noted that the woods have achieved their
summer darkness. No fawns in the grasses, and the grasses are so
high along the South Bay trail that any otter trying to get
through would have to leave a trail, and none did. The grass is
short around the creek coming down from the New Pond, but there
were no signs of otters here either. I did see a tufted
loosestrife plant in full bloom,</span><br />
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QiWei6QqfoAy-Lcw4-2s9ZIxDeFFKWYM-nnO7usLhWLC2ns7uyGla9pBLitdHXiHm9Sy_falRDnNM_okHRzgNU3R_s12pyHuRVcCGYbINN68nAZeNu5ulm1xh1SeVZbt_gDkNdUDpBU/s1600/tuftedls11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1QiWei6QqfoAy-Lcw4-2s9ZIxDeFFKWYM-nnO7usLhWLC2ns7uyGla9pBLitdHXiHm9Sy_falRDnNM_okHRzgNU3R_s12pyHuRVcCGYbINN68nAZeNu5ulm1xh1SeVZbt_gDkNdUDpBU/s1600/tuftedls11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">next to plants with white flowers, woodane.</span><br />
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFEToP47MeOAzM1GT35N33dYqkdCXDVKWADQ5CRhFY-FIjcvMsnc2jwIVBwJohfQLu2Z2IV5LwbzUehO84H1m3Bbwk77C3k9WZbcYSfHoD8YTPdqNPrhVlVL8VNN0DFlguiuz3NnrC2A/s1600/woodane11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFEToP47MeOAzM1GT35N33dYqkdCXDVKWADQ5CRhFY-FIjcvMsnc2jwIVBwJohfQLu2Z2IV5LwbzUehO84H1m3Bbwk77C3k9WZbcYSfHoD8YTPdqNPrhVlVL8VNN0DFlguiuz3NnrC2A/s1600/woodane11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The water in the river remains high which,
along with the cool weather, perhaps accounts for more flowers.
The otter trail up the New Pond knoll seemed unused too. I took a
photo of the drying scat I saw the last time I was here, almost a
week ago. The New Pond continues to shrink and unless one is
studying duck weed there is no mystery to solve by sitting above
it. So I headed on up to the East Trail Pond. I went down the
trail to the dam and as I glanced up from checking for otter
scats, I saw a raccoon working along the dam. I was poised to get
some video, but it stopped pawing around and disappeared into the
grasses down stream. I didn't see any fresh otter signs and sat
under the tree on top of the now well dried scats -- and there
weren't very many. The pond remains more shallow than I've ever
seen it, but there is water and fish jumping out of it. I would
not be surprise if otters found this a paradise. I sat under the
tree for a half hour or so, saw two herons fly over; no turtles
today. I walked up the pond a bit and saw some pawed up dirt, but
when I saw the same pawing on the dam,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNXxY73WPr8TSvuX7KxSTxNamP2RKLS2ts4JjjwE_Q234VVGfol2WoZAKLXo-yWxQ9vqTSkisCWrxeMHLOLcNvxpdk8UYYGns57fRW3XKz_R7JAIXa39wSAEvq8UiKA8h1gej8eNmvT4/s1600/racdig11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqNXxY73WPr8TSvuX7KxSTxNamP2RKLS2ts4JjjwE_Q234VVGfol2WoZAKLXo-yWxQ9vqTSkisCWrxeMHLOLcNvxpdk8UYYGns57fRW3XKz_R7JAIXa39wSAEvq8UiKA8h1gej8eNmvT4/s1600/racdig11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I decided a raccoon had done it. On the east
side of the dam, a raccoon hit paydirt and dug up some turtle
eggs.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRp0HudmK3g-YtPb6oCcniIvO_8NcJ7o0W1h6ZlffYNC-FXQLGaYlPm2bb2EI9CoQw_ImMa9gbDQ-dkTD64MivQ5jaKZEoXY8Gc7vh_i6M8tglc7MqNLYlVk0Fq-WKgCQDj1QFJrOcNQE/s1600/teggs11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRp0HudmK3g-YtPb6oCcniIvO_8NcJ7o0W1h6ZlffYNC-FXQLGaYlPm2bb2EI9CoQw_ImMa9gbDQ-dkTD64MivQ5jaKZEoXY8Gc7vh_i6M8tglc7MqNLYlVk0Fq-WKgCQDj1QFJrOcNQE/s1600/teggs11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Over on that bank I saw some trails in the
grass but much too narrow for otters. There is probably a ground
hog about. I've been waiting for one luxurious looking plant to
bloom, but it's only putting up flowers that look like grass
seeds. To stay right with the wind, I crossed the dam just below
the Second Swamp Pond dam. The beavers had definitely refurbished
the mud dam here,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnw3R-zg6PjiVCeBeb0SY-IIOALGYduCYFaoOvcmb0j2tvFoW_Gmv9AJyo7rfBD_EBm-3KnglC7046my1WcWrQwT_P0J8lQeFdpdOhGYZ4I7X5vLRCHoNVc-u2ckqTpeDi-B13HdOkg0/s1600/upoh11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnw3R-zg6PjiVCeBeb0SY-IIOALGYduCYFaoOvcmb0j2tvFoW_Gmv9AJyo7rfBD_EBm-3KnglC7046my1WcWrQwT_P0J8lQeFdpdOhGYZ4I7X5vLRCHoNVc-u2ckqTpeDi-B13HdOkg0/s1600/upoh11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I don't think they've been back for a
while. I noticed a luxurious clump of blue flag iris up pond.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAH3FowcyulaDLT_F7GsuqMMLdo37GRx-Prvbgxk8icyYvYlHzachUddO23qAAGBtMjVmhhbI8ZLNav42WIhJzG4V8_cHZ-S6DNDGGbkmWodA51_o_gGAD-qIEUeRgCtKh7tsxLRD0Kw/s1600/iris11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAH3FowcyulaDLT_F7GsuqMMLdo37GRx-Prvbgxk8icyYvYlHzachUddO23qAAGBtMjVmhhbI8ZLNav42WIhJzG4V8_cHZ-S6DNDGGbkmWodA51_o_gGAD-qIEUeRgCtKh7tsxLRD0Kw/s1600/iris11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat briefly on the rock at the south end of
the Second Swamp Pond dam, and saw a big male mallard on a log,
but nothing else to report in the pond. As I walked up the south
shore I did flush the wood duck with, I think, a few less
ducklings. I quickly checked for otter scats on the trail between
the Lost Swamp Pond and Second Swamp Pond, nothing fresh and
probably nothing new. I do not take the lack of scat as a sign
that there are no otters about because when the mother emerges
with pups there might be a different pattern to the scatting and
the male otters might stop their usual rounds. With the north
wind, I knew that if I waited at the Second Swamp Pond for
action, the beavers behind me in the Lost Swamp Pond would get
wind of me, and this was a perfect evening to sit behind the bank
lodge on the south shore, which is what I did. I soon saw that at
least two beavers were already out and when I sat down another
beaver swam out from that lodge.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZzGA-hl6438GcFBTB9ZESHcg16vW4w3FdJ2-BlQtJhlI9mosrHOyU1ikMBs0FWLtUxccb8VAvEtOFAxg5Rn4OKqzSz0SQe8L_TRW6flxYMN8tHWIkEHeaTn9tmeC8mD3ss4HL1C9WU/s1600/bv11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZZzGA-hl6438GcFBTB9ZESHcg16vW4w3FdJ2-BlQtJhlI9mosrHOyU1ikMBs0FWLtUxccb8VAvEtOFAxg5Rn4OKqzSz0SQe8L_TRW6flxYMN8tHWIkEHeaTn9tmeC8mD3ss4HL1C9WU/s1600/bv11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Thus began a rather complex bit of beaver
choreography. But first let me dispose of a major distraction
during it: a humming bird hovered above the green cap on my head!
Usually I watch these beavers from the other side of the pond,
the northwest corner or north shore, facing the southerly winds.
I have seen as many as five at once. This evening I had a full
view of all the pond but the northwest corner. After I accounted
for five beavers where I usually see them, I saw two beavers at
the far southeastern corner of the pond. Those two were quite
active bringing up roots. The beavers near me were their usual
selves doing more swimming than eating, although right in front
of me I could see two nicely stripped logs.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiA10td0QvdWmhFL14a967k04tfRjwS-aERoa0sxShy5gSRrUM5yPum-X3M6ObMC-w7KvOc5LzNC9rzy6hHXbVIj58KRKRpOUlUatL9BA-v4w53e5KUtq9a61tZq64RD9L9W68-i6XNo/s1600/lsbvwk11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiA10td0QvdWmhFL14a967k04tfRjwS-aERoa0sxShy5gSRrUM5yPum-X3M6ObMC-w7KvOc5LzNC9rzy6hHXbVIj58KRKRpOUlUatL9BA-v4w53e5KUtq9a61tZq64RD9L9W68-i6XNo/s1600/lsbvwk11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At least three, two juveniles and an adult,
came in and out of the lodge in front of me. I had seen some
nosing together near this lodge before, but not tonight. A
juvenile and an adult went nose to nose out in the middle of the
pond. Some beavers went over toward the dam. None went up to the
far northeast corner of the pond, where there were three deer
grazing in the shallows, but I don't think that was the reason,
because I saw two deer out in the southeast corner of the pond
where the beavers were. The goose family swam right in front of
me and then they went over to graze on the otter rolling area.
Then some curious things began to happen. A beaver seemingly on
its way out to the northeast shallows stopped and stared in the
grasses along the shore of the peninsula and slapped its tail
several times. I did see a deer in there, but it was well on
shore. Then as I contemplated that I heard a chorus of coyote or
fox yipping, much closer than usual and as always difficult to
pin point -- could fox have been in there? I know otters have
denned in there but I heard no responding screeches from them.
Very curious. I also saw what looked like a plump blonde-brown
log on the lodge far out in the pond, that disappeared but didn't
materialize into a goose nor anything else swimming in the water.
The angry beaver moved on up pond and another beaver came over to
the same shore, with the same stare, but without splashing. It
swam back to the northeast section of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile proud
bird parents were noisy but pondering the beavers sapped my brain
power. They all, young and old, act like lords of the pond, seem
to have no hang ups about sharing this designation with other
beavers in the colony, and look askance at other creatures. I
pressed on to the Big Pond and a muskrat swam out from the dam,
collected some emerging grass and took it to the burrow behind
the lodge. No beaver came out to greet me, and it was already
7:30. The mud work on the dam is awesome and seems to be on-going.
Since these beavers came from upstream it is almost as if they
are straining to connect their two worlds.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 12 cold night, and cool, sunny day with a
northeast wind. I kayaked to South Bay between 2 and 4. The theme
of the trip was bird chases. I saw what appeared to be a swallow
chasing a tern and both did an amazing piece of flying. The tern
only gained relief by flying higher and then flew off the pond
for a while. Then a heron escorted a gull out of the pond, only
to be escorted away from that shore by another heron. I saw group
of geese with the goslings sporting dark feathers and another in
which they were still baby green, but growing. They were pulling
at the grasses in the water which are coming up. Especially at
the end of the cove much of the grass seems unattached. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the
south shore of the south cove some spatterdock was blooming.
There were many heron as usual. Coming down the north cove, I had
five of them in view. Coming out, one surprised me by flying off
with a sizeable fish it had just snared. I had good luck seeing
fish today, several carp with their wavy dorsal fin, a rock bass,
many minnows, and some turtles in the water. I found one large
dead bullhead, bloody from a fish hook and evidently ignored by
the piscivores and scavengers. I'm always looking for half eaten
bullheads -- a good sign of otters, but I've seen none this year.
Two different types of bugs seem to be predominating now.
Especially bobbing into the water are relatively large brown
almost moth like bugs. On the land I see light tan, almost white
midges and one day I briefly eyeballed one and thought it had
yellow eyes! I didn't see any fresh beaver work, and no critters
prowling the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 13 I headed off a little before 5 pm for
an early evening sojourn with the beavers. I could see that a bit
of weather was coming in, but of late showers have been slow
moving. Not this one. I did get to check the South Bay latrines
and New Pond knoll latrine, where there was nothing new. As I
approached the East Trail Pond it began to rain. Once the rain
brought a family of otters out into the pond so I sat tight under
the tall pine, even though there were no new scats at that
latrine. I am working on the following optimistic theory: the
male has stopped marking because the female is beginning to take
her pups into the ponds. And the perturbation of the beaver the
other day may have been because the otters were in the grasses of
the peninsula. With the beavers so aware of her presence and the
need for a shallow pond pressing, the mother will now move her
pups to the East Trail Pond, which is shallow and has no beavers.
Nice theory. The pessimistic theory is that the otters have found
better pickings on other islands. Raccoons continue to have good
pickings. I saw scratching on the moss covered rock at the East
Trail Pond probably done by a turtle. Two green herons were
noisily vying for territory. When I went to sit under the cedars
above the Second Swamp Pond lodge, I noticed two batches of
freshly dug up eggs.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPucFDrR1NpK0PDcRHFoy8w3rpF14eQLDPgg3Jc3JyKgsW_KjLn6TpZXzmRcZvuLaO7XHGv-C9gvMlG89yi9o0J9WivI5qgJdpTFWmUmkjFgAyUHgm0kN4QFPQRw_EsXE-_c8Pk-aGFQ/s1600/teggs13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPucFDrR1NpK0PDcRHFoy8w3rpF14eQLDPgg3Jc3JyKgsW_KjLn6TpZXzmRcZvuLaO7XHGv-C9gvMlG89yi9o0J9WivI5qgJdpTFWmUmkjFgAyUHgm0kN4QFPQRw_EsXE-_c8Pk-aGFQ/s1600/teggs13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed I could smell one bunch. I watched the
rain and wind swept waters hoping for something to poke out, but
nothing did. Another large beaver stripped log was by the lodge,
and one twig, so beavers still come by if they don't live inside.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipEBdRQn4WRMQchmoqWyH7l6i9XIIpIx_dbvUaebs6lp9iDlRSywcvPOHKLTD6TZ3FhpwRmVODGB-wYj0QrhGIijtil7G55RyQpTJTmZhn1SYWklcWEncamMBBiCtjNJbOTSXM3mtBFeE/s1600/splodge13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipEBdRQn4WRMQchmoqWyH7l6i9XIIpIx_dbvUaebs6lp9iDlRSywcvPOHKLTD6TZ3FhpwRmVODGB-wYj0QrhGIijtil7G55RyQpTJTmZhn1SYWklcWEncamMBBiCtjNJbOTSXM3mtBFeE/s1600/splodge13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The shower stopped and I almost moved on to the
Lost Swamp Pond but knowing that I'd get soaked and that sitting
on the grass waiting for beavers would be a moist experience too,
I went home the way I came.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 14 I headed off for the ponds just after
lunch on a warm, sunny and breezy day. Out of respect for the
deerflies and the heat I didn't cross the meadow behind the golf
course, but went up the TIP ridge and then along the ridge above
the first swamps. I went down to see how the Middle Pond is
doing. The heavy spring rains washed the dam out some more and
now the pond is lower than I've ever seen it.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign that it is proving of use to any of the
larger critters, but I didn't hang around. I crossed over the
creek there and as I walked up the meadow to the Big Pond, I came
across deer bones and fur nestled in the grass -- a small deer.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A heron flew off the Big Pond dam and a mallard
stayed on the Big Pond lodge. No sign that beavers have been
about the north end of the dam. One of my objects of study was
the Lost Swamp Pond, so I found a shady spot with a full view of
most of the pond and watched. A kingbird entertained me, and the
geese family of six was about, and I began noticing the turtles,
including a snapper hugging a log out on the pond.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdj3JDpbzkPwvc09imJ2HEVqiYGfTULzzY5gcROFi7svVfh80-Zqxh7nRjKnTJpSwFXPqEgu0LTdFgxCh3oq9ANzMz6IEWQrwoFT6ux-BNczJVt5dGzv5OOLYYM62u4eZ1ph_bDsi1bk/s1600/snapper14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdj3JDpbzkPwvc09imJ2HEVqiYGfTULzzY5gcROFi7svVfh80-Zqxh7nRjKnTJpSwFXPqEgu0LTdFgxCh3oq9ANzMz6IEWQrwoFT6ux-BNczJVt5dGzv5OOLYYM62u4eZ1ph_bDsi1bk/s1600/snapper14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing else materialized and I even dozed a
bit. I checked the old otter latrines near the bank lodge and
found only goose poop. Then as I moved on around the pond, I
heard a beaver splash, looked up and saw three of them out in the
pond, an adult who did the splashing and two juveniles. I was
impressed that they were so sensitive to my being near the lodge,
and that got me to thinking that they have otters on their mind.
But really they had me on their minds. Despite the adult doing
the splashing, one juvenile kept coming closer to me, though it
never splashed its tail. The adult swam back and forth with nose
cocked up. Here is a series of three snapshots showing the
juvenile not getting alarmed as the adult slapped its tail. The
first shows the adult moving away</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J2eeAupLi0HFntRjdw6-S82p7v6T-KD0mk3gt8HrE1cPVeRl_R5s4kC3cyHIs-vXYO3ltl_YX6LBixq6tquIMDIvcujvEwZMKj0R_S8YgenIY2yMjt6ZN46rEyCCOhsj3_n3lzR8CwM/s1600/bvs14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3J2eeAupLi0HFntRjdw6-S82p7v6T-KD0mk3gt8HrE1cPVeRl_R5s4kC3cyHIs-vXYO3ltl_YX6LBixq6tquIMDIvcujvEwZMKj0R_S8YgenIY2yMjt6ZN46rEyCCOhsj3_n3lzR8CwM/s640/bvs14.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then the juvenile does turn after the adult
slaps its tail</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32nNb3A0LJfZqOpO5rc9IktcJ7a9OIsIjTso8PMixDCf_mrhhe0JA6SSqzsCPYIgvlri00fJlRwVobFVXoH4HwRc5CD7Jdhd74ZLQWHgCFBLjh4PreGN_39ZoNApe2oNDudWPIlJFWFA/s1600/bvs14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32nNb3A0LJfZqOpO5rc9IktcJ7a9OIsIjTso8PMixDCf_mrhhe0JA6SSqzsCPYIgvlri00fJlRwVobFVXoH4HwRc5CD7Jdhd74ZLQWHgCFBLjh4PreGN_39ZoNApe2oNDudWPIlJFWFA/s640/bvs14a.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but it stays close to me, just behind the dead
birch, as the adult swims well behind it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLKV8s2_KWWwow5rrs5nfKUoSEWWeDt2Owf2_q-sUTJj6ygvIff7v8zpEDpaFriABA7R1SaAyVRc2w-DT5Zw8hyiWheYIDT0Ihkdgl8RbADBo8V84rYZyTgAHAsF6YQxvJLk8tORpx58/s1600/bvs14b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLKV8s2_KWWwow5rrs5nfKUoSEWWeDt2Owf2_q-sUTJj6ygvIff7v8zpEDpaFriABA7R1SaAyVRc2w-DT5Zw8hyiWheYIDT0Ihkdgl8RbADBo8V84rYZyTgAHAsF6YQxvJLk8tORpx58/s640/bvs14b.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I moved on around the pond and the adult at
least kept an eye on me. Nothing on the north slope of the pond
persuaded me that an otter had been through last night and close
examination of the slope above the upper Second Swamp Pond
revealed nothing fresh. As I walked slowly along the mossy ledge,
I flushed two big wood ducklings who motored across the pond, and
then a beaver swam out of the grasses below me. I had to
double-take because I have never seen a beaver swim more like an
otter, keeping its head briefly out of the water and then diving
again. Only when it got up into the Upper Second Swamp Pond did
it swim more like a beaver. These beavers are playing with my
mind! Clinging to my old theory that beavers out in the noon day
sun during the summer might be out to ward off otters, I sat for
15 minutes to see if any otter would come out. I did see a
muskrat and a wood duck hen with four or so small ducklings. I
went back over to the Lost Swamp Pond and checked the old otter
rolling area where I saw goose poop and trails up into the grass,
I presume, made by geese. I also found a painted turtle up on the
shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEza2qNwLXXp0TLFlGPX4w6DLP_tyhUO5nXAYDWNUIh83zTSapd-1tpUfK3xDLsHwONQGOchvQQN3pM_HBemv7xm7AY20V7tj3nm0JK8CHzPtmvcjvgoep2fVgftieFNVwTJu2ojdBkCA/s1600/pturtle14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEza2qNwLXXp0TLFlGPX4w6DLP_tyhUO5nXAYDWNUIh83zTSapd-1tpUfK3xDLsHwONQGOchvQQN3pM_HBemv7xm7AY20V7tj3nm0JK8CHzPtmvcjvgoep2fVgftieFNVwTJu2ojdBkCA/s1600/pturtle14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It dove back into the pond and since it was
slow to react to my being there, I presume it was on an
egg-laying mission. Meanwhile the snapper had climbed up on the
little lodge in the middle of the pond. There were no otter signs
near the dam, nor any signs on the upper Second Swamp Pond dam. I
walked down the north shore of the Second Swamp Pond and saw no
signs of beaver activity in the near bush. Soon I was gazing down
on the East Trail Pond and when I saw something swim out of and
then back into the lodge in the middle of the pond, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDsYHEOJVByZj_LeLyd3hObWFTiPkFPGMr7YFM2F2ESuhyphenhyphen_ucYNynIpZtHWPVFhaltE_V6S54Ow2k0-9ALQjpr5s5ITU26GmgKmxK0Qf-LcysihTasbf5GfAnygnypOEezLSe_iuec5c/s1600/etlodge14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDsYHEOJVByZj_LeLyd3hObWFTiPkFPGMr7YFM2F2ESuhyphenhyphen_ucYNynIpZtHWPVFhaltE_V6S54Ow2k0-9ALQjpr5s5ITU26GmgKmxK0Qf-LcysihTasbf5GfAnygnypOEezLSe_iuec5c/s1600/etlodge14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I spared 15 minutes to see if it would happen
again. It did and with a spyglass, I could see that it was a
muskrat. Only one green heron around today. On the rocks above
the dens I found some light fluffy brown fur around a gnawed
bone.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVzRcZAFt84J0IJSmKD1mgylVWK-4fdbukKv4w81MJaQdtGkBnPR4uo4rl3wjm4MesdU0-_FARxm3r5StJBdtonz_CfbUmLjw91dk3-Ph5AQ3kzkTPxgh4FCJEa_ml2tCtDZ7K0z3rPY/s1600/remains14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVzRcZAFt84J0IJSmKD1mgylVWK-4fdbukKv4w81MJaQdtGkBnPR4uo4rl3wjm4MesdU0-_FARxm3r5StJBdtonz_CfbUmLjw91dk3-Ph5AQ3kzkTPxgh4FCJEa_ml2tCtDZ7K0z3rPY/s1600/remains14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I have no idea what animal had been killed
since the fur had no feature. I'd guess that it was a baby
raccoon. As I walked around the pond I notice what a hazard the
empty beaver canals make. If I did not know where they were I
could trip into the three foot drop they make.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoiy7wj1GnfatpBNJbD4FeQl8rLJJpYpLhKbwG1T0sim7j_Nf4U9hSJYo93kmfjkmvWmdhsTgghV5rVR4Pa8WTbCFzSq6ueOMrxUAhniSxGCxDnKe7UhexMjEcmWJa2XHaodR3yqSsvE/s1600/drychan14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoiy7wj1GnfatpBNJbD4FeQl8rLJJpYpLhKbwG1T0sim7j_Nf4U9hSJYo93kmfjkmvWmdhsTgghV5rVR4Pa8WTbCFzSq6ueOMrxUAhniSxGCxDnKe7UhexMjEcmWJa2XHaodR3yqSsvE/s1600/drychan14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">To make sure the beavers here did not go
upstream to the high park ponds, I hiked up there. On the wood
chip trail I saw some spikey mushrooms, clavaria argillacea, one
book suggests.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqQzAMYIAWo1-G05xkaA5S3LTMv4NmIXvndn1z8-qNYXxkNeMeafNHSvLrvgvtArYFthVRLc4uC6j5v4sGA1HOK3O9TdlMzd2-hiu_S9G4GmvAvaBbWe8OVC4zj3ecg-KGLMraTOLxsg/s1600/clavaria14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqQzAMYIAWo1-G05xkaA5S3LTMv4NmIXvndn1z8-qNYXxkNeMeafNHSvLrvgvtArYFthVRLc4uC6j5v4sGA1HOK3O9TdlMzd2-hiu_S9G4GmvAvaBbWe8OVC4zj3ecg-KGLMraTOLxsg/s1600/clavaria14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beaver ponds up there are quite low and no
sign that any beaver had been around. I did see a mallard in the
huge marsh beyond, and scared a deer there, which made a huge
splash as it fled from me. I also noticed a little stand of
phragmites around a small beaver dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFYGGwAKW7X_h7NJUn3z_ABZRtWyG5wSOlW79NaQ_-IY4uvQFd_m3h9hiWmgG2K7OE3Tvy2xveSmmDv5i8tIqb7iJ9JhWcLmiL5buo3_lK4_6gj5cwFqepqyrA3HQP1DWeMBlWJrPG-I/s1600/phrags14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFYGGwAKW7X_h7NJUn3z_ABZRtWyG5wSOlW79NaQ_-IY4uvQFd_m3h9hiWmgG2K7OE3Tvy2xveSmmDv5i8tIqb7iJ9JhWcLmiL5buo3_lK4_6gj5cwFqepqyrA3HQP1DWeMBlWJrPG-I/s1600/phrags14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">With the water in the pond so low I could see
how the beavers seemed to have dammed their channel from a side
pond to the main pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJulSomHoFbR0OiZZq2812YPqWUEr2H8P3yKPACrvL6r-EHQG87G0IZb1cQeWYm30mATpOPIJgqbQUaQ7P-2t3VkL0Vkx2PdBPEPBAzDmcpfb8Xtd8qvYKUo6BtZ41YqUdn33Jn_D_17c/s1600/updam14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJulSomHoFbR0OiZZq2812YPqWUEr2H8P3yKPACrvL6r-EHQG87G0IZb1cQeWYm30mATpOPIJgqbQUaQ7P-2t3VkL0Vkx2PdBPEPBAzDmcpfb8Xtd8qvYKUo6BtZ41YqUdn33Jn_D_17c/s1600/updam14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">to try to get a little more water to cover the
entrance to their burrow in the channel. Going back up the
beautiful rocks to south of these ponds, I saw a type of
honeysuckle, northern bush, that I don't recall seeing before.</span><br />
<br />
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEnuqMXYfWKpFPDhqwHhxxlA1f1xs_idL-r43OeQvRpmLQ3zT2TC3Q9EN2JYiYYo977VRf-QM6WRPrYdnD5LslXMBI3dEWZ8kWiYoenv2-4rGqQ0Rdw97PYyado2gAsliW619fXFlwqk/s1600/hsuckle14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEnuqMXYfWKpFPDhqwHhxxlA1f1xs_idL-r43OeQvRpmLQ3zT2TC3Q9EN2JYiYYo977VRf-QM6WRPrYdnD5LslXMBI3dEWZ8kWiYoenv2-4rGqQ0Rdw97PYyado2gAsliW619fXFlwqk/s1600/hsuckle14.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo2LPIpav3z0dXwaM9RQT1rtqD3urYcgWckKQ6WLnfFWRGOp8je8QTZeB99aIHidLB9pex6PRfAAkXe2sNBbJntX2k-oheEO0K7lSiji81zSOlCwcwSLRGbBblORcN2P6hOIYjoULJYc/s1600/hsuckle14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo2LPIpav3z0dXwaM9RQT1rtqD3urYcgWckKQ6WLnfFWRGOp8je8QTZeB99aIHidLB9pex6PRfAAkXe2sNBbJntX2k-oheEO0K7lSiji81zSOlCwcwSLRGbBblORcN2P6hOIYjoULJYc/s1600/hsuckle14a.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That inspired me to sit awhile and enjoy the
shady view. On my way home I checked out Thicket Pond, saw a
little bit of fresh work and the pond still has muddy water. I
bet some beavers have moved down stream, but checking that is
another trip. No scats at the end of South Bay and a few carp
were thrashing about.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 16 a warm sunny day with a light wind, so
I headed off in the boat to check the otter latrines, just after
lunch when I would surely not disturb any sane animal. The trip
out was remarkable because I didn't see any geese, only one
mallard and then in Eel Bay, only one cormorant. I checked the
latrine on the large rock on Murray Island and found no scats and
only one minor wrinkle in the turf. I picked up a bit of the
bleached bones from one old scat and while I saw some fish bones,
much of the material seemed to be crayfish shells -- no claws,
though. But that was all old and there was no evidence that an
otter had been there in a while. I motored over to the latrine on
Picton Island</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHH7f6_65BgKbYokn1D0G8g8aVXLyqynd-2itFmRyNJjELBJq4K59wSoQv90Kl_Ztv3DeKe0_qPBDfHtfkcOWdamy8gJTHTjhO896a5QHVGpieKNy58lcCsJKY_rVZmcxHTXCZ2LRbbU/s1600/pilatrine16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHH7f6_65BgKbYokn1D0G8g8aVXLyqynd-2itFmRyNJjELBJq4K59wSoQv90Kl_Ztv3DeKe0_qPBDfHtfkcOWdamy8gJTHTjhO896a5QHVGpieKNy58lcCsJKY_rVZmcxHTXCZ2LRbbU/s1600/pilatrine16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I found the freshest otter scat that I've
seen in a while; several fresh smears,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vbYClDyNnfH3XtO4E27_YEEmd9Wuuhmm1zK0ghfkmHbuPcAgDl_eCTkbV2IC29dsYU8R-qklWuGRIKdHQkDAlMQmIOr8dP914X_tFzF5K8SX_PZRAobcQBuuLtF2PhkSLTnyyT2NGSM/s1600/scats16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vbYClDyNnfH3XtO4E27_YEEmd9Wuuhmm1zK0ghfkmHbuPcAgDl_eCTkbV2IC29dsYU8R-qklWuGRIKdHQkDAlMQmIOr8dP914X_tFzF5K8SX_PZRAobcQBuuLtF2PhkSLTnyyT2NGSM/s1600/scats16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">plus some old ones and two large crayfish
claws.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwL8Ai91HUeXXTNlBAC-DfsCJ8qGcFT4vde-Op976FTTJJOPhyeLyV_tNP2GyGI92xbTh3w-TTZHUrTLHC5NDPZ4My__VTg_4vBmIYppd3K_HHvT-23Jvj4QzPFqtPQgVRzHWARiwPx2s/s1600/claw16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwL8Ai91HUeXXTNlBAC-DfsCJ8qGcFT4vde-Op976FTTJJOPhyeLyV_tNP2GyGI92xbTh3w-TTZHUrTLHC5NDPZ4My__VTg_4vBmIYppd3K_HHvT-23Jvj4QzPFqtPQgVRzHWARiwPx2s/s1600/claw16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So the rocky bottom between the two islands,
especially at this time of year before the pond vegetation grows
seems to be a good foraging area for crayfish. I motored back to
South Bay and docked at the rock closer to the end of the cove. I
found some heron fluff there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMUjN9ElrSmuB_8BTUY6WPGPEJowt3baVNGYn0yUuz6bMgIfFN9p7gQDdaChBGAKq22JKefwWqmz6fVKIwZTAVlIr6W7vGozxKq9sQkeL9YImf_vue7sEeGsLrooacKHojYK09auMjk0/s1600/heronfeather16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMUjN9ElrSmuB_8BTUY6WPGPEJowt3baVNGYn0yUuz6bMgIfFN9p7gQDdaChBGAKq22JKefwWqmz6fVKIwZTAVlIr6W7vGozxKq9sQkeL9YImf_vue7sEeGsLrooacKHojYK09auMjk0/s1600/heronfeather16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I tried to get a photo of one of the herons I
so often see here, but it flew away before the camera was ready.
I checked the old latrine at the creek into the cove and found
nothing but there was a new, almost fresh smear on a rock almost
at the crest of the New Pond knoll.</span><br />
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<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBcmi87dM9VHy88ipKrbDdR9-YgffSZP5v4wcrQznQB95epConD4aehYjFWkt2tv7g_CdipNmzTHAslSV_VUyLMoOM6k1jWxbqCi9xLulkMZEL9qQNo6YP25369nO7R89AEn6PAi3SiU/s1600/scat16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBcmi87dM9VHy88ipKrbDdR9-YgffSZP5v4wcrQznQB95epConD4aehYjFWkt2tv7g_CdipNmzTHAslSV_VUyLMoOM6k1jWxbqCi9xLulkMZEL9qQNo6YP25369nO7R89AEn6PAi3SiU/s1600/scat16.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHl1MsLlvwNOv9sKfUQ74kNM0zPeQ1-vz2eKurePY2iUApnFoV9H82gFGU0PkdITfRzbwSkzbkQZpp3YRPVCP_1bT8X1x_Q-nekLcxjp7P5hh18vwsGOHJ5OICULIos5-rIMA53HijN8/s1600/scat16a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHl1MsLlvwNOv9sKfUQ74kNM0zPeQ1-vz2eKurePY2iUApnFoV9H82gFGU0PkdITfRzbwSkzbkQZpp3YRPVCP_1bT8X1x_Q-nekLcxjp7P5hh18vwsGOHJ5OICULIos5-rIMA53HijN8/s1600/scat16a.jpg" /></a></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing else there and no sign that the otter
had gone over the knoll. I hiked up the East Trail Pond and found
the pond rather quiet, and no fresh scat. I sat for a few minutes
and then headed for Audubon Pond. I was expecting to see more
evidence that some beavers moved down from Thicket Pond to
Meander Pond, but instead I found some freshly cut ironwood just
off Thicket Pond. I have found ironwood cut into logs before,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6rnOHneD6c1zhzMU28G4K6hW5bExyUjsflcZh_-sMEEJcWIro5ITHYgrejUsfCon-YrazBbfzTgH5rIvGASxdFjYOoThs_YXZnBG13KF-JXPemBLo8EpEDDd0XMmM489MTdOFlHjYps/s1600/bvironwood16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6rnOHneD6c1zhzMU28G4K6hW5bExyUjsflcZh_-sMEEJcWIro5ITHYgrejUsfCon-YrazBbfzTgH5rIvGASxdFjYOoThs_YXZnBG13KF-JXPemBLo8EpEDDd0XMmM489MTdOFlHjYps/s1600/bvironwood16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but the logs generally stay put and aren't
taken to the pond. Ironwood strikes me as a juicy wood and
perhaps beavers find it irresistible at certain seasons because
of that.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKv2Pnc4Ck7OcIRz-dxaOwM_UoFcW4zIsHoeyQhfJdHrZgjT93SMcOU0pq1jU8HiRq12_wZCavkmFGGirFXDs0afAiZnJy20SGugt4d1IXODukAMeCtG4Gdgcx1BJFkAA51ODH7npHwzU/s1600/bvironwood16a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKv2Pnc4Ck7OcIRz-dxaOwM_UoFcW4zIsHoeyQhfJdHrZgjT93SMcOU0pq1jU8HiRq12_wZCavkmFGGirFXDs0afAiZnJy20SGugt4d1IXODukAMeCtG4Gdgcx1BJFkAA51ODH7npHwzU/s1600/bvironwood16a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers had trimmed and taken the branches though. They
also cut down a small elm. There were no signs that beavers had
been in Meander Pond, but the dam is still holding back water,
ready for beavers if a drought develops.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVUnTSA7hIsBtRGmdo0v6FUv-7q2Vj7EfaiHdFB_wzgmx1UQLVqixUofWtYph73jXTF0H0lXg_gV1lQj0RutUF2-Tl9X8YRp207V-Z9Fi0_a2Zna5N2q86eIkm3cY2Ee-KB2XEH63EiI/s1600/mpdam16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiVUnTSA7hIsBtRGmdo0v6FUv-7q2Vj7EfaiHdFB_wzgmx1UQLVqixUofWtYph73jXTF0H0lXg_gV1lQj0RutUF2-Tl9X8YRp207V-Z9Fi0_a2Zna5N2q86eIkm3cY2Ee-KB2XEH63EiI/s1600/mpdam16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">By the way we did get almost an inch of rain
yesterday. At Audubon Pond, I had to make a detour around four
hikers admiring a grazing deer. I also moved three other deer
along during my brief hike. Judging from the stain of mud, the
muskrats have moved into the burrow a bit behind the bench.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvaSxuHGxyxjGq1ZgMkH9BWVRtI0hkNWOBv-pRoxfeJKtE7tzNMuxnfMDcnYxUbFJfD4WyyNk23afCw6e85SBo0251mFnCxBbKsp_RjPMTNEjULypi6-eh2JLWKIdK5XFI5mK6OtQcR4/s1600/ratmud16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvaSxuHGxyxjGq1ZgMkH9BWVRtI0hkNWOBv-pRoxfeJKtE7tzNMuxnfMDcnYxUbFJfD4WyyNk23afCw6e85SBo0251mFnCxBbKsp_RjPMTNEjULypi6-eh2JLWKIdK5XFI5mK6OtQcR4/s1600/ratmud16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign of where the beaver or beavers might
be, but over in the southwest corner of the pond, another tree
had been cut down. There is no trail in the grass over the
embankment in front of the drain which shows how unadventurous
the resident critters are. No geese here today either. At first
glance the docking rock seemed to have no scats, then I found a
small fresh one in the grass.</span><br />
<br />
<table border="0">
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<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG7RWiUih4m41-0dfTaG2PZTKVvfUCgxC_EPnkCxazOjVQTGttVCBR_aT_BOkXg1Ouj_OpBhuIDwtzstHbYZGR4B0QNlpPkCNvmCKxNvNDf1iKaVTnNpTgnfI4NU-vim-jQvx-JAz83I/s1600/scat16c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG7RWiUih4m41-0dfTaG2PZTKVvfUCgxC_EPnkCxazOjVQTGttVCBR_aT_BOkXg1Ouj_OpBhuIDwtzstHbYZGR4B0QNlpPkCNvmCKxNvNDf1iKaVTnNpTgnfI4NU-vim-jQvx-JAz83I/s320/scat16c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv83C1e-IyXSKJlQ5LebkHB4w0N102M7rPi9fqTIyEFdicVQGKgPJxmZ7r9puR5GLJ34EWIu2mpfzyb_jn9q4fu2dmfZpnk0qXhxK_KvPBmQwqXM8hWoa10bSp_lrGZb9h_nPT5aAqI7U/s1600/scat16b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv83C1e-IyXSKJlQ5LebkHB4w0N102M7rPi9fqTIyEFdicVQGKgPJxmZ7r9puR5GLJ34EWIu2mpfzyb_jn9q4fu2dmfZpnk0qXhxK_KvPBmQwqXM8hWoa10bSp_lrGZb9h_nPT5aAqI7U/s320/scat16b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">See the bug in the upper left hand corner
heading down to it. I hope to get up at 5 am tomorrow and see
some otters.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 17 I got up at 4:40 am and was amazed at
how light it was already. I had ideal conditions for seeing
things -- no fog, no wind and then a light wind that pushed me
across Picton point. I heard a turkey gobbling on Picton Island,
and now and then a turkey on Murray Island gobbling back. I was
treated to a beautiful sunrise.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_-0clhetuPsJCYTsJK8Jz7-vx5KSaefWPxf0425Rl0r9XsmWJjLb07T5qzu0Sut3SjDPTMlg3g_w7ycli9JA8uWyBTdZTLQAdrLwEQt1UXZUURtn49HS3_KiNtkvXZT1UOl70ABjIfU/s1600/sunrise17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_-0clhetuPsJCYTsJK8Jz7-vx5KSaefWPxf0425Rl0r9XsmWJjLb07T5qzu0Sut3SjDPTMlg3g_w7ycli9JA8uWyBTdZTLQAdrLwEQt1UXZUURtn49HS3_KiNtkvXZT1UOl70ABjIfU/s1600/sunrise17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A heron flew over me and a loon,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlhhQY_oWkUfnrEfe5l2nBC3nL4v_wk6FhGtzKNxLzCjVQIwkcGMWXrWkBmjVnss7lfnW-NFL7ZhlMkwTayFA3pCiCTtk20wdxdYZuLYASxukOIZZMepghmF2fAPf3iBwxFQIWBhhVnk/s1600/loon17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlhhQY_oWkUfnrEfe5l2nBC3nL4v_wk6FhGtzKNxLzCjVQIwkcGMWXrWkBmjVnss7lfnW-NFL7ZhlMkwTayFA3pCiCTtk20wdxdYZuLYASxukOIZZMepghmF2fAPf3iBwxFQIWBhhVnk/s1600/loon17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">to my amazement slowly swam right by my boat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5dyLs3lxNOGN7bbbn_yEdvivbNZaX5_UGWpCe-rtSEiE4XkFO3Cl1KGv_T0TuZF_6si37-Rhn1TwArVWWGDy-DqBqK4Goy6aZkq7hPg0wOPU-M23u-MJQect4Mh2FoPNJ4pX7WwQq_I/s1600/loon17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5dyLs3lxNOGN7bbbn_yEdvivbNZaX5_UGWpCe-rtSEiE4XkFO3Cl1KGv_T0TuZF_6si37-Rhn1TwArVWWGDy-DqBqK4Goy6aZkq7hPg0wOPU-M23u-MJQect4Mh2FoPNJ4pX7WwQq_I/s1600/loon17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was preening and fluffing up, even stretched
one leg up and back, and seemed for a moment almost sleeping.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBh1grF_skSXHgPW0PgRX6lSCPup-U49Hmd8CQmNZXLnS1FfSO9-mUv7S5eEEwiSQXPR1QxY3V_SnBHobbYQmiBjeEfVSz2g97g6IdMp109QIYHpyKmOlLMgoiP1q-OjHYeBlpVL44Dc/s1600/loon17b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBh1grF_skSXHgPW0PgRX6lSCPup-U49Hmd8CQmNZXLnS1FfSO9-mUv7S5eEEwiSQXPR1QxY3V_SnBHobbYQmiBjeEfVSz2g97g6IdMp109QIYHpyKmOlLMgoiP1q-OjHYeBlpVL44Dc/s1600/loon17b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It made a few low sounds, but no call. The
rising sun warmed Picton point in a red glow,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHzodMlmgzGoJ6J85ZtYD1ndiLn93uP1LxDJ-wSMyVeimL5zA1ubbtBd_30zYyMssJv46FqExWrFzirjQVL7M4lqDBIVl7NQJ_xFavwTk-qRfjygMID9I4V4CS1hkBWf9qITAY1VQMvQ/s1600/picton17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHzodMlmgzGoJ6J85ZtYD1ndiLn93uP1LxDJ-wSMyVeimL5zA1ubbtBd_30zYyMssJv46FqExWrFzirjQVL7M4lqDBIVl7NQJ_xFavwTk-qRfjygMID9I4V4CS1hkBWf9qITAY1VQMvQ/s1600/picton17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but no otters appeared to dry off in the
morning sun. I only saw one brief wake, probably a snake. At 6 I
went to South Bay where I saw herons, a raccoon along the shore
line and carp thrashing in the mist at the end of the coves. I
also saw one duckling along the shore. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Being in the boat provided little exercise so
in the afternoon when I was rested and restless, I headed out to
the ponds, checking the Big Pond first with the sun almost out
and a light drizzle making it an eyeglass fogging afternoon. The
foamy white insect galls of the spittlebugs that I noticed last
year are all around again, mostly on the grasses, but they are
larger this year and also on more photogenic plants.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0de0tHIZuT2EwHyaeroMvXMtird2voIdEFxGcrbuGsvZh-qziRy8mzEKHYe2FIbjeH4pFyCP9NT9zWAqq4BPe7snLCeAZjyUr8tBei3QiAUlr8Jlhyf9tuNwsKZFhnzFQDLIu3S8-wk/s1600/foam17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0de0tHIZuT2EwHyaeroMvXMtird2voIdEFxGcrbuGsvZh-qziRy8mzEKHYe2FIbjeH4pFyCP9NT9zWAqq4BPe7snLCeAZjyUr8tBei3QiAUlr8Jlhyf9tuNwsKZFhnzFQDLIu3S8-wk/s1600/foam17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat on my perch beside the dam and the
bobbing head of a black bird prompted me to put the spyglass on
the lodge. Last year prior to the beavers moving to ponds
upstream there was a lot more harvesting around this pond. Now I
don't see evidence of any and would say the beavers have moved
upstream again, save for a nice, small beaver marker on the
middle of the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0Tr4maApGcOJXAvBtbX40G6vi9uyxYxygor1Ioris9eLjBww5sBfanyzML0Oq1Z88YlIlEmne7T6hc-DTSQV6SnvZy0fYi4GLAKW1xVIbx1KQu8bEJPwu_HEKm4SIgimEf0tTgIidlU/s1600/bvmud17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0Tr4maApGcOJXAvBtbX40G6vi9uyxYxygor1Ioris9eLjBww5sBfanyzML0Oq1Z88YlIlEmne7T6hc-DTSQV6SnvZy0fYi4GLAKW1xVIbx1KQu8bEJPwu_HEKm4SIgimEf0tTgIidlU/s1600/bvmud17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They are probably still here getting things out
in the middle of the pond by rooting in the grasses there, but
I'll have to go out and check that in the late evening. The
cattails are maturing nicely</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7a7HNjAJEwNhsV13vCt-jUD_EgrYPbiLEu_2qMhNYxh0_aXH_l1TroLvMQI31Oecmj8MHIZ_EP9MhH51Ri_cP089V0Tl9SK9iaZaUtCHJppXzfVHTvOwPxiX7z-nGI2EN4NP98Z4G1w/s1600/cattail17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7a7HNjAJEwNhsV13vCt-jUD_EgrYPbiLEu_2qMhNYxh0_aXH_l1TroLvMQI31Oecmj8MHIZ_EP9MhH51Ri_cP089V0Tl9SK9iaZaUtCHJppXzfVHTvOwPxiX7z-nGI2EN4NP98Z4G1w/s1600/cattail17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and painted yellow look almost gay in their
same-stalk marriage.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMXzfSFqQZLrc9hdhIubtScR7HNtG5FlgeC9u-insbNRfbFkpqtIyCmKGesLkBFk8e0cX1cdSF_0h_sKkYff6uizJ26S5AWBoDYjynDkbCPp4jACGsAz3lYD5BnkZalhZ2KZmBX0FrG4/s1600/cattail17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMXzfSFqQZLrc9hdhIubtScR7HNtG5FlgeC9u-insbNRfbFkpqtIyCmKGesLkBFk8e0cX1cdSF_0h_sKkYff6uizJ26S5AWBoDYjynDkbCPp4jACGsAz3lYD5BnkZalhZ2KZmBX0FrG4/s1600/cattail17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The heaves of mud along this dam make it almost
a gallery, much unlike the jungle of greenery in most years,
though as these exuberant roots show,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDxoufHEYcisGc2jiI8dIeuD60EeIy7kUWeyi7pWz1iVIYJfuLFKbh4vI-Uium_Wfc1LBCc1qoxjH_vJ7uiGeXVPwCbiXLQ12s7TVwKMg638eU5exTqdGqnZ2Y3MWRcFBVxFtbbVjnaE/s1600/plant17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDxoufHEYcisGc2jiI8dIeuD60EeIy7kUWeyi7pWz1iVIYJfuLFKbh4vI-Uium_Wfc1LBCc1qoxjH_vJ7uiGeXVPwCbiXLQ12s7TVwKMg638eU5exTqdGqnZ2Y3MWRcFBVxFtbbVjnaE/s1600/plant17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">it's hard to keep the vegetables down. The Lost
Swamp Pond was quite active for a warm afternoon. I saw a muskrat
taking the usual route from the north shore burrows to the
peninsula. Then I saw a wake way out in the southeast portion of
the pond. The critter dove enough to make me think of an otter,
but it went too slowly and the excitement died -- probably a
muskrat. Indeed another critter swam past it coming my way and
later I saw it climb on and mark a log -- definitely a muskrat.
Then there was interesting activity right in front of me. Usually
two adult muskrats work a portion of a pond, but I seemed to be
seeing four. And usually they graze along the peninsula and then
take the grass back to the north shore burrows, but this time I
saw one come out of one portion of the peninsula and swim into
the pond and disappear. I've suspected that there is a burrow
there, and have seen otters appear from out of there. One muskrat
walked the logs closer to me, quite religiously. Two muskrats
converged but there was no contention. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I stayed away from the bank
beaver lodge, heard humming from inside but there was no
evacuation today. Then I checked for otter scats and found none.
It's possible that these ponds now form the boundary of two otter
territories and that a male periodically loops in from the east
and marks the trail between the Lost Swamp Pond and the Second
Swamp Pond; and otters from Eel and South Bay come in from the
west and mark the New Pond knoll and perhaps the East Trail Pond.
This theory explains a lot and with the ponds between the two big
ponds and South Bay more or less empty, it might make sense to
the otters. It also explains why two families were raised in
these ponds last year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When I got down to the upper Second Swamp
Pond a muskrat swam out of the grasses and disappeared into the
bank next to where I was standing. Here again I've always
suspected there were burrows which I've never been able to
clearly see. It was getting after 5pm and I decided to wait to
the quarter hour in case that early beaver should come down, and
sure enough, it did. This time it swam quite purposefully, fast
with a few dives, and so I followed wondering if it was going to
check the dam or do some marking. However, I caught a glimpse of
it bobbing in the middle of the pond, then I lost it, which
probably means it found something good to gnaw well in the
grasses so I couldn't see it or any ripples. I checked Otter Hole
Pond and just to show how dry it is, there was a large flock of
turkeys grazing in the grass!</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvBv3VEgtikV7KWy8oY2AWi8CXTIln9B-mpxR7VdVI9GI2KjCOTWxX4wyNIMkXalQxZPE16LzYnOdZUcCXfLBUfFPLVbPd101YrHJAfGpGfYzej_d2IkrCtxS5A7DLfpYWM30KmQHEPc/s1600/turkeys17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvBv3VEgtikV7KWy8oY2AWi8CXTIln9B-mpxR7VdVI9GI2KjCOTWxX4wyNIMkXalQxZPE16LzYnOdZUcCXfLBUfFPLVbPd101YrHJAfGpGfYzej_d2IkrCtxS5A7DLfpYWM30KmQHEPc/s1600/turkeys17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the New Pond knoll and there was
nothing new there and then as I walked down the creek, I startled
a porcupine and her baby.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjSK-MGQcpj0X97O1hhWwSKUPpnRiZfiLhyphenhyphenEDZWjPwRnvP7BOJbr6Em4RODSznEryP2VT0QnG4KiHFcOeaNC5fNIpd23mHCzur_MeaAn21W9-Hoh92CRN9ZkpKEttJOyUtvZbcq8mw2o/s1600/ppines17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjSK-MGQcpj0X97O1hhWwSKUPpnRiZfiLhyphenhyphenEDZWjPwRnvP7BOJbr6Em4RODSznEryP2VT0QnG4KiHFcOeaNC5fNIpd23mHCzur_MeaAn21W9-Hoh92CRN9ZkpKEttJOyUtvZbcq8mw2o/s1600/ppines17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The big brown mother climbed several lengths
higher up the tree and the small black baby stayed within reach,
though half concealed by a leafy twig.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD_hRfGkjnot3IdhgADR6wIZiWJLWKteycHgFF7J7lpCVvOtqGzqwv3M8T6x6YhVxVHwRWW5oFvAdjar53OGnJcRyY8zAIYQDugfCZrs83sj7_JaHpfypyPp6DhvlAe3igB3hMFzlX2M/s1600/babyppine17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD_hRfGkjnot3IdhgADR6wIZiWJLWKteycHgFF7J7lpCVvOtqGzqwv3M8T6x6YhVxVHwRWW5oFvAdjar53OGnJcRyY8zAIYQDugfCZrs83sj7_JaHpfypyPp6DhvlAe3igB3hMFzlX2M/s1600/babyppine17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some Mom.</span><br />
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-73282725421625576292017-01-04T18:40:00.000-08:002017-01-04T18:40:10.209-08:00June 2 to 5, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">June 2 a beautiful, cool, sunny day with a nice
wind. For the first time this year I went to the ponds via the
meadow behind the golf course, which I had been avoiding because
this has been a wet spring. But I need to plow through tall grass
in hopes of seeing a fawn. I did see three deer, bright in their
new red coats, move off from the tiny stream, but no fawns. I
did find a deer carcass which appeared fairly fresh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhRspDfizzhbEUOZNPSFzan183OkpdauxtqaJEn-m7-PBV1Hg3YjEHTlQTthpVsSwDYkt6DBeKp1WdLj-GD-Ui9g-we3l0Mp4n8UTSbeUkOUHqXsos-LlOydFfT6sG77KCJglMXhVUsc/s1600/deercar2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhRspDfizzhbEUOZNPSFzan183OkpdauxtqaJEn-m7-PBV1Hg3YjEHTlQTthpVsSwDYkt6DBeKp1WdLj-GD-Ui9g-we3l0Mp4n8UTSbeUkOUHqXsos-LlOydFfT6sG77KCJglMXhVUsc/s1600/deercar2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the wet meadow I saw where the deer probably
dug out the elecampane roots, but no fawns. Up on the ridge the
red topped grass was all over and for my photo this year I tried
to capture a sparser group on a rock seemingly growing out of the
lichens with white flowers looking on.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjGmrWzsXU-EzJFVdYqsC5hBAvnnOvwJZcjiwoi8p1dPlAH2Tw17X0FygyYouDQPaX_p0DLekJi9cNyz0qvAPEekhHgRFPpAdCwCQ14yOzSvwjZ7IBCf-mXaTr3JWSc8xl566RaBbbSg/s1600/grasses2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjGmrWzsXU-EzJFVdYqsC5hBAvnnOvwJZcjiwoi8p1dPlAH2Tw17X0FygyYouDQPaX_p0DLekJi9cNyz0qvAPEekhHgRFPpAdCwCQ14yOzSvwjZ7IBCf-mXaTr3JWSc8xl566RaBbbSg/s1600/grasses2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This was not a famous day for birds up on the
ridge. I flushed two more deer, then sat by chance with a small
cherry tree right in front of me. The blossoms were done but
other excrudescences weren't. I assume the crop of red protuberances
on the leaf are insect galls.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6mmyL9joR8Wz3h84-9ccFXLl5M5TS9HH_QewWtxKzDuwlzO9faEL69RoGXx3nrDq4wm7cXJSdm9ZgBnoc6mjdliyj81_iq08uNb0gsUIzm3ev6UbabZJBDBG-XOmOI1jqZxnnfGBmXc/s1600/cherryleaves2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6mmyL9joR8Wz3h84-9ccFXLl5M5TS9HH_QewWtxKzDuwlzO9faEL69RoGXx3nrDq4wm7cXJSdm9ZgBnoc6mjdliyj81_iq08uNb0gsUIzm3ev6UbabZJBDBG-XOmOI1jqZxnnfGBmXc/s1600/cherryleaves2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crossed the double lodge pond dam which has
been generously repaired with mud,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HYs_7ltJ_FVGoYNYJVJz4xc7V0wIimALp49n5MYIh_fbUFMvVTBMVwPj1wkIYM8nbCJ6MXMKchzAOMxO8GKw1mhmvAvEDkklBdcKXzZsM2cIkOpHcV6Q847vDuG4icl1l3t32uOx_BA/s1600/dlp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HYs_7ltJ_FVGoYNYJVJz4xc7V0wIimALp49n5MYIh_fbUFMvVTBMVwPj1wkIYM8nbCJ6MXMKchzAOMxO8GKw1mhmvAvEDkklBdcKXzZsM2cIkOpHcV6Q847vDuG4icl1l3t32uOx_BA/s1600/dlp2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but there is still a leak under it. Given the
beavers attention I was surprised not to find any freshly nibbled
sticks. These beavers seem to be sticklers for dam building and
must be feasting elsewhere. The Big Pond dam continues to grow by
muddy heaves.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH47DFpav7FQWZZ4cK-TuzSNuihv5enH2OtxlwdwkJinNZDwak8E7_FQQvD5vSuVRwupwP4K_bGUiGnXxV9VnPm0YnkXH8wkt4km0jyKf8RimjIV_i8hLHoIrg8fB3rX-QiJtce74rPZo/s1600/bpdammud2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH47DFpav7FQWZZ4cK-TuzSNuihv5enH2OtxlwdwkJinNZDwak8E7_FQQvD5vSuVRwupwP4K_bGUiGnXxV9VnPm0YnkXH8wkt4km0jyKf8RimjIV_i8hLHoIrg8fB3rX-QiJtce74rPZo/s1600/bpdammud2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Here there are some nibbled sticks but scarcely
enough to recoup the energy expended to build the dam. All the
blue flag irises are out and the bees quite excited. I was out in
the early afternoon when critters should be scarce, but my aim
was to take a painstaking tour of the ponds. On my way to the
lodge, I didn't see any of the old muskrat burrows in obvious
use, and from the back, at least, the lodge doesn't look that
used. There are some newly installed sticks in the front. The
muskrats seem to be back here.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj9HD6wZa-kNi7JziSYy30ZxwatQFD9wHdaomIXoBdolUiJBNefOmnIgvVvigTAXQb6UGwOCYVeJcNy1JKK1tKBO9BN8mwIQH6eAp_K4ig0hGxE6CM02RLaExC1csnKZ04NprjHsKeDw/s1600/bplodge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj9HD6wZa-kNi7JziSYy30ZxwatQFD9wHdaomIXoBdolUiJBNefOmnIgvVvigTAXQb6UGwOCYVeJcNy1JKK1tKBO9BN8mwIQH6eAp_K4ig0hGxE6CM02RLaExC1csnKZ04NprjHsKeDw/s1600/bplodge2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The deeper water in the pond, I have never seen
it deeper, has activated some old burrows. Next I sat at the
rocks at the midpoint of the south shore of the Lost Swamp Pond.
Save for three herons who all flew off, one tern and a few
blackbirds the pond served as nothing more than the play thing of
the gentle wind. I wound up sitting over some old bullhead
leftovers but there were no fresh otter scats at these latrines.
I tarried near the bank lodge and noticed some some bushes hauled
in for nibbling. No scats around there either. And the north
shore otter trail looked unused. I went over the ridge to the
upper Second Swamp Pond and sat in the shade when I heard a
possible scarlet tanager above, but I slipped into a nap before I
saw that bird. Some splashing in the pond below woke me up and I
saw a wood duck with a considerable brood. Some ducklings were
dutifully right behind her and others were taking tangents all
over the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_L7MHipaEvuItfNKDys_negr2KeO9rBf9PdLeSfUbsGRb3SCw_3Md4jXQRVnYt4K5w4mbRvUlRJk_l9xQOZqu2TOlWqpMm5WMzYfpHM0hNbzE_HDsIapwV-LmqPkYN62VKhuWRilylDs/s1600/ducklings2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_L7MHipaEvuItfNKDys_negr2KeO9rBf9PdLeSfUbsGRb3SCw_3Md4jXQRVnYt4K5w4mbRvUlRJk_l9xQOZqu2TOlWqpMm5WMzYfpHM0hNbzE_HDsIapwV-LmqPkYN62VKhuWRilylDs/s1600/ducklings2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The mother climbed up on a muskrat push-up and
with a few squeals brought most of the ducklings up onto it too.
She began fluffing her feathers, and then, when I just turned the
camcorder off, she took alarm and hopped into the water and in a
fury all the ducklings did so too. She keep squealing an alarm
and the ducklings seem to form a ball behind her. Then she moved
off and I assume the ducklings lined up behind her as they went
through the grasses. I almost didn't go down to the shore to
check all the way for otter scat. When I did I saw a bit of bent
over grass, and a new, but not fresh scat. I also noticed goose
poop on this trail so some of the mussing I've been noticing
might have been done by the geese rooting around. I went back
over to finish inspecting the north shore of the Lost Swamp Pond
and I saw something black on the almost sunken lodge out in the
pond. I first thought it was a blackbird but it didn't fly off
and I soon saw that it was a mink. Once again I turned off the
camcorder at the wrong time, just after the mink went into and
disappeared in the pond. Then it rushed out with something in its
mouth, set it down in the middle of the lodge, where I couldn't
see it, and worried over it for the next ten minutes. I was
prepared the next time it went in the water but this time fishing
wasn't so successful. It came out empty mouthed, went back to
what was in the middle and then, judging from its high head and
steady stare,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgmojKeiFc_r6YMBKdRbBDqwuKihGaF0aeqNA_11sF-auQvpkMcTkb3WMLCKZyF_YCcVXih3F5zYo4q8PMtzwu1gKCxXPpZt6zpA65TcW_FFaQdohHx4aKyXD60ZzTHGclEJSmHITyP8/s1600/mink2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgmojKeiFc_r6YMBKdRbBDqwuKihGaF0aeqNA_11sF-auQvpkMcTkb3WMLCKZyF_YCcVXih3F5zYo4q8PMtzwu1gKCxXPpZt6zpA65TcW_FFaQdohHx4aKyXD60ZzTHGclEJSmHITyP8/s1600/mink2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">it realized I was there. I saw it swim in the
water, going up on a log once, then I lost it as it headed to the
far shore. Meanwhile I saw a water snake swimming by. And I got
glimpses of a muskrat ducking into holes, even the burrow on the
east side of the lodge. There were no otter scats around. I
crossed the dam, which has a little leak by the way, to explore
the south shore of the now extended upper second swamp pond. I
hoped to find a new lodge back there but the tangle of willow,
honeysuckle, buck brush, etc., was daunting.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYATCw24bow3iP3moMylvH0RVcGfTGTSkx50jG9YR5V3SZdnEhfbWJjhh9oU49bqfPN79ETf87WAJF3m6ZBPmXCjGiyztwU_6R-kuQegIyTZ2JT7Cefe_FwBqDiuSb6sLsQUskf-wqIMQ/s1600/bushes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYATCw24bow3iP3moMylvH0RVcGfTGTSkx50jG9YR5V3SZdnEhfbWJjhh9oU49bqfPN79ETf87WAJF3m6ZBPmXCjGiyztwU_6R-kuQegIyTZ2JT7Cefe_FwBqDiuSb6sLsQUskf-wqIMQ/s1600/bushes2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any signs of a lodge nor any signs
of bushes taken by beavers. I'll have to try the north shore. But
it was getting on, so I went back and crossed the dam, which is
still growing, and where a freshly cut sapling was laid out.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN8NLctik4ZAZObO3xp0lc1-_53dDhBb1qeQJDvibiPQU_H1UBs4u8olbgbsey5gEW_MX87ViGDR9IGpcKfHlAxYZv4Yd5R1q274FGZ7ZJhiRQoHahNFf_DHD5FqG0rBLncQ4xTDz4ko/s1600/upspdam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN8NLctik4ZAZObO3xp0lc1-_53dDhBb1qeQJDvibiPQU_H1UBs4u8olbgbsey5gEW_MX87ViGDR9IGpcKfHlAxYZv4Yd5R1q274FGZ7ZJhiRQoHahNFf_DHD5FqG0rBLncQ4xTDz4ko/s1600/upspdam2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I explored the Third ponds, as I call
them. They remain low with no signs of beavers. I went down the
north stream, then crossed over the rock and scoped the little
ponds on the other side.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGQx6-EFFCI9qREVm1Q4CP0M4vokeyBReh293Bw77LZ8CfWAUar_sXk1lqZKLLqTtXLcjQqiwtn69OH9LBc2Q6Pp6_YZ-xqyFrtD6ws-RVcXbULdeGFWUebSYHDAa25h1ZhxV37KFyb8/s1600/thirdp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGQx6-EFFCI9qREVm1Q4CP0M4vokeyBReh293Bw77LZ8CfWAUar_sXk1lqZKLLqTtXLcjQqiwtn69OH9LBc2Q6Pp6_YZ-xqyFrtD6ws-RVcXbULdeGFWUebSYHDAa25h1ZhxV37KFyb8/s1600/thirdp2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A heron flew out of the East Trail Pond, and a
goose without goslings took due alarm at my presence. I checked
for scat and hung around enough to cool down, but the only
excitement was a rather brilliant redstart. On the way home, I
checked the New Pond knoll but there was nothing new there. I saw
several more deer ducking through the greenery in the their red
fur, but again no fawns. Somewhat surprised to see the deer so
bunched up.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 4 yesterday I toured South Bay in the
kayak, contending with a surprisingly brisk north wind. So I
didn't see as much in the water, save to note that pollen and
blossoms were all over. Also the grasses are coming up, save at
the very end of the north cove. Only one tern today, and perhaps
because of the wind there were more herons than usual along the
lee shores. I could see five at once and know that two were still
behind me. I also caught a glimpse of an osprey. Not as much
thrashing of carp. But the turtles were out. I saw what appeared
to be the perfect turtle family, three on a small log, with two
large turtles facing each other and the larger turtle partially
covering a little turtle a tenth its size. First the large turtle
not covering the little one fled, than the large turtle, leaving
the little one alone frozen on the log. I thought I saw more
beaver trimming of willow but that's a hard call because things
look differently in different light. No major work. I briefly saw
a raccoon prowling the shoreline.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today I went off in the boat to see if the
otters had visiting the latrine on the rock on Murray Island. I
saw dirt freshly scraped up in two spots, much as an otter would
do it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPHHBqGRG-sOfVIldPzu5vU-aKR5-kZNEb3Pn3dcfjsetM4sBPX0J4YTU-6B20opQej0Cv6axOPLXpC6i2cuTRwuhJJ4dTJDr4EuFedNF1DOc89QKiCWWbx9QsF0z-vzmGZ93KqKG9i0/s1600/murholes4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPHHBqGRG-sOfVIldPzu5vU-aKR5-kZNEb3Pn3dcfjsetM4sBPX0J4YTU-6B20opQej0Cv6axOPLXpC6i2cuTRwuhJJ4dTJDr4EuFedNF1DOc89QKiCWWbx9QsF0z-vzmGZ93KqKG9i0/s1600/murholes4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But I couldn't find any fresh scat. I went over
to Picton Point and saw some mussed up dirt there too,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hy9GuAIYmf4ve06KOBrjZylzAbTB1WpC6GKwcH0IHxMiLfjVOzKzGftuKD2ECZYG-RN5-rYzPAz2tNNC4Ka8GTPZmz0VsH3Es0LTb-LzLJEMtbkje9uy1lFUbVZ-S5IO1LdWv8ltat8/s1600/picrock4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hy9GuAIYmf4ve06KOBrjZylzAbTB1WpC6GKwcH0IHxMiLfjVOzKzGftuKD2ECZYG-RN5-rYzPAz2tNNC4Ka8GTPZmz0VsH3Es0LTb-LzLJEMtbkje9uy1lFUbVZ-S5IO1LdWv8ltat8/s1600/picrock4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and here I did find some relatively fresh scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRyaNqEwWrpaRF0ZZG_lN1lD2GT9WHkgWpXMR8efdYECRq16W7sl1P2e591F07kAoCChYtrVcTCjjLelwxCn2AjSUP3xgBT0IEUEfi8gS43Qklb4iIG5q7ZbbGzq_li6tdBfwYvbcZII/s1600/picscat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRyaNqEwWrpaRF0ZZG_lN1lD2GT9WHkgWpXMR8efdYECRq16W7sl1P2e591F07kAoCChYtrVcTCjjLelwxCn2AjSUP3xgBT0IEUEfi8gS43Qklb4iIG5q7ZbbGzq_li6tdBfwYvbcZII/s1600/picscat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Seeing how the otters command this bay is quite
exciting since when I gaze into its depths (averaging about 5
feet) I don't see any fish and at this time of year no place for
fish to hide.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtYwcs1DhyRhp323ZxCu_Wwc0ZVtKlaTwKdQ-C7KjNYmLO8az0igglH1oCeZpd_9tKqVP28YRNCgdN9fjmBlgvOFylPw9XaQ5V9mwhOAI7rcMn5PakLOGQdeOfAyg60KOJ6Tx_IyQCYc/s1600/murrock4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtYwcs1DhyRhp323ZxCu_Wwc0ZVtKlaTwKdQ-C7KjNYmLO8az0igglH1oCeZpd_9tKqVP28YRNCgdN9fjmBlgvOFylPw9XaQ5V9mwhOAI7rcMn5PakLOGQdeOfAyg60KOJ6Tx_IyQCYc/s1600/murrock4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But the rock across the bay on
Murray Island is perhaps even easy for an otter to see and evidently a good place to check in and see what other otters are doing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 5 I headed off in the late afternoon going
to the South Bay trail first. The carp were thrashing about at
the end of the first cove and I even saw a bit of twisting. No
sign that an otter had been out there, but the trail over the
pipe at the north cove looked used, as did the trail up to the
knoll, and on the rock at the crest of the knoll overlooking the
creek, I found a new scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpkVJJsgI0w4pBDJXD0KV23EH_Enz-mrq2opq5cWFzhWVoZGMnP6kVEY5ee6i3zN44ZS52rMKf29qZMoXnvZCMxq0S1xqKYK8AC4wDTSwda02hsjaQHn76RhppoMINv846D-cxMkkixY/s1600/npknollscat5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpkVJJsgI0w4pBDJXD0KV23EH_Enz-mrq2opq5cWFzhWVoZGMnP6kVEY5ee6i3zN44ZS52rMKf29qZMoXnvZCMxq0S1xqKYK8AC4wDTSwda02hsjaQHn76RhppoMINv846D-cxMkkixY/s1600/npknollscat5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I fancied that the trail down to the New Pond
looked used but I couldn't find any new scats. The New Pond
itself is getting rather low and choked with duck weed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjhDJ5vK4hdgQrg7HbBxF76cSeY3NJFRfWkLFpI2Zb-oP6XGwQXbyg22dsspj0t-EP5i6ovlPw-dIvhe-vJMfcz1QNKn4TQfm_enfAfBCytCJFKECi1S7h6CTLcvf9z6dsrwXmDcJLbU/s1600/np5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjhDJ5vK4hdgQrg7HbBxF76cSeY3NJFRfWkLFpI2Zb-oP6XGwQXbyg22dsspj0t-EP5i6ovlPw-dIvhe-vJMfcz1QNKn4TQfm_enfAfBCytCJFKECi1S7h6CTLcvf9z6dsrwXmDcJLbU/s1600/np5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I looked on the apron of mud below the knoll
for tracks and most likely what I saw were raccoon tracks which
in the mud can look a little more ferocious. I continued up along
the south shore of the now almost empty ponds, where all was
quiet. I sat on the large rock at the south end of the Second
Swamp Pond dam and soon enough I saw a beaver out in the shallow
evidently eating some sunken grasses. This is a spot where the
beavers frequently foraged in other years. The wind was not
favorable and as the beaver swam into the grasses, it could have
been reacting to my scent. I waited to see if it would reappear
either by the lodge or dam, but I didn't see it again. The wind
began to pick up making it difficult to read wakes in the pond. I
headed up pond and first checked for otter scat along the trail
from the Lost Swamp Pond. I noticed that a beaver put a little
mound with crossed sticks just where otters are want to come up,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8v9Mr-72sWcQ3nYabOeW_ZrygEUrTYyky206Kc2OKOzmsY58g3pJKKV0PDP80o7el20muAZwfIAqFgFvmMzrmcHS5DxptQ4v41d3Wg6qBxHqO_jJUQInFlle0UvCD3qcqQLG9E4FD268/s1600/lsbvmark5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8v9Mr-72sWcQ3nYabOeW_ZrygEUrTYyky206Kc2OKOzmsY58g3pJKKV0PDP80o7el20muAZwfIAqFgFvmMzrmcHS5DxptQ4v41d3Wg6qBxHqO_jJUQInFlle0UvCD3qcqQLG9E4FD268/s1600/lsbvmark5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and there was a slightly muddy trail up, which
I assume a beaver made, but, things look a bit mussed. Over on
the other side, just up from the Second Swamp Pond it seemed a
scent area had been spread out </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuBJkaI-MvJpd0eeMDGLP_fgXGHDORexP5lyKcrdQYY_o-J-AFaLNVAQ8Kd62UJGqA8hJh6uN_0ukqV2EN6bbLvOERXLKaDKGvwYnHPqMk02SsbmmndfPbnq5QwdXHMA5o33r0oa1OVY/s1600/splatrine5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuBJkaI-MvJpd0eeMDGLP_fgXGHDORexP5lyKcrdQYY_o-J-AFaLNVAQ8Kd62UJGqA8hJh6uN_0ukqV2EN6bbLvOERXLKaDKGvwYnHPqMk02SsbmmndfPbnq5QwdXHMA5o33r0oa1OVY/s1600/splatrine5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and there was a new, almost fresh scat in the
middle of the new array of dead leaves and torn grass.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaMePr7ARsI5i9IU0ZHIfFBMKGLsnjXLtlwW-SuahGJgXxYIjaFvuxfRjlQUrwAEEEqUvjWSSLTntZnF4vG2hffSnLTViGMf0l7IGrg5xyGhvaozXJA9Y4N1HW7mrRg7vookbwqkioN4/s1600/spscat5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaMePr7ARsI5i9IU0ZHIfFBMKGLsnjXLtlwW-SuahGJgXxYIjaFvuxfRjlQUrwAEEEqUvjWSSLTntZnF4vG2hffSnLTViGMf0l7IGrg5xyGhvaozXJA9Y4N1HW7mrRg7vookbwqkioN4/s1600/spscat5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I moved up on the ridge nearby so that I had a
good view of the Second Swamp Pond and the upper pond. I noticed
what looked like a trail in the duck weed coming down from that
pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkSFmzc244NzkuZ-HToGT6wOsWuULuQp9UPYHXQD_KdoaJKTkB3V2zhpSNgCnzMWlWqZyCxBxkFwOlvQpLIqwR7Rz_HA77CaPSzdsdbcHXvgtlzCTBDPgqT7dhSms4Jagz8GRWG7ikCg/s1600/spbvtr5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkSFmzc244NzkuZ-HToGT6wOsWuULuQp9UPYHXQD_KdoaJKTkB3V2zhpSNgCnzMWlWqZyCxBxkFwOlvQpLIqwR7Rz_HA77CaPSzdsdbcHXvgtlzCTBDPgqT7dhSms4Jagz8GRWG7ikCg/s1600/spbvtr5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">All was quiet save for the blustery wind and
the oriole behind me for most of 45 minutes, then I saw a beaver
coming down from the tangles above the upper pond. It went to the
same spot on the north end of the dam that I saw a beaver visit
before, but this time it didn't cross over the dam, but went up
the south channel where I couldn't see it. And it didn't come out
until I lost my patience and slowly moved up to the Lost Swamp
Pond. This time it did cross over the dam, didn't swim down far
into the pond but stopped at a stand of cattails and began
feasting on a root. All to say, I am more convinced that all the
beavers moved up pond, though I can't prove it. And that young
ones should be in the upper pond soon. Then I went over the ridge
where the Lost Swamp Pond, mostly out of the wind, presented a
vision of calm. In a few minutes I saw the beavers, one small one
leaving the bank lodge on the south shore, another larger one
swimming down from the peninsula toward the bank lodge, and just
when I was to conclude that the lodge by the dam was out of play,
I saw a beaver cruise away from there. Two beavers seemed to have
a bobbing engagement near the bank lodge, clearly the beavers are
comfortable there. Then another beaver headed down to the west
end of the pond, so I moved that way too, and was able to see an
adult beaver swim up to a juvenile on shore, go up to it, almost
nose to nose</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgem6GiHGigt31QLBy-ODWV9q0iN_Yam5pVjOpSgF43ggq8IB49BEmjjcsGxFFM-cS7_AyLkK-ioM5jqqfLf11MuoYcNWQAJRWJ72lLqXkTaxVn8Pr3hI9HDWVOHpN1DI0j46a0UH8Zchs/s1600/bvs5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgem6GiHGigt31QLBy-ODWV9q0iN_Yam5pVjOpSgF43ggq8IB49BEmjjcsGxFFM-cS7_AyLkK-ioM5jqqfLf11MuoYcNWQAJRWJ72lLqXkTaxVn8Pr3hI9HDWVOHpN1DI0j46a0UH8Zchs/s1600/bvs5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I heard some humming and then the adult
went back into the water. The juvenile was poking in the grasses
and other greenery and the adult went into the long grasses at
the end of the pond, eating them I presume, because I heard no
gnawing. Meanwhile the little one got into the water and swam
toward me. I was sitting right above a spot where I saw a baby
groomed by an adult back in April. The juvenile swam right below
me, and since it kept looking up at me, must have been too
suspicious to climb up into that old familiar grass. When it swam
back in the pond, it didn't splash its tail. So I aimed the
camcorder at the beaver in the tall grass and then nosing into
the view finder was a deer. The beaver swam off, and when I
looked out of the camcorder I saw a fawn that could barely walk
coming along behind the doe.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPO36sQuQeal4m4swNnryymK3-7oht7tzTSmYjWQB6WqDU5EExRhxVQAagG0zEFI_bICHQ8skmw3LztE3PfZ_IY_HOuuDmyyY28xK7_vau8o60fpSIo6Pf8bx59DpjmmCN37YF3inXOM/s1600/fawn5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPO36sQuQeal4m4swNnryymK3-7oht7tzTSmYjWQB6WqDU5EExRhxVQAagG0zEFI_bICHQ8skmw3LztE3PfZ_IY_HOuuDmyyY28xK7_vau8o60fpSIo6Pf8bx59DpjmmCN37YF3inXOM/s1600/fawn5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Needless to say this was a treat. Not only did
I see the mother licking the fawn</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9YppI-RjywdZ0fwt08h7kIFqtlzb3QRjVDk-DC7A1FrAPC6ag1OoLSBs5KA8-v3ujgdNh94CAJZTh0zTa_5rJrVc2bnKF_AHjTFGTZrQ_UKFtAAQLbg2x13pHC4i3iq549HPK9QXoXg/s1600/fawn5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9YppI-RjywdZ0fwt08h7kIFqtlzb3QRjVDk-DC7A1FrAPC6ag1OoLSBs5KA8-v3ujgdNh94CAJZTh0zTa_5rJrVc2bnKF_AHjTFGTZrQ_UKFtAAQLbg2x13pHC4i3iq549HPK9QXoXg/s1600/fawn5a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the fawn briefly sucking milk, but I could
see the beaver looking at them, at least for a bit, then it swam
off. The mother spent much time licking under the fawn's tail,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0U4MjyFQeb4RZTCwd2xmxl2Ip8wgJThyJetXCoBq3n2iOVFa570CnPHY5eO3NzyOi47RE806__VmN_vszTPEMmczwFhJhqa77BReceJy29KQQm8XBnEPV7wqIb_VvDYIO0s0SehtTlAc/s1600/fawn5b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0U4MjyFQeb4RZTCwd2xmxl2Ip8wgJThyJetXCoBq3n2iOVFa570CnPHY5eO3NzyOi47RE806__VmN_vszTPEMmczwFhJhqa77BReceJy29KQQm8XBnEPV7wqIb_VvDYIO0s0SehtTlAc/s1600/fawn5b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">perhaps to remove any scent so when she left
the fawn in the grasses, it would be odorless. In due time, the
mother walked slowly along and up the rocky slope to the pond and
the fawn followed as best it could, stumbling here and there but
never falling. I quietly retreated and headed for the Big Pond. I
crossed the well-mudded dam without seeing a beaver, but when I
sat on my perch at the south end of the dam, I saw a little
beaver out in the pond, and as usual it swam over to inspect me.
This time it came closer than usual. It got my scent and head
high swam away and splashed its tail, but then it came back to
get another whiff of me, swimming even closer.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2X9tjBsuhZVi4MNhevrXSG4pgIYAQPhTJ1xRGdKftfcKiB-weDzQjhm1H-pawn41BNdkOMqeczupb6s9k5bk0iSuttnVTnu20B4cqWAm4DBfdttmYh__rY-fdxg9wW_CjR32uJpZkXY/s1600/bv5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2X9tjBsuhZVi4MNhevrXSG4pgIYAQPhTJ1xRGdKftfcKiB-weDzQjhm1H-pawn41BNdkOMqeczupb6s9k5bk0iSuttnVTnu20B4cqWAm4DBfdttmYh__rY-fdxg9wW_CjR32uJpZkXY/s1600/bv5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It even twisted in the water like it was biting
a bit of its fur, or addressing some discomfort. Then as I got my
camcorder out, it took alarm again, and swam off several yards,
stopped and probably would have come back to me, but it was
getting dark and I headed on. I scared another deer, and I
suppose the wind kept the evening birds quieter than usual. </span><br />
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-91515479005683758942017-01-02T19:29:00.000-08:002017-01-02T19:29:42.136-08:00May 16 to 31, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">May 16 Drizzly day yesterday, and in the
fifties. Today it stayed cool but the sun was bright out, and I
headed off in the boat for South Bay. Just off our dock the
swallows were feeding off the surface of the water, perhaps the
bugs I had seen floundering a few days ago. I went to the docking
rock and then up to Audubon Pond. As I expected they would, the
park people stuck a pipe in the drain </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcRtE71wWy0IQQ3BTT4GalkTBURxXvuHdRkYlAorWhYIYVzC1E3odcn4Ydm6OaE2xT4XZtPNStFq4CzWrrIthNZRD7cI7uOe92TFOLtK-69cRFVXsPN7NhdlPV8_Id5SHp2PfGyX4LgM/s1600/apdrain16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcRtE71wWy0IQQ3BTT4GalkTBURxXvuHdRkYlAorWhYIYVzC1E3odcn4Ydm6OaE2xT4XZtPNStFq4CzWrrIthNZRD7cI7uOe92TFOLtK-69cRFVXsPN7NhdlPV8_Id5SHp2PfGyX4LgM/s1600/apdrain16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and with that usual human touch, brought the
water level about two feet below what was needed to keep all
their trails dry. I walked around the pond and found that on the
west shore, where the muskrats and beavers had been denning, the
water was so low that the escape holes and burrows were full
exposed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScAHzmltReK336rLikiQ8bwYYgqmFs6E8cxa86p1gKusUV2WjsWw0ESIHfeUaOossXaORrU_bhh8OSESocOHnyUBwUaQmF_tA4yHCdnh9tK-R1uvPAWYUfc1IAkSXMj8XXDBgP9d-eSA/s1600/aplodge16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScAHzmltReK336rLikiQ8bwYYgqmFs6E8cxa86p1gKusUV2WjsWw0ESIHfeUaOossXaORrU_bhh8OSESocOHnyUBwUaQmF_tA4yHCdnh9tK-R1uvPAWYUfc1IAkSXMj8XXDBgP9d-eSA/s1600/aplodge16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I assume they have moved; where I'm not sure. I
think the lodge by the bench is too high and dry. The lodge in
the pond should be OK, but they probably moved into the large
embankment. I'll have to come in the evening to check them out.
The beavers have continued to harvest the oak the park people cut
down, again for no reason, and there is a pile of unnibbled
sticks on the nearby shore. The beavers also took most of the branches
off the pine they cut on the other side of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx1lXJkNyEMdarq3mTZG3LEneHAD2GsXoXMDo-y3JO9l08lZ7-2HQZaBcEdLpqYbVghmatWcNt2LVwsIaTBt4v38rpFnAU9bSKXbA6wrC79hwBXq-zOhFW8AaQy6uJtmEPKF5e68t4ho/s1600/appine16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx1lXJkNyEMdarq3mTZG3LEneHAD2GsXoXMDo-y3JO9l08lZ7-2HQZaBcEdLpqYbVghmatWcNt2LVwsIaTBt4v38rpFnAU9bSKXbA6wrC79hwBXq-zOhFW8AaQy6uJtmEPKF5e68t4ho/s1600/appine16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, this is a man-made pond and once the
beavers get over the frustrating chore of trying to patch the
leak maybe they will adjust. Meanwhile the park people have a low
pond looking like August in May. Feet will stay dry. Raccoons
will like it. When I went back to the docking rock I noticed that
there were two small fresh otter scats. This inspired me to row
down the shoreline and I get a photo of some beaver work on the
willows. It looked like they stretched up to half cut a branch
that they then bent down to harvest.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ3hRCO4LJIxLQ9wTl6aUx0I-OebdIHRi8nQ3a0Y3kwZApMmnRTKIm6VL1sQvdLEAAzDd-cvBN-QsOSpv3fAKJD-18S6L8GkzPfGsK5htj5l8Y9bOcha4xFWNBXLpfJpgxAyuRETJS_8/s1600/sbwillow16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJ3hRCO4LJIxLQ9wTl6aUx0I-OebdIHRi8nQ3a0Y3kwZApMmnRTKIm6VL1sQvdLEAAzDd-cvBN-QsOSpv3fAKJD-18S6L8GkzPfGsK5htj5l8Y9bOcha4xFWNBXLpfJpgxAyuRETJS_8/s1600/sbwillow16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Back on the shore I could see a small pile of
nibbled sticks. The swallows were working the bay but getting
midges that were flying about ten feet above the water. None in
the water yet. One common tern came in to do some fishing near me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhijnmmZdkNAnfRKSlPHTea-z7VbuEnGEznCxqXqtqz6JchKGye1D-QDGKe43UnU57GfqBe4t4KeFp1wQ7W0jz_gMZTMMV5s-NybybzzQ_Z-8R4tgmhZ-FC_u4oKkowDe7SX9WvZNO2Og/s1600/tern16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhijnmmZdkNAnfRKSlPHTea-z7VbuEnGEznCxqXqtqz6JchKGye1D-QDGKe43UnU57GfqBe4t4KeFp1wQ7W0jz_gMZTMMV5s-NybybzzQ_Z-8R4tgmhZ-FC_u4oKkowDe7SX9WvZNO2Og/s1600/tern16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">making several dives. I docked at the old
rotten ramp in the water. As I approached it there were many
explosions of mud in the water, burrowing bullheads, I assume,
because I think it is too early for carp to congregate. With so
much fish action in the water, as well as scats at the docking
rock, I assumed I'd see some scats on the knoll above the New
Pond, and I was right.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncdDMvkAtjKoSafxs3zaAYpJQkbB3PZnlN0jOFtnVpAEqDoeVVoKqG3BOJdzOXLjCe4l-gQ98QcWHSx2pklHQ8YYilcOddVLuLnLrrfGci-eMKSworMOZdQtN5MWptD8yL_vjKXxxqpc/s1600/scats16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncdDMvkAtjKoSafxs3zaAYpJQkbB3PZnlN0jOFtnVpAEqDoeVVoKqG3BOJdzOXLjCe4l-gQ98QcWHSx2pklHQ8YYilcOddVLuLnLrrfGci-eMKSworMOZdQtN5MWptD8yL_vjKXxxqpc/s1600/scats16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I still don't understand why the scats are
always on the pond side of the knoll and not the bay side.
Perhaps they can relax more back there. Many turtles on logs, but
no muskrats, nor that beaver. I hiked up to the East Trail Pond
which remains low and the duckweed flourishes.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtrl5Uh1ZBKgtxQoqtv6_U-ubxA-ecDVbyYn0KiAVPhS6a0_kVFdZtSfv8KIW3WqUwLQbod90MKMubiSEvDkq_rnw47jgr3o0lQwbPGDxHmlJwQuXhtKOGNi2Rvso8YMCWo6bge7qadE/s1600/et16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtrl5Uh1ZBKgtxQoqtv6_U-ubxA-ecDVbyYn0KiAVPhS6a0_kVFdZtSfv8KIW3WqUwLQbod90MKMubiSEvDkq_rnw47jgr3o0lQwbPGDxHmlJwQuXhtKOGNi2Rvso8YMCWo6bge7qadE/s1600/et16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were no new signs that otters had been
there. I walked along the shore toward Thicket Pond and with the
grass low, I noticed that the old tree trunk where three years
ago I thought that some otter pups might have disappeared into,
did indeed have a good hole under it and into it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZvBC9AvKso9-s2faMk2gRe19Wo5koTfHEafB8RXNBrypcaX5h4g3pf6qt1ubgK-mouGvnhFJdWyCXIzhh807Xhyphenhyphenvn8Du909B31knc_v4J4XcHLrECumruEsktAanVaI4kHexjfCVtGg/s1600/otden16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZvBC9AvKso9-s2faMk2gRe19Wo5koTfHEafB8RXNBrypcaX5h4g3pf6qt1ubgK-mouGvnhFJdWyCXIzhh807Xhyphenhyphenvn8Du909B31knc_v4J4XcHLrECumruEsktAanVaI4kHexjfCVtGg/s1600/otden16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The more I go over things, the more I think
that young pups spend a good bit of time in tree trunks. However,
up at the tree trunk where I saw three of them go into last year,
there were no signs of otters. The pond up there is almost dry.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwNOvY4xuGhgKLQI7KY1SBFjUiQeJDpAK1Ohgj0buS6dSZY6O1QZp25t0BwoviwQjw5dLOj0kNLqYR6TqqRomVRacxg5tfq97CB-BQpRoS10hIVj6ajT7daJh2qWYCsJWjn9H6_ivqGE/s1600/upetchan16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwNOvY4xuGhgKLQI7KY1SBFjUiQeJDpAK1Ohgj0buS6dSZY6O1QZp25t0BwoviwQjw5dLOj0kNLqYR6TqqRomVRacxg5tfq97CB-BQpRoS10hIVj6ajT7daJh2qWYCsJWjn9H6_ivqGE/s1600/upetchan16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw the goose family again, and not quick to
move out of the mud, which I noticed seemed to camouflage the
goslings as much as grass. Their dark yellow green color blends
in with grass and mud. I found some star flowers along the shore,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjka-ewDj4RjrYFPZBqyuERvB_8vRj955RzXu0RoAATaifWPKF5vnCEwtbB52ePrXcydI4xrBYRd3T7Xyu56RALL6jCX-qIq70RDpStYxNoWNyXjOFPlTBx9QdphQYzCRLPq2jz-fnMMQw/s1600/starfl16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjka-ewDj4RjrYFPZBqyuERvB_8vRj955RzXu0RoAATaifWPKF5vnCEwtbB52ePrXcydI4xrBYRd3T7Xyu56RALL6jCX-qIq70RDpStYxNoWNyXjOFPlTBx9QdphQYzCRLPq2jz-fnMMQw/s1600/starfl16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the native honeysuckle we discovered there
last year is about to bloom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASQwSXuXbi9QjdhUZl_5rcq172ZPAxONquj-4gON82tIlcLn_iYIFXrSry_Dto62cG5Z3IlBAmu9S0wLRABgA-Vcw1yMSr6n6LqGO7RAtG1W6RkLL6PAw4xMWVvHlCEP9UpHU4VChFtc/s1600/hsuckle16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASQwSXuXbi9QjdhUZl_5rcq172ZPAxONquj-4gON82tIlcLn_iYIFXrSry_Dto62cG5Z3IlBAmu9S0wLRABgA-Vcw1yMSr6n6LqGO7RAtG1W6RkLL6PAw4xMWVvHlCEP9UpHU4VChFtc/s1600/hsuckle16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't tarry at Thicket Pond, but the beavers
seem to be busy with a fine combination of stripping bark and
gnawing in.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0rzjRY4abiI-FxsNWsTNR4IqUeCD5i544XkqWQoltmJFFw4MuY9d-o-pqtxK8llAQPpWdqGtuyNxPJJVyWnvkvbvRG0Pc4-NElguS2PKaoKIO33FEhhaBrqdqiDs5djGEEO9HpPzgvs/s1600/tpwk16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0rzjRY4abiI-FxsNWsTNR4IqUeCD5i544XkqWQoltmJFFw4MuY9d-o-pqtxK8llAQPpWdqGtuyNxPJJVyWnvkvbvRG0Pc4-NElguS2PKaoKIO33FEhhaBrqdqiDs5djGEEO9HpPzgvs/s1600/tpwk16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I rowed half way out of the cove and then
motored through the Narrows and over to what I now call the otter
rock of Murray Island that juts up from Eel Bay. From the shore
it didn't look like otters had been there, but when I got out and
climbed up I saw squirts of fresh scat up on a rock, along with
some dirt scraped out of a lightly vegetated fissure.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z9EaxpPMEdNqlIn9EbutNiz4X-SQDPUSU06y-AavUbvTtO8hdcGsIRWwEWzLkzVIugC6JJJSPIP4M2l-yXQj4nA8SHE0aL-BQEd8mZi6j8cYY99V85EAKEN6rRTlpWBNh94e73LkWI4/s1600/ebscat16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Z9EaxpPMEdNqlIn9EbutNiz4X-SQDPUSU06y-AavUbvTtO8hdcGsIRWwEWzLkzVIugC6JJJSPIP4M2l-yXQj4nA8SHE0aL-BQEd8mZi6j8cYY99V85EAKEN6rRTlpWBNh94e73LkWI4/s1600/ebscat16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This activity was higher than what I had seen
before, and the scat was bug fresh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqu26yGJUhZAH-JPBNDIIc3UKhc86dNfBKIP7uyFFEIkp2cGNCwXvbzjJq_psj4hZ2vVo0cC4JBP2DvRh6KvVYxICddQHp8WpBz07sT5TRPHHVjcTgN2-_4lyk15zk99-0G4qFcJZANI/s1600/ebscat16a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqu26yGJUhZAH-JPBNDIIc3UKhc86dNfBKIP7uyFFEIkp2cGNCwXvbzjJq_psj4hZ2vVo0cC4JBP2DvRh6KvVYxICddQHp8WpBz07sT5TRPHHVjcTgN2-_4lyk15zk99-0G4qFcJZANI/s1600/ebscat16a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So otters continue to make the rounds. Still
haven't gotten up at dawn. No ducks out in the river, nor
cormorants. Herons rule.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 20 yesterday we went out in kayaks to South
Bay. Midges are still hovering above the water but not in it. No
major new beaver work but I think one willow branch was cut since
I last floated by. Only two pairs of herons, one quite noisy, no
goslings; only one heron, and one duck. I saw a few perch but no
schools.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today I went off in the boat on a calm morning
and at the docking rock found no fresh otter scat. Audubon Pond
continues to get lower, just a few inches lower. I saw one burrow
in the embankment that is still used, probably by muskrats. As I
walked around I saw no sure sign of beavers, but they are
probably still around. I will have to come in the evening. The
geese are gone. I saw one kingbird. I headed up pond and saw no
evidence that the beavers moved up there, but a new flower was
out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RpFFVjS8SNIL8iSH5b4F21cNq380DmWLsoxLmHQspSn35MjRX4dmZlgOpHj4iSOBahncwKbJJ7fRSzHq2SJWJYMfrzKdgoA5e6NyK5YwY_TuMImuh3cJn1rCaArRR-IAhO-BlvBMDgM/s1600/flower20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RpFFVjS8SNIL8iSH5b4F21cNq380DmWLsoxLmHQspSn35MjRX4dmZlgOpHj4iSOBahncwKbJJ7fRSzHq2SJWJYMfrzKdgoA5e6NyK5YwY_TuMImuh3cJn1rCaArRR-IAhO-BlvBMDgM/s1600/flower20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw some beaver gnawing on a elm trunk up
from a canal of Meander Pond.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxo54T-CAbga8XdKObhfcUkbJebaBMWIt8h8rw1BeIXSJSg912960nSE2qJm-_0hHs9gj8iNik1b6Vr8QG_JIs8XW574g8Bpyz601-aB2D0VXB09ixRhcvHv-1wxhVqx9M1O_bsX3XWY/s1600/mpwk20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxo54T-CAbga8XdKObhfcUkbJebaBMWIt8h8rw1BeIXSJSg912960nSE2qJm-_0hHs9gj8iNik1b6Vr8QG_JIs8XW574g8Bpyz601-aB2D0VXB09ixRhcvHv-1wxhVqx9M1O_bsX3XWY/s1600/mpwk20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign that the beavers have been at the dam.
The pond still has a good bit of water, but there seems to be no
crisis at Thicket Pond. The buttonbushes are beginning to bloom
bringing shade that will keep the shallow pond cooler.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BOeR79T33YVuH6CpP9m_VdJf5KQ6NPsH9D8_FBhMgbr2TRUG28Or9VUg-FFLk6bSxdF1TzvyG3Ci2d71USVkm93mgOb0dvirrf8ykN4QnM1KDglBGt5ybzOEnbaRPRHeUqPMecpEwU4/s1600/tp20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BOeR79T33YVuH6CpP9m_VdJf5KQ6NPsH9D8_FBhMgbr2TRUG28Or9VUg-FFLk6bSxdF1TzvyG3Ci2d71USVkm93mgOb0dvirrf8ykN4QnM1KDglBGt5ybzOEnbaRPRHeUqPMecpEwU4/s1600/tp20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers have been active. One of the red
oaks they had been working on is cut, but not down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVfJlpG2V1rAph9uKRRP6dn9rZ9ZacvOZoreGE97uA5DhQRcnf91ecR3nrIVbpAYWsM5gD3O7RpuzCiSXypUBmwYJqqP3gIey_FcNXcDke6od8iVVwB9-F8AgWl7blUow0_NiftM_OMU/s1600/tpwk20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVfJlpG2V1rAph9uKRRP6dn9rZ9ZacvOZoreGE97uA5DhQRcnf91ecR3nrIVbpAYWsM5gD3O7RpuzCiSXypUBmwYJqqP3gIey_FcNXcDke6od8iVVwB9-F8AgWl7blUow0_NiftM_OMU/s1600/tpwk20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The water in the lower half of the pond is
quite muddy. I took an instructive photo showing the survival of
some birch while red oak and perhaps maples had been taken.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uXteeBxBo-FQicXUDelcJvGDZAkV6uta6ir0ZPj9sSZ5kPTJZ457cnC_rkH-lNBgBLTUPmfKQ0hMR43B0W3r66AMSoRFekigK0KGjquP-jgfSBKi_zFWxs-Zxy-It27jbiWD2XDlkO4/s1600/bvbirch20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9uXteeBxBo-FQicXUDelcJvGDZAkV6uta6ir0ZPj9sSZ5kPTJZ457cnC_rkH-lNBgBLTUPmfKQ0hMR43B0W3r66AMSoRFekigK0KGjquP-jgfSBKi_zFWxs-Zxy-It27jbiWD2XDlkO4/s1600/bvbirch20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The East Trail Pond dam still leaks like a
sieve. Nothing stirring in the pond during the brief time I was
there, but the otters gussied up their scent mound, </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MG9pSwI-5qLuQK4UwO933Krdqcid5nNC2DFre4DvfRS0OOacZk8f0c6pas1sUc6EB-di543UXnrWKFOvVD3epGTuKDaodA1E0ZYFUgGU7z2WVXRF1BG3tM6wyaFFhQKFoLIsKyP7VKA/s1600/otmounds20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MG9pSwI-5qLuQK4UwO933Krdqcid5nNC2DFre4DvfRS0OOacZk8f0c6pas1sUc6EB-di543UXnrWKFOvVD3epGTuKDaodA1E0ZYFUgGU7z2WVXRF1BG3tM6wyaFFhQKFoLIsKyP7VKA/s1600/otmounds20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">fresh scat there as well.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJKdPTipVpvzQXIT3_Z_-MFeY44-kdEf0dBuTePGwNZPRr7cHldGTPcI14Iv4j_0XpLBjSVcr982f9HwwNw-QTFmlmJLfzIWTubsUxFJUiqqcDHnp0xfx1eB01ZMqhepPTjpcj-I00QE/s1600/scats20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJKdPTipVpvzQXIT3_Z_-MFeY44-kdEf0dBuTePGwNZPRr7cHldGTPcI14Iv4j_0XpLBjSVcr982f9HwwNw-QTFmlmJLfzIWTubsUxFJUiqqcDHnp0xfx1eB01ZMqhepPTjpcj-I00QE/s1600/scats20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">including some that was bee fresh.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6fnIjT60D9WxI7OFUaxrNR0myj4G-Z2NbLbCzcCTGPoMhiPlPA1NUyCIibVNBrvCjZCpvGJRVYwuQWHA_yeeDsGxSVCVzxb1MZLfkdt7bDL0sDESzzpE5u1d1oveZ32yw6vbqQ-HuPc/s1600/beescat20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6fnIjT60D9WxI7OFUaxrNR0myj4G-Z2NbLbCzcCTGPoMhiPlPA1NUyCIibVNBrvCjZCpvGJRVYwuQWHA_yeeDsGxSVCVzxb1MZLfkdt7bDL0sDESzzpE5u1d1oveZ32yw6vbqQ-HuPc/s1600/beescat20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't find any scat up and over the trail
and no prints in the mud heading down to Otter Hole Pond. Perhaps
the markings are from a mother otter and her helper -- I doubt if
pups would be scatting in an organized fashion. I need to spend
some time at this pond too. I crossed the Second Swamp Pond dam
and found no sign of otters there. Nor any beaver action. We have
had clouds, and wind but very little rain and the ponds are
starting to show it. The pond below this is very low. A bit of
mud had been churned up in the channel but geese or muskrats most
likely did that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNf0l-Zgnrs6tTn10Y43c7wWRLFum7QRSj5fT5LeVk3c87m_KlXwZ4uSeqFEa03t5l7qc-I5cCn00UoO-NqqR7mKVgR5QnJSQzBVnoToaK1OXbOe3DO7lYhC-gZ17nf1gVm5-EQuKwef8/s1600/belowsp20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNf0l-Zgnrs6tTn10Y43c7wWRLFum7QRSj5fT5LeVk3c87m_KlXwZ4uSeqFEa03t5l7qc-I5cCn00UoO-NqqR7mKVgR5QnJSQzBVnoToaK1OXbOe3DO7lYhC-gZ17nf1gVm5-EQuKwef8/s1600/belowsp20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Adding to the otter mystery, I did find two
squirts of fresh scat</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBb9TY7MFxe5mdpaxEiBmaZ8MueI5E3NkyS0eq2CLDu-K8Sb63ifjbCUkJ98e8lq8e7kdWWKRt8qLW-TXLyfr4BS-P_CRHcvqHZwIu5RE8DesgLD5C1ASkvoq0nBmXm9fZatrd9xu5pJM/s1600/spscat20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBb9TY7MFxe5mdpaxEiBmaZ8MueI5E3NkyS0eq2CLDu-K8Sb63ifjbCUkJ98e8lq8e7kdWWKRt8qLW-TXLyfr4BS-P_CRHcvqHZwIu5RE8DesgLD5C1ASkvoq0nBmXm9fZatrd9xu5pJM/s1600/spscat20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">under a cherry tree at the otter path from the
upper section of the pond to the Lost Swamp Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D8hT7vSBHjeBVdkj_WIDIDsu0LhDGyKIHFXynzOfmwehjLzvyctUxo4gU37AHIArerX4hPxOSlISzNtPi9bKpcnQPcfRDs-zo6tvN5UHD9xFe-cWxpBvIvgkz17g0nECG1_nGYt229U/s1600/upspscat20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D8hT7vSBHjeBVdkj_WIDIDsu0LhDGyKIHFXynzOfmwehjLzvyctUxo4gU37AHIArerX4hPxOSlISzNtPi9bKpcnQPcfRDs-zo6tvN5UHD9xFe-cWxpBvIvgkz17g0nECG1_nGYt229U/s1600/upspscat20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But no scat on the other side. I did see
something new there, apart from a pair of geese with several
goslings, a rather large Blanding's turtle out on a log.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDYKnRNiD1smlpPWD_u1HMyusvkX38cNhm2cJbU0-z-t_wTLWSxlrlgL3JNOsd5GRIececNQmbw9CRpHQ_JGbkNgExsCJsuddKDj0217uAeYGyqvXTbPQF5t2xd2HLvR7wAiVViQNJzo/s1600/blandings20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDYKnRNiD1smlpPWD_u1HMyusvkX38cNhm2cJbU0-z-t_wTLWSxlrlgL3JNOsd5GRIececNQmbw9CRpHQ_JGbkNgExsCJsuddKDj0217uAeYGyqvXTbPQF5t2xd2HLvR7wAiVViQNJzo/s1600/blandings20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No signs of otters elsewhere and given that I
saw no fresh beaver doings, hard to believe that I saw five
beavers there the other evening. I went back to the boat via
Otter Hole Pond -- if we don't get some downpours the lodge will
be ripe for climbing into. I saw some insect doings on a rock by
either very large mosquitoes and crane flies not quite in full
form. Four or five were crawling over each other </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCj0CNuS_o_nFoeI1T1ve8MxTTvChbsxNOXuNgpoZRT1ZzoggzHP5aSnCJ0zfr66OE9UJtr77sR_9YFomqmwS26GXC0yyDgJmm7BKL1JYzz6b9hTjQZc3mpB1n_mCfeIcq7MjSQ-VJB4c/s1600/bugs20a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCj0CNuS_o_nFoeI1T1ve8MxTTvChbsxNOXuNgpoZRT1ZzoggzHP5aSnCJ0zfr66OE9UJtr77sR_9YFomqmwS26GXC0yyDgJmm7BKL1JYzz6b9hTjQZc3mpB1n_mCfeIcq7MjSQ-VJB4c/s1600/bugs20a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then two remained on top.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBATkXQPL8K4-pf8XUOM05miC6Xm2jQ2cCfWtV6ksLpW_Dqi1Le3VJcAvrsTf6arYSKCyAwCywFM7OldMIk6hRbmLMZ_WJtUWm-9xNj13n70MSC86ZD3zr2qCUo5KNvUnAv5edweQeMg/s1600/bugs20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBATkXQPL8K4-pf8XUOM05miC6Xm2jQ2cCfWtV6ksLpW_Dqi1Le3VJcAvrsTf6arYSKCyAwCywFM7OldMIk6hRbmLMZ_WJtUWm-9xNj13n70MSC86ZD3zr2qCUo5KNvUnAv5edweQeMg/s1600/bugs20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Down at the New Pond knoll there were no new
otter scats. I had hoped to motor over to the otter rock in Eel
Bay, but a south wind had kicked up and the river was rocking and
rolling, so I headed home.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 21 while working in the yard, I heard a
loon calling on the river. I got to the East Trail Pond at about
6PM, seeing no otter signs along the way. Two chipmunks were
contending for rights to the valley of the little creek. One
paused long enough for a photo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Not a remarkable sight, but while in some years
I see them out in the snow in late February, this is the first
time I've seen two together this year, and saw my first one early
this month. In the rocks up on the ridge above the East Trail
Pond, I saw a brilliant crop of columbine. It's developing into a
good year for them.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VmhfW4haJrXV5s3KSQG6ER73C4xZLZRkaEBCcNzTMLifHwG7ucKv2BJWfsGBLq9X90s73CkgZ4uV3apguURCLd2CnT9B4FAy57Owxz-vonnrpFSvVV4MbHvU_qmbmbEWm6TnSvfkzjo/s1600/cbines21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VmhfW4haJrXV5s3KSQG6ER73C4xZLZRkaEBCcNzTMLifHwG7ucKv2BJWfsGBLq9X90s73CkgZ4uV3apguURCLd2CnT9B4FAy57Owxz-vonnrpFSvVV4MbHvU_qmbmbEWm6TnSvfkzjo/s1600/cbines21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and since they were up on the cliff, I had an
easy shot looking up the drooping, but elaborate, flower, which
seemed to be, judging from the photo in the midst of shaking its
pollen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOtosrAeP793rE0ZmMjkLxarw28T0XSs1p30gyMVzZaPQC645CDOJ-YUooId9scV3ctUxhqpRabxtVr3kYbwPkLWm7tDVH66YmY54re_eFWLL59TRRCLQ86SwvaR8GGZbeODqTQipQJg/s1600/cbine21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOtosrAeP793rE0ZmMjkLxarw28T0XSs1p30gyMVzZaPQC645CDOJ-YUooId9scV3ctUxhqpRabxtVr3kYbwPkLWm7tDVH66YmY54re_eFWLL59TRRCLQ86SwvaR8GGZbeODqTQipQJg/s1600/cbine21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I stayed at the East Trail Pond for a good
forty-five minutes, and a pair of mallards was there most of that
time beak down in the shallow water seeming to get all types of
good things, I have seldom seen ducks feeding in so concentrated
a manner. Otherwise there was little happening, and the old
boardwalk was exposed,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1k5TcMSMiydLqmngffvQHShg5l_r_IJsfmeTiJSr1Iv4bG8Op7sD6N6ySfhyJbEwtFjRl-25nEGzRwQewt66lQONnTYxJjUpiov7f9Z2xnUu7az30FDNq_GXqurzYRkf2ceirqZS5Xw/s1600/et21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1k5TcMSMiydLqmngffvQHShg5l_r_IJsfmeTiJSr1Iv4bG8Op7sD6N6ySfhyJbEwtFjRl-25nEGzRwQewt66lQONnTYxJjUpiov7f9Z2xnUu7az30FDNq_GXqurzYRkf2ceirqZS5Xw/s1600/et21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">not even the usual bounty of birds under this
piney ridge. I waited for otters before I checked for fresh otter
scat, keeping myself ignorant to keep up my optimism. But even
when I found that there were no fresh otter scats at their
current latrine, I lingered on the other side of the dam. As the
sun goes down the light becomes perfect for seeing every little
ripple in the water, and when the water is so shallow, I get the
impression that I am seeing a record of everything occurring
below. I also noticed that something had dug a hole right at the
top of the bank lodge, much in the style of a groundhog or fox
hole.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNfPQdglOzTOt8DsYbcGUOx-GMceOPBotYuXZzl-fzmxMb0WS5VAmh6U-nGi6Cc9_416gbZEUri0f3OTa6FZ_LWsQWBpjpS_BHaWNQt0sUe9X6Lgld42lzhnN8a_chHGKD2wStqSatyk/s1600/hole21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNfPQdglOzTOt8DsYbcGUOx-GMceOPBotYuXZzl-fzmxMb0WS5VAmh6U-nGi6Cc9_416gbZEUri0f3OTa6FZ_LWsQWBpjpS_BHaWNQt0sUe9X6Lgld42lzhnN8a_chHGKD2wStqSatyk/s1600/hole21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also noticed how nice some of the old stumps
in the pond would be for a mother otter to stow away her pups. I
crossed the Second Swamp pond dam which become easier as things
become drier. There was a little fresh mud on the dam, but I
didn't see any beavers in the pond and it was time they were out.
I think they are active in the upper pond they formed. I took a
trail so that I came down on the south shore of the Lost Swamp
Pond, facing the gentle northeast wind. I saw a beaver
straightaway out halfway between me and the dam, eating a leafy
branch, which surprised me since there are few leafy branches
available along the shore there. As I walked up to the point two
beavers swam out from behind the rocks, one of them small. Then I
noticed another beaver up in the grass across from the point, and
then another beaver causing a commotion in the water well up
along the shore up pond of the point across from me. I trained my
spyglass on the latter beaver and saw it extract a good bit of a
small bush and then swim with it, toward me. It soon dawned on me
that the beavers were using the cooler bank lodge on the shady
south shore, instead of the lodge by the dam which they had been
using which is completely exposed to the sun. The embowered beaver swam
right below me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInOVWYk9WFsZzXV4lF_WTI1N3KxOsWTBMIvHPKePUEYPhTkiDcvwdEIf1Q1OAZ7IqYgpFgkkGJQX7LceFGYktVJJ6hkhaG8Og2ZifIW6ughMrCPvskJ4vN-zPcxUK4XnbQicFmeIO-Ww/s1600/bvbush21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInOVWYk9WFsZzXV4lF_WTI1N3KxOsWTBMIvHPKePUEYPhTkiDcvwdEIf1Q1OAZ7IqYgpFgkkGJQX7LceFGYktVJJ6hkhaG8Og2ZifIW6ughMrCPvskJ4vN-zPcxUK4XnbQicFmeIO-Ww/s1600/bvbush21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and dove but I don't think it took the greenery
into the lodge -- a sign of more babies, but anchored it in the
water outside the lodge, from where the small beaver had come.
Indeed, as the beaver brought the bush across the pond, a little
beaver swam up behind and followed for a while. The big beaver
also noticed me and started splashing, which, as far as I could
tell, caused no alarm. Two beavers floated like logs and trained
their eyes on me, two other beavers swam off. Meanwhile I was
seeing signs of two beavers way down at the southeast end of this
huge pond. What I had was a confusion of beavers, so confusing I
had to study every ripple to make sure otters weren't involve.
But when otters confuse the pond, the ripples spread like a
percussion section gone wild. Of course, dark ended this theater.
I lingered by the lodge</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRBss3-5MxMmBCXJvBcbUzC5918g60JrXzjdCT8IS1Yp94yAK4lqwAujYgs2-_jL_NFmygAR2MaMfPumQDM_YrZMgRqFp8D0x7b9Boko_LjOiYt4jThg-A68oSmcZyJhoKXyuM1R7uoo/s1600/lsblodge21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqRBss3-5MxMmBCXJvBcbUzC5918g60JrXzjdCT8IS1Yp94yAK4lqwAujYgs2-_jL_NFmygAR2MaMfPumQDM_YrZMgRqFp8D0x7b9Boko_LjOiYt4jThg-A68oSmcZyJhoKXyuM1R7uoo/s1600/lsblodge21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">hoping to get a photo of the little one looking
up at me earnestly. I did see it eat a bit of the fresh bush.
Little beavers are most sensitive and when my camera made a noise
it swam off. Behind me I could see a bit of their gnawing on an
old tree,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFqvE-k1LB-pUNOkdYm4_kMNR2GZQDjeuPhDaBRqnSbZwzfrylR7za59g818F5V4Iiml-B7XEiIVGvAzzj1P89SwRUHGozKHrWD2tCKohsg_ujtvT_bjJz3gL8YDHeYR8C4kKbSmnxoo/s1600/bvgnaw21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFqvE-k1LB-pUNOkdYm4_kMNR2GZQDjeuPhDaBRqnSbZwzfrylR7za59g818F5V4Iiml-B7XEiIVGvAzzj1P89SwRUHGozKHrWD2tCKohsg_ujtvT_bjJz3gL8YDHeYR8C4kKbSmnxoo/s1600/bvgnaw21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and mayflowers in bloom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT40jZXWtq-M7h4dqMEhyphenhyphen9A4EnuODT4VotWSwwQd4EUx440dpV3o41mBlisbC4kHr9VHH_kpw8dbbBde5B60S-hVxJNdrWQv27H4ha6S_Ie_SBiUAXeYzEvvb4oxRi9CBYMiH4RzAOrVc/s1600/mflowers21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT40jZXWtq-M7h4dqMEhyphenhyphen9A4EnuODT4VotWSwwQd4EUx440dpV3o41mBlisbC4kHr9VHH_kpw8dbbBde5B60S-hVxJNdrWQv27H4ha6S_Ie_SBiUAXeYzEvvb4oxRi9CBYMiH4RzAOrVc/s1600/mflowers21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Crossing the Big Pond dam only one beaver came
out to splash me. They have mudded almost the length of the long
dam</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNzUVcW4Kmho7Q8HKZer5E8ZOLGZxMzuVEwvBjZXU4k0cOThRkVsdBe2LEExabVTAW4zcLm0MqnWuFe0PFPo3mFRBhzKZUnP48Qv0XaYcAoPLQEMYuxDZsc7qFYdse9ydb7G3TkgIzFw/s1600/bpmud21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNzUVcW4Kmho7Q8HKZer5E8ZOLGZxMzuVEwvBjZXU4k0cOThRkVsdBe2LEExabVTAW4zcLm0MqnWuFe0PFPo3mFRBhzKZUnP48Qv0XaYcAoPLQEMYuxDZsc7qFYdse9ydb7G3TkgIzFw/s1600/bpmud21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the water in this spring fed pond stays
high. A whip-poor-will sang up a far hill, and on the ridge I
inspired a porcupine to climb down a small tree and disappear
into the dark.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 23 a long front is guiding a series of
storms over us, dampening our days. I try to sneak out for brief
forays through the ponds, well knowing that the critters don't
care. And now there is an axis through the area I watch that I
fancy can briefly tell me much that I am interested in. By going
along the South Bay trail, over the New Pond knoll and then up to
the East Trail Pond dam, I can tell if the otters have been at
the end of South Bay, perhaps gone up into the ponds, and if any
beaver has patched the many leaking dams on the northwest side of
the grand Second Swamp Pond. So I did that this afternoon,
briefly, and discovered no signs of otters and no dam patching.
Since the only new sensations were heard from well up in the
canopy of green leaves -- a scarlet tanager very high up, I'm
sure, I had the chance of completing the hike without taking any
video or photographs. I thought of running the camcorder to
capture the unceasing squeaking of a bird high in the pines, but
I knew the effect wouldn't come across. This was as manic as a
chipmunk in a state but too high in the tree and too high in
timbre. Then I saw blades of grass just below the East Trail Pond
dam move contrary to the light wind. Then I got a glimpse of the
furry brown lemming -- two glimpses but was able to get a video.
I've never seen one so big. I decided to check out the middle
pond of Otter Hole pond which in other years I've fancied that
the otters had used as a nursery. I saw a vireo making its
incessant but pleasant song, and I flushed a woodcock, but the
only photo I could stand and take was of the Ur creek now
restored for about thirty yards</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyvd2Bq5AmGUHAXxSJDxm6ieeYgbezvwpLseSOGGp8P6w0MoTGaf5ZTPZHTRTJwyPlk7WKcZ9QJrhnyjJV9J4MkyBjmaefC7UFSAJGdVpulez-krsQcoy-7v0twXYC61UkRDcB09vBg8/s1600/ohcreek23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyvd2Bq5AmGUHAXxSJDxm6ieeYgbezvwpLseSOGGp8P6w0MoTGaf5ZTPZHTRTJwyPlk7WKcZ9QJrhnyjJV9J4MkyBjmaefC7UFSAJGdVpulez-krsQcoy-7v0twXYC61UkRDcB09vBg8/s1600/ohcreek23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">thanks to the neglect of the beavers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 25 more rain and I went out along my axis
again, but this time looped around for a full tour. Again there
were no otter signs, not even grass matted down that I could
attribute to a low slung animal moving through. I did see a
catbird. Judging from where birds sing is daunting. I was trying
to get a bead on a grosbeak, looking high into the green, and
then it blew by me about five feet over my head. I could tell by
the rush of water coming out of the New Pond that the dams remain
neglected. I thought an otter might be attracted to the rushing
water, but none evidently were. I walked along South Bay up to
the docking rock. Two childless geese flew over to honk at me.
Only one mallard out in the bay. There was nothing on the docking
rock, though I find it curious that the geese don't poop there. Nothing had been through the grass either. Up at Audubon Pond,
which has a nice heft to it again thanks to the rain, there was a
goose family, the gosling half grown.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEi2XV-GXPtTCIEJ2AdckqlJ3HbH4qtuZSQIMGJc5pyKfTL1ZJoz8t1Xx-Kus-WBwjHJ1fC66tQn0-bPPRZ61GHNXJEiymOhvW64KIqpIc3bew9OBFsgTy1aJxv-WTlwWV82rmjzsWsk/s1600/geese25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEi2XV-GXPtTCIEJ2AdckqlJ3HbH4qtuZSQIMGJc5pyKfTL1ZJoz8t1Xx-Kus-WBwjHJ1fC66tQn0-bPPRZ61GHNXJEiymOhvW64KIqpIc3bew9OBFsgTy1aJxv-WTlwWV82rmjzsWsk/s1600/geese25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A childless pair was also there and kept
honking at me, though I think toward the end, the male at least
was honking at an echo. Finally they flew off leaving the
goslings to eat grass and splash in peace. Judging from the
stripped sticks here and there, I think a beaver is still in the
pond, but no sign of where it is lodging. I saw a muskrat briefly
in the next pond up. I flushed one duck from the Short-cut Trail
Pool (once a great pond) and a few more from Meander Pond, and
most from Thicket Pond. I sat at Meander Pond which seemed to be
percolating with life in the water -- frogs, I imagine rather
than fish, but no critters appeared. Moving from it I did see a
doe posing which I take as a sign a fawn might be around. But the
grounds there were quite soggy. I didn't find one. Almost all the
beaver activity, judging by the muddy water, is up in Thicket
Pond. I crossed the little dam noting how the beavers almost used
a downed oak to help firm it up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauDAhs1nEvA1r39Io6FZ05A973X8BugGTJK5fWBWwyeL7Z_6I89aZc8-JNQ-DNyIYVesTxBVjp1WJfKSdjXz0lu6gVPlFdxF1qSc21dASamQdSkz2bryiN0rEgxhy-8H4EROsWCEiOqc/s1600/tpdam25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauDAhs1nEvA1r39Io6FZ05A973X8BugGTJK5fWBWwyeL7Z_6I89aZc8-JNQ-DNyIYVesTxBVjp1WJfKSdjXz0lu6gVPlFdxF1qSc21dASamQdSkz2bryiN0rEgxhy-8H4EROsWCEiOqc/s1600/tpdam25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The red oaks they worked on in the winter have
not been cut. And the red oaks they worked on in the spring are
cut but hung up. They have extended a canal nicely along the
northern edge of the pond,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdnkHH49EOGaFdW5jw9L19QNCd77Kl4LB-XyzXea64RtWKTmxYq3SOQGmHGEQjefildsG13VtZAK0Hnzi50pKSD3jwSla9dMqRdtrQ6_qPsWd-znuZLsK92paIwrDWfY2WdzPfcpOybk/s1600/tpcanal25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdnkHH49EOGaFdW5jw9L19QNCd77Kl4LB-XyzXea64RtWKTmxYq3SOQGmHGEQjefildsG13VtZAK0Hnzi50pKSD3jwSla9dMqRdtrQ6_qPsWd-znuZLsK92paIwrDWfY2WdzPfcpOybk/s1600/tpcanal25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and they took out some small trees at the end
of the watershed. Maybe some of these beavers will go down and
colonize the East Trail Pond and below. A stand of maples by a
little pool may lure them on.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgym-ceY7pIUqV8j7UEnkH4j9AOnGDb_5-gh9VuSkjkSMpU8OPSTrzMevAX2nYVRxQ6lVjiQ5gOeX48U14JNsMUGHg-hzIEhIMUYFdfmADqYMBw3qJVVvdQi5evHBnUcj5OptVLweamVj8/s1600/uptp25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgym-ceY7pIUqV8j7UEnkH4j9AOnGDb_5-gh9VuSkjkSMpU8OPSTrzMevAX2nYVRxQ6lVjiQ5gOeX48U14JNsMUGHg-hzIEhIMUYFdfmADqYMBw3qJVVvdQi5evHBnUcj5OptVLweamVj8/s1600/uptp25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked up the ridge between the East Trail
Pond and Shangri-la Pond. Not as many birds up there as usual,
and down below Shangri-la has more water than the upper East
Trail Pond, but other than two geese in the latter, I saw no
activity in either. I dutifully went down to the old otter
latrine above the lodge in the East Trail Pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGamqQlVR53uzZSeZN_Mc96lxoJsp4DA-ZcnMcjZgTeyWPtGFqZ2dbR9U118LIKZ-OCYeJW8hPJYbuluOu13sXdcEM28HO2xmGu9tMnta_OWErh-bnRzvzizxNa-0nBWWoY8lU3zx7VMw/s1600/upet25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGamqQlVR53uzZSeZN_Mc96lxoJsp4DA-ZcnMcjZgTeyWPtGFqZ2dbR9U118LIKZ-OCYeJW8hPJYbuluOu13sXdcEM28HO2xmGu9tMnta_OWErh-bnRzvzizxNa-0nBWWoY8lU3zx7VMw/s1600/upet25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and found nothing, except some delicate
cordyalis plants. I often debate with myself over the meaning of the
remains once beavers leave an area, especially this: is the loss
of red oaks and swamp white oaks too great, since they will be a
long time growing back. On the ridge above the lodge I saw this
small white oak, cut last year, sporting this finery.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JZVCvU0iJnQEV6M8uFsJBxEoRDVaRENRjtVEp-mOhndzQ9jOmRmAk-GMAWcz8fgHJj58GxSueOE0nfVAb7-7gkkwqrq5bsa1xvXCVnMKY-ppeyP3aJsc3YsvAYOOIUUi2F_yr8znlzg/s1600/sports25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JZVCvU0iJnQEV6M8uFsJBxEoRDVaRENRjtVEp-mOhndzQ9jOmRmAk-GMAWcz8fgHJj58GxSueOE0nfVAb7-7gkkwqrq5bsa1xvXCVnMKY-ppeyP3aJsc3YsvAYOOIUUi2F_yr8znlzg/s1600/sports25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going back along the ridge I noticed a
luxurious stand of false solomon's seal.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttHBiGzOj9R7MNkIgBuo2ndd5-DQJD4Y0Iz0lTVO9iSzLTCQHLVOdn2FnIMIjLwgfInDR8iuXx4126Xpcd9otvWZg_j7tZNbFCkPMA7J0d6vcbsOmCMzM0hs5KGj7zFU9n7fags2HEwo/s1600/falsess25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttHBiGzOj9R7MNkIgBuo2ndd5-DQJD4Y0Iz0lTVO9iSzLTCQHLVOdn2FnIMIjLwgfInDR8iuXx4126Xpcd9otvWZg_j7tZNbFCkPMA7J0d6vcbsOmCMzM0hs5KGj7zFU9n7fags2HEwo/s1600/falsess25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The lower East Trail Pond was quiet except for
that buzzing bird again. Two heron flew high above it. No scats.
There was a hint of skunk smell along the dam. I stood above the
Second Swamp Pond lodge and there's no indication that beavers
are still there. Even last summer, I think the beavers enjoyed
staying up pond when they could. As I walked along the north
shore there seemed to be no fresh work, though I've lost tracks
of all the trees they had been working on. This time of year, one
looks for a pile of little stripped sticks to prove a beaver had
spent some time at a place. However, they are definitely keeping
the upper dam up, more fresh mud and grass. It must be higher,
and at one gap, an eclectic display of patching material.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwPFULH62D5sIlJ1mf6EkmYScLLUZSH7xWFvVKPbWvvg-bF9Pbm-PIiOUoyZVmtjg62wN6zXTuUm-1QwhbcPvvzkiJwBef3FXEn1MaeUODE5dOxD-JT6N29SidhOn0oJKVnvh9SEMbiY/s1600/dampatch25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwPFULH62D5sIlJ1mf6EkmYScLLUZSH7xWFvVKPbWvvg-bF9Pbm-PIiOUoyZVmtjg62wN6zXTuUm-1QwhbcPvvzkiJwBef3FXEn1MaeUODE5dOxD-JT6N29SidhOn0oJKVnvh9SEMbiY/s1600/dampatch25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">From the dam, there is no sign of what goodies
they are getting from the pond above, a mystery of grasses and
bushes.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJL7hwfgYPlUKtTq__kD_KK_UwiJnIFA3zv5f19pDP_cQVpP4Rb0wyk0KqihA3EdeibcboB7zZsNp_zjwkjQopJYm5Ov7H80JQJQcqokt4Q6Zm8svWFmqbjJOEo8fqqM8_bClmgGNd2z0/s1600/upsp25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJL7hwfgYPlUKtTq__kD_KK_UwiJnIFA3zv5f19pDP_cQVpP4Rb0wyk0KqihA3EdeibcboB7zZsNp_zjwkjQopJYm5Ov7H80JQJQcqokt4Q6Zm8svWFmqbjJOEo8fqqM8_bClmgGNd2z0/s1600/upsp25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up at the Lost Swamp Pond dam all was quiet and
secure. A heron flew off from the point across the pond. No ducks
or geese about. I found no otter scats, no trails, and if there
is no mother too busy with babies to keep up her marks (if they
do that at all) then there are no otters around. A beaver did
make a nice little mark along the north shore</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YoV2dMc91gsVlrIeEcTijoXqy4FPjIW60dVTv9C7LtYvqSaN_i0kzkKGSrwqmo_SDxAMRor-CsfKmWy7WotVrjVbD5mKvRGk_DtTmkVOUJj6Ril1zhiiB6WWh7hUH-e67QF9aycLNMc/s1600/bvmarks25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YoV2dMc91gsVlrIeEcTijoXqy4FPjIW60dVTv9C7LtYvqSaN_i0kzkKGSrwqmo_SDxAMRor-CsfKmWy7WotVrjVbD5mKvRGk_DtTmkVOUJj6Ril1zhiiB6WWh7hUH-e67QF9aycLNMc/s1600/bvmarks25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- a bit away from where it would be more
telling, so I picture one of the small beavers doing it. I saw
some stunning cinnamon ferns, I think.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBRpMOqcuHhUpEshJxXk7w3Ee7BZ19ATn-ljEDITmWhkatNd1sTpOqo9yrb9TIdg1id5wHWtOVMCS8wRS7ZigM-IQul0Jqiu6N2qL3Cg1S0ncc_i7UA3pV-0plHcSHyL1piTfFW7eBb8/s1600/ferns25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBRpMOqcuHhUpEshJxXk7w3Ee7BZ19ATn-ljEDITmWhkatNd1sTpOqo9yrb9TIdg1id5wHWtOVMCS8wRS7ZigM-IQul0Jqiu6N2qL3Cg1S0ncc_i7UA3pV-0plHcSHyL1piTfFW7eBb8/s1600/ferns25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">To get home, I took an old way through the
woods that I often took when I wasn't such a stickler for
crossing beaver dams. Ten years ago I found a fawn in this area,
not today. I crossed above the Middle Pond, no sign of a beaver
coming down this far. Up on the ridge I saw a small orange and
black butterfly</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then some deer antlers with a slug sucking
what life remained out of it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-eJlWDwXj4mTNE07_rkiKUK2ZvELn3X-myPpijslvmPrQSqogCeVXfPDkoc48hyphenhyphenkod3xBMc928HYl627PhU85zp95ZPXKA4UTuiUKBzlAugW3k5om-0F4GXxaDKN2qDTANuzPpfFHUk/s1600/slug25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-eJlWDwXj4mTNE07_rkiKUK2ZvELn3X-myPpijslvmPrQSqogCeVXfPDkoc48hyphenhyphenkod3xBMc928HYl627PhU85zp95ZPXKA4UTuiUKBzlAugW3k5om-0F4GXxaDKN2qDTANuzPpfFHUk/s1600/slug25.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I noticed the choke cherry trees were
blooming.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 27 I headed off in the kayak a little
before noon, taking advantage of a rare sunny day. The remains of
midges litter all still parts of the river, especially South Bay.
Herons are also much more prevalent than last time I was out.
They hold their position longer than usual too, perhaps arising
from increased competition. Only one tern fishing in the bay. I
thought I heard an osprey but didn't see it. The carp are also
about. I saw two jump up out of the water. Most of the thrashers
were in small grassy areas away from the end of the coves.
Turtles of all sizes were sunning themselves, and I think I saw
one snapper up sunning on the reeds. When I moved by they
scampered into the water, but some were already back out when I
rowed back five minutes later. I started a heron by the old dock
that was breast deep in the water. It seemed to appreciate my not
paddling up to him, giving it time to dry its feathers. There
were so many herons about that I saw two trails of their white
poop in the water. As I headed up the north shore of the bay, I
heard rustling in the grass, and then some pleasant high pitched
humming. To my surprise it came from a small porcupine bumbling
along the shore. The humming, I think for pleasure, to itself,
lasted about ten seconds. In several places it crept down and
then leaned into the water. I first thought it was to get some
wet veggies, but I noticed that the shore is mostly rocky. I had
the binoculars and still couldn't be sure what it was getting,
save that it wasn't the great gobs that I've seen porcupines fish
out of ponds. It finally noticed me and climbed half way up a
tree. I had noticed some flying bugs with long black wings, that
looked like the insect I fished out of the drink a week or so
ago, save that the wings were much bigger. Then when I turned to
head home, I startled a black bird pecking at the end of a willow
branch over the water. As it flew off, four of these black winged
bugs fell from its beak. I fished one out for a photo. I didn't
see any signs of otters, strain though I might to see bullhead
parts, nor any fresh beaver work.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At 5:30 I hiked to the ponds to check for otter
scat and enjoy the beautiful evening, though clouds were moving
in. Grass is long everywhere now, but I didn't see any fawns.
Many deer now have their red coats. When I got to the creek
coming down to South Bay from the New Pond, which was rushing
enough, I thought, to invite bullhead to make a run up at, I was
startled to find a large bullhead on the trail in the grass about
a yard away from the rushing water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhEZWIj4F0_0uEjNLGDtx4KYq7Fxbut8Lo2L5h_bNRdTYSR_a7tkysj1lRQVhe_bZmiRXUvd311WRPgC97DC6cY0wIgNhru8Hccn3FFe9Zw-iPZyEzJFqEPIsIu0hvDI-nUfRjqG01ew/s1600/bhead27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhEZWIj4F0_0uEjNLGDtx4KYq7Fxbut8Lo2L5h_bNRdTYSR_a7tkysj1lRQVhe_bZmiRXUvd311WRPgC97DC6cY0wIgNhru8Hccn3FFe9Zw-iPZyEzJFqEPIsIu0hvDI-nUfRjqG01ew/s1600/bhead27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It had some blood on it, but I couldn't be sure
if that was from its struggle over the gravelly path, or from the
bird or other critter that dropped it there. Nothing fled or flew
away as I approached. It looked like it was bulging with eggs,
and was still alive, so I kicked it gently back into stream,
where it lay gasping. I pushed it further in and it righted
itself enough to go with the flow back into South Bay. Now, where
were the otters? The trail up to the New Pond knoll looked a bit
mussed up. However, I didn't see any fresh scat, though one dry
scaly smear struck as being new, and there was a bug on it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkY2Hu-Gx1r_su2AgOS5keBlbB8Bhp-AgENuE4uUKr-rYuzDXLd6EQkuOJDe4dRoUlcDd3su5tW-dWdVTtFQzIt95ZJexY8z4lgce_yX0oYCPKKeEh1935yvlZVe36r6tLzgoBjDqktM/s1600/scatbug27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkY2Hu-Gx1r_su2AgOS5keBlbB8Bhp-AgENuE4uUKr-rYuzDXLd6EQkuOJDe4dRoUlcDd3su5tW-dWdVTtFQzIt95ZJexY8z4lgce_yX0oYCPKKeEh1935yvlZVe36r6tLzgoBjDqktM/s1600/scatbug27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But with all the moisture we've had, it must
just be an old scat that looks different in the fresh green
grass. I headed up to the Lost Swamp Pond to check on the beavers
there, ruing the depleted ponds all the way --save for the Second
Swamp Pond, of course. No beaver out there, as I expected. I did
see a bearberry on the way. Just before I got to the north slope
of the Lost Swamp Pond to check for otter scats, I saw a bat
flying about catching the many bugs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7gmT3fLOsg34TFN2QazhyphenhyphenT_yw9k_kZIUWGV-wsQvE3KEW1d8jRlEL27crzVqgg9XZG7MCkT_psmn17Opk7FpEkyyA7RZ8R7Xyp2esDMBthk5zrEfKUcUfo7Y2UH637kPS_MbGLTlTbU/s1600/bat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7gmT3fLOsg34TFN2QazhyphenhyphenT_yw9k_kZIUWGV-wsQvE3KEW1d8jRlEL27crzVqgg9XZG7MCkT_psmn17Opk7FpEkyyA7RZ8R7Xyp2esDMBthk5zrEfKUcUfo7Y2UH637kPS_MbGLTlTbU/s1600/bat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I seldom see one so early. Then I saw that the
north slope scent mounds had been rearranged</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIj12hVdacG7RrGlJplX_Om4-1mXWEruEZ7XlGl2ffr30xKBU0vwm_66_JxkQtVqlvd0FHzZa9_B17M_AAzIcWtCkw6xz00Abd5r9Q5DygLbt2OrD_aNKGkQm2e4D_ZZVAmI4esDtAKs4/s1600/otmuss27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIj12hVdacG7RrGlJplX_Om4-1mXWEruEZ7XlGl2ffr30xKBU0vwm_66_JxkQtVqlvd0FHzZa9_B17M_AAzIcWtCkw6xz00Abd5r9Q5DygLbt2OrD_aNKGkQm2e4D_ZZVAmI4esDtAKs4/s1600/otmuss27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and there was scaly scat that looked moist
enough to be fresh,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4DIxm3YGwDA70Hwx4N9O22Gv1iJWYjpYicuqy2u9kkWrgoA5PUvChWmirfMugengvwCDOfMjffe04UU9jzZWBs3f0ViOIZdYPZPeFeg1QM1Rkq8Sa-NnbfFPs2DDJgMGGFEkI2Sqc00/s1600/scat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4DIxm3YGwDA70Hwx4N9O22Gv1iJWYjpYicuqy2u9kkWrgoA5PUvChWmirfMugengvwCDOfMjffe04UU9jzZWBs3f0ViOIZdYPZPeFeg1QM1Rkq8Sa-NnbfFPs2DDJgMGGFEkI2Sqc00/s1600/scat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and up the old trail, I thought I could see
evidence of a critter going up it. On the other side going down
to the Second Swamp Pond I saw a small but fresh scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYWT8EqFi9A1FcyuozONeNEtGKGvalU4GXGaaufFSbBeL_qtJWoO8xVhxmvR7BEueotJOZwjY55jgrKA4Ffz0ulwdoQc6ODRF0mwB5ih6dD4vNcCWdS7AvahZOV-8Tn9_BbRZq0HskAI/s1600/scat27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYWT8EqFi9A1FcyuozONeNEtGKGvalU4GXGaaufFSbBeL_qtJWoO8xVhxmvR7BEueotJOZwjY55jgrKA4Ffz0ulwdoQc6ODRF0mwB5ih6dD4vNcCWdS7AvahZOV-8Tn9_BbRZq0HskAI/s1600/scat27a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Over my shoulder I noticed that the Lost Swamp
Pond beavers were out but I wanted to see a beaver in the upper
Second Swamp Pond so I sat on a rock between them, and in a few
minutes saw a beaver come down out of the grasses, and then over
the dam before I could get a photo. Pretty good indication that
the beavers are denning in the upper pond. I waited for another
beaver and soon saw ripples but it proved to be wood ducks with
only two or three ducklings. I heard some scratching behind but
that proved to be from chipmunks, scurrying everywhere making up
for lost time. A deer also snorted at me. Then I went back to
count the Lost Swamp Pond beavers, once again I could see wakes
all over some too far away to be sure if beavers or muskrats made
them. I moved over to the rolling area, forcing a geese family
with four goslings, growing nicely, to ease its way out into the
pond. A beaver soon came to check me out, just as two other
beavers headed toward the southeast section of the pond. Although
these three beavers came from the area around the bank lodge on
the south shore, I am pretty certain two beavers came out of the
lodge by the dam. The mid-size beaver approaching me splashed
which gave the beavers going up pond pause. A large beaver angled
over a bit and then gave me a louder splash. I didn't see beavers
for a bit and worried that I might have actually alarmed them.
Then the baby beaver swam over right up to me. After it left a
beaver that was a little bit bigger checked me out.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2b510R6rLbdOMKEwKIpEgmmcxU_fmj5oyRwrXzR_hp3JE1REpIegClJjQBIF2Qz-JR0tnQ-xX7x5PM8_JcH8UaTdkSRIocTRP-aWO3BC0T4GZE39bkTMrbR6nY9Axr-SLzOqcl1Bu4c/s1600/bv27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2b510R6rLbdOMKEwKIpEgmmcxU_fmj5oyRwrXzR_hp3JE1REpIegClJjQBIF2Qz-JR0tnQ-xX7x5PM8_JcH8UaTdkSRIocTRP-aWO3BC0T4GZE39bkTMrbR6nY9Axr-SLzOqcl1Bu4c/s1600/bv27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, the flickers were about and much
excited, I think because I was close to their nesting hole. A
heron flew high above me, as if it too enjoyed the higher, less
humid sky. I went home the way I came, with an eye out for
beavers in the Second Swamp Pond, but found none.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 29 I headed off to the ponds on a cool,
blustery, sunny afternoon, tiptoeing through fawn territory but
seeing no sign of any. And again no signs of otters at the little
causeway along the South Bay trail. No water running on that
creek, by the way. And the flow down from the New Pond has
diminished - no bullhead there today. Up on the knoll I found
fresh squirts of scat</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TFLcs5iS7V4Q3W9MMf6GLe1ygwbnLY4tgTNy6w2z23ouXS16-hrQgBcbxNgaZaoHsfmWzT7VLWSte0wwqQk0HZjuZyxKmNhCpz5C4mqOLYEb2wnxzEAUQmwJ6huHHliOkTBdcM8WsmM/s1600/scat29a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TFLcs5iS7V4Q3W9MMf6GLe1ygwbnLY4tgTNy6w2z23ouXS16-hrQgBcbxNgaZaoHsfmWzT7VLWSte0wwqQk0HZjuZyxKmNhCpz5C4mqOLYEb2wnxzEAUQmwJ6huHHliOkTBdcM8WsmM/s1600/scat29a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">around a hole dug in the leaves. This latrine
is a little off the trail the otters have been using, just a yard
off. I sat briefly looking at the New Pond which didn't reveal
any secrets. Then I noticed that I should be able to cross the
pond shrunk to the old creek on the old boards that made the
trail years ago. There was a lot of exposed mud and I saw no
signs that an otter had been through, which helps confirms what
I've been thinking, that the otter scats on the knoll after
coming up out of South Bay and then it goes back there. No sign
of otter at their old latrine on beaver point, and no sign at
Beaver Point Pond dam. The meadow behind is a luxuriant green.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4tJpWXma2ZmxU2R7QBALh38VV31cXPEug34G-YIUCchoSYkrvNbghphM4uJGKS3JT9RfSyOXnMdDPALbfFMbx1sfgy8Ho3cQ1rRjJOTW3j8eONsWdPQf6xINQKK6VsnsygwfiprajQU/s1600/bpp29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4tJpWXma2ZmxU2R7QBALh38VV31cXPEug34G-YIUCchoSYkrvNbghphM4uJGKS3JT9RfSyOXnMdDPALbfFMbx1sfgy8Ho3cQ1rRjJOTW3j8eONsWdPQf6xINQKK6VsnsygwfiprajQU/s1600/bpp29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went on the old board way to the shore and
then up to Otter Hole Pond, still woefully low, but I sat after a
heron flew out of it to see what I might see. Two small birds
flew over me and one with a bluish tint fluttered down almost
like a butterfly. When in flew off from the grasses and lit on a
tree in the sun, I saw that it was a bluebird.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjONHMiwHEdb5Y6ZOG_VUUv3mBKNmZ-ZgUhfu0JGFZxorCDWmwAJ2y80K0BR5frVQFQWDr1ugjd_rcqolNfoYbIL4wrkaOUT_6aTot2J49NNoCvTDn0s4Lr4av2U4Oq1XivscuFN-4Ggg/s1600/bluebird29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjONHMiwHEdb5Y6ZOG_VUUv3mBKNmZ-ZgUhfu0JGFZxorCDWmwAJ2y80K0BR5frVQFQWDr1ugjd_rcqolNfoYbIL4wrkaOUT_6aTot2J49NNoCvTDn0s4Lr4av2U4Oq1XivscuFN-4Ggg/s1600/bluebird29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I haven't seen them here in a long while. It
flew off to the west, and then an oriole flew out of a tree to
the south. Meanwhile, I heard a scarlet tanager singing in the
trees behind me. I figured seeing that would make a triple crown
of sorts, seeing blue, orange and red in such quick succession.
It didn't take me long to spot the beauty behind me. Then when I
climbed the ridge on my way to the East Trail Pond, I flushed a
turkey from the grasses just above my high trail. I hadn't walked
that way to the pond for awhile and I was struck at the amount of
unfinished work the beavers left and the nice mid-size trees they
had tasted but didn't cut. What prompts a beaver to stop work and
move on, much less what prompts a colony to pull up stakes,
remains a mystery to me. No new otter scats around but I sat
under one of the big pines, out of the chilly wind and in the
warm sun to see what I might see. The first novelty that I could
contemplate was a mayflower stripped of all its leaves.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt_O8mN_G3FR6jJH1yMdfjnWZ6yv5q0OYnE7hcRTwHM1PjbftyHpbYnNAjdcojvSKxeO8FW4NLETicrg7BwZ8c-1lLSJVB26hY_HGbwAyiAR1Mrlkt_RvxdPed-ugEawEluKGytn-RzU/s1600/mayfl29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXt_O8mN_G3FR6jJH1yMdfjnWZ6yv5q0OYnE7hcRTwHM1PjbftyHpbYnNAjdcojvSKxeO8FW4NLETicrg7BwZ8c-1lLSJVB26hY_HGbwAyiAR1Mrlkt_RvxdPed-ugEawEluKGytn-RzU/s1600/mayfl29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The goose at the other end of the pond seemed
to be without family or mate. Just when I was thinking of looking
for a Blanding's turtle I saw a turtle submerge out near the
lodge. Then I noticed two small yellowish brown ducks, one at
least with a slight crest behind the head, skimming the water
like a surface feeder then now and then diving into and swimming
under the water. They flew off before I could get a photo and the
short video I got before they flew off doesn't show their diving
routine. Then a heron flew in from high above and, rare for a
heron, didn't see me below. It landed on a log in the pond and
immediately seemed interested in what was swimming below.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgph50_rxVVSwONgu1UfjEwTljWo9Wl5g22sqS0SnMVVDSLqavWbHI8QYr5fP-YF-e1nx_q0BZZ_ZdfeH329Zds7DqEiuqS1LGdt6OKoLZBdSJF7PBJyXWtjB7IKlBH5M6_ZMfHjrAUPGc/s1600/heron29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgph50_rxVVSwONgu1UfjEwTljWo9Wl5g22sqS0SnMVVDSLqavWbHI8QYr5fP-YF-e1nx_q0BZZ_ZdfeH329Zds7DqEiuqS1LGdt6OKoLZBdSJF7PBJyXWtjB7IKlBH5M6_ZMfHjrAUPGc/s1600/heron29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed I saw two shiners jump out of the water
not far from the first. After some awkward teetering on the log
trying to gain the perfect angle of attack, it waded into the
water, but unfortunately soon went out of camera range. Then I
studied the black birds, the true geniuses of the ponds at this
time of year with their sharp eye for bugs that I can't even see.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnqPujbdvOKqwg_Bhu7JfL2UKUNgWT1fvoFjOlx8RFAYpSoDs_4TjAr013Yistu0cg4PlHQDL-mwNv4z3KQBqbngiziMMxEkSUFUizl_HuL6HI7gdMVOJm0ORHEmqTNrvoRG6zuT0dwI/s1600/blackbird29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdnqPujbdvOKqwg_Bhu7JfL2UKUNgWT1fvoFjOlx8RFAYpSoDs_4TjAr013Yistu0cg4PlHQDL-mwNv4z3KQBqbngiziMMxEkSUFUizl_HuL6HI7gdMVOJm0ORHEmqTNrvoRG6zuT0dwI/s1600/blackbird29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">For all of us who can't swim in them these birds know
the ponds best. As I got up to go, I scanned again for Blanding's
turtles and sure enough I saw a good sized one on a log on the
other side of the lodge. Over at the Second Swamp Pond I was back
in the wind watching barn swallows and the dazzling ripples
waiting in vain for muskrats to come out of the lodge. A large
doe harvesting pond grasses across the pond diverted my
attention,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUNTq3smLfkE56OYg9SMFBs8EziFAuknqhGJSHy5-eGrcfypp3dXPmyiPE8p2VvM228VsTex-r0Uq0_5ipHgrYPA6adgrgZZ6Ry9kMe7ga4bAxDmndhI-drJqLypZx2O4ZtDw5ehyYVo/s1600/deer29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUNTq3smLfkE56OYg9SMFBs8EziFAuknqhGJSHy5-eGrcfypp3dXPmyiPE8p2VvM228VsTex-r0Uq0_5ipHgrYPA6adgrgZZ6Ry9kMe7ga4bAxDmndhI-drJqLypZx2O4ZtDw5ehyYVo/s1600/deer29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">especially how her ears kept turning in the
wind, to glean, I suppose, any threatening sound. Then I saw
another doe behind her. No sign of any regard for fawns. When I
moved, the one in the pond ran off. Crossing the upper dam is so
difficult now that my eyes were on it and not in the pond so I
missed seeing what dove a few yards into the pond with enough
umph for me to think it might be a beaver. I saw a bouquet of cut
grass on the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioY44xyXu1qqEQsrmZjwCPh2l-RGpY0d-SIFXp4PK6VLMRS5LqBHi6ApI-QI5hf0_FFBs75Q5E2rmmwbpIlbkggthYCWvp1bP0enp9fsInfRZHRnoumJcL9s72P13UpoPV3fM0mI714c/s1600/cutgrass29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioY44xyXu1qqEQsrmZjwCPh2l-RGpY0d-SIFXp4PK6VLMRS5LqBHi6ApI-QI5hf0_FFBs75Q5E2rmmwbpIlbkggthYCWvp1bP0enp9fsInfRZHRnoumJcL9s72P13UpoPV3fM0mI714c/s1600/cutgrass29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Two years ago I would attributed that to a
muskrat but last year I saw a beaver harvest just the same and
take it into a lodge to feed babies. I suspect the colony moved
up here to raise a family in complete privacy. I kept an eye out
but the critter didn't materialize which is more characteristic
of muskrats. Up at the Lost Swamp Pond, after two herons flew
out, and a tern disappeared, I settled down leaning on a rock out
of the wind with a view of the lodge. Then an osprey that had
been perched almost above me flew off. One need a hundred eyes in
the spring. A starling lit on a dead tree high above me and
entertained me with queer sounds. Then out in the pond the scudding
ripples materialized into something which turned out to be a
muskrat which seemed to be up to the old muskrat trick of
swimming a mile to get the same cut of grass that it could get by
going on shore just above its burrow. Here I suppose is a
sensitivity to policing territory, but by this hour of the day
one would think a muskrat could be assured that all was secure.
There was an equivocal scat near the rocks I was on -- too
tubular to say for certain it came from an otter. And the holes
that I blamed otters for digging last year, were open without the
smearing of scat that the otters left last year. Digging holes is
another popular spring pastime that I guess many critters enjoy.
Once again I found fresh scat on the north slope trail,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhta4f_It0EdEIZ8iG3i8SgiJ6EXA56OXnDt0bncHKNJQF4WlKpsQq72cdrZ4sunnpmT5QY-4eVIs0y1_WeHy1u3DkQpiN1hlPnRGarQOEGTwmjtyh7-fnweUSZ1zPAvZR6bmYYn6iqXyk/s1600/scat29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhta4f_It0EdEIZ8iG3i8SgiJ6EXA56OXnDt0bncHKNJQF4WlKpsQq72cdrZ4sunnpmT5QY-4eVIs0y1_WeHy1u3DkQpiN1hlPnRGarQOEGTwmjtyh7-fnweUSZ1zPAvZR6bmYYn6iqXyk/s1600/scat29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">this time exclusively on the Lost Pond side,
and a little bit more of it. That prompted me to walk around the
pond a bit, check other latrines and scope the long end of the
pond and the other faraway lodge favored by otters, but no sign
of them. The Big Pond dam continues to grow and the beavers have
cut and brought honeysuckle branches up to it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UrP1AgMINEiL9DOf8zSQriIPgAusgOuBQ0l4BnKfki_9xJAZG37pNve_5ml_0hL97lpbftuIA-IVVBXyOygxCvD4T9GDGoPFlQMqdOblomDkMStHWFcD9WEkxkGHJR3krJbiBWPya8g/s1600/hsuckledam29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UrP1AgMINEiL9DOf8zSQriIPgAusgOuBQ0l4BnKfki_9xJAZG37pNve_5ml_0hL97lpbftuIA-IVVBXyOygxCvD4T9GDGoPFlQMqdOblomDkMStHWFcD9WEkxkGHJR3krJbiBWPya8g/s1600/hsuckledam29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see many signs of harvesting except at
the end of the dam behind my usual perch. One blue flag iris is
out</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp4b6DbbKKLkdMX32MfmRyfkYX8l2PSSwSS_DSVhQpMTN87G1nyEzBCPH6Ps55WtS-V5HYLn8vlq-kxKzGwkLVjXmST9IAz6ybDyRxcud_JBeEix0DFIGfrJHnDVdX6Och0NLFIJCWeA/s1600/iris29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp4b6DbbKKLkdMX32MfmRyfkYX8l2PSSwSS_DSVhQpMTN87G1nyEzBCPH6Ps55WtS-V5HYLn8vlq-kxKzGwkLVjXmST9IAz6ybDyRxcud_JBeEix0DFIGfrJHnDVdX6Och0NLFIJCWeA/s1600/iris29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and others are on the way.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHo44CjZcAa95utuBwgc3IqtzE_RhM60TRnLgRfm9orZG9fCkSc8hrQ0FMouQSOhkON1HEcJpyx77P5cDqf_bvbzmzKNbfhgwK6xZxgA6mIJZDEcCJvwzg7uFuVonZxrg2ZiKjEq4m2Y4/s1600/iris29a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHo44CjZcAa95utuBwgc3IqtzE_RhM60TRnLgRfm9orZG9fCkSc8hrQ0FMouQSOhkON1HEcJpyx77P5cDqf_bvbzmzKNbfhgwK6xZxgA6mIJZDEcCJvwzg7uFuVonZxrg2ZiKjEq4m2Y4/s1600/iris29a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I only sat briefly not expecting much to come
out into the teeth of the wind. I flushed two deer from under a
bush near the pond, and then saw two more deer in the woods, but
no fawns.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 31 just as a rain clouds slowly moved in, I
took a tour of South Bay in the kayak. The swallows were picking
bugs off the water. Then I bothered about four heron, two on the
shore and two on logs or boards in the water. Not as much fish
action today, explosions below still, but not so much thrashing
in the grass. And since the clouds had moved in there were fewer
turtles out. Coming back out of the cove one small fish in the
shallows jumped clean out of the water, flying for about three
feet, too small for a carp. Around in the other cove a fisherman
on shore said he had caught two dinners worth of bass that he had
to let go since they're out of season. So perhaps the flying fish
was a bass. I keep studying the roots pulled up and I found some
fresher ones that puzzled me because they didn't look gnawed.
Then I found one almost tied in knots. For a moment I saved it,
until I realized that it had merely been wrapped around a boat
propeller. No signs of otters along the shore. When I got up to
the docking rock the grass looked mussed, and I got out to check,
but it was probably done by geese. I saw two groups coddling the
goslings. As well as one mallard with a line of chicks. I wore
some old shoes so I went up to check Audubon Pond where I still
see some freshly stripped twigs, but no sign of where the beaver
might be lodging. And no major work that I can see. I think the
muskrats shifted to the lodge the beavers abandoned. Indeed I saw
a muskrat along the east shore of the pond, and much muskrat
gleaning, I think, in the now very shallow pond on the east side
of the causeway. Heading home in the kayak, I heard a tern squawk
and then saw a cormorant take off below. The tern continued to
fly over it but they were still too far apart for me to suggest
that the tern was trying to bug the bigger cormorant. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-61058942474588742832016-12-31T10:34:00.000-08:002016-12-31T10:34:41.650-08:00May 2 to 13, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">May 2 yesterday I was out on a bike for
exercise and I decided to ride over and check the New Pond knoll
for otter scats. There were none fresh or new. I sat until it
started raining and saw at least one, perhaps two snapping
turtles swimming mostly under the water. Several painted turtles
were on logs. I hurried back when the rain got heavier, but still
noticed the many violets just out along the South Bay trail, and
mayapple just up. At night we tried a little bullhead fishing,
but without luck. Incommoded a few herons. Heard toads singing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today I hiked out to the New Pond knoll, a
humid, cloudy day in the mid-70s and first had to pause and take
in the serviceberry blossoms.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfDuRtI7GEaqosTorXt0QclxPuy8Up-8GkbRah2iyXPP2oS-JmFzo4DvlzGGb2b7OkjtzQUnSyZsfrhgDRJkgCqh_is0CyKx9cFBtrYZiSyz518rrh1JNjPBk7-uiWRIHUfFSzu20gGY/s1600/servflowers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfDuRtI7GEaqosTorXt0QclxPuy8Up-8GkbRah2iyXPP2oS-JmFzo4DvlzGGb2b7OkjtzQUnSyZsfrhgDRJkgCqh_is0CyKx9cFBtrYZiSyz518rrh1JNjPBk7-uiWRIHUfFSzu20gGY/s1600/servflowers2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the ridges, the beavers who have
developed a taste for this tree, can't get them. I also heard an
oriole in the trees on the ridge. Then I tried to get photos of
the violets</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-yAFiUVLZWr0xguP1RWzdICV7iW891wTrvfqKlSMMEgJjqMizviUL3BRWPbI7JdgwNKrZiv166gY5HX3FhCcGCom8SaCzlve_wGJkGBUqExHHxzCmDWdzuRyLs8AWDxO46B4ap_0_OM/s1600/violet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-yAFiUVLZWr0xguP1RWzdICV7iW891wTrvfqKlSMMEgJjqMizviUL3BRWPbI7JdgwNKrZiv166gY5HX3FhCcGCom8SaCzlve_wGJkGBUqExHHxzCmDWdzuRyLs8AWDxO46B4ap_0_OM/s1600/violet2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a pale butterfly fluttered under me, hungry
for violets. I also noticed two varieties of violets, with one a
bit paler.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2rPVLki7vDumT3F2z5qg_JiJ_LlZe943VjoufmmAzDZe0QZB7mlq5CedutJ2Y8qsyZa5OFX8YnJjdN-5YduhS7js5N7q5aV1iBu4lMh4MNi7NswlX18RV-RRLNcwaZcm9Fah9rINXRg/s1600/violets2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2rPVLki7vDumT3F2z5qg_JiJ_LlZe943VjoufmmAzDZe0QZB7mlq5CedutJ2Y8qsyZa5OFX8YnJjdN-5YduhS7js5N7q5aV1iBu4lMh4MNi7NswlX18RV-RRLNcwaZcm9Fah9rINXRg/s1600/violets2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the New Pond knoll, again there were no
new scats. No matter the pattern in otter travel I think I begin
to discern, that pattern stops after a couple of weeks -- or
maybe I am just getting impatient. Then I saw a white flower that
looked like a big hepatica. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfhePAUNiPYpACILUmG7WFX0f1MCbFTjVwwDlHZUbtvNDUpAXfs13cqfGHBJimo0ssyGX1BbGeJ7k9mmfHQdFjhWVdbjrSJC_IPfCKQTmPmfu9z2rNGvZnwRZkcgYSe5XTI7jhRSrJR4/s1600/hepatica2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfhePAUNiPYpACILUmG7WFX0f1MCbFTjVwwDlHZUbtvNDUpAXfs13cqfGHBJimo0ssyGX1BbGeJ7k9mmfHQdFjhWVdbjrSJC_IPfCKQTmPmfu9z2rNGvZnwRZkcgYSe5XTI7jhRSrJR4/s1600/hepatica2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A little ways beyond that I saw clumps of
saxifrage.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuFET5BoiDLZOdExpEw4EoigfSGylGs4Jd4ctu8sCBBQ04IoDeNrQQhUzYKPg7-VO_ccfi3fDfMq4Uh6Ms6k5J8DIvA7z31min2odTIXCjqcnl_hN16CuvQB8F4pGH3UD5UgMLSzg6M0/s1600/sax2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuFET5BoiDLZOdExpEw4EoigfSGylGs4Jd4ctu8sCBBQ04IoDeNrQQhUzYKPg7-VO_ccfi3fDfMq4Uh6Ms6k5J8DIvA7z31min2odTIXCjqcnl_hN16CuvQB8F4pGH3UD5UgMLSzg6M0/s1600/sax2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up at Otter Hole Pond I sat on my old perch --
a depression in the grass on the ridge, but not before checking
to see if the last patch of trillium on this part of the island
was blooming, and it almost was.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSog9EzyiNdVEcQUOvC4qkPvBFUoJ5PMJY1kQRhjsuZxcc0U1P30jBCTIgtghijTCy9CdbcPcSOoKv1ZtApM990QndBOiMs4F8Z3WUnP6w3_gTXUZUgeyB_Xs5dfVA5olFI_G54WPmdk/s1600/trill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSog9EzyiNdVEcQUOvC4qkPvBFUoJ5PMJY1kQRhjsuZxcc0U1P30jBCTIgtghijTCy9CdbcPcSOoKv1ZtApM990QndBOiMs4F8Z3WUnP6w3_gTXUZUgeyB_Xs5dfVA5olFI_G54WPmdk/s1600/trill2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I contemplated the almost empty pond, I saw
that the beaver lodge, now exposed to its very foundation, had
the characteristics of a living organism, with two large claws
sticking out in the shallow water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span class="separator" div="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWE73v5nwLuHvx4G-6WWk_MkDFGKkfJ5GHcU5LX-v_soFAwezvcThZTlLwqIIqqT91CwnVgRY6-q4zcOSvCzvsz5Y2PloRN1D6QTtxESxieMbRQl7lH2MDKnzVLXO6u9UiFvkfwj-pC6A/s1600/ohlodge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWE73v5nwLuHvx4G-6WWk_MkDFGKkfJ5GHcU5LX-v_soFAwezvcThZTlLwqIIqqT91CwnVgRY6-q4zcOSvCzvsz5Y2PloRN1D6QTtxESxieMbRQl7lH2MDKnzVLXO6u9UiFvkfwj-pC6A/s1600/ohlodge2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Where is the beaver who will patch this dam?
Then I saw a snapping turtle swimming through the pond, sometimes
at a good clip, but mostly slowly, head up and head down, like it
really was getting something out of the pond. It kept approaching
mud banks but not going up, but finally did, pausing out of the
water for a minute,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiT8yHTw8Zemjay8nmBiuce4VlOkbBoHUoC67X3J2gA3IbI4gDzDOHRqLvEBmf_opqndbdD6QFJ9HuGoKasivpz68EoKDtie-rXK0p2NYfcXXb8zywzs7bCJ3ipxglxqa7bXMCcM14eI/s1600/snapper2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiT8yHTw8Zemjay8nmBiuce4VlOkbBoHUoC67X3J2gA3IbI4gDzDOHRqLvEBmf_opqndbdD6QFJ9HuGoKasivpz68EoKDtie-rXK0p2NYfcXXb8zywzs7bCJ3ipxglxqa7bXMCcM14eI/s1600/snapper2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then when it got back into deeper water it
swam quickly up pond. More likely it is looking for a mate than
looking for food. Before seeing the turtle, I was going to ponder
why the New Pond seems so lively and this pond -- once the heart
of much activity, seemed of no use. I heard a kingfisher in the
distance and they used to love this pond. Herons too, and no signs
of muskrat, but I only sat there for 25 minutes. I noted that a
good flow of water was coming down from the East Trail Pond, but
there was also a flow from the Second Swamp Pond. So I went out
on the dam there, to the consternation of two geese, but saw only
good patching and no leaks. However, the water level is lower,
despite the showers we've been having, and the pond below is
bigger.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbF80YI2pp13UIuzu_lVKQo3jlZRkDzsVtkdp3ardYnYEvCQXEtM5jOYs3RnuFKTVwoFeYUf_fu_56al_5k-oZTsTZPlYRmCTbns7bZMD7-qvPk5M3fBlK3ff64y_-uxBalD5UKjLFyGs/s1600/belowspdam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbF80YI2pp13UIuzu_lVKQo3jlZRkDzsVtkdp3ardYnYEvCQXEtM5jOYs3RnuFKTVwoFeYUf_fu_56al_5k-oZTsTZPlYRmCTbns7bZMD7-qvPk5M3fBlK3ff64y_-uxBalD5UKjLFyGs/s1600/belowspdam2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suspect that the beavers have worked on the
dam below and, as they did last year, have water flowing into the
pool below the other side of the dam. I'll check that theory the
next time I come out. Maybe just as they did 20 years ago, they
are making their slow way down to recreate Otter Hole Pond in all
its former glory when it backed up, a full pond to the Second
Swamp Pond dam. Just off the dam I saw more saxifrage quite
striking in moss and set off with small ferns.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAY_TNEY1dbYqfWHUJt8QYAUoZyhMMgYrXvHBwZNH82LsQKsIGcNzUi7x9B44nC_YQGBJpY5ZxV0Fw6qMr7P9JO_idtFUYnJuQf4gaQgauIwQ2Ib7Kyt1GP3qs3cQ_tBnCHjaErqZ7OU/s1600/sax2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAY_TNEY1dbYqfWHUJt8QYAUoZyhMMgYrXvHBwZNH82LsQKsIGcNzUi7x9B44nC_YQGBJpY5ZxV0Fw6qMr7P9JO_idtFUYnJuQf4gaQgauIwQ2Ib7Kyt1GP3qs3cQ_tBnCHjaErqZ7OU/s1600/sax2a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went up to the Lost Swamp Pond, moving three
pairs of buffleheads along. Since it was little after 3pm I
didn't expect to see beavers so I concentrated on finding otter
scat. The north shore slope looks used but I could see no scats
that I was sure were new. But on the other side of the slope,
above the upper end of the Second Swamp Pond, I saw several scats
there were not there the last time I checked. However, none were
soft.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjcLsU0Nr7QvZ6LMbCY4mxjF1rP6faIufZnZbNfcxmT1Y5A5RAMomkLP25BH7TxGO62TCUusMt412SvVsYBI4FqkEgcZhOA9R8kN6wh5GZO64f16T3X08dNMW3obXKA5jVGZkD7QGzck/s1600/scat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKjcLsU0Nr7QvZ6LMbCY4mxjF1rP6faIufZnZbNfcxmT1Y5A5RAMomkLP25BH7TxGO62TCUusMt412SvVsYBI4FqkEgcZhOA9R8kN6wh5GZO64f16T3X08dNMW3obXKA5jVGZkD7QGzck/s1600/scat2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At this time of year with plenty of sun, wind
and no shade otter scats seem to firm up quickly. If this scat
means an otter is staying in this area, there are two muskrat
pushups near by. It may also be a means of claiming the Lost
Swamp Pond from any otter coming up from South Bay, but then why
shouldn't I see some new scat up at that pond? I walked up to the
dam and noticed that a rotten limb that fell from a dead tree
near the dam had been brought up by a beaver and placed on the
dam. I also saw a serviceberry tree half cut and still blooming.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRhKHWz1GJAvwaPEMks3iG6UfS3NiuDFRDX58CpXe9s9tO7nVSl5X2eJXi_6iw8IaqTSDxl6r-4Jf08906pafa_1anTgeHZm6Zb_5ORY14U9SljrQWjMhNp4oDASKK-LJSOU5Fqa5HAc/s1600/bvwksberry2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRhKHWz1GJAvwaPEMks3iG6UfS3NiuDFRDX58CpXe9s9tO7nVSl5X2eJXi_6iw8IaqTSDxl6r-4Jf08906pafa_1anTgeHZm6Zb_5ORY14U9SljrQWjMhNp4oDASKK-LJSOU5Fqa5HAc/s1600/bvwksberry2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The next task I set for myself was to check the
ponds below the Big Pond to see if the beavers are using them.
Just like last year they repaired the dam of the pond just below,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZe3Lnkx60_mBqZ7fFdgIen-aE57BlPQOzeZczqxU212bLGb_V5Vii24o7iDmZoxb7ciQK3akidvF1OO4ZIKYwBnLX1bn0AjH2i4X8gi_qKkL6bWq0e00mqsFtnA9m9mSy-AT_rAHvZHQ/s1600/dlp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZe3Lnkx60_mBqZ7fFdgIen-aE57BlPQOzeZczqxU212bLGb_V5Vii24o7iDmZoxb7ciQK3akidvF1OO4ZIKYwBnLX1bn0AjH2i4X8gi_qKkL6bWq0e00mqsFtnA9m9mSy-AT_rAHvZHQ/s1600/dlp2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Double Lodge Pond, but all the other dams below
are in disrepair and the water flows out.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeX46kZOMd6BADPMiF0d1tn9Mvw9mKoaXEJhdiIQitH7IB2sFYwqBqZeM__WpS48aK-NEeJhNb89ZiHj6YXmytBjhdGXKPLXqbzBxRCTzSPo0jtv1zPXyd6-j5AtfWiX6JO2TEwiW_a8/s1600/belowdlp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWeX46kZOMd6BADPMiF0d1tn9Mvw9mKoaXEJhdiIQitH7IB2sFYwqBqZeM__WpS48aK-NEeJhNb89ZiHj6YXmytBjhdGXKPLXqbzBxRCTzSPo0jtv1zPXyd6-j5AtfWiX6JO2TEwiW_a8/s1600/belowdlp2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the meadow of one of these ponds I found the
remains of a deer stretched out as if straining for water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphZRvKOKeDSRTgCpCnDemzz6GPyxAuxK40AhLRECUpIGIpC3hBTe2Heo4ZGyJiinz86-u1dpB12DXE-8df9Eg7Dp9i1FuT6cGkaF0SmMnhiCD4oFuKcBZyhFD676ygb7X0EJMKS-LCq4/s1600/deerremains2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphZRvKOKeDSRTgCpCnDemzz6GPyxAuxK40AhLRECUpIGIpC3hBTe2Heo4ZGyJiinz86-u1dpB12DXE-8df9Eg7Dp9i1FuT6cGkaF0SmMnhiCD4oFuKcBZyhFD676ygb7X0EJMKS-LCq4/s1600/deerremains2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I think deer I find down in these bottoms are
those wounded by hunters and the ones up the ridges are more
likely killed by coyotes -- if they are small enough. But I know
precious little about this. I thought a beaver had visited the
Middle Pond, but it certainly didn't come back as it is low and
absolutely no beaver work around it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 5 it rained two days ago and then this
morning; and we had two chilly nights, but no frost. I headed off
a little after three on a gray, humid afternoon, with diminishing
wind and temperature a little over 50. I went up and over the TI
Park ridge which I should call the serviceberry blossom ridge at
this time of year. I nosed along the South Bay trail looking for
otter scats and I think there is a fresh one on the rusting pipe
next to the creek coming down from the New Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5dpprhbwvk3UCoe0Z1wpSy2y-_KDhgMSOAw9ifX_OfdYQFgFgIb14NkDv0MxSxvd0UNiU1F7_S5R7LD8TYdDA-IN6kJfa3sKr0pv9a-tQ4w6NaF6H4IDJDwE0FZLoXLkn5tuZRsh1KMU/s1600/pipescat5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5dpprhbwvk3UCoe0Z1wpSy2y-_KDhgMSOAw9ifX_OfdYQFgFgIb14NkDv0MxSxvd0UNiU1F7_S5R7LD8TYdDA-IN6kJfa3sKr0pv9a-tQ4w6NaF6H4IDJDwE0FZLoXLkn5tuZRsh1KMU/s1600/pipescat5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've lost track of the markings on that pipe,
which the otters scatted on a lot last year, but what was there
seemed a little wet when I scratched it with a stick and being
under trees, it shouldn't have gotten that wet from the rain.
However, I would have liked to see scat on the New Pond knoll
too, and there was nothing new there. I sat a bit on a rock to
see what might materialize, and soon heard and then saw an
oriole. No more pleasant bird to have above you. There was also a
flycatcher -- a phoebe, I think, getting bugs off the pond. I
walked up along South Bay and saw that the wind was dying. Then
in the dirt above the docking rock,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9PzZYfh4evUD73XcOqso_C9bQ-OLDECKBDENPKY9yKA61i_YcCllI2wIGAHOoLBqTMd253NBsBjRF1-xPSkZFQs6CQMkUHi-nvZprNF-i75kZGAdpjZVd2bBRLJqXNan1L8h3crZuK8/s1600/drock5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9PzZYfh4evUD73XcOqso_C9bQ-OLDECKBDENPKY9yKA61i_YcCllI2wIGAHOoLBqTMd253NBsBjRF1-xPSkZFQs6CQMkUHi-nvZprNF-i75kZGAdpjZVd2bBRLJqXNan1L8h3crZuK8/s1600/drock5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw a fresh wet otter scat</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBycgVRw8GXN0DUjlljxBEg4pg9ZiayILFx_SE1ocFtjHmKJkFRcVdK-TaUD_6czarQZMQYiC7T6mg3q0DoWi9Y1PPZ-cHTI19GSwjQbrl3_iIW7YS_96_nt37uKhcD9wupQRjcyj9Sw/s1600/scat5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBycgVRw8GXN0DUjlljxBEg4pg9ZiayILFx_SE1ocFtjHmKJkFRcVdK-TaUD_6czarQZMQYiC7T6mg3q0DoWi9Y1PPZ-cHTI19GSwjQbrl3_iIW7YS_96_nt37uKhcD9wupQRjcyj9Sw/s1600/scat5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- only one and no pawing of grass around it.
Up in Audubon Pond there were two gosling-less pairs of geese on
the man-made embankments. As I walked down to look at the drain,
the pair there went into the water and the male insisted on
pushing over to the other pair, which set off a spate of
pointless honking. The pond is quite full and I didn't hear any
water leaking at the mudded over drain. Along the slope there
were three neat mud piles.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBf-xgMrIfkDwW7kqri4yEFSiS4KAsLvRuVCYNTLx8tWsOhOVxneY4CgnogcTiLjHfuAnaAp7AFYOaJJ5K1PRidJ3n689DJKCB4_po06lM3TUFn_DIyhUjOMeUjWmGNisgUf_W6o8Zbo/s1600/apdrain5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBf-xgMrIfkDwW7kqri4yEFSiS4KAsLvRuVCYNTLx8tWsOhOVxneY4CgnogcTiLjHfuAnaAp7AFYOaJJ5K1PRidJ3n689DJKCB4_po06lM3TUFn_DIyhUjOMeUjWmGNisgUf_W6o8Zbo/s1600/apdrain5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Further along the slope I noticed beaver marking
incorporating clam shells.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmn_V7jDRjr85A2SnisWyWkbvEfcFzqWHtshBmWlCX60UDm67oqXLun8FFX_pr4qV_h302i1CzCRq_aWls0rgtzJEAih7CAROZi5dpLEmdKkznxdYod0XGMxjJ4eLlhBhBt_dgA8G2oI/s1600/bvmkshell5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmn_V7jDRjr85A2SnisWyWkbvEfcFzqWHtshBmWlCX60UDm67oqXLun8FFX_pr4qV_h302i1CzCRq_aWls0rgtzJEAih7CAROZi5dpLEmdKkznxdYod0XGMxjJ4eLlhBhBt_dgA8G2oI/s1600/bvmkshell5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going around the southwest corner of the pond,
I admired the well gnawed oak and think the beaver has been
gnawing it even more.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xB_cxOaeWKTyavAPIhUgLEyFdkT3mNBh0nJPRgU6SZspeRCqgf0MPHr0hYfA4FuWUGNipwDgakcWOojIPJwmOgNJbrZgXSH22lZ5-dv8UOIG37cLVHBWGFgLsi4uih7pnjYT-GtN3Vw/s1600/apbvwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xB_cxOaeWKTyavAPIhUgLEyFdkT3mNBh0nJPRgU6SZspeRCqgf0MPHr0hYfA4FuWUGNipwDgakcWOojIPJwmOgNJbrZgXSH22lZ5-dv8UOIG37cLVHBWGFgLsi4uih7pnjYT-GtN3Vw/s1600/apbvwk5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Another smaller tree was down and half stripped
near by. As I walked up the west shore, I muskrat swam off before
me and dove into the beaver bank lodge, which seems to have more
mud on it, if not more sticks.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEatMyVTyLT4ydzlM2C626DIELyFLTdXDiwB_poNy8AhHL7GnkvaH3dBGu4pv_jnLE3IotCfn2ZcsUsqFR3k85J29zZcsyA5M50yUrYMKmP4YObjWZWbun76gDLmG3Fu_ztxouMnmGig/s1600/aplodge5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEatMyVTyLT4ydzlM2C626DIELyFLTdXDiwB_poNy8AhHL7GnkvaH3dBGu4pv_jnLE3IotCfn2ZcsUsqFR3k85J29zZcsyA5M50yUrYMKmP4YObjWZWbun76gDLmG3Fu_ztxouMnmGig/s1600/aplodge5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">While I stood behind it, bubbles came out and
this time the beaver surfaced closer to me, but was still its
usual cold self. When I went to the bench, it went off to the
opposite end. I think I got three splashes and after the last it
disappeared. I sat on the bench, planning a brief rest, but then
two terns flew in and entertained me,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGk2lDqAIeD1GWszZX2ylDxHs0I-IGSmWCx4hiJrG_Y392Tn2H4M7spB62NngdeAU289fi0bMuQYW27LfKDMhRbHljKw4AHIHwhU0zpzovE_YQwwDOblRZySVXyGU_ZeFGUKPsXb3Ip7Y/s1600/tern5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGk2lDqAIeD1GWszZX2ylDxHs0I-IGSmWCx4hiJrG_Y392Tn2H4M7spB62NngdeAU289fi0bMuQYW27LfKDMhRbHljKw4AHIHwhU0zpzovE_YQwwDOblRZySVXyGU_ZeFGUKPsXb3Ip7Y/s1600/tern5a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">flying rather close.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjXl12RIucQO8wpmUVl-i_MdS9Ogih10_hBxrrg_QoZPw98O6oFZRfWcI3m334c4xM1haEKhghn7iNAUm5psgmuLV-nUQShd6Pq9ZYGXfHm-P1H_-sV6drt2mKRt88be2OOA8Yd7n-Lk/s1600/tern5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjXl12RIucQO8wpmUVl-i_MdS9Ogih10_hBxrrg_QoZPw98O6oFZRfWcI3m334c4xM1haEKhghn7iNAUm5psgmuLV-nUQShd6Pq9ZYGXfHm-P1H_-sV6drt2mKRt88be2OOA8Yd7n-Lk/s1600/tern5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There seemed to be no contention between them
even though they squawked and only one dove after a fish. As I
was walking away, an osprey flew over with a fish in its talons.
I also saw the muskrat again, going off into the grasses. I
headed up to Meander Pond, passing some horsetails in the grass,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnCrP7K4Rr43zP-Ov-z9fPZV9lCnbggKes4PPU76Umo3I3GJocbGij7PLOq0cRXAscya5Rxwp2cR5zMpeNClWpjgBpf-K0-Ume1Sjrbcb95Yjm7ezarydVUIC9LK0Z0Zg3DpQOPsDVss/s1600/horsetail5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnCrP7K4Rr43zP-Ov-z9fPZV9lCnbggKes4PPU76Umo3I3GJocbGij7PLOq0cRXAscya5Rxwp2cR5zMpeNClWpjgBpf-K0-Ume1Sjrbcb95Yjm7ezarydVUIC9LK0Z0Zg3DpQOPsDVss/s1600/horsetail5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and saw a muskrat there too. It also looks like
the dam has been tended, and perhaps the lodge in the middle of
the pond had a stripped stick next to it. In the back of the pond
there was much fresh beaver work </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5wCSHnAVe327lMsG3whV3475BB6ZrlfyzU8iKIJMKfZ03152HkLweFyHBudjLI8w2gLXu0vu1Qcl00WepnfWE4JXiobo09qgFIMQvpqFKEdlRZpwWbz77ufCXi6mMxykQhVfFf7vuBc/s1600/mmpwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5wCSHnAVe327lMsG3whV3475BB6ZrlfyzU8iKIJMKfZ03152HkLweFyHBudjLI8w2gLXu0vu1Qcl00WepnfWE4JXiobo09qgFIMQvpqFKEdlRZpwWbz77ufCXi6mMxykQhVfFf7vuBc/s1600/mmpwk5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the tree I saw had been stripped of its
bark, no gnawing,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-GPupZ5IUWUKjQd9kCIAhSB-YQjlxWJA0bQyv83KyJxmFOM-uOTPAtDOpM-ZDAYJaepbm-A837D7_vpK9m6s6R0L9KpncsWJqlTOYXWpY2zCELApm-61pM_1MlqXiSm3Dd715qhu-jA/s1600/barkstrip5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-GPupZ5IUWUKjQd9kCIAhSB-YQjlxWJA0bQyv83KyJxmFOM-uOTPAtDOpM-ZDAYJaepbm-A837D7_vpK9m6s6R0L9KpncsWJqlTOYXWpY2zCELApm-61pM_1MlqXiSm3Dd715qhu-jA/s1600/barkstrip5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I've read that they use the strips for
bedding, so perhaps they have moved into Meander Pond. However,
there is still fresh work up at Thicket Pond, and some stripped
bark too. However, the distraction of the moment was a pileated
woodpecker. I heard another but didn't see it. The one I saw got
down onto a log in the pond and threw wood about -- who needs
beavers.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hjNrb-c4_za0NWxOUDPbmeIRQ31hfs3m0dzCjUz7ShG_HTaavV4elQLqhFnhDffkdRWX-cJLzsLkfXcd35-Wp2SvVCWEripNoMpRH1TIZonAGe5gmKHK5p472Enwqz1S-STI2wca8G0/s1600/pileated5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hjNrb-c4_za0NWxOUDPbmeIRQ31hfs3m0dzCjUz7ShG_HTaavV4elQLqhFnhDffkdRWX-cJLzsLkfXcd35-Wp2SvVCWEripNoMpRH1TIZonAGe5gmKHK5p472Enwqz1S-STI2wca8G0/s1600/pileated5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A few comb frogs were singing from the meadow
below Meander Pond and some leopard frogs in Thicket Pond. As I
walked along it, I sacred a half dozen ducks, some of them wood
ducks. The East Trail Pond is still low, indeed, it looks lower,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdB9Ts03E7T-g6IiGImAVha08dQEknYa-dFrg0BqxtcLf4CEfZakFpd4FNiKfBVIuuzT9zvu2qS-jaTOXSVCAKkVIjUkU_cRAkse_EjqhHoIVaE1pOXSsgOyN1qAGGreYBIi4XAfr18RA/s1600/etdam5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdB9Ts03E7T-g6IiGImAVha08dQEknYa-dFrg0BqxtcLf4CEfZakFpd4FNiKfBVIuuzT9zvu2qS-jaTOXSVCAKkVIjUkU_cRAkse_EjqhHoIVaE1pOXSsgOyN1qAGGreYBIi4XAfr18RA/s1600/etdam5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which got me to thinking that an otter might
have been by, but I saw no evidence of that at all. Not having
this dam patched almost upsets me, and I can't account for it.
Why couldn't one of the masters of mud from Thicket Pond come
over and repair it? I even went down to the outlet creek on the
old otter trail, but saw no otter signs. Up at the Second Swamp
Pond dam, there is some leaking on the north side but not much.
All the cut trees are ash and old ash cuts age least of all, but
I think there is some fresh work below the dam. Going up to the
knoll behind the dam, I heard an oriole again, might have been
the same one. I did notice some freshly cut ash in the woods</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSKx8Z95R9NRVl942aHKIpEEg1Ryn4W2bpIjAwyeNrX4eo021G4hfaS4OSoOGLdgPpFMtfHdYWSycFLOLka5_6aEdir4HY3S9vJQieroXUCwjSazfno0Lob3MvkbwbxvG_MX6Nxe5Hoo/s1600/spwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSKx8Z95R9NRVl942aHKIpEEg1Ryn4W2bpIjAwyeNrX4eo021G4hfaS4OSoOGLdgPpFMtfHdYWSycFLOLka5_6aEdir4HY3S9vJQieroXUCwjSazfno0Lob3MvkbwbxvG_MX6Nxe5Hoo/s1600/spwk5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">as I walked up the side of the pond -- where,
by the way, I saw no buffleheads. The upper dam seems to be even
higher and crossing is getting to be difficult and when I got up
to the Lost Swamp Pond, I heard a beaver splash behind me in the
Upper Second Swamp pond. The Lost Swamp still has a goose on the
little lodge in the pond and she had two guard geese. Just as I
came up to the dam, a muskrat swam along, perhaps coming out of
the lodge by the dam. I followed it around to the burrows on the
north shore, sneaked some photos </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K46zyYEVNT5YXDKwzi1oWPOEXAc7LRmbg-k_BTK838M0Z9rvlVOxt-WOtpy6QbLLeaM57E5mws56CKELfEE5o0JKVe2fVkg63ewzCdoQ92DfTTx553xkS_feaGNpePYFaT2u2BQRzr4/s1600/mrat5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K46zyYEVNT5YXDKwzi1oWPOEXAc7LRmbg-k_BTK838M0Z9rvlVOxt-WOtpy6QbLLeaM57E5mws56CKELfEE5o0JKVe2fVkg63ewzCdoQ92DfTTx553xkS_feaGNpePYFaT2u2BQRzr4/s1600/mrat5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then it dove when I stepped on a stick. And
behind that trusty old burrow den the mayapples were coming up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wIjer2UwcprpURRe38Jaz_wRCw1AttHRO2BlU8NXH7P_kL19LZQMI8J9mJ-rALcTtj_sgVvNmHtIUNPeh1jVdd3am0Hki5SnRlIsUrM7u6A__XW-rqnbTr9CwPOrOuLIUNArwgrufIQ/s1600/mappden5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wIjer2UwcprpURRe38Jaz_wRCw1AttHRO2BlU8NXH7P_kL19LZQMI8J9mJ-rALcTtj_sgVvNmHtIUNPeh1jVdd3am0Hki5SnRlIsUrM7u6A__XW-rqnbTr9CwPOrOuLIUNArwgrufIQ/s1600/mappden5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign of fresh beaver work. Once again I face
the delightful chore of figuring out what these beavers are up
to. I checked the otter trail between the ponds for scat and
think I saw one or two new ones on the north slope and perhaps
one new one on the south slope to the Second Swamp Pond, but I
want to see a fresh scat, gooey wet fresh. As I came down to the
Big Pond I could see that more trees had been cut in the woods
edging the meadow and then who should be coming up from a dive
when I got to the pond but the little beaver. And I saw a beaver
swimming from the lodge at the same time. The little beaver
splashed and the other beaver turned around and went back to the
lodge, and I soon heard some humming from there. I crossed the
brimming and soggy dam, noticing that the little beaver was
keeping an eye on me. When I crossed over, I sat on my low tree
perch and the beaver came over to inspect me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR57WicRjdHDI1jZb1BqOssGBh6q_oKapgW63CKoIQ06eBJXdFFafy3lhyphenhyphenZya32HrLJCYCpSFwqs7DfoWlRKgD2-p4HFyU0cLTBTBDCeMOXl6IXwa16cmADkUQCu66velAlACh-BW3zVE/s1600/bv5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR57WicRjdHDI1jZb1BqOssGBh6q_oKapgW63CKoIQ06eBJXdFFafy3lhyphenhyphenZya32HrLJCYCpSFwqs7DfoWlRKgD2-p4HFyU0cLTBTBDCeMOXl6IXwa16cmADkUQCu66velAlACh-BW3zVE/s1600/bv5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Not as closely as some beavers, but a brave
piece of work on its part all the same. So I think some beavers
have moved in here. I saw another muskrat too, in the pond below.
Plus the two terns had made it over to this pond, but they flew
off as soon I arrived, and a large hawk flew off too. Nature
seemed quite relaxed today, with every critter making proper
progress with the season... been awhile since I've seen an otter.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 10 indifferent weather, working on the
garden and writing history have conspired to keep me out of the
ponds. I did get out on the river yesterday, a brief bit of
kayaking, and once again I found flying bugs of some type in the
water. In certain areas there was one every five feet or so. I
fished one out that was clinging to a piece of bark. I got it
home for a photo</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpofZq_W1bDsYNyX4aBa0MaMXALzqfusZN5OIX-AsdFAWCGDNg_YjMlo1BDju6IRNLK-N7HMvzr1ezoM5OZeraeMWvsLm-JOYVFuAR5mllyp2pd2KH8K7bOlv0vcOHHidi6g2M9-qPZf4/s1600/riverbug10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpofZq_W1bDsYNyX4aBa0MaMXALzqfusZN5OIX-AsdFAWCGDNg_YjMlo1BDju6IRNLK-N7HMvzr1ezoM5OZeraeMWvsLm-JOYVFuAR5mllyp2pd2KH8K7bOlv0vcOHHidi6g2M9-qPZf4/s1600/riverbug10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then it flew away. Today, I headed off at
about 3:30 to see what has been happening. We had a brief shower
this morning, then clouds and humidity and it was sunny when I
began the hike. On the TI Park trail I saw a cordyalis, only one
plant. There were no otter scats on the South Bay trail but up on
the New Pond knoll there was a new scat, not fresh, thick with
big fish scales.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyae1w-s2D4ubQvU2_rv4SREHAnHUjljCk1eNacm3rP_qh0Z2tMPk61yXkatPjlDjKQwB2i5LCXAbm_hyphenhyphenMtw9MB4OaU2c3slcHbmF4P1if4p2NnjvD5mUpu8UtSCAyU9qo4ZEUGajUvQI/s1600/scalyscat10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyae1w-s2D4ubQvU2_rv4SREHAnHUjljCk1eNacm3rP_qh0Z2tMPk61yXkatPjlDjKQwB2i5LCXAbm_hyphenhyphenMtw9MB4OaU2c3slcHbmF4P1if4p2NnjvD5mUpu8UtSCAyU9qo4ZEUGajUvQI/s1600/scalyscat10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat to see what might be happening in the
pond. An oriole singing in the tree seemed to offer an
invitation, and while several painted turtles dove in the water,
one or two clung to the hot, dry tree trunk. Two or three ospreys
had been flying and calling high above. Then what to my wandering
eyes should appear but a beaver, swimming in from my right and
stopping in the middle of the pond and gazing up at me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTUI07bg1FlYveywA8hEQbNGUotKcBUlW3U3g-8q0G8Wkc5eakrmX-G-IfLQxv0SO8AokRW4GX0W68oWcyCuSNZ9gjFQiv8c2qgvHxkdgl_6UA3eQCuaBah9Eb14NsqTTEGrmMre9JjU/s1600/bv10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTUI07bg1FlYveywA8hEQbNGUotKcBUlW3U3g-8q0G8Wkc5eakrmX-G-IfLQxv0SO8AokRW4GX0W68oWcyCuSNZ9gjFQiv8c2qgvHxkdgl_6UA3eQCuaBah9Eb14NsqTTEGrmMre9JjU/s1600/bv10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The wind was more or less at my back and I
couldn't understand why it didn't flee. Then I saw a raccoon
foraging along the shore to my left. The beaver did the floating
log routine and I was entranced by the pattern of ripples coming
from its mouth, almost like it was caused by the beaver slowly
and heavily exhaling, but it was probably chewing to make the
ripples. Then to my further amazement it swam right toward me and
climbed up on the bank below, nibbling a bit of grass and then
grooming. I noticed that it had a bald patch or cut on the back
of its head.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9AN-07Nkvuzn6BipuPO6aBEuDV9J7QPyC8PgeXpR60wPebcXN9eJC-EU5xlpqMJgIPBTpgu_vATiaUdCXuSD6UbhcRX9jhzlL8YwniYwWER3e7d1foC2en-nn5yc7RukceG1DyapmfI8/s1600/bvcut10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9AN-07Nkvuzn6BipuPO6aBEuDV9J7QPyC8PgeXpR60wPebcXN9eJC-EU5xlpqMJgIPBTpgu_vATiaUdCXuSD6UbhcRX9jhzlL8YwniYwWER3e7d1foC2en-nn5yc7RukceG1DyapmfI8/s1600/bvcut10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It groomed slowly, not the usual vigorous
preening I see, and soon moved along the bank under a downed
trunk of a mid-size tree, and it fell asleep.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0ZCdYcm3MVQhfbaDCWvFluKqbyJ0M4EZ2S0AQ-PfRa83NaVCE6pvG_U_PLdYZ2hdTsgpb78JrCp-03OUU0SC3AnvnIP8eejxrkG9ygHYeXko4rKjgj8axSvKvCSlCfLe3YBdMlF3faE/s1600/bvsleep10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0ZCdYcm3MVQhfbaDCWvFluKqbyJ0M4EZ2S0AQ-PfRa83NaVCE6pvG_U_PLdYZ2hdTsgpb78JrCp-03OUU0SC3AnvnIP8eejxrkG9ygHYeXko4rKjgj8axSvKvCSlCfLe3YBdMlF3faE/s1600/bvsleep10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Even shrugging about to get comfortable just
like we do. I was close enough that any abrupt move would
interrupt its nap. So I sat quietly for 20 minutes and then I
think I got away without disturbing it. I headed up the South Bay
trail, noting the bullhead fishermen there. Perhaps that was the
beaver that I saw staying in the marsh last year trying to get
away from people by going into the pond. There was no signs that
it was making itself at home in the New Pond -- no work on the
dam, no nibble sticks. I saw the small pileated woodpecker again.
There was nothing new at the docking rock. Up at Audubon Pond, as
I expected, the park people put a hole in the drain.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe6QbOYvZCIrjN8542XJo6cB9i7vrNgYCfRcJveS__uff0AZVsCdJYkCcDPO1rkWMexdq7pyD4cgNke9kKIdIL3usjVHlN2S28CUan8lBsIKUzzWvCfryt1lvWVyKp2exofpIryvaqQQ/s1600/apdrain10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUe6QbOYvZCIrjN8542XJo6cB9i7vrNgYCfRcJveS__uff0AZVsCdJYkCcDPO1rkWMexdq7pyD4cgNke9kKIdIL3usjVHlN2S28CUan8lBsIKUzzWvCfryt1lvWVyKp2exofpIryvaqQQ/s1600/apdrain10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I threw some sticks to see if the rope was
attached to a trap but nothing snapped. The water dropped no more
than two feet and there wasn't much of a rush going out. They
also cut the oak tree the beaver had been gnawing -- and that it
would have never cut down. Beavers often don't like help from
man, but in this case the beaver recognized a gift and had cut
some branches off the cut tree. I was curious to see if it had
abandoned its bank lodge but when I stood over it two trails of
bubbles emerged. A beaver and a muskrat? I soon saw one beaver
surface out in the pond, as usual. But I didn't see any muskrat.
When I sat at the bench I saw a beaver on the far bank eating
grass,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3D8s4vhtUUViTqlEXYdo2TrwmGTRW9G0bnDWOPiD7RkVaO59JJJ2-BH3NA1-8BATd26tWgfEqcjRGMp6gz3g_VYe226miRi2TylQPuISjnOZPKqOqt4i0o37zISj6Q4xEcK_t60V5qk/s1600/apbv10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3D8s4vhtUUViTqlEXYdo2TrwmGTRW9G0bnDWOPiD7RkVaO59JJJ2-BH3NA1-8BATd26tWgfEqcjRGMp6gz3g_VYe226miRi2TylQPuISjnOZPKqOqt4i0o37zISj6Q4xEcK_t60V5qk/s1600/apbv10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then I saw the beaver in the water. So
there are two beavers in the pond now. I also startled a muskrat
in the marsh next to the bench but didn't see it. I saw some new
work in the next pond up, but not much. They are probably living
off the fresh green grasses like the two pair of geese that are
still there. When I crossed the bridge below the Short-cut trail
pond I startled another muskrat, just seeing its tail as it dove
into the dam. There didn't seem to be that much fresh beaver work
at Meander Pond, though I didn't linger near the dam because a
goose was still in the pond vegetation -- perhaps with goslings.
I did sit under an oriole for a bit.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXWEHFj0lI_kIFdsZzFMWMPjcLe_4X1d8rMlVK8xzUj2DXGkeqxQmY-APmCj0y_BiqJh6u6Lz7J_3KqqI3xsPHTanqfhUISquMnQ49nQvwUyvvs1dQJR-Jds2I_S9jdPM_NDSNWhE7hU/s1600/oriole10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXWEHFj0lI_kIFdsZzFMWMPjcLe_4X1d8rMlVK8xzUj2DXGkeqxQmY-APmCj0y_BiqJh6u6Lz7J_3KqqI3xsPHTanqfhUISquMnQ49nQvwUyvvs1dQJR-Jds2I_S9jdPM_NDSNWhE7hU/s1600/oriole10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat on a downed tree next to Thicket Pond,
enjoying a good number of tree frogs singing, thinking I was too
early to see a beaver. Then I heard gnawing right in front of me
and stood up and saw a beaver in the grass by the shore. When it
realized I was there, it swam slowly out into the pond and
disappeared into the thickets.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XOrTxRoaHoTRLxz2fb7MAd1_qB2zI_6-PKOK7nhRL1Sh2cG_cZgCru6ZY5JF2gGzVfIeNILOtD6yjoHIuZNgl0PppNUymmZVdQuN5mMGuOn-u6Qc01kYY0e6Pm-hbjMkHJCFdNXWtQA/s1600/tpbv10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XOrTxRoaHoTRLxz2fb7MAd1_qB2zI_6-PKOK7nhRL1Sh2cG_cZgCru6ZY5JF2gGzVfIeNILOtD6yjoHIuZNgl0PppNUymmZVdQuN5mMGuOn-u6Qc01kYY0e6Pm-hbjMkHJCFdNXWtQA/s1600/tpbv10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hiked up the East Trail today to get a look
down on Shangri-la Pond. It has water in it and I soon saw two
muskrats, one swimming into one of the old rambling beaver lodges
along the shore. On top of the ridge there was some striking
porcupine work.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-biBlGjhR7evMTaLYmugAPzbi5Tib28SZh_ZYtEYMoJaKXaYpmfIzD0pw2QVGOe9Hyf4aJtMcSdRcufV5OnNwLBmKkXLx7Htc75PRYh0oGQQbqRQwgpZvBb5Iu4s07tvUTzhf-qMQ-0/s1600/ppinewk10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-biBlGjhR7evMTaLYmugAPzbi5Tib28SZh_ZYtEYMoJaKXaYpmfIzD0pw2QVGOe9Hyf4aJtMcSdRcufV5OnNwLBmKkXLx7Htc75PRYh0oGQQbqRQwgpZvBb5Iu4s07tvUTzhf-qMQ-0/s1600/ppinewk10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the other side of the ridge, the upper East
Trail Pond is virtually dry -- just mud around the upper lodge. I
could walk out on the old boardwalk and admire the mud.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEima9zcE8pn_MkirGngzwVeQAnBe8qAASNFPQ7VT0y3T7eaDqh9rP2BMxAZr0S4JEFeF43kqYN8e7dDEzuiyT7t0HdzCWniPPzMff13d9hWZaR3mCvR24trd4sGboJMihSqz41UNVasAU0/s1600/upetpond10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEima9zcE8pn_MkirGngzwVeQAnBe8qAASNFPQ7VT0y3T7eaDqh9rP2BMxAZr0S4JEFeF43kqYN8e7dDEzuiyT7t0HdzCWniPPzMff13d9hWZaR3mCvR24trd4sGboJMihSqz41UNVasAU0/s1600/upetpond10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've worried about disappearing ponds cramping
the otters' style before and have been wrong, but this year with
three large ponds in a row almost empty -- East Trail, Otter Hole
and Beaver Point, well we'll see. At least a kingfisher flew in.
Going around the pond I noticed some trillium blooming in the
open where deer could easily browse</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEu6ICg4dVx7aydGiS5pCqG-pdqS8OqoyQg7181pb73Tyeok1apmdy3Fshd-PyAHs6Ms1rYXRn-F97DSvPvQQqG8SHArxs_wCF-YBsI0PIuBP1QvnfpmNKss7TP2wZcAwxUW8l_e1Gvw/s1600/trillium10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEu6ICg4dVx7aydGiS5pCqG-pdqS8OqoyQg7181pb73Tyeok1apmdy3Fshd-PyAHs6Ms1rYXRn-F97DSvPvQQqG8SHArxs_wCF-YBsI0PIuBP1QvnfpmNKss7TP2wZcAwxUW8l_e1Gvw/s1600/trillium10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- small plants and blooms and some didn't
bloom; but I've never noticed them before -- could the three week
deer hunt have had more effect than I thought? I also saw yellow
violets</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFup8seTLOL74qtY1stjTYywjKYNVkpW8ZULJbJfG6VX-UeSw7f51o-746fblYIKk_7nrXf6bCZ83nNCrq9IKWuezfWmnE31jlqqqV_FoX8M6aVZAskdWAn6z41HwCz2aGBNBT4DxAQA/s1600/yelflow10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFup8seTLOL74qtY1stjTYywjKYNVkpW8ZULJbJfG6VX-UeSw7f51o-746fblYIKk_7nrXf6bCZ83nNCrq9IKWuezfWmnE31jlqqqV_FoX8M6aVZAskdWAn6z41HwCz2aGBNBT4DxAQA/s1600/yelflow10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and pussy toes. Going around the bank lodge on
the northeast corner of the pond, I disturbed a pair of geese and
their goslings. The little ones seemed rather loath to stir</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLsudMX2Knx10O2gmeAv6Ex-zZbtZ4EEi9HSKe3XblxWq1TRhr9ieWpSJ9-8PZzf4EzENSiC6cTeD2Xd87cmOw1snQQIQOsqmWsfU5sG30dPTAipflOuOCUZFG_brHHo6noJ3geMywyo0/s1600/geese10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLsudMX2Knx10O2gmeAv6Ex-zZbtZ4EEi9HSKe3XblxWq1TRhr9ieWpSJ9-8PZzf4EzENSiC6cTeD2Xd87cmOw1snQQIQOsqmWsfU5sG30dPTAipflOuOCUZFG_brHHo6noJ3geMywyo0/s1600/geese10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The parents were patient as the goslings
negotiated a bit of water between two mud banks. After I got my
photos I hurried on, even passed up a chance to get a photo of how
deep beavers make their canals. Further on there was another
canal, empty and almost as deep. I sat on the slope next to the
lodge contemplating the depleted pond. I assume the beaver has
left now. Perhaps it was the one I saw in the New Pond. However,
as I rued the day, a raccoon came out from below the dam and
foraged along it quite successfully, even nabbing something when
it waded into one of the holes the otters and beavers had made. I
knew these were tasty treats because its tongue was licking a
good bit and even when it noticed me it kept probing the water
and mud until it got all the good stuff, then it moved down the
other end of the dam. As it did the geese swam along, book-ending
the goslings, and they all went over to the opposite shore for
some grass. I bet they wanted to come where I was sitting, where
the grass is thickest. So I moved on, and when I got up, the
raccoon ran up the otter trail toward Otter Hole Pond. It was
late enough for the Second Swamp Pond beavers to be out, but I
didn't see any and was too hungry to wait. The upper dam is
brimming and well padded with mud and grass. I looked back into
the pond it makes and could see no sign of a new lodge. Up at the
Lost Swamp Pond, all was quiet, a beaver I think was swimming off
to the east. Again I didn't wait around, but did check for otter
scats and found nothing new. I walked down to Otter Hole Pond,
and when I walked up to it, two heron flew off. So even though I
may be able to crawl into the lodge in the middle of the pond --
perhaps the lodge I have spent more time looking at than any
other -- otters still might find something to eat.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 13 yesterday I took a before dinner tour of
South Bay in the kayak. The same bugs floundered in the water save
that one I rescued was blacker and judging from how it clutched
my finger as I fished it out of the water, much stronger.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I actually saw a bullhead wagging its tail out
of the water at the end of the south cove, but must confess that
I saw no signs of otters. I did see beaver nibbling here and
there, principally on the over hanging willows and saw beaver
scent mounds along the shore. I flushed at least four herons
along the shore. The terns exhibited some curious behavior. One
flew over me with a nice sized fish in its beak and it kept
squawking. Another flew over to it and they both landed. I was
too far away to see if the first gave the second the fish.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today I went off to the ponds at 5:30 and going
along the South Bay trail saw a fox walking toward me. Of course,
it ran back when it saw me. While seeing no otter markings on the
South Bay trail, I did see much bullhead activity at the north
cove - tails in the air and ripples from several spots.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DfYsc_5viHNhVe7MY9ViBWSJBxWme8VNaiWMtWMx7_GzwC4u4BK_IbJpzioa-Jum7l24UDPZHUwtqdjai8FJIcjIxSy73NE-d7HGZk99kONOF2TBOHqODfGGStSuLvDwqQu0u6Lt8NM/s1600/sbcove13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DfYsc_5viHNhVe7MY9ViBWSJBxWme8VNaiWMtWMx7_GzwC4u4BK_IbJpzioa-Jum7l24UDPZHUwtqdjai8FJIcjIxSy73NE-d7HGZk99kONOF2TBOHqODfGGStSuLvDwqQu0u6Lt8NM/s1600/sbcove13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The temperature was in the 80s and a still day.
Otters should be around, but there were no new scats up on the
New Pond knoll. Coming up to it I saw a nice array of columbine</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTicItETmNAj-xRmllOjTAx3x-qnY3i53ZOT93apwdw3zOBcX1kXrK8005BwY1dmtTW72xoywWoOT649C_ujMhrFFYYJFEOZ4cJMS9oC1O7efLV0Y29jhSdTh-GLRUoimDRDNRt5_07s/s1600/cbine13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTicItETmNAj-xRmllOjTAx3x-qnY3i53ZOT93apwdw3zOBcX1kXrK8005BwY1dmtTW72xoywWoOT649C_ujMhrFFYYJFEOZ4cJMS9oC1O7efLV0Y29jhSdTh-GLRUoimDRDNRt5_07s/s1600/cbine13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and for the first time this year, a chipmunk. I
sat for a spell though the pollen coated pond didn't even have
turtles out -- perhaps too warm for them. I did see a bug nestled
on a trillium leaf</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQSPiXk7uz-91VahyphenhyphendZ7O6VMu5wKWHYBH0N2a0rQTKpaBnPCiDJwQLa2-qI9DQLw8HkFICDuK6CbvLPTRkSL1A9pO6PI2mWomHAFUssO_SJCudfl_V-sKq2jytgyxWNLEMsLjoPjOY8M/s1600/fly13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQSPiXk7uz-91VahyphenhyphendZ7O6VMu5wKWHYBH0N2a0rQTKpaBnPCiDJwQLa2-qI9DQLw8HkFICDuK6CbvLPTRkSL1A9pO6PI2mWomHAFUssO_SJCudfl_V-sKq2jytgyxWNLEMsLjoPjOY8M/s1600/fly13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then got a glimpse of something ducking
into the old outhouse on the other side of the creek. I thought
it might be the fox, but when it came out it was too slow for
that. Then I thought it might be a porcupine but it seemed too
brown and too prone to reach up and nibble leaves. I walked down
the creek and got a good view of a rather sprightly groundhog.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFXf9O3jag4vfgVE_Iul8vTepFc57HHRcHyo77D0FdEbNPS0KwxCjL3KppSDKztbB7zj2Yz7C32Qg3LL-C5puR3XDaULM0redFrlLb8bpcq8WNjMlxtCmzlFTBIpB7jjVqK809OlQFMc/s1600/ghog13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFXf9O3jag4vfgVE_Iul8vTepFc57HHRcHyo77D0FdEbNPS0KwxCjL3KppSDKztbB7zj2Yz7C32Qg3LL-C5puR3XDaULM0redFrlLb8bpcq8WNjMlxtCmzlFTBIpB7jjVqK809OlQFMc/s1600/ghog13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In farmers' fields they seem almost to roll,
but in the woods they appear to be a more intelligent and lively
browser. In the sun, it sometimes seemed to have red fur on its
belly. I took the East Trail up to that pond and found that a
pair of mallards enjoyed what water that remained. It was also
easier to trace the moves of a turtle in the shallow water. This
is a pond famous for Blandings so I won't assume what I almost
saw was a snapping turtle. The raccoon was again nosing along the
muddy shore. I dutifully checked for otter signs and to my
surprise found four piles of grass under the large pine where I
often rest and the otters often scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjwkUD725lRDSIoT-NlLpXAs1yuZR8QvhVT-Q4ioYdxW9-OZOdFwa1aayb5FSX4xF7rRor-Q2GL4kOtDIA3-P6PRIg1DJiVp3Eue_L8u_eju1a3RF04RNMv0PACA2hViyORReVPcRKUo/s1600/otmounds13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjwkUD725lRDSIoT-NlLpXAs1yuZR8QvhVT-Q4ioYdxW9-OZOdFwa1aayb5FSX4xF7rRor-Q2GL4kOtDIA3-P6PRIg1DJiVp3Eue_L8u_eju1a3RF04RNMv0PACA2hViyORReVPcRKUo/s1600/otmounds13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One pile had otter scat on it -- not fresh,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFxGvJM2chjPzTNsPbqelt5eGTuGrP2S-CUH_poDCutoPThC6RTuYklKBKWavI4SsBnptgxwskrTmBK4MQ6SxhTS7gpI1NzHH4ppNxsnlPvIHp5ANzAlfgLp0iX7QBU5ouUe3xZg8SS0/s1600/scat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFxGvJM2chjPzTNsPbqelt5eGTuGrP2S-CUH_poDCutoPThC6RTuYklKBKWavI4SsBnptgxwskrTmBK4MQ6SxhTS7gpI1NzHH4ppNxsnlPvIHp5ANzAlfgLp0iX7QBU5ouUe3xZg8SS0/s1600/scat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but an otter has been to the pond and thought
it worthy of marking. Crossing the dam I saw why -- two plump
pollywogs latched onto an underwater log.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06KuhhieOCZhKkotr11jBPIs1iUokiISFYgOxeNIRTX1ri-YZYm5XS6t-2r52RqE2LosUZUh5KzID9wtLI9SZX9Piz6bUX2ym3y0nCxBsrBhRFWGTo-O7hcgUONzMM3vCQy3JOqmRO5I/s1600/pwogs13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06KuhhieOCZhKkotr11jBPIs1iUokiISFYgOxeNIRTX1ri-YZYm5XS6t-2r52RqE2LosUZUh5KzID9wtLI9SZX9Piz6bUX2ym3y0nCxBsrBhRFWGTo-O7hcgUONzMM3vCQy3JOqmRO5I/s1600/pwogs13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got to my perch above the Second Swamp Pond
beaver lodge at a little before 7:30. I soon saw a muskrat cruise
into it, heading from the dam, and then another muskrat bringing
a bouquet of green. Soon enough they both came out. The first did
some nibbling in front of the lodge then headed to the grasses to
my right. The other came out and headed to the grasses to my
left. Then I saw a porcupine go up on the rock at the south side
of the dam, and then, what I've never seen before, the porcupine
crossed on top of the beaver dam. No beaver sounds. I went up
pond as quietly as I could expecting a beaver or two to be in the
grasses there or in the woods. But all I saw was a luna moth
latched on to a low bush.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgta21pkF1ILB8vDtmGmC9fm2AayOQHv6WdNTl3qIhq4pT-Rjv5-VjeXxPqbCstlj2b0rir5_1-2SWo9Zv1vP2Ngm7OjwQN0Gr8tQy7NSUIl_qQ3YF4QFsM2pV-qAz64k8-A9LjgCDtQhA/s1600/luna13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgta21pkF1ILB8vDtmGmC9fm2AayOQHv6WdNTl3qIhq4pT-Rjv5-VjeXxPqbCstlj2b0rir5_1-2SWo9Zv1vP2Ngm7OjwQN0Gr8tQy7NSUIl_qQ3YF4QFsM2pV-qAz64k8-A9LjgCDtQhA/s1600/luna13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Quite a beauty and perfect poser. The wing
deserves a close-up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwedjrNHEnkiqn-vGIiOH21CS2ddIX7pCzoRLgju1WVrM0OR_HQ7My6nyNdrVaTcJVbORnvVTzNz99pjpDiu9N_QVqCQppYEeP95qYbu5hc3HuY7XYWH3GHH6Gr4MmD4Gl4rfWX-hOtfs/s1600/lunawing13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwedjrNHEnkiqn-vGIiOH21CS2ddIX7pCzoRLgju1WVrM0OR_HQ7My6nyNdrVaTcJVbORnvVTzNz99pjpDiu9N_QVqCQppYEeP95qYbu5hc3HuY7XYWH3GHH6Gr4MmD4Gl4rfWX-hOtfs/s1600/lunawing13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The upper dam is bigger still</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiwEQwYcg9WVV9ySoz3a_nmemgJBpA0cBWb-m_Dby1tcXvrjL1gw7_DDY0T89rdN7B0pLjPAOp5PAXakc0IDMzwRYutgKorUegNIWUI8HQXFdylgVQ6OAKSRPCgqmfVl6LRVX1HOLJ0E/s1600/upspdam13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiwEQwYcg9WVV9ySoz3a_nmemgJBpA0cBWb-m_Dby1tcXvrjL1gw7_DDY0T89rdN7B0pLjPAOp5PAXakc0IDMzwRYutgKorUegNIWUI8HQXFdylgVQ6OAKSRPCgqmfVl6LRVX1HOLJ0E/s1600/upspdam13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the heaves of mud make it obvious that for
the moment this is the beaver chef d'oeuvre.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWuCm_O4h_TXBVah0dHnQVTM9ulcUBbY5qf2KQc8gPBRM8GEmnhD4jdYwDxAJpJaQxgYyvTgNbk_hRD0cyiyN_KHuButVGlqIGsvswhYQqSIJVZkCEG4bwKnnzPx2iChkBpEuD1i2Irs/s1600/upspdam13a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdWuCm_O4h_TXBVah0dHnQVTM9ulcUBbY5qf2KQc8gPBRM8GEmnhD4jdYwDxAJpJaQxgYyvTgNbk_hRD0cyiyN_KHuButVGlqIGsvswhYQqSIJVZkCEG4bwKnnzPx2iChkBpEuD1i2Irs/s1600/upspdam13a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I lingered but elicited nary a splash. Up at
the Lost Swamp pond dam, I found beavers. The little one came
close to me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Yl9Py-83OorVHK6X0tg4Q65Bv6_QUGzk7KjYmFc8ynADMdgoz5SfDJrG8-wUnpc8i4saJFCndDufiUfRiJnP_b2yrbAwbxGAKDXoxqsfZJkNnn4VDiWZO5ZaEQH7VXiEx1z7AOH_yIQ/s1600/bv13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Yl9Py-83OorVHK6X0tg4Q65Bv6_QUGzk7KjYmFc8ynADMdgoz5SfDJrG8-wUnpc8i4saJFCndDufiUfRiJnP_b2yrbAwbxGAKDXoxqsfZJkNnn4VDiWZO5ZaEQH7VXiEx1z7AOH_yIQ/s1600/bv13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and perhaps would have come closer but a beaver
twice its size splashed further out in the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS_tJ0j_X94ayd9VNgt86wo1aJUARAaHSPh_N5afpKcb_M5dLNZLfqJQcHzwXAX9pvjaFDhJmriE9keGdmZIS02bCiEpIYoYg4_hg2gin_tTEeABmo733s_bnMWjnzcL5JJdDnMKVdtk/s1600/bvs13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS_tJ0j_X94ayd9VNgt86wo1aJUARAaHSPh_N5afpKcb_M5dLNZLfqJQcHzwXAX9pvjaFDhJmriE9keGdmZIS02bCiEpIYoYg4_hg2gin_tTEeABmo733s_bnMWjnzcL5JJdDnMKVdtk/s1600/bvs13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Soon in the growing gloaming I saw five
beavers. Two splashed and the little stayed closest to me. It was
too dark to see otter scats but it didn't look like any on the
otter trail. I expected to see beavers at the Big Pond, but the
pond was quiet. I noticed a porcupine silhouette in the sky up a
tree below the dam</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArMDeEGmMmtJX_TTJNclo7zjQOx6veV8NA0AIoFiYH2a4cA8srT5e55BVyWK2JxYMNmdqeRT6fhMHvQepvZv8YThIFYoo8VIpewQnqt4H3szLr6jLzbF7ekxALYChU8R5G94smE2pcTw/s1600/ppine13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArMDeEGmMmtJX_TTJNclo7zjQOx6veV8NA0AIoFiYH2a4cA8srT5e55BVyWK2JxYMNmdqeRT6fhMHvQepvZv8YThIFYoo8VIpewQnqt4H3szLr6jLzbF7ekxALYChU8R5G94smE2pcTw/s1600/ppine13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then when I was about half way across the dam,
two beavers swam out, the small one leading the way, then a third
followed them, and then a fourth. When I got to the end of the
dam, I saw freshly churned mud and little nibbled tidbits. Could
all four of them have been crowded into that corner having
breakfast. I do believe seeing nine beavers on an evening walk
like this tops my personal best. The curiosity is that these two
now huge ponds are truly the areas the beavers have lived the
longest. It is almost like a new breed of beaver has moved in
and adapted to relatively treeless ponds, but I've said that before
only to have the beavers lead me to a new clump of poplars, ash
and red oaks I never quite noticed before. At least two
whip-poor-wills were singing. Wood thrush singing on my way out
to the pond and a veery on my way home. Wood frogs all the time
and peepers in the dark. I saw a handsome leopard frog in the
grass by the Second Swamp Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwp1u5tfJY2WsEl4V3tymu5M4grekf68Aw5HQQ75pWbtmSPoXbP4_g1cLdY2tpBLZZwd5fu0VNgbq9wcPT0iBE3fJyF7LadtWp5WA93-6P8v7Kfr5DEo0H5IrXQqfGlG_oX87CNPTFHA/s1600/frog13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwp1u5tfJY2WsEl4V3tymu5M4grekf68Aw5HQQ75pWbtmSPoXbP4_g1cLdY2tpBLZZwd5fu0VNgbq9wcPT0iBE3fJyF7LadtWp5WA93-6P8v7Kfr5DEo0H5IrXQqfGlG_oX87CNPTFHA/s1600/frog13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And a screech owl along the golf course. I
continue to see deer in the woods, and continue to see trillium
here and there with one bloom in plain view. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-32126075733613447832016-12-28T15:17:00.000-08:002016-12-28T15:17:32.511-08:00April 24 to 30, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">April 24 headed off at 5pm on a sunny evening
that was getting quite chilly especially when I was exposed to
the brisk north wind. I crossed the golf course where there was
nary a deer nor goose and went up to check the old haunts of the
porcupine. No sign of it, and I noticed that the small pine trees
it girdled still look healthy with all their needles a rich
green. There were a few chorus frogs, comb frogs, we call them,
scratching away in the vernal pool up there. I went down the first
valley and then veered into the willow thickets hoping to come
down on the pond just behind the dam. I flushed a snipe out of
the thicket, checked to see if it had been on a nest, but saw
nothing. The pond was brilliant gold and blue, brimming the dam,
and raked by the wind. The goose over on the beaver lodge was
neck and head down, motionless, and the guard goose had
disappeared. Seeing no beaver, I went down to my perch to wait
for them. I soon notice a huge brown lump on top of the beaver
lodge along the north shore far up pond. The lump crawled over
the lodge but when I trained my spy glass on the area, all I saw
were some deer back in the woods. Then as I scanned the water, I
saw two beavers, one swimming up pond and the other heading back
to the lodge. I waited to see if any of them would head down to
the dam, and about fifteen minutes later, one came down toward
the nearer lodge and then went back into the marsh along that
shore. Two handsome male wood ducks splashed down and headed into
the same warmer area. I waited another ten minutes and then began
to cross the dam. Just as I got even with the lodge, the beaver
reappeared and began diving just off the lodge seemingly dredging
up old sticks from the cache.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUa0NFx4WYGoZcrqlqPdUrUhsIvvRdTz1InT58bnmAS-VXOEDT6vSmm9aEZVN367EfLN_rw_r5JXkz-AES6Vel0wLodi5-zOoOk38BwHor7wjYypZ6kFytX-rxYQoLSQ3p6gH7XS6c5as/s1600/bp24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUa0NFx4WYGoZcrqlqPdUrUhsIvvRdTz1InT58bnmAS-VXOEDT6vSmm9aEZVN367EfLN_rw_r5JXkz-AES6Vel0wLodi5-zOoOk38BwHor7wjYypZ6kFytX-rxYQoLSQ3p6gH7XS6c5as/s1600/bp24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was under water for about 30 seconds with
each dive and seemed to just go up and down, so it must have been
rooting around down there. Then it swam back toward the marsh, so
I moved on to the Lost Swamp Pond. Just as I passed the trusty
old oak where I first step up on the rocks of the gentle ridge, I
noticed that a beaver had half chopped a poplar further up in the
woods, a good fifty yards from the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyXzQn3PrCrCdtqj7H3xPSSkunRm4oFi-d9JstR5aw5FL6HcTXkuiJGJL8d6VsEhpaeUuvmDKYsk4Ax4wL38CAB8fh5k9m_WP3Le7folN_l4tEtC6fP_X9uBMW8-AAX6vWDzDXHm4A9g/s1600/bpbvwk24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyXzQn3PrCrCdtqj7H3xPSSkunRm4oFi-d9JstR5aw5FL6HcTXkuiJGJL8d6VsEhpaeUuvmDKYsk4Ax4wL38CAB8fh5k9m_WP3Le7folN_l4tEtC6fP_X9uBMW8-AAX6vWDzDXHm4A9g/s1600/bpbvwk24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Given the wind direction, I should have stayed
on the south shore of the pond, but I would freeze. So I went up
to the dam and huddled behind the rocks which only got me half
out of the wind, and the sun was at my back. The first critters to
appreciate was a pair of ring neck ducks, and with the sunlight
on them, they were quite handsome ducks. The white V and ring on
their beaks were so fetching that it seemed strange they were
named after their neck. There was a goose draped over the lodge
out in the pond and the guard goose was cheating the wind by
hiding behind the peninsula. Geese were quiet everywhere this
cool evening. Then a muskrat swam out of the lodge near the dam
and swam in a circular fashion almost to the lodge in the pond
but dove, came up with some vegetable matter and took that back
to the lodge. A heron flew in and quietly avoided me. Then I
heard a "quock" and looked up and saw a green heron
perched high on a tree. I heard some beaver humming from the
lodge near the dam and then one beaver appeared, well out from
the lodge, but swimming right toward me. I was looking for closed
eyes, a possible blind beaver, and as best as I could see both of
its eyes were open, though it shut its right eye now and then. It
swam close to me and then headed to my right, away from the lodge
and left me with a rather sharp smack of the tail, making me
doubt that this was a baby beaver after all. While it was out I
heard more humming in the lodge, and after an interlude with a
muskrat swimming back out in front of the lodge, a beaver
reappeared again which I thought looked like a different one. It
too swam for me,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_ciX20c4eN2tkwMAKMOvjicC5NjSd7jWp3TevasFPTeqQQqSuytw6vxFFh34DwsZiBY386fomOMOpeXGB40mU0zJdbah0Q2v33Kvv0AWKxrR0c-Qkgov-p0eDoMLM-QPaRZUM752Osg/s1600/bv24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_ciX20c4eN2tkwMAKMOvjicC5NjSd7jWp3TevasFPTeqQQqSuytw6vxFFh34DwsZiBY386fomOMOpeXGB40mU0zJdbah0Q2v33Kvv0AWKxrR0c-Qkgov-p0eDoMLM-QPaRZUM752Osg/s1600/bv24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">showed me both eyes, and then swam back toward
the lodge without splashing me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTM-WIq1Ya5_Q4zyDoh115CQSd9N9-thdolRthd2xtSYVmcm18ncfvjq_5CRpDvn9jJpv-4uhpEa6_nKymgjKY0miAYWxPTZBBsjP4tmRdXyrC2oLcykwDCrUIBoooByBLBTD83xpvCL0/s1600/bv24a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTM-WIq1Ya5_Q4zyDoh115CQSd9N9-thdolRthd2xtSYVmcm18ncfvjq_5CRpDvn9jJpv-4uhpEa6_nKymgjKY0miAYWxPTZBBsjP4tmRdXyrC2oLcykwDCrUIBoooByBLBTD83xpvCL0/s1600/bv24a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I saw it swimming down to the other end of
the pond. Meanwhile I was getting cold, so I left. I was hoping
to see a beaver at the end of the pond to the right of me,
confirming that I saw two, but I didn't. I still think I saw two,
and both of them definitely were not blind. There are a half
dozen dead trees out in that area of the pond they were in and
they weaved through them all. The last blind beaver I saw
frequently bumped into trees, much as if they were what it used
to navigate the pond by. As I walked along the north slope, as I
call it, going toward the dam, I saw gathered grass and strained
to see scat. Then I walked up the trail in the grass the otters
have used for years. On top of the ridge I found a freshly
cleared patch of dirt</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jEwsPuOpVBZUib9LxjkehL4ixERSud8IZPHXh3G5nq8E7yN0gby47xpJiKeKrw-tobv8edu0-65LJsRyP_XL4kMHynIXE1962daPH_6uYRz5ixTSddJSqCyR0nqlvdUDzkGQjAfSJQ8/s1600/otroll24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jEwsPuOpVBZUib9LxjkehL4ixERSud8IZPHXh3G5nq8E7yN0gby47xpJiKeKrw-tobv8edu0-65LJsRyP_XL4kMHynIXE1962daPH_6uYRz5ixTSddJSqCyR0nqlvdUDzkGQjAfSJQ8/s1600/otroll24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a little ways beyond some fleck of still
black otter scat. Going down the ridge to the Second Swamp Pond
the trail looked even more used, with more dirt dug out,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0P_VUXWyjPXkQl5BlyqYC7_sAWY81-z4ciBeF0CWrNsWiDBEhNmlb3TmWYrYa54pZhncvxvgyhcYb_3bL8Cyr3JGNKZ_O5kpX-eMrnwyTLDcKrKL0yUUSEtLIhnWe0WuhSu_aBpmP1Uw/s1600/ottrail24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0P_VUXWyjPXkQl5BlyqYC7_sAWY81-z4ciBeF0CWrNsWiDBEhNmlb3TmWYrYa54pZhncvxvgyhcYb_3bL8Cyr3JGNKZ_O5kpX-eMrnwyTLDcKrKL0yUUSEtLIhnWe0WuhSu_aBpmP1Uw/s1600/ottrail24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then just above the pond, there was a
generous bit of otter scat -- hardened but still black.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQjLjDaw4-Y-dXn7HX9teyZJoHL46Xrdy84Z90OTnGrzEjdsQTUa0CXOyZ5sBIgviZ4BKPY9ESvYR4kLlVqBk6MUzKKcPWbf0w7q1Bt6UIwUJ4bNNF3938FkHE7-JvVexseyWbeEbjMQ/s1600/scat24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQjLjDaw4-Y-dXn7HX9teyZJoHL46Xrdy84Z90OTnGrzEjdsQTUa0CXOyZ5sBIgviZ4BKPY9ESvYR4kLlVqBk6MUzKKcPWbf0w7q1Bt6UIwUJ4bNNF3938FkHE7-JvVexseyWbeEbjMQ/s1600/scat24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I have suspected before that otters have used
this upper end of the Second Swamp Pond as a natal den.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrA1dDHySPd4dyHysMiGEu9ElYvIDmJcqL_jg2P4BznGzRAsGZWQ76D4CgBDXGZFJJ1MHA1KDftILxG6XgECZNa1ybFME6WTnXWM_Rf2O9BOCIqr-cvcOv0xrdDhDfzVteKXIE4_8qro/s1600/upperssp24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrA1dDHySPd4dyHysMiGEu9ElYvIDmJcqL_jg2P4BznGzRAsGZWQ76D4CgBDXGZFJJ1MHA1KDftILxG6XgECZNa1ybFME6WTnXWM_Rf2O9BOCIqr-cvcOv0xrdDhDfzVteKXIE4_8qro/s1600/upperssp24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But why would a mother be scraping dirt and
calling attention to herself? More likely it is the bull otter
marking its territory that loops up from South Bay through these
ponds. I kept an eye out for beavers in the Second Swamp Pond but
just saw ducks. It was too cold to terry. I went home that way in
hopes that a beaver had patched Otter Hole Pond, but it remains
severely low. I walked out to the gap in the dam and the water
was still running through. This is an analogous situation to the
Big Pond valley, where beavers came down to patch the Big Pond
dam even though they didn't live there, but lived well upstream.
The beavers in this valley seem to simply have no interest in
patching this or Beaver Point Pond dam. Two years ago I counted
eight beavers in the Lost Swamp Pond, and five beavers in the
East Trail Pond. There is no lack of beavers. Is there a dispute
between the two colonies over who controls these lower ponds? I
should add that I saw a good number of deer as I walked between
the ponds. Are they in the woods to keep out of the wind, or are
there good things coming up to eat?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 26 a little after noon yesterday we had
cold rain, in low 40s. Then it warmed up and by the time I headed
for Audubon Pond, at 2 pm today, the sun was out, 50, with a
stiff west wind. After these changes in weather I'm curious to
see if otters are inspired to remark their territory. So the New
Pond knoll, after I saw no scat on the South Bay trail, was my
first stop. First I saw tufted grass and then fresh scat here and
there along the trail and at least two dollops near the tree.
When I saw carrion beetles in the scat, I couldn't resist a
close-up. I think there are two beetles working the bounty.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS07oX3PpXHLpp8VIwQJoQS7fUV0EYKAYSEi8Nvx1xIdV21arHgBZT56SJABX-QFb2Z6G-vHNv8xHU2907dtvR_uJDSRqqZNX0-hIB2qblNmxmb7IRRQ4yT-GWdqFa8zU5v8-rKpEMKo/s1600/scatbugs26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS07oX3PpXHLpp8VIwQJoQS7fUV0EYKAYSEi8Nvx1xIdV21arHgBZT56SJABX-QFb2Z6G-vHNv8xHU2907dtvR_uJDSRqqZNX0-hIB2qblNmxmb7IRRQ4yT-GWdqFa8zU5v8-rKpEMKo/s1600/scatbugs26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It's hard to think just one otter is doing
this. I went down to the dam and took some photos to show how the
knoll was oriented to the pond and South Bay beyond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLWTuZ-dsb0qEmm3Xk5vKvji_622LzEf432fYjOwsNpgGwVv5zlInrb4bnkkhw3mBNRE9X58jjqUnTgJEMAHNRCAe6sPJQTUum3zmH7j0dY-085QrZtOVbN6IbqnTtqcus08ARR7I1GY/s1600/knoll26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLWTuZ-dsb0qEmm3Xk5vKvji_622LzEf432fYjOwsNpgGwVv5zlInrb4bnkkhw3mBNRE9X58jjqUnTgJEMAHNRCAe6sPJQTUum3zmH7j0dY-085QrZtOVbN6IbqnTtqcus08ARR7I1GY/s1600/knoll26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I flushed a pair of wood ducks and one mallard
when I came in. No sign of the muskrats. I did hear and then see
an osprey over head. On my way up the South Bay trail, I saw a
porcupine high up an elm.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21Mr67w3U62iaP-7-LKW8kRzZjlpvyQwXx4QSNkbc0x2IeBpi1uNWm7i5qFAnZcDTEcj50u3EWvflM3YEwy0bGWEbw-UhuAIBoI08NJZWYfMOgOT8ceY6xAvOH_IQObpDJKcLNZu0uoM/s1600/ppine26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21Mr67w3U62iaP-7-LKW8kRzZjlpvyQwXx4QSNkbc0x2IeBpi1uNWm7i5qFAnZcDTEcj50u3EWvflM3YEwy0bGWEbw-UhuAIBoI08NJZWYfMOgOT8ceY6xAvOH_IQObpDJKcLNZu0uoM/s1600/ppine26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I saw a kingfisher for the first time this
year. There was also new scat, some of it looking fresh, on a
downed tree trunk above the docking rock,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj135fCBrR6RjwiUGxutPR8ig0jsVdRGYj-3gVOHQIFN1rEfoASFA0xdzbJh9XV-3Os53TXGR50d1g3ma8LMoRZ3-rFWGtJ9PIPsb7Wt2qsaYHYVX8snBwaDxuwoyxJhZEwA8tKmCzU-ZI/s1600/scat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj135fCBrR6RjwiUGxutPR8ig0jsVdRGYj-3gVOHQIFN1rEfoASFA0xdzbJh9XV-3Os53TXGR50d1g3ma8LMoRZ3-rFWGtJ9PIPsb7Wt2qsaYHYVX8snBwaDxuwoyxJhZEwA8tKmCzU-ZI/s1600/scat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but nothing down on the rock. So otters have
been here too. On my way up to Audubon Pond, I thought I saw some
muss on the trail. Of course, I thought an otter might have gone
up, but at the peak of the trail I saw fresh beaver gnawing on a
root.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwkeukvE-Z3kTn-vHjp7j0KTG408kzHnnHaca7TYzlbKbq_WGoOLDsfSmQCVMbRevOqnAHNNwYOvWCuvpEQYsk7xfZJtdcq7o2LTuZx9_-O3vLnuMB6Szl5H0DqlufTvphm9DvI0QFmo/s1600/rootgnaw26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwkeukvE-Z3kTn-vHjp7j0KTG408kzHnnHaca7TYzlbKbq_WGoOLDsfSmQCVMbRevOqnAHNNwYOvWCuvpEQYsk7xfZJtdcq7o2LTuZx9_-O3vLnuMB6Szl5H0DqlufTvphm9DvI0QFmo/s1600/rootgnaw26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So that got me to thinking that a beaver might
have come out of the pond, especially since no fresh beaver work
jumped out at me. (I did see a heron fly off.) The cut pine
seemed untouched, and nothing more had been done with the old
thinner trunk on the ground that I saw the beaver gnawing.
Walking along the causeway, I did see a bit of mud in the water
perhaps coming out of a burrow in the bank, but a muskrat could
have done that. I went to the bench to sit awhile and there
seemed to be no fresh beaver activity there. Finally, I checked
the bank lodge and burrow on the west shore of the pond, and here
I thought there might be freshly gnawed logs added on top.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCoLin9boG4mGnlXM737NSQ1Qks9PbRgRCMBAsJ9RbGDLRmr3qzy_cVBBQVEMP1Ydg6Fw7xc0QzD299S_QmIHircgPKnt1rUwYLIuZyqB6lAv79T9sY4jkCaZAzwfymIg90-ZO40vMiI/s1600/aplodge26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCoLin9boG4mGnlXM737NSQ1Qks9PbRgRCMBAsJ9RbGDLRmr3qzy_cVBBQVEMP1Ydg6Fw7xc0QzD299S_QmIHircgPKnt1rUwYLIuZyqB6lAv79T9sY4jkCaZAzwfymIg90-ZO40vMiI/s1600/aplodge26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And looking at the photo from the 22nd I see
there has been. As I stood there some small bubbles came out, and
then small bubbles went back in -- muskrat I thought, and then a
line of larger bubbles came up from muddied water heading out to
the middle of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98COlqdMcQqzLVkm8MPwIM20NeyYwoVp1vqrgC8RNHV-Z9InMFhK0I_TO_z4wuFILFgH0T_pBWYZXjZRu77y0n0ZwTt_jDJLN95jO8z1byEOeDnxrFfCD6YYsvG44-K_sJRLSCKsmHOY/s1600/bvbubbles26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98COlqdMcQqzLVkm8MPwIM20NeyYwoVp1vqrgC8RNHV-Z9InMFhK0I_TO_z4wuFILFgH0T_pBWYZXjZRu77y0n0ZwTt_jDJLN95jO8z1byEOeDnxrFfCD6YYsvG44-K_sJRLSCKsmHOY/s1600/bvbubbles26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat down to see if a beaver would emerge, and
in a few minutes a beaver did, just off the east shore of the pond
a good 70 yards away. It swam back and forth, and then splashed
its tail. There has never been a beaver in this pond so careful
to give me such a wide berth. I headed up to the Narrows curious
to see if otters had marked there and also to see if a beaver was
taking trees there, as one had in the late fall. I didn't see
signs of either critter. There were two osprey in the nest atop
the power pole across the Narrows.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4InbUwYMGVRNsys1QLgagbPGQycPApWVQvcnzE0N0-qFyLpRGkU-Oi99PEC4JgRzt1RKeM_xvIYqJqFaKc6p_5HuyyizQTpKktNURf5tKyMJZX-f5uMPtjCDA6n7eqFVN66ue9cMLZlI/s1600/ospreynest26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4InbUwYMGVRNsys1QLgagbPGQycPApWVQvcnzE0N0-qFyLpRGkU-Oi99PEC4JgRzt1RKeM_xvIYqJqFaKc6p_5HuyyizQTpKktNURf5tKyMJZX-f5uMPtjCDA6n7eqFVN66ue9cMLZlI/s1600/ospreynest26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">From the trail along the shore, I went down to
the large rock where I saw otter scat in the winter. There was
scat there, some of it fresh, but I think it was raccoon scat. I
don't think an otter could have scatted there without mussing up
some of the leaves. Raccoons don't seem to do that. Then I headed
home on the South Bay trail and made it interesting by trying to
photograph the spring beauties.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMKAaLnG8bqq_Dk6TMcdug1FCx4fWGu3ZsDileG9Hop1C6Ch6n0MPV3Pz_CzynSQeE6kHVK9dX4oBfQjpy2TpA3ApZL9dcRFvRcsfPbLS4eUxp6VbBFtIlYoI5inh0q37kZx6IdGf9qc/s1600/sbeauty26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJMKAaLnG8bqq_Dk6TMcdug1FCx4fWGu3ZsDileG9Hop1C6Ch6n0MPV3Pz_CzynSQeE6kHVK9dX4oBfQjpy2TpA3ApZL9dcRFvRcsfPbLS4eUxp6VbBFtIlYoI5inh0q37kZx6IdGf9qc/s1600/sbeauty26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also saw what appeared to be small snake
skeleton curled up on the trail. And then I noticed some major
beaver gnawing on one of the large stumpy willows hanging out
over the river.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VahAv0Nx18szr5gUMfC5WlGrEkKKfIqbsqAB1wNWq3HXHOCLK6qo_hC0Hw-gnARZWKq-dHNeiWRUvhetTe_KbFAYK8o5Jz2vGBL4gif_JwfxAPAYDRA72_FdUHz22v9SPjSGklrHnrs/s1600/bvwillow26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-VahAv0Nx18szr5gUMfC5WlGrEkKKfIqbsqAB1wNWq3HXHOCLK6qo_hC0Hw-gnARZWKq-dHNeiWRUvhetTe_KbFAYK8o5Jz2vGBL4gif_JwfxAPAYDRA72_FdUHz22v9SPjSGklrHnrs/s1600/bvwillow26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 28 cold night, and brisk chilly day, but
sunny. I headed for the Big Pond a little after 5 pm and aimed to
take the second valley down and sit across from the lodge where I
saw the beavers the other day, to see if they have moved in. I
made my way first through the tangle of dead trees, limbs,
exposed roots, etc, then I mushed through the soggy
"level" areas -- oh for the clarifying snow and cold. I
looked into the porcupine den down there and saw enough fresh
poop to make me think that my old friend at least stops by there
now and then. I sat under a pine tree and waited in vain for a
beaver to appear. There was even only one mallard, and then a
noisy gull flew over. The water around the old and small lodge on
the south side of the pond was muddy, but it looks more like a
result of muskrat browsing, or geese or ducks. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQG1I-sihuu4G76K7TyfgKkhU2K-eMaAS6Vk3ENItBFlifIlrRkAtvDoRfu2KJVd8KP2kQqQ7NhqikM8pjOCgujRiosM3gCDWM7ELr8hBchV6noaUqXdeYC-4N9DxQEbqKxr5fdK46Vs/s1600/bpgraze28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQG1I-sihuu4G76K7TyfgKkhU2K-eMaAS6Vk3ENItBFlifIlrRkAtvDoRfu2KJVd8KP2kQqQ7NhqikM8pjOCgujRiosM3gCDWM7ELr8hBchV6noaUqXdeYC-4N9DxQEbqKxr5fdK46Vs/s1600/bpgraze28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked down to the dam, I checked the
canals and could see where the beavers had been out and nibbling,
but there was no fresh marking or work. The dam had been patched
recently, but I didn't see any fresh gnawing there either. So
often after waiting in vain, just as I get to end of the dam, a
beaver appears and steams toward me, as if to say
"gotchya!" But not tonight. I did see two voles scoot
through the grass avoiding my heavy tread along the dam. The
goose was gone from the lodge too. Nor did I see any fresh tree
cutting up in the woods. So I couldn't come to any conclusion.
That they show fewer signs of activity, may actually indicate
that they have moved in and don't have to range around earlier in
their day and are content to bring up goodies from the bottom,
the results of which I can't usually see. At the Lost Swamp, I
missed the two ducks that first flew off. I paused before some
old beaver work. Why didn't they take the last bite and cut the
log? </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZwe6pjL7aoR6vSGyGy2JsusaOEdpK5Bfog47l2pub6c0Dx0D2Cv-jIhywilI4MlAxXdupF88HfOF38gbM3WwKb2-5OigYn4znmL3tdm5mDdOHoATQuxeUzvNiYOkf_g3CJxE0Gg0n7w/s1600/bvcutnot28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZwe6pjL7aoR6vSGyGy2JsusaOEdpK5Bfog47l2pub6c0Dx0D2Cv-jIhywilI4MlAxXdupF88HfOF38gbM3WwKb2-5OigYn4znmL3tdm5mDdOHoATQuxeUzvNiYOkf_g3CJxE0Gg0n7w/s1600/bvcutnot28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I was snooping up the north slope
latrine for otter scat, I saw a heron on a far tree, then another
heron fly in. The first left and the second landed on another
tree. Of course, when I moved, it flew off.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBp1nGsPlYJiLDP1yYhNgLJMw_7ApqTfE_dUx4RGLczdvjSWAnFpN_bqlTgzRgSFNB8NY6rpm5yRqmOMnICJ_TPA19vRdEio77bZwS7yGNReK2CjW5bTKlTczo475q3keo3hhP2Sxc1H0/s1600/heron28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBp1nGsPlYJiLDP1yYhNgLJMw_7ApqTfE_dUx4RGLczdvjSWAnFpN_bqlTgzRgSFNB8NY6rpm5yRqmOMnICJ_TPA19vRdEio77bZwS7yGNReK2CjW5bTKlTczo475q3keo3hhP2Sxc1H0/s1600/heron28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">All this was done silently. There were no fresh
otter scats. I did bump into a deer carcass on the little ridge
above the end of the Second Swamp Pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKXjzwfBZarFRFkiKtgNLpGFeRcnlRTWn4zZF0N3mOyVcu4F0DWS4h-Kzt18JNnmRzbx5XA7M9qGFoMipjVXs6W8U_OeC3jcRrtaql7Go-TATw0Vs6UwMFFGo0wba1TdJa3IbMofbZ6A/s1600/bvcarcass28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKXjzwfBZarFRFkiKtgNLpGFeRcnlRTWn4zZF0N3mOyVcu4F0DWS4h-Kzt18JNnmRzbx5XA7M9qGFoMipjVXs6W8U_OeC3jcRrtaql7Go-TATw0Vs6UwMFFGo0wba1TdJa3IbMofbZ6A/s1600/bvcarcass28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which explains why I saw eagles soaring over
this area during the winter. No beaver appeared in this pond
either. A goose is still draped over the small lodge out in the
pond. This is the same lodge I saw a mink duck into just before
the goose pair claimed it. I knowingly observed that this would
be an unhappy pair, but as of yet the predator has done nothing.
These geese have lasted longer than all the other pairs I saw in
the spring. I decided to check the East Trail Pond and on the
way, admired the upper Second Swamp Pond dam</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6kvvjJMher8KASPxEN2GN8eaA6CWQgWpdfJ8cw-RElCnK5aGhUKjDe9glmcQ0QWgu6Aef7VadW2KilBMTKW425QgvO_mPWXwxzussIiVF0V1fvP192Nf1pX7UPLugephHXzZPmFeyGU/s1600/upsp28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6kvvjJMher8KASPxEN2GN8eaA6CWQgWpdfJ8cw-RElCnK5aGhUKjDe9glmcQ0QWgu6Aef7VadW2KilBMTKW425QgvO_mPWXwxzussIiVF0V1fvP192Nf1pX7UPLugephHXzZPmFeyGU/s1600/upsp28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which has been well tended and, I think, even
raised an inch or two. One gap away from where the creek flows
through the dam was well packed with clumps of mud and grass. The
beavers also threw in an old log,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lcylh_L02tAbHlTRMulQ8M15_ZK5Y6XEgwCEF4bbswl_aF3GomH5WOcdp8-bHEqxhyij9HyK8DANsyVxcj2yeTWYIFZWYB1UgcORQKLJJ6cSNyycnB_yjC8RMmYC4KE2K4VcJDST2rU/s1600/upspdamwk28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lcylh_L02tAbHlTRMulQ8M15_ZK5Y6XEgwCEF4bbswl_aF3GomH5WOcdp8-bHEqxhyij9HyK8DANsyVxcj2yeTWYIFZWYB1UgcORQKLJJ6cSNyycnB_yjC8RMmYC4KE2K4VcJDST2rU/s1600/upspdamwk28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a recently stripped log where the creek
flows.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYRiVQUtoaSyu51-oqcxe5yMdSK60FfyZN-IqXcB0IoES-IGRsipMFNfBjjulyPYUett_Jt1mUBa-UmvPb0FhkbMF4VZsEofbXwbwX6ofz_vE9s2jLDJRgdyodEQ3z5QvgNOybqsTNrY/s1600/upspdam28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYRiVQUtoaSyu51-oqcxe5yMdSK60FfyZN-IqXcB0IoES-IGRsipMFNfBjjulyPYUett_Jt1mUBa-UmvPb0FhkbMF4VZsEofbXwbwX6ofz_vE9s2jLDJRgdyodEQ3z5QvgNOybqsTNrY/s1600/upspdam28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But again no beavers. I did see a pair of blue
winged teals fly out making their charming whimper in flight.
Though it was getting late, I took the trail up to the rarely
visited third ponds, on the chance that the beavers have been
busy refurbishing that series of small dams, and thus not patching
the big dam at the East Trail Pond. But as far as I could see
through the chaos of old downed trees, all the ponds were in the
same untended state. Down toward the East Trail Pond, I saw some
trees cut in the late fall, but nothing that looked fresh. Once
again the geese on the East Trail Pond greeted me with honking.
And once again there was no sign that beavers had done anything
on the dam. I checked the ridge trail for otter scat, and saw
none. Then it didn't look like the beavers had taken any more
trees from the plateau, but I may be wrong about that. Finally
saw some deer on the way home. It's strange that I didn't see any
beavers or muskrats, perhaps the cold night got to them. Or I
just went out a bit too early in the evening.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 30 hot day, mid-70s, the only cool place
was on the river. I kept the engine on the boat until January 10
when the cove finally froze over. I had hoped to get out when the
ice stabilized to try to track otters on the river all winter,
but the ice froze thick, and with so much slush at first, that
the boat was frozen in and even if it had been free, the ice was
everywhere. Then after the thaw it was either too cold or too
windy to go back to Eel Bay</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xLk0XZHOw-oTXpA4Ncf0sEBcTYK5dW0_IxiqwCt23hV0PqkQXGlNVv2jED-O9V3oBejEVTgPl7SNp1nka6D_4RckOPoNdNsZexaS7un88pZNC9JNWL7rzWOoyLaGI9wK1taim6PbeO8/s1600/eelbay30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xLk0XZHOw-oTXpA4Ncf0sEBcTYK5dW0_IxiqwCt23hV0PqkQXGlNVv2jED-O9V3oBejEVTgPl7SNp1nka6D_4RckOPoNdNsZexaS7un88pZNC9JNWL7rzWOoyLaGI9wK1taim6PbeO8/s1600/eelbay30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">to see if the otters would return to the rock
on Murray Island that they had used as a rolling area and latrine
in the late fall and early winter. So today I went, expecting to
find fresh use because my current theory is that only mothers
should be in the ponds, the other otters should be in the river,
where with fish spawning, it should be easier for them to catch
fish. As I approached the rock, a heron was on the low shore next
to it, which I thought was a good sign. And from the boat the
rolling area looked freshly used.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrJ0kf1OZM3cIkqvj4ggwnxOOmZCLiH-loWoLWZcbXptJZTR9loAgQuuEa21oN6Che34yypV9gEkRRCxmnpJWdznJ0PKj6symruNreWhN2oS_G2XiQw9QCSf8e3pjrb8XuDtSuVeLItw/s1600/pictonra30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrJ0kf1OZM3cIkqvj4ggwnxOOmZCLiH-loWoLWZcbXptJZTR9loAgQuuEa21oN6Che34yypV9gEkRRCxmnpJWdznJ0PKj6symruNreWhN2oS_G2XiQw9QCSf8e3pjrb8XuDtSuVeLItw/s1600/pictonra30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But to my surprise while I found three rolling
areas and much bleached otter scat,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrRidkA87vXF2F-yXv86o30ApidEvr3eCtvX_nuwu0k4ketAn9R7c3JGg8qghAdDAY05k7rEuh2EMfKFGoJluzw35Ktzr2iryO2_MfDxTJQ1axAGwS0JtqUG5jev6dZiT36DkrN4NBGc/s1600/oldscat30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrRidkA87vXF2F-yXv86o30ApidEvr3eCtvX_nuwu0k4ketAn9R7c3JGg8qghAdDAY05k7rEuh2EMfKFGoJluzw35Ktzr2iryO2_MfDxTJQ1axAGwS0JtqUG5jev6dZiT36DkrN4NBGc/s1600/oldscat30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I only found one small squirt of black scat and
that was none too fresh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1Oiy3iQFkwDTRD9seiqp5f9IExBAeWAdlxBZBB-njkPfQC_vSZX3mWrfxziBQr9MpLhd3H5AQXj1AWtzL7ea5YBu80SV4S8Fo91YxDt03pJJnmWedjBhcSbUAf2K1OriD__FKqaLFcQ/s1600/scat30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1Oiy3iQFkwDTRD9seiqp5f9IExBAeWAdlxBZBB-njkPfQC_vSZX3mWrfxziBQr9MpLhd3H5AQXj1AWtzL7ea5YBu80SV4S8Fo91YxDt03pJJnmWedjBhcSbUAf2K1OriD__FKqaLFcQ/s1600/scat30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I motored over to Picton Island, and took a
photo of the rock the otters used, showing how it fit into the
large scheme of things.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEcTqbrZX_UwxsXm48sNMjzlpY3wAyLfN07aovSnj6iKarO8gs5p-WoxlaNmYP3HCtKQUW5hl1JxQkQQtnv3leAnKmtfztz1d0Ki3raR-LpYB-jqoT_fj0sA4MfP9Cg-D0-zVNjegEqM/s1600/murray30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEcTqbrZX_UwxsXm48sNMjzlpY3wAyLfN07aovSnj6iKarO8gs5p-WoxlaNmYP3HCtKQUW5hl1JxQkQQtnv3leAnKmtfztz1d0Ki3raR-LpYB-jqoT_fj0sA4MfP9Cg-D0-zVNjegEqM/s1600/murray30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At Picton Point I've seen scat before in other
years. I found deer remains just up from the water, and at the
point, I saw some piles of dead grass higher up, but no scat low
on the rocks inviting me up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8u8elkXqCs3hZx1upR_E7eP7NfxKk1Ju8Ywq-sYzoiW8A-xbobb8UpOgNbik3n4dAl-iMzh1NpEWtf4SvtPgPmWGIlJHjLH7pjvfyx3yP2U1ThVB4lgPHh4XGqt5s4Xe63mij4M8Tsg/s1600/picton30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV8u8elkXqCs3hZx1upR_E7eP7NfxKk1Ju8Ywq-sYzoiW8A-xbobb8UpOgNbik3n4dAl-iMzh1NpEWtf4SvtPgPmWGIlJHjLH7pjvfyx3yP2U1ThVB4lgPHh4XGqt5s4Xe63mij4M8Tsg/s1600/picton30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I cruised along the old quarry, with perfect
sunlight on the rocks and I saw no scats. I slowly went around
the rock island off the point trying from the boat to
distinguish otter scats from the plethora of goose poop. I saw a
large bullhead head,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_fUHOYcERzZtuBv2BCSHAArFv9WszdMdjJtggM70gGDytMuFcG_7OLZ0zS_y-iJwNzt4efMMYbu-g2J_67Nbao0Jl2pqTfNZm-Kdkjq8LN15tB4oP9XPCp9r_s6S1WE_5osHCBA0mG0/s1600/bhead30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_fUHOYcERzZtuBv2BCSHAArFv9WszdMdjJtggM70gGDytMuFcG_7OLZ0zS_y-iJwNzt4efMMYbu-g2J_67Nbao0Jl2pqTfNZm-Kdkjq8LN15tB4oP9XPCp9r_s6S1WE_5osHCBA0mG0/s1600/bhead30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">so I got off. I found the bleached bones from
old scat, and a few smears that might have been scat but were
probably crushed goose poops. I noticed much goose fluff and
nosed into the brush on the island</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxti2riwn6xjerpG65m6Y-I9uch7KR469VE7fy0gL-dcmOtTAgZkmSGuOpQRojEKjfCJDmhJBY8oLGxO_otIxH8ZYC6lnj01sJTjCEyUnhI-D8Llyo7x1SagE5d_mNZvMyomlnjTbgTg/s1600/goose30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxti2riwn6xjerpG65m6Y-I9uch7KR469VE7fy0gL-dcmOtTAgZkmSGuOpQRojEKjfCJDmhJBY8oLGxO_otIxH8ZYC6lnj01sJTjCEyUnhI-D8Llyo7x1SagE5d_mNZvMyomlnjTbgTg/s1600/goose30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a goose left her eggs and hissed at me.
Meanwhile, in the river I saw two cormorants and several pairs of
buffleheads. As I went down South Bay to check the docking rock,
I saw four terns contesting territory at the end of the bay.
There were larger groups of buffleheads here, and a pair of
geese honking at me. I got out on the rock and saw some stringy
scat that might have been from an otter, but I'm not sure.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zi4ziwbdEzEj33uEXHZEHptbgb2nZpPW0QIPRlgAQqRk0e_EfCxka0KXFIG-FHft_WzWEYjOwNxPVFMMDwBDDD9_wq_OGg55njRqQjX4P1cxu3VjguFV2EKMbY9IerTR0Oc7ZwqVS9I/s1600/poop30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zi4ziwbdEzEj33uEXHZEHptbgb2nZpPW0QIPRlgAQqRk0e_EfCxka0KXFIG-FHft_WzWEYjOwNxPVFMMDwBDDD9_wq_OGg55njRqQjX4P1cxu3VjguFV2EKMbY9IerTR0Oc7ZwqVS9I/s1600/poop30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the hill above and thought there were
flecks of fresh stuff. Back at the my dock, where I had seen a
few perch scurrying about, I noticed a large flying insect
floating in the water. I fished it out with an oar for a photo
and it looks like a crane fly</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ubaLgi_Ufmd6GsrPsN_oLSOHniMpb9bNPxGRObTsXZTJt2rJd6vyndFMnMPZzJy1GKXWNwdITnij4JXX6X8mq-orWg184Tw5mm3KkEtXOU4qTll2htJzwiAJ4YiEiIEmLpH45lS-Y-8/s1600/bug30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ubaLgi_Ufmd6GsrPsN_oLSOHniMpb9bNPxGRObTsXZTJt2rJd6vyndFMnMPZzJy1GKXWNwdITnij4JXX6X8mq-orWg184Tw5mm3KkEtXOU4qTll2htJzwiAJ4YiEiIEmLpH45lS-Y-8/s1600/bug30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and when I picked it up, it flew away. </span><br />
<br />
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-40316280964318039072016-12-21T13:13:00.000-08:002016-12-21T13:13:17.656-08:00April 15 to 22, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">April 15 we were gone for several days and
missed cloudy and moist days. Sunny today, but all was soggy. I
headed for the ponds after four. Robins remain the ubiquitous
bird, but the flocks of starlings and red wing blackbirds make
more racket. Going down to South Bay from the TI Park ridge, I
saw a few deer race toward the swamps. As I approached the small
causeway, I heard two splashes and soon saw the turtles who made
them come back up to the surface of the water and poke a nose
out. Some turtles also scrambled off the matted cattails in the
cove. I assume they were painted turtles and since the
temperature was about 50 with a brisk wind, I was surprised to
see them out. There were no otter scats on or near the causeway,
but there was a neat pile of dead grass fashioned in an otterly
manner. There was a good flow of water under the causeway, but a
rush down the creek from the New Pond. No bullheads running up it
yet. I went up to the knoll and found many signs that otters had
been there, principally a nice pile of scat on the path,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrjAlFIYA_wqyfGH0CSrDg3IBkn1WTTaAi_gVMhf8pJXTZe5PcPJe6Dxrricv-vuM-s_cDJq5ub9i8numkM-i7HAetSaeq4NRAplvraIk1-bpw_2CU-owMGMsjHW3uwzgu5NBFsniYYM/s1600/npknoll15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrjAlFIYA_wqyfGH0CSrDg3IBkn1WTTaAi_gVMhf8pJXTZe5PcPJe6Dxrricv-vuM-s_cDJq5ub9i8numkM-i7HAetSaeq4NRAplvraIk1-bpw_2CU-owMGMsjHW3uwzgu5NBFsniYYM/s1600/npknoll15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but three or four days old.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZVHI5AmRmde_tbFPg5qQftQTIwyqSjh-JPbW2mfC6GaKzBXEiby1aNj8Q-uWQGdYa9UsoJK9jghYW2vQZBKIuocYIE4ikmwlAZ8kka__1RKuEgWf7E7yvTp9dyP-5Eopr0-HukL44eA/s1600/scat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZVHI5AmRmde_tbFPg5qQftQTIwyqSjh-JPbW2mfC6GaKzBXEiby1aNj8Q-uWQGdYa9UsoJK9jghYW2vQZBKIuocYIE4ikmwlAZ8kka__1RKuEgWf7E7yvTp9dyP-5Eopr0-HukL44eA/s1600/scat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There appeared to have been some digging or at
least rolling in the bare dirt beneath the tree,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTdIb7ZxFQJdg0hyphenhyphen90vQksrcIavsuV0Tnzwk8_EcK-kfhMDX3D3jjVFNAJOWPBrzzfPnx7ndBX3Zz9zgc-go9Azh94qdn4Bwot6VvO1D1ivbmh2Bz0-aW309DiGfBjFPzClGV2ATWV08/s1600/npknoll15a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTdIb7ZxFQJdg0hyphenhyphen90vQksrcIavsuV0Tnzwk8_EcK-kfhMDX3D3jjVFNAJOWPBrzzfPnx7ndBX3Zz9zgc-go9Azh94qdn4Bwot6VvO1D1ivbmh2Bz0-aW309DiGfBjFPzClGV2ATWV08/s1600/npknoll15a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the pile of moss had been moved and nearby
was a small scent mound with a squirt of scat on it. As I came up
several ducks flew off, but I noticed some more ripples. Soon
enough a muskrat swam down toward the dam and briefly went up on
the bank. I waited from my vantage on the knoll hoping it would
swim down toward me. But it was content to nibble something in
the shadow of the dam. When I moved closer, it dove and
disappeared. I crossed the dam which being very squishy, leaks
liberally. The dam seems to be all grass and sticks with no mud
giving it any heft. I went atop the porcupine hotel but didn't
see any signs of otters when I looked down into the rocks. I
stood on top and studied the depleted ponds below me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-xaHw_1LPbsPL2IyoXSOPgc24jIS4spL0EqoKQrhnxEL1R09ArbYE8fCWETAcVcCeA0yIUKdPllTLwcHGGcmDwKyL5rVucFEa8KEVAqfJrTUVipDfZe1BcX8eE2_ejbIEWTYGTPnOBI/s1600/pphview15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-xaHw_1LPbsPL2IyoXSOPgc24jIS4spL0EqoKQrhnxEL1R09ArbYE8fCWETAcVcCeA0yIUKdPllTLwcHGGcmDwKyL5rVucFEa8KEVAqfJrTUVipDfZe1BcX8eE2_ejbIEWTYGTPnOBI/s1600/pphview15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">when what should appear but another muskrat,
that looked larger than the other. It swam to one of the grassy
islands in the small pool and seemed to mark more than forage. As
soon as I moved to get closer, it disappeared. I crossed Beaver
Point Pond dam which is still quite firm save where the water
flows through it. The dam is quite dug out here as if some animal
took a dry route into the old lodge beavers had built into the
dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffE_CHF-uUifkENHksdPAmCl5_PtyPjaNbQ0BqXM_qWh7bRSAQgHy86vJvoW3tIIzGIL-O_15pvJU8WzjkEvBbJwNeGQQslTSya1_xZL9sJWlflF60_XSpWSi-iZTmuSPSbsEnFe4Nd0/s1600/bppdam15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffE_CHF-uUifkENHksdPAmCl5_PtyPjaNbQ0BqXM_qWh7bRSAQgHy86vJvoW3tIIzGIL-O_15pvJU8WzjkEvBbJwNeGQQslTSya1_xZL9sJWlflF60_XSpWSi-iZTmuSPSbsEnFe4Nd0/s1600/bppdam15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No signs of otters. I walked up to Otter Hole
Pond and contemplated it for several minutes. No muskrat
appeared. I took the ridge route over to the East Trail Pond and
well away from the pond, up on the plateau, the beavers had cut
several trees, segmented at least one and were in the process of
segmenting another.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAW1XMim3HqzsROQFwleF3S3yODty_JDIqhCA1J-S4JgTArznA_Z7Qcl7n3oOdANG7fFKZUmPcE20NF3SPQCLOMFXcDH-zjjNaCmhJ0hwQgpsTGfyXYgMbd5DlsxT8mZR-qmtkuFSNAWk/s1600/etbvwk15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAW1XMim3HqzsROQFwleF3S3yODty_JDIqhCA1J-S4JgTArznA_Z7Qcl7n3oOdANG7fFKZUmPcE20NF3SPQCLOMFXcDH-zjjNaCmhJ0hwQgpsTGfyXYgMbd5DlsxT8mZR-qmtkuFSNAWk/s1600/etbvwk15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Despite this activity, the beavers have still
not patched the dam. Indeed when I crossed it, I didn't see any
mud pushed up on it at all, though it is possible that they had
jammed down sticks into some of the holes in the dam, but two
major leaks, at least, remained. When I reached the other side of
the dam, a small beaver swam out from the bank lodge, soon
surfaced, and soon began banging its tail. It swam back and forth
in the gleaming reflection of the sun and I wasted time trying to
get a dramatic photo.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykGDwNYnD22g3QAVz08zHRdYiNqp7Kr1ZZGTeukNAfr198WyaBTBGhZhgAa6ZtwO-gYeIDvZdxgHOl63z2XrO6wjy0vHVDW7lhWcdpuUE0drfAU9tjIjEpkpMP27ZawpnT7Hhlckinyk/s1600/etbv15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykGDwNYnD22g3QAVz08zHRdYiNqp7Kr1ZZGTeukNAfr198WyaBTBGhZhgAa6ZtwO-gYeIDvZdxgHOl63z2XrO6wjy0vHVDW7lhWcdpuUE0drfAU9tjIjEpkpMP27ZawpnT7Hhlckinyk/s1600/etbv15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As for why the dam is not patched, perhaps the
beavers ( I assume there are still at least two more around) are
content with harvesting the trees on the ridge and once they tire
of that they will think of the grasses up pond and build up the
dam to re-flood the pond so they can get to them. There is a pool
of water below the dam which almost looks like it is dammed, but
not quite and they could certainly do a better job. Not many
ducks here as usual, only a few geese. The wind was coming from
the east so I went to the Second Swamp Pond dam, parking myself
up on the rocks on the north side of the dam, which afforded a
good seat for a concert from the peepers below me. Most were in
bell like unison but two kept trilling providing a more intimate
melody and rhythm. I even had to try to record it. A heron flew
right over me and when it saw me twisted its neck, as if
wincing, and flew away. The ring necked ducks remain in the
pond, most paired up and quite sedate. There were also several
swallows catching the season's first wave of insects. Just after
I turned off the camcorder, I saw a beaver swim into the lodge,
evidently crossing over from the other side. I waited for it to
reappear but after 15 minutes decided to move on. I crossed below
the dam and noticed that the beavers are letting a good flow of
water go into the pool where they had done so much cutting in the
fall. They have mudded up other leaks and the dam at the major
spillways is quite well done and even firm to my feet. I went up
to the Lost Swamp Pond at the west end, but no beavers were out
and I flushed but one duck. I checked the north shore for otter
scats and while it had the look of something having been through,
I didn't see any fresh scats. And there were no signs of otters
all the way up to the dam. I did scare a small muskrat just
outside the burrows. It snap splashed but soon surfaced. Just as
I was about to leave the dam, a beaver came out of the lodge and
I expected to be splashed right away, but the little thing swam
right up in front of me</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6n4J5dkkTdRbRzfULINepb3LAFFkJWl_vsMmC6RHVuluhzh2EvOmW_wZBPMT9lH3Z7cxEgmjTVA6iGqEOGbb_0xb5STRbSZ3EBvjHuQ7kpdY8cjIlhQACFCKTTEZdY04JmOu3mJq-X8/s1600/lsbv15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6n4J5dkkTdRbRzfULINepb3LAFFkJWl_vsMmC6RHVuluhzh2EvOmW_wZBPMT9lH3Z7cxEgmjTVA6iGqEOGbb_0xb5STRbSZ3EBvjHuQ7kpdY8cjIlhQACFCKTTEZdY04JmOu3mJq-X8/s1600/lsbv15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and started nibbling on a twig. It seemed to
have its eyes closed, and before it nibbled the stick, it smelled
it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqFwUWtD_yM4wVuTqrwGOvv5xv8pM2Y_gpaqnZhPkKaxd62gt_xnLfYTcqHjdUz8zyGgDD0K8U6Adx8gpP3QkmhVT6-bFVvQDo7ArsFAcYAZqDR38-hS2B3UHmaiw69RGBGwkjtCcr64/s1600/bvsniff15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqFwUWtD_yM4wVuTqrwGOvv5xv8pM2Y_gpaqnZhPkKaxd62gt_xnLfYTcqHjdUz8zyGgDD0K8U6Adx8gpP3QkmhVT6-bFVvQDo7ArsFAcYAZqDR38-hS2B3UHmaiw69RGBGwkjtCcr64/s1600/bvsniff15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When it sensed me, it snapped into the water
with a splash, just like the muskrat, but with much more power.
It soon surfaced and swam back and forth trying to get an angle
on my stench, but that didn't provoke any tail pounding. There
was a large stripped log at the dam, but I couldn't see any
downed trees nearby. I headed for the Big Pond, looking back, but
the beaver didn't follow me down pond. Just beyond the large oak
that marks my path, I saw some fresh tree work by the Big Pond
beavers along the fringe of the meadow and as I approached the
pond, a beaver splashed its tail. I think these beavers plan to
live here. The beaver kept splashing me and as I walked along the
dam, a muskrat dove off it into the water. There was a goose
curled up on the lodge, and a lone male wood duck nearby. Then
another duck flew in.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28lYNbGvTuM_J-4_cPcMh842DpUuczbI92Ao88d60wQ7cn16TAFXSUcqJAkiXn-epheYebUw-r7oG8D016Gw02VN9unEc4wrAbEpCJ2a_m0ooig998SnnlJ3-tkD19F3-htBvRV47r1g/s1600/bpducks15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28lYNbGvTuM_J-4_cPcMh842DpUuczbI92Ao88d60wQ7cn16TAFXSUcqJAkiXn-epheYebUw-r7oG8D016Gw02VN9unEc4wrAbEpCJ2a_m0ooig998SnnlJ3-tkD19F3-htBvRV47r1g/s1600/bpducks15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the other side of the pond, I saw one bufflehead diving into the pond. The pond is brimming but the dam still
leaks a good bit. None of the masterful repairs and water
management as exhibited at the Second Swamp Pond. Being almost at
the top of its watershed, the Lost Swamp Pond doesn't have a
problem with flooding, and hardly has any leak at all. I didn't
notice any new bird arrivals, though I probably flushed twice the
usual number of sparrows as I walked along the dams.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 17 warmed up and then showers hit late
morning, ending around 2 pm. I headed off to the ponds at 4 pm
with the mist and drizzle winning out over some slight clearing
to the north. As I got my boots on I saw an osprey with a stick
in its beak fly over the yard and out to its nest on the buoy.
Once again I saw several deer on the other side of the TI Park
ridge. Down at the causeway there were no turtles, some tufted
grass but no scats. As I had my nose down on the trail, a grouse
flew away from the nearby bushes. I saw no otter signs at the
creek coming down from the New Pond -- a heron flew off from the
shores of South Bay. Up on knoll above the New Pond, I saw otter
scats all around </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeivoc1AcsFfvEyyFHU9KzGAxwv3P1cIDaIof3bsoeUVjHtwBcmJ2w0Ty1D5jxmwcorxKeP1s1gk6hNUNjqrTvY8SNnLY2_Zph3i4tWl7tOtrmvHY8caPtz3oqYybdDSrYqbDWvkE2wTg/s1600/npknoll17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeivoc1AcsFfvEyyFHU9KzGAxwv3P1cIDaIof3bsoeUVjHtwBcmJ2w0Ty1D5jxmwcorxKeP1s1gk6hNUNjqrTvY8SNnLY2_Zph3i4tWl7tOtrmvHY8caPtz3oqYybdDSrYqbDWvkE2wTg/s1600/npknoll17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">just above the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPw0FVGHiN0VFNlMfT_Ezg59PH2Ync6mSy-p9TvzFW38dqmPbYFdRAgWOv5766ofEOtIiSMomYJ_qSVd5e0APDDIvS6aq03p2YqP31gSFcs7PXQIF401AAnBbLHviyGo7VsLMX8nRSGok/s1600/npknoll17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPw0FVGHiN0VFNlMfT_Ezg59PH2Ync6mSy-p9TvzFW38dqmPbYFdRAgWOv5766ofEOtIiSMomYJ_qSVd5e0APDDIvS6aq03p2YqP31gSFcs7PXQIF401AAnBbLHviyGo7VsLMX8nRSGok/s1600/npknoll17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I plan to start getting up at dawn, and this
knoll will be the first place I stake out. For now I had to
content myself with a muskrat swimming below me, marking one log</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSG7BiukVB6MscJEtmd0qVr0DOVZQnfjGX8K5cXxhdfgzElHdtmfmamrOcxucbZ09ISJ5_toA3TTmQNCP1N6HFIwt9Ux3l_ugEHaWQ1MX_lmWeBj6T7XAHI2xzBAY_iKrSoXXrLKZkIIo/s1600/mrat17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSG7BiukVB6MscJEtmd0qVr0DOVZQnfjGX8K5cXxhdfgzElHdtmfmamrOcxucbZ09ISJ5_toA3TTmQNCP1N6HFIwt9Ux3l_ugEHaWQ1MX_lmWeBj6T7XAHI2xzBAY_iKrSoXXrLKZkIIo/s1600/mrat17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then going into the grasses toward the old
beaver lodge. I continued up the South Bay trail and saw a
muskrat swim into the marsh. Just a few ducks on the Bay. There
was one startling piece of fresh beaver work, a girdled tree
along the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUdOzEI8YkuR_kixWmv7LgkzSDGS67-gyZK1iKUZ5zIuIHq-7zxNO7unx8OUh_xzMtCJ_wo8uY-sJIIVl6GH5O0dILc-bnbGCfNtB-whLvpbvV1aDP5276OXvMPTwDZI5eNNrODtf8Z4/s1600/sbbvwk17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUdOzEI8YkuR_kixWmv7LgkzSDGS67-gyZK1iKUZ5zIuIHq-7zxNO7unx8OUh_xzMtCJ_wo8uY-sJIIVl6GH5O0dILc-bnbGCfNtB-whLvpbvV1aDP5276OXvMPTwDZI5eNNrODtf8Z4/s1600/sbbvwk17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But I didn't see any piles of nibbled sticks. I
checked some areas of compressed grass but found no indication of
which critters -- beaver, muskrat, otter or goose -- might have
been sitting there. Just above the docking rock I saw piled grass
and a frog's head with a bit of mangled body attached.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyZGRZg_PAs6h0YUsJC8iX6tQhNulTc14yv8CvEE70_xL5lHnX7w7p3CW2GgCIYZ9hti_17cN7YKw0S5o5BO8HvnzcYEmsHcGcln0ubEI66yXiwjQ48y0Ey1FvMyRYQ7bxM0WY41JEBA/s1600/frogparts17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyZGRZg_PAs6h0YUsJC8iX6tQhNulTc14yv8CvEE70_xL5lHnX7w7p3CW2GgCIYZ9hti_17cN7YKw0S5o5BO8HvnzcYEmsHcGcln0ubEI66yXiwjQ48y0Ey1FvMyRYQ7bxM0WY41JEBA/s1600/frogparts17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No otter scats near there but down on the rock
I saw a relatively fresh scat half washed away by the rain. I
went up to Audubon Pond and was amazed at how full it is. The
beaver patched the drain and it is almost flooded over with a
beaver stripped stick lying across it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHzsadyOusveClHHTB5rQiHCba9aoLeTM1RI-Xzs7ZUIo6KHzZ1mcObh5psiMZAfukRcj8e1VRMCRUTe8XJXuPgiGHFD8AM7PEAYEpnJsHe-aOp6rcFkPcNpvLlOLi4Tk072L6aAGukE/s1600/apdrain17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHzsadyOusveClHHTB5rQiHCba9aoLeTM1RI-Xzs7ZUIo6KHzZ1mcObh5psiMZAfukRcj8e1VRMCRUTe8XJXuPgiGHFD8AM7PEAYEpnJsHe-aOp6rcFkPcNpvLlOLi4Tk072L6aAGukE/s1600/apdrain17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, I checked for scat and saw none. I
did see a lot of mud on the banks, in some places in a line.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhSFB6v28zbyxVCzqdob7OvdLcS2IFWbL_hBr88Gtg8H4L-NQNuxt1ejSGnQ9SsVcmaqIqGFfxocLCdJNnpyrnn1rNkgicDckUkF2rZIwNIvtp39VRnhIVGe6lCBsmFkCl-twyKn406Y/s1600/apmud17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhSFB6v28zbyxVCzqdob7OvdLcS2IFWbL_hBr88Gtg8H4L-NQNuxt1ejSGnQ9SsVcmaqIqGFfxocLCdJNnpyrnn1rNkgicDckUkF2rZIwNIvtp39VRnhIVGe6lCBsmFkCl-twyKn406Y/s1600/apmud17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A little beyond that I saw a muskrat nosing
along the shore. I hoped to see it marking with mud or eating a
clam, but it soon sensed me, dove and swam away. The mud marks
are so extensive, I assume a beaver did it. I continued around
the pond admiring the beaver's fresh work on a large oak and root
it had girdled in the fall.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWyYi59cjWDqYX1M6dbZixKEdqivC5InKQzEMLpF_jDuUr0JhQnezxTHqi-nIoKYp-7Oive3o1fRIVnNS8GPV0oIcSGQDGsBbV1twxY5bKcYAGpEW2k-ZLEcM22X5BL3rWMQ_Vjy29kI/s1600/apgridle17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWyYi59cjWDqYX1M6dbZixKEdqivC5InKQzEMLpF_jDuUr0JhQnezxTHqi-nIoKYp-7Oive3o1fRIVnNS8GPV0oIcSGQDGsBbV1twxY5bKcYAGpEW2k-ZLEcM22X5BL3rWMQ_Vjy29kI/s1600/apgridle17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It felled a small tree that had been half cut
in the fall, did some more girdling and even took a bite out of
the base a shag-bark hickory.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBL_1wdOajfJ1ZYJ7Jw5EqlHXMrnOppPyw3dj-DrG2i82mSKVFvYA05TRKq11gTinO78_U6l_yjiLDVMYzwZaqGdiYGYflrIG1OOlYqu5eE1V2WemII4fXwcNRerSlQJKwW2j_npi4XY/s1600/aphickory17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBL_1wdOajfJ1ZYJ7Jw5EqlHXMrnOppPyw3dj-DrG2i82mSKVFvYA05TRKq11gTinO78_U6l_yjiLDVMYzwZaqGdiYGYflrIG1OOlYqu5eE1V2WemII4fXwcNRerSlQJKwW2j_npi4XY/s1600/aphickory17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I blamed the demise of the previous colony on
its disinclination to eat a bit of this tree which surrounds the
pond. There were marks all along the shore including on top of
two side by side ant mounds.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh41Y27nHwQwc9CLrxvDt9pm8ecVJatcaL1w5BTnybS_VXDnTeZmPesmAgFhSyalW_mrFqbsUBkYX5W7CStBGjHRzpmfoHlo1vCgoslGmoh8cTSmw7-HnasDrKfERbWW-stnE1Q73jV70/s1600/apmarks17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh41Y27nHwQwc9CLrxvDt9pm8ecVJatcaL1w5BTnybS_VXDnTeZmPesmAgFhSyalW_mrFqbsUBkYX5W7CStBGjHRzpmfoHlo1vCgoslGmoh8cTSmw7-HnasDrKfERbWW-stnE1Q73jV70/s1600/apmarks17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked above the burrows on this western
shore, something swam out, and soon enough I saw a beaver
swimming out of the marsh on the north shore. It promptly
splashed me several times. As I continued around to the bench, it
swam well out into the pond and acted like a floating log with
its nose facing me. After ten minutes it slowly swam over to the
embankment to the south, went ashore briefly and then swam over
to the burrows on the west shore, but didn't swim right in. It
may den there but I think I flushed a muskrat and that the beaver
lives in the refurbished bank lodge in front of the bench. The
beaver seems to have fished out more old branches to build it up
and patch it with mud and grasses.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlr-c0pDKhku79yzPz3cFiNPUCRptxEAGEdpqsVq5ZzsfMEIkjI9ZdKSBd7qXuVVs4nUzxZ6F4Lr2LAqVj8fptkaR0wZmDgAzNer9KD6Fj8FMaNuoU5oBtDAGubdzjzBnW-xgfbwW7Yg/s1600/apbanklodge17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxlr-c0pDKhku79yzPz3cFiNPUCRptxEAGEdpqsVq5ZzsfMEIkjI9ZdKSBd7qXuVVs4nUzxZ6F4Lr2LAqVj8fptkaR0wZmDgAzNer9KD6Fj8FMaNuoU5oBtDAGubdzjzBnW-xgfbwW7Yg/s1600/apbanklodge17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I find it strange that it favors this lodge
when there are so many burrows along the shore to live in. The
greater activity of this beaver suggests that it isn't the
tentative beaver that was here in the fall. However, it manages
the bank lodge in much the same way the beaver did in the fall.
The lodge in the pond was almost flooded over but a goose could
get some use out of it, evidently preparing to nest there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzy0whReswXMWSqJPjZN5KTzPoj6c2y9Ac_eoPTi97I3VBWlSNB-pA4OUHa_HfovG5KDCIG3hkGHRFFEurCPTI6JrGYjI94G1kiHl_-EaAdKW05ULrBWlfxWaoNh-s9QK9kscbX-GpRLI/s1600/goose17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzy0whReswXMWSqJPjZN5KTzPoj6c2y9Ac_eoPTi97I3VBWlSNB-pA4OUHa_HfovG5KDCIG3hkGHRFFEurCPTI6JrGYjI94G1kiHl_-EaAdKW05ULrBWlfxWaoNh-s9QK9kscbX-GpRLI/s1600/goose17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed up to the other ponds and was
surprised to see the Meander Pond dam well tended.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SPQVPKyUAuktrKF18jxQafwnR9YELg9Zsc2UMRheaNKijCsn28sDFVYRHKU7pS9cqP1MezvZXbLJcX20LOA_2uewS2zZ_TO-ThV4mvd6T5d6tJC1l-5-0PeVKAcSL0oOqyBKXJ7k5nw/s1600/mpdam17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SPQVPKyUAuktrKF18jxQafwnR9YELg9Zsc2UMRheaNKijCsn28sDFVYRHKU7pS9cqP1MezvZXbLJcX20LOA_2uewS2zZ_TO-ThV4mvd6T5d6tJC1l-5-0PeVKAcSL0oOqyBKXJ7k5nw/s1600/mpdam17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any sign of beaver nibbling until
I passed the end of a canal at the upper south end of the pond --
a tree root had been freshly gnawed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79ztXcCXOjXrgNr-garBhjUZ2KAl4QjCrLkN25xjB4FV6VjmEbFjwrPY95Nj8v3j_DxOEnyfJ8S6xAMTShYBW5DHIb5owTRQKKNElEAsqmkB7zNhwQDDdPiPrQG4Nq1I-JSH9XXQ6yA8/s1600/mpwk17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79ztXcCXOjXrgNr-garBhjUZ2KAl4QjCrLkN25xjB4FV6VjmEbFjwrPY95Nj8v3j_DxOEnyfJ8S6xAMTShYBW5DHIb5owTRQKKNElEAsqmkB7zNhwQDDdPiPrQG4Nq1I-JSH9XXQ6yA8/s1600/mpwk17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">While I sat on the bench at Audubon Pond, I
heard chorus frogs -- comb frogs -- in the vernal pools to the
west of the pond. Thicket Pond was thick with scraping combs, as
well as a few peepers and one leopard frog singing. A beaver also
made an appearance and splashed a few times, demonstrating that
frogs were not in the least intimidated by that noise. But these
frogs were almost oblivious to me as I continued my walk around
the pond admiring the freshly stripped logs glowing in the
gloaming.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmx13Xc5XDv4_maHCQ0T-1k-lD2E_mozla_hC5qUZQ8HS_sw_gKCbFBYS1g5cagnsA59ni8fHHZMWIyclXhroNfambLRP3QVdrCvvEs9BjEEOVF3sCmkTnOsWt_aMs8JsOxOPEYmN1BY/s1600/tp17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmx13Xc5XDv4_maHCQ0T-1k-lD2E_mozla_hC5qUZQ8HS_sw_gKCbFBYS1g5cagnsA59ni8fHHZMWIyclXhroNfambLRP3QVdrCvvEs9BjEEOVF3sCmkTnOsWt_aMs8JsOxOPEYmN1BY/s1600/tp17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The East Trail Pond dam is still not patched and
I didn't wait around to see the lazy beaver. There still appeared
to be some fresh marking beside the dam. With it getting late I
hurried to the Lost Swamp Pond for a chance to see the little,
possibly blind beaver, but all I did was flush some mallards and
wood ducks. I cast a glance down at the Second Swamp Pond and saw
that the ring necks were still down there. Walking passed the
digging in the rolling area, I wondered if the deeper and busier
work this year arises because the beaver doing it doesn't see
well. At the Big Pond I saw two pairs of buffleheads, and more
fresh beaver work.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqheM0NEAAIKvdgLBYkjDEc80nK6UloyRD-e23T3plVcjI9Tjm0B4S9aXZW71olP-y6DVYJOIAfFGwRoSzjt_DXffhUSu_ENfj9JLB5qpnnH8BNkWPTzDphxNUGt6BCukLFVA4idMdQxQ/s1600/bpnibs17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqheM0NEAAIKvdgLBYkjDEc80nK6UloyRD-e23T3plVcjI9Tjm0B4S9aXZW71olP-y6DVYJOIAfFGwRoSzjt_DXffhUSu_ENfj9JLB5qpnnH8BNkWPTzDphxNUGt6BCukLFVA4idMdQxQ/s1600/bpnibs17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I approached the spillway of the dam I
saw a beaver on the dam. So I fished my camcorder out, missed a
wood duck taking off and a heron flying over and waited for the
beaver to do some patching, but it just swam down into the small
pond below. The dam has more mud pushed up and freshly stripped
sticks pushed over it, as beavers are supposed to do,</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but the dam still leaks liberally. It must be
very difficult to patch a dam when it keeps raining. This was too
drizzly a night to loiter but I saw three muskrats and three
beavers and heard a million choice notes from the frogs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 20 a headed off at 4 pm on a cool and
sunny day with a light east wind and high clouds coming in from
the west. Although I am anxious to get out in the boat and check
otter sites in Eel Bay, I also want to see more of the beavers in
the interior ponds while they are still spry in the early spring.
Once again painted turtles scrambled off the matted dead grasses
as I came along the South Bay trail, and I found a neat otter
scent mound, though a bit old.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3banyQUaw0_nehvX3c3jSVl-iGjl8QJElEp7eTFjX-5JupuJgjJVlZFDyZN58t0xZdv-lrNGL1dZpe5mB4wkfOCxmz8Z66DUaAfTEHwib_n0Dbt9iXnhz1URh2RnK-uYXPhRz6urvFyo/s1600/sbmound20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3banyQUaw0_nehvX3c3jSVl-iGjl8QJElEp7eTFjX-5JupuJgjJVlZFDyZN58t0xZdv-lrNGL1dZpe5mB4wkfOCxmz8Z66DUaAfTEHwib_n0Dbt9iXnhz1URh2RnK-uYXPhRz6urvFyo/s1600/sbmound20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Coming to the north South Bay cove I flushed a
heron. No signs of otters by the creek but I did have a thought
as I watched the flowing water. Otters also benefit from breached
beaver dams because it allows fish to swim and spawn up stream.
There is more scat up on the New Pond knoll, though nothing
piping fresh. Once again I saw a muskrat in the New Pond, so I
sat down to see what it might be up to and my patience was
rewarded by my seeing another muskrat. They both foraged
independently and I suppose as a testament to how cold the pond
water is, they almost always took their nibblings up on the log.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5f597Pv5hAdYxyV_aVh_dWXeRWT9LlFT09T7d68t0QNfPLVfqaUY5K2P8G56lu2iYIpR4M4nTFbI84oUbGnOFT424OXrgfSBvciJSzv4ptA-2cYBdM5469qi9iDEjrgb8uOdrQ2BLTI/s1600/mrat20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5f597Pv5hAdYxyV_aVh_dWXeRWT9LlFT09T7d68t0QNfPLVfqaUY5K2P8G56lu2iYIpR4M4nTFbI84oUbGnOFT424OXrgfSBvciJSzv4ptA-2cYBdM5469qi9iDEjrgb8uOdrQ2BLTI/s1600/mrat20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One of them turned a tiny twig in its hands,
taking a few minutes to relish a glorified toothpick. Muskrats
teach the joy of very small, rapid bites. As I watched the rats I
heard something that sounded like a snapping turtle over in the
creek bed and soon one emerged making its slow way up to the dam.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIoLDfnICwnlia0ActY3dIIbuxXNo235jWCZAXkrjE3u-YtgcyAxa2sbW-Xjchy1z20O3QMDEFT-5-T0ivFOoO4IKrNvRGvNlJWhzEu0WtbWMi7z3HY1TYhImQyMZHWLW_fmHTcdR4MM/s1600/snapper20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIoLDfnICwnlia0ActY3dIIbuxXNo235jWCZAXkrjE3u-YtgcyAxa2sbW-Xjchy1z20O3QMDEFT-5-T0ivFOoO4IKrNvRGvNlJWhzEu0WtbWMi7z3HY1TYhImQyMZHWLW_fmHTcdR4MM/s1600/snapper20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When I went over to take a photograph, it
stayed still</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmIhntFc-00kLdAAFqBH0IO13I0yZiUYT9t30aEYTY3VkcOfwd-5VJAWk82yvtQReBjSdiLVzr1cfP1KHA1WjK9KI6e6BLwZoT7tMBFv74GiX0U8rd40BUbo2DB-PZPxdYF41Ln3lUf4/s1600/snapper20a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmIhntFc-00kLdAAFqBH0IO13I0yZiUYT9t30aEYTY3VkcOfwd-5VJAWk82yvtQReBjSdiLVzr1cfP1KHA1WjK9KI6e6BLwZoT7tMBFv74GiX0U8rd40BUbo2DB-PZPxdYF41Ln3lUf4/s1600/snapper20a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">displaying beautiful yellow browns and rich
greens, so rich I think because the flowing stream washed off all
the mud, and powerful paws.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the grasses nearby hepatica were poking
through.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going up to the New Pond knoll I found some
Dutchman's britches.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Only a few ducks on Beaver Point and Otter Hole
ponds. I sat on the rock overlooking the Second Swamp Pond from
its southwest corner, positioned perfectly, I thought, to see a
beaver mark the dam in its usual spot, but evidently I was too
early for beavers, or they had all gone up pond. I have a theory
that they tend to forage into the wind which would have taken
them away from me. The wood ducks fled when I came up to the
pond. Several pairs of buffleheads remained and then a pair came
in that I thought were wood ducks when the male reared up,
flapped its wings and clapped. I got the spyglass out and saw
that it was not a wood duck, but, and I had to look this up, a
blue winged teal. As I walked up the pond, I thought I saw a
muskrat, but couldn't see it again. Up at the Lost Swamp Pond I
sat at the west end of the pond, right on some fresh beaver work
-- a small maple with its branches just trimmed and some bites
out of the bark.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkFywJZpdFlhytul_-YLMXKGhQZZndjVKdkBN515Kx8XjzeYxWtG-HRn_J0wY7myfMsH7gBUVRmVTSZPCSESX4y3eFCnCpG0AOgp34ZAKON57ad2rs7JQAezCjw0iqxGFCMZ1SZoNTZk/s1600/bvbites20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkFywJZpdFlhytul_-YLMXKGhQZZndjVKdkBN515Kx8XjzeYxWtG-HRn_J0wY7myfMsH7gBUVRmVTSZPCSESX4y3eFCnCpG0AOgp34ZAKON57ad2rs7JQAezCjw0iqxGFCMZ1SZoNTZk/s1600/bvbites20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When I came in I thought I saw a beaver, but it
must have been ducks in tandem. Finally I saw a muskrat cross the
pond; then one beaver going very slowly cross pond and not
towards me, but when I walked up I couldn't see it. Then I saw
wakes near the lodge by the dam but one at least proved to be a
muskrat. Otherwise a heron flew in and perched high on a tree --
always a diverting sight,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and swallows came through briefly. Approaching
the Big Pond dam, I saw what appeared to be a muskrat going into
the far cattails, and then one swimming right toward me until it
veered back up on the dam. Then a beaver swam up to the dam and
almost immediately got on my case, pounding its tail and weaving
back and forth with its nose cocked way out of the pond. Of
course it tended to come closer, then it backed off and another, smaller beaver, swam out from where the lodge is, and
briefly joined in the criss-crossing getting fairly close to the
other beaver who I thought started making an insistent humming
grunt, which I took as a sound of warning, and briefly the little
beaver followed it toward the lodge and another beaver came out
from the lodge and then turned up pond with the grunting beaver.
But the little beaver didn't join them. It went to a nibbling
station on the shore of the pond, and when I moved it swam out
and swam right up to me trying to get my measure. When I moved
again, it too started splashing but it kept following me all the
way to the other end of the dam. That dam by the way has many
dollops of mud,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">is filled to the brim, but still leaking a good
bit.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I stood under the dam and tried to get a
classic photo of the beaver swimming back and forth behind it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZK4wE0rfDc6sAPuSrPx8U9QeSsMBYJTUAmVU187W_BbFfVvqYMu-rheXwMShJjvnw_2c7KK2bhELrSUJe-HpjVuQzAc6w-tcMRrp6vm4vf3a9iU6QYIEwtIAiXqv_XC_VKy8Jc-Z52c/s1600/bv20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZK4wE0rfDc6sAPuSrPx8U9QeSsMBYJTUAmVU187W_BbFfVvqYMu-rheXwMShJjvnw_2c7KK2bhELrSUJe-HpjVuQzAc6w-tcMRrp6vm4vf3a9iU6QYIEwtIAiXqv_XC_VKy8Jc-Z52c/s1600/bv20.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Once again I got a confusing lesson on beaver
communications, once again seeing a young beaver with an
independent streak as the old beaver swam to the very far end of
the pond. On the golf course I saw a deer and a turkey grazing
almost next to each other.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 22 headed off in boat a little before 5
to check on what's happening at Audubon Pond. Cool evening, even
colder in the boat but it was good to be back on the river. As of
two days ago the water temperature was 38 and I've already
collected the bodies of some midges, I assume, who were out
briefly and died. They also attracted swallows. I assume the
insects came out of the water because floating next to the bodies
seemed to be larva cases. Out on the river this evening I saw,
other than the usual geese, a few pairs of buffleheads. The
water level is high enough and going up so I had no trouble
docking. There were no fresh otter scats on the docking rock --
we had a rain shower last night, but up on the land there was new
scat, though nothing looking very fresh. Audubon Pond remains
full and as I walked along the embankment a deer ran off it and a
muskrat swam into it. The drain leaks at the top even though it
looks like the beaver has continued to pile on mud.</span><br />
</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the embankment I found some fish bones,
picked clean.</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFojKgor_Y1xkYxcZbGBQFfNhTBIME0xJnnUjBypWVIpLkzKtkc4PwIO3EnIwKmgkZKC0YJBURTOdcjon2n1G9cG_Gs4hCfT8NskZjVG9km0UewJCS72NHOYXIMYwmN2K2lC5FqUIlo0/s1600/fishbones22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFojKgor_Y1xkYxcZbGBQFfNhTBIME0xJnnUjBypWVIpLkzKtkc4PwIO3EnIwKmgkZKC0YJBURTOdcjon2n1G9cG_Gs4hCfT8NskZjVG9km0UewJCS72NHOYXIMYwmN2K2lC5FqUIlo0/s1600/fishbones22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I always attribute such neat work to raccoons
who have light fingered paws so much like our hands. Walking
around the west shore I didn't see much beaver work, perhaps some
biting deeper into the wood of the the large girdled oak. No more
work on shag-bark hickories but there were more old logs and some
mud piled on top of the small bank lodge on that shore.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1bxI_hl0XWS8-oHHyTmxJaHRVCV92owEdnij6Z1oei58CZmW1BOFld9VoCXBnExh3__Y-7QpMDTk8mh1w-cUE4nLFhfY_gMr0sDSYX8DsrBx6d7d2kSLUIPewgst3RcYzb4hHtgAhF0/s1600/apbanklod22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1bxI_hl0XWS8-oHHyTmxJaHRVCV92owEdnij6Z1oei58CZmW1BOFld9VoCXBnExh3__Y-7QpMDTk8mh1w-cUE4nLFhfY_gMr0sDSYX8DsrBx6d7d2kSLUIPewgst3RcYzb4hHtgAhF0/s1600/apbanklod22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I suspect the beaver is living there and the
muskrats live in the embankment. On my way to the bench I saw a
painted turtle on a log in the pond that didn't scurry off too
quickly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwK1T3ch98rnYAvwDjspJPlv7ymn0m5U8rFBdloqPD4qQljxjvdZJt5amSIvs0PX9uadDz_tV0JzjggTVrEAEhcrzgBr7gKLQL6X7j-MrurAF1DrdwQjJiiKe2Lx0EQIgrlA7yruto4g/s1600/turtle22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTwK1T3ch98rnYAvwDjspJPlv7ymn0m5U8rFBdloqPD4qQljxjvdZJt5amSIvs0PX9uadDz_tV0JzjggTVrEAEhcrzgBr7gKLQL6X7j-MrurAF1DrdwQjJiiKe2Lx0EQIgrlA7yruto4g/s1600/turtle22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the path I found a broken goose egg, and the
geese were no longer on or protecting the lodge where they had
their nest. I sat on the bench briefly and there seemed to be
nothing added to the bank lodge there. I moved on expecting to
come back that way to get back to my boat. Crossing the long
causeway a pair of geese were slow to move off and quiet when
they did so. There was another busted egg on the causeway. Their
ordeal of procreation over early either these geese were relaxing
or they were depressed. I walked along the South Bay trail at the
cove I saw a male mallard and a pair of blue winged teals -- the
latter much smaller than the former. Up on the knoll I found more
new otter scat -- but nothing too fresh. A heron flew off when I
came in, and no muskrats were about. I went to the East Trail
Pond on the trail and I noticed fresh beaver work on the plateau
above the pond, which I could get in the same picture with some
bleached deer bones on the ground.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A pointless commentary on herbivores I suppose.
Then when I could see down to the pond, I saw the beaver leaning
on the maple it had felled across the mossy rock last fall.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXvQzDJfTFnt_InY89Ern9ejo7zFEr8Kiw1vjR_ZRFitbI5rPpQdZcy2S2FWVe4UrUyu2purSi9iW_F_bXo0cKP5rvyHB3Cd7Tbao1JkQ6KGKs2Z5Afap2X9F9ORBnAQg-sPsnMD_PYg/s1600/etbv22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXvQzDJfTFnt_InY89Ern9ejo7zFEr8Kiw1vjR_ZRFitbI5rPpQdZcy2S2FWVe4UrUyu2purSi9iW_F_bXo0cKP5rvyHB3Cd7Tbao1JkQ6KGKs2Z5Afap2X9F9ORBnAQg-sPsnMD_PYg/s1600/etbv22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I tried to get closer and it moved into the
water, splashed me once and swam around in circles. Then two loud
geese flew in honking at me but swimming closer to the beaver.
When the beaver turned toward them, they moved off and the beaver
dove and disappeared. The dam remains unpatched, which remains
difficult to account for since the beaver is capable enough to
cut some good size trees. I waited a bit to see if there were
other beavers, as I suspect, but none surfaced. I found some
fresh otter scat on the trail down the ridge.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1609faB8rfLGtH1_-P1kZXNLScSak9P_5bBlrWrDUY47HZ9Vu08BSmlOyBR_5DDhc8G04adhYPh46jw1gcaV3eXGajhTIuixeLZwlmNZj72kFctS4HKLT8dZkMdMMMZEyHSQCm1C6r48/s1600/etscats22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1609faB8rfLGtH1_-P1kZXNLScSak9P_5bBlrWrDUY47HZ9Vu08BSmlOyBR_5DDhc8G04adhYPh46jw1gcaV3eXGajhTIuixeLZwlmNZj72kFctS4HKLT8dZkMdMMMZEyHSQCm1C6r48/s1600/etscats22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So some otter has not completely forgotten the
interior ponds. I know mother otters raise their pups in this
pond and it stands to reason that one might give birth to them
here. As I went up to the west end of the pond, which remains
shallow, I saw a muskrat swimming about. The bank lodge there
that I think otters have used is almost high and dry, There is a
pathway of mud not water to it. When I got to Thicket Pond, I
also saw a head swimming into the thickets. It could have been a
muskrat. The comb frogs were singing, accompanied by a couple
leopard frogs. These clicks and snores make a good combination.
As I waited for a beaver to appear, I noticed that they had built
up the dam that had made a small pool in front of the pond. The
water flooded back, half over the original dam.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjtl4conv8Cn_kw2XEfd5q7ZrytMZz_-xRn-g5KLZh0FXyvsZe6UrMR8BrkCH9baAspZYFiRtZhMtXIUV2rLQMF2xpPlhKXKlO6BRBW7MkCbxQjomsIv2CjFQkSKKboAyBRkI9nnckgI/s1600/tpdam22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjtl4conv8Cn_kw2XEfd5q7ZrytMZz_-xRn-g5KLZh0FXyvsZe6UrMR8BrkCH9baAspZYFiRtZhMtXIUV2rLQMF2xpPlhKXKlO6BRBW7MkCbxQjomsIv2CjFQkSKKboAyBRkI9nnckgI/s1600/tpdam22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So ponds grow. I saw fresh work, but no
beavers. I went to where I had seen some beaver nibbles at the
end of a canal of Meander Pond, but there was no new work there.
There were pathways through the pond grasses, but muskrats
probably made them. At this pond the peepers were in loud chorus.
In a smaller venue at our land we heard some undertones of the
peepers' song, sort of like shuffling dice, and asking about
that, Fred on the Nature List suggested that it came from the
peepers' vocal sacs shutting. Listening to this chorus I thought
I heard the same undertone which before I would have factored out
as bird chatter. I continued on to Audubon Pond and approached
the two geese at the same spot on the causeway. However this time
I noticed that the beaver had done some work on the other side of
the causeway. I saw a long stripped log and a pine had been
felled on the other bank of the pond above Audubon Pond. I also
saw a beaver swimming along the embankment heading for the fallen
pine. It swam under the causeway through the conduit pipes and
then gnawed on a log,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYqy2NGdjqbMA4R-aCer3HFFPchYiHfKMrV7qjElOMWczPwhGniI6DcOIr8V6i8g5IO0BfER3z36Jn_sgOuHpP8pkuk7WvTiycBu1bsx3oXfMw25fOocnFvgD5TozFQTONIYvRlc7wf4/s1600/apbvwk22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYqy2NGdjqbMA4R-aCer3HFFPchYiHfKMrV7qjElOMWczPwhGniI6DcOIr8V6i8g5IO0BfER3z36Jn_sgOuHpP8pkuk7WvTiycBu1bsx3oXfMw25fOocnFvgD5TozFQTONIYvRlc7wf4/s1600/apbvwk22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">reached up for pine needles and sampled some
grasses in reach. Then it went into the water, swam toward me and
came out on the causeway where the grass was greener. I moved
closer and the geese quietly moved back into the pond -- no alarm
at all to alert the beaver. At first I thought the beaver had
some patchy fur but when I got a closer look, it appeared
healthy, thought for some reason a beaver eating grass</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_odke8P3yyAixs3TXvTCKepH_45w6KMtOtQfhtdFtTPDBP3VVcb5-jybkr8QMHNHd1SGayBY9NwJEc_4TQV1VyFTEu85cVw8tIos9oLw8IC2V4TYQ7iVjbpGjXDWIaeEQWSz3Fmrigc/s1600/bvgrass22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_odke8P3yyAixs3TXvTCKepH_45w6KMtOtQfhtdFtTPDBP3VVcb5-jybkr8QMHNHd1SGayBY9NwJEc_4TQV1VyFTEu85cVw8tIos9oLw8IC2V4TYQ7iVjbpGjXDWIaeEQWSz3Fmrigc/s1600/bvgrass22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">never quite seems to be doing what it is cut
out to do.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMr505vVnQ4aPQmIUmEWixtUTwPwV-7ADSKk2Tra_IxoDxldU3IhzvCbiljh3ImFvEGJds5F08c8bU_eEuA4M5U9QBte15kPduzaTn7Z-1naPS1TK-K1i5vauA4PijzloanV-ADOMNhm8/s1600/bvgrass22a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMr505vVnQ4aPQmIUmEWixtUTwPwV-7ADSKk2Tra_IxoDxldU3IhzvCbiljh3ImFvEGJds5F08c8bU_eEuA4M5U9QBte15kPduzaTn7Z-1naPS1TK-K1i5vauA4PijzloanV-ADOMNhm8/s1600/bvgrass22a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course when I got too close, it swam off and
started pounding its tail, swam under the causeway back to
Audubon Pond and pounded some more, and thus seemed healthy in
that respect. This is a small beaver but judging from its
patching the drain, repairing the lodges and cutting trees, it is
quite capable. While snapping away at the beaver, an osprey flew
over. Red wing blackbirds were also foraging along the pond
shores, and back at Thicket Pond I saw a towhee rooting through
some leaves.</span></div>
</div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-48667994129880592472016-12-19T10:45:00.000-08:002016-12-19T10:45:37.494-08:00April 2 to 8, 2004<span style="font-size: medium;">April 2 the weather turned cold again, and
rainy, and I couldn't shake a cold as soon as usual, so I lost
touch with the final disappearance of the ice, save for that
which drifted by the dock. Ottoleo got some photos of it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHs1eFQrobJlbIyTZey41tMkv9CQROFXhEsSMQta_SgmQmfP0mT1m5u70nBusnXxiyteo2X4-9s4ldRah3D8exyO2ReUeno47ynF7_ut8kjG3nMy3C5f7ECYtYlbfyqVo4nDFWdVSoUnU/s1600/ice2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHs1eFQrobJlbIyTZey41tMkv9CQROFXhEsSMQta_SgmQmfP0mT1m5u70nBusnXxiyteo2X4-9s4ldRah3D8exyO2ReUeno47ynF7_ut8kjG3nMy3C5f7ECYtYlbfyqVo4nDFWdVSoUnU/s1600/ice2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It seemed thicker than usual and broke up in
more massive blocks; less like glass palaces floating by and more
like low fortresses. The rapid thaw left some interesting
intricate patterns on the ice. Last night there was heavy,
driving rain -- a northeaster, so I headed off on a land that was
soaked, puddled and almost flowing. Rather thin worms were
struggling atop the dirt road. But the first interesting sights
were ducks out of water. Four wood ducks (I hope they were two
pairs) flew out of a tall oak. One perched on a limb giving a
good profile but flew off before I could get the camera out. I
scowled at the wet turf of the small causeway and around the
outlet creek from the New Pond and saw no otter signs. Up on the
knoll above the New Pond there appeared to be a new bunching of
leaves but I saw no scat. I didn't go up to the ponds because I
haven't checked Audubon Pond in a while so I went there. I
checked the docking rock first,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_i5HCVB1B7Ji4QB2atiMu2eyv_V7ocFRVFHpKb8zsASHUaoYU2w2XKY6wTghsPxWGzs7QK1dINhFvzhhu2IA4Rz9Ll8ocRphmb3_1oR3zARs4ulwDWFaIaB60vtEXxnSm1Ant6IgFw4/s1600/drock2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_i5HCVB1B7Ji4QB2atiMu2eyv_V7ocFRVFHpKb8zsASHUaoYU2w2XKY6wTghsPxWGzs7QK1dINhFvzhhu2IA4Rz9Ll8ocRphmb3_1oR3zARs4ulwDWFaIaB60vtEXxnSm1Ant6IgFw4/s1600/drock2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">saw some digging in the bank and then some
otter scats on the bank</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RfGuvQchlJe8s8Y964cewJwIVM9sXe_SmPgQ_lKpR5UrLMGm0jLIKHqPVCDCApxOcKTax6KAtxK0huXF8Mt5t9X2xS_8tSjhKTkt9Ds5AM903H1U-_ShDtScWcxseAwIaOjYGdw6t30/s1600/drscat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RfGuvQchlJe8s8Y964cewJwIVM9sXe_SmPgQ_lKpR5UrLMGm0jLIKHqPVCDCApxOcKTax6KAtxK0huXF8Mt5t9X2xS_8tSjhKTkt9Ds5AM903H1U-_ShDtScWcxseAwIaOjYGdw6t30/s1600/drscat2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and below it. I am pretty sure this is fresh,
though it is hard to judge freshness on such a damp day. There
were no scats on the rock itself. I would like to see the otters
on this rock some day, to see exactly where they sniff and if it
is indeed them doing the digging. I assume they come in the early
morning. Marking here doesn't always correspond with activity in
Audubon Pond. Along the big embankment I did see a scat right at
the spot they scatted in the snow, so it might not have been new.
Along the shore, where I knew the otters had been active under
the ice, I saw the remains of several large fish.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg1pbzeODbM6Uq0wvkdxIt-Jvw7UNkiFS2lAs5lbiK4o78gax3WxGstV7AojI5DySAgc3EMvmrxx8v6h7YWOqot80pGrMlNSbe6BFYg3fNyceFfeBArF2jYvFBlqUiykru9AYN0B0B6o/s1600/apfish2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggg1pbzeODbM6Uq0wvkdxIt-Jvw7UNkiFS2lAs5lbiK4o78gax3WxGstV7AojI5DySAgc3EMvmrxx8v6h7YWOqot80pGrMlNSbe6BFYg3fNyceFfeBArF2jYvFBlqUiykru9AYN0B0B6o/s1600/apfish2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At first I assumed the otters did it, but then
I noticed that the wind was collecting a good number of large dead
fish, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8hN9Vr2w3HLI2DS_0jcIOQSxvAF3nsz7XahVMzW-byTRLIgr_HyDRkZo_QgDu2itOI0TQcVlWslACMSKy6vsz6qljDTNj2-rTznFOiX6aHFs16dPRFBTwjGGzKeSLcBrOORW8Kdh0eQ/s1600/apfish2c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8hN9Vr2w3HLI2DS_0jcIOQSxvAF3nsz7XahVMzW-byTRLIgr_HyDRkZo_QgDu2itOI0TQcVlWslACMSKy6vsz6qljDTNj2-rTznFOiX6aHFs16dPRFBTwjGGzKeSLcBrOORW8Kdh0eQ/s1600/apfish2c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">almost a dozen, at the end of the pond. These
were winter kill and I suppose it is possible that raccoons,
minks, and gulls who have been active here, scavenged them out of
the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2VbFbdtWNc_OJ-ruaRjc4bUB7iOGUqsYn2k88t6Yy8vE6gzLc3ZxvgbUWuzA0QLetJb2KFW_OEhN6FJj3WQp0jzlZR0rbQFRFxY8qM0Rmi_aymdyievERq9RK_pGs_OE4HCDn1S7ERk/s1600/apfish2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2VbFbdtWNc_OJ-ruaRjc4bUB7iOGUqsYn2k88t6Yy8vE6gzLc3ZxvgbUWuzA0QLetJb2KFW_OEhN6FJj3WQp0jzlZR0rbQFRFxY8qM0Rmi_aymdyievERq9RK_pGs_OE4HCDn1S7ERk/s1600/apfish2b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, I fingered some of the remains and
they didn't strike me as long rotten.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-O0ouFkhckqnOB6_G3082JuLljVcMPu6AP4ltIwV6AJcC4T8QQjfBrDdx9YjCsBGr6VFdXW7F4lJBMYd_uNU9A1FNE0AFAo_4NukXkQmt74Xnfv6Mu6174uWIPuM9-DjHL9A0C7nvcDY/s1600/apfish2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-O0ouFkhckqnOB6_G3082JuLljVcMPu6AP4ltIwV6AJcC4T8QQjfBrDdx9YjCsBGr6VFdXW7F4lJBMYd_uNU9A1FNE0AFAo_4NukXkQmt74Xnfv6Mu6174uWIPuM9-DjHL9A0C7nvcDY/s1600/apfish2a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I credit the otters for the above but these
meals might not have been that recent because I didn't see fresh
scat. Of course, I was also curious if the beaver here survived
the winter. I saw a pile of leaves and grass on a rock at the
southwest corner of the pond, an area where the beaver liked to
go, and then along the shore I saw a freshly girdled tree which
looked like beaver work,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XO1KGz0dLG0fnvlsG6YTqMVSnaNMsGLaET98FDnk7p4N3h6SsgCtGZoQ-fJKGZLQiP6n3o8OwkMq3Q0n1K9GJw3W6Yuq3H-tODxxMK_22rLFo9d3VIqPmwoR-0yTQMXfzq_neSg2sa0/s1600/apbvwk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XO1KGz0dLG0fnvlsG6YTqMVSnaNMsGLaET98FDnk7p4N3h6SsgCtGZoQ-fJKGZLQiP6n3o8OwkMq3Q0n1K9GJw3W6Yuq3H-tODxxMK_22rLFo9d3VIqPmwoR-0yTQMXfzq_neSg2sa0/s1600/apbvwk2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and it was an ash, and I read that porcupines
don't touch ash. Then along the shore where there is a small old
bank lodge there were more piles of grass and mud.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicsVGso92oyPmd2xGsRk2g1g9i_m0Dj_uJjEtxNx4kkyL4OaBMPLp1vTzPKbyrCrBzOIQFwuALjzouUyW7quAYwTIjZWEGcaxiigEeLAHHZLOZL8FS-oKv3fT-O3HHWLl12qJF-Gyd3g/s1600/bvmk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicsVGso92oyPmd2xGsRk2g1g9i_m0Dj_uJjEtxNx4kkyL4OaBMPLp1vTzPKbyrCrBzOIQFwuALjzouUyW7quAYwTIjZWEGcaxiigEeLAHHZLOZL8FS-oKv3fT-O3HHWLl12qJF-Gyd3g/s1600/bvmk2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then at the bank lodge by the bench there were
more piles, and a gurgle of water. I sat and just when I saw one
beaver head surface on the other side of the lodge, I heard
another beaver smacking its tail repeatedly out in the pond. I
lost the latter as it cruised toward the embankment. The other
beaver balled up on the shore, munching what I could not see.
When I walked around, it swam out</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPzKqLzSqDB_U4VT5i6ZOgPna45S7VamglazO04obV8oo7p-q9osUfUxVxtstDoT08erXlW0Qt3kg8Bgndnv_Yf4r6ACBs5ec7pWlDPMLa-52nCj4XwluRgZ8mLnZsIto8FqhPrqG98s/s1600/bv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPzKqLzSqDB_U4VT5i6ZOgPna45S7VamglazO04obV8oo7p-q9osUfUxVxtstDoT08erXlW0Qt3kg8Bgndnv_Yf4r6ACBs5ec7pWlDPMLa-52nCj4XwluRgZ8mLnZsIto8FqhPrqG98s/s1600/bv2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and banged its tail a few times. The size and
manner of these beavers remind me of the ones I saw here in the
fall -- or rather one was here in the fall, but I knew another
was out in South Bay. Anyway I think it shows beavers can survive
in a large pond without a cache pile, eating roots and the
accumulation of grasses and old logs on the pond bottom. As I sat
a seagull flew by and deftly snagged a shiner. Coming to the
pond, a crow chased off a hawk, and going from the pond a heron
flew over me. Otherwise, the robins were full of song and busy
after the worms.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 5 yesterday began with driving rain which
soon turned to snow and then cold, with a pipe rattling northwest
wind. At dawn it was 15 degrees, cloudy, but the wind had
stopped. There was an inch or two of snow on the ground, so we
headed off to do some tracking. Most of the way to and around
South Bay we were following a fox's tracks. Then out on the bay,
a large bird diverted us, large enough to set the ducks off and
large enough so that crows perched nearby didn't chase it. We
saw it perched on trees, and save for looking a bit brownish, we
would say it was an eagle</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpr3XjTK-Ta3QJ-vPyk4LNIUyFKB5eidNRanZt72w6nHsRjIzsDL4_koLJEbN0lo-0G0R_Hj3o6IoIgdx04yFL9ND4SDZUlT5b0J2yv3MGoO0zeEkjXL5kdIcpFC7dKCoY9sVgpE2Pmc/s1600/eagle2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpr3XjTK-Ta3QJ-vPyk4LNIUyFKB5eidNRanZt72w6nHsRjIzsDL4_koLJEbN0lo-0G0R_Hj3o6IoIgdx04yFL9ND4SDZUlT5b0J2yv3MGoO0zeEkjXL5kdIcpFC7dKCoY9sVgpE2Pmc/s1600/eagle2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then we saw activity along the north shore of
South Bay which, being out of the wind, had some thin ice on it.
We could see tracks on the snow and holes in the ice, which had
us thinking otter, but the tracks in the snow were definitely
made by a mink</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOBqF_IGTtctdR66QGkrPR5G10YmSGqDAsB6IBPRD6Z3pzNa9weU-aIvGcFwL01pxxrv64cscILUhgrzYBX_spDi8UTblnpw5klbxRhukERc8NYZ4kf7flYWvw1a83xV9NggSz03Z1-o/s1600/minktks5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOBqF_IGTtctdR66QGkrPR5G10YmSGqDAsB6IBPRD6Z3pzNa9weU-aIvGcFwL01pxxrv64cscILUhgrzYBX_spDi8UTblnpw5klbxRhukERc8NYZ4kf7flYWvw1a83xV9NggSz03Z1-o/s1600/minktks5.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and after we saw some nibbled sticks and limbs,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxsSKozl5meMlv9VTcmmw2ChnzSnhzPHGYMAPMkYVY_1czs7z36BCBboio8CQ_lyr9oEUb_XTHIWmr733t8CVyywOSJFwjmt0h5MaiwvwM19SS1zyFpJJWM96Act57fRqFhU1hGwgCFY/s1600/sbbvwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxsSKozl5meMlv9VTcmmw2ChnzSnhzPHGYMAPMkYVY_1czs7z36BCBboio8CQ_lyr9oEUb_XTHIWmr733t8CVyywOSJFwjmt0h5MaiwvwM19SS1zyFpJJWM96Act57fRqFhU1hGwgCFY/s1600/sbbvwk5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">we decided that a beaver had broken through the
ice. I didn't see any beaver tracks on the shore. There was
broken ice along the marsh where a beaver lived last fall. My
guess is that one, if not both of the beavers, in Audubon Pond
had moved down to South Bay. Only the mink had crossed the
docking rock. On the way to the narrows, I noticed that the
serviceberry trunk that had crossed the path was now down in the
water below, completely stripped.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQC11i-puVMi4xgyYvkYlGynDy229_6YAf_q70lC5GuI_1Vt5eMolwksqUvTbfNWr_VbeWT7qcWWuwPLk8BptzTG2_IpXb8aQNr1itNK2YSdtBFzfVEiwlBA6atiq4xA630OL4a8fsLU/s1600/narbvwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQC11i-puVMi4xgyYvkYlGynDy229_6YAf_q70lC5GuI_1Vt5eMolwksqUvTbfNWr_VbeWT7qcWWuwPLk8BptzTG2_IpXb8aQNr1itNK2YSdtBFzfVEiwlBA6atiq4xA630OL4a8fsLU/s1600/narbvwk5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No fresh signs of beavers in the snow, nor any
otter signs, even out on the low rock at the entrance to the
Narrows. There were two geese in Audubon Pond, trying to cling to
the north shore to keep out of the wind. There was a fringe of
ice there and a few bubbles coming from the bank lodge by the
bench, but no other signs of beavers. I decided I had to check
some of the ponds and I headed up to the Lost Swamp, seeing and
disturbing, mallards, wood ducks, and others quite black. I
admired how well patched the Second Swamp Pond dam is</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv6Y5dyek_TJLi77sd5QgoXe_c89Z5MNXLCs2PkPkI_M4P-mWoRvXGOrQTJsWTWmN25KyLq7Fb83pECr1zssqPQWvN9_u6uUqk4-lTNyPl-dNueFWsq_JyTMzO5z6SBS7-N07BNVDJ1A/s1600/spdam5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv6Y5dyek_TJLi77sd5QgoXe_c89Z5MNXLCs2PkPkI_M4P-mWoRvXGOrQTJsWTWmN25KyLq7Fb83pECr1zssqPQWvN9_u6uUqk4-lTNyPl-dNueFWsq_JyTMzO5z6SBS7-N07BNVDJ1A/s1600/spdam5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and tried to get out on it just to make sure an
otter didn't pop up on it. More wood ducks on the Lost Swamp
Pond, and I picked up mink tracks again. I saw some in the New
Pond, but none above that, so I think I crossed from one mink's
territory to another. Here again the pond is full. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWti8PiWUvt5FqBvLuQa4D7-xLz80eMbGRSATrCO933HNpNyAK8NLu0e3khNGgV1RWbNCWhjwezlOdH-Z_nu_oomvInELbbPGCbknaNn0y3CwGUx6K-4afT0FJWNlpq7qRGYlkzQCzv3Q/s1600/ls5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWti8PiWUvt5FqBvLuQa4D7-xLz80eMbGRSATrCO933HNpNyAK8NLu0e3khNGgV1RWbNCWhjwezlOdH-Z_nu_oomvInELbbPGCbknaNn0y3CwGUx6K-4afT0FJWNlpq7qRGYlkzQCzv3Q/s1600/ls5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I expected the Big Pond to be lower, but it was
quite full. Then I saw a scent mound on the dam with much
tramping in the snow.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZtXOv60olO_NFRht3OXQsX1sv2VQJ4pynWYNg6jTwhNaRPf4EC9AIgZOKXDOwfWYlpPeCickX5rkB4z2m3iQlMG1UWj2rL8LgUK-gf_y6_m3IAsg7v_JT_NAx_0Cqhmj1Ekl0DkkcSU/s1600/bpmound5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZtXOv60olO_NFRht3OXQsX1sv2VQJ4pynWYNg6jTwhNaRPf4EC9AIgZOKXDOwfWYlpPeCickX5rkB4z2m3iQlMG1UWj2rL8LgUK-gf_y6_m3IAsg7v_JT_NAx_0Cqhmj1Ekl0DkkcSU/s1600/bpmound5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suspect a beaver did it but I did see one
otter like print. Then I saw another scent with mud and another.
Plus what leaks there were along this section of the dam were
patched. However, at the other end of the dam, where the big
leaks are, the big leaks remain, but there, the scent mounds are
even bigger. It looked like something had gone over the dam,
leaving a trough but not quite like an otter's, and came back up.
So I went down to the next dam and saw mud smeared on the dam and
the ice broken in several places</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_SNDkdSGFhOq-tHlo7gFpaz_nn6J09_vm_hupQJxspBuCtsCGeX5luVm3nEJNDO9RxFKdDxb5hGh5AQrly18hLa6sbdtMWFClwQI6eufTaLB6gvZD9eF7tmOp0zw550RzjQ5Cm_JLcs/s1600/belowbp5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_SNDkdSGFhOq-tHlo7gFpaz_nn6J09_vm_hupQJxspBuCtsCGeX5luVm3nEJNDO9RxFKdDxb5hGh5AQrly18hLa6sbdtMWFClwQI6eufTaLB6gvZD9eF7tmOp0zw550RzjQ5Cm_JLcs/s1600/belowbp5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">with a slide on the ice,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-bsddWqGDTUaoojT1DGsG8pUN1tTBbbnnG-PYXbg6aZkpXJF3NY2jaM7uHKxc5HEcxRj_wRlJFoZB8akaEKatvlbhKiHPIEQg_zPji8kucrSXyxCvu_OJaQSPspqoKtB7GVgphPhlnY/s1600/iceslide5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-bsddWqGDTUaoojT1DGsG8pUN1tTBbbnnG-PYXbg6aZkpXJF3NY2jaM7uHKxc5HEcxRj_wRlJFoZB8akaEKatvlbhKiHPIEQg_zPji8kucrSXyxCvu_OJaQSPspqoKtB7GVgphPhlnY/s1600/iceslide5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I am sure a beaver did this. I went further
down stream and at the Middle Pond saw ice broken, but two huge
gaps in the dam. So I thought a muskrat could be down here, then
I saw a large recently used hole into the dam,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd7cWWZ3krZfYqfRwKjDv1snd8d7faniX_Et4SA-67eTdcPgN_4j_JqvkiG8uR_feKO8ljSYecW7LEmx-bCCxvKs77bbXmVnBre8jUqrP8sUiHKrBV1O8y9Cc0oeYlRlO62giBgeaHww/s1600/mphole5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWd7cWWZ3krZfYqfRwKjDv1snd8d7faniX_Et4SA-67eTdcPgN_4j_JqvkiG8uR_feKO8ljSYecW7LEmx-bCCxvKs77bbXmVnBre8jUqrP8sUiHKrBV1O8y9Cc0oeYlRlO62giBgeaHww/s1600/mphole5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which gave me the notion that a beaver had come
up from South Bay before the snow. Last year the beavers up on
Nunn's land above the Big Pond tended the Big Pond dam and the
next dam down. They never bothered with the Middle Pond, as far
as I could tell. I am gratified to see a beaver here, surprised
that a beaver was so active as the temperature plunged, and hope
it does the major repairs that these dams need.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 6 another cold morning but sunny, then it
warmed up, and I planned to go out around dinner time to see if I
could see the beaver working on the Big Pond. In the afternoon we
took a brief trip to our land on the mainland, and as I walked
down to the largest pond, I noticed that several holes had been
made through the ice,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFF8Uoxo7pSzl1EokaTF65T7aVvRDpbnMZwgiImSgQyJYm8xO4dbjNJPiLwWxEyCYpnwUEB6z7ePdqDQwhJZE6RWVSuKD36p2s638_B_4sK7o4F1mkFeXwq7O2-5qoMGpgO19qiCBFlNo/s1600/landice6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFF8Uoxo7pSzl1EokaTF65T7aVvRDpbnMZwgiImSgQyJYm8xO4dbjNJPiLwWxEyCYpnwUEB6z7ePdqDQwhJZE6RWVSuKD36p2s638_B_4sK7o4F1mkFeXwq7O2-5qoMGpgO19qiCBFlNo/s1600/landice6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">unlike what the beavers there would make. This
is a relatively deep pond and I am familiar with where the
beavers go -- along the shore. As I got close to the pond I saw
something black along the shore, saw it slither and knew in an
instant that it wasn't a beaver. Then I saw the tail of what I
took to be a large male otter. It disappeared under the water
than surfaced along the mud bank of the pond, dove again and
after a minute, I heard ice break on the other side of the pond
and it popped up there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTaIGbxmTWG7tqPvSStHIlrQ0J3nWHW6Ojv6Gct24xdffeKl4IWUnkGhUxbFunJU-4lyHabTRDkIs7QeFjR2eeOGF7dkWGRabYdDr6yQTY9R22shoOqyzZr3KP2scaPZmfmsThJikmfA/s1600/otter6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTaIGbxmTWG7tqPvSStHIlrQ0J3nWHW6Ojv6Gct24xdffeKl4IWUnkGhUxbFunJU-4lyHabTRDkIs7QeFjR2eeOGF7dkWGRabYdDr6yQTY9R22shoOqyzZr3KP2scaPZmfmsThJikmfA/s1600/otter6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It dove, rolling its body into the water,
popped up again, making another hole in the ice and I think got
an inkling that I was there. It came up one more time, closer to
me, but only put its head up, like a big turtle,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1E92rYFivUP5XG5eyRJI5qw-9NSXunPiG7kNWWznEhoJQHN5PBSY4cTvSBye8g6HXlFuhsICqFBKnwGZjPKewkKT-TUw28YhEggz-VpAnVA0j0q3qLIg4h4akulTewbHt75MTaUGNgI/s1600/otter6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1E92rYFivUP5XG5eyRJI5qw-9NSXunPiG7kNWWznEhoJQHN5PBSY4cTvSBye8g6HXlFuhsICqFBKnwGZjPKewkKT-TUw28YhEggz-VpAnVA0j0q3qLIg4h4akulTewbHt75MTaUGNgI/s1600/otter6a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and ducked down, rather than role, back into
the depths. I waited for twenty minutes and it didn't reappear. I
walked around the pond and didn't see any scat. It must have just
come in. In springs past pike have spawned here (stocked years
ago.) Over the years otters have gotten at least two in the
spring. This might be an annual ritual for this otter.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed across the golf course at about 4:30
pm, few deer to be seen, but a good number of geese, some
exercised enough by me to do some honking. I heard a few comb
frogs over in the swamp below the fifth hole. Once in the woods,
I admired the old porcupine den in the tree with its wonderful
talus slope of poop.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rdgo99IW9tPZpuo_QKDHTyKdCebf1GMNw3QmKpfyQIEzd82evpFo8EuU3HvvorxvavM7jMPrNRV5Mtfv9KxFkPD3KkOiMYQux301aqKlNgtSrS3ILH3j0eVU3i8CMDJWJMJY1f8SD8Y/s1600/ppoop6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rdgo99IW9tPZpuo_QKDHTyKdCebf1GMNw3QmKpfyQIEzd82evpFo8EuU3HvvorxvavM7jMPrNRV5Mtfv9KxFkPD3KkOiMYQux301aqKlNgtSrS3ILH3j0eVU3i8CMDJWJMJY1f8SD8Y/s1600/ppoop6.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign of the porcupine. There are some nice
vernal pools at the top of the second valley and a good number of
comb frogs were busy there, as well as a small flock of robins,
rather insistently working their way through the leaves. Down at
the porcupine den above the rocks I took photos of the stripped
oaks</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeLTAwCdiolSCjR2j2R5-TxuNSLoYpV4ruK4oRySdReC0pu_sE2Balkdzga0wp3hm-3tzwwFUy_NkzIWWsO8yXL77IXi98bB-6v_SvNAjX8zJgPKVIHq45lM_JRu1BIeXKTjt2-Yd0pA/s1600/ppwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbeLTAwCdiolSCjR2j2R5-TxuNSLoYpV4ruK4oRySdReC0pu_sE2Balkdzga0wp3hm-3tzwwFUy_NkzIWWsO8yXL77IXi98bB-6v_SvNAjX8zJgPKVIHq45lM_JRu1BIeXKTjt2-Yd0pA/s1600/ppwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and admired the poop on its rock porch, again,
no sign of the critter. So down to the pond where, of course,
there was no ice to cross, and what a contrast from last year
when at this time the pond had been reduced to a stream. In the
area that half stays open in the winter, fed by a weak spring, I
saw a large school of minnows,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87flW3RJnJSmW8dXnmYUv0gpyzZP2FinBfcWRfKvGMrKYPxa-MGkbwPvoYEKA9-NLBYEDC1nVvM95INr3tialWACUtF48dE0HWUhsnhQBCD6xs1zWcCSM3Tpx6vC2Pw33QWp2Iuwu_8A/s1600/fish6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87flW3RJnJSmW8dXnmYUv0gpyzZP2FinBfcWRfKvGMrKYPxa-MGkbwPvoYEKA9-NLBYEDC1nVvM95INr3tialWACUtF48dE0HWUhsnhQBCD6xs1zWcCSM3Tpx6vC2Pw33QWp2Iuwu_8A/s1600/fish6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and periodically one would jump up out of the
water, and in the water there was more than the usual friskiness.
I usually don't see schools like this until the warmth of May,
and no leaping out until the heat of July. I walked down to a
comfortable pine and camped out with a view of the dam hoping to
see a beaver get to work. But after an hour nothing happened. On
my way to the dam I noticed that at one canal some ice was broken
as a beaver would do it and there was a handsome scent mound on
the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOmJCH7EgbQU_7daFiqA_WWvWlJpFyd5iBE7feyjXnrtlQPgNPxeHn76jgzhC7LJRkyUaa4jDfyJcmUJgB5XkrxwzZojy6yt2mM3BvDg2Rrvlagx8aodQJFB2uP_Ny3uVl5H4Ay16WUY/s1600/bvice6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOmJCH7EgbQU_7daFiqA_WWvWlJpFyd5iBE7feyjXnrtlQPgNPxeHn76jgzhC7LJRkyUaa4jDfyJcmUJgB5XkrxwzZojy6yt2mM3BvDg2Rrvlagx8aodQJFB2uP_Ny3uVl5H4Ay16WUY/s1600/bvice6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I looked up the path into the bush but didn't
see any work up there. At the dam, water still rushes through the
leaks but I did see some fresh mud up on the dam. I saw a muskrat
steaming toward the dam. I tried to get an angle to see it
working along the dam, couldn't, but at my feet saw some fresh
beaver nibblings, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aN900mf1C7eRXMqoVaTDPt8Fzs91fT3U6mzbgaS7a28ezkMUwBSiJtYv2QVbPEh1hx2XPbz9bVcN39U2Wm_u7P5drJmrySRJTIB-OYWo2Yi-h4R6Gj6BEP683Vr4ik3UeCYl6bUA6Nw/s1600/bvwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aN900mf1C7eRXMqoVaTDPt8Fzs91fT3U6mzbgaS7a28ezkMUwBSiJtYv2QVbPEh1hx2XPbz9bVcN39U2Wm_u7P5drJmrySRJTIB-OYWo2Yi-h4R6Gj6BEP683Vr4ik3UeCYl6bUA6Nw/s1600/bvwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">including a branch (can't pin that on
muskrats.) I decided to go across the dam and over to the Lost
Swamp Pond and then maybe see a beaver in the Big Pond on the way
back. As I approached the Lost Swamp Pond, I heard what I thought
were robins with their usual clucking as they foraged. Then I saw
a somewhat frantic flotilla of ring necked ducks. When I got
closer, I could hear that the clucking was coming from the ducks.
After admiring this for some time -- a pair of mallards and some
black ducks flew off but not the ring necks. I finally saw what I
took to be a dozen males surrounding one smaller, browner and
plainer female. There were at least two active groups and then
some small groups</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDVIObz_gRkcZlWe3AFdtF65GjcBx4pDIQI5jl8v8mXyardtwE6dNJGehU11bY6WOGjvScj9nLuebZiwi4E4xiFal68AWEvPgg9CeA8fku0XV4SKmduybkoSQ0024Qz4wYFl9gl9rdXQ/s1600/rnecks6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTDVIObz_gRkcZlWe3AFdtF65GjcBx4pDIQI5jl8v8mXyardtwE6dNJGehU11bY6WOGjvScj9nLuebZiwi4E4xiFal68AWEvPgg9CeA8fku0XV4SKmduybkoSQ0024Qz4wYFl9gl9rdXQ/s1600/rnecks6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and single ducks who weren't in the hunt, as it
were. Soon enough the beavers swam around this maelstrom of ducks
-- all ignoring each other. Indeed one beaver started splashing
me. From their size and the way they floated I decided there were
three almost yearlings out in the pond. Then over on the bank I saw an
adult sitting like we humans do,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitYkWobl1vyJ1iWh6su9mEO9O6IdzI25w7bhTayAwU2A0Qe_ulryI_6rmq9Rh3avzFjo_Hw4n4iSN-HMuU-uPHHPDXQ-qwMKHnDjO1LyjJLwjmzzjUivU-V6IJN7Jg8xr8y7PJgGCAoo/s1600/bvs6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitYkWobl1vyJ1iWh6su9mEO9O6IdzI25w7bhTayAwU2A0Qe_ulryI_6rmq9Rh3avzFjo_Hw4n4iSN-HMuU-uPHHPDXQ-qwMKHnDjO1LyjJLwjmzzjUivU-V6IJN7Jg8xr8y7PJgGCAoo/s1600/bvs6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">with tail out, soon scratching itself. One of
the little guys was next to her and came in for some scratching, and
it groomed its mother right back.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN9hEuv8A2LOXVPCdl41aFSER0XBYzrQIWG1po0xYMT0pPLTlCB0Tq_6o_881U0TTEUzwBBFclF85qeYruInyJeHhAfdyhpv_GfstIAlxJ_hUoxcCMYH2gpYXhbXySchuRKoXOqRNJGU/s1600/bvs6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN9hEuv8A2LOXVPCdl41aFSER0XBYzrQIWG1po0xYMT0pPLTlCB0Tq_6o_881U0TTEUzwBBFclF85qeYruInyJeHhAfdyhpv_GfstIAlxJ_hUoxcCMYH2gpYXhbXySchuRKoXOqRNJGU/s1600/bvs6a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At one point she gently rolled it over a bit.
Her belly hung down in cascading folds and she appeared quite the
queen of the world. Then the baby swam off, pulled itself out on
a log in the pond and ate some greens. Another beaver swam over,
came close, but not up to the other beavers. Meanwhile the third
little beaver was out in the middle of the pond on a log and then
a muskrat swam out from the burrows on the north shore. Pure
contentment watching this, but as the sun sank, the temperature
dropped into the 30s, and the wind was still blowing. So I
crossed the Big Pond dam again, still no beaver. Going up the
huge rounded rock cliff I saw the last of winter dripping away. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7WfpmKJTk_JnBV1M3lCBx4jjsZimtRkYnWL5xiRUdnPH-ctDH8s2U1NVNRGl7Uxu3XvXFSLQ0hepRItdU64vKlLdPNiScCbhPJa70hHOTxbIoShiQ41hji7GqQPkKO_tY1UEctWJuws/s1600/icesickle6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7WfpmKJTk_JnBV1M3lCBx4jjsZimtRkYnWL5xiRUdnPH-ctDH8s2U1NVNRGl7Uxu3XvXFSLQ0hepRItdU64vKlLdPNiScCbhPJa70hHOTxbIoShiQ41hji7GqQPkKO_tY1UEctWJuws/s1600/icesickle6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Coming back I saw at least 32 deer on the golf
course and two grazing porcupines. The deer fled; the porcupines
stayed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 7 I didn't go to the land today, but
Leslie did and saw the otter working the banks of the pond for
fish, and then circling with a series of quick dives, either
celebrating or riling the fish. I headed off a little after 5 to
see what was happening in the ponds on the island. I headed for
Thicket Pond first and on the way saw that an otter had scatted
on the little causeway of the South Bay trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a1uEbm088HpUXh8UfxQqOWNluoP8mvSI8MSRLpah8FzQHXmSpAQ3pczWltCpJUtMu4QhO4WvRJNS1LVzHn1L0xM0F9_OpAq-BOKsJLp_lPAkFNU1koxm1oKJRKiLMPqQS2rQjDHp26M/s1600/sbscat7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a1uEbm088HpUXh8UfxQqOWNluoP8mvSI8MSRLpah8FzQHXmSpAQ3pczWltCpJUtMu4QhO4WvRJNS1LVzHn1L0xM0F9_OpAq-BOKsJLp_lPAkFNU1koxm1oKJRKiLMPqQS2rQjDHp26M/s1600/sbscat7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">By my calculations otters should be after the
spawning fish like bullheads in the bay. I also flushed a heron
from that cove. I also noticed that the creek was not running as
fast as before and wondered if that meant a beaver had patched
the Big Pond dam. At the creek draining the second ponds, the
flow was still rapid. I went on the knoll above the New Pond and
saw no scat. I flushed about 8 wood ducks off the little pond. As
I went over the ridge to the Thicket Pond, I noticed a porcupine
on the ground but couldn't quite see what it was eating. Sneaking
closer, I snapped a twig which got the porcupine trotting over to
and then up a tree. I walked over to look up to it which inspired
it to climb higher. Gods are like that.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lm_7w8m93gEOyIk1Nb_HqaeiRUDdGWTkJX9HEo4kwWhaf1rEAXnGNoswiZbhxdJkx1yI8wfrdiLbMgr980kK07NhiStMJOj3Xs72wzLsiCWdvEr04ATdQ_lr8N_RDcx27o9Cc64q5Ns/s1600/ppine7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lm_7w8m93gEOyIk1Nb_HqaeiRUDdGWTkJX9HEo4kwWhaf1rEAXnGNoswiZbhxdJkx1yI8wfrdiLbMgr980kK07NhiStMJOj3Xs72wzLsiCWdvEr04ATdQ_lr8N_RDcx27o9Cc64q5Ns/s1600/ppine7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The ice is gone from the Thicket Pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yImMAOHwK84N2wUCj7TgE1x9sBiq6AjTiYlmeAAKwsptEj8qlPyWBl6JV16fUatYX3OlAxeAXMiPjerVr2d_n6EH-s-YwF9iqZuiKxZwzcTJ48UCgvmbI0ddbZ-phobNcTIIwluWAvk/s1600/tp7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yImMAOHwK84N2wUCj7TgE1x9sBiq6AjTiYlmeAAKwsptEj8qlPyWBl6JV16fUatYX3OlAxeAXMiPjerVr2d_n6EH-s-YwF9iqZuiKxZwzcTJ48UCgvmbI0ddbZ-phobNcTIIwluWAvk/s1600/tp7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I still think the beavers are doing most of
their dining at their winter restaurant, where they had come out
under the ice during the winter.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2z_VSThzBav5oXWdu38Nlij_nY56bsz_ph3WvTdDdG71Y5EC1niTIS_XAJbhyR9trXR54mi2aHfRaO6qZEhqLSt33Xadlb9ZECBNRndAurtWNkonBGYV_YE0yqSlU7txb02GksflUz0/s1600/tpwk7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2z_VSThzBav5oXWdu38Nlij_nY56bsz_ph3WvTdDdG71Y5EC1niTIS_XAJbhyR9trXR54mi2aHfRaO6qZEhqLSt33Xadlb9ZECBNRndAurtWNkonBGYV_YE0yqSlU7txb02GksflUz0/s1600/tpwk7.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It's hard to tell what they have just gnawed,
but it looks like they have dug a bit of a channel so they can
get to the work more easily.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oXJxdryfzHXbbTg8A8Iyv9ILxj3TUes5b8P0Zc_-w4MY209GGl36hig-WR-2ye3Vqci7CPPOM5K1yVv68IRpuI-85s697H1oLQnj7J4S2yPhnWmIzlNjD-r1STRJhHEjak8d6tbuF9o/s1600/tpcanal7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oXJxdryfzHXbbTg8A8Iyv9ILxj3TUes5b8P0Zc_-w4MY209GGl36hig-WR-2ye3Vqci7CPPOM5K1yVv68IRpuI-85s697H1oLQnj7J4S2yPhnWmIzlNjD-r1STRJhHEjak8d6tbuF9o/s1600/tpcanal7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I climbed the trail that goes above the East
Trail Pond, I could see right away that the dam has not been
plugged. The upper pond, which in other springs the beavers
seemed to especially enjoy, was quite low.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzKwbdb_lYoE4Um1JYQwh2Rf99T8iKbO9PMWeU_KwHrExGmBUWqQmJX6TVU2qXe2bNOwMXxzRmqnlJ0yeOInMtJJnQBhFJ9WawWiPj_Gn7RKi7YP34sVhkNJNL_iumvmC1noskuAeCmE/s1600/upet7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzKwbdb_lYoE4Um1JYQwh2Rf99T8iKbO9PMWeU_KwHrExGmBUWqQmJX6TVU2qXe2bNOwMXxzRmqnlJ0yeOInMtJJnQBhFJ9WawWiPj_Gn7RKi7YP34sVhkNJNL_iumvmC1noskuAeCmE/s1600/upet7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued on, watching the wood ducks and
mallards fly off. Last year I almost always saw a beaver here,
but none tonight. However, while the dam is not patched there are
mud mounds on the shore</span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWyrLziTQ5rhm5c-f7SpBUWqyHXg7LfmzdntZONMyrn020AiJxpyPmr_Szj6w6tXBk3UmHkUWj4XIJih_0ahe5s97F_ZFT5l9X7L_KvLGAHD9wVOHSEy9I4cpI6hbAz3ERE4kwRhqZKW4/s1600/etmarks7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWyrLziTQ5rhm5c-f7SpBUWqyHXg7LfmzdntZONMyrn020AiJxpyPmr_Szj6w6tXBk3UmHkUWj4XIJih_0ahe5s97F_ZFT5l9X7L_KvLGAHD9wVOHSEy9I4cpI6hbAz3ERE4kwRhqZKW4/s1600/etmarks7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and drag marks on the ridge trail. I scanned
the plateau above the pond and thought I could see some fresh
work. I crossed the dam and saw again that all the wherewithal
for patching is there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzK7kjEu4WJhVRJdQwmRaZgr4W4TTmbDQtEr82nxMduRZsoFhkApfvvL9P38_NH6y_Ey5GE6uAjQYSbqkhavYIzwVoj4IEszOFknsrAAzBIvrD9cEYRZmYUs_3KpInig6TpvOaHVfX68/s1600/etdam7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzK7kjEu4WJhVRJdQwmRaZgr4W4TTmbDQtEr82nxMduRZsoFhkApfvvL9P38_NH6y_Ey5GE6uAjQYSbqkhavYIzwVoj4IEszOFknsrAAzBIvrD9cEYRZmYUs_3KpInig6TpvOaHVfX68/s1600/etdam7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The only thing I think of to explain this is
that a lot of water flows through this pond and the beavers are
just being patient. I should check the small third ponds above
this. The beavers might be building dams there. I did see one
otter scat on the dam which looked relatively fresh. As I got
close to the Second Swamp Pond, I could see a beaver swimming up
from the dam, but when I got to the lodge it wasn't there. I
could hear the ring necks and a menage a trois came swimming over
toward me, clucking quietly. Just when they were close enough for
a good portrait, they flew off. There were several pairs around
the pond. I recall that I saw them at this pond last year. Then a
muskrat popped out from the lodge below me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qdqQQ_kvN9W2di5T3aXsj0M-TECxe4DYNvRP_Aggn3oRK-tq37dMTRCRWIvJdmQRtz1XzC3hBJ2ahn44-lhg7rfxomS41uVo1MXkOF11SDj5muXkZl3_AisXBfRDx7aGSbOnvrqd-14/s1600/mrat7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qdqQQ_kvN9W2di5T3aXsj0M-TECxe4DYNvRP_Aggn3oRK-tq37dMTRCRWIvJdmQRtz1XzC3hBJ2ahn44-lhg7rfxomS41uVo1MXkOF11SDj5muXkZl3_AisXBfRDx7aGSbOnvrqd-14/s1600/mrat7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I noticed a commotion at the far end of the dam
and the spy glass revealed a beaver sitting on the dam. I notice
some old otter scat, from the winter, I think, on the knoll above
the smaller bank lodge the otters had been using. Walking up the
north shore, I saw some delicate, long white feathers</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtO0kHFIVEDLf-Lgr_lDQmhKr1sK1vYXufsrKZWgfSTLW6O9zLeHeFKi48h8fkvHenWIOmzRuX13ADl1u483B1qCyFviYDAWAGTZyQN4PFozfViv3yKwQNCbIml7MnVaQU_VLZIPM_4QU/s1600/feather7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtO0kHFIVEDLf-Lgr_lDQmhKr1sK1vYXufsrKZWgfSTLW6O9zLeHeFKi48h8fkvHenWIOmzRuX13ADl1u483B1qCyFviYDAWAGTZyQN4PFozfViv3yKwQNCbIml7MnVaQU_VLZIPM_4QU/s1600/feather7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- perhaps a heron's neck feather. Never seen
them on the ground before. While water flows over it, a beaver
has done some patching on the upper second swamp pond dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVr9Nv3tR_hWtlfNx0Bo_lwPPfnG8bJ5FLK75t6SjH58_e5wxAbpFq6dyK4807m7LPPjfXrnZ3KGA4UMLZURk02jerXsRqmbz-_0ryXzVPEK6oLdDBq3MV8bX6O7jT-fIAIGE2dzkoO4/s1600/upspdam7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVr9Nv3tR_hWtlfNx0Bo_lwPPfnG8bJ5FLK75t6SjH58_e5wxAbpFq6dyK4807m7LPPjfXrnZ3KGA4UMLZURk02jerXsRqmbz-_0ryXzVPEK6oLdDBq3MV8bX6O7jT-fIAIGE2dzkoO4/s1600/upspdam7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had camera ready when I went up to the Lost
Swamp Pond at the dam -- but nothing but a goose and four ducks
swimming away were to be seen. After all the activity of
yesterday to see nothing much was a bit of a surprise, but
typical. As I walked away from the pond, a beaver did splash me
from way back at the dam. I did see a scat on the north shore
latrine which I think is new</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWIL_SAcdLW0lgsTFMCzlXaP19FtZPILqkBdXnDqwFvVFH1-GFI82n5CynxihuLWh1UgXD72ckShZzbgHWGXEwyWbwLGj3KkVRlQThGmDgAzH323VZhutkRXDlOu0m2kSU155K5slvgw/s1600/lsscat7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWIL_SAcdLW0lgsTFMCzlXaP19FtZPILqkBdXnDqwFvVFH1-GFI82n5CynxihuLWh1UgXD72ckShZzbgHWGXEwyWbwLGj3KkVRlQThGmDgAzH323VZhutkRXDlOu0m2kSU155K5slvgw/s1600/lsscat7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">so I think an otter made a tour of the ponds.
At the Big Pond dam, I saw the beavers I was looking for
yesterday, two of them. The first was along the north end of the
dam and it swam back and forth in front of me,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zlMbV-SRXXXtgmMY9avIY_qc0V6DajaXZqcWA5rHG69fmJOWjjfZ8_iPzG3TlBgc0HKFIbYpZvLJp4SikDuN64CkFqk2f2f0tYyYs3FWJqi8Rk7OhNO90nCkLTwc1uGlkshoFwRwk9c/s1600/bpbv7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zlMbV-SRXXXtgmMY9avIY_qc0V6DajaXZqcWA5rHG69fmJOWjjfZ8_iPzG3TlBgc0HKFIbYpZvLJp4SikDuN64CkFqk2f2f0tYyYs3FWJqi8Rk7OhNO90nCkLTwc1uGlkshoFwRwk9c/s1600/bpbv7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">pounding its tail several times. And in this
case the commotion did alert another beaver that I was about. It
seemed larger and simply swam far up pond, letting the little guy
keep an eye on me. Eventually both beavers went up pond,
suggesting they may be refugees from the colony on Nunn's land.
They did patch the dam, cutting about three-fourths of the flow
using sticks and mud, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKG5vEVkpzZoaJUX6PH-UZVqZjv1M2ex1Td3BOCk4pGmLcnls6QbQ0V8ZnjCcB-0lYZT20TBQQ9h-4A9aARWsqx9_rH5jHOvjcO2f932rdZxJauZTNnjUBH0lcZZSeMXQgsirlL6J8hzw/s1600/bpdampatch7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKG5vEVkpzZoaJUX6PH-UZVqZjv1M2ex1Td3BOCk4pGmLcnls6QbQ0V8ZnjCcB-0lYZT20TBQQ9h-4A9aARWsqx9_rH5jHOvjcO2f932rdZxJauZTNnjUBH0lcZZSeMXQgsirlL6J8hzw/s1600/bpdampatch7.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">though it looked a little tentative. Going back
home across the golf course, I counted at least 40 deer
indicating, I guess, that the fall hunt didn't amount to much
after all. I also saw one turkey, which is odd to find one alone,
and one grazing porcupine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 8 The otter did not appear at the land
today. We looked twice, at 10:30 and 1:30. I walked around the
edge of the pond to find scat and was amazed to find none at the
dam nor along the bank. I did find some fish remains, with eggs,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiC_WKaCTjPbw1VggnI4ivssFM5ntGv-yhNvXhFUE1Ty7aKmqDQJ_5KjXoOuii_O0CrjEJcDcwT0-lc9j1zVgmTZMf2LR_jkRNB7GInoBeWX2lPFlxRQlaCgS5jmywO4ROh1AnUoyzZEg/s1600/fisheggs8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiC_WKaCTjPbw1VggnI4ivssFM5ntGv-yhNvXhFUE1Ty7aKmqDQJ_5KjXoOuii_O0CrjEJcDcwT0-lc9j1zVgmTZMf2LR_jkRNB7GInoBeWX2lPFlxRQlaCgS5jmywO4ROh1AnUoyzZEg/s1600/fisheggs8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">right along the inlet into the pond, but no
scat there either. Then I crossed the inlet and a few yards up
it, tucked behind some tall grasses</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo4-RNfaKVSRjFvIddWiEfzgL6dS5tnbaXLx0LhrBuSUlx4xUjGOBLnOuq6xwFBLVXwiNQ9JjnB5BAGTbvcJ03qFXIckvYZNvhk7yEcy43xqiwovk1PezhpPaHsXWgcz9KZ4FS5Jc-n-8/s1600/otnest8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo4-RNfaKVSRjFvIddWiEfzgL6dS5tnbaXLx0LhrBuSUlx4xUjGOBLnOuq6xwFBLVXwiNQ9JjnB5BAGTbvcJ03qFXIckvYZNvhk7yEcy43xqiwovk1PezhpPaHsXWgcz9KZ4FS5Jc-n-8/s1600/otnest8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">was a line of otter scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCy9eEMvA9ihhYvsX9a_6vqMK5hYarHbTfeLS4Z5Wnplqda-_LRxQ67B2W-Ro0-G1jA5jGMdqxPWSaPoljqzZYz5rxmUcO7hBhpvWlVbbEWjHm3vvlGIypin0hU6OdmFWeyxJGhejzhw/s1600/otscats8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCy9eEMvA9ihhYvsX9a_6vqMK5hYarHbTfeLS4Z5Wnplqda-_LRxQ67B2W-Ro0-G1jA5jGMdqxPWSaPoljqzZYz5rxmUcO7hBhpvWlVbbEWjHm3vvlGIypin0hU6OdmFWeyxJGhejzhw/s1600/otscats8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In this exposed pond, this is where the otter
came to hide. It shows how much good eating an otter can get in
two days. There is also a new leak in the dam, a hole dug just
below water level.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2YUcntNptR5j9u_FpKW5Iq2z0TUXoopxTNE_BfsRpfBxGyLRVTd_WwUirilw7RTjYmnZuX2VcyX1_uEzmMb3T4dEuB47KJx4HAffQjYBmz-2371aQGOZ7W40mEXbyDbpLPK_oJrBPzE/s1600/damleak8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2YUcntNptR5j9u_FpKW5Iq2z0TUXoopxTNE_BfsRpfBxGyLRVTd_WwUirilw7RTjYmnZuX2VcyX1_uEzmMb3T4dEuB47KJx4HAffQjYBmz-2371aQGOZ7W40mEXbyDbpLPK_oJrBPzE/s1600/damleak8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But I'm not sure I can pin that on the otter,
as the muskrat might have dug into the dam for some grasses. I
was surprised that the beavers didn't come out, nor did I hear a
hum or a bubble as I walked over their burrows. Last year, they
left at about this time -- after an otter's visit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-55686845592796040602016-12-18T06:54:00.000-08:002016-12-18T06:54:16.631-08:00June 22 to 30, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">June 22 cool, bright sunny day. I checked the
Deep Pond at the land, which I had not done for a while, and it
has settled down affording a view of a couple yards of mud, even
behind what had once been the principle outlet of the pond. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCZTOP-wlgUuic27WA4uyqRqWvfStyk4teyz3vzuwxHAkAfQDykIKD11qayUZ0bMtlNteRmpW_kUMIqfc43H7qmYZnr2r3K3IC30Cf9JRTjiYlQWnnIMLxpfvrhCvIZbuql4xay94s74/s1600/dpdam22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCZTOP-wlgUuic27WA4uyqRqWvfStyk4teyz3vzuwxHAkAfQDykIKD11qayUZ0bMtlNteRmpW_kUMIqfc43H7qmYZnr2r3K3IC30Cf9JRTjiYlQWnnIMLxpfvrhCvIZbuql4xay94s74/s1600/dpdam22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On the one hand the receding water has revealed
more of the plants, but that has made it easier for the deer to
get to them.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivIYtcA2b-iRvQ7yFbA4CNLEbe_Cai05XCpt50fSHv38ro4rt2W0L2-Fla6TiDNVG_i9NWEXqlR9lLaS10W8cEyiXrZE1AJqA1XlWVP8LGq3RpMGxYu8xpHCZrK6DXafi_9wxkSGt2vE/s1600/dpplants22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivIYtcA2b-iRvQ7yFbA4CNLEbe_Cai05XCpt50fSHv38ro4rt2W0L2-Fla6TiDNVG_i9NWEXqlR9lLaS10W8cEyiXrZE1AJqA1XlWVP8LGq3RpMGxYu8xpHCZrK6DXafi_9wxkSGt2vE/s1600/dpplants22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There is still a muskrat or two working the
pond two, as evidenced by the apron of brown water cleared of
vegetation.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjTOIYoxVzB6g2jN4cz0U7i8ehmwkVB3vLV9mlp7OPC-JjUQzMp86nQVBO0qicvlahAUgajff66iuEqI9hZMtgLITurhfl8STlIplsM6oM-gqeNxjsC3bX1xAtIiq4HblNZ48rsoHQoo/s1600/dpratwk22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjTOIYoxVzB6g2jN4cz0U7i8ehmwkVB3vLV9mlp7OPC-JjUQzMp86nQVBO0qicvlahAUgajff66iuEqI9hZMtgLITurhfl8STlIplsM6oM-gqeNxjsC3bX1xAtIiq4HblNZ48rsoHQoo/s1600/dpratwk22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Elsewhere the pond grasses flourish since no
beavers have harvested them. And the red buds of the swamp
milkweed punctuate all the green.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWukl5UspoFgRautjIT72KbCQRJkvvNUFhpTcakawYdT7H5mFz5_6MJYCTRE5xz12E9j1zTfEqWcvEp9AQcWBYXId2YqOa8qRtle2tNETpUUv_BoCAYsCgeGgEJNZ6DQLw3K2dUaZ3JI/s1600/mweed22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWukl5UspoFgRautjIT72KbCQRJkvvNUFhpTcakawYdT7H5mFz5_6MJYCTRE5xz12E9j1zTfEqWcvEp9AQcWBYXId2YqOa8qRtle2tNETpUUv_BoCAYsCgeGgEJNZ6DQLw3K2dUaZ3JI/s1600/mweed22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the other end of our land, we worried
about the tadpoles in the diminishing pool just above the beaver
pond at the land. On the dirt road and the path the frenetic
activity of small butterflies, I guess, entertained us, and there
were a legion of them around the pool in question. There was more
water in it than I thought there'd be and quite a few frogs, many
still sporting tails, around the edge.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMr7oF6hcKA4DYMJKi9SRlLZrYph5CjmZjPoCxaVD29aOYujBhtgLXeDuFL1j2Cdj5HprbPLQ-y8-HdVYbZMTTIoO-EOxPatNu9b8EQKKNF7M4EJa-Gin4zBBCt4IOdJ2v8W_aaBewAvA/s1600/froglets22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMr7oF6hcKA4DYMJKi9SRlLZrYph5CjmZjPoCxaVD29aOYujBhtgLXeDuFL1j2Cdj5HprbPLQ-y8-HdVYbZMTTIoO-EOxPatNu9b8EQKKNF7M4EJa-Gin4zBBCt4IOdJ2v8W_aaBewAvA/s1600/froglets22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We saw tadpoles too, but things seem to
be developing a pace, and maybe all the tadpoles will check out
as frogs before the pool dries. The last time this happened, I
don't recall any frogs developing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Back on the island, I again decided to take
advantage of a long day and go out after dinner. I went my usual
otter-scat-checking route and saw nothing new at the South Bay
causeway (except a raided turtle nest).</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupbGzkvFeHRlH4ZKoZn6lVe3KVFNtez-DUmFybHPHdMJsaYY4BSsbguYRdVoX3U0EwQxC0iEm8R3qLNgP9bFW67XNz2m4DoKTp-dF6719RrmdckXIywbucJUL-wV2nR-3V_1VN7wQLMI/s1600/tnest22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupbGzkvFeHRlH4ZKoZn6lVe3KVFNtez-DUmFybHPHdMJsaYY4BSsbguYRdVoX3U0EwQxC0iEm8R3qLNgP9bFW67XNz2m4DoKTp-dF6719RrmdckXIywbucJUL-wV2nR-3V_1VN7wQLMI/s1600/tnest22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No scats on the New Pond knoll nor on the slope above the
old dock. I sat above the dock for ten minutes and was rewarded
by the sight of a beaver foraging for roots along the opposite
shore of the cove. Just too far for a video but I could monitor
its happy progress in my spyglass. It seemed to manage it by
taking small bites, which is to say, it didn't surface with an
ungainly rhizome in its mouth. Next time I kayak over there on a
calm day, I should see what the bottom looks like. So I turned
toward the ponds to check up on the Meander Pond beavers, or
beaver, since there always seems to be one in or around the canal
in the southeast corner of the pond. With a north wind, sometimes
gusting, I was in a perfect position to sneak up on the beaver.
My way was blocked by three freshly cut maples</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoSMLnec9rzCD0Xk1ILxiAym0FIAEY4RJ_vZ9z7rhwmK1KtBiZi9jYCT0Rgdj6iJUi8Dy-IDXp3tX7Ig2E58ixWZUKG0rqjmvMXoomYUxEuSjzowi2cKkUYVMvFWo7oeJ_h1yHuuwkmg/s1600/mpbvwk22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnoSMLnec9rzCD0Xk1ILxiAym0FIAEY4RJ_vZ9z7rhwmK1KtBiZi9jYCT0Rgdj6iJUi8Dy-IDXp3tX7Ig2E58ixWZUKG0rqjmvMXoomYUxEuSjzowi2cKkUYVMvFWo7oeJ_h1yHuuwkmg/s1600/mpbvwk22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I may have been too bold inspecting them,
because the beaver lolling in the canal nearby</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdhB2DVYm3UBdznDiVQifsBDMYjuYXGvWg0p22jztiz0qJN_rB7b-ytyGqhNxiM8rk_KJG_ASCuWFmW4xWLcOP1mr5ImiR1jWxyu5M9xzEGO6NEBXFtL5aVKn7eZ5lrb_f3_D_zJzvLM/s1600/bv22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdhB2DVYm3UBdznDiVQifsBDMYjuYXGvWg0p22jztiz0qJN_rB7b-ytyGqhNxiM8rk_KJG_ASCuWFmW4xWLcOP1mr5ImiR1jWxyu5M9xzEGO6NEBXFtL5aVKn7eZ5lrb_f3_D_zJzvLM/s1600/bv22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">promptly turned and swam away. I waited ten
minutes or so for it to return, but no luck. There were no
leafy branches littering the canal, and the trees just cut had
not been stripped, so perhaps I interrupted the beaver on its way
to that task. I took a direct route to the East Trail Pond dam,
which meant I didn't inspect Thicket Pond or upper East Trail
Pond. The north wind had blown the duck weed toward the dam which
made the pond look more viable. I saw a few frogs jump into it,
but nothing else. The grass is growing up on the otter trail down
into the pond. The sun, heat, humidity, and we just had a quarter
inch of rain, have made this the best growing season in my
memory. There was a fresh trail in the grass up the slope on the
east end of the dam, but no scat along it, and I know that is a
raccoon route. I crossed the Second Swamp Pond dam where I
couldn't see signs of much in the burgeoning grass. It would be
instructive to see how otters utilize such a lush dam. Because of
the wind direction, and the hour, I angled up to the Lost Swamp
Pond so that I could sit on the south shore. As I came up I saw
wakes going in every direction so I sat on the high rock
overlooking the mossy otter latrine (no sign of its being used,)
and tried to sort it all out. I first got excited by a beaver
heading to the trail up the north slope, seemingly marked by the
beaver with a pile of sticks at its base, that led to some fresh
tree gnawing. But the beaver swam by that, demonstrating the
typical inclination to forage off the pond bottom at first. The
beaver swam back to the northeast corner of the pond. Then I saw
two muskrats, one after another, come around the point and head
east. I got the camcorder on them in case this was a fight. At
the same time a muskrat came out of the lodge in the middle of
the pond and headed toward the other two, but evidently the time
for contention has passed. The two muskrats went their separate
ways, and the third's trajectory didn't come close to them. Then
another muskrat came out of the lodge, and swam toward the north
slope. Everything seems to be sorted out in muskrat world. The
muskrat that wound up in front of me was powerfully small, and
had a curious way of cocking its thin but long tail up in the
air. I've never noticed that before so I shouldn't suggest its a
bit of overcompensation for a small body. The one toward the
north shore was normal size and was soon on a log in the water
nibbling away. Muskrats seem to take so long to eat so little
that if you can't see their motor mouth jawing away they seem
like symbols of patience in the gloaming. Then the beaver
returned, and another followed it out of far reaches, both
tending toward the dam, but it was too dark to follow their
progress. Meanwhile in the southeast reaches of the pond, I saw
two sets of geese and goslings swim in stately procession from
the grasses on the north shore to the grasses on the south shore.
A deer briefly blazing red in the last bit of sunlight foraged
the pond grasses on the south shore too. Finally a wood duck and
family came down from the northeast end of the pond. I heard the
whip-poor-will and headed home, with plenty of light still to
guide me. I crossed the Big Pond dam at about 9:20, a half hour
after sunset, and with the cooling air temperature plumes of fog
started coming off the ponds, small and hot double-lodge pond
contributing more than its fair share. On top of the lone dead
tree there, an owl, horned owl, I think, surveyed the scene, then
flew off silently. I despaired of seeing a beaver, but I did see
two muskrats, one came out of the lodge and the other out of the
grasses along the south shore, so I should have been able to see
a beaver if one was there. I'll have to circumnavigate the pond
to see if they've fashioned another lodge -- not an easy task for
me with all this vegetation. I woke a few deer, a bit of
thumping in the tall grass, then a swoosh, and a glimpse of a
white flag of flight. I heard all the expected noises, bull
frogs, tree frogs, wood thrush, veery, whip-poor-will but not in
their usual welling chorus, and I missed the buzzing the midges.
It was that cold, which didn't prevent a myriad of mosquitoes
from huddling close to me for warmth and sustenance. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 24 I took Lois and Stephen on a morning
hike to the almost dry East Trail Pond, and, of course, on the
way scowled at the otter latrines. There was a fresh scat along
the trail just beyond the south inlet to South Bay, a nice mound
of leaves with black scat, with fish parts, right on top of it. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg0R42d-g_AmqR46QXkyydlbQoO1z1CObVMIS1jXVbIFti5-nxJ5I9AJoteCYelbubqvxMuRLYcGXFy4fYKo0-1ZLSFKKocRzE5Q6aAJoJO0uCpmVCHlndGCWB5Fa0MKkBFwxU4TPp4Y/s1600/scat24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg0R42d-g_AmqR46QXkyydlbQoO1z1CObVMIS1jXVbIFti5-nxJ5I9AJoteCYelbubqvxMuRLYcGXFy4fYKo0-1ZLSFKKocRzE5Q6aAJoJO0uCpmVCHlndGCWB5Fa0MKkBFwxU4TPp4Y/s1600/scat24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So an otter is still about, leaving the same
type of mark that it has been leaving for a couple months now.
There was nothing fresh that I could see up on the New Pond knoll
nor above the old South Bay dock. At the foot of the East Trail
that striking white flower whose name I always forget was out
waving in the strong hot SSW wind.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFKUz8lLwNWXLtvmwy0LoodQ1lgtGETNm78Uwk9MT1ekTb7xXM1yOjxTjF6KrvtEC-ZCJ9oVH3N7mn0U7wLpTrEzQTHzxFYlFgZHbBKBvR3BgYxk-2G1ZdYf7uxas1fGMUljAF3ZGmfY/s1600/flowers24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFKUz8lLwNWXLtvmwy0LoodQ1lgtGETNm78Uwk9MT1ekTb7xXM1yOjxTjF6KrvtEC-ZCJ9oVH3N7mn0U7wLpTrEzQTHzxFYlFgZHbBKBvR3BgYxk-2G1ZdYf7uxas1fGMUljAF3ZGmfY/s1600/flowers24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was hoping some scarlet tanagers would be
singing in the woods, but none did. Coming over the TI Park ridge
we heard the persistent song of a verio. I hope and expect there
will be another round of song from the tanagers and grosbeaks. We
did hear some short songs from orioles. The strong winds may have
subdued the birds. The dry pond was more impressive two months
ago when the old pond bottom was hardening mud. Now it is a
carpet of green with the grass at spots even folding over the
narrow channels that still have a little water in them. Where
there was mud, I didn't see any tracks, giving the appearance
that raccoons could find better sport than foraging through the
thick vegetation. We managed to get to the lodge and I tried to
take some photos that would highlight, if not unlock, its
mysteries. Two areas of loose logs are clearly the leftovers from
old winter caches.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRDxqjkxG5ofxaVmiiG-HqYmeUjPoiob8jpDE-_QWZh8OZr7o2NgQnM4grEKpZ8rbjaiMuWG8OhCATSdjgWyLcspwuCm-T2vgIKRViOpopUiMgrL7auTAHBOe3ghY6YCUCwUwz-jPU_M/s1600/oldcache24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRDxqjkxG5ofxaVmiiG-HqYmeUjPoiob8jpDE-_QWZh8OZr7o2NgQnM4grEKpZ8rbjaiMuWG8OhCATSdjgWyLcspwuCm-T2vgIKRViOpopUiMgrL7auTAHBOe3ghY6YCUCwUwz-jPU_M/s1600/oldcache24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">What I can't understand is the slope of
interlocking twigs and branches that slopes down from the lodge
to the nearest channel.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaDHuI3DJiaAHMyzNyaJrILIrDOW4-235lbgk2zH2GLjZLHbHGLIwfYEB-39QrH7DtNCLe5KDbx9BH_qyrxJrTqYeYJ0PLicyAu_DF2RYmjloFdOGsH_NoYOIqDXKTNr1kzOmQuHKBmM/s1600/etlodgesticks24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaDHuI3DJiaAHMyzNyaJrILIrDOW4-235lbgk2zH2GLjZLHbHGLIwfYEB-39QrH7DtNCLe5KDbx9BH_qyrxJrTqYeYJ0PLicyAu_DF2RYmjloFdOGsH_NoYOIqDXKTNr1kzOmQuHKBmM/s1600/etlodgesticks24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I tried to get a photo of an entrance to the
lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymlVbiL1hxrrUdHa94xtrG7dOIgak_oCTFd3Gp96FSt4Yzow4xANnYcdMVh7GV9TtECKi9cUx-cWXKmCgNTfRg15lDq1GM6_5tM_P0UIhQNGWMQQG32g0WkVnY_f55oBNakhhKI0GpYA/s1600/etlodgein24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymlVbiL1hxrrUdHa94xtrG7dOIgak_oCTFd3Gp96FSt4Yzow4xANnYcdMVh7GV9TtECKi9cUx-cWXKmCgNTfRg15lDq1GM6_5tM_P0UIhQNGWMQQG32g0WkVnY_f55oBNakhhKI0GpYA/s1600/etlodgein24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On top of the lodge it is easy to see the upper
chamber and I stuck my camera into holes</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjGtJ0W0OyCh9LIDtHoZy15H_k9hOxSg7QeFPNT0bzOKbw1C03BmF0z1WnagwY_kBDGKvtqFIt7GZpkXsGRkQFeENUWH5wYWmi51UzfM8tdArPGEAdCCFvHR0rkQZOGzWoTbLL76LsCo/s1600/etlodgein24b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghjGtJ0W0OyCh9LIDtHoZy15H_k9hOxSg7QeFPNT0bzOKbw1C03BmF0z1WnagwY_kBDGKvtqFIt7GZpkXsGRkQFeENUWH5wYWmi51UzfM8tdArPGEAdCCFvHR0rkQZOGzWoTbLL76LsCo/s1600/etlodgein24b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">hoping to find support for my theory that
otters can fashion a penthouse in beaver lodges so that there is
a low drying platform, then a main chamber that the beavers use
and then the penthouse chamber a bit offset from and above the
main chamber. One poor photo shows two entrances to the upper
chamber which probably is evidence against my theory.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhC7nxUdBZbXHSMXsx1Zh7emH9jC26tfo345PTX1_fVM-zTJHk46InCtt8iy_5P7NueO1a2J8XwefHUwzDLsunVyOIqV3LvHSy6ScPjHye7qdwhVeF0B_nQ2yuVWeTCQgGPCvQDartyTM/s1600/etlodgein24a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhC7nxUdBZbXHSMXsx1Zh7emH9jC26tfo345PTX1_fVM-zTJHk46InCtt8iy_5P7NueO1a2J8XwefHUwzDLsunVyOIqV3LvHSy6ScPjHye7qdwhVeF0B_nQ2yuVWeTCQgGPCvQDartyTM/s1600/etlodgein24a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Really, that's a crazy theory which I will
never be able to prove unless I disassemble and reconstruct the
lodge and correlate all my videos of otter and beaver entrances
and exits with the arrangement I discover. Again there was no
sign that an otter had been on the trail over toward Otter Hole
Pond. We took the highroad above the pond, but canopy of leaves
was too thick to get a good view of the almost dry Otter Hole
Pond. Then we went up to check on the Meander Pond beavers,
admiring some Indian pipe on the way.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsCcGr0VcUelUzla9rgiaFXQsu3Pdhuto08cjjNO1p-UNBB9QHrK_rV9Jsd_YUZP1fBXip5GfWbSEXe507yfoRCyGZKnZ2DWUwsg_c_SpNW4viOcV1lb3iECwC-tCLAZ1cB1XPZu26A8/s1600/inpipes24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsCcGr0VcUelUzla9rgiaFXQsu3Pdhuto08cjjNO1p-UNBB9QHrK_rV9Jsd_YUZP1fBXip5GfWbSEXe507yfoRCyGZKnZ2DWUwsg_c_SpNW4viOcV1lb3iECwC-tCLAZ1cB1XPZu26A8/s1600/inpipes24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No beavers were out but I could see that the
crown of one of the maples recently cut had been trimmed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_yJlEC5DLgLl4sL8eXZHc2KbCyLCkAjkDn3VPI9ZfSwL5umFmGI8mW731hO_UVdbqOZnO91m50dG1GHbDQBiWlHy46dytPIWqv6KoqEkOY7DsnaFCUjCfVNQgBME-gTrcg8c_Oou_CY/s1600/mpbvwk24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_yJlEC5DLgLl4sL8eXZHc2KbCyLCkAjkDn3VPI9ZfSwL5umFmGI8mW731hO_UVdbqOZnO91m50dG1GHbDQBiWlHy46dytPIWqv6KoqEkOY7DsnaFCUjCfVNQgBME-gTrcg8c_Oou_CY/s1600/mpbvwk24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, there were no branches in the channel
so maybe the beaver is ferrying food directly back to the lodge a
meander away in order to feed babies. When we went down to look
at another channel, a large porcupine bounded out of the tall
grass, well, as much as a slow, fat porcupine can bound, crossed
two channels, and started to climb a tree. The strong wind was at
our three backs and made a stink that was too close for the
comfort of the porcupine. He backed down and then climbed a tree,
almost to the top, that was a bit further away. He kept his nose
cocked in our direction.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_SZFuviK3FZVF7WTeGEin7ol62U7HiU0t_trxPGzsa5hFMhESxayiQ38PLoSYJr20qNzSJ45v_5ABn_iBNu5HtLjSghgD7eXtYLUhGkrYJuU6iqrHT64b-UfToCy93kSclXJWcLn-A8/s1600/ppine24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_SZFuviK3FZVF7WTeGEin7ol62U7HiU0t_trxPGzsa5hFMhESxayiQ38PLoSYJr20qNzSJ45v_5ABn_iBNu5HtLjSghgD7eXtYLUhGkrYJuU6iqrHT64b-UfToCy93kSclXJWcLn-A8/s1600/ppine24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We came back along the South Bay trail along
the shore to TI Park, and a large black snake slithered across
the trail heading to the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMaUIgztf4rwlXPOYrCtw85VKXsaVLyA9BJRI-TFCZBEhlES-aPG_z9O2AsLSbERSp2UEDt6oIhMnBdMiskFT90GS6jGTA0FFB89F0fAl3QiZgkmLyJDRrm8dFei2gwOrX8KyqXzEPjs/s1600/snake24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMaUIgztf4rwlXPOYrCtw85VKXsaVLyA9BJRI-TFCZBEhlES-aPG_z9O2AsLSbERSp2UEDt6oIhMnBdMiskFT90GS6jGTA0FFB89F0fAl3QiZgkmLyJDRrm8dFei2gwOrX8KyqXzEPjs/s1600/snake24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't get a good photo which was unfortunate
because I think this may have been a large water snake in a black
phase rather than a black snake.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 27 Ottoleo's graduation weekend and the
heat and humidity have conspired (perspired) to keep me out of
the swamps and ponds, but today I at least could walk around the
beaver pond at the land during a break from watering the garden.
There is still a little pool of water up from the pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMJz3cWYQSaouIX8rMSwzQZy-ohWGtIOh5v_UwhMexI1-JCodA7u1VGky-zO9EdSulX4KG538mZvv_2lSACIM3i-UpreJGQn7EYjTcJibn-7MeoJTSdK5ZA4Cz8sWnFUQ0WJ3m84wAuQ/s1600/pool27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMJz3cWYQSaouIX8rMSwzQZy-ohWGtIOh5v_UwhMexI1-JCodA7u1VGky-zO9EdSulX4KG538mZvv_2lSACIM3i-UpreJGQn7EYjTcJibn-7MeoJTSdK5ZA4Cz8sWnFUQ0WJ3m84wAuQ/s1600/pool27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and while there is no great wiggling of doomed
tadpoles, many of the freshly minted frogs that I fancied were
viable and could make their way down to the beaver pond floated
dead in the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWEC3_2rJRXjhiyPHoKTspAm82zdejrcWG7-VXQaggbI1E1Ft4_EbtWlpGP1VAJkKH-XTT9GFaee9TnPFvF2tuyzNRTg6dEJAqTPXaWrE_LmW0QPjvT8dnlgUsUfjoW5ngZQYwwU8VZU/s1600/deadfrog27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWEC3_2rJRXjhiyPHoKTspAm82zdejrcWG7-VXQaggbI1E1Ft4_EbtWlpGP1VAJkKH-XTT9GFaee9TnPFvF2tuyzNRTg6dEJAqTPXaWrE_LmW0QPjvT8dnlgUsUfjoW5ngZQYwwU8VZU/s1600/deadfrog27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As for the beavers, I noticed one fresh trail
going away from the pond and that went up the sandstone a few
feet high and a few yards from the pond, where the beavers began
to take strips from a large elm, as well as almost cut it down.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMDK_4K24mUGfjBwiF2LtgVNKdPcXDxin5-2ya1cbnO3dsRQZnK48QELGOqhGA2E5BaUyVB_ZkOXBNrRC521lyOY78yW9n_lJTbiePYy78iRtrwuz-o8vnvsyYtPb_3fp6Y0u2TEcjo0/s1600/elm27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMDK_4K24mUGfjBwiF2LtgVNKdPcXDxin5-2ya1cbnO3dsRQZnK48QELGOqhGA2E5BaUyVB_ZkOXBNrRC521lyOY78yW9n_lJTbiePYy78iRtrwuz-o8vnvsyYtPb_3fp6Y0u2TEcjo0/s1600/elm27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pool down at the head of the valley is
quite muddy as it dries up but there are no beaver tracks down to
it. As usual, various beetles are feasting on the milkweed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIrDxDsCH4R-zeKRhUoENbLYo7kksTuofk9nLKT6eZjbqW9Mn0R3tvauk0BRDB7AykPtbOMKNivLnAYHmS92lQnqiXg771rqaoQeecAmtMBygZ-RNxwjCBkFHUny8hmo8lmSiFSGoeHw/s1600/mweedbugs27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIrDxDsCH4R-zeKRhUoENbLYo7kksTuofk9nLKT6eZjbqW9Mn0R3tvauk0BRDB7AykPtbOMKNivLnAYHmS92lQnqiXg771rqaoQeecAmtMBygZ-RNxwjCBkFHUny8hmo8lmSiFSGoeHw/s1600/mweedbugs27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, one can't help but notice that the
heat that makes humans wilt rather invigorates the flying insects
who seem to live a lifetime while we sit and recruit enough
strength to plod on.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 28 another day in the 90s but there was a
light but steady wind as evening came on and I had to see what
the otters might have been up to. I headed over the TI Park
ridge, eyes out for fawn, but I didn't even see a deer. Robins
darted just above the litter and no chorus of bird song greeted
me. I enjoyed the changing bands of grass from the higher,
sparser seed-burdened but erect and bluer green grass along the
rocks to the short, lush, perfectly green grass without seeds but
folding over forming a canopy to cool the insects. The latest
otter scent mound in the latrine along the South Bay trail looked
amended but I couldn't see any fresh scat, and the trail up and
over the New Pond knoll gave a hint of being used, but again, I
couldn't find any fresh scats. There was a trail in the mud apron
of the New Pond, continuing into the lush grass and stopping at a
rock.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEq59AtaYqtrcmWZZ6-e3UVL7f6zsKEeLukjRQ5Op_8vJePaOQMoH0u2TYRk4GYQOzynn8rtC3X53WLk8FZ1X8Cn1iGkFYVrOI62N4DTXIeJafacvH1G05K_NGjXml_qeIpxybT1tJFFo/s1600/nptks28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEq59AtaYqtrcmWZZ6-e3UVL7f6zsKEeLukjRQ5Op_8vJePaOQMoH0u2TYRk4GYQOzynn8rtC3X53WLk8FZ1X8Cn1iGkFYVrOI62N4DTXIeJafacvH1G05K_NGjXml_qeIpxybT1tJFFo/s1600/nptks28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It looked like a turtle trail, but I wondered
at it going to a rock so I went down to get a closer look. At the
foot of the rock, I saw the extended paw of a snapping turtle,
and save for a slight recoil of its massive head, it stayed still
as I photographed the fancy duckweed detailing on its shell.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyQeg0i-3bJ1dmMIWZqxaM4Wk6Lgqil1zhZmAR5SdHxCJMFactDiM5FeIMhyFKwejXAhlcInu6NUW6pqEZ6Hy2p7ey3ESGiI8rd4RGANQTtuRhn7t7mYgmZpLNcY1k7o1d_b_4Z230Lw/s1600/snapper28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVyQeg0i-3bJ1dmMIWZqxaM4Wk6Lgqil1zhZmAR5SdHxCJMFactDiM5FeIMhyFKwejXAhlcInu6NUW6pqEZ6Hy2p7ey3ESGiI8rd4RGANQTtuRhn7t7mYgmZpLNcY1k7o1d_b_4Z230Lw/s1600/snapper28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No idea what it was up to. At the latrine above
the old South Bay dock, I saw two sets of otter scats, an older
group of four, all now dry, high on the slope, and an array of
fresh, odoriferous scats midway up the slope. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPzw4uuSXOOMXR-hg6MZvCXx-SIKqJS1GhVnDyACKwYUbK4Q-bmqx20VCET4KIQYO6kQqtUoMbo9_5StPxeXW4lXKR3Sv5_CT3_1mmacqsQN7uQmPJKrBl4AWs7Lb8ohGyQQ-wWzlAk4/s1600/sbdocklat28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPzw4uuSXOOMXR-hg6MZvCXx-SIKqJS1GhVnDyACKwYUbK4Q-bmqx20VCET4KIQYO6kQqtUoMbo9_5StPxeXW4lXKR3Sv5_CT3_1mmacqsQN7uQmPJKrBl4AWs7Lb8ohGyQQ-wWzlAk4/s1600/sbdocklat28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some scats were filled with fish scales and
other were liquidy brown.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1_Xc7iax-raEocxSSz5FQUj_j3FcmgCulEYppuHov0o2vqD_xau2SaxE6g_84O_t9hkUFgoapbKXyZZ2uFNdnctyYYhH7xsz8m9Ho5XUE8yQR33XHrI4E9uiiEgeziIE7ydgDFNVopQ/s1600/scat28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1_Xc7iax-raEocxSSz5FQUj_j3FcmgCulEYppuHov0o2vqD_xau2SaxE6g_84O_t9hkUFgoapbKXyZZ2uFNdnctyYYhH7xsz8m9Ho5XUE8yQR33XHrI4E9uiiEgeziIE7ydgDFNVopQ/s1600/scat28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Looking out into the bay I saw something dive
into the water, so I sat at the foot of the slope and waited for
an otter to resurface, but none did. A muskrat did swim from the
marsh to the dock and dove under it. I also saw a head swimming
at the edge of the crook of the large marsh, quite a ways away
from me, but soon that disappeared without reappearing anywhere
else. Then I saw some contrary ripples coming from the shore off
to my right concealed by the trees hanging over the shore.
Something seemed to be up, and soon enough a beaver swam out into
the bay from the near shore pulling a large willow branch behind
it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0zNToN0qWWlCGjDE2YXaRq2mqrwcDP2ypabWoAhGIasGRlkbTYNPEipDf7GeUG4pErihI7-X2RsZiDb78idibbiZotUuh3pg059vkzkroUHDcL0W6TfsUTnOIgI4-Fk0oFpkNAcTohU/s1600/sbbv28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0zNToN0qWWlCGjDE2YXaRq2mqrwcDP2ypabWoAhGIasGRlkbTYNPEipDf7GeUG4pErihI7-X2RsZiDb78idibbiZotUuh3pg059vkzkroUHDcL0W6TfsUTnOIgI4-Fk0oFpkNAcTohU/s1600/sbbv28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This surprised me because I am accustomed to
seeing the beaver diving for roots and rhizomes out in the
shallows of the bay and frankly never conceived of them dragging
branches into the rather thick marsh. Evidently the beavers have
a lodge of some sort in the marsh. After pulling the branch in
there, which I could not really see, the beaver did not reappear.
Meanwhile, I saw fish fins briefly arc above the water where I
suspected there was a diving otter. No head reappeared near the
marsh, but I suspect it was another beaver. This activity in the
bay and the smell of fresh otter scat, as well as the heat and
deer flies, persuaded me not to tour the interior ponds, but just
walk up the South Bay trail and check the other otter latrines
and Audubon Pond. Not a bad choice, as I immediately saw a
handsome raccoon preparing for the night's work, and then a
porcupine eating the leaves of a spindly basswood as its crown
bobbed just a few feet above the ground.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwp9a0H7fNMYBtBY2cGbQY3AFWeNwPN8FZCtFryuHwJovCuKoZOuR9sh0t5HF6vbkVV96AIeeU6y62edD4bE3EwBm6Bl6DcAztoYZ9RcA3OlvO1QjNuDVc3yisqt0sisyaiGDGofpr6k/s1600/ppine28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwp9a0H7fNMYBtBY2cGbQY3AFWeNwPN8FZCtFryuHwJovCuKoZOuR9sh0t5HF6vbkVV96AIeeU6y62edD4bE3EwBm6Bl6DcAztoYZ9RcA3OlvO1QjNuDVc3yisqt0sisyaiGDGofpr6k/s1600/ppine28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had never gotten such a good view of a
porcupine eating leaves. When it noticed me, it, of course,
bristled, and I hurried on before it got into a panic, or a
porcupine-panic because theirs is rather sedate. I saw new scats
at the docking rock latrine, but they weren't fresh. In the
gloaming I saw a scat like blur on a rotting log and on closer
examination saw the vibrant life of molds and lichens.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimv7DDpdjABqFHrM4AyOH-h2F0PQjcO32xm7kr6keasejgekpGr6oJtuU8MR4ZipgAF_pADmLithCOzyqhBCbfZwuxwBIRDrnUHI4KQgJVrItZcLT0nBXvwcmfMKxxe-DcF0gN-HxgVQk/s1600/growths28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimv7DDpdjABqFHrM4AyOH-h2F0PQjcO32xm7kr6keasejgekpGr6oJtuU8MR4ZipgAF_pADmLithCOzyqhBCbfZwuxwBIRDrnUHI4KQgJVrItZcLT0nBXvwcmfMKxxe-DcF0gN-HxgVQk/s1600/growths28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up at Audubon Pond I startled a heron and a
deer as I made my entrance and watched a beaver swim to the shore
of the embankment and dive. I thought I was well enough out of
the wind to stand on the embankment and watch the beaver, which
would have been interesting, but the beaver surfaced and it
proved to be Slapper, because all it did was swim around and slap
its tail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTyTnAYhJ6TvCBDvaDd1caPeaKpe81lVk4AA-z3iFBOMDt20gSUXqZM85fHlqAr-HBW8m3c-GuVymVUN1kpF8G8WaRfdGeYe3YDoTAjc1Bl9U1nNWj5drV70dz4NGPtTEg5pxDIGDHWEY/s1600/splash28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTyTnAYhJ6TvCBDvaDd1caPeaKpe81lVk4AA-z3iFBOMDt20gSUXqZM85fHlqAr-HBW8m3c-GuVymVUN1kpF8G8WaRfdGeYe3YDoTAjc1Bl9U1nNWj5drV70dz4NGPtTEg5pxDIGDHWEY/s1600/splash28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were some thin trails in the grass up and
over the embankment but no sign that otters made them. I
continued on to the otter latrine high above the entrance of
South Bay and down around the digging that I thought an otter had
done but where I found no scats, I now saw another scent mound
and several gobs of old scat.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_r5P54j-rDrGQbJJcw2pmfPXp25I01kIeuZ3J2dgoJDnjFH1SkYOlMXOy6ApeyG9IkMn1e0exZJCL-eYIRI0h1yNjFMHlQlg8jYHch-mXHrZkrGkzPQuP03L78Q-Lsizz6vSpDergX0/s1600/sblat28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_r5P54j-rDrGQbJJcw2pmfPXp25I01kIeuZ3J2dgoJDnjFH1SkYOlMXOy6ApeyG9IkMn1e0exZJCL-eYIRI0h1yNjFMHlQlg8jYHch-mXHrZkrGkzPQuP03L78Q-Lsizz6vSpDergX0/s1600/sblat28.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">For all my explaining why, I still found their
continued use of this latrine very curious. I went back to South
Bay and walked around. The deer was joined by another deer, red
at the end of a yellow flecked carpet.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A goose that I had seen near the bench was
gone. As I walked around, I didn't see any fresh beaver work, but
I did see turtle eggs dug out of a nest buried in an ant mound,
which I have never seen before.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It seemed that the beaver was gone too. Then as
I sat down at the bench a beaver swam past me just ten yards out
in the pond. It seemed to ignore me and dove into the emerging
grasses and surface scum of the shallower end of the pond to my
right. Could this be Slapper sedated? No, because then from the
middle of the pond I heard a loud slap, and that beaver steamed
toward me. At first the beaver to my right seem unfazed by the
tail reports, but then it steamed out into the middle of the
pond, head up and soon enough tail down. I braced for a double
tail slap as the two beavers weaved out toward the middle of the
pond, but Slapper restrained itself at least until I headed home
along the east shore of the pond. As I returned to the end of
South Bay, I saw contrary ripples and cocked my camcorder, but
after a loud dive I heard nothing. Because of the noisy dive I
suspected a beaver, not an otter, and sure enough as I tried to
inconspicuously resume my vigil at the foot of the slope by the
old dock, a beaver slapped its tail far out into the bay and
disappeared. There is sport in waiting for the deer flies to go
to bed and the mosquitoes to take their place but I saw no sense
in bothering beavers on what appeared to be a busy night for at
least one of them.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 29-30 we finally got a chance to spend the
night at the land, so I could watch the beavers at night and in
the early morning. In human terms I made observations on two
days, but obviously, if they counted days, beavers would mark
noon as the start of a new day, not midnight. So I spent Wedthur
watching beavers with a long nap at beaver mid-day. However, we
did visit the land on Wednesday morning before returning to spend
the night. I attempted to rescue whatever was left in the little
pool above the beaver pond.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was too late for any frogs. In fact all their
remains seemed to have been gnawed,</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">mostly by raccoons judging from the
preponderance of their tracks. One heron had beaked about. I also
saw what looked like crayfish without legs or claws, quite red in
the bleaching sun,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee6BWt60x3ZvtbJMSpAMXDM4zi3oathfWnySD5kMQtkPZHo-Gdg0GF5iX6hFF-2yk5kKcQ8zCO5k4Z0JnDIOljUxzqWw1ngmHt8EnhKE2yVPpkrIOXDV6b8Hlos9St9bPzWc4iqCTu-U/s1600/crayf29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiee6BWt60x3ZvtbJMSpAMXDM4zi3oathfWnySD5kMQtkPZHo-Gdg0GF5iX6hFF-2yk5kKcQ8zCO5k4Z0JnDIOljUxzqWw1ngmHt8EnhKE2yVPpkrIOXDV6b8Hlos9St9bPzWc4iqCTu-U/s1600/crayf29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I thought I saw one of these critters in
the last remaining wet mud. I thought I scooped it out but once
in the bucket it was impossible to see it. I also noticed boatmen
with white and black markings on their back. I scooped up a few
of them too. On my way to the pool, I woke up a deer sleeping in
the bushes on the south shore of the pond. And around the pond,
where there is plenty of water, the frogs seemed relaxed and one
beaver seems to have picked a yellow flower.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got back to the beaver pond a little after
8pm, anticipating that I would finally be able to see how many
kits were born this year. I managed to get to my half concealed
viewing area by taking the back way, but I must have been much
too noisy because two beavers were nosing up at the area, big
ones too. One slapped its tail; the other looked hard and then
swam down toward the dam. Meanwhile, I heard persistent high
humming from around the auxiliary lodge. It was difficult to see
there, since I had not cut down enough of the buckthorn that's in
the way. I could see an adult beaver reaching up and getting
branches along the shore, and then I saw two other beavers swim
near it, but I don't think they were kits. To make a long story
short, while I kept hearing kits, I couldn't see any. At one
point, looking through the camcorder, I thought I saw a kit climb
up on the back of the beaver trimming branches along the shore,
but my eyeglasses were fogging, the swarming mosquitoes and deer
flies kept me twitching, and as I concentrated on that beaver's
back again, it seemed pretty clear that there was no baby nearby.
I thought the first two beavers to nose me were full-sized adults.
Then at least two juveniles came by to check me out. Not only are
these beavers smaller than the adults, but they are not as broad
in the beam. One slapped its tail, while the other went down
pond. Then one of the adults swam back toward where the kits
were, carrying a leafy branch. This re-tuned their humming, but I
still could not see them. As it grew dark and quiet, I got down
from my little ridge and walked along the edge of the pond to see
if that might flush some kits. I was losing a bit of my patience,
as the hum from the mosquitoes was almost as loud as the kits'
humming had been. But no kits materialized. For the past month
the activity I've observed in the pond seemed at the level five
beavers might be expected to make. Tonight, I began to wonder if
the seven here last fall were still here. As I walked back to the
cabin, the whip-poor-wills began flying up from White swamp and
calling. The wood thrush and veery kept singing as it grew dark,
and a handful of tree frogs were still at it, as well as
bullfrogs and greenfrogs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed back to the pond at 5:45 am, and
startled a deer along the road.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghe5QR60GVFCP588izzPaYlrH0o2qXNeTemOYu6vgL5_mLba4_k_NY2I8ksinYQuSww5vTCqz9blhrD_v5Gpa2ZKGzbHyNXcQCX1Cdxuk5fuiGaM3PtIt7llWc19iOTQ7iHfTR3BkrkfY/s1600/deer30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghe5QR60GVFCP588izzPaYlrH0o2qXNeTemOYu6vgL5_mLba4_k_NY2I8ksinYQuSww5vTCqz9blhrD_v5Gpa2ZKGzbHyNXcQCX1Cdxuk5fuiGaM3PtIt7llWc19iOTQ7iHfTR3BkrkfY/s1600/deer30.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Rather than going to my less than satisfactory
viewing area, I approached the pond from the little rivulet
running down from the road, through the half cut poplar grove,
and past the dried up pool. I came down to the pond right next to
where the kits had been mewing so loudly the night before. This
morning all was quiet. Soon enough a beaver came out from the
auxiliary lodge and nosed around as if it knew I was there. To
make a long story short, for the next hour or so I saw only three
beavers, all yearlings I think, and heard no mewing or humming at
all. I did briefly see a beaver pop up in the water outside the
auxiliary lodge and make a goofy dive like a kit might, but
since it didn't pop up again, I won't jump to conclusions. I
noticed why the beavers were trimming branches above the
auxiliary lodge. The elm they had been cutting fell down toward
the pond. One curious thing happened: a beaver took a branch out
of the pond water and seemed to purposely push it back up into
the crown of the elm, like it was saving it for later. Then it
came down with a smaller branch and took that one into the main
lodge. Although the beavers seemed to know I was there, they swam
down pond and in the far distance I saw a beaver take a sapling
or branch from the edge of the woods back to the pond. I expected
it to swim back with it, but it didn't. I got other indications
that some of the beavers had moved from the auxiliary lodge to
make way for the kits. Though my view was obscured, it seemed
like two dove into the burrows on the north shore of the pond.
Losing patience again, I sat closer to the pond, which didn't
seem to alarm the beavers when they swam by. I took photographs
hoping such close-ups might make it easier for me to tell the
beavers apart, but it was a little misty over the pond.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I took a photo of the elm</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBg0WHi8-57WAfgXDWEosoL1FTcumpE0FljxN9IcEAtJJGd22rHEftBtI0hihaaIJg3QlTg12rD7tX7aqixPlGHaQtAwCiRxhDgAitJychtabfmSmMusPcb8icmntXbk74ZRi9vatpbs/s1600/elm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBg0WHi8-57WAfgXDWEosoL1FTcumpE0FljxN9IcEAtJJGd22rHEftBtI0hihaaIJg3QlTg12rD7tX7aqixPlGHaQtAwCiRxhDgAitJychtabfmSmMusPcb8icmntXbk74ZRi9vatpbs/s1600/elm30.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and went back to the cabin for breakfast. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-34984003445622583642016-12-16T12:38:00.002-08:002016-12-16T12:38:55.447-08:00June 12 to 21, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">June 12 last night we stayed at our land which
afforded another opportunity to check on the beavers as they came
out into the pond for the night's work. Three days ago, despite
uncharacteristic heat and humidity for this time of year, I cut
and collected ironwoods and a bitternut hickory trunks that the beavers
had cut last year but had not moved, trimming branches and taking them to the pond for food. While doing that I noticed a
comfortable clearing on the ridge just up from the trail along
the edge of the pond. I reasoned that when the wind, as it
usually is this time of year, is from the south or southwest,
this would a perfect place to watch the beavers as, with a little
trimming of some honeysuckle and buckthorn bushes, I would have a
good view of the main and auxiliary lodges and be able to see a
bit of the Teepee Pond. So last night I wended my way through the
thick brush and got to the clearing without seeming to disturb
any beavers. I hadn't had a chance to come and do the bush
trimming I planned, but I still had a pretty good view of the
ponds. Not seeing any beavers, I took the opportunity to reach
and break some of the leafy twigs in my way. Then to my surprise
I saw a beaver swim right below me. I think it was suspicious as
it looped back several times so it could swim along the shore
below me, but it didn't splash, and eventually swam down to the
Teepee Pond. Then another beaver materialized and also swam close
to me before it went down to the Teepee Pond. I could see their
ripples in that pond and it looked like they swam over to the
birches, but I couldn't hear any gnawing. Then one of the beavers
swam back into the pond below me, again swam near me, and then
dove into the auxiliary lodge. Ten minutes later when a beaver
popped out, I couldn't be sure if it was yet another beaver, but
I think so as it seemed smaller than the other. But as the
evening grew darker, I certainly saw no more than three beavers.
Then when it was almost dark, the beaver remaining by the birch
swam up to the First Pond and immediately slapped its tail, but
not in a panic because it soon swam to the grassy shore near the
lodge and climbed up and groomed itself. That lasted a few
minutes, then it got into the pond, swam over right below me,
swam back and got out again and groomed some more. </span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was as if the beavers were keeping tabs on
me without really reacting, as they usually do, to my presence.
The grooming beaver went back into the water but returned again.
This time it grazed on the green grass. Seeing that underscored
the lack of wood gnawing that I was hearing. It seems these
beavers are content with a grass and leaf diet. Meanwhile the
mosquitoes kept up a pleasant drone. When I looked behind me I
could see a wall of them bobbing and weaving. Of course, a great
many came on me to dine, and I was able to tend to most of them.
Then a dragonfly began bobbing and weaving in front of my face. I
fancied that it was eating the mosquitoes but I can't swear that I
ever saw it actually eat one. I also fancied that there were less
mosquitoes about when it was there, but that was probably wishful
thinking. Another evening when I sat on the chair by the edge of
the pond, a bird flew in and lit on a branch behind me and
broadcast a loud staccato alarm. Tonight it lit onto a branch in
front of me. I eased the camera on and saw that little showed up
so I switched on the "might vision" and got an eery
looking video of a whip-poor-will. The infra-red made its eyes
look like huge glowing white circles.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It soon flew off, and while I was hearing the
whip-poor-will call in the distance, I didn't hear the call from
a nearby tree. I also walked down to the Deep Pond, enjoying the
hazy yellow of a crescent moon. I disturbed a porcupine that was
on the edge of the road, but nothing was on the pond to disturb.
The frogs sang more around the beaver pond than here.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Usually I get back out to the pond to see the
beavers in the morning, but I was catching up on sleep, and since
the baby beavers did not make an appearance when it got dark, I
didn't think they'd be out in the bright light of the morning.
Despite the quiet, no humming, no gnawing, I'm pretty sure they
are in there.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Before noon today I kayaked over to South Bay.
Because of the heat and humidity there was still some mist on
river. We had kayaked around Goose Island three nights ago and
noticed a stream of dead midges in the river, with moths, other
bugs and even a bumble bee, which we rescued, struggling in the
water. There seemed to be fewer dead midges today and I wonder if
that's because the water is warming rapidly. Three days ago, the
shock of flying down out of 90 degree heat onto water that was
still under 60 degrees was too much of a shock for midges and
they died in droves instead of their usual more orderly fashion.
I don't recall ever seeing dead midges bunched together. I was
surprised not to see one goose. I saw several mallards some of
them rather coy, no doubt loath to abandon a nest on the shore.
Spawning carp were splashing along the shore, and especially
along the marsh at the end of the south cove of South Bay. Fins
were waving out of the water and splashing sometimes got furious.
Herons also seemed to be around every bend; only one common tern,
no Caspians. There were no signs of otters, nor fresh beaver
work. On the north shore of the south cove there was a beautiful
patch of yellow flag. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We went to the land briefly and I realized that
I had no photos to grace the pages of my journal. So as I checked
out the fresh beaver work up around the First Pond, I snapped
photos of the daisies </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vLWIpI9OJNah20KC1lXEK4QvIRWPjH-_zFYmW_YA8hPjqnUw-1IRQtu6rmqiBR8ARNy-eh1hISsm51VJYBjUUkL58O3GnAUvyMAGhLtM63Tn1dWWnlydHu78AvBlSDS-D7LjQplI7YE/s1600/daisies12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vLWIpI9OJNah20KC1lXEK4QvIRWPjH-_zFYmW_YA8hPjqnUw-1IRQtu6rmqiBR8ARNy-eh1hISsm51VJYBjUUkL58O3GnAUvyMAGhLtM63Tn1dWWnlydHu78AvBlSDS-D7LjQplI7YE/s1600/daisies12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">surrounded by yellow, orange, and purple
blossoms, all the pretty "alien" flowers. And there was
a patch of blue flag beside the drying pool above the First Pond.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I am sorry I didn't see it in its prime. The
only beaver work I saw was on the pine. Judging from where some
of the branches were cut the beavers have been stretching up and
bending down the branches. The ponds are still losing water to
evaporation and the stripped leftovers are revealed in piles at
the beavers' favorite feeding spots along the shore.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I found a handsome cocoon on a branch of a
pine tree.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 14 we've had the most miserable week of
weather, hot, humid and still, at a time when we usually have our
best weather. At the land I could manage to pump some water, and
did some trimming of trails and views of the beaver pond. Again,
I didn't notice any new beaver work. Grass must be their fare.
Leaving the pond I saw frog that has adjusted to the drought,
sporting brown, not green camouflage.</span><br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Last night we had enough showers to afford a
cooler, dripping morning. When the sun came out in the afternoon,
the sky was blue, no longer hazy, but it remained hot and humid.
I headed off a little after four, taking my usual route to the island ponds. While we
haven't had much rain, maybe a half inch last night, the heat,
humidity and sun have pumped the vegetation. The woods were
completely shaded, the robins' realm, and the grass along trails
was almost waist high. There was a new otter scent mound just off
the trail just past the small causeway at the end of the South
Bay cove. The squirt of scat on it had a glint to it, perhaps
because it was fresh, </span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">perhaps from the morning showers. So I had my
eye out for more otter signs. There was nothing new on the New
Pond knoll, and the scat in the South Bay dock latrine, while
fresh, was of the very flat, sticky, brown variety.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Something that unhealthy looking you don't wish
on an otter. It was placed below some scratching in the moss, so
it probably was from an otter. The river water has warmed
considerably; we can swim off the dock, a week or two earlier
than usual. The warmth seems to have put a stop to the carp
spawning. There was nothing new at the docking rock latrine and
no signs that otters are using Audubon Pond. The beavers have
magnificently covered the pipe that the powers that be put
through the old drain that the beavers have long mastered.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio67iowHQaudiVBjQXkeHmxLCruxSrWN9tuNTgjpnqUP8mxaTy6UnbUSkTA4UZMAj2kaEW0dbxmvzo3lHyxcwd1qlaWd58NBQ2GPSTiJyYhF096u4qUvM_275CoKgnsE4jglMs0MPTUjs/s1600/apdrain14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio67iowHQaudiVBjQXkeHmxLCruxSrWN9tuNTgjpnqUP8mxaTy6UnbUSkTA4UZMAj2kaEW0dbxmvzo3lHyxcwd1qlaWd58NBQ2GPSTiJyYhF096u4qUvM_275CoKgnsE4jglMs0MPTUjs/s1600/apdrain14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pond in that area is mud brown. The new
bank beaver lodge looked about the same. I suppose it is cooler
for the beavers to burrow deeper into the bank, rather than build
the lodge out into the water. Then I went back down to South Bay
and checked the high latrine where the grass begins to cover all.
However, just at the edge of the cliff down to the river there
was a hole dug into the dirt and grass.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But there was no scat. Last time I was hear, a
snapping turtle had come up the slope nearby to lay eggs. This
hole did not have a turtle's style, so I suppose an otter dug it.
Then I went back to walk around Audubon Pond. I didn't see any
new work along the shore, so, here too, I assume the beavers are
living off grass. I sat at the bench and for a while had nothing
more puzzling to contemplate than why the pond looked so calm
while the wind blew in from the west. I decided that I was so
hungry to feel a cooling breeze that I magnified the power of the
wind that hardly registered on the pond surface. Then I saw a
muskrat swim out from the tall grasses on the east shore and head
away from me toward the embankment. I watched it until it stopped
almost below the embankment and started nibbling something. Then
a pair of wood ducks flew into the pond landing not far from me.
The male had all its striking plumage and the female's eyes were
highlighted with a white circle. There were no ducklings. By the
way, the geese seem to have abandoned the pond, and for years
this unnatural pond has at least been a nursery for them. Then I
glanced back at the muskrat and saw it swimming right toward me.
I'm always flattered when something swims toward me. True the
muskrat did dive three times and paused once a long time to eat
some grass it fetched up, but then it kept coming, eventually
swimming into the grasses off of my left. Then I saw another
muskrat come out of the grasses along the east shore and begin on
the exact route the other muskrat took. This began a cascade
theorizing about patterns in nature, then the muskrat took a
sharp left and disappeared into the causeway that makes the east
shore of the pond. As I headed out I didn't disturb the muskrat
near me, so I assume it still uses the borrow in this neck of the
pond. Every year there is a lush crop of blue flag in a vernal
pool under the trees on the northeast end of the pond</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I inspected this year's crop. This year, I
always seem to be rendez-vouing with these flowers too late to
see them at their peak.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Respecting the west wind I angled toward the
southeast shore of Meander Pond, planning to park myself at the
end of the canal there where the beavers had just cut down a
leafy tree. As I approached a deer, coated red now, distracted me
as it grazed in the tall grasses in the swampy ground below the
pond. </span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I reached the end of the beaver canal while
in the process of taking photos of the deer. After it hopped off,
I turned to photograph the leafy smorgasbord in the canal. Then I
heard gnawing and saw that a beaver was munching on leaves and
twigs in the canal right in front of me. The tall grass combined
with the leaves in its face made for bad photos. Then the beaver
dove and swam toward me. I was quite exposed, standing up without
a tree or branch to duck behind. The beaver came out on the
ground at the end of the canal, right in front of me, and began
grooming. The deer flies had discovered me and now and then my
unavoidable twitching gave the beaver pause, but after a brief
sniff of the air</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">it got back to grooming. Beavers have large
appendages, and how one parks its tail has always entertained me.
This time, so close, I got an appreciation of the challenge of
controlling the huge back feet snaking around the fur ball body
like a bat about to fly away while the beaver goes about the
pleasure of biting and preening its fur. After biting fur and
skin the beaver was still chewing as it raised its head, as it if
was harvesting morsels from its own body. Then it went back in
the canal, not in a panic, for it stopped at a large branch and
began eating leaves, dove and found another branch to trim.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkFtXv2POhxQmOPYvVrAjsA8nrR1cyBfDCo4_e4JX8lfZ_Ta7x8DUb7YRCLrb8NnacoC7Q-RIeLidvCanqFEYfGv1x3LSezCPw3ot8QXh0m7_CULTReW3T-Gu_YVnomYQcvGL6wz4fJc/s1600/mpbv14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkFtXv2POhxQmOPYvVrAjsA8nrR1cyBfDCo4_e4JX8lfZ_Ta7x8DUb7YRCLrb8NnacoC7Q-RIeLidvCanqFEYfGv1x3LSezCPw3ot8QXh0m7_CULTReW3T-Gu_YVnomYQcvGL6wz4fJc/s1600/mpbv14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It also shook its head and body once, reminding
me of the beaver I saw in the New Pond a week or so ago. I think
this is the same beaver, judging from its nonchalance in the
bright sun. So as not to disturb it, I walked away from the pond,
though I paused to get a photo of the maple whose crown has been
stripped in the last week, and another leafy maple just cut down.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg5ui2qKXXHJdVn4VcA5gL6iYDIZq1ZUGvrjok25vmph6rF9YKBTG8jWiB1D1iaobwRvAtv-7zUIAao9hPp6gaaiJ55Q7ArsyCY6ee55mmksPO_OwiVJNC7JlVb1-WPk_BoKU_c-GzN4/s1600/mpbvwk14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg5ui2qKXXHJdVn4VcA5gL6iYDIZq1ZUGvrjok25vmph6rF9YKBTG8jWiB1D1iaobwRvAtv-7zUIAao9hPp6gaaiJ55Q7ArsyCY6ee55mmksPO_OwiVJNC7JlVb1-WPk_BoKU_c-GzN4/s1600/mpbvwk14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I picked up the East Trail and took it
over the ridge and then directly down to the dam. Walking down
the ridge to the pond, I tried to picture a small otter managing
the tall grass, and I thought that there was too much emerging
vegetation in the rolling area. I didn't see any new scat either.
The only trail in the grass was up the slope east of the dam and
I know a raccoon patrols that area. A number of frogs jumped into
the pond as I crossed the dam so the diminishing pool coated with
thick green duck weed is good for something. No ducks or herons
here, not to mention my old friend the green heron. As I
approached the Second Swamp Pond, I heard a wood duck fly off.
Here the wind was raking the pond which made it pleasant to watch
while waiting for something like a muskrat at least to swim out
of the grasses along the edge of the pond. This is also where
fawn often make a first appearance, but I didn't even see a deer.
I walked up the north shore, my old path obscured by tall grass
and a legion of deer flies aiming to keep it that way. The
beavers continue to pack mud on the Upper Second Swamp Pond dam
so that the water behind seems stagnate with a tannic brown
color.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ742s-OQ4WSmXKxuw2KqZQvPsgVRC_9M516RW-Y2bgkeI9N464_RZYTuRP7fyimCIhyZ_TBr9JyQa2lQ1mWmdCd2Un3Vc-ffONqfj183k7SohMzFjbkFr51aWmYytKrNuM95jmVCSCx4/s1600/upspdam14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ742s-OQ4WSmXKxuw2KqZQvPsgVRC_9M516RW-Y2bgkeI9N464_RZYTuRP7fyimCIhyZ_TBr9JyQa2lQ1mWmdCd2Un3Vc-ffONqfj183k7SohMzFjbkFr51aWmYytKrNuM95jmVCSCx4/s1600/upspdam14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Here too not much evidence of beaver wood work
though the trail to a half-cut white oak is still beaten down.
As I walked up to the Lost Swamp Pond dam, I saw a muskrat
swimming away from it toward the beaver lodge by the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H7dUs-nktrf5o_I-XjkUiupUCqfsSipA7s5evCD1f5C3iJjHkGFYP5nk1Z3KzoG3T1hsQiLCg3n9fAmka3Pry8GLDfTx9VazfP_7-X552Ox44nQTfCbXj89FgT6HD9IwBEdWOzUI4KA/s1600/ls14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H7dUs-nktrf5o_I-XjkUiupUCqfsSipA7s5evCD1f5C3iJjHkGFYP5nk1Z3KzoG3T1hsQiLCg3n9fAmka3Pry8GLDfTx9VazfP_7-X552Ox44nQTfCbXj89FgT6HD9IwBEdWOzUI4KA/s1600/ls14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I stood on the shore watching it, I saw
a beaver swimming toward the dam. My last few times at this pond,
the beavers have not been out this early. It seemed too hot for
me to hurry to conceal myself and too hot for the beaver to
bother about me. I did go to my usual spot next to the long
unused otter rolling area. The beaver noticed and reacted by
swimming away down into the west end of the pond. So I waited.
There was no activity in the flicker hole but swallows were
evidently feeding babies in a hole in another dead tree trunk in
the water nearby. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the hole. Then I
heard gurgling from the lodge in the middle of the pond and a
beaver soon surfaced and swam toward the dam. It was angling
toward the spot where beavers had made a practice of leaving
scent in the spring and I was curious to see if that is what it
is up to, but with the west wind it got my scent as it swam near
the area, and, of course, it began worrying about me. It slapped
its tail near the dam and then twice again as it weaved in front
of me. I suppose I learn little from a disturbed beaver but I am
enamored of the beauty of its wake and the high purpose
communicated by its head, or I should say nose, cocked slightly
out of the water. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogcY2jSCRsRKGq9cKLrQP7-Bri_fqCtt0O-OVtOs7WEu7n-Kt6TDdYWEI39ubAUooQjImz57-LYMv_j5Ruy8G4F9fVf6EKDszuPiX1VVeU1rVLiyBVwdeaoRu338df93uiL_cqxGmx3g/s1600/bv14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjogcY2jSCRsRKGq9cKLrQP7-Bri_fqCtt0O-OVtOs7WEu7n-Kt6TDdYWEI39ubAUooQjImz57-LYMv_j5Ruy8G4F9fVf6EKDszuPiX1VVeU1rVLiyBVwdeaoRu338df93uiL_cqxGmx3g/s1600/bv14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beaver that swam down to the west end of
the pond swam back as if to see what all the commotion was about.
It kept its distance from the alarmed beaver, briefly probed the
center of the pond for something to eat and then swam off to the
far south end of the pond. Then I saw a tiny muskrat out in the
middle of the pond that evidently swam from the burrows in the
north shore of the pond. So perhaps the feud between muskrats
here did not result in some leaving the pond. A turtle nest has
been raided, roughly at the same spot raided every year by the
raccoons.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYFqRRNv3Wv9Y3vd93Yh-sytW9L5iwioKlWtlfX0WacF43ERa7QBOskA0_AcNYP4M_j3r50MtP9kQNpD1wLsSe-UPLl9IDkXV2qogHPz0Tgq30TEB4zwIfvh4VBA5HrzD0QeVQmb1IDw/s1600/teggs14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYFqRRNv3Wv9Y3vd93Yh-sytW9L5iwioKlWtlfX0WacF43ERa7QBOskA0_AcNYP4M_j3r50MtP9kQNpD1wLsSe-UPLl9IDkXV2qogHPz0Tgq30TEB4zwIfvh4VBA5HrzD0QeVQmb1IDw/s1600/teggs14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the north slope for otter signs and
do think I saw some new, though not fresh scat near where I had
seen the otter scat. I headed for the Big Pond, where the haze of
deer flies accompanying me turned into a cloud. If the water had
been higher the dam would have been difficult to cross. There may
have been ducklings following a pair of adults far out in the
pond. There was a close but childless goose couple. A lone
seagull had been patrolling this pond during my previous recent
visits, now there were two, vocalizing a bit harshly as if this
big pond couldn't support the two of them. There were no otter
signs, from which I might conclude that the otter is keeping to
South Bay, but the grass is so high everywhere an otter probably
could leave scats that I would never find.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 18 the rains finally came, a
day-and-a-half's worth. I watched for a break but none came.
There was always at least a mist in the air and a northeast wind
at least obscuring eyeglasses. This morning the clouds lingered,
as well as the northeast wind, but the rain had stopped around
midnight. Reasoning that an otter would have ample time to do
some marking, I headed out at 8 am to check the latrines. There
was a good bit of digging at the South Bay causeway but it looked
more like the work of turtles laying or raccoons looking for
eggs. However up and just off the trail there was a neat pile of
dead grass. I checked the perimeter for otter scat but saw none.
Then I walked out to the willow latrine along the north shore of
the south cove of the bay. The otter trail I had seen in the
marsh the last time I was here was now quite grown over. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYYg5ihWm0iFkd8tlCCy_Uu_as2RSBTqI_-3rdrJifBjVV_ND5HtLousj9fS8Z2q49Qlx4wbLdzwlvj4OeIG9cDhjjuLHqBIQm-5Js1ZW_Se2IFQht_tHYNwrC_plX7-H62wHqwTsqk0/s1600/marsh18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYYg5ihWm0iFkd8tlCCy_Uu_as2RSBTqI_-3rdrJifBjVV_ND5HtLousj9fS8Z2q49Qlx4wbLdzwlvj4OeIG9cDhjjuLHqBIQm-5Js1ZW_Se2IFQht_tHYNwrC_plX7-H62wHqwTsqk0/s1600/marsh18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, when the cattails get too tall, an
otter must squeeze between them rather than knock them down. A
beaver has visited leaving stripped willow twigs on the mossy
shore below the old willow.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdAvAzA136cwhRuW3o70R0ykXxrDEK8kt3HN6oHSd2IVMHslkZPy1aVWZPiSiFLf_DbbGS6CB3aoGiXtgxZu9YVVvm9eXVbNdKjKQ81r4occRqd9n2FNMlzOy4gUGfFeIcaPXNK23XMI/s1600/bvwillow18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCdAvAzA136cwhRuW3o70R0ykXxrDEK8kt3HN6oHSd2IVMHslkZPy1aVWZPiSiFLf_DbbGS6CB3aoGiXtgxZu9YVVvm9eXVbNdKjKQ81r4occRqd9n2FNMlzOy4gUGfFeIcaPXNK23XMI/s1600/bvwillow18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The leaves around the rolling area in the woods
were flattened down, not by an otter but by the damp. There
seemed to be a new, but far from fresh, otter scent mound on the
trail a few feet from the water in the marsh. I didn't find any
new or fresh scat up on the New Pond knoll but I did see another
neat pile of dead grass just off the trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU79sy6u-dRZj4ZQT-02E-5durGnjJ2_5ZMgafFJWRciPNfxfJOlsPC86TUJw1YMQi-0DUxqFUZuJNZLtv-xgfXiYxmo-PDYIQUs5H-B1Z3nKGnpshGjmQgyJybCZ7N2jDGlkqTZMajYw/s1600/npknoll18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU79sy6u-dRZj4ZQT-02E-5durGnjJ2_5ZMgafFJWRciPNfxfJOlsPC86TUJw1YMQi-0DUxqFUZuJNZLtv-xgfXiYxmo-PDYIQUs5H-B1Z3nKGnpshGjmQgyJybCZ7N2jDGlkqTZMajYw/s1600/npknoll18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I checked the latrine above the old South
Bay dock and, just as I did last time, I found a fresh brownish
scat without scales in it,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxLkYeVBMzfrOOO9b2Nd887lD5VxT2gMjy4rhjG3FZxCnRS465JvfvKGOWyzuA22UyOJmJk-3qRcdcE5FVSr-EdqdPevGT3wF0jm7aN9urhUw5xPu-1sFDi-VeFpSm9ndJoA7lhaZqJI/s1600/scat18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxLkYeVBMzfrOOO9b2Nd887lD5VxT2gMjy4rhjG3FZxCnRS465JvfvKGOWyzuA22UyOJmJk-3qRcdcE5FVSr-EdqdPevGT3wF0jm7aN9urhUw5xPu-1sFDi-VeFpSm9ndJoA7lhaZqJI/s1600/scat18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which, strange as they look, I've always blamed
on otters. So I had a sense that an otter had visited its many
latrines but I had yet to see a definitive, scale-laced, black
scat. Save for the red-winged black birds and a wood duck with
four ducklings escaping into the marsh, it had been quiet walking
around South Bay. I sat down and waited for some splashing from
the spawning carp, and in about 15 minutes saw two splashes. The
woods on the way to the East Trail Pond ridge were relatively
quiet, though there was an oriole singing along the fringe, the
scarlet tanagers in the woods must have been feeding and not
teaching the young to sing. As I came up to overlook the pond, a
heron flew off from the top of one of the dead trees in the pond.
Despite the rain the amount of duck weed choked water seemed too
small to entertain an otter for long, but I was looking for an
otter family now, hoping the resident mother had unveiled this
year's litter, and a small pond might be just the ticket. Again I
saw what looked like a new scent mound of grass just up from the
pond, but no scats. I went up and down the ridge to try to see if
an otter had come or gone that way, and on the slope just above
the creek, I saw what looked like another grass scent mound, but
no scats, and the vegetation around the little creek was rather
lush</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIKdg67Snvtrr-WvXgPbEebMbr6Oo6NqjpibZsqpOARKgudt9Vcaqg9b8tKYWxViCxbVxWondqo86-n-apfaK2d9_nc22BhGgS25N1q_yIunNqeYFYnDwLAJ0aE2sjpdZkmTzzXlH2kg/s1600/grass18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIKdg67Snvtrr-WvXgPbEebMbr6Oo6NqjpibZsqpOARKgudt9Vcaqg9b8tKYWxViCxbVxWondqo86-n-apfaK2d9_nc22BhGgS25N1q_yIunNqeYFYnDwLAJ0aE2sjpdZkmTzzXlH2kg/s1600/grass18.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">so there was no seeing prints in the mud
anymore. I crossed the Second Swamp Pond dam which is getting
difficult as the grass, vervain, nettles and cattails crowd the
ribbon of mud. Fortunately the tall grasses below the dam are not
in water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpX3WPqMjZb_XpHiehXX-9uLd_d7-Fl59gO-kyhhG3d7rJb_MZAdY-Z1blP01fEJRpxj-Yi8aPDHAUu9mzDcHRGb0U1nbuLPDKaxOEyvJ7cTiHEFKzWkMeHBL7mA9Tlugdp9ljZ3uLUg/s1600/spdam18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpX3WPqMjZb_XpHiehXX-9uLd_d7-Fl59gO-kyhhG3d7rJb_MZAdY-Z1blP01fEJRpxj-Yi8aPDHAUu9mzDcHRGb0U1nbuLPDKaxOEyvJ7cTiHEFKzWkMeHBL7mA9Tlugdp9ljZ3uLUg/s1600/spdam18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No animal seems to have crossed over the dam
along the north end of the dam, but there were two trails into the
grass at the south end, but absolutely none of the mess an otter
makes of grass, let alone a scat. Before checking the north slope
of the Lost Swamp Pond, I saw at the west end of the pond, wind
in my face, waiting for something to materialize. There were not
even geese to watch. Then in the growing grass of the slope, I
saw a possible otter trail and a little ways up I saw a stalk of
dogbane cut and on top of a fresh scrape of grass. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLAL4jwuhyBt4GDOcvk0ZxuMF3kKmwqol5DQQaY5R8qtMGQH1IU84UwZXwhgDq9XqyYw3LIw7hskbAt_i0D9CS2he6itZJPq8eMXASJuG1aqHtlOaT_3ZlxZyLBw5ciIRHl14lBwhyphenhyphen3M/s1600/otsign18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLAL4jwuhyBt4GDOcvk0ZxuMF3kKmwqol5DQQaY5R8qtMGQH1IU84UwZXwhgDq9XqyYw3LIw7hskbAt_i0D9CS2he6itZJPq8eMXASJuG1aqHtlOaT_3ZlxZyLBw5ciIRHl14lBwhyphenhyphen3M/s1600/otsign18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And this time when I peaked around to find a
scat, I saw a fresh black one filled with scales.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvze5iFCqxLF3B70GOpzDaCwJhOjB2Vp_T693qc344wVnf79XWRgry2FeWS6Bc7BBVMY9GRLlDyjZ2HCwD1ZfOYERPINOcna955X0nOfQwli6vCRVIRwC6KDullkBbk4nfJenBmpZPeEY/s1600/scat18a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvze5iFCqxLF3B70GOpzDaCwJhOjB2Vp_T693qc344wVnf79XWRgry2FeWS6Bc7BBVMY9GRLlDyjZ2HCwD1ZfOYERPINOcna955X0nOfQwli6vCRVIRwC6KDullkBbk4nfJenBmpZPeEY/s1600/scat18a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I had been tracking an otter around the
ponds. I went over the trail to the Second Swamp Pond and again
saw a pile of grass, but no scats around it. Then I went back up
on the ridge and headed for the Lost Swamp Pond dam. There was a
fresh trail in the grass from the pond up and over the ridge. I
followed it to some fresh beaver work on a strange looking ash
tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9KC-yZqGwMJe1-ZQ-RI7VUh2QUfaEUi3xUqS5amP5xoas1h1hwew8OY0GEjrJgKGP9KGgLcJ7vEhsdxFvAuizX1n3N1NrgdyyaWtFRlXRwXQEgLP1DtjsoilQwOkYtD025u9qLkOsvw/s1600/bvwk18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9KC-yZqGwMJe1-ZQ-RI7VUh2QUfaEUi3xUqS5amP5xoas1h1hwew8OY0GEjrJgKGP9KGgLcJ7vEhsdxFvAuizX1n3N1NrgdyyaWtFRlXRwXQEgLP1DtjsoilQwOkYtD025u9qLkOsvw/s1600/bvwk18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then at the foot of the trail at the pond there
was a pile of bark and sticks </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCtXVLm0vQ4tnR0LJhyqv2tmc2t7D3ukxKWTS_81XLPZR5Q6rn1uO-xhRvm275GGrNRV741xuGMbVysoVfIcSzERkhCd6bT7KLbFo-kFqb1qt22ryMIrmkA9bPn38EX5_G-0vlhColI0/s1600/bvmark18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCtXVLm0vQ4tnR0LJhyqv2tmc2t7D3ukxKWTS_81XLPZR5Q6rn1uO-xhRvm275GGrNRV741xuGMbVysoVfIcSzERkhCd6bT7KLbFo-kFqb1qt22ryMIrmkA9bPn38EX5_G-0vlhColI0/s1600/bvmark18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">as if the beaver had marked the spot where the
trail leading to the tree started. At the old otter rolling area,
there were no signs of otters but two trails in the grass coming
up from the pond. There was fresh goose poop all around and also
freshly cut leaves in the pond. There was nothing new at the dam.
Up on the rocks near the dam, there was much digging in the
veneer of dirt there, and I think a raccoon found some turtle
eggs, though there were still broken shells from last year up
here. Still longing to see evidence that a family of otters had
been around the pond, I checked the mossy latrine on the other
side of the pond where there were four small goose feathers.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQTQYCUvb9HA-RsTaxjHNY643OwxW1Md9mYV1iIDkvhK1TJ1k0teXipEP16FHoLgycjjWcnBgTn_QcQ8DF_YKJDSybXZqzs7hHClxwxELZbHF3Pc4sFuHxJHBVHgkVH4uZK7cNHva1Tc/s1600/feathers18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQTQYCUvb9HA-RsTaxjHNY643OwxW1Md9mYV1iIDkvhK1TJ1k0teXipEP16FHoLgycjjWcnBgTn_QcQ8DF_YKJDSybXZqzs7hHClxwxELZbHF3Pc4sFuHxJHBVHgkVH4uZK7cNHva1Tc/s1600/feathers18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were several ducks swimming out in the
far southeast end of the pond, but I couldn't see any ducklings.
I saw deer on my way up to the pond and saw them again as I left,
red running through the green grass. For a month now, the Big
Pond had been a bit of a let down with little activity save a
gull flying about. Today as I approached a small muskrat swam
right at me, dove once, then swam out to get another look at me,
and dove again with a snap of its tail. With my next step a brace
of wood duck ducklings left the tall grass in a panic behind
their screaming mother. They didn't go far, looping back into the
tall grass growing in the pond, and they were very quiet. I had
to walk that way and as I did, the mother swam out and then did
the wounded bird routine, dipping her wings into the water as she
whined.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghutWQU7wJ0ix_YS_ibcWz7Zu04eghxdGx-IsJyywjBA0uPnAl9MxDVrvpJSeVqNlpS4fFYkOhHAnM2EpZ_kGRJRGMsh92HsWSG6Q7GziAFe1pRz8erKnD8UqHgEcdriB3TszLIs1Ahvg/s1600/woundedduck18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghutWQU7wJ0ix_YS_ibcWz7Zu04eghxdGx-IsJyywjBA0uPnAl9MxDVrvpJSeVqNlpS4fFYkOhHAnM2EpZ_kGRJRGMsh92HsWSG6Q7GziAFe1pRz8erKnD8UqHgEcdriB3TszLIs1Ahvg/s1600/woundedduck18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The ducklings didn't follow her and with my
next steps they fluttered in the grass going from one clump to
another. Meanwhile the mother kept flying around the pond keeping
up her whining. Since I could hear it, I assume the ducklings
could too. I hurried along the dam, not easy given the
vegetation, but had to stop where a muskrat, judging from poop
left behind, came up to take some cattails.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJMIIbcUdxFpFYrNif-blHRRANw4jQ6sysHFO_GWvmlWjvFyEtZNK5L7nELW8jAxHNgECsvLWf4pRJ5kBYcEvEVqCquu40AwYUN95F5Usm2kw9AWMo4nY9JAthMUBbqV42Ab_GXqo5-0/s1600/mratwk18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJMIIbcUdxFpFYrNif-blHRRANw4jQ6sysHFO_GWvmlWjvFyEtZNK5L7nELW8jAxHNgECsvLWf4pRJ5kBYcEvEVqCquu40AwYUN95F5Usm2kw9AWMo4nY9JAthMUBbqV42Ab_GXqo5-0/s1600/mratwk18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I paused at the south end where the muddy
water</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZIgyczB7HzrhaktwndM1-IXPDV8LEUMHA7a9v3ht3xfxitL6hB0zFAYztOnkSVia4RtBDyz5uTw78Pnv-2S6G1pbzgELNCk-LmGafgde3V_Nvjy1ZwPwVVntDX5Xhyphenhyphen2rX4JvLgkcA4M/s1600/mratwk18a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZIgyczB7HzrhaktwndM1-IXPDV8LEUMHA7a9v3ht3xfxitL6hB0zFAYztOnkSVia4RtBDyz5uTw78Pnv-2S6G1pbzgELNCk-LmGafgde3V_Nvjy1ZwPwVVntDX5Xhyphenhyphen2rX4JvLgkcA4M/s1600/mratwk18a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">seemed almost alive with color and debris.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOW7HMusub3XhwPbqqbVK1IWyF_9DRjG4N-6ympFrhdkKN-phI4BVMSVLv75r8pDwW1M4EYOWlhMvAbXja8UHi2nec0YuA9qubMEyMhe4AsAGqjUkRQWKkiTgWgCEzZ5p4C1zSpKBlYU/s1600/mud18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOW7HMusub3XhwPbqqbVK1IWyF_9DRjG4N-6ympFrhdkKN-phI4BVMSVLv75r8pDwW1M4EYOWlhMvAbXja8UHi2nec0YuA9qubMEyMhe4AsAGqjUkRQWKkiTgWgCEzZ5p4C1zSpKBlYU/s1600/mud18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was one goose around, perched for a while
on a nearby muskrat lodge, then it swam off. So I don't think
geese raised the mud -- the pond is a bit deep here, so the
muskrats must have been very active. No sign that an otter had
stopped, though I assume this pond is on its rounds. There were
no gulls today. A heron flew over and the red winged blackbirds
expressed their usual alarm. A good hike.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At the land, the mushrooms are coming out, to
my delight,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX81cg-2BPLWDpc93S-Co58J-mg9grle2Aj-WEZIpldrDYBoCMOc4g-AkU7E3GUMHQwd85K6pc_FS1POhU23N746k-5oGQqRn-ay76hx_jnmXQLg0DcbIgTvPws-EjPS-Q3deXS6TVejA/s1600/mroom18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX81cg-2BPLWDpc93S-Co58J-mg9grle2Aj-WEZIpldrDYBoCMOc4g-AkU7E3GUMHQwd85K6pc_FS1POhU23N746k-5oGQqRn-ay76hx_jnmXQLg0DcbIgTvPws-EjPS-Q3deXS6TVejA/s1600/mroom18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">and for the bugs. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUCzdyunluWC49ot1LVvjGhxyayXLz4ujaJl_TYuuq1N0GJsW6qd9PK9ZhuAxXJya8MCvofSdZbBlDrOTInLoHEv-Te5XGaTEZjx-Hyyqr-f2bpfesDrTHDAGeAK9gkY1MTqqDGCOKl8/s1600/mroombug18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUCzdyunluWC49ot1LVvjGhxyayXLz4ujaJl_TYuuq1N0GJsW6qd9PK9ZhuAxXJya8MCvofSdZbBlDrOTInLoHEv-Te5XGaTEZjx-Hyyqr-f2bpfesDrTHDAGeAK9gkY1MTqqDGCOKl8/s1600/mroombug18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also saw some bugs I've never noticed before.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJm-WsJrNn1z12oRYKIBS0xJSCqntTtzjc48313sQgluzSl6gKMxx3bJlcjJJRaUqBbfWmZF_GNWeDuj5wOgCRj7DjeX0NWiF6S31erjCWOMc5UldTH2S6y_-p-4yHHfEfUrXCKcx7fk/s1600/bug18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJm-WsJrNn1z12oRYKIBS0xJSCqntTtzjc48313sQgluzSl6gKMxx3bJlcjJJRaUqBbfWmZF_GNWeDuj5wOgCRj7DjeX0NWiF6S31erjCWOMc5UldTH2S6y_-p-4yHHfEfUrXCKcx7fk/s1600/bug18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pool above the beaver pond is holding out,
though we are preparing to rescue tadpoles if needs be, a raccoon
might get them first.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UIZQMer87bpQyWYWRlBHGjejg2kSgemZWeUq2BCLzKqbR02uqlCaSQFXL90xZMEpWAQwoI5jF7qRcKsHd7uaTkJG4K8hx4U34g16lXPQd-NcRhAbYc1EiNYOGlr9YvKARVq9ogRuK7Q/s1600/racpool18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UIZQMer87bpQyWYWRlBHGjejg2kSgemZWeUq2BCLzKqbR02uqlCaSQFXL90xZMEpWAQwoI5jF7qRcKsHd7uaTkJG4K8hx4U34g16lXPQd-NcRhAbYc1EiNYOGlr9YvKARVq9ogRuK7Q/s1600/racpool18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 19 cloudy, cool morning with a steady
northeast breeze. I headed off in the kayak for South Bay and
trusted the east wind to ease my way into the bay and coves west
of the entrance to the Narrows. The beaver lodge tucked on the
bank on the north side of the first large outcropping of granite
had leafy branches on it. A large maple fell down in the water
near the lodge and judging from the bite marks the few branches
cut had been cut a while ago. As I continued along the shore I
saw a few beaver nibbled twigs, but no major work. I only
disturbed one fish as I made my rounds. Up in the grass behind
the large rock on the east shore of the Narrows, I saw a clan of
geese grazing, at least the goslings, 6 or 8 of them, were
grazing as six adult geese stood guard. I could see trails
leading up to the otter latrines on shore that I know about, and
didn't see other trails going up in the grass. I didn't see any
fresh beaver work but the grass and leaves along the shore are
thicker than usual so it is more difficult to see into where the
beavers might be working. I did see a fawn in the grass, and,
since it sat down in the grass when it saw me, I reasoned that
this fawn was still in that stage of becoming shyness when it
would drop for concealment and not run. And an hour later, I came
back to South Bay in the boat, docked at the docking rock and
looked for the fawn where I last saw it. It saw me first and
sprinted two hundred yards down the trail</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_W7cpXAb3HLsJfqa1PulK4Rg99q1guVgPtcCQObJlgFu_5ihZYyLpIxP-Frh_UxasuJGoKIJ-_FSgt8KtFN5q4WsGJEqvkpFvmEZ3lgJT3AFHCGFgi4tFSbmjy4knc3khyhuKiVec8Q/s1600/fawn19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_W7cpXAb3HLsJfqa1PulK4Rg99q1guVgPtcCQObJlgFu_5ihZYyLpIxP-Frh_UxasuJGoKIJ-_FSgt8KtFN5q4WsGJEqvkpFvmEZ3lgJT3AFHCGFgi4tFSbmjy4knc3khyhuKiVec8Q/s1600/fawn19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">before it stopped and looked back. Meanwhile
back in the kayak, blue flag iris were almost my constant
companions as I paddled along the shore. At the end of the cove I
saw two small ducks that avoided me by swimming, not flying. The
smaller ducks always seem to elude me with more grace, as they
glide more quickly in the water. Whether this is just an illusion
or small ducks are more efficient swimmers, I don't know. I
didn't see any splashing carp but had two upwellings from fish
and one bump. Just beyond the rock on the south shore of the
north cove, I saw a red winged blackbird nest that was easy to
see, and when I came back in the boat, I photographed it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBWvPEkNweUzF7dn-Vf1I5kLY0J6tNnv2jgIzZ7ymOl2XNurDmGJNqZF_dE6QyRgsjJFCgkKtql7Zmfa97VRiZgMMATYhZrJRc3nLNNuEU8VnyyqXTRt5PIlNHGVACi-XB9FbmiohVXE/s1600/nest19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBWvPEkNweUzF7dn-Vf1I5kLY0J6tNnv2jgIzZ7ymOl2XNurDmGJNqZF_dE6QyRgsjJFCgkKtql7Zmfa97VRiZgMMATYhZrJRc3nLNNuEU8VnyyqXTRt5PIlNHGVACi-XB9FbmiohVXE/s1600/nest19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">How the nest was woven into the cattail fronds
struck me as rather neat. There was no signs of life or death in
the nest. A few spatterdock were up, this one almost in bloom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BtZbWrXEu3MEFeMXY7iHoZnWqT8DUI85xS3TfL3Ft7rSZN10fB0W3g858d0tR7-9mHy7sjM54AZqGqGT8Dfj-tu76l35bZBfWA-hws8DhwzqLHDpXZzs8CgdRE3f0BtvVhw9wNyEZMg/s1600/spatdock19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7BtZbWrXEu3MEFeMXY7iHoZnWqT8DUI85xS3TfL3Ft7rSZN10fB0W3g858d0tR7-9mHy7sjM54AZqGqGT8Dfj-tu76l35bZBfWA-hws8DhwzqLHDpXZzs8CgdRE3f0BtvVhw9wNyEZMg/s1600/spatdock19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also began seeing yellow loosestrife, right
next to the water, and rather small plants.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2NZ-nt-hXD5it9MBy09A5f71hyphenhyphenMc5e6qXB0GJ0qSJ71b2J40llhyphenhyphenxgScpMjIESKFI2Kli-vfPtwQzeMI1A55dksqXQ3zpKglwAMvcLihNzuN97PEWALuK9KBo5CQn8RLP0sOBwP7spA/s1600/yls19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2NZ-nt-hXD5it9MBy09A5f71hyphenhyphenMc5e6qXB0GJ0qSJ71b2J40llhyphenhyphenxgScpMjIESKFI2Kli-vfPtwQzeMI1A55dksqXQ3zpKglwAMvcLihNzuN97PEWALuK9KBo5CQn8RLP0sOBwP7spA/s1600/yls19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The one I photographed was in front of a trail
into the thickest brush along the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoUqDxjW98kn0w44NXA-6hA-XzHKzmFRvlRnBds1HkhCBZ7HU55UEWJvUfoZp-yfNbsZ0iU5CjYBkHt7qee3el5OwhfB5RWkGao5mk8_D2g-27G_ajmpgEXZgH1aeiuJ-kz6OVGantRI/s1600/trail19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoUqDxjW98kn0w44NXA-6hA-XzHKzmFRvlRnBds1HkhCBZ7HU55UEWJvUfoZp-yfNbsZ0iU5CjYBkHt7qee3el5OwhfB5RWkGao5mk8_D2g-27G_ajmpgEXZgH1aeiuJ-kz6OVGantRI/s1600/trail19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This could have been made by otters, but I
didn't see any otter scat nor scent mounds on the matted down
grass. Since I had checked the otters' willow latrine yesterday on
my hike, I didn't paddle that far down into the south cove, only
far enough to see the patch of yellow flag that I noticed a week
or so ago.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucVqrwYU-B7M3iDRoijEyITjQm72BVKRIkCFlWL_ugNQvT8pwX902uveKqKB6ncMqPDXKCPMBtl_Fc0oRxhNOKpet-Na2WU6z2PjV3DNSjS4jkC732CwqMIkgHcJYFWQ1uJ73C7ip4FQ/s1600/yflag19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucVqrwYU-B7M3iDRoijEyITjQm72BVKRIkCFlWL_ugNQvT8pwX902uveKqKB6ncMqPDXKCPMBtl_Fc0oRxhNOKpet-Na2WU6z2PjV3DNSjS4jkC732CwqMIkgHcJYFWQ1uJ73C7ip4FQ/s1600/yflag19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was still in bloom, and when I came back in
the boat, I took a photo. When I was there in the kayak a small
raccoon was working its paws into moss along the shore. Last year
I formed the idea that the mosses actually harbored less wiggling
life than the water grasses matted along the shore. However, this
raccoon seemed to be getting something to nibble from its probing
into the moss. I got rather close to it, and at the sight of me
and my kayak it looked hard, and then turned and went into the
bushes without any sign of panic. A mallard and heron were nearby
along the shore, and neither seemed put out by the presence of
the raccoon. However, when it went inland, two song sparrows were
not amused. When I came back to take photos, I checked for otter
scats and found a new scat at the docking rock latrine, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QsSTaVIEqBXccC0lCOziNTJI2MuVxTeKxokUc91u4XjJBcW9dDM7a2t_C6QH9o3PNpcz_5qH_Zl-YHt4Mz4ZDiqZrKhmeFtG1C9k84thRYJIdXfbDxuVUC11esybOROrCjX450Yvxc8/s1600/scat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QsSTaVIEqBXccC0lCOziNTJI2MuVxTeKxokUc91u4XjJBcW9dDM7a2t_C6QH9o3PNpcz_5qH_Zl-YHt4Mz4ZDiqZrKhmeFtG1C9k84thRYJIdXfbDxuVUC11esybOROrCjX450Yvxc8/s1600/scat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and two small fairly fresh scats on the rock
itself.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf4lk-iZGSCgoXP-YGNAgZpCyHtgES63bZJ333BnibpgTJlNUkjpTClAMPZk56D-MuLglW_xFq3rFO1AesKaqHAqckFMdj1AahZdEkqtY2WW8VuVLbcMAt4E90p7Z2sSo4kGtwIC2J6g/s1600/scat19a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXf4lk-iZGSCgoXP-YGNAgZpCyHtgES63bZJ333BnibpgTJlNUkjpTClAMPZk56D-MuLglW_xFq3rFO1AesKaqHAqckFMdj1AahZdEkqtY2WW8VuVLbcMAt4E90p7Z2sSo4kGtwIC2J6g/s1600/scat19a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At least an ant and grub acted as if they were
fresh. Then at the rock on the south shore of the north cove, I
saw where otters had been up in the grass just beside the rock,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinT13egFxlaB7mfk9Vtt-785E5_vgggl4ETwAR8aInrtMCegPcFiKhvNMop4IZiHGbSoao4PxS1Wb6Z2yKwv_mo8fNsqXIFJJqlQ4QeR8U9dkH2Rpg3orwg_SKXM_TghjaLdhuvQ4TUjM/s1600/otlat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinT13egFxlaB7mfk9Vtt-785E5_vgggl4ETwAR8aInrtMCegPcFiKhvNMop4IZiHGbSoao4PxS1Wb6Z2yKwv_mo8fNsqXIFJJqlQ4QeR8U9dkH2Rpg3orwg_SKXM_TghjaLdhuvQ4TUjM/s1600/otlat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and there were enough fresh scats</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GKbE3EniVy1daS1fhhbMlCpkbMMG-z0dbtY0USOdME9989tHMH14GxAJf6DtI86I2Uqj3NznV5nwta3rqljslBgzsK4ayHtKs1QXTjGNnRG9dXUnmGx5pl9nJpaStcO6zd97Tdkh85A/s1600/scat19b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GKbE3EniVy1daS1fhhbMlCpkbMMG-z0dbtY0USOdME9989tHMH14GxAJf6DtI86I2Uqj3NznV5nwta3rqljslBgzsK4ayHtKs1QXTjGNnRG9dXUnmGx5pl9nJpaStcO6zd97Tdkh85A/s1600/scat19b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">to make me wonder if a new otter family had
made the mess. Wood anemone were poking out in the tall grass,
here,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisocth5TTHQRNF7z_Iv0L39RBujBpXX9Y-a-CA9gHcODHyX37lZ1ysChjndpFfkTFvvUMvfDgTYmp5_DNz6OmGWjUhw2JrZ6kBJ3IeioDVj1VIobmt33X7pJZyW3Q2ZpgOYOZfx48sszE/s1600/wdanenome19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisocth5TTHQRNF7z_Iv0L39RBujBpXX9Y-a-CA9gHcODHyX37lZ1ysChjndpFfkTFvvUMvfDgTYmp5_DNz6OmGWjUhw2JrZ6kBJ3IeioDVj1VIobmt33X7pJZyW3Q2ZpgOYOZfx48sszE/s1600/wdanenome19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and blue flag along the shore. I saw a common
tern dive straight down for a fish, heard an osprey, several
herons and not a one squawked when it flew off as I approached.
Once again I noticed yellow warblers getting bugs in the willows.
I don't recollect these warblers doing so much in willows in
other years. We've been noticing a different kind of smell in the
water, call it a mild scent of putrefaction, and I wondered if it
might be from all the bugs that died in the water during the hot
spell. Today it still smelled smell faintly here and there, but
didn't see any dead bugs on the surface of the water. As I
rounded the headland a dozen swallows darted over my head and at
first glance I couldn't see any bugs in the air. Then I
concentrated and saw small yellowish bugs flying quickly in the
air, seemingly going some where, not just fluttering aimlessly.
Perhaps the cool breeze got them out of their usual swarm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 21 On this longest day of the year, I
waited until after dinner to take my hike. My plan was to wait at
the Big Pond until the beavers came out, which I guessed would be
about 8 pm. Then I would see what was happening in the Lost Swamp
Pond, and then go down to the north cove of South Bay, where I
once saw an otter, to see if otters might be foraging in the pond
when it got dark. However, as I headed away from the house, I
smelled rain coming. On the way to the Big Pond, walking along
the ridge, I flushed a bird, and then three fledglings fled from
where I was standing in quick succession. I caught on to what was
happening soon enough, but even as I looked down at the dead
leaves where the fledglings had been, I could not see the one still
there. The mother began doing a wounded bird act, which allowed
me to follow. I saw her long slightly curved beak, so these were
snipes, not woodcocks. As she led me one way, I could hear peeps
that I thought might be coming from the fledglings. Then she
disappeared and I walked toward where I had heard the peeps, but
nothing materialized. I came up to the Double Lodge Pond dam.
That pond is very low, and there was nothing remarkable on the
dam. In other years geese liked to parade with their goslings
along these small ponds. The rivulet coming down from the Big
Pond is almost closed over with tall green grass.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOSs32hSStax8QwYj34OaIZXxhmiz4k2pV3Br3jBpHol6rh_70PXXGSt4MBPo3_vfawIMeT8Yjw6WmJJU0hdjo80BnTmlaSfjYzb8U_4IQYM_GheXky-E8ZyYed6JH1Ih9MgPPT2jEWs/s1600/dlpond21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOSs32hSStax8QwYj34OaIZXxhmiz4k2pV3Br3jBpHol6rh_70PXXGSt4MBPo3_vfawIMeT8Yjw6WmJJU0hdjo80BnTmlaSfjYzb8U_4IQYM_GheXky-E8ZyYed6JH1Ih9MgPPT2jEWs/s1600/dlpond21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the ribbon of mud and while I didn't
see any otter prints, I saw a few toe-nail marks, so to speak. I
know from experience that otters, even otter families, can manage
getting through the tall grass. Before checking the dam for any
signs that otters had come through, I sat on my perch on the
south end of the dam and started my vigil, waiting for a beaver
to appear, and it was only 7. I thought the clouds might bring
them out early. There were other things to watch. A pair of geese
swam over to a patch of green grass behind the beaver lodge. I
was struck by how the male stood guard the whole time, about ten
minutes, that the female was grazing. I wouldn't have noted this
during courtship, nor if there were goslings about now, but this
was a couple without charges. When the female headed back into
the pond, the male grabbed some grass for about 30 seconds, and
then joined her in the pond. There's dignity in following
instincts. Then a duck, a mallard judging by the large
silhouette, directed a rambunctious band of ducklings toward the
marsh just northeast of the beaver lodge. The little ones knew
how to motor on the water, and kept churning all around their
mother, in short wild spurts, well, the distances must have
seemed far to a little duckling. A few darted back to where the
caravan had been, and then caught up to the van. Not too long
after that parade, another duck, perhaps a wood duck, came with a
line of ducklings in such good order that they seemed to be
extensions of her tail. Of course, these ducklings were smaller.
Then two deer foraged for grass behind the lodge, where the geese
had been, and one waded into the pond to bring out some soggy
fare. I thought this would be a good time for a beaver to appear
to protect its turf, so to speak, but none did. Meanwhile I heard
some coyotes but then it started to rain. That perked up the tree
frogs and bull frogs, and the head of a snapping turtle, really
just its snout, poked up out of the muddy water. It reappeared
three times, the last time farther out in the pond The shower
seemed to subdue the bird song, though a few swallows kept after
insects. Five ducks thought about landing in front of me and then
flew on to South Bay. I left at 8:30, and no beaver appeared. I
did, I think, see a muskrat dive along the north shore of the
pond, but it was getting dark. Next time I'll come back to this
pond when it is dark, and if no beaver slaps its tail at me, I'll
walk around the whole pond. Perhaps they've moved into a lodge up
pond. So I didn't complete my hike as planned, and fortunately I
didn't have too much long wet grass to walk through before I got
to the woods. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday at the land, just as I came up to my
sawing rock by the beaver pond, I saw a ball of baby bullheads
swirling just off shore. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzgkrHhHqUAIGNnU1sxs6X1_4aYCUtYA6sy-e8-9UjJLBl-bAaK8NFbMCEKDevjKYdUgl4aP8VVwVISTa8sHjpxiujv1dKXDbvnsD9Oe_UnnvL6MZXeqRihE4gV286WKMSQLWUIsv_VI/s1600/bhball21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzgkrHhHqUAIGNnU1sxs6X1_4aYCUtYA6sy-e8-9UjJLBl-bAaK8NFbMCEKDevjKYdUgl4aP8VVwVISTa8sHjpxiujv1dKXDbvnsD9Oe_UnnvL6MZXeqRihE4gV286WKMSQLWUIsv_VI/s1600/bhball21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One year I saw adult bullheads swimming above
and below the ball, but I didn't see any adults around this year.
The ball stretched a bit at times, the fish sort of poured ahead,
but the great impetus is for the fishlings to circle.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDG3WnGihinhGGKUUys3dY1ftszBytSs7cyEBxLTg97HOlLqRleBphlKsvU_wvzYfSOaixOhyhaLegH7wbtizjXf2706FbKSFKYMUG8c0o7r889KAfOjiD_akD9RKLraUD7jTxpv-r_M/s1600/bhball21a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDDG3WnGihinhGGKUUys3dY1ftszBytSs7cyEBxLTg97HOlLqRleBphlKsvU_wvzYfSOaixOhyhaLegH7wbtizjXf2706FbKSFKYMUG8c0o7r889KAfOjiD_akD9RKLraUD7jTxpv-r_M/s1600/bhball21a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The ball itself mysteriously progresses through
the pond. I went to check something else briefly and when I came
back, the ball was behind the dam, twenty or thirty feet away
from where I first saw it. Meanwhile back below the water pump, a
painted turtle made its slow way to who knows where.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuFQmgr6LMwLpfnQMJNX4gi2L7NHoV-pxBw05Hy09Cx-hrkssm9djwJI1zxmv0V5AJp1QYnefBnWbSNewjsleRcHarTJI3CC1Lb8sIzXViGkmjoUkoHGiJNptBWTTga4Sdtteiz0MGEc/s1600/turtle21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuFQmgr6LMwLpfnQMJNX4gi2L7NHoV-pxBw05Hy09Cx-hrkssm9djwJI1zxmv0V5AJp1QYnefBnWbSNewjsleRcHarTJI3CC1Lb8sIzXViGkmjoUkoHGiJNptBWTTga4Sdtteiz0MGEc/s1600/turtle21.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-64996538910223671962016-12-11T09:55:00.000-08:002016-12-11T09:55:07.620-08:00June 2 to 8, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">June 2 I've been remiss in checking the otter
scats on Picton and Murray islands. This morning the river was
calm, the sun bright and the warmest morning of the year, so I
did my duty. Of course, the buffleheads are gone, and I only saw
a few mallards flying. Geese have not started to congregate in
the river yet, though they should be any day now. I first went
back into Picton Bay and even though the mossy banks at the end
of the cove did not look any more roughed up than before, I got
out to make sure an otter hadn't been there. I did see some fresh
digging,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTMtTYzyxVP_KF0ODLmfZFe4HtSmCzMI795F2fWhw4qaAecsaLxv6y4_JFEyaiYp3HLZ-ynIWVq7Fqmc1H9oUzjOvhcHL8a67sxfY4_syUspZOMjmT6vXsOH9YbpDfGo0vagWmq6mBAs/s1600/piccove2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTMtTYzyxVP_KF0ODLmfZFe4HtSmCzMI795F2fWhw4qaAecsaLxv6y4_JFEyaiYp3HLZ-ynIWVq7Fqmc1H9oUzjOvhcHL8a67sxfY4_syUspZOMjmT6vXsOH9YbpDfGo0vagWmq6mBAs/s1600/piccove2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but judging from what looks like a small coyote
poop next to broken eggs shells,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQZFERO4FtUPIPsMFlu7D_YUgT94NLmq4kAOFpp78oNUBVrlAoVBTE5NqRdZvbrr7gM7b_WokRwcyNcYZKz_3I2YkAmlnpCZTK8dly7N3zY8Dz73tqyJ54G7550rI0npTstFBiTZi4k0/s1600/poopegg2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQZFERO4FtUPIPsMFlu7D_YUgT94NLmq4kAOFpp78oNUBVrlAoVBTE5NqRdZvbrr7gM7b_WokRwcyNcYZKz_3I2YkAmlnpCZTK8dly7N3zY8Dz73tqyJ54G7550rI0npTstFBiTZi4k0/s1600/poopegg2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">other potential diggers and predators have been
around. I rowed out past the beaver lodge and this time I saw no
signs of fresh beaver activity. I also didn't see the usual
osprey here, or herons. At least one otter has recently been on
Picton Point. There was a trail of scrapping and scratching in
the grass heading up the slope</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VcOtlu3_Zw0N7B2tDLtZlhJzp-VTbNNKiOGMZrWR-xQSmKsdEHXptSLQVa-bYxeZd9k8_5Uaa9sdlHO-x5RZtjhM5sLKFOxn4V2bOnWa9EaWuynqVTsG88vBH-NSGaVAJUK3OZN7VSA/s1600/piclat2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VcOtlu3_Zw0N7B2tDLtZlhJzp-VTbNNKiOGMZrWR-xQSmKsdEHXptSLQVa-bYxeZd9k8_5Uaa9sdlHO-x5RZtjhM5sLKFOxn4V2bOnWa9EaWuynqVTsG88vBH-NSGaVAJUK3OZN7VSA/s1600/piclat2a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">with a large otter scent mound with scat on it
almost half way up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BoJS01E-a6o9Hy2QkcwJtB_fu7jkbhlu55sWbEhB9xODThnRhZXk4ovoMIOgzXOcxz_kMjNyRMhrcoFRA7P1BZrGAvWtnxmhyLn4d5irN03g0STbbl49i6fT2SLyrZi1Sn_DKNgNDJY/s1600/picsm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BoJS01E-a6o9Hy2QkcwJtB_fu7jkbhlu55sWbEhB9xODThnRhZXk4ovoMIOgzXOcxz_kMjNyRMhrcoFRA7P1BZrGAvWtnxmhyLn4d5irN03g0STbbl49i6fT2SLyrZi1Sn_DKNgNDJY/s1600/picsm2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This trail is more toward the bay side.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTYPUR_DHaI2kJ5ToNfJGqoxdtd3hBG129Q6uQmwBSIGBsnmbIAG3VT_P8OHvYf1qZyqQPYNmk0msuvP3eT90U8kJP61zY1J0Hbe_3ECQcfuiTZdjphD1eN-NTNS9x7rI-S2tkQX5mh0/s1600/piclat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTYPUR_DHaI2kJ5ToNfJGqoxdtd3hBG129Q6uQmwBSIGBsnmbIAG3VT_P8OHvYf1qZyqQPYNmk0msuvP3eT90U8kJP61zY1J0Hbe_3ECQcfuiTZdjphD1eN-NTNS9x7rI-S2tkQX5mh0/s1600/piclat2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The other latrines and trails on the point
looked unused. Over at the Murray Island latrine, I didn't see
any evidence that the otters had visited recently. This hot rock,
however, was buzzing with midges. They have been hovering over
the trees recently at dusk. On this first hot day of the year
they were low on the ground and the trees, clogging the spiders'
webs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecu-AGjZMbKRcZvP2JrVXc4ui841Ziaaf7NeQIyxZaW2F1lnWNjjUKy7ARgoWVAfLuVZaOdoOGN9gO64TBxA93RutxHvxnrb-qIbcOZ-28JsUrjqjPAosoV7yQKbNNkaLXGJAVW9Zq6E/s1600/midges2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecu-AGjZMbKRcZvP2JrVXc4ui841Ziaaf7NeQIyxZaW2F1lnWNjjUKy7ARgoWVAfLuVZaOdoOGN9gO64TBxA93RutxHvxnrb-qIbcOZ-28JsUrjqjPAosoV7yQKbNNkaLXGJAVW9Zq6E/s1600/midges2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't check the Narrow latrine, nor the
docking rock, saving those checks for a long hike. I did go the
the rock in the middle of the peninsula in South Bay and there on
the granite boulder, that I had such trouble climbing up on when I
was in the kayak the other day, were smears of otter scats and
heron poops.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3EDONs2BeuGGRR7vkYa0n1c1IAaLgNDzfivMS-Etwpo_ZVVMD9lpFWNILLTy1rZOAMmsVa3a4SIGDY4xW4jnKzlgu3duAAN74SDv1A2LFUJuQC42HuYI8lP7uct5JeSKx4JcAK9xfQU/s1600/sbscats2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW3EDONs2BeuGGRR7vkYa0n1c1IAaLgNDzfivMS-Etwpo_ZVVMD9lpFWNILLTy1rZOAMmsVa3a4SIGDY4xW4jnKzlgu3duAAN74SDv1A2LFUJuQC42HuYI8lP7uct5JeSKx4JcAK9xfQU/s1600/sbscats2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One scat appeared to have the lower jaw of a
mouse or other small mammal.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFouE71PWElvoXxnjuZ0HkeAeK1-9csuJ7Fsx86Rp9laeXDh-ynSGyeEPt2SlpQbFhnppN29KodF4sdDFFM2skGcDoFL-1iO2r2SDwTKs8Aiq3xT1voCxyHYxj6chEOJoEIAxnUNKzs10/s1600/scat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFouE71PWElvoXxnjuZ0HkeAeK1-9csuJ7Fsx86Rp9laeXDh-ynSGyeEPt2SlpQbFhnppN29KodF4sdDFFM2skGcDoFL-1iO2r2SDwTKs8Aiq3xT1voCxyHYxj6chEOJoEIAxnUNKzs10/s1600/scat2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I explored the rest of the little island and
rock and didn't find any more signs of otters, nor that fawn that
I saw here several days ago. Last year, in mid-June, I first saw
the otter mother and pup here and I was expecting to perhaps see
signs of an otter den, say, in a tree trunk in this shady area
which is essentially a little island in the marsh and bay, but I
saw no likely candidates for a den.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was too hot to work much at the land. A
little gray's tree frog tried to keep cool by our pump.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODWwERlxYAtgUF0rL5Uh3HOdt1OImaIHcKxe2BCune5-vkGQW624Ig4D_zesxcC4LtQXyzGxz-D8dmyuV7CdpAcRnJufMkZphVVC-M7En4D3fLSK7WKLf8O97UdNaxT4Zsp_IFjH62U0/s1600/gtfrog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODWwERlxYAtgUF0rL5Uh3HOdt1OImaIHcKxe2BCune5-vkGQW624Ig4D_zesxcC4LtQXyzGxz-D8dmyuV7CdpAcRnJufMkZphVVC-M7En4D3fLSK7WKLf8O97UdNaxT4Zsp_IFjH62U0/s1600/gtfrog2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up at the beaver ponds, the land dividing
them is re-emerging, the small pools around and behind it are
drying out.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nMv2LlXO7Vg8O8UbZSBvMdlhFFaNp7f5zHoCLdGU7zlg6YSd2I36V1DWbhEEY8ZH8fI1cv_zss43cHfFJUz29qKq8YRF7vBuWJy7d_6KzKvH7SsdIlMCobhpziTzVywo_RT0SSdRZ04/s1600/drypool2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nMv2LlXO7Vg8O8UbZSBvMdlhFFaNp7f5zHoCLdGU7zlg6YSd2I36V1DWbhEEY8ZH8fI1cv_zss43cHfFJUz29qKq8YRF7vBuWJy7d_6KzKvH7SsdIlMCobhpziTzVywo_RT0SSdRZ04/s1600/drypool2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The birds are quite melodious with the wood
thrush and veery singing in the day. When I came up to the beaver
pond, a duck flew off which made me wonder why I haven't seen a
heron around the pond. Then I saw a large white trail on the surface
of the pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL0nH-ooP_k7dTvA9spTl7jq3f0Cc0VhBm6fluuH0zwUL7qBLc2tA1q-DYl5Zk19G2jl0EUWAlPysusCwnfJeSTSddsrlPKLYTWqMdEdKQ5YTwYK80GAhRoLZyY0lAExwRIEXG9Zf5-M/s1600/heronpoop2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL0nH-ooP_k7dTvA9spTl7jq3f0Cc0VhBm6fluuH0zwUL7qBLc2tA1q-DYl5Zk19G2jl0EUWAlPysusCwnfJeSTSddsrlPKLYTWqMdEdKQ5YTwYK80GAhRoLZyY0lAExwRIEXG9Zf5-M/s1600/heronpoop2.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which, I suppose, could have been from the
escaping duck, but a swath that size is usually left by a heron.
So perhaps I just missed seeing one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 3-4 we slept in the cabin at the land last
night which gave me a chance to look at the beavers before I went
to bed and after I woke up. It was a very warm day; midges swarm
up whenever tall grass and shrubs are disturbed and within those
swarms are many large mosquitoes. Suffice it to say the
mosquitoes made me impatient to get to the chair by the pond
since I find it easier fending off mosquitoes when I'm sitting in
a chair. A beaver was out when I came up to the pond, and with
almost no wind, I assumed it knew I had arrived. It soon slapped
its tail but stayed in the larger half of the pond. Discovered so
soon on such a still evening, I resigned myself to not seeing any
candid beaver behavior, but, if they tolerated me, looked forward
to at least confirming my idea that there were no more than five
beavers, not counting newborns, left in the colony. I sat above
the burrows opposite the main lodge, and soon a larger beaver
investigated me and gave me a thumping splash. As usual this did
not cause panic among the beavers on the pond. Indeed the large
beaver swam into the larger section of the pond and peered at me
from that angle. A smaller beaver swam up behind it; they both
swam toward me, then swam away silently, separating, though I
wasn't sure where they went. So they decided to put up with me.
At one point I could see four beavers: one on the bank at the
inlet to the pond,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjzlObD2NsgYFFTWaEZfwZm-bNNOcL2zOEot5Crb_qNdplcLX_X23mt3qvBXROpw4k-M2UtlfpRZ0GYkw5FnLVvbfqyrvEfoiso87QnR7RFCGmH-E2MacdWHjxOitky3e3qdW8d-tyyQ/s1600/bv3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjzlObD2NsgYFFTWaEZfwZm-bNNOcL2zOEot5Crb_qNdplcLX_X23mt3qvBXROpw4k-M2UtlfpRZ0GYkw5FnLVvbfqyrvEfoiso87QnR7RFCGmH-E2MacdWHjxOitky3e3qdW8d-tyyQ/s1600/bv3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">one gnawing away around the birches on the
opposite side of the pond; and two cruising in the pond. Assuming
the mother would stay with the kits who have yet to leave the
lodge, if another beaver had popped up my theory about the number
of beavers in the colony would be in jeopardy. But four was the
maximum number I saw. And four an hour I could contemplate the
pattern of their swimming. When the beaver on the bank at the
inlet came down with a log and swam back toward the dam, another
beaver swam all the way from the large end of the pond to also
climb the bank where that beaver had been. I always make a big
deal about the poor eyesight of beavers, so I have to assume that
the beaver forty yards away didn't simply see a prime sight for
nibbling had been vacated. It simply went there randomly. Each of
the beavers checked me out,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecBCuaD2mBOBhrj_RF7fZc-vHzCWL8vHsGw1BoJq0nUCrLedV1WaKB0pAFY4_vSMistlCv3Sgu-bqgLNIqQD59heb6KNQEt-ySlaZ3eavrE3tcFHXLoHiMkGJJIX76MyCfhyphenhyphenddLvHZ3I/s1600/bv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjecBCuaD2mBOBhrj_RF7fZc-vHzCWL8vHsGw1BoJq0nUCrLedV1WaKB0pAFY4_vSMistlCv3Sgu-bqgLNIqQD59heb6KNQEt-ySlaZ3eavrE3tcFHXLoHiMkGJJIX76MyCfhyphenhyphenddLvHZ3I/s1600/bv3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">two, I think, did so several times. Sometimes
two beavers would check me out at the same time, but I didn't get
any impression that they compared notes. When one beaver
splashed, the other didn't react. There were different styles to
their splashing. One slapped its tail, and disappeared, judging
from the humming coming there, going directly into the main
lodge. Another slapped its tail and kept its head above water
ready for another slap. When it got darker, dark enough to make
the camcorder useless, one beaver swam up to the bank right below
me. All pondering was accompanied by the loud calls of the gray
tree frogs. Two were right behind me. The thrush and veery sang,
and I heard the long, high trill of a toad. Then a large bird
almost landed on the dead branch of a shrub right in front of me.
It fled up to the crown of a nearby tree, giving its distress
call. A whip-poor-will had been singing and heading in my
direction, but this bird was too large and the wrong shape. It
reminded me of a cuckoo in shape, and though looking black in the
dark it did have some white stripes. There was one other strange
occurrence with the beavers -- a splash from the far end of the
pond, far from me. I thought maybe Leslie had walked up, but no.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got to the chair at about 6:30 am, 1 a.d.,
and the sun was in my eyes. As far as I could tell there were
only two beavers out for the 45 minutes I watched the pond, and I
didn't hear much humming or any gnawing from the lodges. This, I
think, is very good evidence that the two year olds are long gone.
The beavers seemed relaxed about my presence, though, of course,
they did slap their tails now and them.</span><br />
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<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvjeD9IqhuEAypcQn4YeZ8z9YPan6K4c_J0xghg7Uy0E4PAyP9dGTyUjV0peLS8N1Zrr5leClqmEkOCPgviIKvIQryOTEGM7WqzPrvCWEQWb1XUKq4Tbn7qQmV_rax1BqOLK_ZXzn030/s1600/bv4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvjeD9IqhuEAypcQn4YeZ8z9YPan6K4c_J0xghg7Uy0E4PAyP9dGTyUjV0peLS8N1Zrr5leClqmEkOCPgviIKvIQryOTEGM7WqzPrvCWEQWb1XUKq4Tbn7qQmV_rax1BqOLK_ZXzn030/s1600/bv4.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One climbed up on the bank next to the lodge
and nibbled leaves.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_mW2ghGx3flH6NYzUGI-udBw5CiwCBBe-Y0XoDMfUs2ptm13vXCZqF097vG-FZdbOVzuvtjrzyebCroIBF37uCrP5gi2FrHFXhj6Uv-YHQiIJxAbQukDAzgnmZRTNcUELWX6LEjOodY/s1600/bv4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_mW2ghGx3flH6NYzUGI-udBw5CiwCBBe-Y0XoDMfUs2ptm13vXCZqF097vG-FZdbOVzuvtjrzyebCroIBF37uCrP5gi2FrHFXhj6Uv-YHQiIJxAbQukDAzgnmZRTNcUELWX6LEjOodY/s1600/bv4a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A good video of this was ruined by my slapping
mosquitoes who were as bad in the morning as they were at night.
Twice I saw a great heave of a wake as something swam out of the
main lodge. I poised to capture the mother perhaps bringing some
kits out for the debut. But nothing materialized. Then it
happened again and the usual yearling surfaced. Both morning and
night, I saw precious little collecting of branches. Just after I
got to the pond this morning a beaver came out of the thicket
behind the lodge with a branch. This colony has cut and collected
a considerable amount of lumber, but precious little when I was
around. Of course, it would be possible for me to catalogue
almost every tree and branch taken by this colony, and perhaps if
I actually saw them at it, I would get more excited about doing
that. It's just that these beavers don't give the impression of
bending themselves to a methodical culling of the trees, and I
worry that any methodical study of what they take might just
impose a degree of gumption and method on these beavers that they
simply don't have. That said, it would be nice to get a better
idea of exactly why a beaver cuts down a tree at this time of
year when there is so much easily accessible greenery to eat, and
so many left over logs. Heading back to the cabin after passing
all those judgment, the false Solomon's seal on the pathway</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VncDwidjY1zA44fjh_P-f0F6CAO8UCuqUk2iFYXseVLNzNu5xlidDh2s9va8DrMLD8d4_eIKN3vTUdQOxhVh_dRt2XW1QEiGlTjjW4ngSqwRohsplivHLKhx6iCebfPulCcPi4Tuyxo/s1600/falsess4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VncDwidjY1zA44fjh_P-f0F6CAO8UCuqUk2iFYXseVLNzNu5xlidDh2s9va8DrMLD8d4_eIKN3vTUdQOxhVh_dRt2XW1QEiGlTjjW4ngSqwRohsplivHLKhx6iCebfPulCcPi4Tuyxo/s1600/falsess4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">looked so true but reminded me that putting a
name to things always risks being wrong. After pumping water for
the garden, to defeat the continuing drought, I walked down to
the Deep Pond which has settled down to its level. I will soon
see if it is still enjoyable to swim in it. Otherwise, along the
fertile banks more flowers make their appearance, the rugosa
rose,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNX5dhwvszJ0IUvOEfrYS0dn6cjfV8GLmFekmPuzOF2KDLF_0Gl3Djill-6VHVTjs0iO3Q4VcsfFkkNTUmLYLXVVlLN6u8_jJUY4ePsvUFsLjBQ5b7CopTtVxtgM8xoMiQWH5Ut7Vd6E/s1600/rose4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNX5dhwvszJ0IUvOEfrYS0dn6cjfV8GLmFekmPuzOF2KDLF_0Gl3Djill-6VHVTjs0iO3Q4VcsfFkkNTUmLYLXVVlLN6u8_jJUY4ePsvUFsLjBQ5b7CopTtVxtgM8xoMiQWH5Ut7Vd6E/s1600/rose4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and fleabane.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4GBmbe0I6ABMKBs1bjUQ-RzwIJMLwbIfu9Li_KXjXqk2Ve8y-9RVC_5PjZOXSaZZn9znTFwoSpY2B7-Rm33fSpj6vZtgNuPTPy2oxk4qupAVGiWgX4z4yJ6ksPbODrCPOCnYCoNqzH4/s1600/fleabane4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4GBmbe0I6ABMKBs1bjUQ-RzwIJMLwbIfu9Li_KXjXqk2Ve8y-9RVC_5PjZOXSaZZn9znTFwoSpY2B7-Rm33fSpj6vZtgNuPTPy2oxk4qupAVGiWgX4z4yJ6ksPbODrCPOCnYCoNqzH4/s1600/fleabane4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I walked up the ridge, past the Lonesome
Pine to check on the columbine that always bloom on a secluded
rocks and the phlox in the nearby shade. In damper springs there
is time to make this pilgrimage often. The columbine were doing
well, only one phlox.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAsiWruYylNv1u4rkWTX6lzNVlL8LVxeKVnkK-gPSHrvdLItCaR6yrPpN2fDjo2M5e2Iy884LcCrtB_kTIr5qJ_R1FKRo4kHXOmtseZpfVhOQf7RJRyABF2HMRT_7xhT50uoL5C6_yIM/s1600/phlox4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCAsiWruYylNv1u4rkWTX6lzNVlL8LVxeKVnkK-gPSHrvdLItCaR6yrPpN2fDjo2M5e2Iy884LcCrtB_kTIr5qJ_R1FKRo4kHXOmtseZpfVhOQf7RJRyABF2HMRT_7xhT50uoL5C6_yIM/s1600/phlox4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At 5pm I headed off to check the
island ponds, primarily to see if the muskrats are continuing to battle.
I went my usual route and while the woods still seem cool, the
causeway on the South Bay trail was sere. The days of
distinguishing scent mounds of dead grass from emerging green
grass are gone. There seemed to be a new wrinkle of scat just off
the trail, but it wasn't fresh. The same was true for the New
Pond knoll. And while there seemed to be new scratching in the
leaves in the latrine above the old South Bay dock, I didn't see
any new scat. But this was a day for muskrats, not otters, so I
hurried on to the Meander Pond. Not seeing any critters in the
pond, I passed the rather crucified oak tree I sat below before, </span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3brXagUmt51VK0RqKcWrOBvbrowNHmj3IWJW1nMJq5x6KWDt6hask11D0VeRsYaeyiyB641aPV3o64wqz1ncGi0DulztC61JAaTN_V8K_XE0xv7sxXnBiNW0S-Nee5lnCuTHOuNsqIw/s1600/oakgnaw5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3brXagUmt51VK0RqKcWrOBvbrowNHmj3IWJW1nMJq5x6KWDt6hask11D0VeRsYaeyiyB641aPV3o64wqz1ncGi0DulztC61JAaTN_V8K_XE0xv7sxXnBiNW0S-Nee5lnCuTHOuNsqIw/s1600/oakgnaw5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and sat closer to the water,
though concealed more by the grass, and waited. A wood duck flew
off; red-winged blackbirds crisscrossed above me and before me.
Then I moved even closer and stood behind a dead tree. And there
right below me, a beaver swam by. To make an hour's story short,
I saw one muskrat. It swam from the west end of the pond, paused
just before the meander to cut some long grass stalks off a
clump, and then swam below me and eventually onto the far
southeast shore of the pond. From that, and the muskrat's calm
demeanor, I take it that the muskrats have sorted out their
differences, perhaps with one group moving on. Meanwhile, three
beavers swam by me, heading for the lodge, and one remained in
the southeast end of the pond. This is the most beavers I have
seen at once here. One looked rather small,</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_7t3t7I08DcXa73zPMROFzp2G-wu41zoPF5Gxfmv1u1-TQkcBwW2YsVjRXCslbzxaUVeSjn79H7acI17RR3cfuShorA8mdUv6AnUN1POg2q8cWIz-zs_Igs8n-qAmRgWHyA86IqH35A/s1600/mpbv4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_7t3t7I08DcXa73zPMROFzp2G-wu41zoPF5Gxfmv1u1-TQkcBwW2YsVjRXCslbzxaUVeSjn79H7acI17RR3cfuShorA8mdUv6AnUN1POg2q8cWIz-zs_Igs8n-qAmRgWHyA86IqH35A/s1600/mpbv4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and it alone seemed to know I was
there. The beavers have been deepening channels including a large
one nearby.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Sxdvg72ybCeaBecbBd9rwTPK4cX7WuLwRWiO0KEBQDJidAeD_NLZCoUFOPFyZHDgmSIBS_8G3qeybOe4tHWdVRcvPu8Z_ouupZF9hZeLDMyMATUHL1_9yzuYd9wHDRFgvr7MPYeyobI/s1600/mpcanal5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Sxdvg72ybCeaBecbBd9rwTPK4cX7WuLwRWiO0KEBQDJidAeD_NLZCoUFOPFyZHDgmSIBS_8G3qeybOe4tHWdVRcvPu8Z_ouupZF9hZeLDMyMATUHL1_9yzuYd9wHDRFgvr7MPYeyobI/s1600/mpcanal5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The little beaver surfaced there,
its dark brown triangular head surrounded by green duckweed, and
it looked at me, dove and retreated to the main channel. It
seemed to be biting the water, which is to say the ubiquitous
vegetation, then it pulled up an old branch -- old because it
seemed stained black by the tannic acid in the pond, dove again,
and dragged the branch underwater through the meander, then
surfaced, dove again, and dragged the branch up toward the lodge.
Evidently for a small beaver dragging a branch is easier
underwater, or it was scared of me. I think the same beaver came
back, but dove before the meander and I never saw it again. There
was nothing new to report as I made my way to the Second Swamp
Pond, except for a nice bug casing on the East Trail Pond dam.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vKTZDcGLZywdfsI3qlgoLhfN19sV5BDLMvU7WS4d9iX5FfoCx-6CjsShA4wzJZizyULHnLIZWnEU6y9SimfpC0mJzLI_c9OvmN5W30w_Pno00sXN2pejKME2CYS8ZWRqbaH3c47wtRQ/s1600/bugcasing5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vKTZDcGLZywdfsI3qlgoLhfN19sV5BDLMvU7WS4d9iX5FfoCx-6CjsShA4wzJZizyULHnLIZWnEU6y9SimfpC0mJzLI_c9OvmN5W30w_Pno00sXN2pejKME2CYS8ZWRqbaH3c47wtRQ/s1600/bugcasing5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat in the shade behind the
knoll behind the lodge and listened for that Theolonius bird, as
I call it, but I didn't hear it. There was nothing new at the dam,
save that the water level has dropped, but there is no leak so I
think the beavers continue to tend it. And there were two
stunning blue flags just out.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezxVW5i3Sly8LY6rlxHmkMmBzOodPntmeJEHWCyovpEBCd7ycx7k2JmJgu1OXyvDKgedQ6j72o-NQEi3tPsNLX7hjF0InVAwDhD6piwrDWLctV9s8x5XQ8agdyyu3jFXG6R2fFM4EWjE/s1600/blueflag4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezxVW5i3Sly8LY6rlxHmkMmBzOodPntmeJEHWCyovpEBCd7ycx7k2JmJgu1OXyvDKgedQ6j72o-NQEi3tPsNLX7hjF0InVAwDhD6piwrDWLctV9s8x5XQ8agdyyu3jFXG6R2fFM4EWjE/s1600/blueflag4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">With the East Trail, Otter Hole
and Beaver Point ponds all virtually dry this seems a wise
precaution. The ponds are half what they were, probably less than
half, than just three years ago. I walked up the south shore of
the Second Swamp Pond and then checked the otter trail for scat,
and saw nothing new. Annually, a fawn seems to be dropped in this
area, so I scanned the woods on my way to the old rolling area,
but saw no fawn. As soon as I sat down in my usual spot, I saw
what I took to be a large muskrat swimming to the lodge in front
of me from the east, then it stuck its head up as it swam as if
gnawing something. Beavers can do that but this was too small to
be a beaver. Then it dove and I saw its tail. It was a small
otter. While it paused a few times to nibble something, and once
periscoped high enough for me to see the paler fur on its chest,
it kept swimming to the west in a methodical fashion with neat
dolphin like dives. I stood to follow it with my camcorder and
while I wasn't able to see it come up through the grass up the
trail I've been checking so assiduously for otter poop, I could
see it when it stopped, made a scent mound, and scatted. At least
I was seeing what I had only been able to imagine for the last
few months. Doubtlessly the rarity of this vision added to its
poetry, but the otter seemed to bounce straight up in the air
several times, its whole body completely elastic.Then it arched
its back and while I couldn't see the scat, its waving tail
signified what fell below. </span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLdafMrd70cC1knx-yzccazMR1eUfDhr7cOPkva9v-m0eNYERl6hw2J7MsQpoSmSwpzJsgfGMBHThvkkCvfS9k6nKRaa2tsp3LbvcNja46lP95HfZbibHXLZC4adRUQO3LrCC1CtWVxg/s1600/otter4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLdafMrd70cC1knx-yzccazMR1eUfDhr7cOPkva9v-m0eNYERl6hw2J7MsQpoSmSwpzJsgfGMBHThvkkCvfS9k6nKRaa2tsp3LbvcNja46lP95HfZbibHXLZC4adRUQO3LrCC1CtWVxg/s1600/otter4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then it hopped up the hill, and
once again scratched as it bounced and waved its exclamation
point. The placement of scent mounds from which I was trying to
extract some meaning, seemed completely haphazard. As far as I
could see, the otter didn't even make a show of smelling what had
been left before. Then it hurried over the hill, and I followed.
I thought I saw a wake on the sunny ripples of the Second Swamp
Pond, but when I got to where I could get a good view, I didn't see
the otter. No doubt it was hurrying on its way to South Bay. I am
pretty certain that this in the otter born last year, that I
tracked with its mother during the summer, fall and winter. I
hazard this guess because the otter is so small, that I can't
imagine that it dispersed from some distant area to come here.
And judging from its scatting and scent marking it seems to know the area. Now I had a chance to find some really
fresh scat. I couldn't find the second scent mound I saw it made,
but I did find the first, not as neat as the usual scent mound. </span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7amEptFn_slmgBWOhKP338k4bnbJHsrQbWMGVu-o0NSOA26H55pisSOgA6alhM34d_-WUJtGLWzmY3TmWjvanXS01VnTrFJyLSWRxbLp_LvYrvb9kkT5SdI0YrlJQJQARChR49o69lw/s1600/lslat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7amEptFn_slmgBWOhKP338k4bnbJHsrQbWMGVu-o0NSOA26H55pisSOgA6alhM34d_-WUJtGLWzmY3TmWjvanXS01VnTrFJyLSWRxbLp_LvYrvb9kkT5SdI0YrlJQJQARChR49o69lw/s1600/lslat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The scats were black and tubular.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7S_yBfKaWCD2h4vxyFEIt55BBTALmROUmyeGlgcewtUgajWC1lmApqFeixVnTQtXVOfFJ1Ens0MT1Ir68uR4cGuOGI8tpBLifcAEguQteEzSF13f9u4mugKDXYqeBJXWAV2e_XUeSQs/s1600/scat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge7S_yBfKaWCD2h4vxyFEIt55BBTALmROUmyeGlgcewtUgajWC1lmApqFeixVnTQtXVOfFJ1Ens0MT1Ir68uR4cGuOGI8tpBLifcAEguQteEzSF13f9u4mugKDXYqeBJXWAV2e_XUeSQs/s1600/scat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No, I didn't forget about the
muskrats. But I only saw two swimming in the distance, not at the
same time. Here too, the muskrats seem to have sorted things out.
Meanwhile the flicker fed her chicks again. As soon as it landed
on the dead tree trunk, the chicks started chattering for food.
Probably because I was there, the mother was slow to move in.
Indeed it hopped all around the trunk, the noise of which seemed
to drive the chicks wild; finally after looking around for what
seemed an inordinately long time given all the pleading, she
started feeding the chicks.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieO3vq3MmOLOjcCmrcCvMhgfiSIGUcA6yscT1vTjAfYye_qKa_2ksickxohzHMkzsdTgN6i6ybuqPo0M_FzxNAutp4S5yBMDLXKOFtrwDSeSoo275FgtnhNyStHmWQFe0XN22-Cm3zerg/s1600/flicker4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieO3vq3MmOLOjcCmrcCvMhgfiSIGUcA6yscT1vTjAfYye_qKa_2ksickxohzHMkzsdTgN6i6ybuqPo0M_FzxNAutp4S5yBMDLXKOFtrwDSeSoo275FgtnhNyStHmWQFe0XN22-Cm3zerg/s1600/flicker4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">To me there didn't seem much to go
around, and the chicks seemed to continue their complaining for
good cause, then after looking around some more, the mother
popped into the hole, slowly subduing the chattering. I should
add that earlier I saw a blackbird chasing a flicker, so maybe it
was wary of other birds, as well as of me. A seagull was working
the Big Pond, and as usual, there was no other activity on this
large pond. I always cross it while hurrying home and my brief visit
gives me the impression that the pond has been abandoned by
muskrats and beavers, ducks and geese, then I budget the time to
spend an hour or two beside it, and it comes back to life again.
I am due to give it an hour or two. I saw fresh otter prints in
the mud below the patched gap in the dam,</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur4AmgNz_jndGYjHRkKJt5MiiiNDBamGuUekzYxGpVBJyQQweyrQVKSVb0LNy8vU0h458ArGTKxM8ZTT-0Losg_jtuzpK3C4CBk3MHs7TdjoSwFW4ofg5s207N6389Lq_tWddKRUia5A/s1600/prints4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjur4AmgNz_jndGYjHRkKJt5MiiiNDBamGuUekzYxGpVBJyQQweyrQVKSVb0LNy8vU0h458ArGTKxM8ZTT-0Losg_jtuzpK3C4CBk3MHs7TdjoSwFW4ofg5s207N6389Lq_tWddKRUia5A/s1600/prints4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the water there was quite
muddy at the south end of the dam where I noticed the gaping
entrance to a muskrat burrow, too,</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaMeIAL6MBYqvHeESkniL0rBTwtFEnv4GwkNr544LbtymTaJeYl6eMu0koipQVXAQlpCS9_Cd-Wyx8BrsuOtDJ2DOss-zguReR1IAtxGn95w6UNH7ttPMFOrPuH-9124TLlBorP8C5is/s1600/bpburrow4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaMeIAL6MBYqvHeESkniL0rBTwtFEnv4GwkNr544LbtymTaJeYl6eMu0koipQVXAQlpCS9_Cd-Wyx8BrsuOtDJ2DOss-zguReR1IAtxGn95w6UNH7ttPMFOrPuH-9124TLlBorP8C5is/s1600/bpburrow4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I didn't see any fresh scat
among the line of old scent mounds. The blue flag has bloomed
here too.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnydUVskuELjOL4uux6-k2WVA6xNb_Mgffmg2SRHzOTWIAEwDXtdIwQZtE9zCnoGeEPcxqQfBHATwXQ8koTqh2Rrtm13KzheUQxWlvEJlJaR_wXaTU_R58HD81tjuyiMHa-kbX6gdSlc/s1600/blueflag4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnydUVskuELjOL4uux6-k2WVA6xNb_Mgffmg2SRHzOTWIAEwDXtdIwQZtE9zCnoGeEPcxqQfBHATwXQ8koTqh2Rrtm13KzheUQxWlvEJlJaR_wXaTU_R58HD81tjuyiMHa-kbX6gdSlc/s1600/blueflag4a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I can't remember if these sunny
dry springs makes more or less of them, from the looks of things
now, I fear it will be the latter.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 6 the drought keeps me at the
land pumping water for the garden and I scout around to see if
the beavers have expanded the range of their foraging. I didn't
see any evidence of that. Then I check on the special spots where
certain flowers are famous, like the bunchberry</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwr_x1uU7WrCZJb4U9167SKX8HXSBIZEQ7lx8S5XWcuSDg-nlaMGuR_Xb_vAW8MnMqVofR-ckYVqoxAHAvIs-yX-OWks9kcGeXd43CSMl-7S5-y2Twpfnddv0BQqWGVXklOOOl3P5II4/s1600/bunberry5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwr_x1uU7WrCZJb4U9167SKX8HXSBIZEQ7lx8S5XWcuSDg-nlaMGuR_Xb_vAW8MnMqVofR-ckYVqoxAHAvIs-yX-OWks9kcGeXd43CSMl-7S5-y2Twpfnddv0BQqWGVXklOOOl3P5II4/s1600/bunberry5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">up under the pines next to what we
call the bunny bog, though it has almost dried out. The white
flower has touches of green at the end of the petals. Nearby
ferns were amassing to dominate all.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_t1SposImfPGUamDKIIML1Ux9Ue3Q3T_-QlPmL9MRagTai-AnxxWHzkxLeR4FV4rOcBn2gCoBjc4gszyolF09itPcGM4l9ljDHK4gzDvOYnpWtFm2OqvJekRK0e3giDgb66j6V7-8V4M/s1600/ferns5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_t1SposImfPGUamDKIIML1Ux9Ue3Q3T_-QlPmL9MRagTai-AnxxWHzkxLeR4FV4rOcBn2gCoBjc4gszyolF09itPcGM4l9ljDHK4gzDvOYnpWtFm2OqvJekRK0e3giDgb66j6V7-8V4M/s1600/ferns5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The yellow loose strife is up here
too but it hasn't bloomed yet. I walked around the beaver pond
and noticed how concealed their recent work is even though it is
a few feet from the pond.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesyDU5AE_eQ-GxFyGfDqCq7xN7BL5Aii3htX7eMrIleGqcavelHqa_R4nIDF0ZGBN-d5YCEodwA-g3ZOKsUs89iZ7bB2GnacVm_CbNnApZsJEMyhyiKHZnqXtEz-MSQ9Rk3YmDVja_-A/s1600/fpview5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesyDU5AE_eQ-GxFyGfDqCq7xN7BL5Aii3htX7eMrIleGqcavelHqa_R4nIDF0ZGBN-d5YCEodwA-g3ZOKsUs89iZ7bB2GnacVm_CbNnApZsJEMyhyiKHZnqXtEz-MSQ9Rk3YmDVja_-A/s1600/fpview5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also noticed that the beavers
are nibbling the pine branches on the shore</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiko8iDGcrxNMlqsV0VXAwQhjzZcKBjMydBBZo9Y2Na4LYdDZdVc8tqqLrz54i7CMNL3qXLGb6A69stylTq5wo3SHv89qqZu8eCQxC5yGSkdNeMOrvKqoqbG18bclpYQbGOKl8EjA6mjuI/s1600/pinenibbles5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiko8iDGcrxNMlqsV0VXAwQhjzZcKBjMydBBZo9Y2Na4LYdDZdVc8tqqLrz54i7CMNL3qXLGb6A69stylTq5wo3SHv89qqZu8eCQxC5yGSkdNeMOrvKqoqbG18bclpYQbGOKl8EjA6mjuI/s1600/pinenibbles5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and not taking them to the lodge. I
used to think pine was something special rushed to a lactating
mother in the lodge, or something like that. And finally, I
noticed a lush sport coming out of the old willow log on the
shore</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucYoXj_P1IS17g_-jHHNJmzY0tRGvasZ7pMkznKOywxIdWNX4p9KfBs0idtR24hl8jHPrtm9pn19pUDlKyYKHg3GFxHV3TO__GiyhGVsDciBjBJ8nbuKiWinicyU8dQtjYyn4kbFmpTE/s1600/wilsport5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucYoXj_P1IS17g_-jHHNJmzY0tRGvasZ7pMkznKOywxIdWNX4p9KfBs0idtR24hl8jHPrtm9pn19pUDlKyYKHg3GFxHV3TO__GiyhGVsDciBjBJ8nbuKiWinicyU8dQtjYyn4kbFmpTE/s1600/wilsport5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">that the beavers have been toying
with for a half year. Then the pools below the dam have dried
out, primarily of interest to a raccoon, judging from the tracks,
and in what dampness remains there are many tiny snails</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW2SBJjdhuGgMTRBEJFBqWmFLvnEynHscGh8yKh3IxUBZ2vaYnAb_3_Dqef8qjKdbt5WfZFZKMt5n_pUB3tUpisKlJv83dFXzlD8pnOH55XOH8p03NtUloXoaC13g1u__0yaOR80IlA0/s1600/snails5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW2SBJjdhuGgMTRBEJFBqWmFLvnEynHscGh8yKh3IxUBZ2vaYnAb_3_Dqef8qjKdbt5WfZFZKMt5n_pUB3tUpisKlJv83dFXzlD8pnOH55XOH8p03NtUloXoaC13g1u__0yaOR80IlA0/s1600/snails5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">spread about like pebbles.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 8 we had about a half inch of
rain spread out over two hours. When I started my tour of the
ponds at 5, the sun was out but the grass was quite wet. Ottoleo
took me over to the Narrows. Just as we moved toward the rock, a
muskrat dove. The rain moistened old scats so it was difficult to
say if otters had been to this latrine lately. On the way to the
latrine above the entrance to South Bay, I noticed a crow hopping
in the grass. There was a sparrow too, but they didn't seem to
fighting. I walked down into the grass where the crow had been
and saw two chunks of carp. This was quite a way up from the bay
so I don't think an otter brought the carp parts up. There was a
trail in the grass but a raccoon could have brought it up from
the river. I looked around for more carp parts but didn't see
any. Then still on my way to the latrine, I was interrupted again
by a snapping turtle who had climbed up from the bay</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTJxXaSLUzW4pWPJzSKdSKSZxiBgaWJ1SJdWfhQ1aqFFnHNRpIKRubuuIWIQbsx1Fca1a4EZwhMJQFPiIoV2OLjUnF0Z40grlIrYa1hdTHXFm0hsOQ4T8s99u-aUxVXbjeuuCsK9szZk/s1600/snapturtle8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTJxXaSLUzW4pWPJzSKdSKSZxiBgaWJ1SJdWfhQ1aqFFnHNRpIKRubuuIWIQbsx1Fca1a4EZwhMJQFPiIoV2OLjUnF0Z40grlIrYa1hdTHXFm0hsOQ4T8s99u-aUxVXbjeuuCsK9szZk/s1600/snapturtle8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and appeared to be digging for a
place to lay eggs. She seemed to have tiny stars for eyes,</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFoRxZFqOp5O0Jf__oOLUVWHUKwqqoBsct_uG2DBvl9m2M4BPcNCtSPjAsTZxVvUULUN0IPGmEC-ZD-swXjQQ1EutQTaz1pg0-TV-Zp9O94-xh9JEWVHrZJo93nN8Y73pXH0pwY9s3l8/s1600/snapturtle8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFoRxZFqOp5O0Jf__oOLUVWHUKwqqoBsct_uG2DBvl9m2M4BPcNCtSPjAsTZxVvUULUN0IPGmEC-ZD-swXjQQ1EutQTaz1pg0-TV-Zp9O94-xh9JEWVHrZJo93nN8Y73pXH0pwY9s3l8/s1600/snapturtle8a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I didn't bother her with
close-ups. An otter had been up to the latrine recently. There
was a scat new to me half way down a new trail to the bay,</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1Sgoe7tpR0nfMyCI_OAJRw4UJdba5nAIwpRvwG9Yfxr9LKo6hCtIvHVfXxZrGOHDRIW4jMbeMetYM0BZ7GIds6BQBBFlWSUu5bienAnP5khjRcFnBADQmkmBuHLTmd2gr8O98mGI2aE/s1600/ottrail8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1Sgoe7tpR0nfMyCI_OAJRw4UJdba5nAIwpRvwG9Yfxr9LKo6hCtIvHVfXxZrGOHDRIW4jMbeMetYM0BZ7GIds6BQBBFlWSUu5bienAnP5khjRcFnBADQmkmBuHLTmd2gr8O98mGI2aE/s1600/ottrail8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">though it wasn't that fresh.
Although the grass all around was long, there seemed to be the
impressions left by an otter.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_ePgZZpMxwzBEYyij_5dBgNtw3uW6asbDuKZkHsm0vyI1ufdCi5Wf7_XVgUKoaDWTaRLJ0yiB2Oxhkz6y3BmA8qAVhf8rJ3Q38PYKuBomCa-h-InyZJmI6286_7nEyjlF8Nft_Dlhmw/s1600/sblat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_ePgZZpMxwzBEYyij_5dBgNtw3uW6asbDuKZkHsm0vyI1ufdCi5Wf7_XVgUKoaDWTaRLJ0yiB2Oxhkz6y3BmA8qAVhf8rJ3Q38PYKuBomCa-h-InyZJmI6286_7nEyjlF8Nft_Dlhmw/s1600/sblat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">And I saw a carrion beetle
crawling over dead grass.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j8PFHlz9jNqf4KDzc8LuUH0GZd08djz43l8E60Bq3ff8_-f-HWZ9ebDwb6iM7Mr934PZerRc2Hd3GFw0wkMtOCYqeX1cQh74f1SWgw7CufJLIjrkoPWZxmB74gC1VwDRcIxTMcIrvAE/s1600/carbeetle8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j8PFHlz9jNqf4KDzc8LuUH0GZd08djz43l8E60Bq3ff8_-f-HWZ9ebDwb6iM7Mr934PZerRc2Hd3GFw0wkMtOCYqeX1cQh74f1SWgw7CufJLIjrkoPWZxmB74gC1VwDRcIxTMcIrvAE/s1600/carbeetle8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">If I had had the patience, perhaps
it would have led me to the fresh scat. Then I left the world of
otters and headed up to Audubon Pond, scaring an owl off a tree,
a least I think it was an owl by how quietly it flew away through
the woods. The pond was sun drenched and raked by the east wind,
and expecting to see nothing new, I was surprised to see a new
beaver bank lodge below the embankment,</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTyKdIsS-mP2XjTs4JZGXFEEAcnPkIYCALewwK0rtSwTIN9K6nBljQTNY1nK-4fviqsKKm56V_aTbVLUZl3j9QoiM8J25wSbdrtPqOvzWpWzGToEawX21LoVXe-S940Y_KAedLdKfhM4/s1600/aplodge8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTyKdIsS-mP2XjTs4JZGXFEEAcnPkIYCALewwK0rtSwTIN9K6nBljQTNY1nK-4fviqsKKm56V_aTbVLUZl3j9QoiM8J25wSbdrtPqOvzWpWzGToEawX21LoVXe-S940Y_KAedLdKfhM4/s1600/aplodge8a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with fresh scent mounds flanking
it.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-__V_Fu84REcLg1Xh5RWgX4BtO1KRpVx9lbh-3emc59t72gxL1I885LLCHgeOF2Rgn1J7asHnsIWftLy_KPOnMODgUZy_FQ0LjGLCK_0J9V9vG0U5KSL6gtGJQwH9aFbXPmZ7Yt8Ghk/s1600/aplodge8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-__V_Fu84REcLg1Xh5RWgX4BtO1KRpVx9lbh-3emc59t72gxL1I885LLCHgeOF2Rgn1J7asHnsIWftLy_KPOnMODgUZy_FQ0LjGLCK_0J9V9vG0U5KSL6gtGJQwH9aFbXPmZ7Yt8Ghk/s1600/aplodge8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I take this as the beavers' effort
to recover from the park people destroying their bank lodge near
the bench. I walked around the pond and didn't notice any new
beaver activity, and sat on the bench, but no beaver came out, as
they often have before. I headed up to Meander Pond and sat close
to the southeast section of the pond, which of late has always
had a beaver in it, as well as a muskrat cruising about. I
flushed a pair of mallards, then a pair of wood ducks, both pairs
just a few feet from each other. Then I sat but for a half hour
nothing appeared. I wondered if the pond was too low and got up
to check the depth of the canals. Then I looked up one canal and
saw a beaver in it eating some green leaves on the mud. It didn't
notice me, even when it swam closer. It got out of the water
right in front of me and started eating grass.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t4VM6Zu_TaTainbpWy2yUSP787vlRM221Hp-n79UUNz_rXBzmxNrLOLKinY1UcizQ_YWkFJc7ELGBVE1LJ-WG2GCm3iwYSsUmIqd8pXuRjTZZNDyhvItVBBzfbhgSaLXd_b2TSP4u5k/s1600/bv8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t4VM6Zu_TaTainbpWy2yUSP787vlRM221Hp-n79UUNz_rXBzmxNrLOLKinY1UcizQ_YWkFJc7ELGBVE1LJ-WG2GCm3iwYSsUmIqd8pXuRjTZZNDyhvItVBBzfbhgSaLXd_b2TSP4u5k/s1600/bv8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, I could see that the
beavers had not given up bark. A freshly cut maple had been cut
down falling conveniently at the end of one of the canals.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkkZJQ8LXdJEUTHZfH4tvYjVAMvYbHoggGY5l0f3mnk_NWkoaKYlAbDhiE-leeVIHFjSp9RacYHrxXlBsx9v7fKG04kykJkHFBhmYC0-CUiyuutZcw4AW3LSXem1XZUKQQyN0CL2z2-w/s1600/mpwk8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkkZJQ8LXdJEUTHZfH4tvYjVAMvYbHoggGY5l0f3mnk_NWkoaKYlAbDhiE-leeVIHFjSp9RacYHrxXlBsx9v7fKG04kykJkHFBhmYC0-CUiyuutZcw4AW3LSXem1XZUKQQyN0CL2z2-w/s1600/mpwk8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">After the beaver swam back toward
the lodge, I checked that out. Now I set out to find otter signs
again. I fancied that as I headed to the Lost Swamp Pond, I might
bump into the otter marking its territory. Well, I didn't. I did
find some new scat on a rock on the trail up from the creek
between the East Trail Pond and Otter Hole Pond, but it wasn't
fresh scat.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1eSKDf_zFqVXBsKxat3THHmRl8V3Lq8YSeeAUy_WQYhijGYlMSeCqGgYBz2i0xdpWrVQLvJIC5vrhcbrrP-DPI4B48Dz3A7fjQr1ahpdoFtJHGLuVSnVh5aWaea9LkxSqWiLACE3n4bw/s1600/ottrail8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1eSKDf_zFqVXBsKxat3THHmRl8V3Lq8YSeeAUy_WQYhijGYlMSeCqGgYBz2i0xdpWrVQLvJIC5vrhcbrrP-DPI4B48Dz3A7fjQr1ahpdoFtJHGLuVSnVh5aWaea9LkxSqWiLACE3n4bw/s1600/ottrail8a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I enjoyed a bower of blue flag at
the north end of the Second Swamp Pond dam, right under the large
rock there.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWyYBFduZwTAAIUUdMlg3HRA13DXi-TuwflyTGI5NWFnSP6xSKoURg4UZnmKyqH3yQP3HJCQfuAgJjb4aNJiKSTVSmHbf8QWkUJrvPkFgB5GZGB7_73UGAsDz2ujt1nzj7_FRia_8H2k/s1600/blueflag8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWyYBFduZwTAAIUUdMlg3HRA13DXi-TuwflyTGI5NWFnSP6xSKoURg4UZnmKyqH3yQP3HJCQfuAgJjb4aNJiKSTVSmHbf8QWkUJrvPkFgB5GZGB7_73UGAsDz2ujt1nzj7_FRia_8H2k/s1600/blueflag8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then at the Lost Swamp Pond I
waited just up from the north slope latrine, and waited. Not even
a muskrat swam in the pond. Then far up pond, I saw what looked
like a pile leaves swimming against the wind to the point between
the two broad sections of the pond. I started videoing taping it
and watched a raccoon climb out of the water onto the shore. The
raccoon crossed over to the point roughly at where an old dam was
so it was not negotiating deep water, but it probably had to do a
bit of swimming. More blue flag is out along the Big Pond dam. I
didn't see any new otter scat. Indeed, the latrine at the south
end of the dam seems a deep green now with fresh grass concealing
the old scats.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMwsCH41qqcZxDJZaZtsuS1CAq6pV59b6V9AwkZbY0il5EmY85CT6ve_bWX98N2kXj5iKyNUIu_E8-EZmcZb96Ns8Tb6lXpG6f1jIjEktk4Dn56f6XBkG8nRV73nky7fZgl5Pl4t7OxGg/s1600/bplat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMwsCH41qqcZxDJZaZtsuS1CAq6pV59b6V9AwkZbY0il5EmY85CT6ve_bWX98N2kXj5iKyNUIu_E8-EZmcZb96Ns8Tb6lXpG6f1jIjEktk4Dn56f6XBkG8nRV73nky7fZgl5Pl4t7OxGg/s1600/bplat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">A seagull was once again flying
over the pond and swooping down and picking something off the
surface of the water. Once again I didn't hear the Theolonius
bird, but I did hear one of the same species, an oriole, I think,
singing the tamer version of the call that so captivated me. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-14084404467874951302016-12-07T07:53:00.000-08:002016-12-07T07:53:08.970-08:00May 24 to 31, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">May 24 another morning of brisk winds and
lowering clouds but no rain. I was hoping to get out at dawn, but
will wait for a calm morning. So I started on my usual late
afternoon hike, planning to skirt South Bay and then head into
the beaver ponds. After not seeing anything new at the South Bay
causeway latrine I was deflected from my plan by a memory of that
something swimming into the old dock the other night. I thought
it was a muskrat, but now thought it worth my while to check the
north shore of the marsh on chance that the marsh might not seem
as viable a place as it seemed a few weeks ago, prompting an otter
bedding there to move out. And it did look a lot drier. I went to
the channel leading to where a beaver and otter left scent mounds
and it was dry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7svPFiYidKmkoB-jDiVwDhyphenhyphenewQiAYlcBroxB-8fcNkKaLMDJusYt4ir0QCv2JpnCjgyl6vgBOD2qpOcFBSKF6pQkrj10R-AbCjF9qXPVlQ5iEWRUCVZ-WXU0Fg2lp8PLh5dziue4zR5s/s1600/marsh24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7svPFiYidKmkoB-jDiVwDhyphenhyphenewQiAYlcBroxB-8fcNkKaLMDJusYt4ir0QCv2JpnCjgyl6vgBOD2qpOcFBSKF6pQkrj10R-AbCjF9qXPVlQ5iEWRUCVZ-WXU0Fg2lp8PLh5dziue4zR5s/s1600/marsh24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Since I was last here, an otter left a few more
mounds and gooey fresh scat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQl-y_6HDo5MxcMeuPwcs1yIyWLZAisBEBYTfrNteGaM7MqBkjqqvWUlGLSnjrvy1zgnmVeDjGk9E0IWAILxttXKj2FGGutE_DFMq2DRZWxzOYG-83e0_XXWzm8HOQtzqWfxuhjQZjrs/s1600/scat24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQl-y_6HDo5MxcMeuPwcs1yIyWLZAisBEBYTfrNteGaM7MqBkjqqvWUlGLSnjrvy1zgnmVeDjGk9E0IWAILxttXKj2FGGutE_DFMq2DRZWxzOYG-83e0_XXWzm8HOQtzqWfxuhjQZjrs/s1600/scat24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course these animals can happily den in a
drying marsh, I suppose, but the area might not seem as
attractive as a burrow close to deeper water. Now, as for the
scent mounds here, in this secluded place, I don't what to say. I
rhapsodize with more theories when I see scent mounds on
promontories that command a view. But I suppose channel maybe part
of the well known otter short cut across the marshy point that
juts out into South Bay, but I'll have to check out if there is
another end, a south end, of this trail, which, I must say, I've
never noticed. I didn't see any signs of fresh beaver activity,
another bite was not taken out of the poplar back in the wood. I
was now close to the willow latrine so I continued on to check
that out. A month ago I saw fresh scats on trampled reeds just
off the water. The rising water washed that all away. Now with
the water receding I thought I might see scats there again, but I
didn't. Instead I found a series of scent mounds</span><br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">going back on a trail through the dead reeds.
The trail led to a little grove of bushes and then to the larger
marsh along the south shore of the north cove.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZ4-l8vDhrP8whvLEduXXxVuhMyyIjiRu3Gk2o3apzzv-OMeSnVKHcyI1QWP9eqFo9egKShS8py0wcs-3LHEw16B9uqit0e_85Hgi0AEqiVI-gem6g7KjWZD8F_2MKuenUFRL9gRi5vQ/s1600/ottrail24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZ4-l8vDhrP8whvLEduXXxVuhMyyIjiRu3Gk2o3apzzv-OMeSnVKHcyI1QWP9eqFo9egKShS8py0wcs-3LHEw16B9uqit0e_85Hgi0AEqiVI-gem6g7KjWZD8F_2MKuenUFRL9gRi5vQ/s1600/ottrail24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crossed three deer trails, which of course
otters could also use, and didn't find a trail going into the
marsh. I went back to the willow and found no other otter signs,
nor beaver signs. Having already skirted the edge of the marsh
coming in, I took the beeline on the way out, through the middle
of the woods, but soon stopped at an area of bare ground
surrounded on one side with a relatively neat pile of leaves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbouTiw5_qhP0cVmO99Tn_jO74nNf4AlSRmlHLP4risDtS3S9Ys0JIbSU6Zi7SAgIbG32zJp15RDZUKyT-nrKQXLOR2dNKeBB9IyOiGzRcOYws_BHe6fZ8mNeWBGD7bf_W7X1wRE2gmvc/s1600/ra24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbouTiw5_qhP0cVmO99Tn_jO74nNf4AlSRmlHLP4risDtS3S9Ys0JIbSU6Zi7SAgIbG32zJp15RDZUKyT-nrKQXLOR2dNKeBB9IyOiGzRcOYws_BHe6fZ8mNeWBGD7bf_W7X1wRE2gmvc/s1600/ra24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It looked like an otter rolling area, and I got
on my knees and did find some old scat,</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUniVOrUxyQq5a1MsdP-m4PDHGL6XK-N_kZE465Ohh6J6E7gr6NCHn56fKVTDF0jhn2it1FIv14udoY4QZuDTZRBN2MugfqFptY8lQmv4wHu1lkDVNkeecFkgE-8h2tZdJmTWnReT8g8/s1600/scat24a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUniVOrUxyQq5a1MsdP-m4PDHGL6XK-N_kZE465Ohh6J6E7gr6NCHn56fKVTDF0jhn2it1FIv14udoY4QZuDTZRBN2MugfqFptY8lQmv4wHu1lkDVNkeecFkgE-8h2tZdJmTWnReT8g8/s1600/scat24a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and along a trail of about 25 yards over to the
marsh, I found more old scat. All the other rolling areas I've
found are quite in the open. These woods are rather open, with
much space between the trees, so say this is guaranteed the most
shady rolling area, not the place to roll around and then laze in
the sun. Yet thinking how soggy living in and around the nearby
marsh must be, this is a handy bit of dry ground for the otters.
My next stop on my usual hike is the New Pond knoll, and here again I
varied the routine. After seeing nothing new from the otters, I
sat on the crest of the knoll overlooking the New Pond, facing
the wind and then some light rain, because I fancied I might see
a snapping turtle, as I have in previous springs. Plus the birds
zip all around, especially the song sparrows at my feet. When I
came to the pond, I saw ripples from small painted turtles
dropping into the water from low logs, and one wood ducks flew
away, and then the ripples I saw all seemed consistent with the
gusting east wind in my face, so when a beaver surfaced in the
middle of the pond,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiNW-WlM1SNANV1CLD5npk0yugbV616wA45LqfVrbrw3K5_TA7_FO1zaQpSg5yznYdMn5zp6PH5N1Kex-nQr_kQjrNZ9UUu-kjiROuKg045mPe570c5DRRyGF9Iu2hbvLgqck1Nzxavw/s1600/bv24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpiNW-WlM1SNANV1CLD5npk0yugbV616wA45LqfVrbrw3K5_TA7_FO1zaQpSg5yznYdMn5zp6PH5N1Kex-nQr_kQjrNZ9UUu-kjiROuKg045mPe570c5DRRyGF9Iu2hbvLgqck1Nzxavw/s1600/bv24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was rather surprised. Last summer I saw a
beaver here on a hot day and watched it groom and rest, all the
while wishing it would patch the dam and restore the pond to its
former glory. I had my best beaver watching in this pond, but
that was three years ago. This beaver floated motionless,
checking up on me I fancied, for about five minutes. Then it
turned and seemed to collect either the duckweed floating on the
pond surface or something slightly more substantial just below
the surface. Then it swam away from me diving frequently but not
bringing up anything to gnaw. Then it swam toward me, diving
again, and surfaced just below me, but under a downed trunk
hanging a foot over this rather low pond. When I see a lone
beaver like this, I look for what might be wrong. Lone beavers
often seem out of sorts to me in some way - skittish or groggy or
disheveled. This beaver seemed quite healthy, slow but alert,
with healthy looking fur. It was by no means a small beaver,
though not enormous. After floating below me a few minutes, it swam
back to the far shore of the pond, and this time got a bit out of
the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4Q7JsKWNwFLReRWIlQnA7u7LzxfY0-eVtx21WKEUnrWGGSrBsJF2grUesJ8et0-On0_jOlk-avPM5gYAR5u6BC_R5Z_0MrqmpUbMnFFrCrJeEamLCHd6GRMHpmTRYTbJBdBqF0Exkhk/s1600/bv24a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4Q7JsKWNwFLReRWIlQnA7u7LzxfY0-eVtx21WKEUnrWGGSrBsJF2grUesJ8et0-On0_jOlk-avPM5gYAR5u6BC_R5Z_0MrqmpUbMnFFrCrJeEamLCHd6GRMHpmTRYTbJBdBqF0Exkhk/s1600/bv24a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was not far from green grass, but then
seemed to think better of being out of the pond and dived back
in. Each time it swam toward me, I expected a slap of the tail,
but then it half surfaced just a little below and to my left. It
cocked its nose now and then, almost toward me, then turned its
back on me and sniffed the air from that direction. Then it swam
away quickly, once again to the back of the pond and for a moment
looked like it was going to swim up the small stream feeding the
pond, but thought better of that and swam back toward me. This
time I got into even shallower water, and groomed its front paw a
bit. Then it climbed up, high feet on a log, facing me, sniffing,
but I apparently was not among the odors it was evaluating. It
turned its back on me again and went up on the shore and this
time got as far as the bright green grass and took some bites,
Then it sniffed the air again, and seeming to take a moment to
gather up a resolution, it walked up the gentle slope of dead
reeds toward the old beaver lodge now quite high and dry.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEy3wpXChpnK7GQXJEUuIePAATnQ2KbBXDLPJ0YkidTyaIkeXYbqhveUK3cXbi7mQyPRT-lWarwPC_1so8Us4pR_pJrcfhEBoxzJ0UGo8qwHpCqcQiITLWMY3ZdiyR9bS58uEOMNSjGU/s1600/bv24b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEy3wpXChpnK7GQXJEUuIePAATnQ2KbBXDLPJ0YkidTyaIkeXYbqhveUK3cXbi7mQyPRT-lWarwPC_1so8Us4pR_pJrcfhEBoxzJ0UGo8qwHpCqcQiITLWMY3ZdiyR9bS58uEOMNSjGU/s1600/bv24b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It crossed my mind that this was a beaver born
and raised in this pond three years ago, returned to see what had
become of the old place. But that fancy dissolved when, after
another sniff of the air,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DVfpfQ8hzIeCCjlkDGAyUA7XDDxj7YKN5KcqAs64RfPYSeqiEALSVAjrphPI0lWq-MlRn1qbmyzfmHSUJi5r_MhxGvZmg_IlD3ZOxhlgeEGyKZH5G9pxWsV_jjb_eY5wLUTEyu7l9Ao/s1600/bv24c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DVfpfQ8hzIeCCjlkDGAyUA7XDDxj7YKN5KcqAs64RfPYSeqiEALSVAjrphPI0lWq-MlRn1qbmyzfmHSUJi5r_MhxGvZmg_IlD3ZOxhlgeEGyKZH5G9pxWsV_jjb_eY5wLUTEyu7l9Ao/s1600/bv24c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">the beaver walked right by the lodge without
paying it any attention.</span><br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It continued on,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyjJFB5S0z7lea1gGqhtdhhzin0AMsubTYpG3bn7xdIfNo4FCRCMJOHZZX95uJBVU3Sf-btjlCH-7jxU_ppvE_qcVHr6UQUcZqVrbTF9mjLn6KsC-V5s0zl8cqlkYX4mBrdAWQ6ZzQgM/s1600/bv24e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyjJFB5S0z7lea1gGqhtdhhzin0AMsubTYpG3bn7xdIfNo4FCRCMJOHZZX95uJBVU3Sf-btjlCH-7jxU_ppvE_qcVHr6UQUcZqVrbTF9mjLn6KsC-V5s0zl8cqlkYX4mBrdAWQ6ZzQgM/s1600/bv24e.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">all the way to the East Trail and began walking
up it. This was astounding and I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't
want to lose sight of it but unless I dashed down the hill and
crossed the dry part of the pond I will. But longing for a beaver
to recolonize these abandoned ponds, the last thing I wanted to
do was frighten this brave explorer. So I calculated that I had
enough time to take the path down the knoll back to the start of
the East Trail and then follow quietly and quickly enough to
catch up with the beaver. After all I pictured it pausing
frequently to sniff the air. When I got to a point where I should
have seen it, I didn't. All I had in my mind was the picture of
that beaver marching smartly up the trail and I got this absurd
notion that it was my doppelganger and that it was quite
logically marching all the way up the trail to the high rocks
overlooking the East Trail Pond, just as I've done for years.
Seeing its prints in the mud of the creek flowing over the trail
pointing up the trail </span><br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">almost convinced to race up the trail after it,
but why would a beaver go up a ridge -- to look for otters like
me? From the trail the beaver work southeast of Meander Pond was
almost insight. This beaver looked so healthy it made sense to
think it was one of the well fed beavers from Meander Pond who
walked a little too far down the gentle slope to the New Pond. So
I went up to that pond, but saw no beaver in the grasses and
leaves along the way. I did see a beaver in the pond, but it
looked quite like the little fellow I've seen there twice before.
Also the beaver in the New Pond had the habit of shaking its fur.
This beaver didn't. I also saw the muskrat as usual, but I had no
time to linger. Now as I walked around past Thicket Pond on my
way to the East Trail Pond, I kept looking to the ridge to my
right expecting to see a beaver looking down at me! Well, I
convinced myself that the beaver wouldn't be in the East Trail
Pond and it wasn't. The thick coating of duck weed on the surface
had not been parted so I didn't just miss it either. I quickly
checked for fresh otter signs and did see a new scrapping up of
leaves, but no fresh scats. So I headed up the ridge so I could
get a full view of Otter Hole Pond. Going up the trail and then
skirting the ridge is probably a shorter and easier route from
the New Pond to Otter Hole Pond than going up the now shrunken
stream between the two ponds. However, I didn't see a beaver in
Otter Hole Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_K6RCvHTGc-skjrELXVME243mBosQJkJdtdhzA45a4uQmY6P_DwL99GWgSAGW3EMVbmEgDi3LpEsVwyd7ldUELw5nVvmPogTvpFfaoVgqHxNZfFYDTwnyGPz1-8PFjuNQoTPp4fjsZY/s1600/oh24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_K6RCvHTGc-skjrELXVME243mBosQJkJdtdhzA45a4uQmY6P_DwL99GWgSAGW3EMVbmEgDi3LpEsVwyd7ldUELw5nVvmPogTvpFfaoVgqHxNZfFYDTwnyGPz1-8PFjuNQoTPp4fjsZY/s1600/oh24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Finally I tried to stop thinking like a human.
One odor I know beavers will hazard a long hike for is that from
a poplar. Maybe that is the scent the beaver caught at the edge
of the New Pond. Sure enough I found two large poplars right on
its line of march, but there was no sign that a beaver had been
there, and of course, I didn't see the beaver. I returned to the
New Pond and saw that it wasn't there. So I succeeded in losing a
relatively slow and clumsy animal walking in open woods with
grass around hard half as high as knee high. But at least I
didn't scare it. I was running late now, and had time only to
check the otter latrine above the old dock on South Bay. After a
couple of days wondering if an otter might be denning there, I
was surprised to see a raccoon sniffing up the latrine and when
it saw me, it went right into the hole below the dock. I checked
for new otter scats but didn't see any. I wished I could have
seen what the raccoon does around otter scats. I have not seen an
osprey in a while but this afternoon I saw one flying over the
bay with a fish clutched in its claws.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 26 I was up and out a little after 7 a.m.,
and at first it seemed like a calm, sunny, and warming morning,
but the east wind picked up and became strong. Still as I set off
up the TI Park ridge it was relatively calm and I noticed a lack
of bird song. I walked up the ridge to the Big Pond and was
greeted by a large and fresh otter scat</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhKEIVa4fbjbpZXBIqU6UWSQd8Jh-EdGKNrFDrqrfBFhFhqCkpbkTP-XkUCRAcO-AOf64X-anLvOxs2PEjB6VTSdWIJanfkJqqCQ20ybD8ri6TpH_cqfXeWHeleF0kraJbMhm2cTtsEY/s1600/scat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhKEIVa4fbjbpZXBIqU6UWSQd8Jh-EdGKNrFDrqrfBFhFhqCkpbkTP-XkUCRAcO-AOf64X-anLvOxs2PEjB6VTSdWIJanfkJqqCQ20ybD8ri6TpH_cqfXeWHeleF0kraJbMhm2cTtsEY/s1600/scat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">a few yards off the south end of the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5awmxJrxOGsUOnA1jTTZplYW-x4zEdxfAZfU3YpG2zSvZbgU5DQUFIv4I0kKcql2TdnfD7V-J5STWzxaUmwdzdyPzRgHMuxDn2f7ZLTHNy_3gt6lNuBwYkzFzo-BShZlW7WHtt-1B6w/s1600/bplat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5awmxJrxOGsUOnA1jTTZplYW-x4zEdxfAZfU3YpG2zSvZbgU5DQUFIv4I0kKcql2TdnfD7V-J5STWzxaUmwdzdyPzRgHMuxDn2f7ZLTHNy_3gt6lNuBwYkzFzo-BShZlW7WHtt-1B6w/s1600/bplat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately conditions were bad for looking
for otter made wakes and ripples in the pond. Not only was the
wind whipping up little waves and the low angle of the rising sun
had them dancing with light almost blinding. I was easily
distracted by a diving tern, but think I studied the pond enough
to prove an otter was not active. On the way to the Lost Swamp
Pond, the melodious song of a grosbeak had me studying the fresh
green crowns of the trees, but I couldn't see the bird. Up at the
Lost Swamp Pond the wind seemed stronger, and the light
conditions were almost as bad. However, right in front of me,
hunched on a log nibbling away was a muskrat</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswoAhcyJcIha_VD2PTLDr8SwJeuYFiN29GNP6Prj2vfVwTmSEPmAM1ru9hipG5vxoBby-wGyHHrRYxs1AuPJIPap5dcHmj5db0fvt2ahzBah3QEc0fGVeB3Nd2xB8b_X1oJkGWYZXtFc/s1600/mrat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswoAhcyJcIha_VD2PTLDr8SwJeuYFiN29GNP6Prj2vfVwTmSEPmAM1ru9hipG5vxoBby-wGyHHrRYxs1AuPJIPap5dcHmj5db0fvt2ahzBah3QEc0fGVeB3Nd2xB8b_X1oJkGWYZXtFc/s1600/mrat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I saw another muskrat swimming behind the
dam. Evidently the wind was too much for the beavers, because
they are famous for being out in this pond as late as 9 am, a
good three hours after dawn. Looking to the northeast, away from
the glare, I saw a goose family, 4 goslings, and a duck family,
that is a female mallard and about ten ducklings, newborns
bobbing in the waves, but not helpless. They were ahead of mom
and tacking smartly through the wind and waves. I couldn't help
but envy the exhilaration they must experience being thrust into
the elements almost from the first day of their life. The waves
were almost as big as they were. Meanwhile the childless goose
couples honked at me a good bit; then flew off, landed on the far
lodge, one pecking around on top much like the coyote did that I
saw there. Then the honking began again and they flew off toward
the river. I hate to impute to myself the luck of stumbling upon
significant events in the lives of other animals, but was this
couple saying goodbye to this pond, or is this a daily ritual?
The couple with goslings swam to the shore, the adults standing
sentinels at each end while the goslings pecked in the mud. I
checked the old otter latrines on the rocks in the far southwest
corner of the pond, and there was no sign at all that an otter
had been there in the spring. It doesn't seem that any otter has
gotten comfortable fishing in this big pond. And there was
nothing new in the latrines on the north shore that otters have
visited. At places I found a nice combinations of violets with an
equally small yellow flower.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9Ev670tTKOpx2WjKka_dm79UBTd0V5U5WYDASg6ARbVAvtVZQmu_VeU66ijXQBeS6MaDF1a-o7cW1rmzo8JftK7CHLSodXn-h3PMEPo3zoWVMDaOulbTRjCsckW57zN8w-t0Wl2OTjY/s1600/flowers26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9Ev670tTKOpx2WjKka_dm79UBTd0V5U5WYDASg6ARbVAvtVZQmu_VeU66ijXQBeS6MaDF1a-o7cW1rmzo8JftK7CHLSodXn-h3PMEPo3zoWVMDaOulbTRjCsckW57zN8w-t0Wl2OTjY/s1600/flowers26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The Second Swamp Pond had turned dark blue
thanks to the racing ripples and the sun now at my back. I
checked the foot of the otter trail down from the Lost Swamp
Pond, and while there were no fresh scats, there were two new
scats on the rotting tree trunk just up from the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNquyp6B5ggfg68OcyFqPwXtwzum3cP1eVpJna9s0lJ4TFBwT1247DdSRvCdGcxkf3YJT8T4coImACU1V8mqjrF3i2G7pmyLN_HmHt8QLrDWMFwuEnNp79MEk2FVEfluk6arwJnj9rvTE/s1600/splat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNquyp6B5ggfg68OcyFqPwXtwzum3cP1eVpJna9s0lJ4TFBwT1247DdSRvCdGcxkf3YJT8T4coImACU1V8mqjrF3i2G7pmyLN_HmHt8QLrDWMFwuEnNp79MEk2FVEfluk6arwJnj9rvTE/s1600/splat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But there were no more signs of otters.
Evidently an otter just goes through and marks the trails to and
from these ponds without getting comfortable, whether it is the
female reserving space for raising the otters now depending on
her back in the natal den, or a male who with many miles to mark
has scant time to linger, I know not. After I crossed the Second
Swamp Pond dam, I was entertained by the lilting song of an
yellow-orange bottom bird that I don't think was the usual
Baltimore oriole. The song was short with a good beat -- wheet
wheet whe WEEE Oh or wheet wheet wheet weh WEEEE on. I finally
got it in my spyglass, out on the end of a limb, like an oriole.
It was sprucing up its rump down and every ten seconds
sticking its head high for a single whistle. I whistled back,
frequently, and it poured song back at me. Then it flew off and
with a lighter step I headed over to the East Trail Pond. Just as
I came over the ridge, I saw a ground hog's back and it soon
disappeared in its nearby hole. There was nothing new at the East
Trail Pond, and so small that it is now almost all duckweed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcIdGyOB0UsMN1hLidTjRVwqHXk55vNoBRrEYKIG4jkrDAAFir0PlR1RAO79NP4TvZqJRsbSEgtF6eZwntmes6h42o9KcHIF6_nkybLiLsnp_6rdtgW5ndAZQ8R-T5bsbVhU1ryqQq2Y/s1600/et26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcIdGyOB0UsMN1hLidTjRVwqHXk55vNoBRrEYKIG4jkrDAAFir0PlR1RAO79NP4TvZqJRsbSEgtF6eZwntmes6h42o9KcHIF6_nkybLiLsnp_6rdtgW5ndAZQ8R-T5bsbVhU1ryqQq2Y/s1600/et26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Only the wind clears off some of the surface. I
went down to the New Pond, where there were no fresh scats, no
beaver, but I heard that bird song again, with a WEEEE that was
not so Thelonious as the other bird's. Finally there was nothing
new at the latrines along South Bay. I did hear the osprey and
saw a heron that seemed darker blue than most. Once the wind dies
I will begin kayaking around here getting to know the herons, who
have yet to croak at me this spring.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the evening we went to our cabin on our land
on the mainland to spend the night, which gave me another
opportunity to check on the colony of beavers there. The
northeast wind was still blowing so I went up to the pleasant
nook under a large pine at the west end of the pond and the first
thing I saw was otter scats, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPF540Xcx_yFXSjNGfK4HObAO_8Z1yE6VOhttATFrQ2YsRchQHNG7TVxbO_wEA7NPvtNBKv08sqTQy0ScKDdvP8bqzhLpmgrp3y5Bv_W5x7qYAdoL0mr_xynPVvsn5qv-vg4yLirFvAnI/s1600/tpotlat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPF540Xcx_yFXSjNGfK4HObAO_8Z1yE6VOhttATFrQ2YsRchQHNG7TVxbO_wEA7NPvtNBKv08sqTQy0ScKDdvP8bqzhLpmgrp3y5Bv_W5x7qYAdoL0mr_xynPVvsn5qv-vg4yLirFvAnI/s1600/tpotlat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">not fresh, but left there since the otter visit
back around May 3. Then I looked up to see what the beavers were
doing and there was a small one swimming right in front of me,
and it promptly slapped its tail and dove. The wind was so fresh
in my face that I was confident that beavers would return and I
tried to get comfortable under the pine tree. Sure enough, I saw
a beaver rolling up out of the water, with something to nibble,
right next to the shore just to my right. Then soon enough a
larger beaver swam down toward me. My vantage was half behind an
old dead pine trunk half submerged in the pond -- 8 years ago I
cut off all the larger dead branches, and half behind a dead
honeysuckle bush. The dead pine trunk formed a little cove, so to
speak, and the newly arrived beaver swam right in as if uncertain
that I was really there. It swam back and then along the pine
trunk. Meanwhile I got my camera out, and that was noise enough
for me to get a slap of the tail.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4W1vq3t8gutEaeS4gnN63JXyUAU83kriatsZkMRsg20WdmKDuW6OwADeRds5V9p_HuC6z3kueTWB67YTH_EZER3fjsWZClFmrozWZSpZgwdecMx56haDXHR8zO7XANXKjgjhChPCnRo/s1600/bv26a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4W1vq3t8gutEaeS4gnN63JXyUAU83kriatsZkMRsg20WdmKDuW6OwADeRds5V9p_HuC6z3kueTWB67YTH_EZER3fjsWZClFmrozWZSpZgwdecMx56haDXHR8zO7XANXKjgjhChPCnRo/s1600/bv26a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The smaller beaver off to my right swam out
toward the middle of the pond, finally a beaver responding to a
tail slap as if it were an alarm, and then it stopped, dove, and
brought up something to eat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_hY6oPYXpbCN0ZAsSLGHqWlDfoIWGOJbaJPYNPSS5v8m0G79V1tdEN60Q5jGfr0YXj03S2uvMn3x03wbY0GnijXL3SQnqOy7WNkOURIINX6WRwZJM1z9A36RKTF6zEMXuQfOejVdWeE/s1600/bvs26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_hY6oPYXpbCN0ZAsSLGHqWlDfoIWGOJbaJPYNPSS5v8m0G79V1tdEN60Q5jGfr0YXj03S2uvMn3x03wbY0GnijXL3SQnqOy7WNkOURIINX6WRwZJM1z9A36RKTF6zEMXuQfOejVdWeE/s1600/bvs26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The larger beaver continued to weave in front
of me and then the smaller beaver swam over, and up to the larger
beaver's tail, hummed, and dove. They both seemed to busy
themselves, oblivious to me,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then about ten minutes later I saw them both
swim up pond and out of my sight. A gray tree frog made some
fitful calls behind me -- it was a bit chilly. I heard the
chick-burrs of a scarlet tanager, not to mention the buzzing of a
bumble bee in the honeysuckle flowers behind me. Then I saw a
beaver on the other side of the dam, and looked over and saw a
beaver reaching up to trim a birch trunk hanging over the pond --
not the big one I saw them work on a week ago, but a smaller one.
Then the beaver by the dam swam up pond and the other beaver swam
over to the dam and began putting on a bit of a show for me. In
earlier efforts to count beavers here, I had been thwarted by a
small beaver who had the habit of diving with head facing forward
and then surfacing well behind where it dove. Assuming beavers
swam under water the direction they dove, I had mistakenly
counted the beaver surfacing behind the dive as another beaver --
though I soon smelled a trick. Tonight this beaver did several of
these twisting dives, swimming out to the middle of the pond,
diving and surfacing back at the dam. Then it swam out and didn't
dive. It was getting dark now which made wakes coming down pond
seem bolder, but I do think the large beaver came back. It
cruised behind the dam and stopped which prompted me to stand up.
I could tell by trails in the grass that a beaver had been going
over the dam into one of the shrinking pools just on the other
side and then going off into the wood to find trees. However,
when I stood I soon saw that the beaver didn't go over the dam. It was swimming toward me. I stood quite still and once again it
swam into the cove and this time didn't seem bothered by the
flash of my camera.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZGwOAoSCC53KNizBNZ7JBdjv1uJ4fTU0C3YKDsBVON3I2O4ewUjpuvP0ibkvQFKMZqtK18mpafyNWEG79dKGjS-WwJnqnxSn4U2ztSaoza7BeDVUlXB2vMNCwYP9x2oJnVRnalCXnY8/s1600/bv26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZGwOAoSCC53KNizBNZ7JBdjv1uJ4fTU0C3YKDsBVON3I2O4ewUjpuvP0ibkvQFKMZqtK18mpafyNWEG79dKGjS-WwJnqnxSn4U2ztSaoza7BeDVUlXB2vMNCwYP9x2oJnVRnalCXnY8/s1600/bv26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It even continued under the trunk of the dead
pine and stopped. Another flash didn't cause alarm but it soon
swam off back toward the dam. Then a small beaver swam back down
but they both soon went back up pond, and while it wasn't quite
dark it was getting chilly so I went back to the cabin. I have
been trying to determine if the two year old beavers have left
this colony, as they are supposed to do, and tonight, for the
first time, I got a definite feel that they had. Not only were
that not as many beavers in the pond at once, but the smaller
beavers seemed more relaxed. Beavers have a tendency to make a
parade from one scene of activity to the next. The more beavers
in the pond the more contentious this parading about can get.
Tonight, there was none of that. Going back to the cabin I heard
a whip-poor-will calling down from White Swamp.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 27 It started getting light at 4 a.m., a
fact that can't be avoided in our small cabin with 16 windows,
but I slept on until 6 a.m. and then went out, amidst a full
chorus of birds all in full song without any distress calls, to
the beaver pond. The wind had died so I went up toward the saw
pit angling for my usual spot along the north shore of the pond.
At first it seemed so quiet that I worried that the early light
had prompted the beavers to go to bed earlier, then I saw a small
beaver swim out from the corner of the pond where the north shore
burrows are and it headed somewhat in my direction, then turned
to look at me and continued down behind the dam and smacked its
wee tail. Then I had an hour of placid entertainment, as, I
think, the three small beavers proved my point that the two
bullying two year olds were gone. One nibbled a bit on shore at
the back of the pond,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6e07Frug9wVe9VDmdkAW8rua6ksIm9JnZBQj3YE_Fww6a21qtE6XqCxxEcVPji10uqzxThJ6yAl7o_FsCC_jRTn_2MkG0IIfnatBHGut9TwGAzqYzpRHZrjc-8ulCXGQWajKVJPy46M/s1600/bv27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6e07Frug9wVe9VDmdkAW8rua6ksIm9JnZBQj3YE_Fww6a21qtE6XqCxxEcVPji10uqzxThJ6yAl7o_FsCC_jRTn_2MkG0IIfnatBHGut9TwGAzqYzpRHZrjc-8ulCXGQWajKVJPy46M/s1600/bv27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then swam over to the auxiliary lodge carrying
what looked like an already stripped stick to me. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWHMX2Yuty3X8O9HYQQb7tY_kAtV7RScQ-aXw-s-0DQtZs4TF_GLNz3hx9Z610bJRVg7k7LexyJ32drOzSKAXserDvkUteI6DleXGnq2Fswy_Qkctd643jjLf3ns-2wX5-I9Hpn7c_NI/s1600/bv27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWHMX2Yuty3X8O9HYQQb7tY_kAtV7RScQ-aXw-s-0DQtZs4TF_GLNz3hx9Z610bJRVg7k7LexyJ32drOzSKAXserDvkUteI6DleXGnq2Fswy_Qkctd643jjLf3ns-2wX5-I9Hpn7c_NI/s1600/bv27a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Its first try at getting the stick into the
lodge failed, then it tried again and brought it down. Another small
beaver had a curious habit of humping head down into the water as
it swam through shallow areas.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUl88686lkMzQBmmiO4cjpzcbn_k-X_5eFu3CoE1qm6IX98IyCeTd553ThriVykSrTxt2icqpyBdijxwTzLlWZzN_i9cZSbShhIYWoqPObY-vmF-4QV7Qgn5owcgdA5vzwaHCCRtgvN9k/s1600/bvhump27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUl88686lkMzQBmmiO4cjpzcbn_k-X_5eFu3CoE1qm6IX98IyCeTd553ThriVykSrTxt2icqpyBdijxwTzLlWZzN_i9cZSbShhIYWoqPObY-vmF-4QV7Qgn5owcgdA5vzwaHCCRtgvN9k/s1600/bvhump27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suppose its quick way of grabbing a snack.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1GAXSfGuD9bPpO_MoaGXoYnRr_NOvmGRzJOSUryeo7xGRm1IG5m2-iHJGWuncGBuWYUg7Hxj6SN3Pzde6WSnw7ijYjT0d3CdHHpuK6YdaoSMKoYtN7YKMiWrPflReRPMfVFE9G9MfJE/s1600/bvhump27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1GAXSfGuD9bPpO_MoaGXoYnRr_NOvmGRzJOSUryeo7xGRm1IG5m2-iHJGWuncGBuWYUg7Hxj6SN3Pzde6WSnw7ijYjT0d3CdHHpuK6YdaoSMKoYtN7YKMiWrPflReRPMfVFE9G9MfJE/s1600/bvhump27a.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When things quieted down in the pond, after I
got a good close-up of a swimming beaver,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSHkL9rLLCg5cKszjDCGBUKQvY-0cpt_TzxaFwlpb8vTBLuC01ytTJe3sdmZUIdf0OaePUGyI2DnQXU7jx84VVtV4PUepmxFdpe3zwh-jhE9WFxrsf8NN8zuL2dFuOrAjBrHEme_XcRo/s1600/bv27b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSHkL9rLLCg5cKszjDCGBUKQvY-0cpt_TzxaFwlpb8vTBLuC01ytTJe3sdmZUIdf0OaePUGyI2DnQXU7jx84VVtV4PUepmxFdpe3zwh-jhE9WFxrsf8NN8zuL2dFuOrAjBrHEme_XcRo/s1600/bv27b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I heard humming from the main lodge, both the
usual humming as when a beaver dives in to greet those inside and
some much higher humming -- from one of the newborns, I assume.
The beavers disappeared from the pond a little after 7 am. 2:30
AD by my new way of telling time, but I kept hearing hums and
gnawing from the lodge. Three or four times I could hear a splash
into the water and I cocked my camera, but no heads popped out in
the water. On my way back to breakfast I walked around the pond
and noticed that either last night or the one before, the beavers
cut down a tall ironwood about ten yards off the north shore. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TPoMVsSisq5cymqiOwKA-X4qomvAX9D4RCRx43Sks1x91EPK6DiKuor_ZvkMxNA0NDyH1TQLT2HTqCtXvLj3Zjn9q_4OeVTtXnx0UuyH9CjWT-HxQT4SBpzmRdtqvGXTkabw487GMdg/s1600/iwood27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5TPoMVsSisq5cymqiOwKA-X4qomvAX9D4RCRx43Sks1x91EPK6DiKuor_ZvkMxNA0NDyH1TQLT2HTqCtXvLj3Zjn9q_4OeVTtXnx0UuyH9CjWT-HxQT4SBpzmRdtqvGXTkabw487GMdg/s1600/iwood27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One branch had almost made it to the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoDBkoJPTA9s0HXoMSONSvB8o0ReTFxbpuM_n0aZbwnTYen2O6bq8WEkKUvijZqtplBtKgAO5lnVCInfYhMGLXceAuqpz60Hdj3lKs8qaWINBsOHfitywk2idSK0EtQ1fjNIij3LHAfU/s1600/iwood27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoDBkoJPTA9s0HXoMSONSvB8o0ReTFxbpuM_n0aZbwnTYen2O6bq8WEkKUvijZqtplBtKgAO5lnVCInfYhMGLXceAuqpz60Hdj3lKs8qaWINBsOHfitywk2idSK0EtQ1fjNIij3LHAfU/s1600/iwood27a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'll keep an eye on this; sometimes they make
it no farther. They also trimmed the top off the pine they had
cut. I checked the otter latrine by the lodge, and there was a
scat that looked fresher than the others, and judging from the
photos I've taken this month it was added to the pile well after
May 3d. Earlier while I was watching the lodge, I thought I saw a
weasel dancing on and through it, and saw that it ate something
on the mud runway next to the lodge. However, this supposed
weasel was suspiciously reddish, and when I checked the runway
and found a slight hole dug out, I decided I had seen a red
squirrel, curiously quiet. Realizing that otters had made two
visits to the beaver pond, I went down to check the Deep Pond,
but once again saw no signs that the otters had visited. I did
disturb a nesting bird out of low honeysuckle bush and could
easily take a photo of the eggs,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3kISz6p2r9IzYWIX8Sli30ai9tXJFJqbfivfQu7IQmGkFPZVdhSAcQhUtQA9rKegOoSCF0cO57ZNFrB4dVBubyVLR-Y0ZA9ctjFd0pdrs5Ijh8m6fguMNXjGHIYkXcLiSSqqicgdWjw/s1600/nest26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3kISz6p2r9IzYWIX8Sli30ai9tXJFJqbfivfQu7IQmGkFPZVdhSAcQhUtQA9rKegOoSCF0cO57ZNFrB4dVBubyVLR-Y0ZA9ctjFd0pdrs5Ijh8m6fguMNXjGHIYkXcLiSSqqicgdWjw/s1600/nest26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">evidently of a grosbeak. I moved along so as
not to further disturb the birds, but I'll go back and look for
the grosbeak. I sat by the low pond, noting at least one large
plant emerging from the shallow, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZLWmQVZWucKOPaRkhGyoALZkma1GmFyK0U0vOMIvbnlMURviXobym3TmWt9hnvAOjYZX6BfIUg0BwtZ-GUNLxMeXgeTyLHUgXM7vtYlS8UwOoIsaPTJAG1pyzGmIZZZyuLPr13Ipk2U/s1600/plant26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZLWmQVZWucKOPaRkhGyoALZkma1GmFyK0U0vOMIvbnlMURviXobym3TmWt9hnvAOjYZX6BfIUg0BwtZ-GUNLxMeXgeTyLHUgXM7vtYlS8UwOoIsaPTJAG1pyzGmIZZZyuLPr13Ipk2U/s1600/plant26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">perhaps a pickerel weed, and there was a belt
of swarming bugs about one foot off the surface, but no muskrats or
turtles. Heading back up the hill, I enjoyed the apple blossoms</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb0M9_b2NsnwIcjs66Almt8zY5aJ2Br9_xbkHBes1FRH1sYqJ0jnueYKx5rWsgTvo_JpIrw7OdKbrCLx7WdzGbfJGrpjyk6hnIHWctwVMJ2Z1SgNvgqvxLmfVj1MZgPm9a0Nz819tdo4/s1600/appleblos26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb0M9_b2NsnwIcjs66Almt8zY5aJ2Br9_xbkHBes1FRH1sYqJ0jnueYKx5rWsgTvo_JpIrw7OdKbrCLx7WdzGbfJGrpjyk6hnIHWctwVMJ2Z1SgNvgqvxLmfVj1MZgPm9a0Nz819tdo4/s1600/appleblos26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and pondered one tent where the caterpillars
didn't seem to thrive, only a couple very small ones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 29 late in the afternoon of the 27th I
finally got over to South Bay in the kayak but once I got there
the wind picked up cutting short my exploring as the water is
still too cold to face splashing waves. I did make it to the rock
on the south shore of the north cove where I had seen so much
otter activity a few weeks ago. However, today I had to do a bit
of my own scatting and in a hurry. Getting out of the kayak, in a
hurry, resulted in my getting wet up to my waist. Then I was
barefoot, hurrying to cover, and then after scanning the horizon
several times to assure my privacy, I found on walking back to the
kayak, that a fawn a few yards away, curled up quietly, had seen
all. As I sat drying a bit on the rock, an osprey flew in, as
well as a heron. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday at the land, I was debating whether I
should make a study of the beavers' cutting so much ironwood
around the pond, trying to gauge how much of the tree they
utilize. To postpone a decision, I went to work sawing a maple they
had cut almost a year ago and only half used. On the way I passed
the leafy ironwood they had cut two nights ago, and to my
surprise all its leaves were gone. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KMLqRrE54aDWDKAGqCFx4Nh1N8ltEp-dakDzdXOXZFumbW04EwTyPBSK1EnfODw9187_D0SXyfbaT2nNju2togLK_vOpvgvCkoDGiA3oOHp1e1VXnHDldYAiIatJxk-DB0LgLd3AcA8/s1600/ironwood29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KMLqRrE54aDWDKAGqCFx4Nh1N8ltEp-dakDzdXOXZFumbW04EwTyPBSK1EnfODw9187_D0SXyfbaT2nNju2togLK_vOpvgvCkoDGiA3oOHp1e1VXnHDldYAiIatJxk-DB0LgLd3AcA8/s1600/ironwood29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers took every branch and much of the
trunk and on the trail to the pond and in the pond there was not
even a remnant of this harvest. Evidently every bit of it was
taken into the lodge for the nursing mother. I also tried to
photograph the grosbeak on her nest but I found the nest
abandoned and only one egg remaining.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpV4mnyp6kktYl3ynxKbutMEJHyF2ZCaHvQkeNp2cl9QEgLTPTX_SAUjv5TpGynS1RxD9gFtrRT5wvGPQBMwFK752x0gb8yWWI1ya_MSEsW3BZZ_tw60p1terkLfqQTNfalI5hEe9_3lY/s1600/nest29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpV4mnyp6kktYl3ynxKbutMEJHyF2ZCaHvQkeNp2cl9QEgLTPTX_SAUjv5TpGynS1RxD9gFtrRT5wvGPQBMwFK752x0gb8yWWI1ya_MSEsW3BZZ_tw60p1terkLfqQTNfalI5hEe9_3lY/s1600/nest29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Whether a snake or crow got the eggs I know
not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was up and heading out to the ponds before 8
am today. This is the first busy weekend, for humans, so the
first animals I saw today were smiling humans on the roads
circling their haunts. Once into the woods, I can't help but
assume that this influx of humanity must affect animals as much as
it does me, but of course it doesn't. I approached the South Bay
trail causeway convinced there would be no otter signs, after all
the otters have already stopped making scent mounds here, and as
I checked their usual scatting spots, one, two, three, I saw
nothing new and then on the east side of the trail, a feet or so
from spot three, there was a very fresh otter scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSikr6WqarroOwR6AmqJ0VQN9HdTBBTb2YTmDoyOtsKfMxiZnzcSDaBqwBXVYsClSPYBvsq96tc6H_O1OFSR3qKSvvB9jiL_9eIrX4AwaVeMxNqnQ2YQGYw8Q8RFedKutJZTE_rqD3NU/s1600/scat29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSikr6WqarroOwR6AmqJ0VQN9HdTBBTb2YTmDoyOtsKfMxiZnzcSDaBqwBXVYsClSPYBvsq96tc6H_O1OFSR3qKSvvB9jiL_9eIrX4AwaVeMxNqnQ2YQGYw8Q8RFedKutJZTE_rqD3NU/s1600/scat29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, I saw nothing new up on the New Pond
knoll, from the otters that is. I sat there a bit when I noticed
a warbler servicing a nest in a nearby sapling and got a video of
one visit and a photo of another.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BfZxE23kcO8BryW_hf5soQ9u78b17bo2tUYMUbEhVvx9lxY0vxFnlN-5nu5xA_cOdupLeedewdz-NYyLvdqMTbF09B7HpYfvDP-VOqV29R-FU2XXxFgF8cG5BcGVmuTYZjTlN-KLrB0/s1600/warbler29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BfZxE23kcO8BryW_hf5soQ9u78b17bo2tUYMUbEhVvx9lxY0vxFnlN-5nu5xA_cOdupLeedewdz-NYyLvdqMTbF09B7HpYfvDP-VOqV29R-FU2XXxFgF8cG5BcGVmuTYZjTlN-KLrB0/s1600/warbler29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I brag about that because the flitting speed of
a warbler seems uncatchable. There were also no new or fresh
otter scats at the latrines along the north shore of South Bay.
When I reached the far latrine at the entrance to the bay, I
explored my idea that the otters marked there to defend, so to
speak, this commanding spot overlooking the river.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97t8Yw9wxcPd7L7zaOaIZapvXzqv3rh_KgV6qXfjz5X0cj6uN261bQjSDWyRB_Gf-uKcLazAjb-xUfs2wbOlgk1ZcR3MKBCzzaNl8stMb9elUXN7ZmorQdUi7UQFflRAj-um2qo3DtkY/s1600/view29a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj97t8Yw9wxcPd7L7zaOaIZapvXzqv3rh_KgV6qXfjz5X0cj6uN261bQjSDWyRB_Gf-uKcLazAjb-xUfs2wbOlgk1ZcR3MKBCzzaNl8stMb9elUXN7ZmorQdUi7UQFflRAj-um2qo3DtkY/s1600/view29a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It has the crowning heights of the island
behind</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VW-18-FAoQUO5sZe4pBecx9R1COfCFMK52YTBlCDXVviKntDbu5EFX04yEtruzUo-s0gBnn22bHxC__-R5K03JOqBE3djcyiHuLvXG2OvvZFyeQFJWX8zRjEMBgCiN2PrbYNd_lOE7M/s1600/toridge29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VW-18-FAoQUO5sZe4pBecx9R1COfCFMK52YTBlCDXVviKntDbu5EFX04yEtruzUo-s0gBnn22bHxC__-R5K03JOqBE3djcyiHuLvXG2OvvZFyeQFJWX8zRjEMBgCiN2PrbYNd_lOE7M/s1600/toridge29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I could manage to walk up the ridge on
plausible animal trails, through the grasses and blueberry
bushes, but any small animal could have made them. I didn't see
any more scat nor anything resembling a rolling area, but I've
never noticed otters climbing pausing along the way. One large
downed tree trunk was decorated with a bubbling mushroom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOw88F12ovxvOPhAorGzwi0q-zgZgi1Ps4ULcNSxzz6ItTvoh7SNTUEz0t8U_CLytPfemhIgvgGgmjmQorWitaD56AEbEd3nhibcnrnfmUbpQMQYaDO62b8BNPosgpKLYKRpyrVsROh-A/s1600/mushroom29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOw88F12ovxvOPhAorGzwi0q-zgZgi1Ps4ULcNSxzz6ItTvoh7SNTUEz0t8U_CLytPfemhIgvgGgmjmQorWitaD56AEbEd3nhibcnrnfmUbpQMQYaDO62b8BNPosgpKLYKRpyrVsROh-A/s1600/mushroom29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Once on top of this rather beautiful grassy
granite ridge, I did ascertain that it was the highest
observatory around. Indeed looking in one direction I could see
the water of the Narrows,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBqm4qhhTqVTjJ4kBfdZ_TR6Uo4_EVVnJUWRV-iIyzM7e1R-o4tx27TGvCF7C1wpu8khL3d39dV50SFT5oI2Zy7kAqtxI1U0vewt3oKO1J4F_JgrWzl6nZWcIlzg8r2Mfg5FfQp-9TaI/s1600/view29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBqm4qhhTqVTjJ4kBfdZ_TR6Uo4_EVVnJUWRV-iIyzM7e1R-o4tx27TGvCF7C1wpu8khL3d39dV50SFT5oI2Zy7kAqtxI1U0vewt3oKO1J4F_JgrWzl6nZWcIlzg8r2Mfg5FfQp-9TaI/s1600/view29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and looking another I could see the water of
Audubon Pond, and, the water of South Bay was behind me. An otter
coming up here would position itself for possibilities. The woods
around the rocks are quite open and in any season an otter could
get down fast. There were several standing trunks of old stunted
oaks. I looked into one, which I often do because these trunks
are possible otter dens. I usually see nothing but this time I
saw two eyes staring out at me. So I thrust the camera over the
hole and in that way discovered a raccoon family nestled inside.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pG9bTDL00oCcyv7uQK_1hyphenhyphenl7yB5YNAgWA4OdmW2TR6zIL12NR6shE3nicbFmX10Ur3vUhhDxRlyxTmSA0TLhY0cFALFrefG8GHpCRdATnH_jPdFiyRpakTex9_RnFdisw3wFO0iBcdM/s1600/raccoons29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pG9bTDL00oCcyv7uQK_1hyphenhyphenl7yB5YNAgWA4OdmW2TR6zIL12NR6shE3nicbFmX10Ur3vUhhDxRlyxTmSA0TLhY0cFALFrefG8GHpCRdATnH_jPdFiyRpakTex9_RnFdisw3wFO0iBcdM/s1600/raccoons29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The birds enjoyed perching in the crowns of the
dead oaks, all greeting the view with a song, except for a
pileated who saved its squawk for when it glided down into the
woods. A bit of the granite crown here is exfoliating into the
start of a grand stairway,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKLYLaSLLo6DIfvLHVNrL4a6kqVOLgwCz8n5UwgdkfQucEZZW1aPfO1U5aNQXlDemBTXIRO8WNdIm5vKqD92K1QdHZOpjXqqxqEWgTr8ZWO_jYX7LIz66p44s6HxYUP2NjIk7s6BdNpE/s1600/granite29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKLYLaSLLo6DIfvLHVNrL4a6kqVOLgwCz8n5UwgdkfQucEZZW1aPfO1U5aNQXlDemBTXIRO8WNdIm5vKqD92K1QdHZOpjXqqxqEWgTr8ZWO_jYX7LIz66p44s6HxYUP2NjIk7s6BdNpE/s1600/granite29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">contributing to the illusion that you are on
the top of the world. Heading down to Audubon Pond I went under
one of the most muscular arms of bare granite.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVnUYLxNyteYdHiJNGPHUB9H3dwjNoSaMvbYdqVTCEufvQ4lO-Yf3OEmqszAdcIZua2Az4QOdPzGVma1B3ae_o1N-9c-tjL_M6LCkmrPj5BurTsZsygboe3Q-1f_hE05oUFgJLtfayEc/s1600/cliff29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVnUYLxNyteYdHiJNGPHUB9H3dwjNoSaMvbYdqVTCEufvQ4lO-Yf3OEmqszAdcIZua2Az4QOdPzGVma1B3ae_o1N-9c-tjL_M6LCkmrPj5BurTsZsygboe3Q-1f_hE05oUFgJLtfayEc/s1600/cliff29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were three geese on the pond, with the
lone goose doing the most to defend the non-existent goslings
from my intrusion. I walked around to the bench, not noticing
anything new at the bank lodge. However, as I walked up to the
bench I saw a beaver swimming to the main lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RB8N9sAGyXyAz_0pjdqDu5vmv3h2rffnJAQ8UHszgjtVf3cgpfncS8LQqPwTIBdJBgI8wqSIaVheo6_UPr8qF6idg54P8Ukt9dSPGTJJ7bdUdCEf4s2E7vLxyrdpZc_b_Rafce2IGGM/s1600/apbv29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RB8N9sAGyXyAz_0pjdqDu5vmv3h2rffnJAQ8UHszgjtVf3cgpfncS8LQqPwTIBdJBgI8wqSIaVheo6_UPr8qF6idg54P8Ukt9dSPGTJJ7bdUdCEf4s2E7vLxyrdpZc_b_Rafce2IGGM/s1600/apbv29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I don't know if I had flushed it from the shore
or out of the bank lodge. It didn't slap its tail at me, perhaps
a first time for that at this pond, so perhaps this was simply a
tired beaver heading home, It didn't go into the lodge directly
but circled around and went in on the side almost out of my view.
I decided not to check Meander and East Trail Pond today, but
went back to the South Bay trail and then up along Otter Hole
Pond and the Second Swamp Pond, enjoying grosbeak song along the
way, and stopping to see one. I also heard that Thelonious bird
across the Second Swamp Pond continuing its unique WEEEEEE. And a
new flower is up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjF15GQjkaOtDRf-uPsWxTwYkjQ32irbMWFZ-Kgl1s1xfhQ7flW4hVFSNGutyG9ytnjFqWI6_vOfT6nTHZkEJV2lfcuEr0ANKvKWmdxUI-bJPSoocLg-8X6Ln9l3VMU-i3Ng-pAZA6PLo/s1600/flower29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjF15GQjkaOtDRf-uPsWxTwYkjQ32irbMWFZ-Kgl1s1xfhQ7flW4hVFSNGutyG9ytnjFqWI6_vOfT6nTHZkEJV2lfcuEr0ANKvKWmdxUI-bJPSoocLg-8X6Ln9l3VMU-i3Ng-pAZA6PLo/s1600/flower29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I began checking for otter scat at the edge of
the Second Swamp Pond end of the otter trail and saw nothing new
all the way over to the foot of the Lost Swamp Pond end of the
trail where I saw otter prints in the mud, coming and going.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIpcgGtlaEopKS5F21WFemHQuUUHL46l1iIchwuevpYFtx-_GQUhZn1GO-Bkjq2agMoxOS2fjwuH5wAHBAjSASgBSgxp6scDxKgNMJq0q1DA8tj87bEdI02ROMCNcnObR_RWoXUR5QYE/s1600/prints29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIpcgGtlaEopKS5F21WFemHQuUUHL46l1iIchwuevpYFtx-_GQUhZn1GO-Bkjq2agMoxOS2fjwuH5wAHBAjSASgBSgxp6scDxKgNMJq0q1DA8tj87bEdI02ROMCNcnObR_RWoXUR5QYE/s1600/prints29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That suggested that I had missed seeing and
scat. I turned and saw a fresh scat right beside me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPGnd27FXpatoMbsV2-Rra9Mtf89YhnudargTBeeIOtcfokdpmF_-SedIKd_xzx-S36iRIdsxcq9G6TKzKV_ahzSiGVQLm4_gTaegw9DM-b-ec7-Vs8GCPrxuLzzkdnauFhRMblFxr6E/s1600/scat29a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPGnd27FXpatoMbsV2-Rra9Mtf89YhnudargTBeeIOtcfokdpmF_-SedIKd_xzx-S36iRIdsxcq9G6TKzKV_ahzSiGVQLm4_gTaegw9DM-b-ec7-Vs8GCPrxuLzzkdnauFhRMblFxr6E/s1600/scat29a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I felt like I had connected the otter that
scatted at the South Bay causeway with the otter that scatted
here. But which scat was fresher? Of course, I scanned the pond
and I saw a beaver cruising to the lodge in the middle of the
pond. I once had a theory that a beaver out in the day could be a
sign that an otter was around. I walked around the point to the
point from where I can see the whole pond and I did see something
black in the water way up in the southeast end of the pond, but I
easily saw it was too slow for an otter and I finally got an
angle that revealed the faraway triangular head of a beaver.
Meanwhile the beaver around the lodge nearer to me swam over</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUo1kYReaMImV8TwpU513oECq3LV_Gp5SkQc75slm6CrIEM4iDWVo-aiAMYVWxYRvQ9UIXjPsbRyjRb85uZ_ABvf_GYl1Dj9N798fjnz9Y8Dq4Qphu3lAEMZX2zj2Vugww1FeQbNNpII/s1600/bv29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOUo1kYReaMImV8TwpU513oECq3LV_Gp5SkQc75slm6CrIEM4iDWVo-aiAMYVWxYRvQ9UIXjPsbRyjRb85uZ_ABvf_GYl1Dj9N798fjnz9Y8Dq4Qphu3lAEMZX2zj2Vugww1FeQbNNpII/s1600/bv29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and slapped its tail, but not in a panic
because it continued to dive for goodies underwater. But the
splash might have inspired the faraway beaver to cruise home. It
swam purposefully all the way to the end of the pond and stopped
seemingly looking up at me. There had been a light west wind at
my back but there was a bit of light rain and after that the wind
died. So not smelling me the beaver dove for roots and things and
then even got up on the land in front of me and came closer to
eat some of the grass.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBuEwKLUZ1vMWwWWJiHvqRnbhW3HNiNFlUDZv_txGwMS_RWuWrbnbk7kbaB9rBf_NEfa3ha-vujW0PlN9SdfqeT011t7wriEO15fe8_g2CHJhHvPOrK8__LYOt_hFTIjfLvNodfw8mH8/s1600/bvgrass29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBuEwKLUZ1vMWwWWJiHvqRnbhW3HNiNFlUDZv_txGwMS_RWuWrbnbk7kbaB9rBf_NEfa3ha-vujW0PlN9SdfqeT011t7wriEO15fe8_g2CHJhHvPOrK8__LYOt_hFTIjfLvNodfw8mH8/s1600/bvgrass29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It reared up to sniff a couple of times and
soon went back in the water but not in a panic. It swam over to
the side of me, but again dove for roots and didn't slap its
tail. Beavers are more mellow in the morning. The last time here,
in the strong east wind, I didn't see any beavers. There activity
today, after 10 am, shows that they haven't suddenly grown shy of
the morning. Two goose families were in the pond. The group I had
seen before with four goslings, and a family like my own, two
parents and one sprout swimming between them. Then as I left the
pond, the beaver swam down the shore as I walked. I noticed a
small muskrat hunched on a log in the water. Finally the beaver
slapped its tail, and the muskrat dove into the water leaving its
own alarmed ripples. As usual a tern worked the Big Pond, and I
saw a goose standing on top of the beaver lodge with its head
pointed down at the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxUpNz0XHvblJKqC67vHsnIruVIId3GrG1p8WbJp83HzCFRn6yYn4Zj-T4Zr9V1zf1ZoqXjUasr9vZ4C9rBJyWqVz5q6XeJ0mHeO95fzhk_c22Calac5aEzr475bBbSMZElWp9mYAFVU/s1600/gonlodge29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxUpNz0XHvblJKqC67vHsnIruVIId3GrG1p8WbJp83HzCFRn6yYn4Zj-T4Zr9V1zf1ZoqXjUasr9vZ4C9rBJyWqVz5q6XeJ0mHeO95fzhk_c22Calac5aEzr475bBbSMZElWp9mYAFVU/s1600/gonlodge29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had seen a goose here early in the spring,
but had lost track of it recently. As I crossed the dam, this
goose did not budge. I saw another goose swimming at the edge of
the marsh behind the lodge. I couldn't see eggs or goslings. I
have never seen a goose strike a pose like this, and the other
goose was quiet and retiring. Let's hope eggs are hatching and
both were just on tenterhooks. The beavers have packed more mud
on the part of the dam they had repaired.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwZL9Zluf3wmuRvrHop93eMPQdNO8yzmSPi5SILsBTkVjvdY5VipnHmmdFXl2qcf3yzw4OeZG4I56SmdnKR5AGiYDQ_ukMF7O7WFcXvsMWgh-OfkCdhQot7HUXS2jJkAbYEiwc5VIbm8/s1600/bpdam29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwZL9Zluf3wmuRvrHop93eMPQdNO8yzmSPi5SILsBTkVjvdY5VipnHmmdFXl2qcf3yzw4OeZG4I56SmdnKR5AGiYDQ_ukMF7O7WFcXvsMWgh-OfkCdhQot7HUXS2jJkAbYEiwc5VIbm8/s1600/bpdam29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And there appeared to be otter prints in the
mud going down from that section of the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX4ZcHpP5hqBgB3fpahtB1oHAxrQd5TNWYnz8_WjKQW-1RBBzxXAl2eUypeuT75cFP5m54PoDfzuZor2X6ZULfd3QsgakicbMzfC0geVMqACBGA0QySuid_mpoYgSC3Bw0syI3mY0Ffw/s1600/prints29a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX4ZcHpP5hqBgB3fpahtB1oHAxrQd5TNWYnz8_WjKQW-1RBBzxXAl2eUypeuT75cFP5m54PoDfzuZor2X6ZULfd3QsgakicbMzfC0geVMqACBGA0QySuid_mpoYgSC3Bw0syI3mY0Ffw/s1600/prints29a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But I didn't see any fresh scat in their usual
latrine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 31 yesterday I attempted a photographic
study of the frog around the Third Pond, where, by the way, bugs
were pulsing just above the water. The frogs faced both toward
the pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMgUrdUIUcVOWBEICkceANKtbzpo1LYi_QmBhIU9CIDrkNt8UyzN6ZDnaeQZAjoyUOJtIHgdltlMIIg1oRfHpd3epqxI-iePN5I0anEflTe0K5Rr7T9NBAR5W0JwvPGGp0A3EEg2OvqY/s1600/frogs31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMgUrdUIUcVOWBEICkceANKtbzpo1LYi_QmBhIU9CIDrkNt8UyzN6ZDnaeQZAjoyUOJtIHgdltlMIIg1oRfHpd3epqxI-iePN5I0anEflTe0K5Rr7T9NBAR5W0JwvPGGp0A3EEg2OvqY/s1600/frogs31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and away from it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJXegWIXCyTuuPEtE3dGGgDOpNATa0WycuvU-vf8RwRzS-Dk-nHKOUT7MqwLd33BAvF3-HIEwjw_9Qng2_OSQ8oWsT79rHyD6o6cahjQaIqWNYrf13veSlNDkYqCOL7QHIe0Xzxi0SlM/s1600/frog31a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJXegWIXCyTuuPEtE3dGGgDOpNATa0WycuvU-vf8RwRzS-Dk-nHKOUT7MqwLd33BAvF3-HIEwjw_9Qng2_OSQ8oWsT79rHyD6o6cahjQaIqWNYrf13veSlNDkYqCOL7QHIe0Xzxi0SlM/s1600/frog31a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The only one that moved while I
"studied" them was a large one higher on the bank.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy54gjMpNo-D4h3O9oMe9SIdqrKsExkjltjMVZsoWr3KERtMCj3qM8C-ehROKIM9JaBEZQU4W6I8WmieouaOd94sRGx5cuWxgEgKtOplXPA5rtcaK8rIUt1i8YHGvx_StsqWk_gUiLgoA/s1600/frog31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy54gjMpNo-D4h3O9oMe9SIdqrKsExkjltjMVZsoWr3KERtMCj3qM8C-ehROKIM9JaBEZQU4W6I8WmieouaOd94sRGx5cuWxgEgKtOplXPA5rtcaK8rIUt1i8YHGvx_StsqWk_gUiLgoA/s1600/frog31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It, I think, jerked a bit to get a bug.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today I headed off at around 4:30 pm to see the
beavers in the ponds, with, as usual, checking the otter latrines
along the way. There was nothing new on the South Bay trail, but
quite a ruckus above it: two male orioles, a female, and the
catbird that is usually there. I went in to check the rolling area
in the woods jutting into the marsh, and there may have been new
activity but no sure sign. There was a bit of water back in the
marsh,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2oLk1lRTAvuPf4c8MJYct2hUKXV8JOX3dir3qNL7FbRkWPqK99asrLlOi7YIDdS-V79RNBaLsG7FBYRkYj1lmOMtQF4CBvrfH8UVr2uKxM9EH1fcINNdXb1pbRK8CddRzBAqZ3Zmtcw/s1600/sbmarsh31a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2oLk1lRTAvuPf4c8MJYct2hUKXV8JOX3dir3qNL7FbRkWPqK99asrLlOi7YIDdS-V79RNBaLsG7FBYRkYj1lmOMtQF4CBvrfH8UVr2uKxM9EH1fcINNdXb1pbRK8CddRzBAqZ3Zmtcw/s1600/sbmarsh31a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but no new scats down by it. With the green
cattails coming up, I could now see what earlier must have been a
wet swath through the marsh a good twenty feet wide.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_Jn_JtsAWkdmForWlQYTphwXCNhpSPn4NNr4xzNVao3eQdKngxyFPj0mChiN5S5Om3RDqU74l1gF-2yMs8qk0GNSztWkMuC_Ya4Aoov2eF2-fBY76Ww-yaYYNyeHzzp1C6TQXkxPTew/s1600/sbmarsh31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_Jn_JtsAWkdmForWlQYTphwXCNhpSPn4NNr4xzNVao3eQdKngxyFPj0mChiN5S5Om3RDqU74l1gF-2yMs8qk0GNSztWkMuC_Ya4Aoov2eF2-fBY76Ww-yaYYNyeHzzp1C6TQXkxPTew/s1600/sbmarsh31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Dare I call it an otter superhighway, not to
mention a boon to beavers and muskrats? There may have been a new
otter scent mound in the middle of the New Pond knoll, but it was
not fresh. There was a fresh scat</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa7JWJ2mRAAJWavYPwrTOrb-Kn35VwIs6uUPEK6shLJNE7wup4Qf0PhUvEpOkBtauhjRqvVtynkXuV66H9d9XUQT9IfxDuV5kWTXdywWT1Jj9mM5ZXTtBA1RwKluhtWLuSL04CEdRiGs/s1600/scat31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa7JWJ2mRAAJWavYPwrTOrb-Kn35VwIs6uUPEK6shLJNE7wup4Qf0PhUvEpOkBtauhjRqvVtynkXuV66H9d9XUQT9IfxDuV5kWTXdywWT1Jj9mM5ZXTtBA1RwKluhtWLuSL04CEdRiGs/s1600/scat31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">just up from the water at the old dock latrine
along South Bay.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczKSf9koM7TMC5SbG1ILpHDRErtEXvuBnPM8293nCPhMRLeg4JKrQJopRz_v0TaiGwdl5qrRbOIeTSCAjngARN1xPBINCrQ_MR6d1HZSoR72-a1iVr4AfafpIlRRgjpLxuxhD-z7IAqA/s1600/sblat31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczKSf9koM7TMC5SbG1ILpHDRErtEXvuBnPM8293nCPhMRLeg4JKrQJopRz_v0TaiGwdl5qrRbOIeTSCAjngARN1xPBINCrQ_MR6d1HZSoR72-a1iVr4AfafpIlRRgjpLxuxhD-z7IAqA/s1600/sblat31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was some splashing out in the bay, but
the spawning carp did that. Then I headed off to Meander Pond
where I sat up on the east bank of the pond facing a fresh west
wind. I immediately saw one beaver swimming slowly toward the U
of the meander, then lost sight of it. And I thought I saw
another beaver swimming quickly up to the lodge. I was sitting
beside a good size oak that had fallen so that the partially
leaved crown was just tickling the pond. Since this tree had
fallen in the past few days, I hoped a beaver might come up and
try to trim it. The tree hangs high and a beaver trimming the
branches would have to stand tall. However the beavers showed no
interest in the tree. I did see a muskrat swimming high and fast
in the water going around the U. Meanwhile along the channel
blocked from my view by the tree, I heard splashes in the water.
So I moved just on the other side of the oak,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDwyNQ3nv1WdtVv6XwqP7iyK1bNFBGE0GF71RNkGB6Qtog-sc_tZxzN6l5sidp03UWF_bV3eI5gH7eKGbAWwmzx62j7z8BgP6ennz1aZ9RVWsW3kvxM5nbh5ZklVcWPbfeXoCRujRrUw/s1600/mpoak31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDwyNQ3nv1WdtVv6XwqP7iyK1bNFBGE0GF71RNkGB6Qtog-sc_tZxzN6l5sidp03UWF_bV3eI5gH7eKGbAWwmzx62j7z8BgP6ennz1aZ9RVWsW3kvxM5nbh5ZklVcWPbfeXoCRujRrUw/s1600/mpoak31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">expecting to see an active beaver over there. I
soon realized that muskrats were doing the splashing. As best as
I could tell, at least two muskrats from the southeast end of the
pond were vying with at least two muskrats from the west end of
the pond for control of the channel that runs past the beaver
lodge. The muskrats chased each other sometimes around in circles
and two muskrats chased another back to the southeast end of the
pond and one chaser hopped on the back of the rat it chased. Save
for occasional splashing all this chasing was silent. I got the
impression that the muskrats from the west end were containing
those from the east. Perhaps areas off the channel, shallower now
that the pond is losing water, were uncontested. I finally saw
another beaver. Indeed it was cruising down the channel when a
frenetic muskrat hurried past on a mission. If a beaver's head
just sticking up out of the water can look askance, then this
beaver looked askance as the muskrat zoomed by. This beaver
joined the other in the southeast end of the pond who all the
while had been diving here and there and nibbling sticks.
However, unlike other times I had seen the beavers, these two
didn't swim up to or near each other. At about 6:30, I moved on
to see what the other beavers were up to. The East Trail Pond no
longer seems to have a flow of water through it,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPckOQNo4eR5rmwDsutkjy1q3b5XMc0mvXSDicF0yhgYKpgawFWmhbycfqZfPYx0aaFbnSztnskxnlasGQfM_D6qaUG4ZOEupWCS-gI-UAupOrpPnO6ilj8-FXsNHVbK1JvX2hffyDYFo/s1600/et31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPckOQNo4eR5rmwDsutkjy1q3b5XMc0mvXSDicF0yhgYKpgawFWmhbycfqZfPYx0aaFbnSztnskxnlasGQfM_D6qaUG4ZOEupWCS-gI-UAupOrpPnO6ilj8-FXsNHVbK1JvX2hffyDYFo/s1600/et31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which means, it is very low. I walked out on
the boardwalk to check the grass coming up in the mud. I didn't
see any interesting prints. Where the pond still has water it
looks like the duckweed is supporting a beige blight.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxwPFlLJ0w-IKWgdNTXsls4Ypk2NolYYCaG3YK1eVMFKY5edBv-9gMQ4tPRIo5ZIgaR-ayy6XggnwkxO_bKv4f4iq1qhOBHPbtrfD4g2usIkrMdQGVv9Kun36ij6HmOLdFsnSIv3g38w/s1600/frogbit31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxwPFlLJ0w-IKWgdNTXsls4Ypk2NolYYCaG3YK1eVMFKY5edBv-9gMQ4tPRIo5ZIgaR-ayy6XggnwkxO_bKv4f4iq1qhOBHPbtrfD4g2usIkrMdQGVv9Kun36ij6HmOLdFsnSIv3g38w/s1600/frogbit31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any turtles on logs but did see a
little twitching under the duckweed.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhBio_4DUTp5_GkpG0LJdqCHNN9_zJMq-rqtff8mWCZkgiL5qu13gmS7nmdregB8_uo7SXhr4UBnqOf_hg_Rid2O7Z3_4EU1tvSB9nZY5EO8gFTLiZ0B5KE1h2_Bg3bbZCBFFdABSh7Q/s1600/frogbit31a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhBio_4DUTp5_GkpG0LJdqCHNN9_zJMq-rqtff8mWCZkgiL5qu13gmS7nmdregB8_uo7SXhr4UBnqOf_hg_Rid2O7Z3_4EU1tvSB9nZY5EO8gFTLiZ0B5KE1h2_Bg3bbZCBFFdABSh7Q/s320/frogbit31a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, as dry and choked as
the pond seems to be getting, an otter or otters still visit. I
saw two gobs of new scat on the trail down from the ridge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAs-Yr1QAzTxdRFQHPwPbpRcPP0Sj-Fh68UjbAVJU6aKO5MhKi8VvDgrHmqekGB82ve4OhcIK8jNXNCQi-poKV7Mk_JuO6A82xGtcn7vHLS9b8Lauw2ABxeUJQRF8cx6RJrSXaMsrQcaU/s1600/etlat31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAs-Yr1QAzTxdRFQHPwPbpRcPP0Sj-Fh68UjbAVJU6aKO5MhKi8VvDgrHmqekGB82ve4OhcIK8jNXNCQi-poKV7Mk_JuO6A82xGtcn7vHLS9b8Lauw2ABxeUJQRF8cx6RJrSXaMsrQcaU/s1600/etlat31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the rolling area was dug out some more. Do
the otters find anything to eat in the pond, or are they just
keeping up their claim to this territory? Having seen otters work
shallow ponds before, I suspect its the former. I've seem them
forage through duckweed before, too. On the other side of the
dam, there seemed to be a trail in the grass up the slope, but I
didn't see any scats along it. There was nothing happening at the
Second Swamp Pond, save for the birds zooming about. I hoped to
hear my Thelonious bird, but didn't. I rode the southwest wind up
the north shore of the pond and was surprised not to surprise a
beaver in the Upper Second Swamp Pond. It still is not easy
crossing the dam, and while in the middle of that trial, I began
to hear Thelonious -- too far away to try to record. I got up to
the Lost Swamp Pond enough minutes after seven to expect to see
beavers. The wind was strong enough to blow away my scent, yet
hardly rippled the pond. For the next hour, I didn't see one
beaver. Here too, the muskrats put on the show. I followed a
small one as it marked a few logs and then swam up to me, quite
like the young beavers I came to see, even swimming back and
across below me.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDzd7xnnD_q7Yd41MG0UueZYyBwJZzkLn3qUyW8FOn2qJyEciF4CbevU9DO-gTT_izDS7bjr104-SXYtfEEuMMOFO_Q2Ho595kqQ1fVoYzwvO0aUIhbvZV4VezzCUO0eejdD4lEWUaZI/s1600/mrat31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDzd7xnnD_q7Yd41MG0UueZYyBwJZzkLn3qUyW8FOn2qJyEciF4CbevU9DO-gTT_izDS7bjr104-SXYtfEEuMMOFO_Q2Ho595kqQ1fVoYzwvO0aUIhbvZV4VezzCUO0eejdD4lEWUaZI/s1600/mrat31.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then it dove and surfaced far down by the
burrows on the west end of the pond. I saw muskrats in the far
south end of the pond, some just coming around the point into the
north end. Then a muskrat came out of the lodge in the middle of
the pond in front of me, and it brought up grass to the end of a
log and nibbled away. It dove a few times. I was soon distracted
by a flicker feeding chicks in the dead tree trunk right in front
of me and the mother didn't have enough bugs to quiet the chicks
that had the knack of yawning and chattering at the same time.
She kept looking around, perhaps knowing I was there, and finally
she jumped into the hole and settled them down.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">She was soon out to get more. The noise set the
tone for the next act. A second muskrat had come out of the lodge
in the middle pond and foraged a bit near the muskrat on the log.
I actually remarked on how peaceful it all seemed at this quiet
sunset hour. The muskrats in the south end of the pond
foreshadowed what was to come. I noticed a muskrat going around
the point following another. Then I heard a splash and one
muskrat hurrying back with the other close behind. Then a muskrat
swam out of the lodge by the dam, and I sensed there was going to
be trouble. It swam toward the nibbling muskrat via every log
along the way which it seemed to sniff up and mark with care
letting its tail drape over the log as it dove. And I heard a
noise which by the movement of the muskrat I could tell was not
coming from the birds. The muskrat was in a snit, with either
teeth or intense hyperventilation making the noise. Plus it seemed
to mark everything twice. Then the other muskrat swam out as if
to meet the challenge. They both swam over toward the lodge in
the middle of the pond. I should add that all these muskrats
seemed small, and when they did engage they didn't do it head on.
One tried to catch the other from behind which led to a quick
chase and then both dove and separated. One muskrat got up on a
log next to the lodge, the other circled in and then they would
engage again. Then the muskrat at the lodge swam out to taunt but would dive as the other muskrat closed and resurface twenty
yards away. I don't think I was seeing play. While the fighting
was not the brief head on fury I've seem between other muskrats,
in this much longer encounter there was no evidence of any
affection or camaraderie or even familiarity. When they separated
the muskrat heading back to the dam once again marked logs,
especially one that bobbed in the water. It marked that twice. I
got the notion that the beavers were laying low -- after 8 pm and
they weren't out, just to avoid getting between two feuding
muskrats, but when I got to the Big Pond, there were no muskrats
out and no beavers either. I didn't see any otter signs around
the Big Pond dam save for some prints in the mud. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span> </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-17802794213107733042016-11-30T18:51:00.000-08:002016-11-30T18:51:49.700-08:00May 17 to 22 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">May 17 another sunny but chilly morning and I
headed out to the South Bay trail at about 8:30, 3 AD (after
dawn.) Down at the South Bay trail causeway there were no new
otter scats, but there was a new bird in the area, a catbird, and
I must say he was most melodious, and rather out in the open,
though when I got the camera out to try to take a photo it flew
away. At the end of the north cove of South Bay I hopped across
the creek and then headed for the New Pond knoll, but some
scratching in the grass stopped me short,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGhUM2_Sfi2cmP0tZFW2CNB1chIP3LDPqIfmVLDIhFHeVJ8UYkkqxG3ldoUb2aQVpQDPXpVs6aOotdFx74rrEmPTXbtvVvjTNbREGz8KAfaMzOZCTr-bpRhjysgBfmaMGkiezOIFHRw4/s1600/newlat17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGhUM2_Sfi2cmP0tZFW2CNB1chIP3LDPqIfmVLDIhFHeVJ8UYkkqxG3ldoUb2aQVpQDPXpVs6aOotdFx74rrEmPTXbtvVvjTNbREGz8KAfaMzOZCTr-bpRhjysgBfmaMGkiezOIFHRw4/s1600/newlat17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I found some fresh otter scat sprayed on
the mussed leaves.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued up to the knoll, passing a blooming
trillium popping out from under the end of the ancient log
bridge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJyw0xj4ajur49GfBzowgj-N_fFJGTqaPz9CSFKomHLDuzoikzLmC9NlNsZm4EGxSX_QrpyPmDBMUVinao2Il5iZa0F7DXHoHAS1g_BhC7MhL9TCjwIY-iZEI75OLvieOYRuB-RFYl0M/s1600/trillium17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJyw0xj4ajur49GfBzowgj-N_fFJGTqaPz9CSFKomHLDuzoikzLmC9NlNsZm4EGxSX_QrpyPmDBMUVinao2Il5iZa0F7DXHoHAS1g_BhC7MhL9TCjwIY-iZEI75OLvieOYRuB-RFYl0M/s1600/trillium17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but saw nothing fresh but some new scats just
beside the otter trail in the middle of the knoll. I continued on the trail to
the latrine above the old dock and here again there was fresh
scat lower on the slope than those left by the otters on their
last visit.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVwkYt0UEIfrW0Yh-E5pwOXUdCyJR-xXtBVrDyuhlII6qqIMIO-HpCihpkv-6wdBL6_O-tdozXDlQIWa9lnMnEC1csIat5JYL3Cc-o2EEQ2iSt91_gsBawaXcj9PUdcEDuNI_otiiHNI/s1600/olddocklat17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVwkYt0UEIfrW0Yh-E5pwOXUdCyJR-xXtBVrDyuhlII6qqIMIO-HpCihpkv-6wdBL6_O-tdozXDlQIWa9lnMnEC1csIat5JYL3Cc-o2EEQ2iSt91_gsBawaXcj9PUdcEDuNI_otiiHNI/s1600/olddocklat17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">These were just up from the water, and so fresh
that I could clearly smell them.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-5O6AYZlssFyTv6jhyphenhyphenqekwK4W5sGYktzjK-f9ghPLVXgnEPJooa7VD8-2t9NxkojRilyEEkPDJ4Ke-pRaaiq24o40Sgo1U09ymPUxiyr7tCa75tEqkV4F13SOX5yWWNbr36ideoGJiQ/s1600/scat17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-5O6AYZlssFyTv6jhyphenhyphenqekwK4W5sGYktzjK-f9ghPLVXgnEPJooa7VD8-2t9NxkojRilyEEkPDJ4Ke-pRaaiq24o40Sgo1U09ymPUxiyr7tCa75tEqkV4F13SOX5yWWNbr36ideoGJiQ/s1600/scat17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I sat for ten minutes just in case the
otters were still in the marsh on the other side of the cove. I
say otters, because there were certainly enough scats for two or
more. I only saw two pairs of ducks. I decided not to go up to
the docking rock, after all, it was quite evident that the otters
had fished in South Bay. What I wanted to look for were fresh
scats in the latrines by the beaver ponds. On my way to the East
Trail Pond, I veered over to check out Meander Pond where the
beavers had been out at 6 AD the other day. The west wind
allowed me to approach the pond with a very good view. Today
there were no beavers out in the morning. I sat for ten or
fifteen minutes, entertained by orioles calling, and I did see a
muskrat. If it lived in the large muskrat lodge on that end of
the pond, it, as muskrats usually do, set off to forage way at
the other end of the pond. Thicket Pond was quiet, too chilly for
frogs even if they are still in a singing mood. The East Trail
Pond is quite low again and filling up with duckweed. There were
some clear areas of water, a wide one at the foot of the otter trail. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoH90dYtpTIi6sRBk_5rdIGh6anix00CP_bnKghXCX_tP4HjRAEmpDCuOzbfK5PUuD_CdOBn8jdKI1DVjRAaxiCUy6B0zyEPU9lU_BgU4j8smeFUfb-Aa9WhZFcpOoAGu6hJXyCFREKzY/s1600/et17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoH90dYtpTIi6sRBk_5rdIGh6anix00CP_bnKghXCX_tP4HjRAEmpDCuOzbfK5PUuD_CdOBn8jdKI1DVjRAaxiCUy6B0zyEPU9lU_BgU4j8smeFUfb-Aa9WhZFcpOoAGu6hJXyCFREKzY/s1600/et17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the mud beside the old boardwalk for
tracks, nothing much of interest. And I noticed that the wind
coming over the ridge was making a clearing in the duckweed, not
an otter. However, in the apron of mud at the foot of the otter
trail I did see what looked like some bold otter prints. Plus
there was some scratched up grass just up on the trail, but no
otter scats. Nor were there any up the trail. I crossed the dam,
and low as the pond is, the dam is still leaking. No otter had
been up the grassy slope east of the dam. Up in the woods, I
paused to take a pee and saw a raccoon sacked out on the lowest
limb of a large red oak with its long tail wrapped around the
bottom of the limb. I walked over and got right under the
critter, and its eyes appeared to be open.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbqsxKnTYFWFJLg_2UM-C6s-9MYSuwGEa7BtbOWTF1CmyvmXQP0bvyPO2gzBz1wYooRj-_wHGOD9a9vdMnstnH3sjtegGP9-3y9ttvUqMsoCo977B4hwk2sIrvEqUPGEqBkdpcS_n0FE/s1600/raccoon17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbqsxKnTYFWFJLg_2UM-C6s-9MYSuwGEa7BtbOWTF1CmyvmXQP0bvyPO2gzBz1wYooRj-_wHGOD9a9vdMnstnH3sjtegGP9-3y9ttvUqMsoCo977B4hwk2sIrvEqUPGEqBkdpcS_n0FE/s1600/raccoon17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got out the camcorder and with the close-up
could see its nose twitch and eyes blink a couple of times. It
was probably exhausted from a night of raiding bird nests. As I
walked away it manage to throw its head on the other side of the
limb and watch me. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFo6ONZd-P7dFcfrurc2nSX3LH0M_8pzByABDCIlugZRAeI5RzGW1fA64Gv3K5OaLz2pSpzfknse3uo_sVDjALsHtJ7PbsLwHUMQnD9NVwggvslWerbHltMLQPYoDvTyHxlCH7jC38nNw/s1600/ppine17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFo6ONZd-P7dFcfrurc2nSX3LH0M_8pzByABDCIlugZRAeI5RzGW1fA64Gv3K5OaLz2pSpzfknse3uo_sVDjALsHtJ7PbsLwHUMQnD9NVwggvslWerbHltMLQPYoDvTyHxlCH7jC38nNw/s1600/ppine17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was a nice west wind raking across the
Second Swamp Pond and no otter broke through the ripples. A
yellow-throated warbler did hop through the cedar I sat behind,
and when I moved down to check the top of the lodge for scats, I
disturbed a garter snake. The lodge was scat free, and nothing
stirred below as I walked on it. I crossed the dam and saw no
scats there either. The otter trail between the Lost Swamp Pond
and the upper end of the Second Swamp pond was a different story.
I saw new scats and new scratchings in the grass, but none of the
scats were fresh. I walked up to the and didn't see any scats on
the likely latrines up there, and I think otters touring the
ponds to forage would use those old latrines. The scats on the
well worn otter trails are likely from either the touring male
checking his territory or the nursing female leaving signs to
keep other otters away. There were no geese to be seen on this
side of the pond, I could hear some honking from the southeast
corner which I couldn't see. I decided not to check the south
shore of the pond, but on my way to the Big Pond, I did train the
spyglass on the lodge in the middle of the southeast end of the
pond, which has often been the favorite haunt of otters. I did
see something there but it wasn't an otter. To my amazement a coyote
was on the lodge with about six honking geese a safe twenty yards
off in the pond. I hurried around to get a better view. The
coyote nosed around the top of the lodge, but wasn't eating
anything nor was any gosling down flying in the air. As I
approached the edge of the pond, the coyote struck a pose, head
high gazing over to the north shore. I must say, reading its body
language like it was a pet dog, it seemed to be saying I wish I
wasn't here, I wish I was over there.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrY-b5HKqCrhsS-urkyfQoPFrp6L-PExhQWVpDHI5I3zYAWEDL4NsS7gU4WIRZ_9jNfZxOgR_Nq8IWTWl-4gwy7KKedM2593qFW9L-gkj_d5V7YWNBanJOnaMeBf1cBKXq5uHoupTJZU/s1600/coyote17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrY-b5HKqCrhsS-urkyfQoPFrp6L-PExhQWVpDHI5I3zYAWEDL4NsS7gU4WIRZ_9jNfZxOgR_Nq8IWTWl-4gwy7KKedM2593qFW9L-gkj_d5V7YWNBanJOnaMeBf1cBKXq5uHoupTJZU/s1600/coyote17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat down to see what it would do, and it
wasn't long before it went down to the water, eased into it
without hesitation and swam to the north shore -- about 40 yards
or so. Four of the geese followed it, staying about 10 yards
behind, and honking. Surely this would have been the time for
them to attack, but they stayed away. I didn't see the coyote
reach the shore, soon enough the geese retreated and swam down
pond, not one went over to check the lodge. After this excitement
I didn't expect to see anything at the Big Pond, and I didn't,
save that I got close to the red-winged blackbird that always
guards the north end of the dam, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU8_nX04iujf4JWEHqN8Dg7umGv8bBDkN79he6L_RIw1U2z17xxKmXt_Me9bgGqdWdC1NAarLJPXTzda0N7wn93PjMIZKaDk7gnS0y9Ui8BH2SJrakMcj6CywS3Hw6itscYFVvSPlXa4/s1600/redwing17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU8_nX04iujf4JWEHqN8Dg7umGv8bBDkN79he6L_RIw1U2z17xxKmXt_Me9bgGqdWdC1NAarLJPXTzda0N7wn93PjMIZKaDk7gnS0y9Ui8BH2SJrakMcj6CywS3Hw6itscYFVvSPlXa4/s1600/redwing17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">until it flew away.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxEToulru7qsDYHGtmDZAgT3yLGcIs5XvLCcp4M2nKo1JwQWoo44coMUet2CdzpsPwjEQ2FXXyJJoEot5V8j34gYxY1mRtifRxo3aA-XrQER1pk-TeSjlhB4v_hOGonPCgjdGouyEdlU/s1600/redwing17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxEToulru7qsDYHGtmDZAgT3yLGcIs5XvLCcp4M2nKo1JwQWoo44coMUet2CdzpsPwjEQ2FXXyJJoEot5V8j34gYxY1mRtifRxo3aA-XrQER1pk-TeSjlhB4v_hOGonPCgjdGouyEdlU/s1600/redwing17a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There may have been new otter prints in the mud
heading down to South Bay but there were no fresh scats. There
was, I think, yet another scent mound, further out along the line
of the other scent mounds. So, I think I proved that the otters
fishing in South Bay did not also tour the beaver ponds this
morning. At the land, in the afternoon, I was entertained by a
small porcupine swaying in the wind as it ate the buds in a small
elm.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxTnsk4khbt4qZvaikxepV_ZKrVR44DB7MNIjjdcZJ1dnzBRIysT90C1R_xU9E94ctKsf4JPa1ImKUq-5PC39TRi_A0DklVfIknWxBk6767kjyuSPWLVqPGfudtyflFJyfdGKCI0IePlE/s1600/ppine17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxTnsk4khbt4qZvaikxepV_ZKrVR44DB7MNIjjdcZJ1dnzBRIysT90C1R_xU9E94ctKsf4JPa1ImKUq-5PC39TRi_A0DklVfIknWxBk6767kjyuSPWLVqPGfudtyflFJyfdGKCI0IePlE/s1600/ppine17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When I came back about ten minutes later, after
checking the Deep Pond, it had gone. Down at the pond I was
intrigued by swirls of small yellowish flying insects that also
seemed to swim on water, especially when the wind gusted. It
really looked like they were surfing on the ripples scudded up by
the wind. Some of these gnats almost got up to me, but I couldn't
begin to describe them as they all kept up a frantic motion. Up
at the Third Pond, there were more of them and here three or four
swallows, a flycatcher and a phoebe were eating them. The other
day I noticed a half stripped log on the beaver lodge at the
First Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8u6ZBJyzv2FY83N8DSrdAbGFHZES3s1yf3putmR5v7tRazRX7phdEg2t5iHexOiutMim1iH8tvmMgUrnGsJpEd_zNkfBdCyjjDNNkdcapXc6w9lXTUDYX3aAyPF7pOAqOFjcA9sqw90/s1600/bvlog17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8u6ZBJyzv2FY83N8DSrdAbGFHZES3s1yf3putmR5v7tRazRX7phdEg2t5iHexOiutMim1iH8tvmMgUrnGsJpEd_zNkfBdCyjjDNNkdcapXc6w9lXTUDYX3aAyPF7pOAqOFjcA9sqw90/s1600/bvlog17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I take the evidence of so much stripping as
opposed to gnawing as arising for the need for the beavers to
fashion more beds because kits have been or are about to be born.
One of my jobs for summer is going to be to collect the ironwood
that the beavers have cut and not used, and there is a lot. It is
somewhat frustrating to see the beavers begin cutting a another
ironwood when logs from one they cut in the fall is lying right
next to it,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzYBLp5pmiyv1IO_KqBrXyiX5IklGmr7td6udn2faC01Rh3pUwH3GvhmkN6gl4b8u34UJjoIqDDN5zNTgTbjrZ2SrYM2-nXTtjez2INuxMVXOV-h9KTXilR8nZ_0tpcrBCE34siOwJ3I/s1600/ironwood17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzYBLp5pmiyv1IO_KqBrXyiX5IklGmr7td6udn2faC01Rh3pUwH3GvhmkN6gl4b8u34UJjoIqDDN5zNTgTbjrZ2SrYM2-nXTtjez2INuxMVXOV-h9KTXilR8nZ_0tpcrBCE34siOwJ3I/s1600/ironwood17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">not to mention several tree trunks fallen down
but still attached to trunks. Another curious bit of busy work is
there digging out a wallow below the dam of the main pond and the
dams of two small ponds terracing back to the main pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqUpFTUJAQdR76F6p-e_xlJL5Dsw9uAzgv-6EkgItAbX35h3spktxhqKQdYsVmNikjyhyPtaEreSXy__G-ZyhPoFQn7DXGFfJrBqB1Bdz6uBot8_vTBZRt_l-SGEjWcburdilzAzV03o/s1600/wallow17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqUpFTUJAQdR76F6p-e_xlJL5Dsw9uAzgv-6EkgItAbX35h3spktxhqKQdYsVmNikjyhyPtaEreSXy__G-ZyhPoFQn7DXGFfJrBqB1Bdz6uBot8_vTBZRt_l-SGEjWcburdilzAzV03o/s1600/wallow17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Beavers simply want the comfort of being in the
water even if the water provides no safety from anything larger
than an insect. Meanwhile back at home, Ottoleo found this
monster in his shoe, a fisher spider:</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIl-s-y1Ebl7Ew5ldGwgQ3NcDRGqTZWtiKI0f9kbDAxDguGm2ESm3S5s24eue_ezivFy4QXloQQZOnVX2QDG1GxJZ_uQi5UtUYg3V6UwQ0692t1iA6gYQQHJnEdt8Z859KTnlY-YDYmNs/s1600/spider17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIl-s-y1Ebl7Ew5ldGwgQ3NcDRGqTZWtiKI0f9kbDAxDguGm2ESm3S5s24eue_ezivFy4QXloQQZOnVX2QDG1GxJZ_uQi5UtUYg3V6UwQ0692t1iA6gYQQHJnEdt8Z859KTnlY-YDYmNs/s1600/spider17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 19 I was working at the sawing
rock on our land and pulled over an ironwood branch that had been
lying for several months just off the trail nearby, and a grouse
popped up from the leaves. Grouse usually dart through the brush
to escape; this one hardly fluttered as it found cover. Of
course, she had been sitting on her eggs. I easily found the nest
and saw five brown eggs.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApqPT2OsSrcbNuudlxqigzTQ62e1KnO3GC1VQNrXc6-9jQ0-DMoRMmOT0u2q-HeBiRPp3NOIQ-34R5cYVTNFX7XXBgckoU2Cd-3x1UCZTTIWKAv6EyiBVQ0v2nKcKNRxsD5nlqBUlyPM/s1600/eggs19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApqPT2OsSrcbNuudlxqigzTQ62e1KnO3GC1VQNrXc6-9jQ0-DMoRMmOT0u2q-HeBiRPp3NOIQ-34R5cYVTNFX7XXBgckoU2Cd-3x1UCZTTIWKAv6EyiBVQ0v2nKcKNRxsD5nlqBUlyPM/s1600/eggs19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'm sure there are more. I showed
Leslie and we moved the branch back over the nest. Within an hour
the grouse was back on her nest, though hard to see.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cjQNqLhWVe1Azxzm13jBor-4ucik0BTHGArG6xEOwyMWNlUZ7xs6wWjKQ6qOfKwIeZWDYQE31iHxPY5ZjPAbNA_1oiPyJmzDBhRt4XC0xdwys8c1h4NetSw4sJGi9HKq3zy3cl4pWeQ/s1600/grouse19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cjQNqLhWVe1Azxzm13jBor-4ucik0BTHGArG6xEOwyMWNlUZ7xs6wWjKQ6qOfKwIeZWDYQE31iHxPY5ZjPAbNA_1oiPyJmzDBhRt4XC0xdwys8c1h4NetSw4sJGi9HKq3zy3cl4pWeQ/s1600/grouse19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nearby a large bumble bee seemed
to be digging a nest of its own, in the bare ground, right next to
another hole,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF92VLmfYubMcv_1c5gKaixMs63QEslJ41Bzaj0ZZGQaYKMxNYgPeZCXuFDXemSqAPlm08Mx3WcS1nh2AG4LP_oIGX9ioDhSpKQutIeA2Kq9rr_7RKSjBU7GI-uDt1QADi8DvYO4nyBNQ/s1600/bee19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF92VLmfYubMcv_1c5gKaixMs63QEslJ41Bzaj0ZZGQaYKMxNYgPeZCXuFDXemSqAPlm08Mx3WcS1nh2AG4LP_oIGX9ioDhSpKQutIeA2Kq9rr_7RKSjBU7GI-uDt1QADi8DvYO4nyBNQ/s1600/bee19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">probably made by the chipmunk that
ranges in that area. As I was working, a cuckoo moved along the
ridge, with many a cuckoo -- in triplets. After work I sat facing
the north wind at the dam end of the beaver pond, other than one
raccoon pawing the water near the lodge, most of the show was
provided by the birds. Two kingbirds dove for bugs, splashing in
the water one after another. Was this part of a courtship ritual?
I saw a warbler, brown with a bit of yellow on the shoulder. The
bird guide says that is an immature myrtle -- are any birds
immature in the spring? Then walking through the woods, I saw
tent caterpillars feasting on their host tree.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-M7ffykNwVfwEDfFyDnWl6rNpSnaExG44sh3YxSH5JdpTjEzTBfdl71OO4YaBEQSuAUDBIXTgX3UkNuMFV0ePAAz17iMP3yw9HheyzMLsa1GJXAkfaIGnG5zFydYOF9nrZHcOsHFu-DQ/s1600/tentcats19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-M7ffykNwVfwEDfFyDnWl6rNpSnaExG44sh3YxSH5JdpTjEzTBfdl71OO4YaBEQSuAUDBIXTgX3UkNuMFV0ePAAz17iMP3yw9HheyzMLsa1GJXAkfaIGnG5zFydYOF9nrZHcOsHFu-DQ/s1600/tentcats19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went off into the swamp ponds
after dinner. To face a dying north wind, I went to the Big Pond
via the first ridge. To get to the dam I had to pass the line of
otter scent mounds. I saw that the last made had been roughed up
a bit. This one is right at the crossing of two trails so perhaps
another animal did it. However, a few feet up on the crossing
trail that heads to the ridge, I saw some fresh otter scat. </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbs2jqxg4ZgR-ThDQlInoPbAm2zzi5xoI7MENAMIEv6w-tbyUeWSPE-CEQrqnyUoYO8jHztW8ZlQJh7UwaPZCRINHHGBJuMn4g4HZ11yYyv-QPg5k0y06sFLKIcWTVWjgL8uy46r9nOhE/s1600/scat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbs2jqxg4ZgR-ThDQlInoPbAm2zzi5xoI7MENAMIEv6w-tbyUeWSPE-CEQrqnyUoYO8jHztW8ZlQJh7UwaPZCRINHHGBJuMn4g4HZ11yYyv-QPg5k0y06sFLKIcWTVWjgL8uy46r9nOhE/s1600/scat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I think this is an extended
otter discussion or one otter revising old chapters as it adds
new ones to this spring saga. Then I sat on my perch by the dam
and gazed out onto the pond. No otter to be seen. At about 1:30
BS (before sunset,) it was time for muskrats. One came out of the
grasses at the north end of the dam, swimming rather fast. This
rat looked a little different and with the spyglass I could see
why. Its fur above the water line was dry. Muskrats often swim on
the surface but usually dive into a burrow on the shore. This one
seemed to go from land to land. There appeared to be the same
kind of gnat or midge here that I had seen on our land. Five
swallows enjoyed them, and briefly a bluejay flew out over the
pond like it wanted to join them. Three terns flew very high over
the pond. I heard the white throated sparrow again; a yellow
warbler came by and once again the song sparrow in the grass
almost stayed still long enough for a photo. Of course I was
waiting for beavers and as I did began noticing that there was
not one stripped stick on or near the beaver lodge. Then a beaver
swam out into the pond. At first it seemed to be collecting the
pollen on the surface of the pond; then it dove, perhaps for
roots, but rather soon it swam all the way up pond and out of
sight.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhyphenhyphenRI0bVnbRfPNc42rSAqaOgddapN9UxoPlqlQiShaQASU2rc-gjsy7Npc5u7hJdRB1GXnFKolEHHB5iRzNz3Oy_7fs3QwsIV7vXAZf7bOPEi8UCwATVCKqDcbgdlM7q07oRHb6TOsQQ/s1600/wake19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhyphenhyphenRI0bVnbRfPNc42rSAqaOgddapN9UxoPlqlQiShaQASU2rc-gjsy7Npc5u7hJdRB1GXnFKolEHHB5iRzNz3Oy_7fs3QwsIV7vXAZf7bOPEi8UCwATVCKqDcbgdlM7q07oRHb6TOsQQ/s1600/wake19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, I hoped it would come
and dicker with the dam. In ten minutes another beaver came out,
and this one also swam up pond and out of sight. All this
occurred at about 1 BS, an hour before sunset. I waited another
ten minutes and then headed across the pond on the dam. I did see
fresh mud pushed up by a beaver, and then I looked up and another
beaver surfaced in front of the lodge. I quickly went back to my
perch, to see if it would come to the dam, but it too swam up
pond and out of sight. I waited another ten minutes and then
crossed the dam again. This time I was almost to the north shore
of the pond, when another beaver surfaced. Assuming it saw me --
the sun was setting behind my back, I thought it would surely
come over to the dam, but it too swam up pond. I saw a dead
bullhead floating behind the dam, not eaten. Knowing how shallow
this pond was almost all winter, I am impressed that a bullhead
that size, about 8 inches, recently flourished.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYPC3Dw0dbkId4wRvnGE8mmGPwJlBRaYULxGeyMg8qPtpNQgXVhNoLqWzFqU7KaMAXTZRra3AZ7rYlSsCcrek5QtgRuOX3g3PbGMuhnYEVfx5Lu5VWRJAUQXEKb8u8WumKCVdKt_Mh60/s1600/deadbh19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYPC3Dw0dbkId4wRvnGE8mmGPwJlBRaYULxGeyMg8qPtpNQgXVhNoLqWzFqU7KaMAXTZRra3AZ7rYlSsCcrek5QtgRuOX3g3PbGMuhnYEVfx5Lu5VWRJAUQXEKb8u8WumKCVdKt_Mh60/s1600/deadbh19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On my way to the Lost Swamp Pond,
I couldn't help but notice a deer leg, moved out from the carcass
along the east-west trail and placed right where that trail
crossed the north-south trail.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFTCVZkTqQN2CIuoI_2dLuwxfgHLys1j1TRYj_mW8Fw-kP2dCCTeMwZokJdJBmHisN_nxG7fEb7wW67IlFdUZ974vn2Jc1VcV7uqx12qC8He_27aiJeof6kOuZgzdJOKflMDtkGqILj4/s1600/deerleg19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFTCVZkTqQN2CIuoI_2dLuwxfgHLys1j1TRYj_mW8Fw-kP2dCCTeMwZokJdJBmHisN_nxG7fEb7wW67IlFdUZ974vn2Jc1VcV7uqx12qC8He_27aiJeof6kOuZgzdJOKflMDtkGqILj4/s1600/deerleg19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Strange. After the unidirectional
beaver display at the Big Pond, I was pleased to see wakes going
off in every direction at the Lost Swamp Pond. At least three of
them were made by beavers; one by the dam, one heading up pond to
the southeast and one in the northeast section of the pond. The
geese and goslings crossed from shore to shore; a pair of
mallards went up pond and there were at least three muskrats
about.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwcKt-EIszE8zrL6jx4i7vmsmK0RcGbHzPydpy43unwGue9oHHlfGDxskpxVLQ6adyz-P2CQAvi8D0Iuq8vPTVFJeWF0-8FfI79JcUsBcqT9m8ZIgHXa7axqpi12RKm7KeYyYCgiC_-s/s1600/mrat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwcKt-EIszE8zrL6jx4i7vmsmK0RcGbHzPydpy43unwGue9oHHlfGDxskpxVLQ6adyz-P2CQAvi8D0Iuq8vPTVFJeWF0-8FfI79JcUsBcqT9m8ZIgHXa7axqpi12RKm7KeYyYCgiC_-s/s1600/mrat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I noticed that the pond seemed
lower. We haven't had much rain lately but I went up to the dam
to make sure there was no new leak there. I passed much goose
poop, but no fresh otter scats -- though it was a bit dark to
look for them. The dam didn't seem to be leaking much, so the
pond is low from the lack of rain. Meanwhile there were three
beavers out in the Upper Second Swamp Pond and as I came down
from the Lost Swamp Pond dam, a beaver in the far northwest
corner of the pond below slapped its tail. I was well down wind,
and the sun had just gone down. I think it was certainly me it
splashed at, and it slapped its tail again, because it swam over
to the south end of the dam to greet me as I came down. I get so
cocky about limiting the ability of beavers to sense me due to
the direction of the wind, and then one beaver picks me out from
over 50 yards away and down wind. The beaver turned back from our
meeting,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0etAZMvafJ6lFxAbLVwxlSqFrJIlXruAxmnVZajvbuuLnCzcT8Bl5AyuJyIJPabej7hG5LoM0o9GXnirVoJ06JrGxysE0gs4YZNW-gstAgtExTWx0vP3sB-F59e8o4a9hgibOB9xnqLg/s1600/bv19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0etAZMvafJ6lFxAbLVwxlSqFrJIlXruAxmnVZajvbuuLnCzcT8Bl5AyuJyIJPabej7hG5LoM0o9GXnirVoJ06JrGxysE0gs4YZNW-gstAgtExTWx0vP3sB-F59e8o4a9hgibOB9xnqLg/s1600/bv19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and didn't slap its tail again.
Another beaver in the middle of the pond did that. As I turned to
go down the south shore of the Second Swamp Pond I heard loud
splashing, and saw a half dozen deer running from the shallows of
the pond, up into the woods. I didn't take my usual shortcut home
but went down to the South Bay cove where I've been seeing fresh
otter scats. It was too dark to look for scat, but I had a hunch
that the otters might be there. At first glance the water seemed
calm -- the wind was just about still, but I still walked up to
the latrine above the old dock. As I did I saw some ripples along
the north shore of the pond, patterned like an otter was making
them, and sure enough I saw one otter diving and swimming toward
me. I took a photo in case the flash might capture some of the otter
-- it didn't, and at the flash it periscoped up, high, then
slipped back down in the water and disappeared. Then I heard a
splash further down in the cove and I checked that out but it was
probably a fish. I went back to my original vantage point,
scanning the bay, and I think I was seeing ripples and an otter's
body in the area off from the rock on the south shore of the
cove, that otters often like to forage near. But it was too dark
to be sure. I was quite pleased that I followed my hunch, but a
bit surprised that I only saw one otter, and a small one at that;
the perhaps the one year old that I first saw here last June when
it was a pup. Only one or two peepers going, and I heard a coyote
and a bittern.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 22 playing another hunch I
hiked to the end of South Bay as the sun was almost down. The
wind coming out of the northeast was not favorable but I thought
if I sat on the south shore of the north cove, I might see the
otter work the north shore, like I did two nights ago. That it
was Saturday night presented another problem, fishermen, but the
two boats out were both in the south cove. So I sat under the big
red oak on the little mossy knoll and waited. Just about dark, I
saw something swim across the cove to the old dock. That
something seemed big enough to be an otter, but it didn't dive
and didn't go up on shore. It was either a muskrat or an otter,
and I assume it was the former. I also heard and saw several loud
splashes in the cove. I assume the spawning carp are moving in. I
left the knoll before it was too dark and sat briefly above the
old dock. I saw some more carp-like splashes. The wind roiled the
water of most of the bay so it was impossible to study ripples
that might have been made by otters, beavers, or muskrats. I
heard the very truncated call of the whip-poor-will from the
beaver ponds. As I headed for home I heard a brief coyote yip.
Coming up the trail along the south shore of the bay, I saw a
white log on the trail and as I approached it, it approached me.
Then I caught a faint whiff of the skunk and as I turned back so
did it. I headed up on the ridge a bit trying to get past it or
give it ample space to continue down the trail. When I came back
down to the trail, I didn't see it on the trail but as I walked
along I saw it down closer to the water. It had tried to avoid me
as much as I tried to avoid it. I bid it goodnight and walked
past it, and it stirred, I assume, heading back to the trail.
Skunks bring out the gentleman in the careful hiker.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today was cold, with legions of
low gray clouds, but precious little rain. A little after 3pm I
headed to South Bay for my usual check of the otter latrines and
beaver ponds. The dominating singers in the afternoon, even on
such a cold day, are the orioles. But down at the South Bay
causeway, I heard and saw the catbird again, low in the bushes,
just above eye level. The otter seems to have paused in its
scent-mound-making mania. I saw new scats next to digging not
mound building. There was an array of scats with one fresher than
the others.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizN5w9q05VWm5PT4SClZu8rr_q2yD5eAI7-0cwxbnFzgpHEEbZk4ZGnc0NUeFGLYA5Hw3sVwob52qTI8Kr7D5az16BrjKEXMVKyJqnQ_QurLBdFJK8-2OiKCd7LiD5435zmgz_ZfNJXng/s1600/scat22a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizN5w9q05VWm5PT4SClZu8rr_q2yD5eAI7-0cwxbnFzgpHEEbZk4ZGnc0NUeFGLYA5Hw3sVwob52qTI8Kr7D5az16BrjKEXMVKyJqnQ_QurLBdFJK8-2OiKCd7LiD5435zmgz_ZfNJXng/s1600/scat22a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus this activity is in the
middle of the little causeway, not up where the scent mounds are
or were. Some of the old scent mounds looked raked over. I don't
know what this means, but I form the great notion that the otter
is moving on to another phase. And for the first time on the New
Pond knoll, I found a scat just over the ridge, overlooking the
New Pond.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TPEMliqlj1CQ1qw5sR1WliQiy9bmzltBs-4xiNPOErMIQKxQjwBBzuxiv_A18M4IugE_EfRm38Z10W3ePxU-DyajAOl0JvHzXPQOUi-XgZCLmg_7zncDRheRt6rc9IJEzKx-ohxtO7M/s1600/nplat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TPEMliqlj1CQ1qw5sR1WliQiy9bmzltBs-4xiNPOErMIQKxQjwBBzuxiv_A18M4IugE_EfRm38Z10W3ePxU-DyajAOl0JvHzXPQOUi-XgZCLmg_7zncDRheRt6rc9IJEzKx-ohxtO7M/s1600/nplat22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The new scats were more greenish
brown then the old,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFV15cJpZxL8qk-PUi5Mjv9S9uHFz2XZIPaGvy5rSsUKfAxVWpI17EeOR-hOK47XwcXygCryq9SbNDtzIzTA_5M7t050xJQtjbTHumV3QuJPxSNEyFoq8JPstlJaIg5I_mH3Z3P2xVGBs/s1600/scat22b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFV15cJpZxL8qk-PUi5Mjv9S9uHFz2XZIPaGvy5rSsUKfAxVWpI17EeOR-hOK47XwcXygCryq9SbNDtzIzTA_5M7t050xJQtjbTHumV3QuJPxSNEyFoq8JPstlJaIg5I_mH3Z3P2xVGBs/s1600/scat22b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">not like the black scats at the
causeway. There was no new activity down by the creek and bridge
-- otter activity that is. The lone trillium that I saw there the
other day has been eaten, but down on the bank closer the stream
two more trillium have bloomed. Years ago there were larger
spreads of trillium, then for years there were none and we blamed
the deer. So I make a note of every stray blossom I see wondering
if it portends a return to old days. I sat a bit above the New
Pond but no birds, muskrats nor turtles were to be seen. I
checked the latrine above the old dock and after positing the end
of scent mound making for the season, there was one high above
the dock almost at the trail.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnB1_1Gruoce5EqehkBKmauLp9wKkUq5200cEpoTYWDW0lnKc4L9PBfrDGT7xnrKEFhBlVm4X4EpNQfKPowekIER1RC9gAhEwG8WULSmvG8i5ARMp6TDwIJGNWNzbGj5nvFwd-fLHjf8/s1600/odocklat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnB1_1Gruoce5EqehkBKmauLp9wKkUq5200cEpoTYWDW0lnKc4L9PBfrDGT7xnrKEFhBlVm4X4EpNQfKPowekIER1RC9gAhEwG8WULSmvG8i5ARMp6TDwIJGNWNzbGj5nvFwd-fLHjf8/s1600/odocklat22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed it was about at the spot
where I stood looking at the otter a few nights ago. Below the
scent mound there were some scats, quite flattened, perhaps by me
as I walked there last night. Over the years I've noticed otters
going out of the way to scat where I had been standing when I saw
them, though they don't make practice of it, certainly happens
enough not to be accidental. I paid a bit more attention to the
hole below the old dock</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQq4aK4uaDqy2uG327tBR3fMy10-QIGiJmBseJAgbGggDCeO4BeuDVzJeC0BgMOAR_80pag2gm-ybmjkWaOsv87NNfUKp6O4P1Wifj6KECgFsnTer7h_Ff9IkXkIEXOe11x8mGUmwgds/s1600/odockhole22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQq4aK4uaDqy2uG327tBR3fMy10-QIGiJmBseJAgbGggDCeO4BeuDVzJeC0BgMOAR_80pag2gm-ybmjkWaOsv87NNfUKp6O4P1Wifj6KECgFsnTer7h_Ff9IkXkIEXOe11x8mGUmwgds/s1600/odockhole22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and stuck my camera in to see what
it might look like down there.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm3_hWDbQPOxSEqTGgNRGmj1pt-8VoF1Yorb-2Jnt4rPBLx2KLN9F5PI0pok7cvbNQkjUiR50SHP8ufAIdyqQwNN_Vz_FZO9-LYus327M8O2et4is49Pzb2cNZOaHDpM9Q00BMDxvt_0/s1600/odockhole22a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm3_hWDbQPOxSEqTGgNRGmj1pt-8VoF1Yorb-2Jnt4rPBLx2KLN9F5PI0pok7cvbNQkjUiR50SHP8ufAIdyqQwNN_Vz_FZO9-LYus327M8O2et4is49Pzb2cNZOaHDpM9Q00BMDxvt_0/s1600/odockhole22a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It's possible that the otter dens
there, though I doubt it, with that secluded marsh just across
the cove. Then I pressed on down the bay to continue this strange
dialogue with an otter or otters. There was a new scent mound at
the docking rock -- this time on the river side of the large log
lying on the ridge, but the scats on the scent mound were hard,
so this was old news. I continued up to Audubon Pond, a trip the
otters never seem to make except late in the fall or winter, and
sure enough all dark smudge around the pond were goose poops or
beaver markings. Although we have not had much rain this pond
remains high which is credit to the patching on the drain that
the beavers did. On the embankment slope across from the drain
was a considerable amount of mud left by marking beavers. I
continued on down the trail back to South Bay to check the otter
latrine high above the bay. As I approached, the green grass
looked so high that I expected not to see recent otter signs, but
the tall green grass only made the new scent mounds</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX5d2AewIrd9XRp0EH4CrZuhK-O6Y0pc7KewWlwyNMtOGTkr7hptGq_60-hiVx6nbdIcELJpxteqNhyP7SW6XhIH67mpGLYQGd0Y-ocNyprGE5-Fqe20GX9wTNb6s-qj45akIh0uSZEA/s1600/sbsm22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdX5d2AewIrd9XRp0EH4CrZuhK-O6Y0pc7KewWlwyNMtOGTkr7hptGq_60-hiVx6nbdIcELJpxteqNhyP7SW6XhIH67mpGLYQGd0Y-ocNyprGE5-Fqe20GX9wTNb6s-qj45akIh0uSZEA/s1600/sbsm22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">stand out even more.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1f9ZcWAdDRjKmNjEOKat_2q3pkUVZW3kmEt0Fi3tJfk7Afmim9YTqQmx4YmLxRqZE7uhrlj1MktHMBqpPOj-yK8zmx7rprhNL52cB8C8vmFvrAm-0satEHniqycE8YWOcoKXXMKZqcek/s1600/sblat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1f9ZcWAdDRjKmNjEOKat_2q3pkUVZW3kmEt0Fi3tJfk7Afmim9YTqQmx4YmLxRqZE7uhrlj1MktHMBqpPOj-yK8zmx7rprhNL52cB8C8vmFvrAm-0satEHniqycE8YWOcoKXXMKZqcek/s1600/sblat22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat briefly to ponder the
meaning of this latrine, and tried to come up with some strategic
reason why otters should mark up here. Below there is the
broadest expanse of water from the island to the US mainland and
behind there are the highest ridges in this neck of the island.
If otters set beacon lights to mark their way, this would be a
good place for one. The latrines I monitor on Picton and Murray
islands are also visually prominent, but the otters are not
leaving anything that can be seen at any distance, nor smelled
since I imagine the odor from the marking would dissipate quickly
over the expanse of water below the latrine. However, otters seem
to like to gain the high ground so perhaps it makes sense to mark
at these three latrines that are generally situated on the way up
to high ground. However, in the winter I've only seen an otter
trail going up to the high ground from this point once.
Meanwhile, down along the shore, a beaver is trimming branches
shooting up from a willow collapsing down on the water.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawbaqc19AuGNT7S20oyk44fgisPfaHv5KzO1s68bXDDtgVhsAhgimPkRTAbgFUIy92-ZKn0WQ0KuRQIt7kMipzE85pXEt7D4pbyv8-MGQXTtfaAznO9X27A4S76fyuolhjuJcx1A1CTE/s1600/willow22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawbaqc19AuGNT7S20oyk44fgisPfaHv5KzO1s68bXDDtgVhsAhgimPkRTAbgFUIy92-ZKn0WQ0KuRQIt7kMipzE85pXEt7D4pbyv8-MGQXTtfaAznO9X27A4S76fyuolhjuJcx1A1CTE/s1600/willow22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I went back to Audubon Pond
to continue a walk around. This most boring of ponds, it's
man-made, always has interesting beaver work on its shore
because, I think, beaver here tend to get more desperate than
those in beaver-made ponds. First there were fresh gnaw marks on
the old gray cuts on the huge oak girdled two years ago.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodM8d0mQ_67-552u2cQATy5vSyRWCTZ4kaRWf1Sj0dCA3mBpS0peZC0uB0NU21t7VOA84yR-PcGijUxWT3W-5ZRAGki1I2UZ-qctxI72NQmdfxcF_Q77LBySyq7NvXmHb2A2pWDs3II8/s1600/apbvwk22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjodM8d0mQ_67-552u2cQATy5vSyRWCTZ4kaRWf1Sj0dCA3mBpS0peZC0uB0NU21t7VOA84yR-PcGijUxWT3W-5ZRAGki1I2UZ-qctxI72NQmdfxcF_Q77LBySyq7NvXmHb2A2pWDs3II8/s1600/apbvwk22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then there was gnawing deeper than
I have ever seen in a cut ash girdled to reveal wrinkles.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhrsuu0I5cysgclR5TIJDOsRdITBurTYs1t-b59A1CmRBooBn8oB6YTwP10zU1XFPJkSSpLYCPYB6LlObUBE1c1JkJXX2nIgswJY2bVxU05P9WycFZHVKTQgtTU1DgUPdRTT4Cy6Qhyw/s1600/apash22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhrsuu0I5cysgclR5TIJDOsRdITBurTYs1t-b59A1CmRBooBn8oB6YTwP10zU1XFPJkSSpLYCPYB6LlObUBE1c1JkJXX2nIgswJY2bVxU05P9WycFZHVKTQgtTU1DgUPdRTT4Cy6Qhyw/s1600/apash22.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then a little further on there was
fresh gnawing on a shag-bark hickory.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcahYTz7fHxvmO39OHWdU3xo1dDSeakK8ZHd_wTcnqanyUn1TVcbLKh6OzEBy_4Hbnd1ytBljoYVEJ24LzLT5OvypPBNTPcHtS03STiVVVJ9P-5KuyEdl-hTbIOBKWuJp6mBPjEAy-qdY/s1600/hickbloom22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcahYTz7fHxvmO39OHWdU3xo1dDSeakK8ZHd_wTcnqanyUn1TVcbLKh6OzEBy_4Hbnd1ytBljoYVEJ24LzLT5OvypPBNTPcHtS03STiVVVJ9P-5KuyEdl-hTbIOBKWuJp6mBPjEAy-qdY/s1600/hickbloom22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">(The gnawing hardly registers on a
photo and the budding is beautiful.) The beavers have also
reoccupied the bank lodge on this west shore of the pond --
unused for a year or so.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zECZR-yQaOrhv1Lb_Xd6xc3yy-rTOAOyPH-RXUjHUp5xaFPZhMTz3ayDzc2FMfglEydFgd3TiE7hCrhoe8IeUgY22ETWsuHwLik31pee68MiLNkonRGHjPeYxeUjHf_9dHEx3xtNSJo/s1600/apbanklodge22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zECZR-yQaOrhv1Lb_Xd6xc3yy-rTOAOyPH-RXUjHUp5xaFPZhMTz3ayDzc2FMfglEydFgd3TiE7hCrhoe8IeUgY22ETWsuHwLik31pee68MiLNkonRGHjPeYxeUjHf_9dHEx3xtNSJo/s1600/apbanklodge22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The "improvements" at
the bench apparently still intimidate the beavers. No sign they
have been back to the site of their old bank lodge, but there is
goose poop all around. The geese were quite noisy today, their
ire directed at me, but I didn't see any goslings. Out in the
cache of the beaver lodge in the pond some of the soaking
branches have sprouted leaves. As I headed out of the pond, I saw
three deer, one small and two larger, and their coats were at
their dingiest, the color of a sparrow just up from a dust bath.
A doe peed in front of me</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9SfIEb-WznqWRef65lLRwLeJi7CxBExBNPe8of4HDaDKCmXQtdI7jda1WY99dR3vd0v61qTZ2pLm4D9wUHyH2T79EVnOzs5E6kQ8PEu41Ei3XkQHylZ7F2RxstzbEG9cmBfstFsX3M0/s1600/deer22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9SfIEb-WznqWRef65lLRwLeJi7CxBExBNPe8of4HDaDKCmXQtdI7jda1WY99dR3vd0v61qTZ2pLm4D9wUHyH2T79EVnOzs5E6kQ8PEu41Ei3XkQHylZ7F2RxstzbEG9cmBfstFsX3M0/s1600/deer22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then they all ran off</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKU2DWywUHGK-8a1iCL1kKW2dB-CWEXBJM8ZWrqr8IvQrYxX9Pk6iOmB0Jq2MqU0Sp4_ZLyOwF7aUqh3kCFotByOSvXHYwegRD2wH3dkRYTLfS-V5pFD9u6SQPYWrWo6ZN7Obp0MOW7c/s1600/deer22a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwKU2DWywUHGK-8a1iCL1kKW2dB-CWEXBJM8ZWrqr8IvQrYxX9Pk6iOmB0Jq2MqU0Sp4_ZLyOwF7aUqh3kCFotByOSvXHYwegRD2wH3dkRYTLfS-V5pFD9u6SQPYWrWo6ZN7Obp0MOW7c/s1600/deer22a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- in a few weeks there coats will
be so beautiful. As I crossed the bridge below the Shortcut Trail
Pond dam, I saw a ball of fur on the trail that looked like it
came from a rabbit, and they are rarely seen on the island,
especially this end of it. Then as I approached Meander Pond I
saw a fox looking at me, briefly, and then disappearing into the
woods. Once again as I approached this pond, the wind was in my
face, and when I noticed ripples in the pond going against the
wind, I sat down under a tree to what might materialize. I began
to theorize that the wind was undulating and hitting the pond in
a way to make some ripples go against the wind, then a beaver
surfaced from behind a clump of grass and with stick in mouth
swam back on the circuitous route back to the lodge (this is
Meander Pond after all.) Then a muskrat popped out of the nearby
muskrat lodge, and then a smaller beaver swam back toward where I
was sitting, and put on a good show of gnawing. It nibbled a few
sticks but also some of the crooks of a branch as well as the
knobby end. I waited awhile for another beaver to come back but
none did. I eased my way around the pond, noticing that the
beavers are digging the canals deeper,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uufFQN2U29r-gl_32kobjpOByTllIeLKW04oy73N993OYdEzMQx2-egxpvKmm3DQV3wiJ4dQ7usAvnB2Av_98bkOfBG6uAcUmC8vw12wTjlc-dAknNV3_7EId0_9b4WdIYqxcz88__o/s1600/mpcanal22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uufFQN2U29r-gl_32kobjpOByTllIeLKW04oy73N993OYdEzMQx2-egxpvKmm3DQV3wiJ4dQ7usAvnB2Av_98bkOfBG6uAcUmC8vw12wTjlc-dAknNV3_7EId0_9b4WdIYqxcz88__o/s1600/mpcanal22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then crossing the back dam, and
this didn't alarm the beaver.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzF3BcXUW6GEgXvqzh1ZnZ7GUyH5MdvgORjx43oe5-oqL3AobkbDpzi-ckW0cJKkpPb2ZhaTpIilZoTS3ujDT6nJeuCcyzFho3GWtQpH2GNHfsKq0jSdaCTITNUHWHbWqXqJEdUHclyo/s1600/mpbv22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzF3BcXUW6GEgXvqzh1ZnZ7GUyH5MdvgORjx43oe5-oqL3AobkbDpzi-ckW0cJKkpPb2ZhaTpIilZoTS3ujDT6nJeuCcyzFho3GWtQpH2GNHfsKq0jSdaCTITNUHWHbWqXqJEdUHclyo/s1600/mpbv22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Not until I got into the wind did
it swim back to the lodge. Despite it being almost empty, I still
approach the East Trail Pond as if it was a wide expanse. Perhaps
it is good to keep up old habits until I'm convinced the otters
have given up their old habit of visiting this pond. Today the
trail in the mud at the foot of the otter trail more convincingly
said that otters had been through.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtP_tOa75mZ5v5mlRjrGm2aMS-KdD6Vz1-ILKlbD6wcrUnTsBjNjgR8SYW0_5d8PHIaNEQi2zYpun5mav1K7-1RVM_kJc5zmvkE9qA8eiHWsxN6uTnjnMJW9PCt6D45o7US7CI7gK3WA/s1600/etottks22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtP_tOa75mZ5v5mlRjrGm2aMS-KdD6Vz1-ILKlbD6wcrUnTsBjNjgR8SYW0_5d8PHIaNEQi2zYpun5mav1K7-1RVM_kJc5zmvkE9qA8eiHWsxN6uTnjnMJW9PCt6D45o7US7CI7gK3WA/s1600/etottks22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The nearby scent mound seemed a
bit rearranged, and up at the rolling area behind the large pine,
I saw new, but not fresh scat.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOdh1nFpxzDyGc3YrzIutgq1zMx5YrRfk6MrMWiZW2DqBmGnyzfbf9R8IYL6yGSvrTACBqNELaJ5teoQuaDJb6dqmUai33qT1RlQFlvIbFt2Vt1Hp2cz5RZkDidI1Z9Wv3ZreWUnKldE/s1600/etra22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOdh1nFpxzDyGc3YrzIutgq1zMx5YrRfk6MrMWiZW2DqBmGnyzfbf9R8IYL6yGSvrTACBqNELaJ5teoQuaDJb6dqmUai33qT1RlQFlvIbFt2Vt1Hp2cz5RZkDidI1Z9Wv3ZreWUnKldE/s1600/etra22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So an otter still comes to this
pond. But once again there was no sign of an otter being along
the Second Swamp Pond dam which is surprising given that for the
last year and a half this has probably been the dam with the most
otter activity. However, up at the otter trail way up at the
upper end of the pond, there were fresh scats -- a nice stringy
black one on the large log across the trail,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLw3viRB3eKlIGjpTWnDB5e90mg_4Y-O5pADTnrJIQg-NcoaI6PZisZXmYTNoHI5CUHbro0Jd9N5Jtb2Fd9hClt-gznsMghqQeyHSpQyKczUnl6QRZJpAeLzF28DP0NBnoUF_aNZ8GDtI/s1600/scat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLw3viRB3eKlIGjpTWnDB5e90mg_4Y-O5pADTnrJIQg-NcoaI6PZisZXmYTNoHI5CUHbro0Jd9N5Jtb2Fd9hClt-gznsMghqQeyHSpQyKczUnl6QRZJpAeLzF28DP0NBnoUF_aNZ8GDtI/s1600/scat22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and down in the mud there were
some bold otter prints.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V1HFRrjxakvmhI15FSCt9RDkDzNQ5F4JWe_AqNqCx_IDNMZdl9I7js9tiWGnuMApNcEDOrw0LJ2KWtZWERmZp_69UbU4JBmxQUHljbIZOLE_EUNa28yyGYhXPodvzoKWFunAdWUgEXE/s1600/prints22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V1HFRrjxakvmhI15FSCt9RDkDzNQ5F4JWe_AqNqCx_IDNMZdl9I7js9tiWGnuMApNcEDOrw0LJ2KWtZWERmZp_69UbU4JBmxQUHljbIZOLE_EUNa28yyGYhXPodvzoKWFunAdWUgEXE/s1600/prints22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the trail on the flat
between the two large ponds there was more digging in the leaves </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntJwU1g_LRfECsroZYoGQY0FqOV8lfu9aITP7hp5ZmXXVcrD7skDXMsIBnk8TK9dTOMv-Mkn97fQgRJLRYYYYbBWX1QlyY-9ou0dLYDNwPl-86OzeZazNo0eyL-AyRN3sEUM95dHNMXw/s1600/ottrail22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntJwU1g_LRfECsroZYoGQY0FqOV8lfu9aITP7hp5ZmXXVcrD7skDXMsIBnk8TK9dTOMv-Mkn97fQgRJLRYYYYbBWX1QlyY-9ou0dLYDNwPl-86OzeZazNo0eyL-AyRN3sEUM95dHNMXw/s1600/ottrail22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and some new scat. Several years
ago I heard otter screeching near this upper pond and since then
suspected that this was one of the favorite natal ponds used by
otters. Perhaps I should explore around the vernal ponds in the
woods on the north shore of the pond. Going up to the Lost Swamp
Pond I waded into some sprouting mayapples and took the
precaution of taking a photo below the fold, and the automatic
focus behaved.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlqyglVgmLKPxClFyDVxaXnj-14BZLcY7F4q66j5wHPQFYY9YIPWxMRjMU89fCA4mdh3Visg1wNxz38HuvBnL0s9fPk86CFVoOmbrDV3EbgRiQhzGX1tIe2B2KjAmABL9GxCNlyD43Ic/s1600/mayapple22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlqyglVgmLKPxClFyDVxaXnj-14BZLcY7F4q66j5wHPQFYY9YIPWxMRjMU89fCA4mdh3Visg1wNxz38HuvBnL0s9fPk86CFVoOmbrDV3EbgRiQhzGX1tIe2B2KjAmABL9GxCNlyD43Ic/s1600/mayapple22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This was not the night to sit by
the Lost Swamp or Big ponds, the wind was cold, and save for the
lap of shivering waves, nothing was moving in the ponds, not even
geese. At least one tern was looking for dinner however. Then
there is that deep cut in a white oak</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9t3bdMrO2SWCM5fH_dHN7X4SaIMz34INj5YkYb77tWJwymsCeIPQLtefRM0H8FhGDxvLoRNajYFV1Qv1Bd0IXUPwBqi1o0vvQTbY-Oo3ErAJWP5L-9hYBjMZCvmmYs1tnfFB1tQ9kDo/s1600/oak22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9t3bdMrO2SWCM5fH_dHN7X4SaIMz34INj5YkYb77tWJwymsCeIPQLtefRM0H8FhGDxvLoRNajYFV1Qv1Bd0IXUPwBqi1o0vvQTbY-Oo3ErAJWP5L-9hYBjMZCvmmYs1tnfFB1tQ9kDo/s1600/oak22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">that I always seem to see just
about dinner time, and today I was hungry, so I hurried home,
pausing long enough to see that otters had not made a new scent
mound next to the Big Pond dam. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-43577716650686301522016-11-27T13:54:00.000-08:002016-11-27T13:54:00.844-08:00May 8 to 15 , 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">May 8</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">I woke up at 5 am
and could see that it was going to be a sunny day, but there was
a good wind coming from the northeast which presented problems
for staking out South Bay. I decided to find a spot on the south
shore of the north cove which provided a distant view of the rock
where I last found fresh otter scats, a good view of the latrine
above the old dock, and with a little moving a good view of the
end of the cove and the New Pond knoll.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPObJBrevqBkbWT4hjAx9Ai-rkI8QxUHCocm4sHg5oQP52j7FVibJ6d3la5yEda0jPick2PZY33uvwx4XldfpM-dPjS8qMys8G1yoRvBtqjVAuSU5t5ZE_Ab4Xqx6ZlzQP6dC0N1nNM8/s1600/dawn8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPObJBrevqBkbWT4hjAx9Ai-rkI8QxUHCocm4sHg5oQP52j7FVibJ6d3la5yEda0jPick2PZY33uvwx4XldfpM-dPjS8qMys8G1yoRvBtqjVAuSU5t5ZE_Ab4Xqx6ZlzQP6dC0N1nNM8/s1600/dawn8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On my way to that spot it was too dark to
evaluate the latest otter leavings at the little causeway on the
trail, but it looked like there had been fresh activity. As usual
the first enjoyment was sorting through all the sounds. Other
than the red-winged blackbirds, I heard the clunking of a bittern,
and the yodeling of coyotes. There were a few leopard frogs
about, as well as one peeper in the marsh before me. Then I heard
the raspy commentary of the common terns. But I came to see an
otter in South Bay, or at least a beaver or a muskrat.
But I didn't see anything swimming in the water, not even a duck
or a goose. Plus the red-winged blackbirds hanging on cattails
kept looking like things in the water beyond. With more light
came terns, and an osprey. The former did all the fishing. I
waited there for an hour and then headed up to the Lost Swamp
Pond where I knew I would at least see beavers. I did see a
muskrat in Otter Hole Pond, but that is a wee affair now, much of
it that once was an expanse is just a little stream.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKadgoVZLzM5dPcOiK5PqlgcGR4JeBYuocdaQ7MjghtDfjxvyR2NDUjbkQTF2nBRi6o4Z2QbYg3q_1ff2KUtUD9UMktoilwup3b1GsP98rHmomRjokeLymZHK6ShiBrEtvdQdBN4l8Ay4/s1600/oh8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKadgoVZLzM5dPcOiK5PqlgcGR4JeBYuocdaQ7MjghtDfjxvyR2NDUjbkQTF2nBRi6o4Z2QbYg3q_1ff2KUtUD9UMktoilwup3b1GsP98rHmomRjokeLymZHK6ShiBrEtvdQdBN4l8Ay4/s1600/oh8.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I peeked over to see if the trillium patch down
in the rocks was in bloom, not quite yet. I paused at the rock
south of the Second Swamp Pond dam and sorted through all the
ripples not made by the wind, and geese and ducks, some of them
frisky, were the cause of all. I came up to the Lost Swamp pond
so that I would be right with the wind and saw a beaver grazing
in the west end of the pond. As I moved up toward the bank lodge
I saw what I first took to be two ducks balled up on a log beside
the lodge in the middle of the pond, but they moved and proved to
be beavers,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuytRfk5FUY2Huy2k7rUTWPL2117pnpqCi7gFusvkxYm-nRRSzPTaxTmDpysWuoauiqkoo6nh4rHryr-0LkpyVDf5KwNED91dV_LXUgaXAPIm0MfWWUjPd4XC4dy2wo0364UlX-bmxcTs/s1600/bvs8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuytRfk5FUY2Huy2k7rUTWPL2117pnpqCi7gFusvkxYm-nRRSzPTaxTmDpysWuoauiqkoo6nh4rHryr-0LkpyVDf5KwNED91dV_LXUgaXAPIm0MfWWUjPd4XC4dy2wo0364UlX-bmxcTs/s1600/bvs8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">balls of brown in the gold of sunrise. There
were also a dozen or so geese moving through the pond quite
noisily, so when the beaver came up from the west end and
splashed, I thought it might be because of the geese. The wind
was strong in my face and I was behind rocks. The two other
beavers swam around in circles at the splash, and eventually one
dove into the lodge. Then I saw a muskrat swimming to that lodge,
and also disappearing. One of the beavers swam over to the dam
and then down to the west end of the pond. As I was recording its
movements, I saw a gray fox on the far bank and then going down
to the Second Pond. Perhaps the beavers were splashing at it.
Then I heard a splash at the far northeast corner of the pond,
that couldn't have been a reaction to my presence. I got my
spyglass out and saw a beaver swimming to the lodge, and
something else swimming quickly way. I thought that if it was an
otter that it would head down the shore and I would soon see it.
Nothing materialized, then I heard another splash nearer to me,
and saw no ripples in the pond. It struck me that it must have
come from the Upper Second Swamp Pond and perhaps an otter that
had bugged the Lost Swamp Pond beaver was now getting the bum's
rush from a beaver in the Upper Second Swamp Pond. I got up and
hurried over to the Second Swamp Pond, disturbing the beaver in
the west end of the Lost Swamp Pond, on the way. As I came over
the ridge, I saw a wood duck, and several geese, swimming
placidly where I expected to see an otter. However, I could see
that the otter trail there had been used, leaves and dirt dug up
and I found scat on the bottom of the trail toward the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoApz2SmmNw_ijGvFgPcq3jnbCeEMeIybPw5Bq8NHkupszUJNteP3BQ_Z2gM237NLnb1iWY18743A8oKZ0LeD5WObT3eeQ4CPROR66j7SP-n3N-YSqlAvypYsXLJD73jlxjYKFt7UXsao/s1600/sp8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoApz2SmmNw_ijGvFgPcq3jnbCeEMeIybPw5Bq8NHkupszUJNteP3BQ_Z2gM237NLnb1iWY18743A8oKZ0LeD5WObT3eeQ4CPROR66j7SP-n3N-YSqlAvypYsXLJD73jlxjYKFt7UXsao/s1600/sp8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went back to the Lost Swamp Pond and the
beaver was waiting for me, slapping its tail and swimming back
around to get another look and whiff of me. I decided not to
cause more disturbance by checking the usual otter latrines. I
did see a squirt of scat on the north slope. When I got to the
Big Pond, I was too late to see the beavers there. If an otter
had gone through the upper end of the Lost Swamp, I thought that
it might have come up through the Big Pond. I checked the dam for
scats and saw none. The outlet creek is surrounded by mud</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUneUXehxMPoF_GRTGdNB0jyfExptbeGZ9RQC5K3p0IEK6YfkCTT_m7XShDBsODLEypL5OQqq3vbIcKEXQ3gEX7KQHkdAejwtmHcVE8T3k0aoXleFusG8dhaNHEzsLCMtaDUKCVGEgvro/s1600/dlpond8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUneUXehxMPoF_GRTGdNB0jyfExptbeGZ9RQC5K3p0IEK6YfkCTT_m7XShDBsODLEypL5OQqq3vbIcKEXQ3gEX7KQHkdAejwtmHcVE8T3k0aoXleFusG8dhaNHEzsLCMtaDUKCVGEgvro/s1600/dlpond8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">so I checked that for tracks and did see what
might have been one otter's trail up to the pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJj7lcE9fDE5Wy5rM7PMI1sdyhbZP248ChVOz8Cxw4RkTA9zgOl7l027FiBxeIv-uLfuWZiATWWGkDJhGw79hUUA9lyqo6PsrJyr3DvJbr9cLO0C3ODqn2NfHrBmBcROMUmedbmu8FLI/s1600/prints8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJj7lcE9fDE5Wy5rM7PMI1sdyhbZP248ChVOz8Cxw4RkTA9zgOl7l027FiBxeIv-uLfuWZiATWWGkDJhGw79hUUA9lyqo6PsrJyr3DvJbr9cLO0C3ODqn2NfHrBmBcROMUmedbmu8FLI/s1600/prints8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- as well as tracks going out, that seemed a
bit too light footed for an otter. A freshened scent mound at the
latrine south of the dam would have clinched my theory but there
was nothing new there. Anyway, if an otter did go through this
morning, there was only one. On the way up the ridge behind the
golf course I saw a porcupine at the base of a tree, perhaps
tasting it. Of course, it climbed up as I approached.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmASvTBxcu_iW9QFiYyRxvv5oMW16KLoipU6JPCk39cJSAs3yZwzl2d3awdQlVWS6fM8MBCU5z7UaGudlJrJnfa6goWqhyphenhyphen3_tLPgkPYkE3L9R0A_Qk72Ix5nkwjMnzuez-HOu74a_yAU/s1600/ppine8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmASvTBxcu_iW9QFiYyRxvv5oMW16KLoipU6JPCk39cJSAs3yZwzl2d3awdQlVWS6fM8MBCU5z7UaGudlJrJnfa6goWqhyphenhyphen3_tLPgkPYkE3L9R0A_Qk72Ix5nkwjMnzuez-HOu74a_yAU/s1600/ppine8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today at the land, I finally saw a dragon fly,
a blue darner. With the days now warm in the 60s and bugs all
about, the dragonflies seem rather late. I sat by the Deep Pond
in the heat of the afternoon hoping that would warm up some life
in it, but no, not even a muskrat appeared. I did see a garter
snake along the shore, that refused to be disturbed by me and
after flicking its tongue a bit, actually seemed to get its head
down in the water and take a drink.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoFSuslYcNa2-PGVVpFbQZBaFE6MGYPydBROWCsrnFn_mUqpHnndGGp-bPZmoLumRs8AemKTIOtyABdU_5YFNcqbxF7iucfsmhroJHLS5KIWmJ1AYj00U1dcC8rc0ZKciegsVPZN6qSU/s1600/snakedrink8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoFSuslYcNa2-PGVVpFbQZBaFE6MGYPydBROWCsrnFn_mUqpHnndGGp-bPZmoLumRs8AemKTIOtyABdU_5YFNcqbxF7iucfsmhroJHLS5KIWmJ1AYj00U1dcC8rc0ZKciegsVPZN6qSU/s1600/snakedrink8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up at the First Pond, something large plopped
into the water as I walked around -- perhaps a Blanding's turtle.
Meanwhile the beavers have completely stripped the pine trunk
they have been working on.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqa2qV8vdlWnjoK3mwY-oxO5seRphI0y1Q0P2FsHsOBhfahmqJhGH_1eJIjy17mQnnEtpew8ftF2NTn7OGHpn5i04M-55pP8t9umm2N64SrhgAVboyuD3K7StE0q6B0y78XVcpzKCGAU/s1600/pinelog8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlqa2qV8vdlWnjoK3mwY-oxO5seRphI0y1Q0P2FsHsOBhfahmqJhGH_1eJIjy17mQnnEtpew8ftF2NTn7OGHpn5i04M-55pP8t9umm2N64SrhgAVboyuD3K7StE0q6B0y78XVcpzKCGAU/s1600/pinelog8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Good chance the bark strips were used for the
bedding of the mother beaver soon to be nursing kits, if she's
not already at it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 10 I hiked over to South Bay at a little
after 6 am. The sun rises at 5:45 so I had good light, and plenty
of bird song. I forgot to mention that I heard a wood thrush
singing my last time out and I heard one, perhaps, two this
morning. My first stop was at the otter latrine on the little
causeway, and there seemed to be much new scat, a new scent
mound, and the scrapping around of old scent mounds, which, I
think, left a ball of grass in the middle of the trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTBSXqUKksWR0CIcaSPsjq8Cmw9RB9blpQrX2q6Ahz8bjzGpHrL_swFUasy2BejMm6v_bg8rg31xx_-IrNI0OEuM8EvQI8FM3BL6o3L4HZuXVxXhaCr6q38kf6tQ5qui1Uj8rBXm-WQA/s1600/sblat10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTBSXqUKksWR0CIcaSPsjq8Cmw9RB9blpQrX2q6Ahz8bjzGpHrL_swFUasy2BejMm6v_bg8rg31xx_-IrNI0OEuM8EvQI8FM3BL6o3L4HZuXVxXhaCr6q38kf6tQ5qui1Uj8rBXm-WQA/s1600/sblat10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I poked the scats and one of the four on the
newest scent mound was quite fresh. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTa6H-aiBhkEuGg70mLoDXFpI65Ml9NGSiMSTwKde6OR_e8tZ6pA91IES-KJClhU9k6Y6sEXGfUpgaPfihtIUqRwzhKhAnl5q-stDF5Dur-Xl8nQ1SNHLouvj05vZaHMNErYHMYNE9Os/s1600/scat10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTa6H-aiBhkEuGg70mLoDXFpI65Ml9NGSiMSTwKde6OR_e8tZ6pA91IES-KJClhU9k6Y6sEXGfUpgaPfihtIUqRwzhKhAnl5q-stDF5Dur-Xl8nQ1SNHLouvj05vZaHMNErYHMYNE9Os/s1600/scat10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I had visions of just missing an otter. I
hoped it was heading southeast, because I planned to head
northeast and perhaps we would meet. There was new activity up on
the New Pond knoll, but I didn't see any fresh scat, which I
suppose was what I wanted to see since I pictured the otter
ending its marking tour of the beaver ponds here. Then I went
down along the South Bay cove to check the latrine above the old
dock. On the way I saw a muskrat just off the shore nibbling what
appeared to be a rhizome, quite white. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ssL3gGsYPaWpQE5k7ZR-PzrPACS3VfUUZnJZqbzqHJPkVZc4iIR1SO2Qv3B9L5XqZIn9Xn8jbWaIvZPx8H4O1dZQ3-C-2e5hABeAIqDCBiLYqiHa5ZTfDjVGHSuO9gmNEVybGQlO8yI/s1600/mrat10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ssL3gGsYPaWpQE5k7ZR-PzrPACS3VfUUZnJZqbzqHJPkVZc4iIR1SO2Qv3B9L5XqZIn9Xn8jbWaIvZPx8H4O1dZQ3-C-2e5hABeAIqDCBiLYqiHa5ZTfDjVGHSuO9gmNEVybGQlO8yI/s1600/mrat10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had a good angle for a video. Then as I moved
up to the latrine, I saw a beaver swimming along the edge and
then disappearing into the marsh. Then the muskrat swam over to
the marsh. So perhaps I was a little late today. There was
nothing fresh and probably nothing new at the latrine, so I
headed up to the East Trail pond, ear cocked for the scarlet
tanager, but I didn't hear any. The East Trail pond was quite
steamy with nothing stirring yet, though you could picture the
little pool boiling away in a hot sun. Apart from the mass of
red-winged blackbirds, there was an oriole singing, but I couldn't
see it. The otter has continued to mark here, much new to me,
nothing fresh. I went over the trail toward Otter Hole Pond and
found scent mounds a third of the way up the ridge from the
creek, but again, nothing fresh. Down in the mud along side the
creek,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQIWZvSwtCUMSQUeH-vEzIrRu_-m2KWcOiFQNeld7MJjMVoY_aoPeyNhj9S0Sl3depAPrBm57slI4mRmscN-0rtbZs9dffjn4WF4rJ3_zs3J8WUEmeL4imhYShlTgjbJHxtNOKHim1nY/s1600/etcreek10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQIWZvSwtCUMSQUeH-vEzIrRu_-m2KWcOiFQNeld7MJjMVoY_aoPeyNhj9S0Sl3depAPrBm57slI4mRmscN-0rtbZs9dffjn4WF4rJ3_zs3J8WUEmeL4imhYShlTgjbJHxtNOKHim1nY/s1600/etcreek10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw three prints heading up toward the East
Trail Pond dam, </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDk6oaqkCX-2tuooqgRWNdeymqr21hqCh4vQpykEBEYDlu6tfnkeZSU2pozcOEpRupz_jTUgMrmZR_NKrXowb2vNl4BAM0emNrhadEofdAnRdCLSQAIJf0z3P9dmLwQVkigWpK0B9JBM/s1600/prints10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDk6oaqkCX-2tuooqgRWNdeymqr21hqCh4vQpykEBEYDlu6tfnkeZSU2pozcOEpRupz_jTUgMrmZR_NKrXowb2vNl4BAM0emNrhadEofdAnRdCLSQAIJf0z3P9dmLwQVkigWpK0B9JBM/s1600/prints10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and given the way they were grouped together, I
think an otter made them. I went up to the knoll above the Second
Swamp, not noticing any fresh beaver work and not seeing any
beavers in the pond. However, I must say this colony, in the past
few years, has not been famous for being out in the morning. I
sat briefly, steamed by the sun - the mist on the pond lifted
just as I got there. Two ducks flew away from the area of the
pond just below the otter trail over to the Lost Swamp Pond --
why do ducks fly away? not because of an otter, this time. I went
up to the north shore of the pond, with eyes studying any
ripples. The wind was still which presents its own problems. From
a distance looking into a low sun, a frog stirring can seem to
make a major wake. There was nothing stirring in Upper Second
Swamp Pond. The dam is in much better repair. These beavers have
gone mad with mud, even piling some on a log in front of the dam.
They also put mud on the base of the dam on the lower side, </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tkpqIp-jgbbK_AdhiEXnGD-KRIPzy9PJZinN-FNcrAlc8TGG2ljyw2I3jRWAaHK9X5LaHEBqD912QJgKU1ODIguEoMMvIje_Zg250A9KJerX_Bry62WhQ6zXsX8WTWMV8AL0IjLhtJA/s1600/upspdammud10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tkpqIp-jgbbK_AdhiEXnGD-KRIPzy9PJZinN-FNcrAlc8TGG2ljyw2I3jRWAaHK9X5LaHEBqD912QJgKU1ODIguEoMMvIje_Zg250A9KJerX_Bry62WhQ6zXsX8WTWMV8AL0IjLhtJA/s1600/upspdammud10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which I don't recall seeing before. Thanks to
this work, the dam was not leaking. I went up to the high point
of the north shore of the Lost Swamp Pond and saw a beaver
munching something right next to the lodge next to the rock by
the dam. There were about 8 geese in the middle of the pond, a
little quieter than yesterday. The goose on the lodge was standing
up and I could see balls of fluff below her. I studied that
briefly but didn't see anything move. The goose sat back down on
it. Then the other geese started honking with the vehemence of
early spring. The eggs of the geese on the island in front of our
house have hatched and we counted five goslings. (Another
curiosity as we rowed around the island -- a goose quacking like
a duck.) So it was hatching time. Then the goose stood up again
and pecked around the fluff as if she might be feeding chicks. I
got a good view with the spy glass and saw that nothing stirred.
Meanwhile a beaver swam through the contending geese around the
lodge and then up next to the lodge. Evidently my theory of
beavers being somewhat intimidated by geese is all wet. Then the
goose on the nest lunged raucously into the pond and joined the
fray around her. The nest was not quite yet abandoned because a
goose went back and pecked through the fluff, </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02PY9qGAR8zQBGbKTynexobQUm5G5iPqOOM4lrYViF5nrXqsZVm_Cx6dp0LnA-LwmoXwNcPlJNnRVllhcjqhL9Xh2mKW9RrOXMYWvhn8ndp0_MpXepVYTlVbagsyh-xnEvxV6eyomzzo/s1600/gnest10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02PY9qGAR8zQBGbKTynexobQUm5G5iPqOOM4lrYViF5nrXqsZVm_Cx6dp0LnA-LwmoXwNcPlJNnRVllhcjqhL9Xh2mKW9RrOXMYWvhn8ndp0_MpXepVYTlVbagsyh-xnEvxV6eyomzzo/s1600/gnest10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then all the geese moved off, and the nest was
abandoned. Meanwhile through the spyglass I could see a beaver
carrying a branch into the lodge in the northeast corner of the
pond -- I bet the beaver nursery is up there. I saw beavers dive
into both the lodge in the middle of the pond and the lodge by
the dam rock, perhaps they moved out of the mother's lodge to make
way for kits. Two little beavers seemed to pay attention to me --
I was sitting out in the bright morning sun, but they didn't
splash or even swim crossly back and forth in front of me.
Evidently they were ready for bed. The muskrats plied the far
southwest corner of the pond, except for one tiny one I saw
swimming into the burrow on the north shore. As I walked down the
north shore looking for otter scat, I passed two piles of goose
down. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixX4eXe2d6uWEavZeTwpoy0LrWQRCtWwrPkIjmmnzIAzM6gYkzmha_pdmXlTExJCTANR7jtwNaOiOGziTSwMdPJe0tZJ3u6ue0L5Hd9-XSf_5tutcVNj4EXZgYNuDuk_joziLGlcayleE/s1600/goosefluff10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixX4eXe2d6uWEavZeTwpoy0LrWQRCtWwrPkIjmmnzIAzM6gYkzmha_pdmXlTExJCTANR7jtwNaOiOGziTSwMdPJe0tZJ3u6ue0L5Hd9-XSf_5tutcVNj4EXZgYNuDuk_joziLGlcayleE/s1600/goosefluff10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Evidently a mink got the goslings and ate at
least two of them on shore. I saw new scats on the otter trail
back over to the Second Swamp Pond but none of them were fresh.
Two geese greeted me at the Big Pond dam, but that was the extent
of the activity, and there was no sign the otters had been
through the area. A nice moment as I sat on the bank of the Lost
Swamp Pond, on a tall tree across the pond, a heron landed on a
top branch. At the exact same time, a swallow landed on top of
one of the dead trees in the pond, both in my line of sight. I
also saw dewy violets on that north slope of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnptJBar9fyFaV6CdGIVcv212KmatIAB4R3pi2Oxs1Rz4SiRXdkpj6AB7psv8p1oIbRWTlcunqZK8hxly2rnN6hIdJ6bGOpEthRu4PEODtKWXhV7rJieL3zWNRgvnKaMJyYk4sXgfpkX8/s1600/violets10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnptJBar9fyFaV6CdGIVcv212KmatIAB4R3pi2Oxs1Rz4SiRXdkpj6AB7psv8p1oIbRWTlcunqZK8hxly2rnN6hIdJ6bGOpEthRu4PEODtKWXhV7rJieL3zWNRgvnKaMJyYk4sXgfpkX8/s1600/violets10.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 11 we spent last night in the
cabin on our land so I had a chance to see the beavers last night
and early this morning. It was quite warm and humid, and a light
south wind was perfect for seeing the beavers from the north
shore of the pond where I can get the best view of everything. I
first came up to the pond at 5:30 to check out conditions and
perhaps see a muskrat or turtle. I noticed that the birch on the
south shore of the pond was down with its crown in the pond. This
looked promising and I positioned the chair so I'd get a good
view of beavers taking leaves, twigs and branches off the tree.
The last time I sat by the pond I saw and heard an under water
splash, that is, nothing surfaced. I suspected a muskrat reacting
to me just it got its nose out of the water. Today there were two
underwater splashes, and now I think a large fish is making it.
If so, the otters left something to eat for another day. Then to
my surprise I noticed a little beaver nibbling on the birch
crown. I knew harvesting that would be irresistible. But my
calculation of the wind proved faulty, as the beaver heard me as
I got out my camera. It promptly swam to the middle of the pond,
slapped its tail and went back into the auxiliary lodge at the
end of the pond. I went back to the cabin to eat dinner and give
the beavers a chance to forget I was ever there. When I headed
back to the pond a little before 7:30, I passed a small snake in
the road.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvgxbrpZjqOGeHOg9NdHpQjTyc8rEkN06g7i3WQ663m427irIhInm90pI16sOUdZ8zByaGTTjOogcdyRXMB3FNzAWd2fs3N6FC_77G1Z_LCye0tS2MJpbJYLGhwWoh133DHjL_i9n2mU/s1600/snake11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvgxbrpZjqOGeHOg9NdHpQjTyc8rEkN06g7i3WQ663m427irIhInm90pI16sOUdZ8zByaGTTjOogcdyRXMB3FNzAWd2fs3N6FC_77G1Z_LCye0tS2MJpbJYLGhwWoh133DHjL_i9n2mU/s1600/snake11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It stayed still as I photographed
it; then I got a stick and moved it out of harm's way. It scooted
sideways, and then curled up</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y_kOuwOB5g9SdT1g0uuNyx6wdEuGHSEnYlJajOgD09p0T0q9D7ZOy1kNJCVIUAVgb9kueAyfqx5brZ7Hyi3pQSsApU6zWTJPGz5lG8bStgiM71od4QfiaHEM_hU2OE46iCls01g-8tY/s1600/snake11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y_kOuwOB5g9SdT1g0uuNyx6wdEuGHSEnYlJajOgD09p0T0q9D7ZOy1kNJCVIUAVgb9kueAyfqx5brZ7Hyi3pQSsApU6zWTJPGz5lG8bStgiM71od4QfiaHEM_hU2OE46iCls01g-8tY/s1600/snake11a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and even launched a strike in my
direction. As I came up to the pond, I decided to hang in back of
a large pine from where I could still see the birch crown but
would be out of the eddies of swirling winds. I didn't see any
beavers in the crown, but I still stepped up and took a photo,
and then noticed a beaver on the shore of the pond in front of
me, roughly in front of my sawing rock. My heart sank as it
immediately swam off, but evidently it didn't notice me because
it swam along behind the dam, and indeed another beaver came to
about the same area in front of me, and even climbed up on shore
and nibbled the half stripped willow log that has been there a
couple of weeks. I craned my neck around a tree and got a photo
of it.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIcJOisvrGxDSSAV7wlg6J_FcGl5o4Ie49khaRv0v15lEcH7nUl-62oSswcVViJjyD7fuM1Divuw4fA_K6ZF7dYH6QSCE0rVsSSR4qWaWICtPGjEXXFNFxIfUiBao2boW5XStetgwShA/s1600/bvshore11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIcJOisvrGxDSSAV7wlg6J_FcGl5o4Ie49khaRv0v15lEcH7nUl-62oSswcVViJjyD7fuM1Divuw4fA_K6ZF7dYH6QSCE0rVsSSR4qWaWICtPGjEXXFNFxIfUiBao2boW5XStetgwShA/s1600/bvshore11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately my camcorder would
not work, and usually not having a general record of the beavers'
movements makes it harder to give a complete report. One
advantage is that, not encumbered with looking through an
eyepiece, I saw all that was going on. And much was going on. At
first the beavers seemed to ignore the crown, one, perhaps the
first beaver I saw, swam right by it.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WqH0lpkUzit2F4cTsDx-YeQH1HvonRC3ysA6elmlG65lBkYidxFLWWciGbfTbtTreKujnPApVKFmyjHehyphenhyphenomKRNRrq9TGe0Tl4dC0TBTLOuKJZq-36ZgPSi4n-ZDYPKbgKfumiyS2zI/s1600/bv11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WqH0lpkUzit2F4cTsDx-YeQH1HvonRC3ysA6elmlG65lBkYidxFLWWciGbfTbtTreKujnPApVKFmyjHehyphenhyphenomKRNRrq9TGe0Tl4dC0TBTLOuKJZq-36ZgPSi4n-ZDYPKbgKfumiyS2zI/s1600/bv11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However soon enough a small beaver
swam up to and pushed out and started nibbling on a small birch
log that looked well stripped already.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuZGMtaaJLECYKSWnK2NSYOTGvCXVGpDJu9RyBSxHfCZ09J2yu6avthMC8tfsRbAe7QzEnSOyZXzjAZKKvOD6M0KkgAlqmm3bXvn2D2y1SpGspEnFlzvyDe6eyKPKuHUP5ggVQZpYOh0/s1600/bvbirch11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuZGMtaaJLECYKSWnK2NSYOTGvCXVGpDJu9RyBSxHfCZ09J2yu6avthMC8tfsRbAe7QzEnSOyZXzjAZKKvOD6M0KkgAlqmm3bXvn2D2y1SpGspEnFlzvyDe6eyKPKuHUP5ggVQZpYOh0/s1600/bvbirch11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then a larger beaver came along
and bellied up to the birch, alas, it was too dark for
photographs. Of course, my eyes were not only on the birch. I
hoped to get a census of this colony to see how many beavers were
in it. Three years ago there were two, then four, and last year
there were certainly two kits added, perhaps three. My hunch has
been that the two year olds have left, so there should be four or
five beavers. During the evening I often knew where four beavers
were at one time. More of the beavers came on shore. One was up
near the stripped pine log at the upper end of the pond, another
nibbled away on the flooded ground between the two ponds; </span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyrTwEJsGd2dVt38tsBsnL6r7zlROkd84OFUTI_cqpg0QEOT7zGA18U0Zya9IzJeNvHkB2NIXMR5WdaAySy6bA1Rkem2b8qObSag0b-KgHYJWJYibK1pF8_FvYxR7KY8bNdbMyqzI7tLo/s1600/bvshore11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyrTwEJsGd2dVt38tsBsnL6r7zlROkd84OFUTI_cqpg0QEOT7zGA18U0Zya9IzJeNvHkB2NIXMR5WdaAySy6bA1Rkem2b8qObSag0b-KgHYJWJYibK1pF8_FvYxR7KY8bNdbMyqzI7tLo/s1600/bvshore11a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and another came up on the bank
right off to my left, above the burrows. I've seen muskrats up
there but never a beaver. Unfortunately all three were not up on
the ground at once. The one area I could not see was down along
the dam. I did see two beavers swim down that way, including the
one I think is the runt. It's small and I've thrice seen it
swimming very quickly down to the dam following another larger
beaver. I am pretty sure that after I had assured myself that
there were two beavers up pond from a line drawn between me and
the birch crown and two down pond, a third beaver crossed that
line swimming up from the dam. I should add that one problem with
this way of counting is that one beaver seems to have the habit
of going everywhere under water, and is certainly capable of
swimming from one end of the pond to the other under water. Soon
it became too dark to take a census, failing more beavers
swimming up from the dam, so I leaned back and enjoyed the
peepers and the gnawing on the birch. I don't think the darkness
had anything to do with it, but when it did get darker one beaver
spent a considerable amount of time gnawing on the upper trunk of
the birch. At one point I could hear what sounded like its upper
and lower teeth hitting, so I thought that perhaps it was about
to cut off a log. I kept looking to see a bit of white birch
heading up stream, but there was no cut. Then a beaver coming up
from the dam, that I saw go down that way, nosed into the birch
and slapped its tail. It's possible that one finally smelled me,
but it's also possible that it was contending with the other
beaver for rights to the birch. Anyway, all was quiet; one
beaver, I am pretty, swam away, but within five minutes the
earnest gnawing continued. I headed to the cabin before I lost
all light. The peepers continued singing; no whip-poor-will
calling yet.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was out of the cabin a little
after 6 am, and greeted a sunny, relatively warm morning. We had
a spot of rain in the night. When I got up to the pond, there
were no beavers near the north shore so I eased on up and over to
the chair, without incident, and then there was much to see. This
morning there was more interaction between pairs of beavers. For
example, one beaver pushed another away from the birch; then
later when one beaver took a birch branch back to the auxiliary
lodge, another beaver followed close behind.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoQUh_vQVYlr4SqUi3KAb8t60lDmtlx-GdddjSCEaaiSDw-Xhr56BTRZRCqvu_eqHav6oT_kVhzTCkCwe_5ovQG66zyK09hhyhujlXiqVLLTwWk57WceuR1hyOus9m4oIz49HolfKOHg/s1600/bvstwo11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoQUh_vQVYlr4SqUi3KAb8t60lDmtlx-GdddjSCEaaiSDw-Xhr56BTRZRCqvu_eqHav6oT_kVhzTCkCwe_5ovQG66zyK09hhyhujlXiqVLLTwWk57WceuR1hyOus9m4oIz49HolfKOHg/s1600/bvstwo11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It would not be out of character
for an adult to push one of its offspring aside, I've often seen
such displays of impatience, but would it be more likely that a
two year old would bully a yearling? Let me hasten to add, that
there was no more bullying around the birch. Indeed, soon there
were four beavers around it.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwovVv2p5oGEYO-HmM1qTycdSundUU2z-Y0QYtMUvT55z2C0kS-raiB88qq8mQZFy0XGJl3kT9FQcy9jk-8ubOyopvDNtL2ofvWbKFSxa0sui-_kZ-Sp5LBSmknkk3xW7EX1bsf0BsmM/s1600/bvsfour11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwovVv2p5oGEYO-HmM1qTycdSundUU2z-Y0QYtMUvT55z2C0kS-raiB88qq8mQZFy0XGJl3kT9FQcy9jk-8ubOyopvDNtL2ofvWbKFSxa0sui-_kZ-Sp5LBSmknkk3xW7EX1bsf0BsmM/s1600/bvsfour11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Two even nibbled the same stick
which led to some humming and perhaps huffing, but both stayed on
the stick. Then I noticed another beaver that shook its head often, as if to get water out
of its ears. There was also a bit of grazing in the grass, at one
point two beavers were up on the bank near the lodge. Now back to
the census. Once again I often saw four beavers at once, with
discrepancy in size, obviously two generations. I also knew there
was a fifth because, it had gone back from the birch to the
auxiliary lodge. Then a beaver came out of the main lodge. It
could have been the one that went in the auxiliary lodge, but it
seemed to be on a different mission because it ignored the birch
and went up for grass. Then I noticed a beaver diving behind the
dam. So my hunch is likely wrong. There are probably at least six
beavers, so are least one of two year olds remains. And I used to
have an old rule of thumb that there are always two more beavers
in a colony than the number you see in the pond. So I wouldn't be
surprised if the whole progeny of the two beavers who moved in
four years ago remains. Now how do I account for the different
style of foraging this year? Perhaps in due time some of these
beavers will range as far as some of the beavers did last year.
Like last year, the beavers seem to have three places they dive
to for security. The beaver that likes to swim under water seems
to prefer the burrows on the north shore of the First Pond.
Around 7 am some of the beavers seemed to stop work and go
directly to the auxiliary lodge, as if their work night was
finally done. Soon enough the birch was clear of beavers and that
left a beaver on the grass near the lodge and the beaver diving
behind the dam. Meanwhile I was still waiting for some beaver to
cut a long birch log -- I could see that a log was almost cut
through. So on its way back to the lodge, the beaver behind the
dam veered over to birch, cut the log with a bite or two, took a
minute to find a good grip on the long log</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ae4ywY8iXb6b5rKyKygKNYysOsOlkM6-_jWz2G00quqVBvn9-mx7D93_hyphenhyphenOPEvY1E5yP_iUnJQPzWxMT_e8sA-3oYtMjibGb4RJEnmVqhCBQhGBCB42Td11TPH9HPqr-22Rfty6PjyE/s1600/bvlog11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ae4ywY8iXb6b5rKyKygKNYysOsOlkM6-_jWz2G00quqVBvn9-mx7D93_hyphenhyphenOPEvY1E5yP_iUnJQPzWxMT_e8sA-3oYtMjibGb4RJEnmVqhCBQhGBCB42Td11TPH9HPqr-22Rfty6PjyE/s1600/bvlog11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then carried it back to the
auxiliary lodge. The beaver on the grass jumped into the water
as beaver and log passed below it and followed.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhkLtRpnTtOVum1D86G86hNukBfdB8l48ngraldufiiZdO4UD9uI1Yu5DWm7QuKvy0oEoY5PBswUOqB09Uv-t7aFstrRXZ9BHhjBol-u_jkyXLk8Lb_joQaLqpsiz_BJ6-or48T-jgF0/s1600/bvslog11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhkLtRpnTtOVum1D86G86hNukBfdB8l48ngraldufiiZdO4UD9uI1Yu5DWm7QuKvy0oEoY5PBswUOqB09Uv-t7aFstrRXZ9BHhjBol-u_jkyXLk8Lb_joQaLqpsiz_BJ6-or48T-jgF0/s1600/bvslog11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But before it went too far another
beaver seemed to intercept it and direct it back to the bank
where they both got up to nibble more grass and low bushes just
budding.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUeofEweZ6re_LHUofLhD33lCbnME_yAQFqRyZOsXUR3x9ajOepoZE7eyqwhUDSoeqg607LmYvglvbHGcTUz3FGptXrpNTx7NRfmUiPpexqCO6MVXhSKX463qurKQyw6ajKlIwcA3DNU/s1600/bvshore11c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUeofEweZ6re_LHUofLhD33lCbnME_yAQFqRyZOsXUR3x9ajOepoZE7eyqwhUDSoeqg607LmYvglvbHGcTUz3FGptXrpNTx7NRfmUiPpexqCO6MVXhSKX463qurKQyw6ajKlIwcA3DNU/s1600/bvshore11c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I don't think I am imagining this,
I did get a good 9 hours of sleep between my observations of last
night and this morning. Of course I hadn't had breakfast and I
began wondering when to leave when I looked up and saw that the
beavers had left the bank and evidently gone into the lodge. I
was surprised not to see a heron or ducks when I came up. For a
second I thought I heard a bittern than I realized that I was
only hearing one of our many ravens (a butcher dumps carcasses
nearby) imitating a bittern. I will keep my ears peeled for a
raven imitation of a beaver. The beech trees behind the cabin are
getting their leaves, </span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC3CuZSGsAj-FUcBdMeFG1oFS66fFY2JY9MRq7FLNV71_koDBh-AkS83OngawCkXacbVEx_6kryjn3QLAPnshvhzyrW22ACP-TE-NUJhEwD1jifvl5fUvOw0vkOzG7E66A8Y1WnWi5dQ/s1600/beechlvs11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC3CuZSGsAj-FUcBdMeFG1oFS66fFY2JY9MRq7FLNV71_koDBh-AkS83OngawCkXacbVEx_6kryjn3QLAPnshvhzyrW22ACP-TE-NUJhEwD1jifvl5fUvOw0vkOzG7E66A8Y1WnWi5dQ/s1600/beechlvs11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">quite beautifully.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 13 the cold came back;
yesterday it didn't get much above 45 degrees, last night it got
down to 25 degrees. The sun was out when I headed off to the ponds
and it soon got to around 50 and if I stayed out of the north
wind I was comfortable. Going over the TI Park ridge I flushed
three or four deer and an oriole was up in the just budding
leaves of the higher trees. The otter latrine at the small
causeway on the South Bay trail looked unvisited and when I saw
nothing new on the New Pond knoll, I began to reconcile myself to
the otter being in the another part of its range. I've long
noticed a pattern of the otter signs not appearing for a week or
two after a week or two of activity in the area I watch. I
solaced myself by enjoying the shad blossoms.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CDPUrGBeiZDReEXX3zVhGO689Dnp6f8Z0WkFpI9mWNIBGI-H-iBbCx4loLpqajyyog5oryLBc-QZELBtdLQFC4pnXcQ7EKeVN6S78yhxBn1LhC6v62zHToUrR7vEdOTdvCMAO-W4uMw/s1600/shadflower13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CDPUrGBeiZDReEXX3zVhGO689Dnp6f8Z0WkFpI9mWNIBGI-H-iBbCx4loLpqajyyog5oryLBc-QZELBtdLQFC4pnXcQ7EKeVN6S78yhxBn1LhC6v62zHToUrR7vEdOTdvCMAO-W4uMw/s1600/shadflower13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I checked the latrine just
above the old dock in South Bay and there was a large liquidy
otter scat, brown and wet, with a smaller squirt about a foot
away.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3t2qOUWjBvXXkq2WjVlBA0wSR3eEm3yhQ5tzkpGrSEKQ2qi6uEh6tgi13PsUZaQaL5nWP0CSmKcXEATXfJomy0JHsveN5srYUyNLh0cldk80PWJZm1dcLp_SFNsw-tedaE9ijtEEqwgc/s1600/olddocklat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3t2qOUWjBvXXkq2WjVlBA0wSR3eEm3yhQ5tzkpGrSEKQ2qi6uEh6tgi13PsUZaQaL5nWP0CSmKcXEATXfJomy0JHsveN5srYUyNLh0cldk80PWJZm1dcLp_SFNsw-tedaE9ijtEEqwgc/s1600/olddocklat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This seemed so fresh that I sat
down on the shore not only on a chance that an otter might appear
but to see what might be swimming in South Bay. Of course the
otters are probably getting bullheads, which accounts for the
scaleless scat,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZyDluAj8Su8BurMkUxHZtlzfkQYIfrugruikPKDruaFk4kV7wOJqaYIshPuG9T4jp_tTjPhonlOjGqE0vkXh7l63dA4zMzzFUjRKOIdPvuBpTzkMhDT31Xf5euVWClYYJmGCTyzIIb0/s1600/scat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZyDluAj8Su8BurMkUxHZtlzfkQYIfrugruikPKDruaFk4kV7wOJqaYIshPuG9T4jp_tTjPhonlOjGqE0vkXh7l63dA4zMzzFUjRKOIdPvuBpTzkMhDT31Xf5euVWClYYJmGCTyzIIb0/s1600/scat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and bullheads sleep on the bottom
during the day. Meanwhile across the cove in the marsh the male
red winged blackbirds were not only chasing each other, but two
of them took after either a wren or a song sparrow, chasing it
down into the cattails. Usually bird chases end with one bird
flying off. In this case, the little bird, as they often do,
found cover under the cattails. Then further out in the marsh I
saw red winged black bird chase another small bird with the same
upshot. As I continued walking up the South Bay trail, I pondered
a scheme to change the way I tell time. Instead of it being 9:45
am, I would say I was out at 4 ad, or four hours after dawn,
which is at about 5:45 am this time of year. Noting that I was
out a 4 ad, I told myself that would explain why I didn't see
many mammals about, certainly not as many as when I was out at 1
ad a few days ago. Of course the other time markers would be bd,
before dawn, bs, before sunset, and as, after sunset. I didn't
see any fresh scats at the docking rock half way up the north
shore of South Bay, but I did see an old scent mound for the
first time. It was a few feet behind the big rotting tree trunk
lying on the crest of the little cliff along the shore. </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_dPfoDzI5xn31tvRxpx7BQoUZXomrFi7Byc78Y3t3Ccl5ZwpoDG-hI0dJRlNJC7GRj92HgkxfkHRUtSCSKF1iKr_Q6y3KMI7oCv4_fCq0-l0ny8GT3CCYPy3JVU9qICriiSK8t2HTl0/s1600/drocklat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_dPfoDzI5xn31tvRxpx7BQoUZXomrFi7Byc78Y3t3Ccl5ZwpoDG-hI0dJRlNJC7GRj92HgkxfkHRUtSCSKF1iKr_Q6y3KMI7oCv4_fCq0-l0ny8GT3CCYPy3JVU9qICriiSK8t2HTl0/s1600/drocklat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I headed up to Audubon and
suddenly 4:15 ad started to seem a little livelier. There were
two deer grazing on the embankment with a third grazing in the
shallow water along the western shore of the pond.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAVmNlOwzXTE0siwFdUlE3tGNbjOHVRxdxKgDJX6irW2IZXok7GmHyFkz36JAK9oA7LW2jF2ew9KddfUk3Y1vyp6AIXdqSBH7Y-3wsy4kGnRg_BrC-clAHNg_J9sM3YkjP3zmFdSkqLo/s1600/deer13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAVmNlOwzXTE0siwFdUlE3tGNbjOHVRxdxKgDJX6irW2IZXok7GmHyFkz36JAK9oA7LW2jF2ew9KddfUk3Y1vyp6AIXdqSBH7Y-3wsy4kGnRg_BrC-clAHNg_J9sM3YkjP3zmFdSkqLo/s1600/deer13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then there were four geese on the
causeway behind an ash that the beavers had cut down in the past
few days. I went down toward the deer, and they grudgingly
scampered off. There was nothing new on the age old otter trail
from the drain and over the embankment -- no otter signs there
since the winter. Then I headed down the causeway to bother the
geese. The first two flew into the smaller pond to the east,
honking, and then I saw a red fox running along the end of the
causeway and up into the woods. The next two geese went into
Audubon Pond. I walked around to the bench to see if any critter
had made its mark reclaiming the now graveled area from the park
busybodies, none had, and just as I was about to sit, a beaver
slapped its tail out in the middle of the pond. I sat and watched
and though this is the home of slapper who often seems incessant
in its efforts to bang me away from the pond, this beaver floated
calmly in the wind, and then gently swam against the ripples. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Along the causeway I had paused at the old beaver bank lodge
along there and noticed that there were quite a few stripped
sticks around it. However the pond level is so high, I didn't
think a beaver would be denning there. Perhaps this one is, which
means, the destruction of the bank lodge next to the bench was
more disruptive for the beavers than I originally thought. I
thought they had not been using that bank lodge, but beavers do
prefer to have at least two dens. Then the beaver dove, and I
didn't see it again. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A common tern flew over, and a heron fished
briefly at the foot of the embankment before flying over the
trees and over to South Bay. I headed up to Meander Pond and this
time checked the dam. I noticed that the inner dam has been
breached, probably a while ago. And they have dug out the little
pool below the dam packing the mud on the side.</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KfoFaNjJ_dU2pZSLmwaIuOW2iPjmkQ1DA3QAak0hxIu2G7BqeGlbxH_9kc8jihR2CTUiN7Y38CUpVtnOdZ7tzXjFMnOldFWzEg46k2Lgz3IIJj6en7KlITOWYfKFCAcaSneMYvTzIqM/s1600/mppool13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KfoFaNjJ_dU2pZSLmwaIuOW2iPjmkQ1DA3QAak0hxIu2G7BqeGlbxH_9kc8jihR2CTUiN7Y38CUpVtnOdZ7tzXjFMnOldFWzEg46k2Lgz3IIJj6en7KlITOWYfKFCAcaSneMYvTzIqM/s1600/mppool13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Other then new gnawing on an old
girdle on the north shore of the pond, I have not seen much
evidence of the beavers being down here, yet the beavers want the
comfort of this pool. I angled toward the back dam of the pond,
which I've discovered provides the driest pathway on up to
Thicket Pond. I stopped when I saw a tail flip in the water, I
waited for a few minutes and then there at 5 ad was a beaver
diving in a muddy pond. It was now at the back of the pond and I
thought for a moment that it sensed me, but meanwhile ducks were
just flying off, and ducks always fly off before a beaver notices
you. The wind was in my face and then I saw a beaver swim out of
a canal at the south end of the pond, but it had no idea I was
there and swam closer to me and hunched up in a shallow and
started gnawing on a branch.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Kr7X9jeNS5bHy9BeWHAB_Hlsg4hyphenhyphenDL359WffyVuKfnhrSa1013smLF3qGAWf7BF_daDX2RqkQAQNfo3x4a2WGHsi5LoUZ-X5_uhhrXmrfBWdK4mdw21MtLmj1i2xl284N0t-K7B2fts/s1600/mpbv13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Kr7X9jeNS5bHy9BeWHAB_Hlsg4hyphenhyphenDL359WffyVuKfnhrSa1013smLF3qGAWf7BF_daDX2RqkQAQNfo3x4a2WGHsi5LoUZ-X5_uhhrXmrfBWdK4mdw21MtLmj1i2xl284N0t-K7B2fts/s1600/mpbv13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then the other beaver swam up to
it. This second beaver was definitely smaller and briefly it swam
right behind the larger beaver, almost hanging on just as it did
when it was a kit. Then the larger beaver swam up the canal,
often diving and bringing up things to eat, then got out of the
pond and waddled about ten yards to a downed tree that I couldn't
quite see. When I sat back down on a small tree trunk, the little
beaver got alarmed, swam a bit toward me and slapped its wee
tail. The larger beaver didn't seem to notice. Then it slapped
again and the other beaver trotted back into the canal of the
pond, swam mostly underwater back to the little beaver, and then
they both found something to gnaw. The little beaver did hum now
and then, but evidently not in alarm. The large beaver made no
effort to sniff for me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had never seen this type of reaction to
a tail slap before. Indeed the small beaver then swam up the
canal and back. Perhaps the large beaver didn't like that because
then the larger beaver nipped the smaller beaver when it ventured
too close with its twig. The small beaver took this quite
seriously retreating a good ten yards, and then tentatively going
back. Then they gnawed side by side without incident. The little
beaver then got a grip on a pretty good sized branch and carried
it back to the lodge. As I followed it around the circle of the
meander, I saw another beaver, larger, coming the other way. And
this beaver swam up to the other beaver and was rather disruptive
with the branch it was moving poking the other beaver, but it
didn't react.</span><br />
</div>
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</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Soon enough this new comer carried
a rather large branch back to the lodge.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">By now it was 5:30 ad, after 11
am, and these beavers showed no signs of retiring. I heard
gnawing by the beaver in front of me and gnawing from the lodge,
30 yards on the other side of me. I retreated quietly and while
the beaver noticed, it didn't slap its tail. Last spring these
beavers had often been out during the day when they were in the
Thicket Pond, and I attributed that to the extensive cover of
button bushes they have in that pond. Meander Pond is quite open.
Since we haven't had much rain, the East Trail Pond is quite low
again. Nothing was to be seen, save for one painted turtle. I
checked the otter trail and I did see what looked like new prints
in the mud.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8dYwYQZOilXGNLHxJpGmT0uW8m3TVy_-yaPeOOujPJ25ZPBKDW26YDSLM9zwd28S7LIrKtPv13DPOL39smVeNbmixI6RlYoLsaBQylK3kZ9uGfgsZJ0m1ltEOddNMXQpEHYGO6V0DPg/s1600/prints13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8dYwYQZOilXGNLHxJpGmT0uW8m3TVy_-yaPeOOujPJ25ZPBKDW26YDSLM9zwd28S7LIrKtPv13DPOL39smVeNbmixI6RlYoLsaBQylK3kZ9uGfgsZJ0m1ltEOddNMXQpEHYGO6V0DPg/s1600/prints13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any fresh scat there,
nor over the ridge down to the creek. Then I walked up to the
Second Swamp Pond dam, deciding that there has been no fresh
beaver work there. But there has been some work on the dam, the
pond is quite high. No new otter scats along it. By watching
beavers so long I couldn't check the Lost Swamp or Big ponds. I
crossed over land to the old Middle Pond which is now almost
empty of water. There is a huge gap in the dam. </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksQLPIiM6LYoSz2-EKligf7iTgnRxdgBrFtCmRvuf6sff_lJ7WhE3cxvMebrrtcEX9RqNtXkXGPuB4OOhlGL3FYBaxMGCuxEMSYdpTQEOwV42kaYbBKPZx8sbFqkq6lqJYE-b_CN7PLE/s1600/midpond13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksQLPIiM6LYoSz2-EKligf7iTgnRxdgBrFtCmRvuf6sff_lJ7WhE3cxvMebrrtcEX9RqNtXkXGPuB4OOhlGL3FYBaxMGCuxEMSYdpTQEOwV42kaYbBKPZx8sbFqkq6lqJYE-b_CN7PLE/s1600/midpond13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This was the pond where I first
learned about beavers eleven years ago. I saw three horse tails
coming up in the meadow, with a leafy skirt I've never noticed
before.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxKn9gkvn0UhVmvrlM3mW-pqolakU6T_vmfsFZymsqRYp_3Sp1hWbFeEYBj45AAEtciCjvDvA4r_kiwnYiIfc1WpP5G2HxZ4MSH1YHgu25G7GNdQ3Q9Jem4joDvkobghON_8vTdGKJd8/s1600/horsetail13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxKn9gkvn0UhVmvrlM3mW-pqolakU6T_vmfsFZymsqRYp_3Sp1hWbFeEYBj45AAEtciCjvDvA4r_kiwnYiIfc1WpP5G2HxZ4MSH1YHgu25G7GNdQ3Q9Jem4joDvkobghON_8vTdGKJd8/s1600/horsetail13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the afternoon at the land after
finishing our chores we sat at the Third Pond and enjoyed yellow
warblers, myrtle warblers, chestnut sided warblers and black and
white warblers, as well as phoebes and chickadees.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 14 we had some needed rain and
late this afternoon the mist and clouds gave way to humid heat
and sunshine. I headed off to check the Big Pond and Lost Swamp
Pond since the Meander Pond beavers kept me from them during my
last tour. The golf course is open so I went up the TI Park trail
and then veered up along the north slope of the long ridge behind
the golf course. I sat down twice to hear the birds and heard
orioles, at least two towhees, one rose breasted grosbeak, and
finally a catbird. I saw a bluejay low in the bushes and a few
myrtle warblers higher up. Nothing working the crowns. Perhaps
there are not quite enough leaves for a scarlet tanager to be
comfortable up there. I crossed the Double Lodge Pond dam which
has a large deep hole and backs up little water.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJTubom9giUYd54aei_kTbUKXAxBGxhnHb7o33Y_AULPrN2yl7IzPnmW1KfEcFLOIMptO98YJ0oq_iwJgSCyz-H5_QHRXZhlpspAY1m7yMpwsowbMX1MqnLLrwrtgk0UrQzcxDZ6FMRk/s1600/dldam14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJTubom9giUYd54aei_kTbUKXAxBGxhnHb7o33Y_AULPrN2yl7IzPnmW1KfEcFLOIMptO98YJ0oq_iwJgSCyz-H5_QHRXZhlpspAY1m7yMpwsowbMX1MqnLLrwrtgk0UrQzcxDZ6FMRk/s1600/dldam14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The small pond was very muddy but
I saw no evidence that beavers had been in it. There were heron
and raccoon prints, and again, I think I saw otter prints.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHq3D2Vl6oc1iZC5b0I3Catk1RyL5zh2-ozQ9gCsAUPfhkXXRzSX3JAKkI9_Mxfh1VY4QBoeW7cVqgqScPy4fHbUbXtjnccgB-LTzUCdu9emHTpLphHDUZqwYML26wMQrcbSFmeSm_DOg/s1600/print14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHq3D2Vl6oc1iZC5b0I3Catk1RyL5zh2-ozQ9gCsAUPfhkXXRzSX3JAKkI9_Mxfh1VY4QBoeW7cVqgqScPy4fHbUbXtjnccgB-LTzUCdu9emHTpLphHDUZqwYML26wMQrcbSFmeSm_DOg/s1600/print14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat at my perch on the south end
of the Big Pond dam and enjoyed the birds. A common tern flew
around the expanse of the pond twice and I only saw it dive in
once. Then a murder of crows drove a redtailed hawk away from the
woods. First there were a dozen crows after it, then three or
four, and then one kept dive bombing it</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45rKZ74wewsNtWU20yJJctOBhFUrCrW22uvBAHp-uHMgAlrZ1Q6cO-VfN9HiYSZqwWmwlYkxWlMR9vbVxble2eGddEdGi4DhwB6oI7jUgX3H-6DJ2xD6q7ilF-Cf5iOezTqMglYBXcug/s1600/crowhawk14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45rKZ74wewsNtWU20yJJctOBhFUrCrW22uvBAHp-uHMgAlrZ1Q6cO-VfN9HiYSZqwWmwlYkxWlMR9vbVxble2eGddEdGi4DhwB6oI7jUgX3H-6DJ2xD6q7ilF-Cf5iOezTqMglYBXcug/s1600/crowhawk14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">until I lost interest and almost
sight of them. Barn swallows were after the swarming gnats, black
flies were out today, and a song sparrow worked the clumps of
grass on the dam. There were two white-throated sparrows
peabodying to each other from both sides of the pond, quite loud
and melodious. One mallard splashed into the pond while I sat,
and the geese didn't move out from the marsh beyond the beaver
lodge until I started to cross the dam. I planned to sit until a
beaver appeared, but rain clouds started moving in, the wind pick
up and became chilly. I checked the otter latrine before I left
and was amazed to the find another scent mound a couple feet
farther back from the lodge than the last. With the green grass
coming up, the piles of dead grass that make up the mounds are
easier to see.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyUFKzviJ-7SoONdmJtgsLQB-1-fRx8XALawPMQt5v6nNgxy0vVT1p_VYaC3a78VvmTRut_rdogQVbt8kyd5_9WRP2UrC-GjAWsuOW_Prqg3elzEKJpFFdqztaUR5IxYSb0vTg34rNGY/s1600/scmds14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyUFKzviJ-7SoONdmJtgsLQB-1-fRx8XALawPMQt5v6nNgxy0vVT1p_VYaC3a78VvmTRut_rdogQVbt8kyd5_9WRP2UrC-GjAWsuOW_Prqg3elzEKJpFFdqztaUR5IxYSb0vTg34rNGY/s1600/scmds14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The scat on the last mound was not
fresh, but further in along this trail of scent mounds was one
with scats that looked a bit fresher,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzowN2puX-4HNwPFCRefTu542z8jYLZrL15XGC7gR5SrZnj-Pb8y_nTSFXe08hoi9bfkp__DwiWLRTlWzxwD0ZsvZfYk1rGJ9IOYuQDobq5DMPBxcBE_qk_cd27uO3-l169cOYpgBa2bg/s1600/scmd14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzowN2puX-4HNwPFCRefTu542z8jYLZrL15XGC7gR5SrZnj-Pb8y_nTSFXe08hoi9bfkp__DwiWLRTlWzxwD0ZsvZfYk1rGJ9IOYuQDobq5DMPBxcBE_qk_cd27uO3-l169cOYpgBa2bg/s1600/scmd14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but by no means from today. The
style of the mounds and the number of them corresponds quite
closely to the mounds at the mouth of the little creek that flows
from this pond down to South Bay. However, there is twice as much
scat in and around the mounds at the South Bay latrine. Even
factoring in that it took several years for me to really start
noticing scent mounds, this year, by far, I've seen more mounds.
As I crossed the dam I noticed a muskrat swimming from the far
end of the pond. First it seemed to be headed to the beaver
lodge, then it veered toward me as I stood on the dam,</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVXx1cJW_6-ZtlnSL7GM2Kz5dSOD37GObLJJhAXB789yW-OS_5QQCs4l2eRW3QTpA0l4Xh7jADJx4_Aypipi3-fqBZw_qKCyEubgfHoo21QxMuMxik3grwnXNAXAblCLUCPL-wPQduis/s1600/mratwake14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVXx1cJW_6-ZtlnSL7GM2Kz5dSOD37GObLJJhAXB789yW-OS_5QQCs4l2eRW3QTpA0l4Xh7jADJx4_Aypipi3-fqBZw_qKCyEubgfHoo21QxMuMxik3grwnXNAXAblCLUCPL-wPQduis/s1600/mratwake14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then it veered into the grasses
clumped in the water at the north end of the dam.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdM9CbPTYDcv5UVUmJ1tqYQq1Hmxp_9dqhEaVPr11IZ3HGmT30fER7gFc4BqiZIscOEW_EJ9C5CsrS2t8Ybp82dx9XruqNr5awN0EDq44hvdlfUzIxleNK1DmiZqXcSwJbiz_oLtC6T4/s1600/mratmarsh14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdM9CbPTYDcv5UVUmJ1tqYQq1Hmxp_9dqhEaVPr11IZ3HGmT30fER7gFc4BqiZIscOEW_EJ9C5CsrS2t8Ybp82dx9XruqNr5awN0EDq44hvdlfUzIxleNK1DmiZqXcSwJbiz_oLtC6T4/s1600/mratmarsh14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I tried to sneak along and get a
glimpse of it eating but it took alarm and swam underwater toward
me and then into the depths (about one foot of water) between a
cluster of grass clumps. Then it swam underwater from the refuge
out into the pond. Then I noticed a muskrat along the south shore
of the pond, swimming out, diving and swimming back into a marsh.
Then I saw another muskrat well out in the pond, and finally the
muskrat I scared away from the dam left a veeing wake as it swam
into a marsh way up the north shore of the pond. This was the
hour for muskrats and by my new system of telling time, it was 3
BS, three hours before sunset. I should add that this was the
best day in a long time for seeing wakes on the pond. When the
mallard splashed in and swam quickly toward the dam, I could see
its widening wake glinting with sunlight as it moved to the far
side of the pond. It would have been a perfect time to see the
roiling wakes of an otter. As I came down to the Lost Swamp Pond,
I saw an oriole low in the tree.</span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnKmbNXVGXay5XryMe77lPo8ck8ScYhCNthhg6rUxa2IskMg-nIA3kbTOTU__sgZH-Z4rgQx_WtGsZFPJJ9dLcG-JJvIVlmAzpKsw00hiAc7ZFjIoICgTYS1PRK4RDEagtsSZzRHurgM/s1600/oriole14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnKmbNXVGXay5XryMe77lPo8ck8ScYhCNthhg6rUxa2IskMg-nIA3kbTOTU__sgZH-Z4rgQx_WtGsZFPJJ9dLcG-JJvIVlmAzpKsw00hiAc7ZFjIoICgTYS1PRK4RDEagtsSZzRHurgM/s1600/oriole14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I waded through this year's
crop of mayapples. In one section the leaves were just drooping
out and the bud between them. They were shaped in a way which
quite fooled the automatic focus of the camera.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqMLpL0vDrz3010gw4PUsxKN53mx17IJaIqj2K6vLX7dgA4lGPZUZPyI4ynUGKWk-kCZDAxF1IOW-lDbFufmJ-mY5NMX3aaVuXKjQlYFL9ijQPlWIrwK2bZd_ST8VzQ6fjT7wHskyBr0/s1600/mayapple14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqMLpL0vDrz3010gw4PUsxKN53mx17IJaIqj2K6vLX7dgA4lGPZUZPyI4ynUGKWk-kCZDAxF1IOW-lDbFufmJ-mY5NMX3aaVuXKjQlYFL9ijQPlWIrwK2bZd_ST8VzQ6fjT7wHskyBr0/s1600/mayapple14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I was photographing this I saw
a beaver out in the pond, now it was 2 BS, but in the main I saw
muskrats, another three of them. I also saw four goslings on the
shore with their parents. Then it clouded over and got cold so I
headed for home via the north slope of the pond and then down
along the south shore of the Second Swamp Pond. At the otter
latrine in the mossy cove on the south shore of the Lost Swamp
Pond I didn't see any new scat, but there was beaver work,
gnawing an exposed tree root.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALG_RBrIrT2XoM_g9bfhwlf7X7DCTY-f4g7ShLHofSM1aVA7kX3nGQZCeM2lMi-lyT7smGvUxzcr0LoXUUHCSF2yHZj_VmtHO5eZ8bG1vufxPznPKZrJPYCosX626fDE2EjcDRx3jX1E/s1600/rootgnaw14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALG_RBrIrT2XoM_g9bfhwlf7X7DCTY-f4g7ShLHofSM1aVA7kX3nGQZCeM2lMi-lyT7smGvUxzcr0LoXUUHCSF2yHZj_VmtHO5eZ8bG1vufxPznPKZrJPYCosX626fDE2EjcDRx3jX1E/s1600/rootgnaw14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The otter trail on the north slope
seemed used, and a muskrat evidently had been at the base of it,
but I didn't find any great gobs of scat until I got to the tree
trunk lying just up from the Second Swamp Pond.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqIszDdX9ipZTucrIrbLFw-4MpqkP5OPk_-0wYibsoutCJxDnOMs9L7SLAt2-PrS1beiZGGm2c5nqozBrxYPEK2k6FtFo6mWxPYcq8i2IGitt8KQ4U8J_MSOrfiKTbXdru8jm_f0Ttv4/s1600/scat14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqIszDdX9ipZTucrIrbLFw-4MpqkP5OPk_-0wYibsoutCJxDnOMs9L7SLAt2-PrS1beiZGGm2c5nqozBrxYPEK2k6FtFo6mWxPYcq8i2IGitt8KQ4U8J_MSOrfiKTbXdru8jm_f0Ttv4/s1600/scat14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was nothing to be seen on
the ponds as I headed home save for a muskrat in Otter Hole Pond.
I flushed a half dozen wood ducks from the marshy sections of the
ponds. A new yellow flower was out, a strawberry.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElJfYwzXV4qaVHaVCalpLMIdipbP9b9fuMVkEB0M4BP1FWKbMwElQ09Yv7mkN3lagGcG3pquM5OkOP-9cOFwpCVZ-XxVheAG8NjYASrEGNe7m4X4inoQJc2JPh3tIWPg9TX1V_xolg2g/s1600/flower14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElJfYwzXV4qaVHaVCalpLMIdipbP9b9fuMVkEB0M4BP1FWKbMwElQ09Yv7mkN3lagGcG3pquM5OkOP-9cOFwpCVZ-XxVheAG8NjYASrEGNe7m4X4inoQJc2JPh3tIWPg9TX1V_xolg2g/s1600/flower14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked on my secret crop of
trillium on the rocks below the ledge of Otter Hole Pond and they seemed a bit shy in their hideaway.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTCTl11FiPY2QvSjKrt4gUWBr_ohC64iwomMTjHKAlPLUTyqgkKqXFP-jBjl3jybZfDdrE1ynfTun795JlWNu2c0-yDSWxKx4ePDlgDtA4Gtn0Pu5l9FfrNNjBSIchD13TXhjGzF_OZw/s1600/trillium14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTCTl11FiPY2QvSjKrt4gUWBr_ohC64iwomMTjHKAlPLUTyqgkKqXFP-jBjl3jybZfDdrE1ynfTun795JlWNu2c0-yDSWxKx4ePDlgDtA4Gtn0Pu5l9FfrNNjBSIchD13TXhjGzF_OZw/s1600/trillium14.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The latrine at the South Bay
causeway looked added to, but nothing telling me that I had just
missed seeing an otter.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 15 more rain last night, sunny
and warm enough today, but far from hot, and the west wind picked
up again. We spent the afternoon at the land, and I mostly
lounged by the turtle bog and scouted around for flowers. Off
what we call the appleweg I found two glorious patches of
violets, yellow</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Rp6Dcn-zhbmANAN9ZWy5G-4KKPEKwgv4ScEIkzw-_e_0seisbyJ8QSGCwdoZXawodrIvTU16sl9LU9bQMHR0VaeTvrThH3sEyxnAgbToMEANjEgwBjyBxkBgxyGaAaWzZ5YzUHPLQNI/s1600/yviolet15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Rp6Dcn-zhbmANAN9ZWy5G-4KKPEKwgv4ScEIkzw-_e_0seisbyJ8QSGCwdoZXawodrIvTU16sl9LU9bQMHR0VaeTvrThH3sEyxnAgbToMEANjEgwBjyBxkBgxyGaAaWzZ5YzUHPLQNI/s1600/yviolet15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and Canadian white.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdfBECGGfEF0gufSWoi7H5PyJ9Y_VG3tUdVWjLtRcxdHmceznijpMa9abqvII7ZNTC7HeQca1awr8BATdA438LJ8ZplepcAz5O48HvU2qQ6zXhuZKyd3v3IyCUbIgRJMkNddg6bt3Xaw/s1600/canviolet15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdfBECGGfEF0gufSWoi7H5PyJ9Y_VG3tUdVWjLtRcxdHmceznijpMa9abqvII7ZNTC7HeQca1awr8BATdA438LJ8ZplepcAz5O48HvU2qQ6zXhuZKyd3v3IyCUbIgRJMkNddg6bt3Xaw/s1600/canviolet15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course there were blue violets
about, too.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8eqocarWnlM4oUhVMLonVBqLWh8y_p1XlUhVjfUCggXPU9cAa_w9mg0PoiyWeCv9dU6ndmdP4iyDBVKKB4DpNupo_azTjZBsIcB2VYLmOqqDg_u8Bo9VYFZa_sfyGtaW4LxbcIzSceI/s1600/bviolets15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8eqocarWnlM4oUhVMLonVBqLWh8y_p1XlUhVjfUCggXPU9cAa_w9mg0PoiyWeCv9dU6ndmdP4iyDBVKKB4DpNupo_azTjZBsIcB2VYLmOqqDg_u8Bo9VYFZa_sfyGtaW4LxbcIzSceI/s1600/bviolets15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then nestled in a rock ledge above
that carpet were some delicate columbines.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiXG4aJUt-H1LV_7EJNnWiTvFQAjYc_u3OVn8hFLpAyoIRPVCM8uf-NB3sXVcp-tsH4f6uGmyi65rjNXho0xMhD5pndqMxAS0oFon5xbvjuN8tiA5pu4GqXynV4BdeYgu9Hms7Dj5zeo/s1600/cbine15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJiXG4aJUt-H1LV_7EJNnWiTvFQAjYc_u3OVn8hFLpAyoIRPVCM8uf-NB3sXVcp-tsH4f6uGmyi65rjNXho0xMhD5pndqMxAS0oFon5xbvjuN8tiA5pu4GqXynV4BdeYgu9Hms7Dj5zeo/s1600/cbine15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the same area I finally saw a
yellow butterfly. And the tent caterpillars were getting into
gear.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO_7dnwm8GEupu5FUFpLHNrHicO3Jy43OUD15mQGeZH_UaQZ9GUy6JAoXWMoQSXE59EHxgMuyH_P1KlxI-zS-vGM5TYdWgpPvGI5bo0tYeZ2reGU0kvbyOyB6KYyeEAZxMe5M_F1_W3E/s1600/tentcats15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO_7dnwm8GEupu5FUFpLHNrHicO3Jy43OUD15mQGeZH_UaQZ9GUy6JAoXWMoQSXE59EHxgMuyH_P1KlxI-zS-vGM5TYdWgpPvGI5bo0tYeZ2reGU0kvbyOyB6KYyeEAZxMe5M_F1_W3E/s1600/tentcats15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked along the moss cliff
valley where the trillium are famous and had to pay respects to
two monsters.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj882mQWaGgjv0A4aL68_K-FxUKkLhfBVFGmPVL10lY9rW_V0bMGOlhzDc1u3mFsG7j3bRMYU7EsCQpgT-JASx9I0VavzGpqBMXZ-e59EER_phNJj9DBdfPhsi-DUt4em6FoHZC-4LByF0/s1600/trillium15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj882mQWaGgjv0A4aL68_K-FxUKkLhfBVFGmPVL10lY9rW_V0bMGOlhzDc1u3mFsG7j3bRMYU7EsCQpgT-JASx9I0VavzGpqBMXZ-e59EER_phNJj9DBdfPhsi-DUt4em6FoHZC-4LByF0/s1600/trillium15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Nearer the road I saw one turning
violet.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziLi6hn2uEQPB41IzB0NtG4n8HJPBADnC410GgF0O1OvIVuGmGKWv03YISDrpBzrruU5TBBsxCUUIdWBBTCb8aSa5IzbZnecmIx3f44RaYiZUUvkJ8ZCwBan0o5ERgemQFt2L2kWYUd0/s1600/vtrillium15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziLi6hn2uEQPB41IzB0NtG4n8HJPBADnC410GgF0O1OvIVuGmGKWv03YISDrpBzrruU5TBBsxCUUIdWBBTCb8aSa5IzbZnecmIx3f44RaYiZUUvkJ8ZCwBan0o5ERgemQFt2L2kWYUd0/s1600/vtrillium15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, I checked up on the
beaver activity -- again none in the far reaches of the area,
where they foraged last year. They took down the pine tree next
to the one they just cut and completely stripped.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKT8GnbegL-RGG_nSf4jkjVBAg0QAQygGCxTV-6EwlSPG3O_EBgH2AL66RH8DvZurZ9wgY7W1YRJHzoNIPI2W3QmrU3blOrZKdiMLilxInpoBuQ224TiaeeXSeSxn9SLb2NnI_QxSKPA/s1600/pine15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKT8GnbegL-RGG_nSf4jkjVBAg0QAQygGCxTV-6EwlSPG3O_EBgH2AL66RH8DvZurZ9wgY7W1YRJHzoNIPI2W3QmrU3blOrZKdiMLilxInpoBuQ224TiaeeXSeSxn9SLb2NnI_QxSKPA/s1600/pine15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They don't seem to have gone up
stream from the pond either, an area of poplars popular with them
in the fall. However, I saw beaver prints in the mud of the
little pond, now drained, just above the main pond. With the mud
washed away there is left a curious looking stick bridge.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNvAXFAl1rHCQvN5zvz_L9cFU3PHMn1xKOpBAzsMi8VQtasDZI3PXYKfVUSPBVPdAW-5wBA7ovs7HwhF7ioyYVbGRgdCeN8UPjgpLPhtUJQGuLkif2PQBpdTqyoU5WKo1q3TQaomIzbY/s1600/uppond15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNvAXFAl1rHCQvN5zvz_L9cFU3PHMn1xKOpBAzsMi8VQtasDZI3PXYKfVUSPBVPdAW-5wBA7ovs7HwhF7ioyYVbGRgdCeN8UPjgpLPhtUJQGuLkif2PQBpdTqyoU5WKo1q3TQaomIzbY/s1600/uppond15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They seem to be continuing to work
on the birch that fell out into the pond,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaz3AP1zsZo3R1zsNhcA-iIACBWNkDb_LlCIxF9xyN3U-_GaHe0vb86dtz_2yiJqm3H5IS5DEl9btMJCZXLW-jp0povywpnODzZUMBQhRiOC5ebCEOQ_cvDH_9qARb3aLsZ-TvVIsWvg/s1600/birch15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaz3AP1zsZo3R1zsNhcA-iIACBWNkDb_LlCIxF9xyN3U-_GaHe0vb86dtz_2yiJqm3H5IS5DEl9btMJCZXLW-jp0povywpnODzZUMBQhRiOC5ebCEOQ_cvDH_9qARb3aLsZ-TvVIsWvg/s1600/birch15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and they did cut a large ironwood
about twenty yards from the pond -- perhaps the farthest they've cut recently. I checked the otter latrine near the
lodge and the old scats have even more of a greenish tinge and
there was a blob in front of them, that I would say was a fresh
scat, save that I've learned how long these blobs can seem to
stay fresh. I'll have to check old photos of the area to see if
it is new or if I just didn't notice it because of the there were so many
nearby. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-56566156934387134412016-11-23T11:29:00.000-08:002016-11-23T11:29:39.403-08:00May 1 to 6, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">May 1 sunny with a stiff wind out of the
southwest. Two Langmuir rotations streamed past our dock.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bHAqs56uiPSXflBLb85rFSMjyQ8G4RjQErZy_ROUuT4eo65t3prsQB6KMcpuEcnPVzcuGZzDXVgZsINwbATHN2s_0rDkvD-szGM2rj8ESh3i65bG555z2j8QDg-EBOb2wxKn7ricfxk/s1600/rotations1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bHAqs56uiPSXflBLb85rFSMjyQ8G4RjQErZy_ROUuT4eo65t3prsQB6KMcpuEcnPVzcuGZzDXVgZsINwbATHN2s_0rDkvD-szGM2rj8ESh3i65bG555z2j8QDg-EBOb2wxKn7ricfxk/s1600/rotations1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We headed to our land in the morning and first
I did some walking around. Still no beaver at the Deep Pond, and
no muskrat today, but I saw a snapping turtle swimming up to the
surface of the water along the west shore, then it saw me. I went
up on the knoll, which at this time of year, hosts a nice array
of flowers, principally Dutchman's britches, but also trillium,
trout lilies, and spring beauties. I sat up on the knoll, which
with the leaves just starting to come out, still provides a good
view. But nothing else materialized on the wind swept pond. I
continued walking around and noticed areas of nibbled grass,
probably harvested by the muskrat -- since we've seen few ducks
in here. I prompted a leopard frog to jump into the inlet stream,
which still has a good flow, and watched the frog swim up stream
to some cover. Why it didn't go with the flow into deeper water,
I don't know. I climbed up to the lonesome pine and the only
flower I saw on that shady slope was saxifrage. From the top, I
headed down to the Third Pond, with an eye out for fresh beaver
work, but saw none. The muskrat is still muddying the pond,
especially around the entrance to its burrow. Up at the beaver
pond, I noticed more work on a large birch just in the pond, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoIEovNAHDUcEGMWecpnTjcRv8S3A9BZQvD02Xj_-OtY7FykmwRZ0_GKEZpOQPQ34PsoAGRkfsOMmlzo3Ou_2-BHzBwWQmIjpBMBqOLO2Yzk35HFQAE3NeVoYnRnEGIAKK-PVHtZ431U/s1600/birchwk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoIEovNAHDUcEGMWecpnTjcRv8S3A9BZQvD02Xj_-OtY7FykmwRZ0_GKEZpOQPQ34PsoAGRkfsOMmlzo3Ou_2-BHzBwWQmIjpBMBqOLO2Yzk35HFQAE3NeVoYnRnEGIAKK-PVHtZ431U/s1600/birchwk1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and one fresh log added to the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnhkL7R_UDExmbKEVziZCzLqvGQytgRFBfgJQzLQZPjlHnQUDqS0VVAkoCHVUhcLf-HdxBpZf-X2wV930tA4p11tzasDN0DSbyLQoct3beex5QNbVTetjb6HkcD-tH8-3n9jLRDiZhX8/s1600/bvlodge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnhkL7R_UDExmbKEVziZCzLqvGQytgRFBfgJQzLQZPjlHnQUDqS0VVAkoCHVUhcLf-HdxBpZf-X2wV930tA4p11tzasDN0DSbyLQoct3beex5QNbVTetjb6HkcD-tH8-3n9jLRDiZhX8/s1600/bvlodge1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I walked around I saw more stripping of
the bushy pine, and the beavers are nipping the branches and
stripping them right on the shore. I checked the large pool where
I had left a lot of red oak branches. I've been expecting the
beavers to go up there and at least sample that fare. I could
tell by mud in the pool that a beaver had probably been through,
but it went beyond the red oak pile to start cutting down another
tree on the shore. When I got around to the far shore of the
pond, I saw more work on birch and with one small log, I noticed
that the beaver had peeled off and left the birch bark.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGNJg60tuiNTP8rVVZA7VzROhyyD90GfX8-gJgMNwn6OI6n2knneAfm2CnTidsCibOyxMi4Dp4Wmha_AA4jmJZeVL2gGni-K51rBMlNRkk0zubGB5C8RXmw25cXjp8e4sRJA32A60Gvo/s1600/birchshave1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGNJg60tuiNTP8rVVZA7VzROhyyD90GfX8-gJgMNwn6OI6n2knneAfm2CnTidsCibOyxMi4Dp4Wmha_AA4jmJZeVL2gGni-K51rBMlNRkk0zubGB5C8RXmw25cXjp8e4sRJA32A60Gvo/s1600/birchshave1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued around to their feeding station
under the pine, and saw more birch stripped in that fashion.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR-JzHYFojANa6zFwlBJOmB1_wHoYa3VYGBGtxZPJRs2Bolu1LkQk22u5f7WB43zxTfy5Za4Sh2-GBULkCnrvEGq-ESwsD81QRF9OnAJ1rw6QL_pDOCEJQKg7bs4JQLkzRqKJJlM8wMA/s1600/birchshave1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVR-JzHYFojANa6zFwlBJOmB1_wHoYa3VYGBGtxZPJRs2Bolu1LkQk22u5f7WB43zxTfy5Za4Sh2-GBULkCnrvEGq-ESwsD81QRF9OnAJ1rw6QL_pDOCEJQKg7bs4JQLkzRqKJJlM8wMA/s1600/birchshave1a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Painted turtles were out in their usual
line-up.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdJ5hjzhnsKz83ud6cp6_Gv2NMu8-FnjLGXZ_7dQIZzCUgKhiyA7QpNoEb6zEvgHjZUzbqnFz4z6nJYbQ_5VU_OXcmV0TDOq8PEHUDIh3krDOy32-qdjh3Da4pNZFs_fP1wHF_W0zUh0/s1600/pturtles1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdJ5hjzhnsKz83ud6cp6_Gv2NMu8-FnjLGXZ_7dQIZzCUgKhiyA7QpNoEb6zEvgHjZUzbqnFz4z6nJYbQ_5VU_OXcmV0TDOq8PEHUDIh3krDOy32-qdjh3Da4pNZFs_fP1wHF_W0zUh0/s1600/pturtles1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw more slime oozing on the stumps of trees
cut by the beavers in the fall. A few appeared to be bleeding.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDLpQtmHer5pUa6Wy74JKg2uq6kPUf1l3SCiqFJMx5me7kwmyUCwJ2NMHEVBkLzv30qlUqlagRY-sfukjO5pLdOKpgyvomP8l1ljIcKOR88JIrnvuTkNLV4JPNOS-Bn_UkSsCCQEzT6xQ/s1600/slime1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDLpQtmHer5pUa6Wy74JKg2uq6kPUf1l3SCiqFJMx5me7kwmyUCwJ2NMHEVBkLzv30qlUqlagRY-sfukjO5pLdOKpgyvomP8l1ljIcKOR88JIrnvuTkNLV4JPNOS-Bn_UkSsCCQEzT6xQ/s1600/slime1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After lunch we hauled stone up from an old
sunken stone wall. Leslie noticed that mayflies were out, dancing
above the growing green grass around the old tree trunk just up
from the Third Pond. We assume the mayflies fancy the grasses,
because there are no leaves to hide in, and some of them rest on
the dead tree trunk, perhaps attracted by the white of it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZb7SMCsLJB4vyzpaHtl1K9e8IguGgp6mj18J7uAM6l-0gt4lZCfbTv0hiVXHOac7TURwnmitLX5Xfv6U7COYWHmC4IQSxHOcwEg0P0y9t-aZQHsL5QyAygUbXiKtacAnmFdVn-ivWIcw/s1600/mayfly1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZb7SMCsLJB4vyzpaHtl1K9e8IguGgp6mj18J7uAM6l-0gt4lZCfbTv0hiVXHOac7TURwnmitLX5Xfv6U7COYWHmC4IQSxHOcwEg0P0y9t-aZQHsL5QyAygUbXiKtacAnmFdVn-ivWIcw/s1600/mayfly1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When the wind blew the mayflies disappeared and
we watched two towhees rooting around the leaves nearby. Then the
wind would drop and the mayflies were back up. As she dug around
for stone, Leslie also pulled out a porcupine skeleton.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM23Xei3JZ2yYT85IYwgqiwYxQbsci0HlGrt9iC1coUjP9AfRQh2hcGIedlXXVlRrBBRE1WjZlrS8nMD6TJSXu_SMrP5-S_ZMdDJTHAAzkJrx-w2jlZKchqViJ6xvGpH3L786C84frtCo/s1600/ppbones1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM23Xei3JZ2yYT85IYwgqiwYxQbsci0HlGrt9iC1coUjP9AfRQh2hcGIedlXXVlRrBBRE1WjZlrS8nMD6TJSXu_SMrP5-S_ZMdDJTHAAzkJrx-w2jlZKchqViJ6xvGpH3L786C84frtCo/s1600/ppbones1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed off to tour the ponds at 4 pm and took
my summer route through the meadow behind the golf course. The
meadow was wet from the recent rain, but not profoundly flooded
as it has been after winters of heavy snow. Even the deer had a
muddy trail through the meadow, though perhaps due to the recent
rains, I didn't see as many deer made holes into the elecampane
roots. After seeing towhees at the land, and late arrivals they
were this year, I wanted to see if there were towhees in their
usual haunts up on the grassy ridges, but I didn't hear any. I
did see a porcupine walking on a deer trail, and when it saw me,
it didn't head for a tree, merely bristled and held its ground.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TbYSfSsdEIWc1xU2GvUnGkzfkFQTS8T7FeBKlkCpNJ7svCrK8znCKmHvQOMsgqzrdhICygsKVGfZtNU4g68_RaK22PqjkzLb2esCh77wtbBb9bmUQ5L9ytcBRpsz63v0KHkVm315idg/s1600/ppine1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TbYSfSsdEIWc1xU2GvUnGkzfkFQTS8T7FeBKlkCpNJ7svCrK8znCKmHvQOMsgqzrdhICygsKVGfZtNU4g68_RaK22PqjkzLb2esCh77wtbBb9bmUQ5L9ytcBRpsz63v0KHkVm315idg/s1600/ppine1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I came up to the Big Pond at the south end of
the dam, and saw a new otter scent mound farther away than they
usually make one at this pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDb9tii8-a0y6I5SudbM4OotbUqzzz4mkPqMCWXyLpl4vMIpVo7clpQfKq6iAXoRTY7vBz_cYc0wXYgKYN4H0GpicjOVThqgVDB5atquIIW6AQ9_phSfLvPx4IMfu2IYZpMaXpgeJ9lc/s1600/bpscmd1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDb9tii8-a0y6I5SudbM4OotbUqzzz4mkPqMCWXyLpl4vMIpVo7clpQfKq6iAXoRTY7vBz_cYc0wXYgKYN4H0GpicjOVThqgVDB5atquIIW6AQ9_phSfLvPx4IMfu2IYZpMaXpgeJ9lc/s1600/bpscmd1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The dam is still leaking and there was no sign
of recent beaver repairs, or beaver work. I suspect they are
feasting on grasses. There were a couple of small groups of
ring-necked ducks. With a brisk southwest wind, I approached this
pond with the wind at my back, likewise the Lost Swamp Pond. So I
didn't expect to surprise any animals. Still pondering a wind
swept pond is always fascinating and I sat back against a tree
with a view of the whole upper pond. I noticed a lump on a log in
the middle of the pond, and through the spyglass saw a muskrat.
Then farther away, I saw two lumps on a log and that proved to be
muskrats, side by side.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Drjk76YiweIOgk8su_kZPxbeqH_CYH8_r8OZnZOMr04AYvxs72_NMQnZH3OVtuAgZ5Wl0RhnM0dcgatlrpUbArLxM1TUEP7agPqnQwWslaswRbVBzN_Orm8OUrCH0GJTlyP_fWlpR80/s1600/lsrats1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Drjk76YiweIOgk8su_kZPxbeqH_CYH8_r8OZnZOMr04AYvxs72_NMQnZH3OVtuAgZ5Wl0RhnM0dcgatlrpUbArLxM1TUEP7agPqnQwWslaswRbVBzN_Orm8OUrCH0GJTlyP_fWlpR80/s1600/lsrats1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They were too far away to get a good video, so
I watched them through the spyglass. Once again it seemed like
one muskrat was trying to get the vegetation the other was
eating, but the other rat did not swim off. Indeed they dove
together and seemed to come up holding different ends of the same
clump of grasses, and once on the log they came closer. Then when
one got in the water and swam around the log, the other was right
behind it. I didn't have a good view, but at one point it's
possible that one mounted the other. Then when they both got on
the log, they simultaneously scratched their own backsides with
their right back leg. They may have very briefly groomed each
other, and then they were back in the water for another go
around. Eventually one got in the water and didn't swim around
the log but toward shore. The other followed and when they both
began to swim back, the muskrat swimming in front went toward a
tree stump in the water and the other went back to the log they
had been on before. I walked around the pond, looking for new
otters scats, saw none, but did see a lone trillium sprouting out
in plain sight of hungry deer a few yards from the pond water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbfYvYVSjBxc-pkBuycxgwcuM4lWDITqwwbygbqXgcV-Flq-IhnZ2mAAfibIo4t_1j0EOgoiMpe8UNAbPjV5ll4zQGTjKyHXH4Vi8IQhN3OJLzmPZhyphenhyphenkym-CseV5tmsAyoCOzmE5tjY4/s1600/trillium1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbfYvYVSjBxc-pkBuycxgwcuM4lWDITqwwbygbqXgcV-Flq-IhnZ2mAAfibIo4t_1j0EOgoiMpe8UNAbPjV5ll4zQGTjKyHXH4Vi8IQhN3OJLzmPZhyphenhyphenkym-CseV5tmsAyoCOzmE5tjY4/s1600/trillium1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I checked for scat on the north slope I saw
that the beavers had started cutting another red oak, even though
there are plenty of trees cut down in the winter and hardly
utilized. The Lost Swamp Pond dam still leaks as always which
means the Upper Second Swamp Pond continues to brim over. It was
too wet below the dam, and the dam itself too fragile, to try to
cross. I used to have a theory that beavers patched holes in the
dam by positioning long logs perpendicular to the dam to fill in
a hole. I haven't seen beavers do that in years, but these
beavers have,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPexQwfIDdFmmqMOoJ9oZ9Y_q85pWST3ZBoMJGtkCTRJ7p568Yw2U8fc3HE3nYCuYe_lYTbYkA5WhV1M4nbLW9kzG9stQalVWOsp2mCOfwJD8KIlNL-cxTOM7KVoWFojEUhbSzXYSuDsA/s1600/upspdamlog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPexQwfIDdFmmqMOoJ9oZ9Y_q85pWST3ZBoMJGtkCTRJ7p568Yw2U8fc3HE3nYCuYe_lYTbYkA5WhV1M4nbLW9kzG9stQalVWOsp2mCOfwJD8KIlNL-cxTOM7KVoWFojEUhbSzXYSuDsA/s1600/upspdamlog1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and with a rather long log.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl2Ff2a2J0fmF-O48_lqed7fpYJNY6cmjbtfvq-ixn6VzZSETZn4ggiV6bqoxBs6Fg5_QMvPwj2jr4IR0IGeOLq0ueXV0dCg-jqc-06uvQH6CXsJZk7SNaipNvEVM0rrxveLJGnoBRgY/s1600/upspdamlog1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl2Ff2a2J0fmF-O48_lqed7fpYJNY6cmjbtfvq-ixn6VzZSETZn4ggiV6bqoxBs6Fg5_QMvPwj2jr4IR0IGeOLq0ueXV0dCg-jqc-06uvQH6CXsJZk7SNaipNvEVM0rrxveLJGnoBRgY/s1600/upspdamlog1a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, that birch that had been stripped in
stripes had been subjected to a more thorough gnawing, and I saw
a maple stump with garish slime, orange to almost pink.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V7d9GJIuFKxhGLvy1gFolgM-88jtELc5XckaD2Gv4enxZiOqPMm-F0kLfd1CyOHm5Fy9y5OIO25nlfuV0acNzJHup_nRuPflHcUzht5h9lkqPDVdGdTG1NZydY4dhcrC72hlEF-uip4/s1600/slime1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7V7d9GJIuFKxhGLvy1gFolgM-88jtELc5XckaD2Gv4enxZiOqPMm-F0kLfd1CyOHm5Fy9y5OIO25nlfuV0acNzJHup_nRuPflHcUzht5h9lkqPDVdGdTG1NZydY4dhcrC72hlEF-uip4/s1600/slime1a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Walking down the Second Swamp Pond shore I
enjoyed the flying feeding frenzy of a couple dozen swallows.
Could they be getting mayflies blown off of South Bay? There were
no otter signs at the dam and only a few fresh dollops of mud
pushed up by the beavers. I sat above the East Trail Pond waiting
for something to appear in the shallows. Nothing did, but a
raccoon foraged along the shore, with its front paws, more than
its eyes or nose, appearing to do most of the sensing for
something to eat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93AenOQ-tDI-F3M1OGhwb81xQqBkUGvopAT2OY8oqrJjHb0x66xK9e25jilXtTXj399xaBwM2VCylwjW5Kz_AuhudKOFQp4kad-Ob3ByojCArhHd2T9ewra_lzjfxOsTSoPLrTdIAjxE/s1600/rac1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93AenOQ-tDI-F3M1OGhwb81xQqBkUGvopAT2OY8oqrJjHb0x66xK9e25jilXtTXj399xaBwM2VCylwjW5Kz_AuhudKOFQp4kad-Ob3ByojCArhHd2T9ewra_lzjfxOsTSoPLrTdIAjxE/s1600/rac1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw it eat one thing. I was expecting it to
continue along behind the dam, but it walked up on the old beaver
lodge and disappeared, quite likely into a hole in the bank above
the lodge, which I had assumed was a groundhog home.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hq6eL49LDwNwz48gEcL5pEj7ngCXbct5WTJJKK903d_vg09jfbavYcSuPvwyA1tnX1ko7l2oDPulnQLutirjr3-xNIcF-ZDNCFx3jTgC2NuMVUVQTPuxgFNsYN1NU845SOPRGlMXTdo/s1600/rachole1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hq6eL49LDwNwz48gEcL5pEj7ngCXbct5WTJJKK903d_vg09jfbavYcSuPvwyA1tnX1ko7l2oDPulnQLutirjr3-xNIcF-ZDNCFx3jTgC2NuMVUVQTPuxgFNsYN1NU845SOPRGlMXTdo/s1600/rachole1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued on to Meander Pond. There were no
comb frogs in the Thicket Pond, but the peepers were loudly
pulsing all around Meander Pond. I sat at the end of the pond,
with the wind in my face, and plenty of fresh beaver work around
me. But no beaver came out. I waited until 6:30 which is probably
not long enough. I checked the New Pond knoll and the South Bay
causeway for otter scats and saw nothing new. The old scent
mounds on the New Pond knoll seem to have been leveled. I saw
several deer, often with a large and small deer together. I
assume they are doe and yearling, and one large deer's coat
seemed to be getting a hint of its summer shine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 3 sunny in the morning then cold clouds
moved in. We headed to the land so Leslie could cover some
plants, lettuce and peas are stirring, and we might have frost
tonight, if the brisk wind dies down. I walked around the ponds
which is beginning to seem a little pointless down at the Deep
Pond. Today I saw nothing happening in or around the pond, but
the area is evidently not dull to a hawk. It flew up from the low
trees as I approached. I'm looking forward to a warm day to spend
a good chunk of time around this pond. This is the first spring
I've seen no signs of large fish. Perhaps the otters got the last
of the pike that were stocked here, but that should allow other
fish to grow. Crossing the small dam of the Third Pond, I heard a
frog plop into the pond. I scanned the leafing willow and it
seemed unmolested by beaver or muskrat. Of course, where the
beavers are, up in the First Pond now merged with the Teepee
Pond, there is always something to see. I walked to the front of
sawing area and there at my feet, in front of two pieces of split
wood was a pile of otter scat, </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBmgNl8LRw9VWmM-3t5KU0dtB24gVNhsF8HNzfvH2xUbG1ZQ0KZzE3id2TkmkbcZYRcJlYITN92dzlcYvs9kekiKWB1Y-WW-5oD2f-IzMO8XYXkkC1rzk9vYBZNVHPGeDZ-LC8Ev7Rkk/s1600/otlat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBmgNl8LRw9VWmM-3t5KU0dtB24gVNhsF8HNzfvH2xUbG1ZQ0KZzE3id2TkmkbcZYRcJlYITN92dzlcYvs9kekiKWB1Y-WW-5oD2f-IzMO8XYXkkC1rzk9vYBZNVHPGeDZ-LC8Ev7Rkk/s1600/otlat3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">generous dollops</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nIzcPDejtAkpukv_KziDvruh6z_NQAAGosH7zgMKI65u7SxHCNnpLw5qu5TG6z6NvBEX_Yut4by-uTgEPZMQ-2iEHoAVDQRdTwaeuzy220kQ6a-lGE4lP1e6gyCFwutPr91ooLqtOuA/s1600/scats3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nIzcPDejtAkpukv_KziDvruh6z_NQAAGosH7zgMKI65u7SxHCNnpLw5qu5TG6z6NvBEX_Yut4by-uTgEPZMQ-2iEHoAVDQRdTwaeuzy220kQ6a-lGE4lP1e6gyCFwutPr91ooLqtOuA/s1600/scats3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then a scat in a hole formed by my
pounding of logs as I split them. It looked like an otter scatted in the hole and
then scraped some wood chips into it. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-L1RrH6p99ZORBjoyyvn_YvH5AuvUmWQJ83f5cVjMrTeCpC-PnGPDyqtJNz3U_QKl4F4920b6dqqIcKQtWLPr-itaiMtBSLvzgId3-bE75q2jHBORvpOZsOC7wV56WUQQYmQcIEZOj0/s1600/scats3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO-L1RrH6p99ZORBjoyyvn_YvH5AuvUmWQJ83f5cVjMrTeCpC-PnGPDyqtJNz3U_QKl4F4920b6dqqIcKQtWLPr-itaiMtBSLvzgId3-bE75q2jHBORvpOZsOC7wV56WUQQYmQcIEZOj0/s1600/scats3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">These scats were definitely not here 48 hours
ago. I walked around the pond, admiring the beavers' continuing
work on the pine tree -- at least they seem to be getting full
use out of this beauty.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf7trAsrHaA4d_iITC7-v_koqGlVrotRHNw3qbkOfXmY3Y6JkyWUBqPoQl63tNOKLiKy5sBdiCPQ_r8Ipl6JCQW4qmzAR4zUkadRNqs7O5bJjKdm9HeamgY99jSi_EjCx6AZniZe4tGE/s1600/bvpine3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf7trAsrHaA4d_iITC7-v_koqGlVrotRHNw3qbkOfXmY3Y6JkyWUBqPoQl63tNOKLiKy5sBdiCPQ_r8Ipl6JCQW4qmzAR4zUkadRNqs7O5bJjKdm9HeamgY99jSi_EjCx6AZniZe4tGE/s1600/bvpine3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I noticed that there seemed to be another
pathway on the shore near the lodge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05XdLYpXEWTXeu6papLvkYkV72A7qThi2_DQXHzrIf6hvH0rZvFmAECSJUr8bsAiPm5cD97rugoRRYZkHEdzUAxr-aCAI8ATvzw0bkQc6lFcQDmZN-YNL6c82BuBllzH459V40hzZkrg/s1600/lodgeotpath3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05XdLYpXEWTXeu6papLvkYkV72A7qThi2_DQXHzrIf6hvH0rZvFmAECSJUr8bsAiPm5cD97rugoRRYZkHEdzUAxr-aCAI8ATvzw0bkQc6lFcQDmZN-YNL6c82BuBllzH459V40hzZkrg/s1600/lodgeotpath3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suspected the otters might have made it, and
I was right. I didn't see any scat until I got over to the end of
the pathway where I saw about as much scat piled up as I did in
front of the sawing rock.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQVnsmFKRxNplbA0y3VR-giwclGE2lRxteio67kVgwhjnhS1D3BjTv3yxH53NXUz7yzIpBWQ4swWOfUR1LeETdnnqgxd6H5ON0nQtBqcC-HyqaFa-ZMYPmmnHbz4iNzr6oznA-x-0EYQ/s1600/otlat3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQVnsmFKRxNplbA0y3VR-giwclGE2lRxteio67kVgwhjnhS1D3BjTv3yxH53NXUz7yzIpBWQ4swWOfUR1LeETdnnqgxd6H5ON0nQtBqcC-HyqaFa-ZMYPmmnHbz4iNzr6oznA-x-0EYQ/s1600/otlat3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued around to an area that the otters
used as a latrine in the winter, under the big pines on a little
nob of land jutting into Teepee Pond. I found the old scat and a
few feet behind that a strange greenish otter scat with a squirt
of liquid scat, still soft;</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWE7PwHZQYBV28mG7axdAA4d9ZTx8xzrDNsAuWoNq9RnNLaSsu6_EQxQwY2H0BZ7rkCURdSzPTL50J0UKDd53GtEutiyohFgbeNLvXqRR1HTkzZCRq6_dh_NtDKMbaPmzdRBbBjCRRU0/s1600/scats3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWE7PwHZQYBV28mG7axdAA4d9ZTx8xzrDNsAuWoNq9RnNLaSsu6_EQxQwY2H0BZ7rkCURdSzPTL50J0UKDd53GtEutiyohFgbeNLvXqRR1HTkzZCRq6_dh_NtDKMbaPmzdRBbBjCRRU0/s1600/scats3b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">a token, not a load like at the other sites. In
the winter the otters left many scats on the pathway to the
valley pool. That area has been made rather muddy by the beavers,
certainly covering any remains of winter scat, and these otters
didn't scat there or around there. I scanned the mud for otter
prints and thought I saw one headed out of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfsZP6dsjmMwFVmRecV0fdS0c8W5ItUVr6OfU9GJnj_XB2S-eCbRelqW14gXXT5hLjH5oZlFkQDYwRsjSnPoVsnIJNUNvEocg5yLg7zz_-OFhHS2eUOo29sv2ik_7yxXar6MSzLz6U9s/s1600/prints3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRfsZP6dsjmMwFVmRecV0fdS0c8W5ItUVr6OfU9GJnj_XB2S-eCbRelqW14gXXT5hLjH5oZlFkQDYwRsjSnPoVsnIJNUNvEocg5yLg7zz_-OFhHS2eUOo29sv2ik_7yxXar6MSzLz6U9s/s1600/prints3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued around the pond and saw no more
scats. We were unsure how many otters visited in the winter; we
saw four tracks together, but only saw one sure track leaving
into the bush. But given the amount of remains, including fish
parts, we thought there were at least two otters then. Certainly
this recent activity seems to have been done by more than one
otter. It will be interesting to see if some scat appears around
the Deep Pond tomorrow. Meanwhile, I continued to collect rocks
in the piles of sandstone. Prying through the jumble suggests
that god did play dice and this was a casino. Then I discovered
that at least one animal is using these little caves. A red
squirrel had store of pine cones. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl4N1TqkliYrPqItAwR525sKSRwcUCeHpGvrkZUf014u6wrxzZvSQUXmFJub-jhhEWEaUHfmzv9X0VM38tsruea8ph58YCWBNzuBLvcM3H_MztAcR7N0IEjetrgFPlreESt8YPbwKupA/s1600/pinecave3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl4N1TqkliYrPqItAwR525sKSRwcUCeHpGvrkZUf014u6wrxzZvSQUXmFJub-jhhEWEaUHfmzv9X0VM38tsruea8ph58YCWBNzuBLvcM3H_MztAcR7N0IEjetrgFPlreESt8YPbwKupA/s1600/pinecave3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Despite the brisk and cold wind, the ravens
were yodeling and carrying on all the time we were there and a
woodpecker, probably a hairy woodpecker, was doing some serious
work. On the way out we stopped so Leslie could see the otter
scat. As we walked up to the pond a wood duck flew off and a
mallard, and two muskrats were sporting on the far shore,
together, but it was hard to see exactly what they were doing.
They both dove into the main beaver lodge, with one walking
quickly along the shore before diving.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 4 a cold, cloudy day, with the wind still
blowing. I headed off to check the ponds at 4:30 pm, and as I
walked the clouds parted and the sun appeared affording me a
golden glow, but without much warmth. My first stop was at the
otter latrine on the small causeway on the South Bay trail, and I
had much to ponder. There were nine piles of dead grass, all
looking like otter scent mounds.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wF6T8HeXCnYz_4ywhoiA2iY_ppYM5Z0LEqsmFYwo_28_jJqpgBWHa00weOlUv3xzKskvPcAN7aFq4Z_7g_dwlLWAzmO5zQdQKaeFuGNjNch59tKTUaSLUUn_FFyxrY9ibqhTTIIA7uw/s1600/sblat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4wF6T8HeXCnYz_4ywhoiA2iY_ppYM5Z0LEqsmFYwo_28_jJqpgBWHa00weOlUv3xzKskvPcAN7aFq4Z_7g_dwlLWAzmO5zQdQKaeFuGNjNch59tKTUaSLUUn_FFyxrY9ibqhTTIIA7uw/s1600/sblat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Three I had seen before, and of the others, all
but one were dry. That one had a small scat. I'll have to check
if one year old otters leave scent mounds. If they do, perhaps
the lone otter I saw in the ponds a month ago, is an over eager
marker. The activity along the trail inspired me to continue
along the marsh and check the willow latrine out at the edge of
the water of South Bay. The river water level continues to rise
and the otter scat I saw before on the edge of the marsh had been
washed away. However, as I approached on a low but dry trail,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtxRhtc53LmzVTD-ote_0xZmuMjrIpASqKKNRi61FL1dhahtMSUOwsYbotvVmu-OLofBY_t3cYCB5wm7jx_Kt_2CqCE3CzHxz3zI7LBJve99wJuhowWRL4X53ZcPYtodlgFKhx8clt48/s1600/willowlat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtxRhtc53LmzVTD-ote_0xZmuMjrIpASqKKNRi61FL1dhahtMSUOwsYbotvVmu-OLofBY_t3cYCB5wm7jx_Kt_2CqCE3CzHxz3zI7LBJve99wJuhowWRL4X53ZcPYtodlgFKhx8clt48/s1600/willowlat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw otter scat all over. One almost like
raccoon scat, but I think it results from an otter eating
crayfish, dry fare.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHAfMVqTKbm8sLH6ErZQkqONzQWoZLJYO_0IbZ8nXwBgM0p_0aa4qNuvTiubZMJaYjUTB0wzpghTTydlNccgn62_32xyYUegQADgm0cg3bg5MujWbUFBA5rN3XYi1Qk9IxlCBi1T2XkoY/s1600/scat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHAfMVqTKbm8sLH6ErZQkqONzQWoZLJYO_0IbZ8nXwBgM0p_0aa4qNuvTiubZMJaYjUTB0wzpghTTydlNccgn62_32xyYUegQADgm0cg3bg5MujWbUFBA5rN3XYi1Qk9IxlCBi1T2XkoY/s1600/scat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So the otters are still coming here. I looked
for bullhead parts, but found none. And there were no scats on
the mossy mound under the willow tree. No sign that the beaver
had been back. I had hoped to check this area and more of the
shore in the kayak, but the river water temperature is just over
40 degrees, and the waves have been rolling for four days now. I
continued walking around the wooded area that juts out into the
South Bay marsh. I saw that a beaver had taken a bite out of a
poplar about 20 yards from the marsh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYYiGxugR7k1SC43ywineZsMkuAW-VZw1ozS0zIid6ElEZOy2xDDKW0YJsLpXmINM6S8j3FjDt6Y9VR5CZ5y0AdG1978YeXCtaNQ1jy954fo6oGdfR_iTNPQy-bxJAT5wZ5Yrd0wXLV4/s1600/poptaste4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYYiGxugR7k1SC43ywineZsMkuAW-VZw1ozS0zIid6ElEZOy2xDDKW0YJsLpXmINM6S8j3FjDt6Y9VR5CZ5y0AdG1978YeXCtaNQ1jy954fo6oGdfR_iTNPQy-bxJAT5wZ5Yrd0wXLV4/s1600/poptaste4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I followed its likely trail and saw a channel
of water in the marsh with beaver scent mounds on the edge of the
water, and perhaps a otter scent mound.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk17Hmt4uQfljhDL85DTOkd2xTNmVDPOZ4VAI391sON1u2s_r__qF9ilB5fVB_U_ZLwbkors8GKacBG3J7oNouvOBgUaYPv68c8-8egbVDoWR6wqxClT5i9QLYPxeWdJmB7wo51iRhdHY/s1600/sbmarsh4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk17Hmt4uQfljhDL85DTOkd2xTNmVDPOZ4VAI391sON1u2s_r__qF9ilB5fVB_U_ZLwbkors8GKacBG3J7oNouvOBgUaYPv68c8-8egbVDoWR6wqxClT5i9QLYPxeWdJmB7wo51iRhdHY/s1600/sbmarsh4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At least one pile of leaves had a scat on it.
Then I looked out in the marsh and saw something brown swimming
by, a muskrat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyzJpIfGXLxvzqjkYyfxWKGekVwEf_H4lYDO6osiHG5CJp-g_Md3GQlI4RsgvO-aSndKE8f-gEhsrWCTcli1KuVop1n1HzjFbcmdKCoMr3t8OqLiB2Gxgx__SM-EVXuvtEFfOOCisc9A/s1600/mrat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyzJpIfGXLxvzqjkYyfxWKGekVwEf_H4lYDO6osiHG5CJp-g_Md3GQlI4RsgvO-aSndKE8f-gEhsrWCTcli1KuVop1n1HzjFbcmdKCoMr3t8OqLiB2Gxgx__SM-EVXuvtEFfOOCisc9A/s1600/mrat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It seemed to pause to consider me, and then
nibbled something under the dead cattails. As I continued around
I noticed an easy passage to a little nob of land with a large
white oak on it. The ground underneath was moss covered. The
beavers had obviously dropped by. I could see fresh gnawing at
the edge of the gray swath of old gnawing.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRSc5OKiXIBQBybLvcG_o0cBEg-XBHFfHOTji0SOB-R0VhEGDwnilEvMn__Ca8kCp_ZFW4TeXe6TfXiDl2-yesqLy8MPiTvGhrvjjBRo76Y_EDTZxGHN_AkskWLmLmn-JeSUTSm167zM/s1600/sboak4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRSc5OKiXIBQBybLvcG_o0cBEg-XBHFfHOTji0SOB-R0VhEGDwnilEvMn__Ca8kCp_ZFW4TeXe6TfXiDl2-yesqLy8MPiTvGhrvjjBRo76Y_EDTZxGHN_AkskWLmLmn-JeSUTSm167zM/s1600/sboak4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And again, I saw a wee bit of otter scat at the
edge of the water. And in front of the oak there appeared to be a
possible rolling area. From this vantage there's a good view of
the creek pouring into South Bay and the New Pond knoll behind
it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_Te6q6Hd6-nH6Bz4gFBnkfYo8fFnjhr31eHkNNtV2hTuUB7hwki88c7jtbAThkM7OKyBVJb6WgjMFeuCekkN2neE4aVDhf9zIeHbWigT5I8iyF6DyWxs0-1DPHOKz1d4yWalKL2gCpY/s1600/npknoll4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_Te6q6Hd6-nH6Bz4gFBnkfYo8fFnjhr31eHkNNtV2hTuUB7hwki88c7jtbAThkM7OKyBVJb6WgjMFeuCekkN2neE4aVDhf9zIeHbWigT5I8iyF6DyWxs0-1DPHOKz1d4yWalKL2gCpY/s1600/npknoll4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, next I checked the latrine up there.
In the middle of the path on top, I found a dry scent mound and
then an area where the leaves had been spread about and there
were squirts of scat on the leaves.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_wuxUCNFbTvZ-uMZmZLuhRiHaWZdCsC4nCVN-Nke6rvmbpmiltoVyyIfubjcI44omOg8ZmmPgS_cGM5WOxYm01uGBQSAXKB57qHZBaraZIiESCeddNGqDbQJ_AVd35H1hnhfa75HCRc/s1600/scat4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_wuxUCNFbTvZ-uMZmZLuhRiHaWZdCsC4nCVN-Nke6rvmbpmiltoVyyIfubjcI44omOg8ZmmPgS_cGM5WOxYm01uGBQSAXKB57qHZBaraZIiESCeddNGqDbQJ_AVd35H1hnhfa75HCRc/s1600/scat4a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This otter is quite demonstrative in its leaf
scratching.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kRuZJCyLHhE7k1qwrqb1yQ9KmrGLc8r9SGjoSNXwB2bwWulx29t551CAi9XTOPdU129W_4YUgsTGh5SSCruLSbhVOTWSKxCqL5YSvuO45OKy-09DGPIqzv1BGXudoi0K-UNmoQcbjhk/s1600/npknollat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kRuZJCyLHhE7k1qwrqb1yQ9KmrGLc8r9SGjoSNXwB2bwWulx29t551CAi9XTOPdU129W_4YUgsTGh5SSCruLSbhVOTWSKxCqL5YSvuO45OKy-09DGPIqzv1BGXudoi0K-UNmoQcbjhk/s1600/npknollat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">From the north shore, I took a photo of the
knob of land where the gnawed oak stands -- a green oasis in the
tan marsh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkz4JF2XYeXKzK26IYQk70vp-iIH3Elk_9PlCX6jwhlxCwl_RKF68gNpuU6aUnIiqkCU3mQmjya9ialR6yBta-GdjNkJn8PW0K4JDJJRVG5-Kp0Mfll3St0l_kydwwC2ZUlBMzFTQTf-8/s1600/sboak4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkz4JF2XYeXKzK26IYQk70vp-iIH3Elk_9PlCX6jwhlxCwl_RKF68gNpuU6aUnIiqkCU3mQmjya9ialR6yBta-GdjNkJn8PW0K4JDJJRVG5-Kp0Mfll3St0l_kydwwC2ZUlBMzFTQTf-8/s1600/sboak4a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I think there is new, but not especially, fresh
scat at the latrine above the old South Bay dock. This is where I
thought a group of otters visited. Once again as I thought of
otters, I looked out into the river and saw a muskrat, swimming
into the marsh. At the next latrine, the docking rock, there
didn't seem to be anything new. I did pause at the end of the
South Bay cove, where the creeks run in, and I didn't see or hear
any fish. In some springs the bullheads try to run up these
creeks. Up at Audubon Pond, I could see that the beavers had cut
down the big ash they had been working on along the west shore.
The water level in the pond is still high, the drain well mudded,
and it seems to be effective because we haven't had that much
rain in the past few days. Over at the bench the geniuses who run
the state park have destroyed the bank beaver lodge there and
filled it, and a apron along the edge of the pond, with gray
gravel. This is an island of pink granite and the gray just
underscores their idiocy. The beavers were living in the lodge in
the middle of the pond so this travesty should not be too
inconvenient. I thought about going up to Meander Pond along the
north shore to keep the wind in front of me, but the southwest
wind is channeled by the ridge to the north and would be at my
back no matter which side of the ponds I walk on. As best I could
judge, the beavers continue to work on the southeast shore of
Meander Pond. From the dam along there I could look down on
stagnant water, which means they are tending the dam, and three
white oaks they are cutting.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8k8PRchGzuJCPgzJ1aYQPnardex8Ozp05A8RmY_syadlzd6dc7boUUQbrddJf7oKHFiw2Bkl28772092nyg0BTfLv3MM9P2MpI39iWnP15Ps6zyJV_9jVK28PQFuwp7zSY99_PsUXwsg/s1600/mpoaks4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8k8PRchGzuJCPgzJ1aYQPnardex8Ozp05A8RmY_syadlzd6dc7boUUQbrddJf7oKHFiw2Bkl28772092nyg0BTfLv3MM9P2MpI39iWnP15Ps6zyJV_9jVK28PQFuwp7zSY99_PsUXwsg/s1600/mpoaks4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When the days are long enough to come out after
dinner, I will park myself at this pond and try to see the
beavers in action. The cold kept the frog chori down. I heard one
peeper! The East Trail Pond was quiet. With the chill, the
turtles, frogs and minnows are not active. However, I did see a
groundhog on the slope east of the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrw0H1F7SKwvw6DOlu7cmaUPZn2t1SCzNPkh6rmVjONdqj0wZrMeBa2gmEXnOOSpMq3AZiu955d9ikVLrKPO1XFkG0KiY1ygDAN5-LCIdnDv9SYEOakhJb7Vq_5beQhaRFrRsY1-lzPc/s1600/ghog4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrw0H1F7SKwvw6DOlu7cmaUPZn2t1SCzNPkh6rmVjONdqj0wZrMeBa2gmEXnOOSpMq3AZiu955d9ikVLrKPO1XFkG0KiY1ygDAN5-LCIdnDv9SYEOakhJb7Vq_5beQhaRFrRsY1-lzPc/s1600/ghog4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had suggested that a raccoon was using the
hole in the ground over there. Now I stand corrected, it is the
home of a groundhog, which is exactly what it looks like. The
groundhog was nibbling some just green grasses, then I lost track
of it, because at the foot of the north slope I found a handsome
scent mound, though with no otter scat in it. I glared up and
down the slope and while I saw no new scats, I did see evidence
of activity at the rolling area. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3AMXssH7_z9DAUxkNUJhmfV3Oyo8jSFuVY4CuKqX53IXCdA12faWZIMyFNlLKYglX0weewOafHFNhGiQtcYOMXGjibMWzrnV3EGgnAV6Du0rztPrxNE_IuJHug1waYospMGYjBWKtEQ/s1600/etra4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik3AMXssH7_z9DAUxkNUJhmfV3Oyo8jSFuVY4CuKqX53IXCdA12faWZIMyFNlLKYglX0weewOafHFNhGiQtcYOMXGjibMWzrnV3EGgnAV6Du0rztPrxNE_IuJHug1waYospMGYjBWKtEQ/s1600/etra4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I don't think a groundhog or raccoon is doing
this. I crossed the dam and went up the slope, no scats there
either. The Second Swamp Pond looks higher and was quite empty of
critters. At most other ponds I at least send some wood ducks up
into the air when I approach. As I crossed the dam, I saw what
looked like fresh work around the small pool below the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wAfJBMUZe8NNjOFAxUS4aMjI3NV0cP7ieXWPphrB1mqREXI4RZmSZKIxf6ObR58gTTWN70oPZX_icCvQtBgFZJ-N6cHvc9_gtL2dqzGgxstK281BFIQMlbujEa0LSmcOTImzE6kSAQ4/s1600/belowspwk4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wAfJBMUZe8NNjOFAxUS4aMjI3NV0cP7ieXWPphrB1mqREXI4RZmSZKIxf6ObR58gTTWN70oPZX_icCvQtBgFZJ-N6cHvc9_gtL2dqzGgxstK281BFIQMlbujEa0LSmcOTImzE6kSAQ4/s1600/belowspwk4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This had been a major mall for beaver work two
year's ago and a bit last spring, and even though much of the
work had been on ash, which takes a long time to look old, this
work seemed too fresh to be from last year. Yet, it was not so
fresh as to be oozing sap, nor did I see a fresh trail in the
grass to it. I'll keep an eye on it, because if it is fresh work,
the beavers will probably get back to it. I saw some nibbled
sticks in the water at the dam and up on the dam. Plus there
seemed to be an ash crown in my way as I continued along the dam
that I don't recollect being there before. There was fresh mud
work on the dam, but the dam still leaks in many places.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Accis6V5G-a7hbKTgI4S3onc6XxsrfydT-up581npF68AdPLH5i3R0OVvLkdP77Be9nfeX9K_7nOKwZR6JaMswfqucu3WIEz0YidXwsHU1W-Jthm5gLZ2nlU_hazy3a0LSg-nyshRHY/s1600/spdam4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Accis6V5G-a7hbKTgI4S3onc6XxsrfydT-up581npF68AdPLH5i3R0OVvLkdP77Be9nfeX9K_7nOKwZR6JaMswfqucu3WIEz0YidXwsHU1W-Jthm5gLZ2nlU_hazy3a0LSg-nyshRHY/s1600/spdam4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At the spillover where the creek is, I could
see a tiny squirt of scat. So, as I headed up to the Lost Swamp,
I was seeing small signs of an otter making its rounds. I had
really not seen scent mounds and a big array of scat on the north
shore slope of the Lost Swamp Pond, which has always been an
otter bulletin board and major latrine. Today, not two feet from
the water, I saw a clump of grass with two large dollops of scat
on either end. Further up the slope I saw a new, quite black,
stringy otter scat, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1x2CYHoTne5hdegTHDdjTDI8ZLy8ICN4b8Y4OWBUfML0xE8MsXFKnN6WESmJdwQFIghJBs6vClXS29Vcx2LaH8CbB8u9YEiLBqgoBEaBt8swZpD6IYe7Te6b0xlxQQlFoLu3ZSOPbTs/s1600/scat4b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1x2CYHoTne5hdegTHDdjTDI8ZLy8ICN4b8Y4OWBUfML0xE8MsXFKnN6WESmJdwQFIghJBs6vClXS29Vcx2LaH8CbB8u9YEiLBqgoBEaBt8swZpD6IYe7Te6b0xlxQQlFoLu3ZSOPbTs/s1600/scat4b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but no scent mound. I walked up to the dam and
there were no scats up there. I paused watching the pond, hoping
for a beaver to appear. It was just about time for them to come
out, but all I saw was a muskrat on a log, nibbling away. It was
dinner time, so I hurried over to the Big Pond, and did see a
beaver there, swimming away from the dam, out in the middle of
the pond, collecting pollen in its mouth, assuming it wasn't just
gulping water. It dove and soon disappeared. The dam still leaks
and doesn't show evidence of recent work. I checked the otter
latrine at the south end of the dam, and there were two scats,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOkA8Lxp9T8o8lnXPo-PTlLJMMTKP6zT7uZot96VtEVLqIOXn9fe_T3sL82fqA28o4IPmk3fl2h_pBRVaP4WvAWPDhJFjAxe1Q3wIyh93oDfldlcseublMETCL4__lM0lcc1lsFwjTGg/s1600/scat4c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOkA8Lxp9T8o8lnXPo-PTlLJMMTKP6zT7uZot96VtEVLqIOXn9fe_T3sL82fqA28o4IPmk3fl2h_pBRVaP4WvAWPDhJFjAxe1Q3wIyh93oDfldlcseublMETCL4__lM0lcc1lsFwjTGg/s1600/scat4c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">ten yards off from the shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b2KnBwCnKbLPV-lfFZ6izFz-GkQmctgxBh15EDibwYJfpNjKn8n4GTJH63r3WR3HGoWVyEtqEq-WSXo2FYu_Sv6Eok7pg-efcfcN6TERf1KFMvfkrpenbNdrXkoRVz_4qxBp3ciwk0c/s1600/bplat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4b2KnBwCnKbLPV-lfFZ6izFz-GkQmctgxBh15EDibwYJfpNjKn8n4GTJH63r3WR3HGoWVyEtqEq-WSXo2FYu_Sv6Eok7pg-efcfcN6TERf1KFMvfkrpenbNdrXkoRVz_4qxBp3ciwk0c/s1600/bplat4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So the otter has been around here, or going
through these ponds for a week, and I still haven't seen it.
Perhaps as it gets warmer I will steal a few hours to sit still
and ponder, or I will get up at dawn, 5 am, and see what I can
see.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 6 the river finally calmed down, sunny and
clear with heat on the way. I was off in the boat by 8 am and
between Grinnell and Murray islands, briefly had a race with a
pair of buffleheads, but all in all, there are fewer ducks out on
the river. My first stop was down at the end of the Picton cove</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHCMrCABeGlIt1-QRYE6s2RAMl_W9JQFzXn4HfXRdZME7zQ6Wy2Gt2WH_ZHJ0NDs1_2xhZcQe20S3AakvkqGEFEwh5TG7etauDM8tA4AOOlRrgaxmD80TUeCzLkFpNf4ATpTheHTv9YQ/s1600/piccove6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHCMrCABeGlIt1-QRYE6s2RAMl_W9JQFzXn4HfXRdZME7zQ6Wy2Gt2WH_ZHJ0NDs1_2xhZcQe20S3AakvkqGEFEwh5TG7etauDM8tA4AOOlRrgaxmD80TUeCzLkFpNf4ATpTheHTv9YQ/s1600/piccove6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and two areas where the moss was dug out
prompted me to get out of the boat to investigate.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmq5X8wOIwq2TquDcsKPItVaRinm9xFyw5dFaZtMiALFjsuC2PNa8zOxrpHzMADAVWd_YWIhxGIJdiN1iLBpK2_prSzcsIN-zuni8G1H2OqZ6LEmzUpXrF0zMOBFS35QnSp4NBXDwn4o/s1600/picmoss6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmq5X8wOIwq2TquDcsKPItVaRinm9xFyw5dFaZtMiALFjsuC2PNa8zOxrpHzMADAVWd_YWIhxGIJdiN1iLBpK2_prSzcsIN-zuni8G1H2OqZ6LEmzUpXrF0zMOBFS35QnSp4NBXDwn4o/s1600/picmoss6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was on otter scat a couple weeks old, at
least, next to one of the patches where the moss was dug out. No
fresh scat that I could see. I rowed up to the beaver lodge, and
while that looks unused, I saw more work on the downed red oak
there, but not much more, and on the other side of the beaver
lodge I saw some gnawing at the base of another red oak. There is
very little vegetation yet in the river so if a beaver is here,
it must be getting most of its nutrition from the marsh at the
end of the cove. I flushed a couple of herons, but no osprey
today. One heron flew back and planted itself in the marsh as I
rowed away. As I got up on Picton point, I immediately saw three
otter scent mounds in a row, much dug out grass and some piles of
scats behind the scent mounds. Walking around the point, I saw
two rolling areas, almost connected,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU3oSkc3bxLyF2woPe1i7Ac3lyWE3Hj-fA1eenFPnOQZhVgCjzRqbrRtk65dVvzgnkoJktONjMU1QHlYyZxJgVOolhYJKwSRs_75ZBK0r_n0Y6RVw_9fh4FgXAr159qHPLjCaWd9eBxw/s1600/picra6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigU3oSkc3bxLyF2woPe1i7Ac3lyWE3Hj-fA1eenFPnOQZhVgCjzRqbrRtk65dVvzgnkoJktONjMU1QHlYyZxJgVOolhYJKwSRs_75ZBK0r_n0Y6RVw_9fh4FgXAr159qHPLjCaWd9eBxw/s1600/picra6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and scat above the top one and beside the lower
one, and one squirt in the dirt between them. One can't help but
picture a number of otters doing all of this. Most of the scats
were laced with crayfish parts,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXAdU8nlZe1IhkRoGCH_Ip_uJFYh9hQ-Eu-Ykg97Q_MX-7qTJwbMceVlCqAgf7vLes28x1xuH35VsRFzx8qyXa7sFxHyFfyhDJQ0nZMHbY4EbVhcCMrHA52Wt66Vn7qUgAgiDQKWw-2g/s1600/scatcray6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXAdU8nlZe1IhkRoGCH_Ip_uJFYh9hQ-Eu-Ykg97Q_MX-7qTJwbMceVlCqAgf7vLes28x1xuH35VsRFzx8qyXa7sFxHyFfyhDJQ0nZMHbY4EbVhcCMrHA52Wt66Vn7qUgAgiDQKWw-2g/s1600/scatcray6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but unlike last year, there were no large
crayfish claws littered about. Over at the Murray Island rock,
across Eel Bay, the usual rolling area looked unused, but on the
western face of the rock there were two areas of dug up moss, a
rolling area, a large scent mound, with pine cones on it,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQf45i4fqs_qR5xASLNYLF6yJcfjg5q-l8Jsj6sZjiyOpwoLBjB-pv6Cp5jnYDpDEAF9G1g3aYdy7fT0J-rjz61axXid9NPoDaDPgcmSaOBO0tdthPRIe2NIhpG10_qh-PJUCJAsoGX4/s1600/muescmd6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQf45i4fqs_qR5xASLNYLF6yJcfjg5q-l8Jsj6sZjiyOpwoLBjB-pv6Cp5jnYDpDEAF9G1g3aYdy7fT0J-rjz61axXid9NPoDaDPgcmSaOBO0tdthPRIe2NIhpG10_qh-PJUCJAsoGX4/s1600/muescmd6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but only one, and relatively fresh scat here
and there. Then I headed for the Narrows and checked the usual
latrine there. On the buxom moss forming a top edge along the
rock, there were several squirts of new scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJ4zp1cx-2sl93Ld7yfIR4muz85J-Edf0hgcWAEmOc4V2w-h6dOYSSXkz8XoTVbJHbWbi9vWE27gYx5DINnVyYCBr9qiaBdh5meRBVQaYCJ8Wsp2RSGQNEmdHn0y6aU1y7FgOXZsMkXY/s1600/narscat6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJ4zp1cx-2sl93Ld7yfIR4muz85J-Edf0hgcWAEmOc4V2w-h6dOYSSXkz8XoTVbJHbWbi9vWE27gYx5DINnVyYCBr9qiaBdh5meRBVQaYCJ8Wsp2RSGQNEmdHn0y6aU1y7FgOXZsMkXY/s1600/narscat6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Further up in the grass, there was a scent
mound. Down poking out of some grass on the rocks was some
saxifrage in bloom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsbjnwYFG4S_Qnka4w7Hn8PH7T4XWr9zPOZYcmiJAca_mptYrhQlIX_siO6h8jWaBYPf-1tEoR8_4f9grTnchsuaMdtLBctdJ8Wjz_6Sa_YkmgWSaNRmi7q8UZXNTcPtN4Rg57xW9bnc/s1600/saxif6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsbjnwYFG4S_Qnka4w7Hn8PH7T4XWr9zPOZYcmiJAca_mptYrhQlIX_siO6h8jWaBYPf-1tEoR8_4f9grTnchsuaMdtLBctdJ8Wjz_6Sa_YkmgWSaNRmi7q8UZXNTcPtN4Rg57xW9bnc/s1600/saxif6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Over the past few days I've seen
evidence of otters going full bore around the bays of the river.
I didn't check the docking rock where, when I last checked there
wasn't any new scat. I did go down to the point of land that
separates South Bay into two coves, and checked the rock where I
had seen the mother otter and her pup in early June of last year.
A little back into the marsh, I saw a row of scent mounds with
the one furthest from the water decorated with scat. The beavers
have been here too, judging from a sprouting root half devoured.
I ducked under the branches of the huge willow and checked the
other side of the rock. Here I saw beaver stripped sticks, and
beaver scent markings,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw82WW9m5eUtHI-Nxlx6KWQYSRRxjx8TnFweafYtiUBTLZZ97LZgGt_Q8-NglKyj7TrCZ0iT14YzXuOapKY_6FHSDqH-xjlH8YZUeYAVdeUQDCC-hOaMa1fc52eWZpu_vSFqQbBI-y-8U/s1600/bvrock6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw82WW9m5eUtHI-Nxlx6KWQYSRRxjx8TnFweafYtiUBTLZZ97LZgGt_Q8-NglKyj7TrCZ0iT14YzXuOapKY_6FHSDqH-xjlH8YZUeYAVdeUQDCC-hOaMa1fc52eWZpu_vSFqQbBI-y-8U/s1600/bvrock6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I was fancying that this was
the beaver side of the rock and the otters ruled the other side,
then I saw a smelly fresh otter scat right on a stick the beavers
had begun to strip.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnktUAGWDONY1NoFjuC6jbbfniYgKMWY2F8lf_xGJ-M6k4RS0LTajcheaNSjH8kfZgiL6XKS1MOb6kievl-RYHKNiSP9zH4MM2yEliTKrR_u-4eohp6bZFr1YNZuXQy3XFc0qW1Lf3u2A/s1600/scat6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnktUAGWDONY1NoFjuC6jbbfniYgKMWY2F8lf_xGJ-M6k4RS0LTajcheaNSjH8kfZgiL6XKS1MOb6kievl-RYHKNiSP9zH4MM2yEliTKrR_u-4eohp6bZFr1YNZuXQy3XFc0qW1Lf3u2A/s1600/scat6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were more smelly scats next
to the stick. There was also a completely stripped stick with
tooth marks in the stripped wood.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCm-r4HWSKAaeXUqw5fcOMk3a6S_MOuSAHZrDMBjyQs-jwx3-My9Fomq1ThdjaVhWdagAlUlyFcYyLvZAEL61Wz8D0WtkQ0iOmTHZsdRDIEDdPsm_LarIGfc5tPiNb66Iil3C19qR3jg/s1600/bvlog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCm-r4HWSKAaeXUqw5fcOMk3a6S_MOuSAHZrDMBjyQs-jwx3-My9Fomq1ThdjaVhWdagAlUlyFcYyLvZAEL61Wz8D0WtkQ0iOmTHZsdRDIEDdPsm_LarIGfc5tPiNb66Iil3C19qR3jg/s1600/bvlog6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Evidently the beaver could not get
enough of this bark. These were the freshest otter scats I've
seen in a long time. If I have the energy, I will try to get out
by 5 am soon and see if I can see the otter or otters. I have a
hunch it is more than one. Coming into South Bay I saw a
fisherman at my spot for catching perch, and when I looked down
in the water I saw a line of perch swimming to the north a good
50 yards long. I spotted two large bass swimming along with them.
I asked the fisherman if he had any luck. He said the fish
weren't biting today, though he got quite a few yesterday.</span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">We worked on the garden and then had dinner. I
checked the Deep Pond to see if otters had dropped in there. They
hadn't, which somewhat cut me. I had been proud of the fish in my
pond, but evidently the otters no longer care. Walking down to
the pond, I was struck by the shad bush blossoms. I began
rhapsodizing about how these delicate blossoms</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixq2dKxsFa1LaK0OwqRXPWCSS1N0UnMTXAXOgBCOmMEIR-aVbGYZ2UnsYjlgpI2qMmGgT_5EfUSj8iYbkm_gkVSlS3yQ-XYt6BLoC4XQHeputLSt9PrHwxiZdjDkmltD3eKZF8bB5ZfFs/s1600/shadblos6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixq2dKxsFa1LaK0OwqRXPWCSS1N0UnMTXAXOgBCOmMEIR-aVbGYZ2UnsYjlgpI2qMmGgT_5EfUSj8iYbkm_gkVSlS3yQ-XYt6BLoC4XQHeputLSt9PrHwxiZdjDkmltD3eKZF8bB5ZfFs/s1600/shadblos6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">were the true sign of spring, eclipsing the
many colorful groundlings, with stately yet delicate skybursts
that, after all, presage a thick canopy of leaves that will throw
the spring flowers into the shade. Then along the knoll at the
corner of the Deep Pond, I saw the trillium full out, glowing
perfection, and I was soon on my knees.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4OQJcwp01fcAGB1A0FWH7zYNlA3YlV9pvyslKovrAEfmg_x24Ed1pFYtiAFaA762U8cKlj3NfFOkajsYhJWj6hNQ7qZTJCzVdb-5qPYOnH_KrwTYJ5ATyP9TSLuV0pFsc4stpsSYL5w/s1600/trilliums6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4OQJcwp01fcAGB1A0FWH7zYNlA3YlV9pvyslKovrAEfmg_x24Ed1pFYtiAFaA762U8cKlj3NfFOkajsYhJWj6hNQ7qZTJCzVdb-5qPYOnH_KrwTYJ5ATyP9TSLuV0pFsc4stpsSYL5w/s1600/trilliums6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile along the shore, I saw some digging
in the mud -- snapping turtle, muskrat, deer? I'm not sure.
Coming down to the pond I flushed a turkey, a hen, and she was
swift a foot and proved to be a strong flyer and went over the
high trees. At the same time, the hawk flew off. Leaving the
pond, going up the road, I saw a small porcupine high in the buds
on a tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9DNKkbT7A7mHD-grWRPogRJFiQ-JTPnI22Lv6s9KMWOQdtE130ms0kV23raPdEUFSG2dqTFkzne0_ZD7_WoVB5An7gRnrIOQZVKMlDJOHvUOl752DYZNA0-AbmszvzPLHPLjUROvSV0/s1600/ppine6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9DNKkbT7A7mHD-grWRPogRJFiQ-JTPnI22Lv6s9KMWOQdtE130ms0kV23raPdEUFSG2dqTFkzne0_ZD7_WoVB5An7gRnrIOQZVKMlDJOHvUOl752DYZNA0-AbmszvzPLHPLjUROvSV0/s1600/ppine6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After dinner I went to check out the beavers.
The wind was very light from the east so I tried to find a
vantage point at the southwest corner of the Teepee Pond. I hoped
a beaver would swim down and then waddle over into the pool of
water in the valley. I saw three beavers and none of them got
close to me. One went to the dam, relatively nearby. One of the
other two went to the saw pile, and the other went to the
opposite shore. At one point I heard loud splashing but didn't
seen any ripples which means a beaver must have slapped and
sloshed in one of the small pools below the dam. I moved to get a
better view, and made enough noise to get a tail slap, but the
slapper didn't flee. It actually swam down closer to me, and I
was standing behind some very recent and neat gnawing.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYzHU713Bl7NTo_YJRYxWE_a9ZmoGSXEOaGDk9ZDj5_G_eVk7ceocjqCvrovnfDf65f1U7uxV3EedXzuuNfNzKRqeNJ-fQQ9Q1ocMJloj7tlX5EbiAl56x7H_b80lyzy-QMgvxvBBQrE/s1600/tpbvwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYzHU713Bl7NTo_YJRYxWE_a9ZmoGSXEOaGDk9ZDj5_G_eVk7ceocjqCvrovnfDf65f1U7uxV3EedXzuuNfNzKRqeNJ-fQQ9Q1ocMJloj7tlX5EbiAl56x7H_b80lyzy-QMgvxvBBQrE/s1600/tpbvwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I lost track of it as it swam where I had been
before. When I saw a beaver appear well up pond, I thought
perhaps it had sensed me and swam back there underwater. I even
moved up on a rock to get a better view, and then a small beaver
swam right below me. Nibbling what looked like dead twigs hanging
over the water, and diving for things under water. Finally it
noticed me, slapped and swam up pond. A larger beaver swam into
the middle of the pond, paused, and then swam up pond too, and I
lost sight of it. The slapping beaver did not go up to the lodge,
or a burrow. It went back over to the far shore of the pond and
found something to nibble.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, a kingfisher was also
entertaining me and the peepers were going by fits and starts. As
it got dark a beaver swam down from the lodge all the way down to
where I had first sat. However, it didn't go over to the valley
pool. I could hear it gnawing away. Meanwhile in the gloaming I
saw a beaver eating some grass up on a far shore. I still have to
see these beavers at dawn to be more sure, but I think the two
year olds have left; that there are three yearlings, and that
they are smaller and less adventurous than last year's yearlings.
I think the mother is pregnant again, and perhaps has already
given birth. Or so I think, based on slim evidence. The woodcock
was beeping in the field again and I think I saw a whip-poor-will
fly by, but we didn't hear one. Finally, while lounging in the
cabin after dinner, we saw a rose breasted grosbeak eating bugs
in the nearby trees.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkWAVIghMcZj6rDRwVSvXfd2OcPHn0dXiMYbU8OEB0TYZRN3g-kJdgDfobxO6m3ol41dZWyx8FEJm5iuQ9XPvlj905liJzr5iFB_flOE8-b_LHn_TxkxpccDxcFHTMZ42OLHYMLdSKm0/s1600/gbeak6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkWAVIghMcZj6rDRwVSvXfd2OcPHn0dXiMYbU8OEB0TYZRN3g-kJdgDfobxO6m3ol41dZWyx8FEJm5iuQ9XPvlj905liJzr5iFB_flOE8-b_LHn_TxkxpccDxcFHTMZ42OLHYMLdSKm0/s1600/gbeak6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-81494993960470993922016-11-22T10:35:00.001-08:002016-11-22T10:35:46.509-08:00April 25 to 29, 2005<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 25 on my hike yesterday I
dropped my spyglass as I decided to video rather than scope a
muskrat swimming away from the beaver bank lodge under the
comfortable knoll overlooking the Second Swamp Pond where I
usually sit. So I had a chance to check the South Bay causeway
latrine again. There was a fresh otter scat just up from the back
of the causeway and I thought I could see a trail in the grass
down to the stream, as opposed to the Bay.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQxG_n9QQvtwRJ8MiLAztnqYNa_1H6EVw86M2ZSkcaQWLBBWsQKWaYW9OukZ5rVasG1f2_l5_5z3K5_RcG_cCFmsH-Z-05ZL4FjRGLuBXIFDdruYuPDU8ZFSwEq3TKlBASZyzw6RsIZE/s1600/sbcscat26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQxG_n9QQvtwRJ8MiLAztnqYNa_1H6EVw86M2ZSkcaQWLBBWsQKWaYW9OukZ5rVasG1f2_l5_5z3K5_RcG_cCFmsH-Z-05ZL4FjRGLuBXIFDdruYuPDU8ZFSwEq3TKlBASZyzw6RsIZE/s1600/sbcscat26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps this indicates that the
otter is marking to keep other otters from coming up stream,
rather than making an encircling claim on the bounty of South
Bay. Then I took the short cut over the ridge to Otter Hole Pond,
enjoying a little chill drizzling mist on the way. All was quiet
in the diminished pond and I'll have to check all the shores on a
drier day. I peaked over the ridge where some trillium usually
is, but saw none coming up. However, flowers are slower to sprout
on the Island cooled by the surrounding water. I crossed the
Second Swamp Pond dam and didn't see any fresh scat, though I
must say, this year and last, the scat I've seen around here has
often seemed dry even when I knew it had to be fresh. Before I
got to the knoll I admired a porcupine in a tree high up in the
chilly wind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPfCSNPYEIrZOJSeH3L38Rq25s3A8hYSrOY9o84csMfwYPK7qoYyTGbg4XXXa-pWol4tgwsZrRzzNPXHqgOZqTIFkL7MvJsC1WlmfRcfLoQcb8iX3rAH5JJUgPI-clxs1IL8sBvJ41x0/s1600/ppine25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPfCSNPYEIrZOJSeH3L38Rq25s3A8hYSrOY9o84csMfwYPK7qoYyTGbg4XXXa-pWol4tgwsZrRzzNPXHqgOZqTIFkL7MvJsC1WlmfRcfLoQcb8iX3rAH5JJUgPI-clxs1IL8sBvJ41x0/s1600/ppine25.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I retrieved my spyglass and since
it was not good weather to lounge and watch the pond, I headed to
the East Trail Pond with the wind in my favor and a hunch that it
was here that I would see the otter. But there was no sign of it,
and the recent rain had enlarged the pond. On the way home I
checked the New Pond knoll and saw nothing new. Then back along
the South Bay trail an osprey entertained me as it hovered and
glided in the still west wind screeching, I think, to an osprey
beyond the ridge, that, now and then screeched back.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 26 I got to our land in the
late afternoon and checked the ponds. I approached the First Pond
from the east, facing the wind, and after seeing no fresh beaver
work in that area, I sat under one of the pines again to see if a
beaver might come out early. One of the nearby pines, a bushy
beauty about 15 feet tall had been cut down by the beaver despite the
base of its trunk being wrapped with tar paper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeG7oPHjdP7nfvcyB32HpnG6gLfhxnwy5QzS330QX42FnruyeFwIy1djp57zaRpCj3twInfWaq3v-XYf0I6KywccIQPvKMPzciSU2AY8RYjHDafVE4t70UnFqrdll5d5MIeGQM0sj7mA/s1600/pinecut26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeG7oPHjdP7nfvcyB32HpnG6gLfhxnwy5QzS330QX42FnruyeFwIy1djp57zaRpCj3twInfWaq3v-XYf0I6KywccIQPvKMPzciSU2AY8RYjHDafVE4t70UnFqrdll5d5MIeGQM0sj7mA/s1600/pinecut26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers had trimmed a few
branches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYyZEug5iraPfB2725kUsAqpjkQpAaMrNgNHCsF5qRPn_hRhQySMY2QsW_2zimED47IvAB2glrcAgfe_Omr5UsWo0MrLvUCKh-Fa-SWx-qkI6KSuvuftyQLiwyTiVdLa82SIvu_pvogA/s1600/pinetrim26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYyZEug5iraPfB2725kUsAqpjkQpAaMrNgNHCsF5qRPn_hRhQySMY2QsW_2zimED47IvAB2glrcAgfe_Omr5UsWo0MrLvUCKh-Fa-SWx-qkI6KSuvuftyQLiwyTiVdLa82SIvu_pvogA/s1600/pinetrim26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Once again I am surprised how
interested these beavers are in trees right next to the pond.
There were a few strips taken out of the trunk, said to be used
to make the interior of lodges more comfortable. Small as it is
this pond has a complicated system of burrows and assuming that
the mother is pregnant again and about to give birth, the other
beavers may be shifting their beds to another burrow. No beavers
came out, but the peepers were quite sonorous, with always some
wit of a peeper going off beat or trilling or making some
stunningly sapient sound, but only for a few seconds. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After
dinner in the cabin, we both came back to the pond. I let
Leslie go first. It's best to approach one at a time and she has
been too busy for beaver watching. When I got there she reported
a good bit of action. Two beavers going down pond, and one
returning, and a small beaver following a larger beaver and even
diving below it. When I arrived there was a large beaver in the
upper end of the pond. I tried to stay still and trust the slight
south wind that afforded us some anonymity, but it soon slapped
its tail and dove. We did not have long to wait for another
beaver to come out, one with an entirely different demeanor. It
swam to the now flooded channel between the two ponds and began
gnawing on a stripped stick. Then swam over to my saw pile, which
still has a bit of unsawed logs, but it stayed in the water and
gnawed the bark off a gnarly willow log half on shore. Then it
swam closer to us, nose up, didn't take alarm and swam over to
the far side of the pond where it found something to eat that
brought it up on the bank, something small, because I couldn't
see it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then we were entertained by two small beavers. One swam
quite fast like it was catching up after sleeping late. They both
went down along the dam, and then over to the far bank. One
returned to the lodge and the other stayed leaving two beavers
over there when we left. Another large beaver came back and swam
and down pond and then back up seeming to gulp the water as it
went with its nose bobbing gently up and down. My theory is that
the beaver is harvesting some of the pollen collecting on the
pond, though I must say there is not much of it on this pond. On
its return it angled close to us. I had a choice between getting
a photo or a video and since I had some good video of the beaver
gnawing the willow, I opted for a photo. Just after I snapped a
photo, with the flash going off,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsAzfEqHx_7VnoZqPJFr-nLvQFjRWX8lySMH-wZ8mQGE5kb5a1Ksnmy4gYBPZ_5Zs3G4ZHuiu7dWaXTWgtWQip1Vd7y9hpm-9bxWDE4GxzWjtB0MtZXtIZtav2KdGo6_l_VYUIZQfGbc/s1600/bv26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnsAzfEqHx_7VnoZqPJFr-nLvQFjRWX8lySMH-wZ8mQGE5kb5a1Ksnmy4gYBPZ_5Zs3G4ZHuiu7dWaXTWgtWQip1Vd7y9hpm-9bxWDE4GxzWjtB0MtZXtIZtav2KdGo6_l_VYUIZQfGbc/s1600/bv26.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">the beaver threw its hind legs up
so high that we thought it was going to flip over and then it
dove in the water with a kick. Too bad I hadn't taken a video. It
didn't resurface. The whole time the peepers were going and now
and then a leopard frog.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 27 clouds and chill in
morning, then showers and then at 4 pm when I was ready to go
out, the sun came out along with warm breezes. I stuck to the
route I've been taking, heading over the TI Park ridge down to
the South Bay trail. Earlier we noticed an osprey taking this
same route from its nest on the navigational cell in the river.
And as I came down to South Bay, I heard an osprey calling. An
otter has been back to the latrine on the little causeway,
fluffing up and scatting on a new scent mound a few feet to the
north of the old one.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9STcnuwzvcXMZidHYmOyp2OwNYnl-Ur00NLgES6tVkfBaaHKfPH_DX8XFqL-g_0z8123QRVql9FSBpE3QSi0wFl15l92MDZ6r6jK-z0Yjv_pGd4tDzUEAIzeYqPcQUE0g9N1-uarS9wk/s1600/sbscmd27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9STcnuwzvcXMZidHYmOyp2OwNYnl-Ur00NLgES6tVkfBaaHKfPH_DX8XFqL-g_0z8123QRVql9FSBpE3QSi0wFl15l92MDZ6r6jK-z0Yjv_pGd4tDzUEAIzeYqPcQUE0g9N1-uarS9wk/s1600/sbscmd27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Instead of continuing onto the New
Pond knoll, I went out to check the beaver lodge by the willow on
the north shore of the south cove of the bay. This is where a
beaver lodged last summer and where I saw an otter eating a
carp, two years ago, and have seen fish remains over the years. I've
never approached this area by land so early in the spring, and
thanks to the sparse vegetation, I could get a better view of the
willow area</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy11r41CN48qX_1QKtEgyz3BS5CMpZKDQpPPJ0mH5dmn5gxj3l76tjKWeMH-FZ_e5hk9GhN3Ji-RmJeOekqgx_fy5YRFgb7ggi_7fl5KF45N7Bh0B35Wkw75plN0T_mawkgsyVvMhM9Y/s1600/sbwil27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy11r41CN48qX_1QKtEgyz3BS5CMpZKDQpPPJ0mH5dmn5gxj3l76tjKWeMH-FZ_e5hk9GhN3Ji-RmJeOekqgx_fy5YRFgb7ggi_7fl5KF45N7Bh0B35Wkw75plN0T_mawkgsyVvMhM9Y/s1600/sbwil27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which when leaves are all out will
be quite closed out from the world. On some flattened dead cattails
beside the lodge, I saw two large gray otter scats.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiQqwx7nNRBTsxDWNsS_HR8SQ5sNNAEB3VgqGQJSC48f3ft9pCF43wJmI3od4hGUY3BRcSRPC5TzMCccW2USLCDIM9yfdKpEt2LdZJAJY0z5ByhpJvrgLrWJc2akJYb_RpRY6Lnt-X0U/s1600/sbwilscat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiQqwx7nNRBTsxDWNsS_HR8SQ5sNNAEB3VgqGQJSC48f3ft9pCF43wJmI3od4hGUY3BRcSRPC5TzMCccW2USLCDIM9yfdKpEt2LdZJAJY0z5ByhpJvrgLrWJc2akJYb_RpRY6Lnt-X0U/s1600/sbwilscat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So an otter has been here, after a
scaly meal.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWnZAdUUxzCpPLzql0PnlO-oKV5nX7X23ZhrrE1S7dpOEOnCMKkjTAt9QbdANfyQZMYB-IuI0s4ybjVAdzb-gW1YV5dYjaLYKCnG6gIgyFFYJnhUQQtFH08EHZkAusZ2kT0QgEmmaUOA/s1600/sbwilscat27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWnZAdUUxzCpPLzql0PnlO-oKV5nX7X23ZhrrE1S7dpOEOnCMKkjTAt9QbdANfyQZMYB-IuI0s4ybjVAdzb-gW1YV5dYjaLYKCnG6gIgyFFYJnhUQQtFH08EHZkAusZ2kT0QgEmmaUOA/s1600/sbwilscat27a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were no scats on the lodge,
nor any sign that a beaver had been using it.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxiiJxrgLTPaeXoEl4FnFS8dkvYFeOPG2jil00H4y-OS-eTWaVYG73lGv7-xz5JC6YzGNA6bM6TUL9VJX77tMrzUnoWi6Kmp0W4QcwC239jvtLfEVwx6WLkp-w-GxyDL-fUSOvSUWUbDE/s1600/sblodge27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxiiJxrgLTPaeXoEl4FnFS8dkvYFeOPG2jil00H4y-OS-eTWaVYG73lGv7-xz5JC6YzGNA6bM6TUL9VJX77tMrzUnoWi6Kmp0W4QcwC239jvtLfEVwx6WLkp-w-GxyDL-fUSOvSUWUbDE/s1600/sblodge27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crawled into the willow and
found a seat on the part of the trunk that hugs the ground. With
the leaves just coming out this provided a good view and the
gulls that flew by didn't seem to notice me. Then herons flew
across the bay, one perching and then fishing on the far shore. A
muskrat swam out from the cattail marsh and dove about 30 yards
out in the bay, after an osprey screeched. I thought the muskrat
might be reacting to the osprey, but after it surfaced and swam
further out into the bay, the osprey flew right over it and
neither seemed to notice the other. I finally noticed fresh
beaver work on the willow, but nothing major.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oXBrNNPFmHjRqlikri2j_NSK9W5UNm72XQDAvZ1RDPXVlc39NmvjiG0XjeKNwTItpI71p13v8r8DGO_AquLLOBcuMXztAKYF2y3IfYNXkcjQ1DpbHyZOwcMw7Dw76SaxGs_N4OycG6U/s1600/sbwilwk27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oXBrNNPFmHjRqlikri2j_NSK9W5UNm72XQDAvZ1RDPXVlc39NmvjiG0XjeKNwTItpI71p13v8r8DGO_AquLLOBcuMXztAKYF2y3IfYNXkcjQ1DpbHyZOwcMw7Dw76SaxGs_N4OycG6U/s1600/sbwilwk27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After a nice fifteen minutes of
observations, I continued on to the New Pond knoll, where I saw a
fresh otter scat added to an old scent mound.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpcTuiY9niVhIXrcx0ldKBonVZzVBTnMR44jTLM9tZ54yB05vqmGyyUacFDhMHJSQGtGwVbDsLQ6yYgLP1BzOoryqnM6PtFR05gQ1ouuBqs9hwnnqn-AycyVb-wFVlDNvbpkmKLHRzLU/s1600/npscmd27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpcTuiY9niVhIXrcx0ldKBonVZzVBTnMR44jTLM9tZ54yB05vqmGyyUacFDhMHJSQGtGwVbDsLQ6yYgLP1BzOoryqnM6PtFR05gQ1ouuBqs9hwnnqn-AycyVb-wFVlDNvbpkmKLHRzLU/s1600/npscmd27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I checked the latrine just up
from the old dock at the end of South Bay, where I had seen
leaves scuffed up, and today I saw fresh scat on the leaves, with
one part formed into a scent mound, and then an area of scat on
the leaves</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pFwHvsMjPasMiAxjngWRzrx1Zs4WJ05rTXELRcjXcmI_uNR5_vEmJInaVw9jWVPI3ys9hoXJxHkfo6gh_8qtVMoe0rwRG5X1Jg51U0PFE9MPD28dgNZis_gDisRfpSegfiz01uDUCPU/s1600/sbdocklat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pFwHvsMjPasMiAxjngWRzrx1Zs4WJ05rTXELRcjXcmI_uNR5_vEmJInaVw9jWVPI3ys9hoXJxHkfo6gh_8qtVMoe0rwRG5X1Jg51U0PFE9MPD28dgNZis_gDisRfpSegfiz01uDUCPU/s1600/sbdocklat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and one large scat on the grass
below the leaves. Plus most of these scats did not have that dry
graying look I usually see. A photo of one reveals crayfish
parts.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_72YtjgVYjfs_KAW-saNoXnn1_DeOosA6Yyx1OXtbR6DtClIEaJi3j2Tom4TOQ4lCoUDlyMIXgnadhF0cTdbhtqZ_WUIskEKNWro6RHAzWzHEw1tjl6_zGNyuZ0fa48Vp4hNDf1US1o/s1600/scat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_72YtjgVYjfs_KAW-saNoXnn1_DeOosA6Yyx1OXtbR6DtClIEaJi3j2Tom4TOQ4lCoUDlyMIXgnadhF0cTdbhtqZ_WUIskEKNWro6RHAzWzHEw1tjl6_zGNyuZ0fa48Vp4hNDf1US1o/s1600/scat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Is it possible the four otters
have returned? Anyway, otters are fishing in this bay, and why
not, some common terns were flying over, calling harshly to each
other when they weren't diving for fish, and I saw one wiggle a
fish down its gullet as it flew. A bit further up the shore, I
saw a porcupine almost as nimble as a monkey out on the end of a
large willow branch bending well over the water.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejOObwoYeKt7_Jxhu6PXHjvfaLOWPm_8jrk91Rc5Sewm8-FwyCTO9uqWZtkMW-bZnBAfYFqSYLEyGsotYiTol0qiRjhgOvybNhid-Flauxk35Yl54Desy14MYaDuYo8HVuTXzbC2UCQg/s1600/ppwil27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejOObwoYeKt7_Jxhu6PXHjvfaLOWPm_8jrk91Rc5Sewm8-FwyCTO9uqWZtkMW-bZnBAfYFqSYLEyGsotYiTol0qiRjhgOvybNhid-Flauxk35Yl54Desy14MYaDuYo8HVuTXzbC2UCQg/s1600/ppwil27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The porcupine was reaching up and
pulling down the budding sports coming out of the branch.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpFFO2eLr9rX7plkzRYZyk1UnlX9Tmwo2p10LbxUVGX5OfkfWyAy27v5xgvy4-p3Dh4IS2JxiVBnxGZ3tc35L4Z6xaF1_dTmCiOWF35yy3dfo4IUwVm-4L52qQP3RYY-fkk_Vj0JH05g/s1600/ppwil27a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpFFO2eLr9rX7plkzRYZyk1UnlX9Tmwo2p10LbxUVGX5OfkfWyAy27v5xgvy4-p3Dh4IS2JxiVBnxGZ3tc35L4Z6xaF1_dTmCiOWF35yy3dfo4IUwVm-4L52qQP3RYY-fkk_Vj0JH05g/s1600/ppwil27a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now and then it would cut a small,
still green branch, take it in its paws and manipulate it so it
could get at the buds. I had credited beavers for the small green
willow branches that I'd see floating under a willow. The
porcupine was quite wrapped up in its foraging and didn't notice
me, which was sensible because, standing right on shore, I
blocked any path to safety. At first glance it didn't look like
the otters had been at the docking rock along the South Bay
shore, at least not at their usual spots on a log, half way up
the slope to the log or on the rock. But a week ago I had noticed
some roughed up leaves a yard west of the usual spots, and today
there was a scat atop one of the small piles of leaves, but only
one.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-ClYWXS935AeDZoWAucEfYssJLwlqt2ZV4YS_aSobZLzA93lxuN2sJoIfMOenii30J5piPLD82bPOOJMdpzWeg-nWaI0FI7ZNv47IVFmTFG25pvdT4JU8Jn_-mWEpIPPV7CD0twRE4I/s1600/drlat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-ClYWXS935AeDZoWAucEfYssJLwlqt2ZV4YS_aSobZLzA93lxuN2sJoIfMOenii30J5piPLD82bPOOJMdpzWeg-nWaI0FI7ZNv47IVFmTFG25pvdT4JU8Jn_-mWEpIPPV7CD0twRE4I/s1600/drlat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed up to Audubon Pond. If
the group of four males otters was back, I think that pond is on
their route. Back in January I saw four slides swoop in off the
river channel, check that pond and then return to the channel. As
I came up to the pond the usual pair of geese moved off the
causeway into the pond, and a muskrat swam off of the embankment.
It dove before I could get a group photo. I walked along the
causeway, passed a freshly gnawed ash, trying in vain to see
otter scat amidst the goose poops, and near the burrow there a
muskrat did a snap dive. Then I noticed that it resurfaced under
the branches that beavers, years ago, had propped up on the bank
to cover their burrow. Even when I stepped closer the muskrat
didn't twitch.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGr8kHHwepcoW34nTWMj-qj7Fn-B057vxZAF5XIqYSKXlpc0ZCFBLnaGe2DAntPCljlTC6QtIHnpAQKtazHeh5HVkZBo-IjR3G6CXGfeRUicfrG2mgUwsicGu2aOhQNcCUP1JMcrK4DVg/s1600/mrathide27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGr8kHHwepcoW34nTWMj-qj7Fn-B057vxZAF5XIqYSKXlpc0ZCFBLnaGe2DAntPCljlTC6QtIHnpAQKtazHeh5HVkZBo-IjR3G6CXGfeRUicfrG2mgUwsicGu2aOhQNcCUP1JMcrK4DVg/s1600/mrathide27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I continued along the
causeway, I noticed a bolt of sunlight swimming quickly toward
the far shore of the pond. I could see through the glare with my
spyglass and saw that it was a beaver. It swam directly to the
shore and got out, but it didn't look like it was marking. I
hurried around to the bench and by that time it was just off the
shore nibbling a stick and then headed toward the embankment. I
was preparing to video that when another beaver popped out of the
nearby lodge and slapped its tail and that made another muskrat
dive with a snap of its tail just to my right. The slapping
beaver gave me the usual treatment, a slap about every fifteen
seconds. So I studied the other beaver to see how it might react.
It stayed off shore and swam slowly back and forth below the
embankment. Probably not what it planned to do, but certainly it
wasn't trying to hide because of the slapper's alarm. Then a tern
began flying around the pond, diving once, and I wasted video
tape trying to capture another dive. While my eyes were locked in
that endeavor, there was a loud splash right in front of me.
Slapper came closer to make its point, and then swam, slapping
some more, to the center of the pond. After taking a video of the
cache beside the lodge, which shows some evidence of being eaten,
I left the beavers in peace, heading around the west shore of the
pond on my way to check another otter latrine along the upper
reaches of South Bay. I stopped to take a photo of a beaver scent
mound placed on top of a large knob of an ant hill,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_7b8bk0VJdvERgadwK1z_vD4C2i_uPbV_wgbOX6P8A8OEBSd7gVAtlT-BbeZQBB-ajAAOK0VMOe_2bRSU6wjYBxILhq2RzlFqbO78Z7DakoYptCCJ6J3mZFU6d5XT3CJ_fjHzJAV6iQ/s1600/apbvscmd27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_7b8bk0VJdvERgadwK1z_vD4C2i_uPbV_wgbOX6P8A8OEBSd7gVAtlT-BbeZQBB-ajAAOK0VMOe_2bRSU6wjYBxILhq2RzlFqbO78Z7DakoYptCCJ6J3mZFU6d5XT3CJ_fjHzJAV6iQ/s1600/apbvscmd27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">something a beaver did last spring
too, and then when I looked up I saw that I had just missed
seeing a beaver make a scent mound on the embankment behind the
drain. I saw the last tail wiggle and the smear of dark leaves
and mud left behind. The beaver got back into the pond, and as it
swam around the drain, I got my camcorder ready in case it had
more marking to do. Then I noticed the other beaver angling
toward the embankment much closer to me. I stopped, fortunately
in what little shade there is at this time of year. The beaver
went to the shore and fished out a long thin stick and took that
just up on the ground and started nibbling. Then the other beaver
swam toward it. I've seen shoving matches result from this
situation but this time, the approaching beaver got up on shore
next to the other beaver, found its own little stick and started
nibbling. Then it moved behind the other beaver, and began
grooming itself. Then when it went back to its stick, the other
beaver groomed itself. Soon enough the second beaver, slightly
smaller, moved behind the other again,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaV6tp2O2SWoBiEc5h7Ec-7agKIrUFBeXuRVpsH5iqODcG4tUDJ4YgtUSZ3uvBwmhIbrklIzrqnYbwO6quSmPwEmfhRsl-HZ17diVMhEdI8gckYuEcTDGfCxn3WePisMIiILDlhx586U/s1600/bvsgroom27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaV6tp2O2SWoBiEc5h7Ec-7agKIrUFBeXuRVpsH5iqODcG4tUDJ4YgtUSZ3uvBwmhIbrklIzrqnYbwO6quSmPwEmfhRsl-HZ17diVMhEdI8gckYuEcTDGfCxn3WePisMIiILDlhx586U/s1600/bvsgroom27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">the other turned and they mutually
groomed each other around their heads. This pond is quite exposed
with no cover along the shore at this time of year when no
grasses have grown up, save for a small cattail marsh on the
north shore. This south embankment was completely exposed to the
bright setting sun, everything seeming more brilliant because the
day had been damp and cloudy. All to say that I was entranced.
They finished in a few minutes and then both went to the shore,
side by side, and reached in to find a stick to nibble.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMg5B0mY99avQ_ZD5KZ7GbmZh26JzeBlyeODOh1S6imnm-GsJsp0KinO0a5wsM2tZMqrTgZX4vZ3oYplLrtRt974qJXua5FgjAwgiShB2k0OT2DDoyNSCq_7xeW_obyJszL3HKH3xlOj4/s1600/bvs27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMg5B0mY99avQ_ZD5KZ7GbmZh26JzeBlyeODOh1S6imnm-GsJsp0KinO0a5wsM2tZMqrTgZX4vZ3oYplLrtRt974qJXua5FgjAwgiShB2k0OT2DDoyNSCq_7xeW_obyJszL3HKH3xlOj4/s1600/bvs27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">When I tried to move to the edge
of my shade to get a little closer, I snapped a stick. They both
pushed into the pond, and I got an action photo of them swimming
away framed by their recent work on a large ash that I had been
standing behind.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8OAgTH7eZ_-CHDuirXxxnP8lg0IRRygAw1EeqhIp_d02N6FJjqPQE2ci24ROQ4hyphenhyphenh0Hc4Z7rlqUXOop0m3wMgzUJfEQy-F1vcB9X43ssiHq1kYi4k_pXYTPboJDcPcDod-gVKtfvAgg/s1600/bvsapwk27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8OAgTH7eZ_-CHDuirXxxnP8lg0IRRygAw1EeqhIp_d02N6FJjqPQE2ci24ROQ4hyphenhyphenh0Hc4Z7rlqUXOop0m3wMgzUJfEQy-F1vcB9X43ssiHq1kYi4k_pXYTPboJDcPcDod-gVKtfvAgg/s1600/bvsapwk27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One slapped its tail and continued
to slap, and the other disappeared. I waited five minutes but
didn't see it again. As I waited a wood duck landed in the pond
right in front of me. I finally got to the otter latrine high on
the bank and it appeared that there were new scats, one placed on
a small scent mound.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSxQaRckbaIbdp5eazUwpTR4ZNYmCgWdumuOhbZD0i4MVya3ZKcOAmVgSeQCm32dcbU56HnFIcEpBcqTFl7rYhffLDLMITlhM5W623kQaHZc3GyLG90FtUSlx3dFHcIaoqJbHzJxDv6Q/s1600/upsblat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSxQaRckbaIbdp5eazUwpTR4ZNYmCgWdumuOhbZD0i4MVya3ZKcOAmVgSeQCm32dcbU56HnFIcEpBcqTFl7rYhffLDLMITlhM5W623kQaHZc3GyLG90FtUSlx3dFHcIaoqJbHzJxDv6Q/s1600/upsblat27.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had planned as usual to head
into the network of ponds to the east, but feared that on such a
night I would be out until nine. So I simply walked back around
South Bay, passed the porcupine, and then up the ridge and home,
spotting a few deer in the woods on the way.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 29 we worked at the land
yesterday and today, more work yesterday because today I had a
jaw and toothache. The most available building material on the
land is the sandstone which crumbles along the many ridges. I hit
on the bright idea of having a stone floor for our new storage
shed, to see if we could really work with stone. So I began
prying into the ridge closest to where we want the shed, and
found that deeper in a pile of rocks, as you work around a huge
mass of stone, call it the mother rock, you find a number of
smaller, flat rocks sheered off and wedged in the crevasses
around the rock.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuKyFnQd4Dvxv8hH8R4AgdSsGvxehYMZe4AmvQg7L7jGt4NQis12EDS1WuJOzlkloAbAraqVijzVlPtCJOmgUIc7ewHiMl02Nt16pufwyLfeytTblI9YYRKihWnnjdyp2QYv1mJX9Blk/s1600/rocks29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuKyFnQd4Dvxv8hH8R4AgdSsGvxehYMZe4AmvQg7L7jGt4NQis12EDS1WuJOzlkloAbAraqVijzVlPtCJOmgUIc7ewHiMl02Nt16pufwyLfeytTblI9YYRKihWnnjdyp2QYv1mJX9Blk/s1600/rocks29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I pulled rocks out, I found
much open space, but no bugs using the holes. The only sign of
life was the green lichens coating the rocks, which even seem to
survive in the dark. During a break from this back breaking work,
I hiked up to the apple-weg, as we call it,
where one old apple tree has split in half. I checked to see if
the beavers had been back there, and I saw no semblance of a
beaver path, nor fresh beaver work. I continued on through the
birches and junipers to the turtle bog, then down to the beaver
pond and then back to work. At this time of year, before the
leaves come out on the trees, the dead birches, usually large
hulks of white and mushrooms, stand out,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwvI7IhGStG3eVJauFL2v30m-DTQY5Q7g5eT87IJLMV5SqpkpbPIqBbu7x1QAMsN90LwqWpgRrWLRSSmpAeGPILzmlBf90yRnTw8u-i-0DRw795jKujhOhiF3OIH0qpFLJmE8IvTTHNg/s1600/deadbirch29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwvI7IhGStG3eVJauFL2v30m-DTQY5Q7g5eT87IJLMV5SqpkpbPIqBbu7x1QAMsN90LwqWpgRrWLRSSmpAeGPILzmlBf90yRnTw8u-i-0DRw795jKujhOhiF3OIH0qpFLJmE8IvTTHNg/s1600/deadbirch29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">reminding me that spring is the
time of year you discover what is dead.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Today, I took the afternoon off,
and lounged around pools of water. On the way to the Turtle bog I
noticed that the beavers were cutting a venerably gnarled and
sinuously crowned ironwood just off the valley pool. </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yPsFMVxFJjuPCst-qEud9mcS_4tC-HtWIh0XOFrjf2fH5HHyIbNJ1nwZyhO1aKjYp1Am20b2rHr74mAVQPMrcsNwn5AyrKTZgOYuO4_K9nyf8zwPtsIBiDECNS70qaj-gVkL1WsAopU/s1600/vpironwood29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yPsFMVxFJjuPCst-qEud9mcS_4tC-HtWIh0XOFrjf2fH5HHyIbNJ1nwZyhO1aKjYp1Am20b2rHr74mAVQPMrcsNwn5AyrKTZgOYuO4_K9nyf8zwPtsIBiDECNS70qaj-gVkL1WsAopU/s1600/vpironwood29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">These beavers like to work close
to water. Up at the Turtle bog I finally saw a good number of
caddisfly larvae. I am always on the look out for them in the
spring, especially in this pool where they always seem to make a
colorful casing. Most of their cases were small, not much more
than a half inch.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwG6kFIwANVBdbFlKld8_SlhE2IpTxvpO_M6L9FnBbC6j_LqO2CzaKNUA5xN-Y42uyS5melbZnlwMeCkRnJ-bkEs0On0Wc5sVROxJgOBWkEG5lQehg3zQFV4Eb5nnlRwSKgkidD0sp4lU/s1600/cflylar29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwG6kFIwANVBdbFlKld8_SlhE2IpTxvpO_M6L9FnBbC6j_LqO2CzaKNUA5xN-Y42uyS5melbZnlwMeCkRnJ-bkEs0On0Wc5sVROxJgOBWkEG5lQehg3zQFV4Eb5nnlRwSKgkidD0sp4lU/s1600/cflylar29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Staring at their sluggish movement
(thought I saw a snail come up for air that seemed even slower),
quicker critters provide much distraction. There were boatmen and
beetles in the water, mosquito larvae twisting up to the surface
and then gliding back down. I saw two sizes of red bugs, and a
silver scorpion like critter walking over the sunken leaves. I
saw two bump into each other without incident and began musing on
the relative peacefulness of the scene despite so many animals so
frantically alive. Then I noticed a water strider that seemed to
have a bit of caddisfly casing. Other striders noticed too, and
began vibrating over and very briefly bumping into the strider I
was watching. Then one approach and that strider fled, then came
back, then fled again, in a strider's typically erratic fashion.
Now I noticed that there was much contention between striders,
and in some cases the bug seemed to clench belly to belly and
dance as one up on their hind legs, and then quickly disengage.
In another case I think one bug had mounted another, and then a
third bug attacked. I tried to get some video of this, but most
of the encounters I saw through the lens were very brief. Anyway,
a strider's life suddenly began to seem more strenuous. Meanwhile
a pair of ravens were carrying on around me. Their yodeling
language would be interesting to know. They seem rather
loquacious and prone to vocal surprises. I walked around what we
call the Bunny bog. One year a Blanding's turtle moved down here,
but I didn't see any sign of one today. I came down to the beaver
pond past the shallow pools up pond. I saw tadpoles in the
largest pool and also a caddisfly larvae casing floating in the
water. I thought I saw the assemblage wiggle but after some hard
peering, and taking the casing out of the water,</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefdOs9ejxraFjqRRuRxnf1B9xNnmsAWs8qDM5zQmDdFYtSaFQ8oubHNokGkKmYnSF6Is7s16nYTlcD5PC6g-0My63Dmlj-slcW00v0Uy3CdrnnGI3JuaQB5VmWmNFC-iJmi16sTUHZpQ/s1600/cflycase29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefdOs9ejxraFjqRRuRxnf1B9xNnmsAWs8qDM5zQmDdFYtSaFQ8oubHNokGkKmYnSF6Is7s16nYTlcD5PC6g-0My63Dmlj-slcW00v0Uy3CdrnnGI3JuaQB5VmWmNFC-iJmi16sTUHZpQ/s1600/cflycase29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I couldn't see any more wiggles.
This casing was larger than those in the Turtle bog, but quite
dull, made mostly with sticks and stalks and not colorful
evergreen needles. The beavers are stripping the bushy pine they
cut down by the pond, slowly.</span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-JNwfb2shRRjMiwLUNdAI_laniJUUjqcrNrJ6trho455Z3XjNgnRw9gI681NF9NJlV6MZ_mwpRQA_QpnUG-9iDLMxGQqeT_PJNGYEw4DIP1XycW55aVZVSL3xNp8HRRGIdhSrgCvrYw/s1600/bvpine29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-JNwfb2shRRjMiwLUNdAI_laniJUUjqcrNrJ6trho455Z3XjNgnRw9gI681NF9NJlV6MZ_mwpRQA_QpnUG-9iDLMxGQqeT_PJNGYEw4DIP1XycW55aVZVSL3xNp8HRRGIdhSrgCvrYw/s1600/bvpine29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile down along the ridge
behind the garden, not far from where I'm getting rocks, some
purple trillium has bloomed. </span><br />
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAQIKhMFcCtlF5foKmAibAQ7pb60-v8LjdAKYzx2zAorl-Sy-kNcnPUE3J7iJw68xwhNH3XMbWkf7RLG8jYbcWwm5cjWlxeyTttzr9CfiHN1i8NAUp0BQgOBM8KboILqKHaD0v9aks3s/s1600/purtril29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAQIKhMFcCtlF5foKmAibAQ7pb60-v8LjdAKYzx2zAorl-Sy-kNcnPUE3J7iJw68xwhNH3XMbWkf7RLG8jYbcWwm5cjWlxeyTttzr9CfiHN1i8NAUp0BQgOBM8KboILqKHaD0v9aks3s/s1600/purtril29.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This is surprising because we
usually find the purple trillium a week or so after the white
trillium bloom, which, this year, have hardly started. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-9232841058704468882016-11-21T13:27:00.002-08:002016-11-21T13:27:28.384-08:00April 16 to 24 , 2005<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 16 we went to the land in the afternoon,
a warm afternoon, and I first took a hike to look for flowers. I
haven't been down grouse alley in a while, and found it quite
soggy. I paused at the foot of the gully going up to the Hemlock
Cathedral because I heard wood frogs singing over in the pools of
water at the end of the central valley. Nice pace to their
croaking and evenly spread out. A red squirrel was curled on a
branch nearby eating nuts, adding to the the sound. Then I headed
up the gully and found a porcupine more or less where I left it,
back when snow was still on the ground. It seemed to be sleeping
up in the top of the pine. Its front paws looked stretched out
which I take as a sleeping position.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYRmc-WNwQ4sxTYfeaRm1Nf84xqwf461fD58J3dqLkClUuA5Hq4FkdBla6S1WBR2lN4b77EBubpCg-vgKwWDForWt4XuKrWRKGWCGxFcB7pS3MvSLdARcDyRHH54n4uaAJysr5Ba2d-4s/s1600/ppine16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYRmc-WNwQ4sxTYfeaRm1Nf84xqwf461fD58J3dqLkClUuA5Hq4FkdBla6S1WBR2lN4b77EBubpCg-vgKwWDForWt4XuKrWRKGWCGxFcB7pS3MvSLdARcDyRHH54n4uaAJysr5Ba2d-4s/s1600/ppine16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">If it was awake, it would be hanging on as it
worked. Then I was surprised to see some hepatica blooming in the
leaves on the way to the bog under the hemlocks.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8AbYULbsLS5x1CbjvhMyLcpjOhI_zYHqC7DArVLxJWx8_B-zdy0jqvh6gdiXVRGhrNcSaRGKEVAh6FkeMGSW8BYghAKVPGYGUCtLNXFl7EfQeYImcedtFHmxPABSaaLbJR-qvaJh1Y8/s1600/hepatica16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8AbYULbsLS5x1CbjvhMyLcpjOhI_zYHqC7DArVLxJWx8_B-zdy0jqvh6gdiXVRGhrNcSaRGKEVAh6FkeMGSW8BYghAKVPGYGUCtLNXFl7EfQeYImcedtFHmxPABSaaLbJR-qvaJh1Y8/s1600/hepatica16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I think of this area as too shady for flowers.
I studied the waters of the bog and could see a few mosquitoes
flying over it. I did expect to see flowers on the rocky slope
going down to the central valley and I did, a patch of trillium
almost in bloom.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yWxgjoiP3LkZ2kPNE8TgHsUGITs-OY8DfRfGKbVLZApgcbg2EGPklrL1UpPoaOJhfyCpQ6fe9gmoFPK9Psh-XJoDwaBVbwe2FSlsmBktnl2sLmBRBhMsC5N9ZT7R7pgfjgmbdflff5o/s1600/trillium16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yWxgjoiP3LkZ2kPNE8TgHsUGITs-OY8DfRfGKbVLZApgcbg2EGPklrL1UpPoaOJhfyCpQ6fe9gmoFPK9Psh-XJoDwaBVbwe2FSlsmBktnl2sLmBRBhMsC5N9ZT7R7pgfjgmbdflff5o/s1600/trillium16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also saw a nice owl pellet under a large pine
with nice vole jaws. Owls seem to be the best bone processors
around especially for delicate bones.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1KI3LmZGH9hEFNMGqr359qm5Sa9uCh5pPVj_qN22OJHr3IptH13QVTlzFDhFGlwr-qPP1wWHJj3shyphenhyphen23DFRbljpYGOVC_j68VOpSaLlZ-wP4ey0xXZlK1v3RoW5qJBx2hS5JIhmEvQ8/s1600/owlpeljaws16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1KI3LmZGH9hEFNMGqr359qm5Sa9uCh5pPVj_qN22OJHr3IptH13QVTlzFDhFGlwr-qPP1wWHJj3shyphenhyphen23DFRbljpYGOVC_j68VOpSaLlZ-wP4ey0xXZlK1v3RoW5qJBx2hS5JIhmEvQ8/s1600/owlpeljaws16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the flat leading to a pool of water I scared
a sunning snake, large reddish green with yellow stripes, like a
garter snake but larger and different colors. It fled into a
pool.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PAr0AhKdAJHvzBjPnkIU_Csw6qfMslsNFAAx1jMAzooFX5ZusOOqLVsyI0dnwjNQ8cyjPW-RB5u4bCwGv4PY3hWXZ5qMy02JOQRha_kBQgcA0tUmDYwAMrQimiexAkU3eBQgBzHJ9vU/s1600/bog16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PAr0AhKdAJHvzBjPnkIU_Csw6qfMslsNFAAx1jMAzooFX5ZusOOqLVsyI0dnwjNQ8cyjPW-RB5u4bCwGv4PY3hWXZ5qMy02JOQRha_kBQgcA0tUmDYwAMrQimiexAkU3eBQgBzHJ9vU/s1600/bog16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pools don't seem quite as extensive as in
other springs. There was still some ice in the pool along the
boundary of our land. I walked up the valley past a modicum of
hepatica, and got more excited about the owl pellets. One had a
nice vole, I assume, skull, showing the upper teeth, and the
image below is many times enlarged.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdHGOSI9Dc0P6oLVyTQCXCjlSgF0CD2NhKvmbG0dsXhJ0ZC56BQqShEx1N_SWP6izymu8epfM2NezLCvhI1O62onixRJwjX9mQ1uZavN4dHB9ExpH5Uf3CdWfNz68EJbmYtzWJCYMPSg/s1600/voleupper16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdHGOSI9Dc0P6oLVyTQCXCjlSgF0CD2NhKvmbG0dsXhJ0ZC56BQqShEx1N_SWP6izymu8epfM2NezLCvhI1O62onixRJwjX9mQ1uZavN4dHB9ExpH5Uf3CdWfNz68EJbmYtzWJCYMPSg/s1600/voleupper16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I headed up to check on the turtles. I saw
one out on the shore and just as I stepped up to take a photo it
scrambled into the water. One of the turtles here is placid, the
other jumpy. The placid one was not to be seen today. I sat by
the pool of water and saw a handsome giant beetle swimming. No
caddisfly larva yet, and then I dozed off. Nice napping weather
and no mosquitoes or black flies. While relaxing I heard a caw
and then heard a crow's wings, followed by the escape of a small
hawk from a pine above the pool. I'm surprised that a hawk would
let itself be pushed around by one crow. I headed up and back to
the apple trees, and noticed that the birches bunched in that
moist ground seemed to have tipped over more.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmcW-ob7UrRIq-D03sy1wMy3I02zqL513M43Cz6EN3iS3jbpvkc-NH6KXE-1xA2I433KthiYFUBPfHVCXDozY2q3ylELkC4mqS6VaJTwr3Imnu7BGMu5zIl5qpdkyqfgz_liW-t5HVa0/s1600/birches16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmcW-ob7UrRIq-D03sy1wMy3I02zqL513M43Cz6EN3iS3jbpvkc-NH6KXE-1xA2I433KthiYFUBPfHVCXDozY2q3ylELkC4mqS6VaJTwr3Imnu7BGMu5zIl5qpdkyqfgz_liW-t5HVa0/s1600/birches16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued down to where the beavers took out
a good bit of poplar last year. There was no fresh work there
yet, and still a bit of poplar to harvest. This is a couple
hundred yards from their pond and a small ridge to cross to get
to it. Going back up the ridge I passed an exquisite patch of
bloodroot nestled in a rock cliff. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJjwhAehF2vuvCguB92foFl8RRFikOIrj9PIranRt0amwVKwkgOx1vDSEs-LTrV1mw4f5RQH2Y92KtBMHdQbuBExDGP5BeaHn60EDxeHQGwSIiBtGngbf9UY1PtU2U_B8GasQiTm4_RI/s1600/bloodroot16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJjwhAehF2vuvCguB92foFl8RRFikOIrj9PIranRt0amwVKwkgOx1vDSEs-LTrV1mw4f5RQH2Y92KtBMHdQbuBExDGP5BeaHn60EDxeHQGwSIiBtGngbf9UY1PtU2U_B8GasQiTm4_RI/s1600/bloodroot16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The big patch up on the ridge did not seem too
lush but the sun was going down. I got to the beaver pond at
about 6:15 and thought the wind favorable to watching, but the
first beaver that came out, turned down wind and started gnawing
on a floating stick at the far end of the pond. The wind swirled
enough to blow my stink its way and it slapped its tail and swam
down twice to investigate me, before going back into the little
bank lodge at the far end of the pond. I moved down to the far
end of the pond to get out of the wind. I waited almost a half
hour for the next beaver to appear and it simply swam to a pile
of logs, got a small one and took it back into the lodge. I could
hear it gnawing on it. The beavers seemed to have reverted to
their usual relaxed ways, though I had a suspicion that they knew
I was still around. Twice something swam out of the lodge and
then swam back in without surfacing. Finally a beaver came out
that appeared to be setting out for an evening's work. It went to
the pile of sticks roughly above the old bank that once separated
the two ponds, did some gnawing and then swam into the Teepee
Pond, where I lost it. Then another beaver swam under the pond
without surfacing. Then I noticed a beaver, a large one, swimming
up from the far end of the pond, I assume the beaver I had seen
going into the pond. Then just as it came into the upper pond,
two beavers surfaced, a small one and a larger one. Then the
beaver swimming into the area slapped its tail and dove into the
lodge. The other two beavers stayed on the surface sniffing at
me, then the larger slapped and dove, and the smaller remained,
coming quite close to me,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ASY8NYqN0jfZ7Isux4kkYH-mAN8TFETYQlrFv8sIO8vnEVDdfKYYwZKNnW0rtKxZyOeHJ_gXfF7fheVSXM1Ff1OCBRcLeWC4SVaZIqFoRUy_ZTeLCHhr8Wxp8EAdWTVefSkOEQFdtgY/s1600/bv16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ASY8NYqN0jfZ7Isux4kkYH-mAN8TFETYQlrFv8sIO8vnEVDdfKYYwZKNnW0rtKxZyOeHJ_gXfF7fheVSXM1Ff1OCBRcLeWC4SVaZIqFoRUy_ZTeLCHhr8Wxp8EAdWTVefSkOEQFdtgY/s1600/bv16.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then another small beaver popped out in the
pond evidently coming out of the burrow in the bank across from
the lodge. It did not swim quite as closely to me, then it
slapped its tail and dove, leaving the other little beaver. Only
when I walked away, it was getting cold, did it slap its tail and
dive. So, while I prefer seeing beavers undisturbed by my
presence, I at least got a good look at the colony. All the while
the peepers were going, warming up to their excitement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 18 we worked most of the day at the land,
digging the garden. As I picked up one clump of grass to shake
out the dirt, a tiny frog, a spring peeper, jumped out. After
trying to photograph it, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-85laSiYcuMBgmQGKXcrKnnLLX3LEoaGQAvplgfRojqpuT-QzqkoGx2pcCQFOKHKyVTGfb9c0KdoAVy-bgX8K9d5pHnzek-uF2GlfS8q53j7nvfJrQYPewcgAlUDkOizaKN1dEzCVjQ/s1600/frog18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-85laSiYcuMBgmQGKXcrKnnLLX3LEoaGQAvplgfRojqpuT-QzqkoGx2pcCQFOKHKyVTGfb9c0KdoAVy-bgX8K9d5pHnzek-uF2GlfS8q53j7nvfJrQYPewcgAlUDkOizaKN1dEzCVjQ/s1600/frog18.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">we took it up to some moist moss near the
ridges. After lunch I went up to the turtle bog to see what the
turtles were up to. For the first time since we've seen them this
spring there was no sign of them. I eased down on the moss,
portions still damp, next to the water to see what else I might
see. No caddisfly larva and no giant beetles. Plenty of boatmen
and the red bugs. Then I saw a flying insect that, while on the
surface of the water, reared up several times. When I got the
camcorder out it stopped. I'll check the video to see if I can
identify it. I also saw a more substantial and more colorful
water strider.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipZeuqbXrIjKAPmLdX3LH_Mtxz7D36w7QpDA12tIh6lgZNCCMrVbBuP22OuPewbGZ4J9BF6PXSZUc6E8eb6Ji27xZ91DIGTrIgkwmc3NqP2KS2nyxQBHXuyv1OYNZ2lhy7pTAaoN7Nyw/s1600/strider19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipZeuqbXrIjKAPmLdX3LH_Mtxz7D36w7QpDA12tIh6lgZNCCMrVbBuP22OuPewbGZ4J9BF6PXSZUc6E8eb6Ji27xZ91DIGTrIgkwmc3NqP2KS2nyxQBHXuyv1OYNZ2lhy7pTAaoN7Nyw/s1600/strider19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers are cutting more ironwood around
the First Pond, just behind the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGXBmTyjbH0inbqSwYr6-VF_WAPFyrFp7YkqljJRKYgjEShtDqhKISllGjTGOy8b7TynqVN6B5H4RuwVMvFQEn4f2rdbFnNzVEjr_h89tVfd7ClCs3sA5da3s1XXgJXcTlmfGV5eVvpQ/s1600/bvwk19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGXBmTyjbH0inbqSwYr6-VF_WAPFyrFp7YkqljJRKYgjEShtDqhKISllGjTGOy8b7TynqVN6B5H4RuwVMvFQEn4f2rdbFnNzVEjr_h89tVfd7ClCs3sA5da3s1XXgJXcTlmfGV5eVvpQ/s1600/bvwk19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This goes against my theory that in the first
flush of spring when ponds are at their biggest, that beavers go
as far off as they dare to cut trees. Meanwhile the stumps of the
ironwood they cut in the spring are oozing with that orange slime
I've noticed before.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5axCQEsEcNchvBS5ynJ001MrI6XiQOTkK79C7ptAGhEFmUb6BW8N5ra_3jNeea9ac9z8JUigph0Bq4HU55VG8fRkO0XcueMuDg2BDxox0bz6DOdNshVkEm_LJ3Pv1pEFHKYQ9XY9RNs/s1600/slime19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5axCQEsEcNchvBS5ynJ001MrI6XiQOTkK79C7ptAGhEFmUb6BW8N5ra_3jNeea9ac9z8JUigph0Bq4HU55VG8fRkO0XcueMuDg2BDxox0bz6DOdNshVkEm_LJ3Pv1pEFHKYQ9XY9RNs/s1600/slime19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 19 this morning, facing a calm river, I
headed off in the boat to check the otter latrines. As I sped
over the water -- since I was the only boat on the river, I was
the fastest, I kept flushing pairs of buffleheads, seemingly
evenly dispersed over the river. I went back into the bay where
the bank beaver lodge is, and first checked the sometime otter
latrine on the rocks further down in the bay. Some grass looked
worked over so I got out of the boat, but I only found one old
otter scat. I rowed up to the lodge and couldn't be sure there
was any new gnawing on the downed tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR4DGOjChun3r2-LnhFKeIU9ePc6q-dpj7CsdcxCJRHpKvYDKlzCW0ByUau8AsZka_1QvOwtiuEHfO9ChIXHDjusEkwdni0l-G5LrT-YHUI3pqPF3LOYBII_KVkA8bq5wJ5Hxhe2HBTE/s1600/picwk19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggR4DGOjChun3r2-LnhFKeIU9ePc6q-dpj7CsdcxCJRHpKvYDKlzCW0ByUau8AsZka_1QvOwtiuEHfO9ChIXHDjusEkwdni0l-G5LrT-YHUI3pqPF3LOYBII_KVkA8bq5wJ5Hxhe2HBTE/s1600/picwk19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I did see two stripped sticks in the water next
to the lodge, but they could have been blown in by the wind. The
lodge looked unused.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzb9_KtZwtG6bojUErtIujiDKhDeoB-99o-VGOHmHsnbnh8h_xsBRbjHAvhkhMyvYR7tVreT1JlHzpov90ZhN0nFEYfFxPr8rnNxD1bXzRfAWuDCO60-P0POp3CyRbb-2k8Cewm2NI58/s1600/piclodge19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzb9_KtZwtG6bojUErtIujiDKhDeoB-99o-VGOHmHsnbnh8h_xsBRbjHAvhkhMyvYR7tVreT1JlHzpov90ZhN0nFEYfFxPr8rnNxD1bXzRfAWuDCO60-P0POp3CyRbb-2k8Cewm2NI58/s1600/piclodge19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I motored up to the point, slowing down when I
saw a seagull swoop down to attack a male bufflehead. The pair of
buffleheads flew off. Then I slowed down to scope some Dutchman's
britches growing on a ledge of grass under some rocks. I got out
on the point to look around much to the consternation of two
geese who flew off into the water and swam off the point honking
at me. I found one new scat, quite a smear,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszHPX7JvfaYtx9fB8Svy1214U6dOWa4aiLfUbh5hMxuGU195A1SDenAkT1rNzCk9Bfg-YfJ8b0Q5B5lebZ2_04NPxc1I4KK61mszuqFSn-c4SlLaZvnouGXHEfi0XnAK7OIL8y1vw4go/s1600/scat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszHPX7JvfaYtx9fB8Svy1214U6dOWa4aiLfUbh5hMxuGU195A1SDenAkT1rNzCk9Bfg-YfJ8b0Q5B5lebZ2_04NPxc1I4KK61mszuqFSn-c4SlLaZvnouGXHEfi0XnAK7OIL8y1vw4go/s1600/scat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">higher up on the grass.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9cI8mrXJQoR6ZxxLG6WGq1jC1Kdp2c12VMYstwDqewEUpK89ps_TzA77dMjpf1O1u-dFJabROseB3Jggr0hB3uNiRM83H0tLyJ9p_qJSl4rsy7oPGVP_95cPaOdtZNpF5Xnc14mWrUs/s1600/piclat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio9cI8mrXJQoR6ZxxLG6WGq1jC1Kdp2c12VMYstwDqewEUpK89ps_TzA77dMjpf1O1u-dFJabROseB3Jggr0hB3uNiRM83H0tLyJ9p_qJSl4rsy7oPGVP_95cPaOdtZNpF5Xnc14mWrUs/s1600/piclat19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I checked the rock at Murray Island. I was
hoping there would be a fresh scat, but all I found were hard.
Nothing struck me as new. This scat also had the yellow brown
seeds in it. I could easily crush these remains, so likely not a
seed, but fish eggs. Heading for the Narrows, I saw a cormorant.
I got out on the rock at the Narrows and found no new scats
there. And there was nothing new at the docking rock, at least
from the otters. There was a long skinny branch cut by a beaver
half in the water.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3wRsMehhCMwYsSrdmCFjSwOyY3tOYNQGruqCxan4ousLIEqeiN2bXG62kIDGCXGfojeqncwkpBRlHJLMec-zixootfQHgBLekkbP6ZE4w_uig2eKOmvy4dVRITULkTNFPB9MWbeDYkA/s1600/bvstick19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3wRsMehhCMwYsSrdmCFjSwOyY3tOYNQGruqCxan4ousLIEqeiN2bXG62kIDGCXGfojeqncwkpBRlHJLMec-zixootfQHgBLekkbP6ZE4w_uig2eKOmvy4dVRITULkTNFPB9MWbeDYkA/s1600/bvstick19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I made a brief check of Audubon Pond, and there
was no scat on the embankment and, as far as I could see, no
trees freshly cut.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At about 3 pm I went out with Ottoleo to show
him the East Trail Pond. We hurried over the TI Park ridge, along
the South Bay trail and up the East Trail. I checked for otter
scat at the usual latrines but found none. Then we got up and
over to the East Trail Pond. Much of the mud is now hard enough
to walk on but it was more fun to balance on tree trunks rotting
in the mud. Everywhere one looks, one expects to find treasures,
but the only relief from mud and rotting grass were snail shells.
As I crossed the channel of water, three feet wide and flowing
swiftly,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKX4v8Y5Tj3vluSToV-FeUhCCDuAAJVZz2xxVN5lMTUNrOOo6ODfksRMjO_wSF20sPzDTH831EZNzS05SRO5qYDrwjwnbHIK99paKhyaW4xi1E4Dh7n8rWJq1kBJ1DcA_QnKpakvSaTQ/s1600/etchannel19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKX4v8Y5Tj3vluSToV-FeUhCCDuAAJVZz2xxVN5lMTUNrOOo6ODfksRMjO_wSF20sPzDTH831EZNzS05SRO5qYDrwjwnbHIK99paKhyaW4xi1E4Dh7n8rWJq1kBJ1DcA_QnKpakvSaTQ/s1600/etchannel19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw a pollywog swimming upstream.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5HqqWWvarrlJ3F_zWYqBtfk5XHOOjOhiIHrd18Ha7g9cJl8GhTfZ2Unq2NGZNs0xZVi2mgBZqk5MI7cMyd14-bl4SYVGTqqPneSu53XgOa55SDCP6Oi1jMxDIvkzrnjUl7ucCC0o9wY/s1600/pwog19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5HqqWWvarrlJ3F_zWYqBtfk5XHOOjOhiIHrd18Ha7g9cJl8GhTfZ2Unq2NGZNs0xZVi2mgBZqk5MI7cMyd14-bl4SYVGTqqPneSu53XgOa55SDCP6Oi1jMxDIvkzrnjUl7ucCC0o9wY/s1600/pwog19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The channel comes from a wider pool but the
pool is mostly mud -- a delta you might say that reforms into a
stream.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQq36TPG48MOFsQ9sjgZ1xL7E7NgwI8nl54SfCxThngsfeVjCVBK5dlnctp31mNuowucoTPFt6bigSKnHnrjkEh7rsESVIharwTjDYgWKrArIqzWqFYcQqI6Y-8yeTt3eh5O8XdRKXXaA/s1600/etmud19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQq36TPG48MOFsQ9sjgZ1xL7E7NgwI8nl54SfCxThngsfeVjCVBK5dlnctp31mNuowucoTPFt6bigSKnHnrjkEh7rsESVIharwTjDYgWKrArIqzWqFYcQqI6Y-8yeTt3eh5O8XdRKXXaA/s1600/etmud19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But perhaps a pollywog might do well there. We
made our way out to the beaver lodge,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFOTNsNaQ0cDjGqUkp8PVzdrAnDgnDSEWJQbzAsDOWD0pfsSSUXGqwhkHpLxURf2yQyXF_nengqme3plHq7P4qLBhMQp8k4_CJ9IhQPmJ7K-TaJRT0B-ogNgwhD3aK8HIh3HUP-SiJP4/s1600/etlodge19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFOTNsNaQ0cDjGqUkp8PVzdrAnDgnDSEWJQbzAsDOWD0pfsSSUXGqwhkHpLxURf2yQyXF_nengqme3plHq7P4qLBhMQp8k4_CJ9IhQPmJ7K-TaJRT0B-ogNgwhD3aK8HIh3HUP-SiJP4/s1600/etlodge19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and technically it was high and dry, but the
sense I got was that it was floating on sticks. Not only were
there logs all around it but slopes of smaller sticks.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9acwOcomNCghHBs4zVikGecYj5QKtXyot1ZvO6BRmTcZ5eEJBa3_zbEJMCxgZzZ3tR-m2OCFdRL4zRWRJ57moxL4rT2jpO4UitbP6ekTpXNKV0Z1ezlWbmC8jJ0Z8yvzdw2Ju30dRcq0/s1600/etlodge19a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9acwOcomNCghHBs4zVikGecYj5QKtXyot1ZvO6BRmTcZ5eEJBa3_zbEJMCxgZzZ3tR-m2OCFdRL4zRWRJ57moxL4rT2jpO4UitbP6ekTpXNKV0Z1ezlWbmC8jJ0Z8yvzdw2Ju30dRcq0/s1600/etlodge19a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The lodge itself, which hasn't been used by a
beaver in two years, was open to view, though I couldn't get my
hand in so I could get a photo of the spacious penthouse. There
were old otter scats on top. There is a channel of water running
by the lodge, but rather lazily. Until the dam is patched this
won't be usable by any mammal that wants to be near water. Since
there's no grass yet, I doubt if a groundhog will move in, like
one did in Otter Hole Pond lodge. I also checked the stumps out
in the pond which always seemed to attract otters. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvOLCTiSTlAIsY_E7pQAtdozf9s3X0ZEIAWJkzgdKdeU9QrPzWkutwT2lMPPT-gSX9aH_mLg1FDXnhcceWGQxEkPDBaLt4M2DRx78qRCwJ6R9_TT1fi29GD0Mg0Y6iml2VPUYWYl01FI/s1600/etstumps19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvOLCTiSTlAIsY_E7pQAtdozf9s3X0ZEIAWJkzgdKdeU9QrPzWkutwT2lMPPT-gSX9aH_mLg1FDXnhcceWGQxEkPDBaLt4M2DRx78qRCwJ6R9_TT1fi29GD0Mg0Y6iml2VPUYWYl01FI/s1600/etstumps19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I thought they might den there, but today I
found no evidence of that, like cushy grass or old bullhead
bones. Meanwhile down behind the dam the painted turtles were six
in a row on a log coming out of the water. As I sat pondering all
this the surface of the water nippled and rippled frequently. As
I crossed the dam, the pollywogs dove for deeper cover and only
two of six turtles remained on the log, as usual, the smaller
ones. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJ-2Tv7Qe2opMCv7aE1pw545srsV7q2qAXsshVF5ptPcVXLli9VuMD_T554z8qe6Ti6_biS4GDRjFXBn9QP1R9cFcs_7VFZIB2YYFj_VEyabo3JibYIDFvWlb9J63tO6QEpv1X1kCeys/s1600/pturtles19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJ-2Tv7Qe2opMCv7aE1pw545srsV7q2qAXsshVF5ptPcVXLli9VuMD_T554z8qe6Ti6_biS4GDRjFXBn9QP1R9cFcs_7VFZIB2YYFj_VEyabo3JibYIDFvWlb9J63tO6QEpv1X1kCeys/s1600/pturtles19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">A dying pond is always alive. Rather than check
the Second Swamp Pond dam as usual, I headed up along the Third
Ponds, just in case a beaver moved up there. I doubted it because
it is at the end of the watershed. The last of the ponds had
enough water for geese and ducks, </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrybj6LrTb60afR50g_fqceYXBA5Si_s0VKBlBGPjqBla1gkm6fHyNlUdvemv064RLEBd5KixvQ081w75CWd0hBkN5JiugBkL2jbBCcef5zRzz6lmyYIqH6KPs8Vkv_54o4Mc4yLDROCA/s1600/thirdpond19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrybj6LrTb60afR50g_fqceYXBA5Si_s0VKBlBGPjqBla1gkm6fHyNlUdvemv064RLEBd5KixvQ081w75CWd0hBkN5JiugBkL2jbBCcef5zRzz6lmyYIqH6KPs8Vkv_54o4Mc4yLDROCA/s1600/thirdpond19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I saw some recent beaver-like gnawing at
the base of a tree. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAniAFhooD9_2JV-1ZHYheka_-Nlx9LT-LGXEKH3xm-cR4sxERALS9AK724-uNr8X8K933alPCCVRmanFTMQKd29gCgF7I02-WGi_JztRfo3F_c1UQN2i4TNNuKci3IyJAWEaBBAfcUdM/s1600/bvgnaw19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAniAFhooD9_2JV-1ZHYheka_-Nlx9LT-LGXEKH3xm-cR4sxERALS9AK724-uNr8X8K933alPCCVRmanFTMQKd29gCgF7I02-WGi_JztRfo3F_c1UQN2i4TNNuKci3IyJAWEaBBAfcUdM/s1600/bvgnaw19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I scanned the dam, pond and shore for evidence
of more beaver work but found none. However, there was an
evidence trail through the middle of the pond, which the geese
could account for, but...</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqYVm-tQjANKTWukY6D2nHr7_DWRsgbPgTp1bJjBARN-r8Yg92b_nDbVbX6gUDCmNZZwtHSR2UXtHjPud4StSXpPIhO8-cd_7sKXRWCw6KHa-gVTq0Z3BKcR747jlhM1dQxYgdfcjlQE/s1600/thirdpond19a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZqYVm-tQjANKTWukY6D2nHr7_DWRsgbPgTp1bJjBARN-r8Yg92b_nDbVbX6gUDCmNZZwtHSR2UXtHjPud4StSXpPIhO8-cd_7sKXRWCw6KHa-gVTq0Z3BKcR747jlhM1dQxYgdfcjlQE/s1600/thirdpond19a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I should have gone over to the next watershed
to see if beavers were over there. I went through the woods down
to the Upper Second Swamp Pond, and sat long enough to see and
hear a kingfisher working the Second Swamp Pond. I crossed the
dam and every foot showed the beavers' repair work and here and
there their spring repasts -- tender green shoots.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuT50rU90_yqi_EUNMOHxgYHcaENpH6oAWfrUIRs4NCDL-VhG3Ija67xKnGpdgQEeQrYSTDW4mcmEy2tyN0U16ubf5RFk61wJxhzIkghdxH5QA2kTuqS42HbGIKunZy4cs92GBT2Vd9k/s1600/upspbvwk19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuT50rU90_yqi_EUNMOHxgYHcaENpH6oAWfrUIRs4NCDL-VhG3Ija67xKnGpdgQEeQrYSTDW4mcmEy2tyN0U16ubf5RFk61wJxhzIkghdxH5QA2kTuqS42HbGIKunZy4cs92GBT2Vd9k/s1600/upspbvwk19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The old spillover which had been so precarious
to cross last year was now a firm bridge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFLTsZmz-iR3MM72hgAOl_1lc4RvonyaCBYIa7QHjjwyC4Tb8Osksi4uDnEiktxt0Xxunyjps4YeMi7aan_6ovi21fRnpC_z4AxTjVSBPdqjoXDj_uzU3x63UBTGuN2I8gl_oD-YyJ3s/s1600/upspdam19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFLTsZmz-iR3MM72hgAOl_1lc4RvonyaCBYIa7QHjjwyC4Tb8Osksi4uDnEiktxt0Xxunyjps4YeMi7aan_6ovi21fRnpC_z4AxTjVSBPdqjoXDj_uzU3x63UBTGuN2I8gl_oD-YyJ3s/s1600/upspdam19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The portion of the dam that washed away in the
winter is now the weak point. No ducks on the Lost Swamp Pond,
only noisy geese. Every lodge has a nesting goose and then here
at least there was a noisy crowd of contenders, seemingly in
pairs, an angry sort, when one moved away from me, it crossed a
log lined with painted turtles sending them into the water. There
were two muskrats on logs in the middle of the pond. One swam
over to the other, got up on the log right next to it, and
perhaps stole what it was nibbling. The other muskrat swam away
to another log. Later they got on the same log but apart from
each other. At the same time I saw a muskrat up on the grass
above the bank lodge on the south shore, nothing green there, and
it went back into the lodge, I think. No osprey today. I headed
home via the Big Pond dam and had to stop as I approached as
there was a bunch of ducks, including mergansers, buffleheads,
ring necked, and mallards. As I approached they swam away en
masse</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s5g6lDuPeW7zohyphenhyphenhbrCwMfg_Ev5BmsDi0JPH-RAKLro_BcoEoVH7B8UB2A0wUCUEsncaK232IqSXgIwOVOf-hJNpXxYEVsj3SdF5TvV8x2M45rurJNKgzCacnc2IkBI33efaEGBOwLI/s1600/bpducks19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s5g6lDuPeW7zohyphenhyphenhbrCwMfg_Ev5BmsDi0JPH-RAKLro_BcoEoVH7B8UB2A0wUCUEsncaK232IqSXgIwOVOf-hJNpXxYEVsj3SdF5TvV8x2M45rurJNKgzCacnc2IkBI33efaEGBOwLI/s1600/bpducks19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">save for the buffleheads. The beavers have been
working on the dam and they firmed up the major repair with some
heavy logs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTw6k34ahk8J_jBu86tiOsBz4aSkxxmXbEy6asjFGL8Cvb4HCea_Qqv8yNdtdX-9VI7w4dFuMDoxwNtIP6TDMe7aGNgzCZXAOzPEBegswgg6Mcb2GFY_bY5koNuMw9Rf3Qu4uZLUBcm7M/s1600/bpdamrepair19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTw6k34ahk8J_jBu86tiOsBz4aSkxxmXbEy6asjFGL8Cvb4HCea_Qqv8yNdtdX-9VI7w4dFuMDoxwNtIP6TDMe7aGNgzCZXAOzPEBegswgg6Mcb2GFY_bY5koNuMw9Rf3Qu4uZLUBcm7M/s1600/bpdamrepair19.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, all the way I was looking for otter
scat but found none. So I think the lone one year old otter has
continued the pattern taught to it by its mother, of staying in
the ponds about one week out of three or four. I will have to
poke around the South Bay marsh, the next likely place for the
otter to be.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After dinner we went to our land and adjusting
to the brisk west wind, I approached the first pond from the
poplars east of the pond. The beavers were not out when I got
there so I eased down next to and half under the bushy midsize
pine, and waited, entertained by a growing chorus of peepers.
Soon enough a good size beaver came out and didn't notice me as
it swam down to the far end of the pond. Then a little beaver
came out, both from the auxiliary lodge just to my left, and it
didn't notice me as it nosed along the bank near the burrows and
fresh pile of sticks. I had gotten a good start on a beaver
census, but the peepers lulled me to sleep! So I lost 5 to 10
minutes of observation time. Then like the other time, just when
it got dark, four beavers seemed out and about. One brought a
stick over from the pile nearby and dove with it into the
auxiliary lodge. As it approached I saw two beavers cross behind
it just beyond the bar of land that once was between the two
ponds. Judging from the video one beaver had a branch, and soon
enough a beaver with a branch came up and dove into the
auxiliary lodge. Then a smaller beaver came up who dove empty
handed so to speak. And then another beaver came out from the
main lodge and swam over to the burrowed bank, then up to me and
dove into the auxiliary lodge. After they dove with the
branches, I didn't hear any gnawing. So it didn't seem like they
were all gathering to eat. Perhaps the smaller beavers were
reacquainting themselves with the process of gathering sticks. My
guess is that there are two or three more beavers than I see and
I'm hoping that some dawn observations will help me account for
them. As I walked down to join Leslie to hear the peepers at the
Third Pond, I passed a woodcock buzzing in the bushes. I got Leslie, delirious with peeping, and we waited for a famous
woodcock flight, but didn't see one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 22 For the last two days we have been
getting the garden ready at the land accompanied now and then by
a weak chorus of peepers (they are more interested in singing at
night now) and surprisingly little bird activity around the
gardens. However, in nosing around other areas of interest, we
see that spring is taking its course. Down at the Deep Pond a
muskrat continues to pop out in the middle of the pond and today
it rather imitated a beaver's log routine. It lowered its cocked
tail and then drifted on the surface of the pond without seeming
to move but managing to angle so that it's nose pointed our way.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ObC0gDJSyBj10fI88UVkOH7x8i3Ut8LKNhnwCR5PwudsFIlWWFaZ-xiIJDU5XPqLECGsMZtVRq4bTtmNOtfupKn2erjtmtyTPt56sNLR3f6NN_f1XjggLBY7xLHdEKVjoXKsBtHXM-Y/s1600/dpmrat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ObC0gDJSyBj10fI88UVkOH7x8i3Ut8LKNhnwCR5PwudsFIlWWFaZ-xiIJDU5XPqLECGsMZtVRq4bTtmNOtfupKn2erjtmtyTPt56sNLR3f6NN_f1XjggLBY7xLHdEKVjoXKsBtHXM-Y/s1600/dpmrat22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then it dove quietly. I think I discovered a
patch of mud put on the shore by the muskrat at the start of a
trail in the grass leading to where last year there were two
holes in the ground. I was surprised to see both holes covered in. It's easy to guess why animals make burrows, but why
do they close them up? The Deep Pond, I think, has reached its
level for a while with about as much water coming in that is
going out. When the incoming stops, the water level will probably
drop another six inches, if a beaver doesn't move in. Yesterday
walking along the shallows there was a flurry of activity, both
pond striders on the surface and tiny fish fry just below.
Yesterday I flushed one duck off the pond. Today two pileated
woodpeckers were flying noisily around it, and one did some
pounding. And there was a large porcupine up in a tree on top of
the knoll. First time I've ever seen a porcupine there. At the
Third Pond, thanks to the generous portion of sun we've been
getting the last few weeks, there is a lush jungle of green
growing in the deeper portions of the pond, which the photo below
exaggerates to make the point.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgnfWxEPFHa0Airk-vsN-56rQSM-h-HE2ZIpBbg42eyVxm39C8WjQbmbiVe55MorYTxKkNGTd-0ExTLOULOLKliXcs-Fh_I6jjnq_SnK5dRCWFSrghvmrf1bjHV2KuYphnKFIoLAeNxc/s1600/tpgrass22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgnfWxEPFHa0Airk-vsN-56rQSM-h-HE2ZIpBbg42eyVxm39C8WjQbmbiVe55MorYTxKkNGTd-0ExTLOULOLKliXcs-Fh_I6jjnq_SnK5dRCWFSrghvmrf1bjHV2KuYphnKFIoLAeNxc/s1600/tpgrass22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some has been brought up to the surface by
ducks or the muskrat. Yesterday, a leopard frog was head out of
the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJK7p_ZnPn2LC9TY7c4Mz1vi_dQpXzRpNutPG5ZLqYxOo3hrLcmq4ZAIZaaH9aQTthNlbREWu1WJcVt7jglG1RV9Kmelql-IacHhkJFFD9k3Q6p2vES9xNFpxidPGoQRuITiszc40Uws/s1600/lepfrog22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJK7p_ZnPn2LC9TY7c4Mz1vi_dQpXzRpNutPG5ZLqYxOo3hrLcmq4ZAIZaaH9aQTthNlbREWu1WJcVt7jglG1RV9Kmelql-IacHhkJFFD9k3Q6p2vES9xNFpxidPGoQRuITiszc40Uws/s1600/lepfrog22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There are sporadic leopard frog snores around
this pond. Of course, flowers are popping out all over and during
a walk up the road today we saw collections of Dutchman's
britches,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mfc5N5ZOauB1uVb4j-StfMRw0-xNmIQmS2fJNoXO9QFmiaMMh0xGAuGBguxBRKxzPk-dAvpbgrIbaStB6C34M5w3wUBbfeIv1xFQCT4IHzpI-pZEPjWbuK-3KCrF70kGnmVFRDlmQp8/s1600/dmanb22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mfc5N5ZOauB1uVb4j-StfMRw0-xNmIQmS2fJNoXO9QFmiaMMh0xGAuGBguxBRKxzPk-dAvpbgrIbaStB6C34M5w3wUBbfeIv1xFQCT4IHzpI-pZEPjWbuK-3KCrF70kGnmVFRDlmQp8/s1600/dmanb22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">meadow rue,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxxyPMfEkfni0dHkmk7fEkIaIRYqK2TIrDBMox4DVZYwehnWuAbCvxRWCv91UiYMO9qqBACqYqYcSHGowFFBQ2f8ushm4jgOeZsAmubTRhF5eVrsDsJLccseG6GkumngEoWr-NOdlI8/s1600/rue22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxxyPMfEkfni0dHkmk7fEkIaIRYqK2TIrDBMox4DVZYwehnWuAbCvxRWCv91UiYMO9qqBACqYqYcSHGowFFBQ2f8ushm4jgOeZsAmubTRhF5eVrsDsJLccseG6GkumngEoWr-NOdlI8/s1600/rue22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">trout lily,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvUVengWFEp8CQYbJTfVbi7PhXlnW6tsLLmkAKdXfI891x0DbdJQA7cOimTY4mCNLiLNbGb2mSa90JKp77NzxSzxn_3s-crHBpJCf2TiSdyMNr9wa4h70oIuQ2S7aHR0yxT3KZMEGSlI/s1600/tlily22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvUVengWFEp8CQYbJTfVbi7PhXlnW6tsLLmkAKdXfI891x0DbdJQA7cOimTY4mCNLiLNbGb2mSa90JKp77NzxSzxn_3s-crHBpJCf2TiSdyMNr9wa4h70oIuQ2S7aHR0yxT3KZMEGSlI/s1600/tlily22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">hepatica, trillium just budding or just leafing
out, and spring beauties. And in the road we saw a wee butterfly
in the dust with its wings sawing back and forth.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaz8KeMxLpxliWVyvRchZh9vsbSa0rM7MMF48pzVy4WhhkMuNXVRS61hmFnfrGrcm2SUVAxC-WsD8CP3oxvZhVlZTZ_QbiPj6NOmj8UngLJQbcg1oISPWymYe7AE6PEwz8309nXIR1sw/s1600/bfly22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaz8KeMxLpxliWVyvRchZh9vsbSa0rM7MMF48pzVy4WhhkMuNXVRS61hmFnfrGrcm2SUVAxC-WsD8CP3oxvZhVlZTZ_QbiPj6NOmj8UngLJQbcg1oISPWymYe7AE6PEwz8309nXIR1sw/s1600/bfly22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'll have to study the video to see if it was
doing anything else other than drying its wings. For the past two
days I've checked the Turtle Bog, flushing ducks but seeing no
turtles. Plus the wood frogs seem to have stopped. I think I was
hearing a pine warbler in the pines above the nearby Bunny Bog.
As for the beavers in the First Pond, as I sat reading there
today, I heard some humming at 3:30 pm, but no action. One is
definitely going as far as the upper valley pool but my guess is
that it is one of the small ones. It doesn't seem to go far into
the woods and keeps gnawing on the stumps of trees already cut.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKANdr7-nlHD-tPEZVN21yf2W7CAMyhnjTgy1BccTre6tD4Ra_ynixACViB_s02dykov5XkIqUV825HQocJZp-4qszTYCmay82oghbpB7K287lTrl3LXoJr1diUkdFT7VkCddPvyV4l1s/s1600/bvwk22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKANdr7-nlHD-tPEZVN21yf2W7CAMyhnjTgy1BccTre6tD4Ra_ynixACViB_s02dykov5XkIqUV825HQocJZp-4qszTYCmay82oghbpB7K287lTrl3LXoJr1diUkdFT7VkCddPvyV4l1s/s1600/bvwk22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Given that last year some beavers seemed to
travel quite a ways to forage and this year not far at all,
perhaps the two two year old beavers have left, and that the two
or, I think, three yearlings are simply not as adventurous as the
first litter in this pond. One can indulge in a number of
theories of family development to explain that, but best wait
until I see for sure how many beavers are still in the colony.
They've also done good work on the dam and seemed to have
fashioned a little wallow right beside the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNLiYWfVP_tJuDASvIiT3fndYLL90cuZQoCW8JphMrrlbkIBlee5pwTBXjGaeV6JjQP_0Trs6NPEroyZpZrj0gKh6Jggmgchj_FaFuz4jamQ-2bsX4984JilJCyMKaWPIQjxsLVib2z8/s1600/bvwallow22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNLiYWfVP_tJuDASvIiT3fndYLL90cuZQoCW8JphMrrlbkIBlee5pwTBXjGaeV6JjQP_0Trs6NPEroyZpZrj0gKh6Jggmgchj_FaFuz4jamQ-2bsX4984JilJCyMKaWPIQjxsLVib2z8/s1600/bvwallow22.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was a pool here before but it looks like
a beaver dug out some mud and plopped a nice log for gnawing into
it. Coming up to the Teepee Pond today I saw a possible
Blanding's turtle on a log on the opposite shore. At least its
shell seemed rather domed. It did not seem that large so I don't
think it was one of the Blandings up at the Turtle Bog.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 23 rain moved in last night, heavy at
times, and by this afternoon there were just a few stray
drizzling showers. The temperature dropped down to 40 and the
east wind picked up. I headed off to tour the ponds at 4 pm quite
comfortable with the low clouds and damp. This spring has been
too bright and dusty. The birds were all sound, especially the
red-winged blackbirds. On the little causeway along the South Bay,
which otters usually use as a latrine at this time of year, I saw
scat that half looked like an otter's. The other half of it
appeared to have more hair than scales.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq_wGzDgPS6yYVTCsneSR1F5do28Pz5elhFmiqh7Q7-FiU-LijlIYDFqoLf8hoTpqFfQFGT1DqLTvWEKH0UWRWCzfKMi7BL49H6yvsHa8EFM8YdcQe-FQYT66mGWnfJVsNnMEYlCTiIg/s1600/sbscat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmq_wGzDgPS6yYVTCsneSR1F5do28Pz5elhFmiqh7Q7-FiU-LijlIYDFqoLf8hoTpqFfQFGT1DqLTvWEKH0UWRWCzfKMi7BL49H6yvsHa8EFM8YdcQe-FQYT66mGWnfJVsNnMEYlCTiIg/s1600/sbscat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus I recalled a fox or dog scat being here
last time I was along. I pushed the different looking halves
apart and the strange scat looked apiece, so an otter might be
back here. I kept my eyes to the ground looking for flowers too
and made my next stop at some Dutchman's britches</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwJ67Ul_4Cnt3b-wqRUqNAMYKOcc9oiQjCKZVVEn3R6ObILD1fA1sCh2rbgDC8OBrRRgQSigpC8gsij2lvQUZ02I92prpFkfoMVDI7ER2X9kF-0jGEOqgINanoBQQsBalLPPro0hYuvU/s1600/dmanb23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwJ67Ul_4Cnt3b-wqRUqNAMYKOcc9oiQjCKZVVEn3R6ObILD1fA1sCh2rbgDC8OBrRRgQSigpC8gsij2lvQUZ02I92prpFkfoMVDI7ER2X9kF-0jGEOqgINanoBQQsBalLPPro0hYuvU/s1600/dmanb23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">in front of a rock on my way up the New Pond
knoll. Then up on the knoll, I saw a gray otter scat that I
thought was new, but respecting the revivifying properties of
rain, I looked around to see if I could see other evidence that
an otter had come through. Toward the crest of the knoll, but a
little off the usual otter path, were two mounds of loose grass.
I couldn't see a scat on the first but there was a wee wet puddle
of scat on the second.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO00ia20Ew5IeVl4nxG8jmpMCr2-LQExZgk5zaKzxZfSTyz_pEPXiacYC53TXA_drDsJ-Sa59GardHHf_D9cJz-9rfnDLjeJR5g-wR-AykOQB4fuQdcKWL3c8SLsHARu9M8vl2odY4F8E/s1600/npscmd23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO00ia20Ew5IeVl4nxG8jmpMCr2-LQExZgk5zaKzxZfSTyz_pEPXiacYC53TXA_drDsJ-Sa59GardHHf_D9cJz-9rfnDLjeJR5g-wR-AykOQB4fuQdcKWL3c8SLsHARu9M8vl2odY4F8E/s1600/npscmd23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">An otter was back on the old route, which is to
say, I think this otter has taken this somewhat out of the way
path before. The direct route up to the ponds is along the
stream. Meanwhile down in the New Pond, I saw a small muskrat
curled up on a log as it ate grasses.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGk0OaImd90zmID6dW8w0RgqvzgE_gDIt0tm7SN0mBxPHW7jcaxcexqG-oOjCVfFwtph3-2FfD1cLQRZBzAjZ0orV3NAMwZUG9NlRtRfAa-hx6rm_Jlz6X9GfycQjwVxqRUD9zgEcapgo/s1600/npmrat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGk0OaImd90zmID6dW8w0RgqvzgE_gDIt0tm7SN0mBxPHW7jcaxcexqG-oOjCVfFwtph3-2FfD1cLQRZBzAjZ0orV3NAMwZUG9NlRtRfAa-hx6rm_Jlz6X9GfycQjwVxqRUD9zgEcapgo/s1600/npmrat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I headed up the South Bay trail with a bounce
in my step, but didn't see any signs of otters at the latrine
above the old South Bay dock, nor at my docking rock, nor at
Audubon Pond. I did see a part of a bullhead on the trail, about
the time I flushed an osprey from a high perch, as well as a
heron, and I expect the former dropped the fish parts. I also saw
some fresh beaver gnawing on a willow hanging over South Bay.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22BZZ9BzPr7AfWmj71F9P2QEqiyah1VKSEnFVkF5gl-BxaQopvQKbPTkEflC56rhyDNx5bxlsePOi023otkcp4bFy-MxL3JjKlEkAxU9kqv_gRMThVPwV6upBuRswMydTLB6kC55GL6w/s1600/bvwillow23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22BZZ9BzPr7AfWmj71F9P2QEqiyah1VKSEnFVkF5gl-BxaQopvQKbPTkEflC56rhyDNx5bxlsePOi023otkcp4bFy-MxL3JjKlEkAxU9kqv_gRMThVPwV6upBuRswMydTLB6kC55GL6w/s1600/bvwillow23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw three fresh dollops of mud pushed up by
beavers on the embankment near the drain at Audubon Pond. And I
saw what looked like a fresh nip on a pine just above the smaller
pond east of the causeway, the same area where beavers took down
two pines last year. Then as I walked on I was greeted by a tail
slap from a beaver along the rocky shore of that pond. The beaver
dove immediately and I waited for it to surface. There are not
any burrows along that pond. I soon heard a splash coming from
Audubon Pond. The beaver swam through the pipe under the
causeway. I then was treated to a series of splashes, usually
followed by a quick dive.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_uLx4QP9w5dK3JRWBGnMHmqlaXNVPCka3Lrc5Gg2zIWIwiLCHHrfvfw8q6RAp-A8r8MSqSNYADNbpjSqPgCp1Pfk_mX1KS61n9FsmIVkXMMm3hmV9EI1n0cqZc2F9Set6K6jfH2PEfw/s1600/splash23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_uLx4QP9w5dK3JRWBGnMHmqlaXNVPCka3Lrc5Gg2zIWIwiLCHHrfvfw8q6RAp-A8r8MSqSNYADNbpjSqPgCp1Pfk_mX1KS61n9FsmIVkXMMm3hmV9EI1n0cqZc2F9Set6K6jfH2PEfw/s1600/splash23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Three years ago a family that I took out to see
the beavers here named the youngest beaver to parade before us
Slapper because of its quick tail. That colony left but
perhaps Slapper returned. One of the beavers here last fall was
prone to do it. To calm the beaver, I hurried on up to Meander
Pond, flushing several wood duck pairs, including three pairs on
Audubon Pond which is so open that they usually don't hang out
there. The beavers appear to have worked on Meander Pond dam and
they continue to strip the downed oak tree, and cutting more
trees over there. The wind and drizzle limited the photos I could
take. I did better on the east shore of the pond with the wind at
my back, struck by some of the small things the beaver's work on </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0LobrIh58PhVrEpp4tI2t0sIGVI8jFTWy4g7jrboL4y68R1ngXyWzcTt0qVLsdH6PJR9eLqqRVL-TCcCiJow0QcX4Aw6TVuw2vNPQlT-RHXr2P7RORs2bIuSiXC7SnvxjAXDaK9JsIU/s1600/mpwk23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0LobrIh58PhVrEpp4tI2t0sIGVI8jFTWy4g7jrboL4y68R1ngXyWzcTt0qVLsdH6PJR9eLqqRVL-TCcCiJow0QcX4Aw6TVuw2vNPQlT-RHXr2P7RORs2bIuSiXC7SnvxjAXDaK9JsIU/s1600/mpwk23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a prize poplar log. They appear to know the
weight of the trees they work on as they invariably cut larger
logs from the poplar trunks.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b9tR3Bk4zOYYm8Nh2qBFnyewwgzWlm59u7uE0Ib-B-rsf65NS7XDSh9hk_kmcJnOC0ULc9R1ULki2iK5emHAcEAx9LUpuxGvwyEQ7QMTxA5Oebk0swxfZas7FULGDOAKLnqiZk4TDNU/s1600/mppop23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_b9tR3Bk4zOYYm8Nh2qBFnyewwgzWlm59u7uE0Ib-B-rsf65NS7XDSh9hk_kmcJnOC0ULc9R1ULki2iK5emHAcEAx9LUpuxGvwyEQ7QMTxA5Oebk0swxfZas7FULGDOAKLnqiZk4TDNU/s1600/mppop23.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3629363137524847426" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwxz2Sd76crbHGyHW-3OtVd5X3fKnnsVoIeSrjSjoB0hdAHuuXt0DSTSNvrg3M-4FpPXpfNclsZOMkeiFPUImLgFvEncypmmNVepRD_jZW72jKTpslr5F-yXyxtgwvycGVRmLOtK1E9Q/s1600/mppop23a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwxz2Sd76crbHGyHW-3OtVd5X3fKnnsVoIeSrjSjoB0hdAHuuXt0DSTSNvrg3M-4FpPXpfNclsZOMkeiFPUImLgFvEncypmmNVepRD_jZW72jKTpslr5F-yXyxtgwvycGVRmLOtK1E9Q/s1600/mppop23a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The comb frogs are still creaking at Thicket
Pond, not quite as loudly. Then I headed back into otter
territory, and actually had a hunch I would see an otter in the
shallow pond behind the East Trail Pond dam, and I did see
something swimming, and got the camcorder going despite the
drizzle, then saw in an instant that it was a muskrat, and a
small one at that. Though I would think this pond, given that it
has usually been much deeper over the years, would not be that
rich in the plants muskrats like, this one dove frequently. It
disappeared into the dam. I went down to the usual otter route
down the ridge from the direction of Otter Hole Pond and saw a
neat mound of grass, but no otter scat on it or along that trail.
I crossed to the other side of the pond and a little more than
half way up the hill</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPhyphenhyphen5SoRS8Uy0H-dzN145h69s2I59pzXGZ5sdbMksvm7DTLBXvMYWy1b43odm05yc7uMuxYL4euSzQpraj7EHMzDCeRI-MI73PsKc14jub8DSrqnSXycrQa2DP3pDkE9sOLFec5ErcDk/s1600/etlat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPhyphenhyphen5SoRS8Uy0H-dzN145h69s2I59pzXGZ5sdbMksvm7DTLBXvMYWy1b43odm05yc7uMuxYL4euSzQpraj7EHMzDCeRI-MI73PsKc14jub8DSrqnSXycrQa2DP3pDkE9sOLFec5ErcDk/s1600/etlat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">saw a new otter scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJHO-pICRDOf47G2wB4QuWGC-ZSoHQKWcBtsA3h0dTJFSPGytB5QDkREVrtYS6YIViX8roZBf3xy2sQa5pkxYNhYSls-Cee2_kRZq7ByeuByIegNAn2FvVnvwl_gpFribBEGDBm-QQtQ/s1600/etscat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJHO-pICRDOf47G2wB4QuWGC-ZSoHQKWcBtsA3h0dTJFSPGytB5QDkREVrtYS6YIViX8roZBf3xy2sQa5pkxYNhYSls-Cee2_kRZq7ByeuByIegNAn2FvVnvwl_gpFribBEGDBm-QQtQ/s1600/etscat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The last otters to scat here were the mother
and pup back in December. So now I had a hunch I would see an
otter in the Second Swamp Pond, but as soon as I got there, and
saw the downside of the large pond filled with water, I lost that
hunch. There was much water scudded into wakes and waves by the
east wind. I sat for ten minutes but no wake materialized into an
otter. I crossed the dam and saw perhaps some fresh beaver
gnawing on a cedar on the dam,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhlCUP9aMeRReMcW8YWLmnj8pQLZn4QUQzGafF4iXGwnQxgpSRR5-knZIEZ__lGHTtRqP-3CYqI_N4Gj6haiOd3ahho5eWDwmFLt5GAkTsVEDFtX83w9LoM2Hpx0pEbAkIhRxSJDMafk/s1600/bvcedar23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhlCUP9aMeRReMcW8YWLmnj8pQLZn4QUQzGafF4iXGwnQxgpSRR5-knZIEZ__lGHTtRqP-3CYqI_N4Gj6haiOd3ahho5eWDwmFLt5GAkTsVEDFtX83w9LoM2Hpx0pEbAkIhRxSJDMafk/s1600/bvcedar23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and there seemed to be more mud on the dam. It
looked like an otter had scatted on the old scat on a mat of
grass just below the dam, but no scent mounds. I expected to find
one of the them on the north slope of the Lost Swamp Pond, but
didn't, nor any scat. I followed the trail over to the Second
Swamp Pond and there almost at the foot of it</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFpi49QsLuh_YQV4D67_KmoGi7lDWparY9r6eCUZiLKSRbaNXbNeGecOMbWnYmHcOKwoQj3wXAqqDwm5cADmA9BdFoS9zIdjT7niu6Bo5Db37yRJXEo-5kf1s3YHmzYz9GoWNA0geoLs/s1600/splat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFpi49QsLuh_YQV4D67_KmoGi7lDWparY9r6eCUZiLKSRbaNXbNeGecOMbWnYmHcOKwoQj3wXAqqDwm5cADmA9BdFoS9zIdjT7niu6Bo5Db37yRJXEo-5kf1s3YHmzYz9GoWNA0geoLs/s1600/splat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">was a handsome scent mound, difficult to
capture in a photo, with two squirts of white scat with a thin
smear of gray on it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyk0KqrSadXRExsjdLi7s9mTA2Pq4ZVQdxL76RkS3qNegsi3KMgb2rjqPwDgrTqhF5dgMii_daTMs8UyhyfSCUY4aerRlptIRACf814LO2u3b51dIIS1xaVq-5JGnUO9BaUqwQl4q0GoM/s1600/spscat23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyk0KqrSadXRExsjdLi7s9mTA2Pq4ZVQdxL76RkS3qNegsi3KMgb2rjqPwDgrTqhF5dgMii_daTMs8UyhyfSCUY4aerRlptIRACf814LO2u3b51dIIS1xaVq-5JGnUO9BaUqwQl4q0GoM/s1600/spscat23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued on up to the Upper Second Swamp
Pond dam and thought I saw some fresh beaver gnawing, some work
on a birch trunk that was rather staggered. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-a2FHZRi5x01LMYl0VO8xQXHnuZDprgBL-ySWisgYWtJZAXbhSGE3GyEE1l1_UhI1IqtkpLsXcQf6g1R6bgt1eqhjsjlTURMyGyY23fvzpwLouj4XkQH4kM3w0_Kb7TWv-ZH1bB6K3s/s1600/birchwk23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-a2FHZRi5x01LMYl0VO8xQXHnuZDprgBL-ySWisgYWtJZAXbhSGE3GyEE1l1_UhI1IqtkpLsXcQf6g1R6bgt1eqhjsjlTURMyGyY23fvzpwLouj4XkQH4kM3w0_Kb7TWv-ZH1bB6K3s/s1600/birchwk23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Usually beavers are more methodical. This gave
the impression of several beavers each with its own spots. There
was also a double trunked white oak being neatly girdled and cut.
The east wind was keeping the geese out of these large ponds,
save for in the grassy areas of the Second Swamp Pond, or well
concealed. I did see one still on her eggs on the lodge in the
middle of the Lost Swamp Pond. The dam is leaking liberally
again, thanks to rain. I saw some new scat at the rolling area
latrine, and some fresh digging, but so many critters dig here, I
can't pin that on an otter. Conditions were not good for sitting
and studying the pond so I headed on to the Big Pond, which is
also exposed to the wind and saw no ducks on it. The water level
looked higher but this was because of the rain. The patch in the
dam was leaking. If the beavers had not put some large logs to
brace their fresh patch of mud and grass, all the work might have
washed away. There was wind and waves enough to wash foam up on
and over the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirMudrzk96sMLbEevrY3tyjQ-7G4MkTpmlDguAdynCUQYsSHZpBrpEDGQqEEgQFy_lyOuufEP1ISWJwofJoGaN-sBsOR9kl08YHDhvtn8gBVLH3AwAJqUxGCTdjLsMAoiTkmzC3oA0N8/s1600/bpdam23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirMudrzk96sMLbEevrY3tyjQ-7G4MkTpmlDguAdynCUQYsSHZpBrpEDGQqEEgQFy_lyOuufEP1ISWJwofJoGaN-sBsOR9kl08YHDhvtn8gBVLH3AwAJqUxGCTdjLsMAoiTkmzC3oA0N8/s1600/bpdam23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Had the otter come here? Yes, there were two
scent mounds at the south end of the dam, one with scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha2j5YeimPXboGkh-wIsQS3TYPZy_ZqeGWx3qOVTfWP675k1eoYiBNqd4wrVvmHud6w7r-JBcJRFHfTXJC2zCf4r9BWGJm3-aPzAE1GdBtOKGN4e4_5l_Loit_Rjf4zn9V0hkYLLaaYik/s1600/bpscmd23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha2j5YeimPXboGkh-wIsQS3TYPZy_ZqeGWx3qOVTfWP675k1eoYiBNqd4wrVvmHud6w7r-JBcJRFHfTXJC2zCf4r9BWGJm3-aPzAE1GdBtOKGN4e4_5l_Loit_Rjf4zn9V0hkYLLaaYik/s1600/bpscmd23.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus all this otter work was fresh, so perhaps
I'll see an otter tomorrow.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 24 we had heavy rain in the night, almost
another inch, and cold in the morning, below forty. Then with
wind and clouds still, the temperature climbed a bit. I went out
about the same time as I did yesterday and headed in the same
direction even though the wind was shifting to the west, which
meant I would lose any concealment from the wind as I approached
most of the ponds. But I was primarily curious about the otter
scats and scent mounds. The mystery of the South Bay causeway was
soon solved. An otter left the most symmetrical scent mound I have
ever seen, just off the trail, crowned with a scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaXgOamefj-89Lor1p5Oxr8X7znES7e7-_biFshME_INfwsDrVsKlrKxtNqQYbnMA3-qcN2YEBoCXeh0WN9SNn1j7BqUCB4Dg0P0_Qi8vShOvRFRO1VY2l4juu9Z7PVX7diyh4DGy66A/s1600/sbscmd24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaXgOamefj-89Lor1p5Oxr8X7znES7e7-_biFshME_INfwsDrVsKlrKxtNqQYbnMA3-qcN2YEBoCXeh0WN9SNn1j7BqUCB4Dg0P0_Qi8vShOvRFRO1VY2l4juu9Z7PVX7diyh4DGy66A/s1600/sbscmd24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And a few feet from the mysterious scat I
investigated yesterday was a fresh scat -- all otter, this time,
no mysterious hair in it. I did take a closer look at the hairy
scat and discovered fish scales inside which indicates that it
did come from the an otter. The hair seemed short and mostly
white. Perhaps an otter was taking some bites out of the deer
carcass that was in the middle of the Second Swamp Pond? But
speculating on that keeps me from the significance of the scent
mound -- an otter is claiming territory and going around doing it
for the second day. As I approached the causeway, a heron flew
off, which is somewhat surprising because herons, for some
reason, usually avoid this area. I paused to see if there were
any spawning bullheads gathering, but saw none. There was also a
new scat at the crest of the New Pond knoll coming up from the
bridge over the once again raging creek.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kGylGD_vXVeJLTy_JayNXKKCSmX94R1TAPUZBdbiDo55g2iKnorApeuWVjOGTJA8PT_mqVS7yl7__HSYvoo0MNKpx0KRtv7Okncfkcjmh-jeXffbqrYfvNuCJ5ZCImB-J7hu_sF06sA/s1600/nplat24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kGylGD_vXVeJLTy_JayNXKKCSmX94R1TAPUZBdbiDo55g2iKnorApeuWVjOGTJA8PT_mqVS7yl7__HSYvoo0MNKpx0KRtv7Okncfkcjmh-jeXffbqrYfvNuCJ5ZCImB-J7hu_sF06sA/s1600/nplat24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I moved over the knoll, I saw rippling in
the pond water, so I cocked my camera. The muskrat was once again
up and nibbling, a little closer this time. The scent mounds
there looked the same. I wanted to take a shorter hike, but
curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to see if this marking
at the end of South Bay was tied to fishing in all of South Bay.
So I went up the South Bay trail. I saw some leaves scuffed up
above the old dock, but no scat and none of the finer arrangement
that this scenting otter makes. Then I noticed a muskrat swimming
along the shore, making its way through the waves a bit too
slowly for me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyck3YX15WMvmfKCwebrUTzNlXvOAWRIfYO2vp-akJM9691kiz5STAL-xIx0uS1Ko5x3gUPINVE8U57x8fM_7BG42HeiL59bp5hUbX5HM-VL0MUMJmpNevo3eU5V1kf98qoXB1A6Ndsk/s1600/mrat24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyck3YX15WMvmfKCwebrUTzNlXvOAWRIfYO2vp-akJM9691kiz5STAL-xIx0uS1Ko5x3gUPINVE8U57x8fM_7BG42HeiL59bp5hUbX5HM-VL0MUMJmpNevo3eU5V1kf98qoXB1A6Ndsk/s1600/mrat24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But there was no need to rush. There was
nothing new at the docking rock. Perhaps that means an otter is
primarily claiming the ponds. I went up to Audubon Pond, and saw
the usual pair of geese. I didn't walk around it but headed back
to otter territory, via Meander Pond, of course. To resist taking
many photos of all the beaver work, which always looks so much
more dramatic in the damp gloaming, I took one photo of recent
work in the foreground and background of the muddy canal.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFax3kXFfzIEng5jYm_qeEcRojY1qyHLtB6uju8nRfIAEj4ZfYjuCVe4UvHwwfVmF_Boc0fWwirXWYB-vtwqJSBBf_SuKK1307OCMNEZ1Q3TyI5mmeVNQKpB9p1wbGopn1J3MNjv56QY/s1600/mpwk24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFax3kXFfzIEng5jYm_qeEcRojY1qyHLtB6uju8nRfIAEj4ZfYjuCVe4UvHwwfVmF_Boc0fWwirXWYB-vtwqJSBBf_SuKK1307OCMNEZ1Q3TyI5mmeVNQKpB9p1wbGopn1J3MNjv56QY/s1600/mpwk24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The chill seemed to subdue the frogs. Once
again I approached the East Trail Pond with great anticipation,
but other than a heron flying off nothing was new in the pond.
The otter had been through, because the scent mound made
yesterday was now crowned with a scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2YLR7MGKv9zEoO-rhUyN1QFqgu3i2mtKPQ1SbwH7p_6MNKKxtnawFZdSaEpASsYEM3ehYM8W6jiAkei-uarbYdkOYTMnXzzohwiBqNAt7vqzmW2bxImanqQN9e2BiC4OhR5JwhIEc7U/s1600/etscmd24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2YLR7MGKv9zEoO-rhUyN1QFqgu3i2mtKPQ1SbwH7p_6MNKKxtnawFZdSaEpASsYEM3ehYM8W6jiAkei-uarbYdkOYTMnXzzohwiBqNAt7vqzmW2bxImanqQN9e2BiC4OhR5JwhIEc7U/s1600/etscmd24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It didn't, however, add anything to the latrine
on the other side of the pond. I paused for 15 minutes above the
bank lodge at the Second Swamp Pond where all was quiet, no ducks
on the pond, one pair of geese flew over. I was just about to go
down and stand on the lodge, to check for scat and hear if
anything inside might panic and dive into the water, when a
muskrat swam quietly out of the lodge. It swam through the nearby
grasses, which still looks sere and, I suppose, unappetizing to a
muskrat, and then I saw it swim behind the dam, going up on it
briefly at two or three places then spending three or four
minutes at another. Once back into the water, it stopped going up
on the dam and swam into the grasses in the southwest corner of
the pond. Respecting the wind direction, I walked up the north
shore of the pond, so I could approach the Lost Swamp Pond with
the wind half in my face. Of course, I was approaching quite the
wrong way if I wanted to watch beavers in the Upper Second Swamp
Pond, and two of them were out. One, I think, was eating in the
north end of the dam, and it started slapping its tail. The other
was down in the south end, and it fled back to the lodge. Then as
the slapping beaver retreated back to the lodge, another beaver
came down from the lodge and inspected me,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOeCsgQNim8YJdEXHzFX5FtG9rgxxtVQ2Awc0fcwl4oyQiEUC1D_2xu6CdgJag1F7ePkCKCRy2oqDpSRoAt6a4aW6B1bA5uelMdLoKcKiZsZPJhpJE59ogzYzzB0GMq1x6RyYDEJ9nX4/s1600/upspbv24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOeCsgQNim8YJdEXHzFX5FtG9rgxxtVQ2Awc0fcwl4oyQiEUC1D_2xu6CdgJag1F7ePkCKCRy2oqDpSRoAt6a4aW6B1bA5uelMdLoKcKiZsZPJhpJE59ogzYzzB0GMq1x6RyYDEJ9nX4/s1600/upspbv24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">though it could have been the same beaver that
had retreated. It didn't splash me, but did make a noisy leg
kicking dive. Their dam was leaking liberally</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4oRYzLjs2WpkcBiUKLNuKnvA1vfQaz0xaF8aGEqSH4EAJVfYhlI82q5WjZA1lxyD6WY2Yu_G32m-PEBj0kgWjL7-7PozYlJPWvSHStbIikbtVaStouQ0FDbCwSRKcvkuplF8b_VSAa8/s1600/upspdam24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4oRYzLjs2WpkcBiUKLNuKnvA1vfQaz0xaF8aGEqSH4EAJVfYhlI82q5WjZA1lxyD6WY2Yu_G32m-PEBj0kgWjL7-7PozYlJPWvSHStbIikbtVaStouQ0FDbCwSRKcvkuplF8b_VSAa8/s1600/upspdam24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I faulted myself for not being more subtle
in my approach so I could perhaps observe them making repairs.
When I looked up at the beaver after it made its second splash, I
noticed a male wood duck swimming in that area, and it didn't fly
off until after the second splash and when it could clearly see
me. Some of the willow bushes in the wet ground along the pond
are blossoming after their fashion, I think they are
pussy willows.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZAr9ZzMQ0GRJ3LOepAM3pHpvKVVWzL98sHGHg7PYBMWdQiYCGRkDW6LoidVls78XEB_hRDA0W453XXL_PGPkMbFLXpKw3Ngad_uO6TiFqz0G9WxHqnvKxUofLRZczlEJtfGI9SyxRYY/s1600/blossoms24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZAr9ZzMQ0GRJ3LOepAM3pHpvKVVWzL98sHGHg7PYBMWdQiYCGRkDW6LoidVls78XEB_hRDA0W453XXL_PGPkMbFLXpKw3Ngad_uO6TiFqz0G9WxHqnvKxUofLRZczlEJtfGI9SyxRYY/s1600/blossoms24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After crediting these beavers for making good
repairs on their dam, I found myself forced to hop on the few
clumps of grass that remained half dry in the flood of water
coming over the dam. I tried to keep off the dam because each
step seemed to start a new leak. As I came up to the Lost Swamp
Pond, a goose swam to the south end of the pond, followed by a
pair of mallards. I didn't see any new scats near the dam, in the
rolling area or the north shore slope. I was getting a bit
chilled in the wind so I had to keep walking. I went over to
check the mossy cove latrine and as I did I noticed a beaver
swimming from the dam. It came half way toward me then seemed to
dive into the lodge in the middle of the pond. There were no new
scats on the mossy cove latrine, save a canine scat -- a fox
interested in watching beavers and muskrats? Then I saw another
beaver heading down to the lodge by the dam coming from the
northeast end of the pond. I scanned the expanse of the
southeastern section of the pond and saw only ducks and geese. I
took some photos of the winter work on the slope behind the bank
lodge on the south shore.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6xUgLk7hrbsZTV42KWEcmb_g0M76PMoaNz4_vyT-7fcN4FojPdzdBHUkT7NNXAlpop8nzjcqcY92QQCbV55H3JXzVuxWBmowdaPnF-Xn9rrpN7HJsroFSzSAsRVwdPWwmaCSLW8tdjc/s1600/lsbvwk24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6xUgLk7hrbsZTV42KWEcmb_g0M76PMoaNz4_vyT-7fcN4FojPdzdBHUkT7NNXAlpop8nzjcqcY92QQCbV55H3JXzVuxWBmowdaPnF-Xn9rrpN7HJsroFSzSAsRVwdPWwmaCSLW8tdjc/s1600/lsbvwk24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3629363137524847426" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3629363137524847426" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: medium;">Will the beavers come back and finish cutting
down trees, and stripping those that are down? My guess is that
they will be distracted by getting the new grasses out of the
pond. I went to the Big Pond via the surveyor's cut to be right
with the wind in case an otter was out, and to see if they were
using the latrine just off from the cut that they had used last
fall. As I approached I thought I saw a beaver swimming up the
pond, as well as three pairs of ducks. There was no sign the
otter had been on the shore there. As I headed to the dam,
another beaver came out of the lodge, and also swam upstream. So
much for beavers checking their dam first. This dam certainly
needed checking. I could hear the water rushing over it from one
hundred yards away. The leak is quite generous, but the patch is
holding.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TUuz1O07DPKHVq68NN109gqsoG4vEUGY8GneJFIhKu6CBxUPjRPfoeOK1nLLP62zvaSu_LmMYW77CZEwbJKMGXo-SDXRNkb6drxmgiYS_Yb-lXNZrES73ohm3H-w_azNLrCP88tA_q4/s1600/bpdam24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TUuz1O07DPKHVq68NN109gqsoG4vEUGY8GneJFIhKu6CBxUPjRPfoeOK1nLLP62zvaSu_LmMYW77CZEwbJKMGXo-SDXRNkb6drxmgiYS_Yb-lXNZrES73ohm3H-w_azNLrCP88tA_q4/s1600/bpdam24.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It didn't look like the otter revisited the
latrine on the south end of the dam. It is curious that it made
the point of going back to the East Trail Pond and not the bigger
ponds. Once again an otter seems to be showing me that it prefers
a shrunken pond to ones that are filling up, but I'd like to
actually see it foraging in the East Trail Pond. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-85247439552654238622016-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:002016-11-20T13:49:00.915-08:00April 8 to 15, 2005<span style="font-size: medium;">April 8 at first blush it seemed like a gentle
morning and that lured us out into the boat. Then as we headed
off, the sun went behind high clouds and the wind picked up from
the west, making it a chilly ride, but not wet. The waves didn't
kick up. As we headed toward Picton Island we passed a pair of
mergansers in our cove, a few lines of chunky ice and then
between Murray and Grinnell Islands we stirred up a dozen or so
buffleheads. Coming around Murray to Picton I thought some
goldeneyes flew off, but with the engine noise I couldn't hear
their whistle. We went slowly back into the bay where a beaver
stayed in a bank lodge in the fall. A pair of mergansers were on
the ice. No sign of beavers. A tree was down but I am pretty sure
they were cutting that in the fall. There were no little stripped
sticks near the lodge. We went up to Picton point and got out. As
I walked along the old otter scats, I saw two large and fresh scent
mounds</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZ5pUON_QuZTbnST12U1D4pr20lNjEmYBu5JDhhKZCxeopYFoX_ctB2AklUUCJqGFrUfJpnshRAh3V6XjmB9q5eoRhHQRmy7w61qlHUUTZ9lGLX4m1c1Wl4FsXyeOYYUkPjgGxVYw1fs/s1600/piclat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZ5pUON_QuZTbnST12U1D4pr20lNjEmYBu5JDhhKZCxeopYFoX_ctB2AklUUCJqGFrUfJpnshRAh3V6XjmB9q5eoRhHQRmy7w61qlHUUTZ9lGLX4m1c1Wl4FsXyeOYYUkPjgGxVYw1fs/s1600/piclat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">with otter scat behind one</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZQkhjnPZgKmOPE4TaSKda6vKhUsqzye8Nol_bpLi650xZNhbaBkRLbnyhNu0KLI5v-wiEERgo2XrrRGLXCPY1GatGptnqKa8rVtZYTtNZq2vuMvy9f8uNtAt-yCjwxzOxW0Nb-nIFOY/s1600/scat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZQkhjnPZgKmOPE4TaSKda6vKhUsqzye8Nol_bpLi650xZNhbaBkRLbnyhNu0KLI5v-wiEERgo2XrrRGLXCPY1GatGptnqKa8rVtZYTtNZq2vuMvy9f8uNtAt-yCjwxzOxW0Nb-nIFOY/s1600/scat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and on one,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaYWlqXLYk-qCA7f4NKA81AkG77oVrhbB3uHjjIDEwxMshUSSW_WHu4j30E81z3cv81emSjMCJlsbCqGjnQjzIT9SNEN5NeTdEKCOA2lV_apkOCMNd8bhprMYN8vO4Ut30Xk2KLl_QPM/s1600/scentscat8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaYWlqXLYk-qCA7f4NKA81AkG77oVrhbB3uHjjIDEwxMshUSSW_WHu4j30E81z3cv81emSjMCJlsbCqGjnQjzIT9SNEN5NeTdEKCOA2lV_apkOCMNd8bhprMYN8vO4Ut30Xk2KLl_QPM/s1600/scentscat8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then another scat in front of the scent
mound. All of the scats were mostly liquid without scales or
bones. The one in the scent mound appeared clearer, more beige
than black. I got the sense that the otter was claiming territory
not doing the more mundane necessary, unloading the contents of
its bowels. The recent rains pushed grasses up in some obvious
rivulets, now dry. But these scent mounds were out of the
drainage pattern. We admired the color of the water off the
point,</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXbBHxjdIp459h6YdjvjpH3DitM75bMRQURJwgE-HaADsorEJOMM2ifit2Gx00KhUR2ulFStuQ6Gp6MNPgQ8Ijk6cpHJlRnOhAUn9dXKbqLcdLxMs8UvPSxI6lAd0WkS52IBHln51bwk/s1600/river8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXbBHxjdIp459h6YdjvjpH3DitM75bMRQURJwgE-HaADsorEJOMM2ifit2Gx00KhUR2ulFStuQ6Gp6MNPgQ8Ijk6cpHJlRnOhAUn9dXKbqLcdLxMs8UvPSxI6lAd0WkS52IBHln51bwk/s1600/river8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then I went back along the shore to check
out an area that looked well used by something. This proved to be
a nice little cliff side grotto with granite still dripping with
moisture, but the only critters that seemed to have used it were
deer. There were even deer bones, and much deer poop. The deer
must have prized this area for being well out of the north wind,
and exposed to the sun at dawn and for most of the day. There was
a possible scent mound, more like a beaver's than an otter's.
From the point we had noticed some snow still on the rocks along
Grindstone Island, which seemed strange because that shore was
exposed to the sun in the southern sky. The snow proved to be
layers of ice driven up on the rocks by the wind, thickly enough
that it still had not melted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXbQf7wZMlC42tIwZth8bKEXTUfSi5JSjEcrSVU8FuXCSQtpijXywVSXzcWbkSujfIKwRh6VuyhhvJkBvQ5kHkjcxiv6GGzcs7UNaB-jz84svX0f-nHo31bGnqqc-wzdNKwNu4RpH04Y/s1600/ice8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXbQf7wZMlC42tIwZth8bKEXTUfSi5JSjEcrSVU8FuXCSQtpijXywVSXzcWbkSujfIKwRh6VuyhhvJkBvQ5kHkjcxiv6GGzcs7UNaB-jz84svX0f-nHo31bGnqqc-wzdNKwNu4RpH04Y/s1600/ice8.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">The ice had a beautiful blue tinge. Then we
went back across Eel Bay to check the rock on Murray Island that
the otters use for a latrine. Leslie was cold and I didn't get
out on the rock but there didn't seem to be any scats there.
Heading down to the Narrows, we went through a flock of swallows
skimming along the surface of the water evidently getting insects
to eat. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hqu8LYYXXIRKdx5JxsEL_F_ou86T9ZZSL1ID5chcvOT3jdpVTGcTBSv3kWlrzwDr8Mh7TwpX1q26NyjSmxp4o4PWst9EbN2bNdN3fIlIiGVL4jJ7Q9a5XKBwp1B_n4JGsJxJnLBhdfw/s1600/swallows8a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hqu8LYYXXIRKdx5JxsEL_F_ou86T9ZZSL1ID5chcvOT3jdpVTGcTBSv3kWlrzwDr8Mh7TwpX1q26NyjSmxp4o4PWst9EbN2bNdN3fIlIiGVL4jJ7Q9a5XKBwp1B_n4JGsJxJnLBhdfw/s1600/swallows8a.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Leslie thought she saw one bug. While we often
see swallows on the river and they commonly swoop close to the
boat, this flock seemed oblivious to us and generally stayed in
one area and low, not the usual wild forays up in the air which I
assume are as much about the joy of flying so well as it is
about getting bugs. Back in the channel, two ospreys are back
beginning to work on their nest.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We spent 45 minutes at our land south of the river, and were
pleased to hear the peepers blasting from several spots,
especially behind the Third Pond and around the pool in the inner
valley. I sat briefly above the First Pond around 5pm hoping a
beaver would come out. I heard one humming, but only a muskrat
made an appearance, swimming from the bank below where I sat over
to and into the lodge; then up to the end of the pond and then
back into the burrow below where I sit. Good to see the busy
critter. The lack of obvious fresh beaver work around the pond
suggests that with the snow long gone they are wandering further
afield. I will have to check that out. When I say fresh work, I
mean cutting trees for food. They did a nice job repairing the
little dam below the big dam.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Mostly using dead grass to make the repairs</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 9 we spent the day working at our land.
After having lunch listening to a few peepers around the Third
Pond, and perhaps a comb frog or two (you need a mass to really
get the effect,) we went up to the turtle bog and there was a
large Blanding's turtle on the west bank with all of its shell
just out of the water.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The shell was a dark green. Then as we moved
along I saw what looked another, smaller Blandings.</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Leslie was sure it was a rock and then just
after she said she could see the lichens on it, the rock moved,
thrashed a bit, turned and sank into the water. I stayed to see
if it might resurface and Leslie went up the bog (as we call it,
it's really just a narrow pool of water) to see if she could hear
wood frogs that usually congregate here. Soon enough, even I
could hear the wood frogs coming from where she had gone. When I
went up to where they were, I could hear at least six of them and
see some stirring in the water, but I couldn't see any. I headed
back to the turtles on the west slope, the slope they were on. As
I approached I could hear the wood frogs singing from right where
we had been sitting. Then when I got down to the carpet of moss
where, in other springs I have napped next to turtles, I saw what
looked like a stick arching out of the water. I had a hunch it
was the turtle, but its camouflage was so good that I approached
a little closer before I got one of the cameras out, and it
ducked into the water and sank deeper into the pool beneath all
the litter. As I moved along that shore I am pretty sure I saw
the other Blanding's higher on the bank and with its head facing
the pool, but I didn't have a very good view. Down at the valley
pool it looked like the beavers had made at least three paths up
into the woods. I followed each and saw what looked like freshly
cut birches</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhfhcYr9sJdnrmY9Gho7_mR9Slf4yHFSrcATzGsoQAD6CD-HRS5CBxYNtLKkCDniXI8YE-zQOzVIGH9GeF9Boos_spprrsTLX1e6fAXjWxOH6HIto9EEZIplvX9tynq_Z1B7RyCn7pfs/s1600/tpbvwk9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhfhcYr9sJdnrmY9Gho7_mR9Slf4yHFSrcATzGsoQAD6CD-HRS5CBxYNtLKkCDniXI8YE-zQOzVIGH9GeF9Boos_spprrsTLX1e6fAXjWxOH6HIto9EEZIplvX9tynq_Z1B7RyCn7pfs/s1600/tpbvwk9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and one small pine, but the beavers didn't seem
to go too far up into the woods. Not yet like last spring when
they went up over the ridge. After sawing at the rock by the
Teepee Pond, I checked for fresh beaver activity above the First
Pond. A stripped stick was lying on the first dam up, so they
have been about, but I didn't see any major work. The first pool
up from the pond is now just a rivulet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iCLojxoK0CRfL05G3Go5gOjXLRVHKdCPIgI_1wUH0okkTQLjNHa-VLaAbhQgooiha87GSTOTEw-0sEgnk84h_e75C3ZWlVAUSBqdkPyTvczzoEv1hT-mUhARC1Mr53diVwvC0nLlwkc/s1600/abovefp9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iCLojxoK0CRfL05G3Go5gOjXLRVHKdCPIgI_1wUH0okkTQLjNHa-VLaAbhQgooiha87GSTOTEw-0sEgnk84h_e75C3ZWlVAUSBqdkPyTvczzoEv1hT-mUhARC1Mr53diVwvC0nLlwkc/s1600/abovefp9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers have patched and extended the dam
above that, making a nice pool back to the debris from the red
oak I cut, though it doesn't look like they took a bite out of
that. I went back to the poplar grove and there was one cut that
looked like it could be fresh, segmenting a log from the trunk of
one of the last poplars they felled in the fall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We got home a little before 5pm and I headed
directly out to the ponds going over the TI Park ridge and down
to the South Bay trail, where in other springs the otters have
left a mark. There was none there today, although a fox left its.
The rush of water from the second swamp has calmed enough so that
one can step across on the rocks and no longer use the rickety
old log bridge. No signs of otters down there and none up on the
New Pond knoll. A heron flew out of the area. I sat on the knoll
and was entertained by a downy woodpecker who didn't peck along
the bark but deftly picked. The tree, maple probably, had a bit
of bark recently stripped by a porcupine and it looked as if sap
was coming down from the cut, and that's where the woodpecker was
picking, either getting the bugs attracted to the sap, or
enjoying the sap himself. A hawk flew high over head and a few
flocks of robin sized birds that looked brown in the setting sun.
I headed on up to the East Trial pond which is lower with pools
in the upper areas shrinking and the channels through the area
down to rivulets. </span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Yet a heron was right in the middle of the
largest pool behind the dam, along with four wood ducks. I
checked for scats. It is up to the otter to show me that this
pond is no longer of interest, I can't assume it just because all
looks so meager. Crossing the dam I tried to get a picture to
show the depth of the tunnel through the dam where water still
flows copiously. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJghCMFjbX_XAuuPBS1Ezj3kcRLuEtEfXmabjgAjv6gXkJPlwJtmVuJl6mUekPITZ1MbEgmnkWh0Ud2dGJFYUSyIKhZXUX2RTTWAylxARPayDpjVW4GFLIckAEDgBcHjtecsNcQFO290/s1600/etdamhole9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJghCMFjbX_XAuuPBS1Ezj3kcRLuEtEfXmabjgAjv6gXkJPlwJtmVuJl6mUekPITZ1MbEgmnkWh0Ud2dGJFYUSyIKhZXUX2RTTWAylxARPayDpjVW4GFLIckAEDgBcHjtecsNcQFO290/s1600/etdamhole9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This pond will get even lower. I also saw a
broken white egg underneath one of the tall pines. The Second
Swamp Pond did not look any larger, and despite the expanse there
was only three pairs of buffleheads enjoying it. All was quiet
above the lodge so I checked the dam where there were no new
otter scats, nor any more dam patching. One patch looked
precarious with water lapping over it.</span><br />
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</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The wind was not right for approaching the Lost
Swamp Pond, and as soon as I came down the north slope, a beaver
splashed. That's always disappointing, but the splash came from
the bank lodge on the south shore, which is interesting because
it shows that some of the beavers might be staying there. And
indeed that beaver after investigating me swam back over to that
lodge, and then when I left the pond it splashed from there
again. So in the past three visits I thought the beavers were in
the northeast lodge, the lodge in the middle, the lodge by the
dam and the bank lodge on the south shore. There were no new
otter scats on the north slope, and I noticed that the possible
scat with mammal remains, now was dry and I could see the mammal
bones and hair</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but none of the dark sticky matter that holds
an otter's scat together. This may be an owl pellet. I saw only a
goose poop at the old rolling area. I sat down there and enjoyed
the stillness of a goose on her eggs atop the lodge in the middle
of the pond, and sorting out the ducks coming into view as they
swam down from the southeast section of the pond. Mostly
buffleheads and mallards. Then I saw a bit of commotion in the
water and cocked my camera thinking an otter might be coming
around. Then I caught something in the upper corner of my eye and
an osprey flew in and perched in a dead tree in front of me, with
a fish in one talon. For a bit it picked at the fish, the prey's
tail twitching with every pick. Then it started bobbing and
weaving its head to get a better look at me,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPhKgK514nlGEsO1r9qC8H6aIWQEL8B6s1r78F1W9E0xINPQ5-Zsiz8LtvNzRpWt9dHjmjHv62DntEIjmePUhmqKM_IbDfVooSnAGAQWHhDzgvfTFx7od3xRNXnBxnIr944EAVi9QIvQ/s1600/osprey9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPhKgK514nlGEsO1r9qC8H6aIWQEL8B6s1r78F1W9E0xINPQ5-Zsiz8LtvNzRpWt9dHjmjHv62DntEIjmePUhmqKM_IbDfVooSnAGAQWHhDzgvfTFx7od3xRNXnBxnIr944EAVi9QIvQ/s1600/osprey9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">screeching twice as it did so, then flew off. I
still had time to pick up on the other commotion and saw two
muskrats swimming, but I missed the fight if there had been one,
because they both disappeared. I saw more freshly stripped logs
around the lodge by the dam, and the log still sticking up out of
it. If the beavers were not so active there, I could blame a
vandal, or if this was the season when men with rifles roamed
around, but it isn't. I would take the thing out to see if it was
put back in, but I hate disturbing the beavers, and even if a
vandal stuck it in, it certainly doesn't bother the beavers. The
beavers have been unable to quiet the flow from the dam, mostly
coming from the repaired trench a hunter made. However, the Upper
Second Swamp Pond dam is half patched and that pond has risen a
foot or two. The beavers brought some logs to back up the weaker
portions of the dam </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OVoaBB2qxzAwgXbn2AHNVNq98OVGp_QGPAyjPvxazELxOalnSpQe8ADOc-zvtOmmkPMfNAfWZ2zBGbHvGv5naZME7IJKbWVzNwPWpDbyXcHM0gclhaH7gHIwMMchmg8ftxxusir_kEM/s1600/upspdam9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OVoaBB2qxzAwgXbn2AHNVNq98OVGp_QGPAyjPvxazELxOalnSpQe8ADOc-zvtOmmkPMfNAfWZ2zBGbHvGv5naZME7IJKbWVzNwPWpDbyXcHM0gclhaH7gHIwMMchmg8ftxxusir_kEM/s1600/upspdam9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but haven't put mud in all the cracks so there
are many leaks. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOAmJTrOLi1XQheQyb05aSV24XHIaxeQPAr_jTZcLYgOr3kw7EbYGAcHeorjAUKeaTs7AEJXEJwkbh_QyuUG-phW6rq3efaN79x_MXd304wxzPpl8NGHLBaDsd8NS5IbN01qMWXZ8z_8/s1600/upspdam9a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOAmJTrOLi1XQheQyb05aSV24XHIaxeQPAr_jTZcLYgOr3kw7EbYGAcHeorjAUKeaTs7AEJXEJwkbh_QyuUG-phW6rq3efaN79x_MXd304wxzPpl8NGHLBaDsd8NS5IbN01qMWXZ8z_8/s1600/upspdam9a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This hole had been gaping. I had easily put my
hand with camera through it and probably could have stuck my head
in it. I hope their patching this dam doesn't prompt them to
forget building up the dam below. The Big Pond was all golden in
the setting sun. The white and black bufflehead seemed jewel like
as it glided on the surface of the pond,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7g366Sruc2PnVOJkUTdXsOuGnn9l1yIVt3mlKx62TgQViPmfhcpTbSVqeXGlKtd6VgW75gGXyRl3OWaecky-OQeMnWTYAIJJsOScXUIMPSI26-0tvAnHZADQ7SabKMKwAEKjTfdARpA/s1600/bufhead9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7g366Sruc2PnVOJkUTdXsOuGnn9l1yIVt3mlKx62TgQViPmfhcpTbSVqeXGlKtd6VgW75gGXyRl3OWaecky-OQeMnWTYAIJJsOScXUIMPSI26-0tvAnHZADQ7SabKMKwAEKjTfdARpA/s1600/bufhead9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">as did the mallard drake as a pair came out of
the grasses. A muskrat was swimming near the beaver lodge and
then before I left I saw another muskrat swimming down from the
far end of the pond. The patch on the dam looks higher, with more
logs worked into the repair</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXA5-HrcKRDSGH-s_WoG6S02JXCaS0-jSYI6ZAnRD6CBu5Av82vLTs-jloFjwEQXr1kv3o1MwGaNFrYN5aY-ldD7PG0vs7zZXaqXMUNA6y9lDgXV-e7W75pmVVwh7Ri4BiOay0aAMjNM/s1600/bpdam9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXA5-HrcKRDSGH-s_WoG6S02JXCaS0-jSYI6ZAnRD6CBu5Av82vLTs-jloFjwEQXr1kv3o1MwGaNFrYN5aY-ldD7PG0vs7zZXaqXMUNA6y9lDgXV-e7W75pmVVwh7Ri4BiOay0aAMjNM/s1600/bpdam9.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but the beaver has another foot to add before
the pond gets up to its old level. The pond looks so beautiful in
spring evenings that it is always hard to leave.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 11 turned rather chilly today, just 40
degrees, with a brisk northeast wind, but the sun stayed out.
That is a good wind for watching the beavers in the Lost Swamp
Pond so I waited until 5 pm before taking my hike so I'd be out
there when the beavers started their day. I headed off to Audubon
Pond first, checking latrines all the way. Nothing new at them
but I did see a painted turtle hanging up in the water at the end
of the south cove of South Bay. At the old dock I saw a bigger
turtle briefly as it dove. It looked more rounded. Up at Audubon
Pond I was greeted by a kingfisher chattering as it flew across
the pond. That pond is higher and the beavers have mudded up the
drain,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTiziQHrjGCJ5aJJX-cfSfwknf-ohmr-pMosiqnWOtPuTTQLyXWmBeb3zjnXnkEsFAsm7NyHwLMTahaOtzc_d19tVelqUVkAAyYHN6jPuZvPvEUxtwULmL2xH5YFbi80o0qF0KwBfjFI/s1600/apdrain11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTiziQHrjGCJ5aJJX-cfSfwknf-ohmr-pMosiqnWOtPuTTQLyXWmBeb3zjnXnkEsFAsm7NyHwLMTahaOtzc_d19tVelqUVkAAyYHN6jPuZvPvEUxtwULmL2xH5YFbi80o0qF0KwBfjFI/s1600/apdrain11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but in vain, there is still a rush of water
going out. Seeing such clear evidence of beaver activity prompted
me to check the recently downed ash trees along the north shore,
and I can't say that I saw that much work at trimming or
stripping them. These beavers must be after roots. I saw another
small stripped stick near the bank lodge, where the water is deep
enough for beavers to stay. As I sat on the bench I heard a
leopard frog's snore-like call from the causeway. I headed up to
Meander Pond, which remains full, but beaver watching there is
better with a west wind. So after a few minutes of listening to
the peepers, I moved on. The golden light so emphasized the
stripping of a large downed oak that I wonder if it is fresh
work. I took a photo to keep a record of it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jIYWZHCNMYBZ8u1GHLKM_GhECxFByY5wCxkEU3GnFWrzD3DPhjIbJqX-JchiPq-zHX4eo9C40wC2zeziU0M7RXPTFWDdcKWXHw_EXyACm6oeX0WrvHGczsfeVYEWF7sq5Gme6xSUF4Y/s1600/mpwk11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jIYWZHCNMYBZ8u1GHLKM_GhECxFByY5wCxkEU3GnFWrzD3DPhjIbJqX-JchiPq-zHX4eo9C40wC2zeziU0M7RXPTFWDdcKWXHw_EXyACm6oeX0WrvHGczsfeVYEWF7sq5Gme6xSUF4Y/s1600/mpwk11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also took a photo of one of the wonderful
long canals in this section of the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKjvJU8gxb0i8L89T7tWp4blHkSMJC0LvtZKQMKPxB_8fa0VbxYLG4EgcyT3bdhLgMDufiklIuLYbywiW6SHWh3k-Jo-bYE9hsMOXELWE8vZMWgzBWc01ECSgOKzuN2ykvWhrDufWnjg/s1600/mpcanal11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKjvJU8gxb0i8L89T7tWp4blHkSMJC0LvtZKQMKPxB_8fa0VbxYLG4EgcyT3bdhLgMDufiklIuLYbywiW6SHWh3k-Jo-bYE9hsMOXELWE8vZMWgzBWc01ECSgOKzuN2ykvWhrDufWnjg/s1600/mpcanal11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Usually there is a good chorus of peepers in
Thicket Pond, but so far not this year. The upper East Trail Pond
is quite dry, especially along the old bank beaver lodges that
I've always thought were important dens for raising otter pups.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_axH-IgRQ63IADrMrWwNg8YUnOa6TUFli0imXGJ6WggfZaSEqpmqxTrEBImOK1kZDnu3ak9iFappnxHBEOBOVYa3SWnC9BDXRfxlZiFe_ynzEZnKJnaLSxjtXbJQXWltn3LT406LO990/s1600/upet11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_axH-IgRQ63IADrMrWwNg8YUnOa6TUFli0imXGJ6WggfZaSEqpmqxTrEBImOK1kZDnu3ak9iFappnxHBEOBOVYa3SWnC9BDXRfxlZiFe_ynzEZnKJnaLSxjtXbJQXWltn3LT406LO990/s1600/upet11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There is still a bit of snow on the edge of
this pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuXPurakZaHWpwqRJJPVmkrVsADR4dP7nhVBkvdeW50adi8ZP6wLFUoNtP6fbJHW66zzu9Su-qebVeHmbKxhsM3KcAPiRy32z6LwxpfIz-ZLnIs6sA3r5jkmpRp3F1RYkBNjQ5tVaS_g/s1600/etsnow11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuXPurakZaHWpwqRJJPVmkrVsADR4dP7nhVBkvdeW50adi8ZP6wLFUoNtP6fbJHW66zzu9Su-qebVeHmbKxhsM3KcAPiRy32z6LwxpfIz-ZLnIs6sA3r5jkmpRp3F1RYkBNjQ5tVaS_g/s1600/etsnow11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The water level is now lower than I have ever
seen it before, revealing sections of the old board walk that I
didn't know were there. One section was near where the otters
made their hole under the ice but I didn't see any evidence that
the otters denned under it. The dead grass they spread under the
ice was all in the other direction toward the dam. I studied the
edges of the great hole through the dam and saw no evidence of
otters planting themselves there. One year as the ice in Otter
Hole Pond melted I did see piles of otter poop on the shore of a
rivulet under the ice and pictured otters sitting there waiting
for food to swim by. A heron was still parked in the middle of
the East Trail Pond, and once again flew off. Over at the Second
Swamp Pond some mergansers had joined the buffleheads. I sat for
awhile, but all was quiet. I was pleased to see that the beavers
have not forgotten this dam. There was more mud patching the dam,
and the water level had risen a few inches.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDN7OGOXIq4JCQgXDQhcaDZiXn3W2xVkBItcIORpmyKHsmCZCmJp9XWbW-JZAIWbgmOZg12hZ3K5jXQswWTM4dW5-qBMDqcsqC4M4TxCQeTDmYmdihRkzoKB0nhNUZhcJ0L2T7fqUkVLE/s1600/spdam11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDN7OGOXIq4JCQgXDQhcaDZiXn3W2xVkBItcIORpmyKHsmCZCmJp9XWbW-JZAIWbgmOZg12hZ3K5jXQswWTM4dW5-qBMDqcsqC4M4TxCQeTDmYmdihRkzoKB0nhNUZhcJ0L2T7fqUkVLE/s1600/spdam11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were no new otter scats but the sheet of
mud revealed otter-like tracks. I never put it past a raccoon
going through mud to torque its hand-like paw into more of a claw,
and those tracks usually run parallel to the dam as this one did,
and there is usually a bunch of tracks from the raccoon's mincing
gait. This one print was parallel to the dam, but then a few feet
on, another print turned to the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrkSxjJfywMDN38MdMsKx6BjxAEBEwEOtz95LAL9C3QpWCTwLOgG_Yw0nG88d3kEz7hLK0xBks06tqlnASV-UypZignyVg5zuREK7wPYOgLJbV5cKjUH9CCfCxhGE_edilz1uPtobE4E/s1600/prints11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrkSxjJfywMDN38MdMsKx6BjxAEBEwEOtz95LAL9C3QpWCTwLOgG_Yw0nG88d3kEz7hLK0xBks06tqlnASV-UypZignyVg5zuREK7wPYOgLJbV5cKjUH9CCfCxhGE_edilz1uPtobE4E/s1600/prints11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus there was a scent mound there, though no
scat. So I tend to think an otter left the print, but because
that's what I hope for, I'll be skeptical about it until I get a
real sense that the otter is still here. I angled up to the Lost
Swamp Pond, pausing at two thin beech trees</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWd1u37v-PgI_i2H4mlbd-qQ2ceQbkzHsrDfBWjLLYkDMOyXwqNcZh2TIAL94_ta3A1-g4AjFp7jgFS4FxhMmeT3dw5Xb16ENar3cliy2OSaNsERMb0i_RJsGWVyWk_jwIvu0Dtq_sXo/s1600/beech11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWd1u37v-PgI_i2H4mlbd-qQ2ceQbkzHsrDfBWjLLYkDMOyXwqNcZh2TIAL94_ta3A1-g4AjFp7jgFS4FxhMmeT3dw5Xb16ENar3cliy2OSaNsERMb0i_RJsGWVyWk_jwIvu0Dtq_sXo/s1600/beech11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">that appear to have been stripped at the base
by a porcupine.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAJVdofaYdV9DMyYTDyLnLxNL7iIO-jOGN98C0h_TuRbOgpbW3N_WjxA9zPVixf4IksnG7MDL_BnYhLIYQkwL49TztkRegQLVWCK1We5RwDi8Mqvo4H_301l2_hNuXvVYnHQseFuZ26A/s1600/beech11a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAJVdofaYdV9DMyYTDyLnLxNL7iIO-jOGN98C0h_TuRbOgpbW3N_WjxA9zPVixf4IksnG7MDL_BnYhLIYQkwL49TztkRegQLVWCK1We5RwDi8Mqvo4H_301l2_hNuXvVYnHQseFuZ26A/s1600/beech11a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued down the ridge so that I came down
behind the bank lodge on the south shore with the wind in my
face, a rather cold wind. I knew it would be hard waiting, but I
tried. I heard and then saw the osprey flying low over the upper
pond. One goose had a beef and the few ducks were peaceably
separated into small groups. Then I noticed a beaver swimming
between the lodges by the dam and in the middle of that section
of the pond. It turned from the dam, paused at the middle lodge,
swam around for a look down the long southeast section of the
pond and then swam toward the bank lodge where I was. I waited
for it to come around the bank, and first a muskrat steamed by
me, then the beaver. It fiddled with a stick on the shore below
me, may have sensed me, turned but didn't slap its tail, then
dove, I think, into the bank lodge. To make a long and cold story
short, two more beavers appeared both seeming to come down from
the lodge to the northeast. One went up on the dam lodge where I
think there is a scent mound, but both only swam to within ten
yards of the dam and then turned away from it. One went back up
to the northeast section of the pond, and the other, I think,
eventually swam up into the southeast section of the pond. I was
hoping to see again the drama of marking and remarking and
sniffing that I saw the other day, but today these beavers were
in a different, more relaxed mode. I saw another muskrat. Often
at this time of year I see them assiduously marking logs, but
these two rats only parked themselves up on logs and nibbled on
the tender things they brought up from the pond. Chilled to the
bone, I hurried on to the Big Pond, flushed the pair of mallards
as usual. The other ducks were in the golden distance at the end
of the pond. The pond looked a little bit higher, but as far as I
could tell the beavers had not done more repairs. Water was
generously lapping over the patch they made.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsv7OoysVq8Vgr4Ef0HRzVT-zMBx30bz4IAdeBS6FtRocSmXydYvYYrf2UKagC1HsYCyQDjunFuws9RDWXkz8D7f2q13UXQuv-PjyXmQM749B6SXobfz4xEcnuVJYtjAE9TGXIRG1Rx0o/s1600/bpdam11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsv7OoysVq8Vgr4Ef0HRzVT-zMBx30bz4IAdeBS6FtRocSmXydYvYYrf2UKagC1HsYCyQDjunFuws9RDWXkz8D7f2q13UXQuv-PjyXmQM749B6SXobfz4xEcnuVJYtjAE9TGXIRG1Rx0o/s1600/bpdam11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I saw a beaver well out in the pond. So
often a beaver has cruised down toward me as I stood at this dam,
and I fancied a photo of the critter behind its repair work, but
the beaver swam over to the lodge and dove into it. I checked the
otter latrine at the south end of the dam and there appeared to
be something new,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRB9eUDm9OCyGAie-DDBSj6p5R_VwAD53oxb44xtrunPsFdg0lHI1ShRsFSE0Dh6D5XYAaJPZRo6y3CMBuQ3q59TrDc9awcpGaR2-TwKU1eQ-tgy2JlslHYGkRHLr0IwiZoyhRW8ER6T4/s1600/scat11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRB9eUDm9OCyGAie-DDBSj6p5R_VwAD53oxb44xtrunPsFdg0lHI1ShRsFSE0Dh6D5XYAaJPZRo6y3CMBuQ3q59TrDc9awcpGaR2-TwKU1eQ-tgy2JlslHYGkRHLr0IwiZoyhRW8ER6T4/s1600/scat11.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but it was hard, not fresh. Still we are
getting nights below freezing and I took a photo of scat in this
area on April 6th and surely would have included this array in my
photos. So an otter is getting about in these ponds, but it's
nice to find a fresh and soft scat and then figuring an otter
maybe denning near that latrine, come out early the next day to
look for it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 12 we spent a long day at the land, on a
cold, good-for-sawing-wood day. I first checked the Deep Pond and
since it was almost lunch hour, I lingered there for a half an
hour hoping to find some signs of life. Now that the water has
stopped rushing out of the dam, I have reconciled to myself to
the unprecedented low water level, and find myself curious as to
what plants will sprout on the newly exposed mud. I went to the
west end of the pond, facing the wind, and sat, waiting for life,
I told myself. I didn't have long to wait, a pair of mallards
flew in. The drake didn't want to land but its mate did. When she
flew out soon after, he gladly followed. Then about ten minutes
later, I saw some bubbles in the middle of the pond and then up
popped a muskrat, with tail cocked. It dove before I could get a
photo but came up again, swam toward the far shore, dove and I
didn't see it again. Then I walked around the pond and as I
walked up the high bank of the pond, a frog jumped into the
water, right at the spot where, judging from the pale brown color
of the bottom, the muskrat was making its den.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI__-vQrlW_3LVTNsj3jkldXFgC8XXWIePwP0lB0rr7GEa6RnvHLi9FdL04JC8F02-1g5e6A_z6ayNeqThD5DhHfrJ8HSVFTthZ9IMVnbM7XZsUSU1XXFo-55_mLhkUL6vKLeu9-3SFc/s1600/mratsign12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisI__-vQrlW_3LVTNsj3jkldXFgC8XXWIePwP0lB0rr7GEa6RnvHLi9FdL04JC8F02-1g5e6A_z6ayNeqThD5DhHfrJ8HSVFTthZ9IMVnbM7XZsUSU1XXFo-55_mLhkUL6vKLeu9-3SFc/s1600/mratsign12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After lunch I headed up to my sawpit by the
Teepee Pond via the Turtle Bog. I wanted to see if the Blanding's
turtles were out. The wood frogs were croaking, until I got
there. I stayed on the west side of the bog and just when I
arched up to inspect the mossy blanket where I've often see
turtles, a Blanding's high tailed it, high domed it, I should
say, into the pond. I looked around for the other and saw
nothing, but thought it prudent to go over to the other side
where I could get a better view. I saw what looked like a gray
rock below a ledge. I went over there and found a turtle,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5fM8kKtY_xfWkMD1iImXqsu3FIgT5ro8NXMkw2nzu-5az-6kszXkF9oL8sgYy4oZdqQIxErLjn8waxf-ryOI_JNTTZoGA4H58uOYeofZEy4KBAUNVKEkMWCMcXiXFASLKTP23mK-b8k/s1600/bland12a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5fM8kKtY_xfWkMD1iImXqsu3FIgT5ro8NXMkw2nzu-5az-6kszXkF9oL8sgYy4oZdqQIxErLjn8waxf-ryOI_JNTTZoGA4H58uOYeofZEy4KBAUNVKEkMWCMcXiXFASLKTP23mK-b8k/s1600/bland12a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">quite quiet, hardly blinking as I inched closer
to it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKzE3FfRlCLFn7z5tN0NHMTuANGWIuNKIX7ZsnnYrn9YhOCAzjebqPC-3ot7z-4omKzvnqnNcMdpBEQB3m1KiE14IBPqBWQVi1RS_6M43j6MsULfVoAvT7iFFkNDt1Aj7Pymlj2z_a9M/s1600/bland12b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKzE3FfRlCLFn7z5tN0NHMTuANGWIuNKIX7ZsnnYrn9YhOCAzjebqPC-3ot7z-4omKzvnqnNcMdpBEQB3m1KiE14IBPqBWQVi1RS_6M43j6MsULfVoAvT7iFFkNDt1Aj7Pymlj2z_a9M/s1600/bland12b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Its shell was half in the sun and it refused
to withdraw its face which also caught some sunlight. I stuck my
camera in its face,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkTBzZ2TSjxwuWm0GvhkOe6WtpvNwZIqzWGOluEU_HQS1d2wSFQpUKDNzJA9zHWNen5X1bnCMB47uP79LSQNfbhWiBwOIZn5FyOOLmx_4nD6ntRPr4hFDaf55tPQqJHjp7xerGuhM6gA/s1600/bland12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkTBzZ2TSjxwuWm0GvhkOe6WtpvNwZIqzWGOluEU_HQS1d2wSFQpUKDNzJA9zHWNen5X1bnCMB47uP79LSQNfbhWiBwOIZn5FyOOLmx_4nD6ntRPr4hFDaf55tPQqJHjp7xerGuhM6gA/s1600/bland12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and made it suffer the indignity of a turn
over. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFvWxmRVFRdwg2WRmUMG83oZ2WbunYnse6LzSV0om3IxaygANgRAyypqtNLigravkkS61QQPghuGF1EDOUh73325FtJzPDDManB2FwCYpMtpIK-d7E-3H1Kv9MFgMAP5SBCdTBQhdl64/s1600/blandbot12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFvWxmRVFRdwg2WRmUMG83oZ2WbunYnse6LzSV0om3IxaygANgRAyypqtNLigravkkS61QQPghuGF1EDOUh73325FtJzPDDManB2FwCYpMtpIK-d7E-3H1Kv9MFgMAP5SBCdTBQhdl64/s1600/blandbot12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps by comparing its bottom with the
bottoms we've photographed here over the years, we can prove that
this turtle is an old friend. I'd say its shell was just nine
inches long, by no means one of the biggest turtles we've seen,
but clearly, with it concave bottom, a venerable male. I wonder
how it puts up with its rather jumpy companion. After sawing for
a couple hours, I tried to see what was new around the beaver
pond. There were three painted turtles sunning on a log behind
the dam, which has been repaired, raising the water and joining
the ponds.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_08Ehn5eOZAmcyM7xjGoPdtgLFuCAqTAzakbOBH0KX93c7BOjpC5196lblyexS9cZvu2UgtNNaOwLJ2g95s0Aowma2NH7VfYyY7abwukHfvJLHjIBOhT39LA1cmohd1Ef49E5pHIUZU/s1600/bvpond12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz_08Ehn5eOZAmcyM7xjGoPdtgLFuCAqTAzakbOBH0KX93c7BOjpC5196lblyexS9cZvu2UgtNNaOwLJ2g95s0Aowma2NH7VfYyY7abwukHfvJLHjIBOhT39LA1cmohd1Ef49E5pHIUZU/s1600/bvpond12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Several ironwoods have been tasted. The
ironwood cut at the end of the pond has been trimmed, and the mud
between the big pond and the valley pool has been turned over.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhTiR_jnZq69-nxhoJxt7eNPiTEOVus2pw4SXbgk0ogMhlj4AEubCIW-9yw2Sn091dv4pLj0_sHbvhwhRHiBKIzb-CtPCXNobhy7p3VeGK8v0CfrJQH-icCwVNGED75C2-WF2Bgmp2Nk/s1600/bvmudpath12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhTiR_jnZq69-nxhoJxt7eNPiTEOVus2pw4SXbgk0ogMhlj4AEubCIW-9yw2Sn091dv4pLj0_sHbvhwhRHiBKIzb-CtPCXNobhy7p3VeGK8v0CfrJQH-icCwVNGED75C2-WF2Bgmp2Nk/s1600/bvmudpath12.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Leslie thinks they were trying to dig a canal.
I think they were looking for something to eat. The mud is left
in many balls, not pushed back in the orderly fashion that canal
building might entail. That said, since there was no moss here, I
am hard pressed to suggest what they might be eating. Perhaps
they fancy the tiny roots in the dirt. But to prove this, I have
to get down on my hands and knees and find some cut roots! We
logged in another newcomer today, finally hearing a towhee on the
slope below the Third Pond. I also saw a small muskrat in that
pond, and there is a loud comb frog there.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 13 a little after 2 pm, I headed off to
check the otter latrines on Picton and Murray islands. The river
was starting to respond to a light north wind which meant it was
easy going along the south side of the islands. Of course the ice
was out of the Picton bay freeing the bank beaver lodge so I went
back to see if an otter might have revisited an old latrine down
there. I moved a heron along, and a pair of mallards moved back
into the reeds. I didn't see any fresh scat or commotion on
shore. I rowed up to the beaver lodge and started noticing
stripped sticks along the shore. Of course these could have been
blown into the bay by the persistent east winds we've been
having, but it also looked like there had been fresh work on the
large tree felled, I thought, in the fall.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3IZqZY7aDjFjwmiI8ub-Tc4SQKl0g1NfJ3mKz-kTi0vhwMDpBzFc1V9bDYg28VXu036fAbsdIY4BmD4aEA2iiw3xeAYz2avKWMUGIcUjuHJP-FhNRch3smaPKSMugxu2NSvK3dN0mck/s1600/picbvwk13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3IZqZY7aDjFjwmiI8ub-Tc4SQKl0g1NfJ3mKz-kTi0vhwMDpBzFc1V9bDYg28VXu036fAbsdIY4BmD4aEA2iiw3xeAYz2avKWMUGIcUjuHJP-FhNRch3smaPKSMugxu2NSvK3dN0mck/s1600/picbvwk13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, before proclaiming that a beaver was
about, I checked the lodge which was ashen gray not at all
relieved by the yellow or white of a stripped stick. The wind was
picking up so I motored up to the point, saw another heron in the
shallows and an osprey high in the trees, and got out there like
we did a few days ago. While there were no fresh scats, there
were quite a few hard black scats that were new to me in the same
general area where I saw scats the other day. We've had rather
dry days, with nights just below freezing which could quickly
harden the scats. Then I went over to the latrine on the large
rock jutting off Murray Island. The cold kept me from going up on
the rock last time we were here. Today it looked more
interesting, with a patch of dirt that looked freshly gone over,
perhaps by a rolling otter. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjxfwX5bUvGp9XqJgv4cXyDpFuVbkroB-l4sC7MQutziH8rji1Pn33S0HiDZsYUsJQXnMx3mMcx7n2rJQOT7XQkdr5muscvPqjpUHO6EgQkfD4zc7wPPzw-Z-q8Vf9icIG7JbxiOd6Ao/s1600/murlat13b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjxfwX5bUvGp9XqJgv4cXyDpFuVbkroB-l4sC7MQutziH8rji1Pn33S0HiDZsYUsJQXnMx3mMcx7n2rJQOT7XQkdr5muscvPqjpUHO6EgQkfD4zc7wPPzw-Z-q8Vf9icIG7JbxiOd6Ao/s1600/murlat13b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">While I didn't find scat close to that I did
find several scats above it,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_xXQyjzP-r4PtDtOnz6XgKq64sKTXU58lWGdORlx0UTJ31b0yTLxsgk-AEMiUtx3hRRzzTlXCQB6y0nSfATDvidObZ0qboC-0mViZ0RE6CO8753GnR1l0WkEJ1AVcTshDugB7JCfj1o/s1600/scat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_xXQyjzP-r4PtDtOnz6XgKq64sKTXU58lWGdORlx0UTJ31b0yTLxsgk-AEMiUtx3hRRzzTlXCQB6y0nSfATDvidObZ0qboC-0mViZ0RE6CO8753GnR1l0WkEJ1AVcTshDugB7JCfj1o/s1600/scat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">plus dug out grass, and bare dirt.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyUQz3LvZ0rLqkr3-xbZuRMEGDNsAYHSJubp4BBsCaYFVpxMGjdLOc0gcAfkB9zLgaNwJUsgIyvEFvZRbdw1fjilsKmfQsuLVtDGWjgh47uOo-XTejXdtIzpwJ_ku3ye-ZYdlMOPVxOw/s1600/murlat13a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyUQz3LvZ0rLqkr3-xbZuRMEGDNsAYHSJubp4BBsCaYFVpxMGjdLOc0gcAfkB9zLgaNwJUsgIyvEFvZRbdw1fjilsKmfQsuLVtDGWjgh47uOo-XTejXdtIzpwJ_ku3ye-ZYdlMOPVxOw/s1600/murlat13a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also checked the western face of the rock
where I found scats a few times last year. There were scats there
too, and dug out turf. Like at the Picton latrine, the scats were
black and hard. I also found a generous spread of old scat, now
just white bones and gray scales.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNoY3gGq3c3IzToPmAwDHBroLdwCd8TJECVkUzJS-fBX4N5SRI3kx6f9jf70pzZZ7CYu6_LqPj0G4_GO4R4hzw0chkq_rXVcJVmmDuacsovuHX82a4egRA7kl92dvCHa2PVQ9X2odK4g/s1600/oldscat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNoY3gGq3c3IzToPmAwDHBroLdwCd8TJECVkUzJS-fBX4N5SRI3kx6f9jf70pzZZ7CYu6_LqPj0G4_GO4R4hzw0chkq_rXVcJVmmDuacsovuHX82a4egRA7kl92dvCHa2PVQ9X2odK4g/s1600/oldscat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I think I stopped checking this latrine in
November which means the otters kept using it, perhaps until ice
closed Eel Bay. This rock, fortunately not built upon, is one of
the romantic spots along Eel Bay,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir77h7XPcRTsP400riv2GfbTFFHvzRNK4x8C8X895zmyFZeSWewdUlVTntUsryHjmKvPGUfBxdcPmOCjc1wPX5fjtro_CnX_vAZVXo0MQRXu_DGatshoT5LXlBSZ0WrN6CqQ0HqZ8tiu8/s1600/murlat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir77h7XPcRTsP400riv2GfbTFFHvzRNK4x8C8X895zmyFZeSWewdUlVTntUsryHjmKvPGUfBxdcPmOCjc1wPX5fjtro_CnX_vAZVXo0MQRXu_DGatshoT5LXlBSZ0WrN6CqQ0HqZ8tiu8/s1600/murlat13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and so is the latrine on Picton. That the
otters enjoy these spots two, which are largely unprotected,
makes me wonder if the little devils might have an aesthetic
sense! I went slowly through the Narrows, didn't see any scat on
the rocks, and so I didn't get out to check. I rowed down the
north shore of South Bay noticing that every willow had been
trimmed and gnawed by the beavers. Some looked fresh, but this is
very hard to tell. I got out at the docking rock and there was a
new scat or two, black but not quite as hard as the other scats I
discovered today</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJZVq6N3fktPUH_-F0kmKST70e62HSZThYsECxG8PnYDY3ZrjWBCswLQjAInGl2a-cwruSYrAB0ujjHlfJUOp4T1Zk8DndiY9xyFcWehD7yGRjLScQV5PfUhpIBPHOzJLSh2pug4JqRc/s1600/scat13a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJZVq6N3fktPUH_-F0kmKST70e62HSZThYsECxG8PnYDY3ZrjWBCswLQjAInGl2a-cwruSYrAB0ujjHlfJUOp4T1Zk8DndiY9xyFcWehD7yGRjLScQV5PfUhpIBPHOzJLSh2pug4JqRc/s1600/scat13a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked up to Audubon Pond and heard two,
perhaps three osprey overhead and finally saw one. I walked
around the pond noticing more mud on the drain and much more work
on the shore near the bank lodge, including a scent mound and
stripped sticks and some sticks just getting the treatment. Also
to my surprise a cache had reappeared at the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIwwxrHQHmHCPMxdyVyJdwfDOqfy_X6XLAQIWTYaIw4egaeTyaa65X3TBQ3V58UrC7fw62OqCf69BT_Jdbc4zE0955IPxVQ2weU87BKgApeGwNVjFpYMAlHH6UmJzNi3JNs1a0Rf7eio/s1600/apbvwk13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIwwxrHQHmHCPMxdyVyJdwfDOqfy_X6XLAQIWTYaIw4egaeTyaa65X3TBQ3V58UrC7fw62OqCf69BT_Jdbc4zE0955IPxVQ2weU87BKgApeGwNVjFpYMAlHH6UmJzNi3JNs1a0Rf7eio/s1600/apbvwk13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It looked like a beaver had collected branches
from the ash trees just cut down. However, I didn't see any
evidence of stripping. The beavers who came in here two years ago
struck me as greenhorns, doing things differently than other
beavers, like the orderly way they harvested cattails for a time.
Not that they made a spring cache last year. Perhaps the female
is pregnant and these are preparations necessary because a ready
supply of trees is not that close. Well, I'll see what happens.
When I went back to the boat at the docking rock I noticed a
freshly severed fish tail on the ground.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXUPt4RjODbxW_CMaTPPkzvNj17xLrVTVxALJchB9HeslUiLWfZXRfKPzFlIGdyWaiU9-KC39yf8SeCHdXr1yjfFZ5jtzl_eeux0TKbFOeyA4lHh69SxgfrfLAnN_ZiHrJWAq3PV_2ZY/s1600/fishtail13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXUPt4RjODbxW_CMaTPPkzvNj17xLrVTVxALJchB9HeslUiLWfZXRfKPzFlIGdyWaiU9-KC39yf8SeCHdXr1yjfFZ5jtzl_eeux0TKbFOeyA4lHh69SxgfrfLAnN_ZiHrJWAq3PV_2ZY/s1600/fishtail13.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">At first look I thought it was a bird's wing.
This could have been left by an otter but there are other hungry
piscivores around. The wind picked up too much to make any more
exploring along South Bay pleasant. So I headed home. The ducks
were widely dispersed today, mostly buffleheads, and all of them
in pairs. When I got near our dock I noticed three, then five
ospreys gyrating above me. They all seemed to be vocalzing and
all circling higher and higher. I docked the boat, and saw that
the ospreys were lower again, and it looked like there were two
pairs with one bird flapping a bit above the other. Then I saw
the other osprey, and perhaps a sixth unless it was a curious
raven or vulture. This congregation continued out around the
navigation cell where they make a nest each year and further out
up the river.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">April 15 Ottoleo took me over to the Narrows a
little after 2 pm on another sunny day in the mid-50s with a
calmer north wind. I checked the otter latrine above the rock
that slants down into the water </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJHQ3GLev5BQ8QeRmEFinOvOfKHt3JUJJ5NzyeDurD1pZ8THy1VfSKcfQmb3On9yzlg_KlJicyhsZRa21qMfGyzsFEm34nbYnogJVlnecNOdWGZ8XXv2UOCVpy3KbG807fYEM3n0aKXg/s1600/narrowslat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJHQ3GLev5BQ8QeRmEFinOvOfKHt3JUJJ5NzyeDurD1pZ8THy1VfSKcfQmb3On9yzlg_KlJicyhsZRa21qMfGyzsFEm34nbYnogJVlnecNOdWGZ8XXv2UOCVpy3KbG807fYEM3n0aKXg/s1600/narrowslat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and found four new scats, still black but hard
and dry</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtDvvQUi_J4Myfdashquj7fqfcGV8b0rsV4KYCFexYxmxK6JO9ONIWDeiwT0tkQfORyd8IaDGD9rxLbIEDbulrr2rcOskC0b-ALQxIPpv7b2qpLdLaAnAu-6xpbTud1X5ShN3ZctElIE/s1600/narrowscat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtDvvQUi_J4Myfdashquj7fqfcGV8b0rsV4KYCFexYxmxK6JO9ONIWDeiwT0tkQfORyd8IaDGD9rxLbIEDbulrr2rcOskC0b-ALQxIPpv7b2qpLdLaAnAu-6xpbTud1X5ShN3ZctElIE/s1600/narrowscat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">like the scats I found at the Murray Island
latrine two days ago. O for a fresh scat. There were also some
piles of grass. I walked along the trail toward and then along
South Bay and checked the latrine above the rock cliff which
strikes me as the most difficult latrine for otters to get to. I
discovered it in the early winter when it seemed to make sense as
a latrine because it roughly corresponded to where the ice of
South Bay ended. I had my doubts that otters would use it when
the ice was gone, but I was wrong.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4TSXzsj6-ndvBSiRrNtsgCtNIoahcUZdq0Tm1E5xdY640xxE3f3dMbegzG8Vwj3P3aG7FZ-jSCiThCd5k3Q69Tv4700Hdehm7u_D19Wh2G1NTVfcAcI5sNIqdnzG1hBEBVxZRDJv3c0/s1600/sbscat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4TSXzsj6-ndvBSiRrNtsgCtNIoahcUZdq0Tm1E5xdY640xxE3f3dMbegzG8Vwj3P3aG7FZ-jSCiThCd5k3Q69Tv4700Hdehm7u_D19Wh2G1NTVfcAcI5sNIqdnzG1hBEBVxZRDJv3c0/s1600/sbscat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were three or four new black, hard scats
there too. I couldn't discern a trail up into the area. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUH_cZWzRfP9MGZe0gA4de1BOBBGnmS1gd7yqUrNlqbEHKjqGTK7VLkVNF8Rr8BZqQoXXbJ8VqDNt3x9CZZ5a4MlgGjyveS8W2_p7a6dOBM_eRAPI1_t6Tuiv_3GLi2N1PAOfbn2brVZ0/s1600/sblat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUH_cZWzRfP9MGZe0gA4de1BOBBGnmS1gd7yqUrNlqbEHKjqGTK7VLkVNF8Rr8BZqQoXXbJ8VqDNt3x9CZZ5a4MlgGjyveS8W2_p7a6dOBM_eRAPI1_t6Tuiv_3GLi2N1PAOfbn2brVZ0/s1600/sblat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked down to the flat rock next to the
water, where the otters had scatted in the winter, but didn't see
any new scats there. I walked down to the docking rock and
thought I saw some new scats on the rock, quite smeared though
and one looked like it had seeds in it, next to squirts that
definitely had scales. It's possible these are old scats that I
simply overlooked before, however, up on the rotting tree trunk
at the crest of the little four foot high cliff were drips of
definitely new scats, some dripping off the log making a big pile
on a dead leaf.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_WLnpUWKdq1K-jprr-fEInvW7hF_zGSRTxOh0cS9hrfN-TICUerG6815t8lSuGPIpEFwinWLlAo-Yc_X2mSLtfK6AtjxvABR1xx_VsLyIwKnJpXHjHIBtekOsqnIS5LT56zhQa9OTrY/s1600/dockrlat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_WLnpUWKdq1K-jprr-fEInvW7hF_zGSRTxOh0cS9hrfN-TICUerG6815t8lSuGPIpEFwinWLlAo-Yc_X2mSLtfK6AtjxvABR1xx_VsLyIwKnJpXHjHIBtekOsqnIS5LT56zhQa9OTrY/s1600/dockrlat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But these scats were also hards. The air has
been so dry and the wind so persistent, all the scats it appears
are drying out in a matter of hours. One of the scats also seemed
to have seeds in it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlM69szbpcDgubOkdZzjcW4nsCwVgiJflewm0xJpQ_AA0r71Wyy9OS8_iNN5QumyLEspeDw1j_S5JtDWsE9dUXFtjaOr9KiM9B_IhMfYpXywyjVWglsw-kvjqqKRsLlkxZ4AkRXZgT2U/s1600/dockrscat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlM69szbpcDgubOkdZzjcW4nsCwVgiJflewm0xJpQ_AA0r71Wyy9OS8_iNN5QumyLEspeDw1j_S5JtDWsE9dUXFtjaOr9KiM9B_IhMfYpXywyjVWglsw-kvjqqKRsLlkxZ4AkRXZgT2U/s1600/dockrscat15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And that bothers me. Could it be fish roe? or
is a raccoon with diarrhea turned to hard pooping on a log like
an otter? I walked up to Audubon Pond and walked around it. The
pair of geese acted like they were used to me. There was more mud
on the drain, slowing the outflow. I think it will be impossible
to stop it. The pond water level is still high. There were no
scats on the embankment. The beavers also left a few mud scent
mounds there. There was nothing new along the shore save that
park employees had cleared the hiking trails of beaver-felled ash
trees. The cache outside the lodge actually looked bigger.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4L7zEb5i5wGjYxt92OS8p8Mjxxt3xJfkxo1CM_tVzNxYEwKJv1PcXJVK5x25zokcaWz4LnQQVmY_NZwGdybJSPzev5oI5Z1rjTUnuhmchlybTpQhEv2_E_MK1l7DnjFLm2KtDZjtofQ/s1600/apcache15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4L7zEb5i5wGjYxt92OS8p8Mjxxt3xJfkxo1CM_tVzNxYEwKJv1PcXJVK5x25zokcaWz4LnQQVmY_NZwGdybJSPzev5oI5Z1rjTUnuhmchlybTpQhEv2_E_MK1l7DnjFLm2KtDZjtofQ/s1600/apcache15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Ash is a dry white wood and this time of year
on a bright sunny day fresh cuts don't stand out, but I saw some
new cuts the beavers had made including a nip on a large cherry
tree. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhliJ3fqiKWDlgWUphUrrm55ArfyHQ-9a30TE79BPlHwcP3U-OQXQUBhVkF8y5r23FPFiqm-6_xULf_hlXx1qvuFsfvQr6IjjzARj-t-g_xoBPl0t6vFRpIPUT8qmk3gVHar69exZu0Mpg/s1600/apcherry15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhliJ3fqiKWDlgWUphUrrm55ArfyHQ-9a30TE79BPlHwcP3U-OQXQUBhVkF8y5r23FPFiqm-6_xULf_hlXx1qvuFsfvQr6IjjzARj-t-g_xoBPl0t6vFRpIPUT8qmk3gVHar69exZu0Mpg/s1600/apcherry15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus they have begun trimming the crown of one
of the ash they cut down a few days ago. There was also a pair of
mallards in the pond, foraging below where the geese hang out on
the causeway. The bigger birds gave them courage. As I walked
along the causeway, they simply swam out into the pond like the
geese, rather then flee in a quacking huff like most mallards. The next
latrine I checked was above the old dock at the end of South Bay
and there was nothing new there, save for a painted turtle on a
dead tree in the water. The turtle's shell was rather black. I
decided to sit below the latrine to see what might be happening
in the warming water and saw that I plopped myself down right
above a muddy beaver scent mound.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSP7QTeYaaDO-HWf55pH2xe06k7nFHXaWM-QOnA-HTX5w1B6Rzkle4Bgh04sic1-YVLIhmi076qqNrfeVCzkKepzg2BXjAZFa2IUhkfXJEUfyDc8fh-T1qpvB4XUSg1U7N5_uHIJajH9Y/s1600/sbmounds15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSP7QTeYaaDO-HWf55pH2xe06k7nFHXaWM-QOnA-HTX5w1B6Rzkle4Bgh04sic1-YVLIhmi076qqNrfeVCzkKepzg2BXjAZFa2IUhkfXJEUfyDc8fh-T1qpvB4XUSg1U7N5_uHIJajH9Y/s1600/sbmounds15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And I could see some gnaws in the exposed roots
of a large pine tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIyVFWHQgEngZxsDjXwcrwZUbffBZU3OAWYjRp39nRTbp9_vlPppHNs-Okb3mVJeuHrUux765yHZXrw-hwo0DaK-C1Vv6A7f5X9_lTcdXA405JfhOXpdJI0uuxw5s7pAJxHefrkSZgek/s1600/sbbvwk15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIyVFWHQgEngZxsDjXwcrwZUbffBZU3OAWYjRp39nRTbp9_vlPppHNs-Okb3mVJeuHrUux765yHZXrw-hwo0DaK-C1Vv6A7f5X9_lTcdXA405JfhOXpdJI0uuxw5s7pAJxHefrkSZgek/s1600/sbbvwk15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some beavers are back in South Bay. Last year I
thought the beavers in Audubon Pond moved out into the bay and
then back into the pond, but perhaps not this year since there is
simultaneous activity in both venues. I completed my tour of
latrines by checking the New Pond knoll where there was no new
activity, and hard to see any old scats there now. My guess is
that the recent deposits in the latrines on Murray Island and
along South Bay were made by the band of four males that I began
noticing two years ago. The mother otter is somewhere in the
swamps with newborns, and the pup from last year, well, I headed
into the beaver ponds to look for it. However, I first checked
out Meander Pond where I have never seen otter signs along the
shore. Even though the wind was at my back from the east, I sat
on the eastern shore of the pond to see if a peeper chorus would
pick up. Then I noticed that the trunk of the oak felled in the
late fall looked rather gnawed from this angle, just as it did
the other day when I looked at it from the other side of the
pond. The ground southeast of this pond is always soggy. The bank
of the pond is really another dam. I noticed that the beavers had
repaired a portion of this dam, heaping mud up, which now looked
dry, and walking along this back dam,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqISUbBIclMVuuDAq-Jgliqzdb0d3NV83ePrDp4Yp8sgMoEfLbK6WGZz12ZZd1F14M1SmBs2GPxvL93rLyAG-6L22qDokLPP4OipvVzMXrKlh_2j-JjJaMeumPwRTV_QM4aaa-crwZiMk/s1600/mpbackdam15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqISUbBIclMVuuDAq-Jgliqzdb0d3NV83ePrDp4Yp8sgMoEfLbK6WGZz12ZZd1F14M1SmBs2GPxvL93rLyAG-6L22qDokLPP4OipvVzMXrKlh_2j-JjJaMeumPwRTV_QM4aaa-crwZiMk/s1600/mpbackdam15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was able to get to the oak. I could see the
fresh beaver trails from the nearby and muddy canal too it. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUfalq3OauPGbYPoC3_Fc55U03eWRPDDYDXtPC4rQw0mapYpQwFQUkYVxrwfgTdMnMRXP9HDSYCrThBhxX02H35xHjFBkScJFvaXAnhyvIpY30ugcV3ksgclP9o57K-2hmonHrsi-kpQ/s1600/mpoak15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUfalq3OauPGbYPoC3_Fc55U03eWRPDDYDXtPC4rQw0mapYpQwFQUkYVxrwfgTdMnMRXP9HDSYCrThBhxX02H35xHjFBkScJFvaXAnhyvIpY30ugcV3ksgclP9o57K-2hmonHrsi-kpQ/s1600/mpoak15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And I noticed that the west side of the trunk
had few gnaws. The beavers had stripped most of the bark off.
However, the east side, farther away from the canal, was rather
roughly gnawed.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoJ61Cg5sEB1vq2MKTATSKnWlcp7MsRKJnCyip9udXGeJ37RWmIli9czYLI4FpMPN9gBNiLKUqlv8PT9MJiccxaKTRvkEJf3T5oyLKSRkZ2Vl1vBPnwXNLj0woQVBMeo5cChWQpX1yjU/s1600/oakgnaw15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoJ61Cg5sEB1vq2MKTATSKnWlcp7MsRKJnCyip9udXGeJ37RWmIli9czYLI4FpMPN9gBNiLKUqlv8PT9MJiccxaKTRvkEJf3T5oyLKSRkZ2Vl1vBPnwXNLj0woQVBMeo5cChWQpX1yjU/s1600/oakgnaw15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">While sitting at this pond, I could hear a loud
chorus of comb frogs (actually western chorus frogs) coming from
Thicket Pond. I went up there and enjoyed the raspy harmonies
that sounded just like the tangled bare button bush branches
looked.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAZTlKLWrlm_GfOPvnsCkuxwihx7HQyzecA-tp9F3mGfcxk14R3zuih6kruF5ASk-lXxtVn4q2WAp3GUmOsbTOJE4lpsMIITsTVXj-aHwovlTGOYg-57IfUkjzhVYla6ONkgfIvxmL8o/s1600/tp15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAZTlKLWrlm_GfOPvnsCkuxwihx7HQyzecA-tp9F3mGfcxk14R3zuih6kruF5ASk-lXxtVn4q2WAp3GUmOsbTOJE4lpsMIITsTVXj-aHwovlTGOYg-57IfUkjzhVYla6ONkgfIvxmL8o/s1600/tp15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I moved onto the drained East Trail Pond.
The heron did not fly off today, but I saw other signs of life, a
muskrat swimming toward the dam. It dove quickly and didn't come
back up so I missed getting a photo of it. There were several
small painted turtles on the logs behind the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88eNzcocty8d3NoJfpRuTE2hTQcQJsF75qBpvY2Q7M1_zX63YjKkX-lGBa2AAWP7zR1WaJeF3gcSsnYhKTw72PTsoZwwZAclgPojfdSo49HhzoOJCjfggaDGsyVaYyjrC_qcmhOP3qS4/s1600/etturts15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh88eNzcocty8d3NoJfpRuTE2hTQcQJsF75qBpvY2Q7M1_zX63YjKkX-lGBa2AAWP7zR1WaJeF3gcSsnYhKTw72PTsoZwwZAclgPojfdSo49HhzoOJCjfggaDGsyVaYyjrC_qcmhOP3qS4/s1600/etturts15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked out on the old boardwalk that now
provides an overview of the mud and a good look at one of the
channels that still has flowing water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBkHgSwSg23IIpfRc3MTh1K-rM1p1gGlEIzIxCebMJ-j8spo83o5mrt-oMty-ofJV27Z_CIinYVzArCbPjALvlZE4aoEX1TadGQM722qTu4bgl1H2EzNgsTpRELZpUgxrfCsdGmA9wTw/s1600/etchannel15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBkHgSwSg23IIpfRc3MTh1K-rM1p1gGlEIzIxCebMJ-j8spo83o5mrt-oMty-ofJV27Z_CIinYVzArCbPjALvlZE4aoEX1TadGQM722qTu4bgl1H2EzNgsTpRELZpUgxrfCsdGmA9wTw/s1600/etchannel15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Using my imagination I could conger some of the
prints in the mud near the boardwalk as otter and even beaver,
but muskrat, raccoon and goose are more likely. Behind the dam I
saw some scratching in the mud, probably by a raccoon. I checked
the otter latrines and found nothing, but I do expect an otter to
return. All the sun has got the pond, diminished as it is, wiggling
with life. As I walked along the shore several tadpoles wiggled
into deeper water. Indeed, when I got to the expanse of the
Second Swamp Pond, that two weeks ago thrilled me with
anticipation of lively activity, I found all that deep water
dull, since the geese, buffleheads and wood ducks using it were
now old hat. I sat for a bit above the bank lodge and then walked
across the pond on the dam. The beavers continue to make repairs, </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6SNf3lLVfAEryysKst4_kBsIH_KLUVT6JHp_Er3kAJzBPF0r83hsx1Snb7O_rsLQ6tn6ePO8znhyaOtsd2JvYloc_lN7ojaa5xjaZxCABKAJ_qyupJEFo5a89Vqfud8oa0Vx2WCuq0k/s1600/spdam15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6SNf3lLVfAEryysKst4_kBsIH_KLUVT6JHp_Er3kAJzBPF0r83hsx1Snb7O_rsLQ6tn6ePO8znhyaOtsd2JvYloc_lN7ojaa5xjaZxCABKAJ_qyupJEFo5a89Vqfud8oa0Vx2WCuq0k/s1600/spdam15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">even to the most precarious spot. The dam still
leaks but improvements look more permanent. I didn't see any
hints of otter. I saw an interesting looking fish, a few inches
long, swimming in the flow below the dam, a grass pickerel fry?</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwTCrqXEpn-IO-WUqnl6-2g_lkvgT2S91HBn5Np6wrF8r9Fo79EwCZhrIhq-jICCu81EyGnHtkjhygPTp6_WMr0MS4KKw5RNyxj4C_2hbYu2J1hQk6DUhGwhM9kdEhnnegdseoQmZsjgU/s1600/fish15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwTCrqXEpn-IO-WUqnl6-2g_lkvgT2S91HBn5Np6wrF8r9Fo79EwCZhrIhq-jICCu81EyGnHtkjhygPTp6_WMr0MS4KKw5RNyxj4C_2hbYu2J1hQk6DUhGwhM9kdEhnnegdseoQmZsjgU/s1600/fish15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Since it was too early in the afternoon to
expect beavers to come out, the remainder of the hike was mostly
a search for a sign of that one year old otter I expect is still
around. I didn't find any new scat along the north shore of the
Lost Swamp Pond. I walked over the ridge and down to the Second
Swamp Pond and saw nothing new. The beavers have done more work
on the Upper Second Swamp Pond dam. The leaks are down to a
trickle and the water is almost brimming the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSC_ZUwpTCz1Fv1g1k1wRyQSwD9_X1KIOwP5IO4IsYOyU7BZ5jxi-ekr2rdjwPB71hloLM8wiqcXpWcnRBm30f5hfalynqkIr81sIuPrbYMErQawGXqPYL_1P7yMRDz67ffbut5wSi_8/s1600/upspdam15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSC_ZUwpTCz1Fv1g1k1wRyQSwD9_X1KIOwP5IO4IsYOyU7BZ5jxi-ekr2rdjwPB71hloLM8wiqcXpWcnRBm30f5hfalynqkIr81sIuPrbYMErQawGXqPYL_1P7yMRDz67ffbut5wSi_8/s1600/upspdam15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went back up to the Lost Swamp Pond and sat
on the bank briefly. One always owes a big pond twenty minutes of
communion and I noticed muskrats out at the point. Then a flicker
landed on a dead post before me in the pond, with two wide holes. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbEeC_hPgrft8focvCG8II8xHUdeVeg4bM_hoNE5OCaBN_bXKI7FKsCCESbqNT5VgsEi0CQTJucVvYs6RuYGb1yDU2d_M67ENR3xaVZLRBoaW95rWQe0ogmv0hcF1WDBO0vaZSB5IN_U/s1600/flicknest15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbEeC_hPgrft8focvCG8II8xHUdeVeg4bM_hoNE5OCaBN_bXKI7FKsCCESbqNT5VgsEi0CQTJucVvYs6RuYGb1yDU2d_M67ENR3xaVZLRBoaW95rWQe0ogmv0hcF1WDBO0vaZSB5IN_U/s1600/flicknest15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It went into one before I could get a photo and
didn't come out. As I poised for that photo, the osprey flew
over, fish in talons, and lit up on a branch so I couldn't really
see it. I could see that it saw me so I wiggled about to get it
to move. It flew off, and at first, flew away, then it circled
back over me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsN_N2bcHQFeqog-GEAAvyHJzFkuzV3y_UUaT2ybBOzJlJuZzGmYdmCZqgKzYmKysZTsFPlobryed0eKIPE363Ko-o9VwseOIzxn1FCAkSdYaksnskC9IPAdCCTFPoUIu3p1niZPVA2k/s1600/osprey15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsN_N2bcHQFeqog-GEAAvyHJzFkuzV3y_UUaT2ybBOzJlJuZzGmYdmCZqgKzYmKysZTsFPlobryed0eKIPE363Ko-o9VwseOIzxn1FCAkSdYaksnskC9IPAdCCTFPoUIu3p1niZPVA2k/s1600/osprey15.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This osprey, a young one I bet, always seems to
have a fish in hand and so seems to have time to look at me from
all the angles a lazy spiral can afford. I checked the dam, which
has a bit of fresh mud on it, but it still leaks a good bit. As I
crossed the dam, a muskrat swam into the beaver lodge there. No
sound of beavers. Finally I checked the Big Pond dam and there
was nothing new there. No more dam repairs and no new otter
scats. I still think the otter is around these ponds. Both are
rather large and there are many latrines I can't get to. I could
have sat and watched a red wing black bird who last time out and
today seemed rather possessive of a muskrat lodge, but it was
dinner time.</span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-73534528398144075602016-11-19T13:29:00.000-08:002016-11-19T13:29:21.025-08:00April 1 to 6, 2005<span style="font-size: small;">April 1 cool, blustery, cloudy morning. I
headed up the golf course with the wind at my back. The grass is
beginning to dry out and the pairs of geese were mostly in the
low lying areas, such is the comfort of water. Just before I got
to the woods I saw deer remains and a dead skunk. The deer neck
and torso were picked clean</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWagLrRu22vzxoxWy_Gg2lRLZFR_09-_t9Pu1Hy7J9u7wbavJ8BcZ0O8SPq7WlL5ePnwXK8CmAqmJxWfTgMjb9nJh7EtUJeJOYw8nLp0XaYilQSce3bDRrQ1s8Eu5pbPTH9SWnpu86dc/s1600/deercar1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWagLrRu22vzxoxWy_Gg2lRLZFR_09-_t9Pu1Hy7J9u7wbavJ8BcZ0O8SPq7WlL5ePnwXK8CmAqmJxWfTgMjb9nJh7EtUJeJOYw8nLp0XaYilQSce3bDRrQ1s8Eu5pbPTH9SWnpu86dc/s1600/deercar1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">so there was no proof of who killed the deer.
I've been hearing coyotes howling up here on several nights. The
skunk had been attacked probably the night before. Its mouth was
open showing the white teeth of a young critter, but I'm no
expert. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g2MHV1VuxFrpuvI-a1c_ehXD6yjl67SCdN6uiHfD-CWx1xyaNVhzvszFU3P49biGrFIbAj4lWN06u-_x5K2uJnXPdeLWQcLUm7qtef-kP4xml2HD2VOgUsAwAZ6e6fgqwQBiMQ2gsvo/s1600/skunk1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g2MHV1VuxFrpuvI-a1c_ehXD6yjl67SCdN6uiHfD-CWx1xyaNVhzvszFU3P49biGrFIbAj4lWN06u-_x5K2uJnXPdeLWQcLUm7qtef-kP4xml2HD2VOgUsAwAZ6e6fgqwQBiMQ2gsvo/s1600/skunk1a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Its rear had been ripped open and remained
bloody.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPRTfGAE0aJegHyfNhLuewGOOymdGT3FNpjFgui1M-_lZ1sfG_bwBskVJul0tPQgg03kgXyNlshrQSTtJ0hFWHb306qe7HHosnC-unYs1F1jpDo57aiNEOfjeNowOrcLRFZOhD3w6KDg/s1600/skunk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPRTfGAE0aJegHyfNhLuewGOOymdGT3FNpjFgui1M-_lZ1sfG_bwBskVJul0tPQgg03kgXyNlshrQSTtJ0hFWHb306qe7HHosnC-unYs1F1jpDo57aiNEOfjeNowOrcLRFZOhD3w6KDg/s1600/skunk1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Down wind of it I smelled its odor, which
evidently failed to ward off a predator. I went down the Second
Valley and saw no fresh gnawing left by any of the porcupines who had been active in the winter there. As I came down to the Big Pond, I heard
and saw mallards fly off open water that extended from the upper
dam down a dozen yards below the spring. Two
mallards were loath to flee, but finally did. Two geese remained.
I probably could have crossed on the rotting ice, but I went down
along the edge of the retreating ice to the dam. The situation
there was much like it was two days ago, water rushing out. No
sign that any beavers had started any repairs. I continued around
the pond and walked up to the lodge. I was hoping to see a
comfortable niche on the shore where the beavers might be gnawing
twigs and branches, but I didn't.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTAEplZaRxDEESEYwrwYwdHUR3eYr9RzClHzjWCucNJQw2wJ1fI_2dKRlNHjyXlAX9pIIcaW045wxYZLJFMwjMKTg2_eVPjjzhcOSRum1iAoZosuNFeR1jT3ed0emhqr7wp31XNfL9Yw/s1600/bp1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTAEplZaRxDEESEYwrwYwdHUR3eYr9RzClHzjWCucNJQw2wJ1fI_2dKRlNHjyXlAX9pIIcaW045wxYZLJFMwjMKTg2_eVPjjzhcOSRum1iAoZosuNFeR1jT3ed0emhqr7wp31XNfL9Yw/s640/bp1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This must be a confusing time for beavers. The
ice cover had dictated their behavior for three months, now they
were freed from that constraint but their watery world was quite
constricted </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hal5I1lGLTE9F2lA8vOdmMBEJUkE3fZz7AH4BG3nw1t__gXlyAAk6EZw0EBzM-3jKySUtF7O_PlJBAYGHbv58jzYyOhOCUXMQdNXYfIfJqy3vv6-eNAatregCA8KqL9CX7iuasWpfiU/s1600/bp1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hal5I1lGLTE9F2lA8vOdmMBEJUkE3fZz7AH4BG3nw1t__gXlyAAk6EZw0EBzM-3jKySUtF7O_PlJBAYGHbv58jzYyOhOCUXMQdNXYfIfJqy3vv6-eNAatregCA8KqL9CX7iuasWpfiU/s640/bp1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">-- unless they left and went out into the
river. I approached the Lost Swamp Pond through the beavers' recent
work and it looked like they had just cut down two trees.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflLoe-aVBOV8ITm5DRN60DHHV4UGYumpDcPdh11QeYAwit0ELquEvm9CudcDCOUTyneZrA6Sub9X-bNK44V4LxIdoHD0pLfcagaN1dIa02_vpD5k2-5HtLqiq4FCPc5nt4k78je1s0q8/s1600/lsbvwk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflLoe-aVBOV8ITm5DRN60DHHV4UGYumpDcPdh11QeYAwit0ELquEvm9CudcDCOUTyneZrA6Sub9X-bNK44V4LxIdoHD0pLfcagaN1dIa02_vpD5k2-5HtLqiq4FCPc5nt4k78je1s0q8/s1600/lsbvwk1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So their interest in seeing what they can get
out of the pond has not made them forget all this lumber. I was
thinking of walking on the ice up to the lodges in the upper end
of the pond, but there was too much open water up there. Indeed,
I saw a muskrat pop up out on the ice munching grasses. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGU7S8lMrRnEb6j8mPUQlBbNUyCdLVr_uDSBGBadcF6EepflsiZSEO8y9w-WvhaxJFv_i037ghZvrx5bYDWuZmZajGDAL28L0tDHE-Ff8a6iCWtMjPml7wQZJ8NlsbSWcVzuNQnV18CmI/s1600/upls1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGU7S8lMrRnEb6j8mPUQlBbNUyCdLVr_uDSBGBadcF6EepflsiZSEO8y9w-WvhaxJFv_i037ghZvrx5bYDWuZmZajGDAL28L0tDHE-Ff8a6iCWtMjPml7wQZJ8NlsbSWcVzuNQnV18CmI/s640/upls1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The bank beaver lodge where I think the beavers
are staying was quiet.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2XfMUkHyYzUM4SlsGGGvE25keGKx1Tq1tsaWMc8qQ8J9GTW-6m9HrbNxGKugtprFKZFywi80HBXD43bobEMr2y0vt9Rm-9nQ5K0ByV4fBIFEttOGWuNPzZT-yxGweXf_0CCUjnwK9_U/s1600/lslodge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2XfMUkHyYzUM4SlsGGGvE25keGKx1Tq1tsaWMc8qQ8J9GTW-6m9HrbNxGKugtprFKZFywi80HBXD43bobEMr2y0vt9Rm-9nQ5K0ByV4fBIFEttOGWuNPzZT-yxGweXf_0CCUjnwK9_U/s1600/lslodge1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">No otter scats now to be seen near it. I
checked the old otter latrine on the other side of the mossy cove
and saw many old scats but nothing new. As I walked around the
west shore of the pond, I saw two flies fly off two old bullhead
heads.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbU4dMBgon-9OgL_Qflo2lO5viw78y1OOOlCoGeCbhQXeUyRn_xfxDM1MLZTTzbHqMHy39xHjWLHrRVYxayj3c2uu5994-ewvTl8GOCHfhxNOvJU5ZYhvB6E239zFnAzUB9exevyQhdk/s1600/bullheads1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbU4dMBgon-9OgL_Qflo2lO5viw78y1OOOlCoGeCbhQXeUyRn_xfxDM1MLZTTzbHqMHy39xHjWLHrRVYxayj3c2uu5994-ewvTl8GOCHfhxNOvJU5ZYhvB6E239zFnAzUB9exevyQhdk/s1600/bullheads1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As I walked up the north shore toward the dam,
a muskrat swam out from a bank burrow and dove under the ice -- I
didn't see where it surfaced. I had noticed some buffleheads in
the open water around the lodge near the dam. As I watched them
through my spyglass, I saw three males stretch out one of their
feet behind them, and soon saw that it was not a friendly
gesture. I was hoping to get closer to take some video, and two
of the ducks came flying right at me. After two fly arounds, one
of the males flew off. All was quiet back in the pool but the
victorious bird was evidently only catching its breath. It soon
lunged at the other male,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5efP0PeNE1XRMWfnl2U9Xm8ltInPYsfZWO7kAZ3j7S5MkxZwfEDNRhzr2c58mv2__TGv9I-FF0wLCGpQt2ktOeSw9t08YQokPmoFPEvvagj1dCn58Bg_FeXWSvuwhtx8J0Z_5G_u1J8/s1600/mergs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5efP0PeNE1XRMWfnl2U9Xm8ltInPYsfZWO7kAZ3j7S5MkxZwfEDNRhzr2c58mv2__TGv9I-FF0wLCGpQt2ktOeSw9t08YQokPmoFPEvvagj1dCn58Bg_FeXWSvuwhtx8J0Z_5G_u1J8/s640/mergs1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">who quickly flew off. Then it was time for some
courtship displays for the female in the pool. I've often seen
buffleheads in this pond in the spring, usually later, however,
and never with such commotion. Meanwhile I was looking for fresh
scats and saw none, not on the Lost Swamp Pond dam, nor the Upper
Second Swamp Pond dam, nor the Second Swamp Pond dam, nor the
East Trail Pond dam. So perhaps the otters have left the half
iced and mostly empty ponds. The apt symbol of this is that as
the ice melts around the hole in the East Trail Pond that the
otters used much of the winter, there's no water in sight.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVXCWfLM01F_l5CUvgoKoyDy04gv_yLW2-ssq-Pb6A2epUdkVHNg69g3CDGbC3Och0PtlutjiUbCoNAWmX3iGUZGL5UyKTMOI-bt05BWJFFizV2qGAwbdFQ3z21VmyaIltXGe_gkH7Jg/s1600/ethole1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGVXCWfLM01F_l5CUvgoKoyDy04gv_yLW2-ssq-Pb6A2epUdkVHNg69g3CDGbC3Och0PtlutjiUbCoNAWmX3iGUZGL5UyKTMOI-bt05BWJFFizV2qGAwbdFQ3z21VmyaIltXGe_gkH7Jg/s1600/ethole1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The only place for them to be in these ponds
that makes any sense is fishing out the pools in the upper Lost
Swamp Pond, but I can't easily get up there. The lack of water
allows me to indulge in the pleasure of walking on rotting ice
without any fear of getting wet. And I was surprised to see some
green algae through holes in the ice.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HPMv5sAmV85pnIxJ7Vgr9HO0lpUjc6DkYO2SwgZ0vRSdB-LIIqKGeeKOvJT_4_wQVpRAzaI0CQP1NqFF0Q_uxd3L1H-8DRhDsRCqW2cc4THmICGQTd57C5K5En89Hzqb0mhAwmxdHHQ/s1600/algae1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HPMv5sAmV85pnIxJ7Vgr9HO0lpUjc6DkYO2SwgZ0vRSdB-LIIqKGeeKOvJT_4_wQVpRAzaI0CQP1NqFF0Q_uxd3L1H-8DRhDsRCqW2cc4THmICGQTd57C5K5En89Hzqb0mhAwmxdHHQ/s1600/algae1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In other springs I've been surprised at how
early algae blooms in the warming pond water. I shall be
surprised no longer. From the East Trail Pond, I walked over the
ridge to Otter Hole Pond, once again forced to take a photo of
how meager that once great pond is.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAyuSDF6vzlDXC4LBxPc4lRsXkN3hjFx2z4rxTW9yPloh5W0u8_boqFaUu_iUNwN1R1JAfxlZL-9GmVtp7QJO3_nXnIran0uza7hDvKObn1SJ208BSgsTcit6oaBf8iZXyXA6Stx6IQQ/s1600/oh1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAyuSDF6vzlDXC4LBxPc4lRsXkN3hjFx2z4rxTW9yPloh5W0u8_boqFaUu_iUNwN1R1JAfxlZL-9GmVtp7QJO3_nXnIran0uza7hDvKObn1SJ208BSgsTcit6oaBf8iZXyXA6Stx6IQQ/s640/oh1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I crossed the dam and paused at the gaping
hole. There was some old otter scat right next to it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLOLUIUxmVg_hy5WSyiFalnPJUa6MAjklCZ2NmAB9Sme8uuZqJ8yuOW6mH7Jp0LItr9aYqUhmpe6LmttoSNv_4JikXGl0QcAK06vfS9XXJmgHGAiDXfyhkPOYESiFy1Y0CU1z_gfSrvo/s1600/ohgap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLOLUIUxmVg_hy5WSyiFalnPJUa6MAjklCZ2NmAB9Sme8uuZqJ8yuOW6mH7Jp0LItr9aYqUhmpe6LmttoSNv_4JikXGl0QcAK06vfS9XXJmgHGAiDXfyhkPOYESiFy1Y0CU1z_gfSrvo/s640/ohgap1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">What it needs is the attention of some beavers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday at our land, 52 acres south of the river, it looked like the
beavers had gone foraging up stream taking some pine, but
</span><span style="font-size: small;">as
the snow melts,</span><span style="font-size: small;">evergreen boughs can look as fresh as last seen in the fall. The series of little ponds are mostly empty. It
will be interesting to see if and how soon the beavers repair their dams.
Today, I went in the afternoon and got to a perch above the
beaver ponds at 3pm. The best time to conduct a census is when
there is only one hole in the ice and the beavers are restless,
but I never seemed to have a chance to watch for long and the
beavers had been less restless this March than last. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I had to sit
45 minutes in the cold wind before a beaver appeared. At least it
made a good entrance. I could trace its underwater path by the
steady stream of bubbles on the surface of the water. It kept
down through the gap in the old embankment and then surfaced at
the edge of the ice in the Teepee Pond, swam along the edge
toward the ice, then dove again and I thought it might be going
to the far end of the pond where there is now a patch of open
water, but it surfaced behind the dam. The first beaver out is
often credited with being an inspector, and this one behaved in
just that way. After checking the dam, it nosed the half cut
willow, then headed back to the First Pond, dove as it approached
me and I lost it until it surfaced in the First Pond where it
dove at the edge of the ice and I didn't see it again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">After ten or
fifteen minutes, a beaver appeared in the middle of the First Pond. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Different beaver? </span><span style="font-size: small;">It
repeated the same route as the other beaver but in a different
manner, on the surface through the gap, and dove under the ice
sooner. Then while it was still down in the Teepee Pond, another
beaver surfaced in the First Pond and gnawed some of the logs at
the edge of the ice, and might have taken a small stick as it
dove back into the lodge. The beaver returned from the Teepee
Pond by swimming right below me, always on the surface save when
it dove under a small branch, and then swam through the gap in
the embankment closest to the shore. Then it swam to the edge of
the ice and dove about in the same place and same direction as
the first beaver. Then a smaller beaver appeared in the First
Pond and swam on the surface into the Teepee Pond where it made a
shallow dive as small beavers do, and I didn't see it resurface.
Unless the little beaver that, a few seconds later, surfaced in
the First Pond was that little beaver. That doesn't seem logical
save that the little beaver swam right to me and dove. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then a
little beaver surfaced further back in the First Pond and swam
over and slapped its wee tail at me. Perhaps this little guy had
a knack of diving and turning back underwater. That perhaps makes
more sense than assuming that there were three little beavers
each getting more serious about my presence. What was surprising
so far was that none of the beavers was doing any serious eating.
None of them seemed to focus on anything. The chill got to me.
Before the little beaver slapped, a big beaver swam into the
Teepee Pond surfacing behind the dam, I didn't expect the little
slap to elicit any reaction so after an hour in the wind, I
followed to see what was happening behind the dam. That big
beaver seemed to be repairing the dam, and there was a small
beaver there fiddling with a stick behind the dam. At first I
thought it too was doing repairs, then I saw that it was eating. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTd5IllkPqmuQed_yyuHpdA20AIOEIVG88ThS8x9iEq2z4uYNNYd3w0PS-dVfRySRzsqNw4w1XtChW9RWl_c7jjC2s9hj3HKyIYZfVlb-tiQBk6zSS95KpQNTx_8tiuNbShp7fPE_6wg/s1600/fpbv1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTd5IllkPqmuQed_yyuHpdA20AIOEIVG88ThS8x9iEq2z4uYNNYd3w0PS-dVfRySRzsqNw4w1XtChW9RWl_c7jjC2s9hj3HKyIYZfVlb-tiQBk6zSS95KpQNTx_8tiuNbShp7fPE_6wg/s320/fpbv1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As I angled in for a photo, I made enough noise
to attract the large beaver even though the stiff wind was in my
face. It swam close to me then veered a bit out into the pond. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rm3wkF7HuJ8M0b-a2V6ZJtM018ET2IZEvZl3mkLNDVbkHi0DcPWvowPQXDv76G2BF4cPeooHmfv7AI3h3tdea5deToIi8D31Ci5snnmQlnB6h8P_SlasNM2-txuGbb_G5AeJIG-WmAA/s1600/fpbv1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rm3wkF7HuJ8M0b-a2V6ZJtM018ET2IZEvZl3mkLNDVbkHi0DcPWvowPQXDv76G2BF4cPeooHmfv7AI3h3tdea5deToIi8D31Ci5snnmQlnB6h8P_SlasNM2-txuGbb_G5AeJIG-WmAA/s640/fpbv1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I moved again for a better photo and it slapped
its tail. The beaver gnawing by the dam didn't budge and paused
its gnawing for about 10 seconds then resumed eating. I didn't
expect the little beaver's slap to get any reaction, but this
slap had more authority. That slapping beaver went back to the
First Pond and while I had the camcorder aimed at the beaver
still at the dam, it slapped again and the beaver by the dam
didn't even flinch. So my census: there are at least two larger
beavers and two smaller beavers. That the last slaps went
unheeded might mean the boss beaver, the mother, was probably
still in the lodge. More later, I hope. In none of these episodes
of activity was there even a glance at my pile of logs, though I
could see that some bites had been taken out of a hitherto
untouched red oak log.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60RuazXMIJ7zLDh5jGdJrEPpnxqQVC6p2TIJ78Mdn_STCggvNrTAoA99-z1C0JiMtuv-bpc3HddJqhTqtaBYvbkx_vBIaQR4mWG8yAhGniCTFz-dt-OhalJvFfYV5ZxtPjHNcwFt1RLE/s1600/sawpit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60RuazXMIJ7zLDh5jGdJrEPpnxqQVC6p2TIJ78Mdn_STCggvNrTAoA99-z1C0JiMtuv-bpc3HddJqhTqtaBYvbkx_vBIaQR4mWG8yAhGniCTFz-dt-OhalJvFfYV5ZxtPjHNcwFt1RLE/s640/sawpit1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As I left the slapping beaver was weaving back
and forth in the First Pond, still exercised at me, and the small
beaver left its station behind the dam but I wasn't sure where it
went. I glanced below the dam and saw what looked like fresh
cutting on some trees, but I didn't see the beaver there.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">April 3 Yesterday we had three or four inches
of rain, cold rain, with much wind. Two years ago I blamed cold
spring rains for keeping down the shiner population in the beaver
ponds, but that was a series of cold rains. This was a gush of
water. There were some showers today, and to take advantage of
Daylight Savings Time I headed off to the ponds at a little
before 5 pm. On the golf course, I saw more parts of the deer
carcass, three legs.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKM37vnAepo6uuuL9GQ1b0t4gp-SO5Oi2n4b4Bcd_pbW1uEAj6R2A15jEaqX53B4I4tAhtK01jP-H-oQ3K7fVb2tzvaRnPxQHNRHzxOlM_jhlGXrR2cGE_teO6l75cTmHZSNlURvb7AoA/s1600/deerleg3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKM37vnAepo6uuuL9GQ1b0t4gp-SO5Oi2n4b4Bcd_pbW1uEAj6R2A15jEaqX53B4I4tAhtK01jP-H-oQ3K7fVb2tzvaRnPxQHNRHzxOlM_jhlGXrR2cGE_teO6l75cTmHZSNlURvb7AoA/s1600/deerleg3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">These parts are quite gnawed and thrown about and skin lying nearby or still slightly attached to the
bones. All that indicates, I think, that coyotes ripped through
the remains. The skunk carcass was mostly devoured </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcPZU8x0hfgkkVlLkjpHnBOdKhMv948OdvfaJ0iUTfHibgNv514-A6IosYXdgFHXqdypD_PTtL60YRgVM9Y1q8eUjRaj94bIuO3UN46wkpTHZALgrm2l8OjK2_NMQENkhvIybfppkkfA/s1600/skunk3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcPZU8x0hfgkkVlLkjpHnBOdKhMv948OdvfaJ0iUTfHibgNv514-A6IosYXdgFHXqdypD_PTtL60YRgVM9Y1q8eUjRaj94bIuO3UN46wkpTHZALgrm2l8OjK2_NMQENkhvIybfppkkfA/s1600/skunk3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and I didn't notice any smell coming from it,
though I didn't bend over and take a sniff. I went down the first
valley to the Big Pond and headed for the Big Pond dam as usual
until I noticed that the gap in the dam was widened by a rush of
water a good four feet wide and the water was spreading out below
making crossing it problematical. So I crossed the Double Lodge
Pond dam where most of the water still went through the dam. This
dam held up better because it is backed with many logs,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_D1ydI6Gt8zp1ZWChiexvmmae1zyAWTEQjtwh_YImHrJXUgXlSmOqQaO52ANpLbc8xFAQyeVruXUq7s7CigLi59hTngiNzQ6bF_oxOSOGoPM54SVVIOaNs8D-Rtl6te-CKvNh8hzXa4Y/s1600/dldam3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_D1ydI6Gt8zp1ZWChiexvmmae1zyAWTEQjtwh_YImHrJXUgXlSmOqQaO52ANpLbc8xFAQyeVruXUq7s7CigLi59hTngiNzQ6bF_oxOSOGoPM54SVVIOaNs8D-Rtl6te-CKvNh8hzXa4Y/s1600/dldam3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">while the Big Pond dam is almost entirely of
mud and grass. As I walked up to the Big Pond dam a beaver
appeared and swam behind the gap. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ISbgRV_-cVdgEIEb53nSYRHUhWYcmZfvSZVtrIzT5sTqNLqEfmd0XQGVBBQfno4KWQjcfzQ-hcXFiPvbnmqLNlkHVs52y0Y1j3MFrFbNqyA8hLSeuoNLCzTXPZ2zKyDmA375riz60L0/s1600/bpdambv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ISbgRV_-cVdgEIEb53nSYRHUhWYcmZfvSZVtrIzT5sTqNLqEfmd0XQGVBBQfno4KWQjcfzQ-hcXFiPvbnmqLNlkHVs52y0Y1j3MFrFbNqyA8hLSeuoNLCzTXPZ2zKyDmA375riz60L0/s640/bpdambv3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So the beavers know the problem, though as far
as I could tell the beaver ignored the dam. It disappeared behind
the dam and I didn't see where it went. Then another beaver
cruised toward the gap. Though the light wind in my face and the
roar of water raised my hopes that it wouldn't notice me, it did
and weaved behind the dam nose up and slapped its tail and rather
stayed on my case, eventually going thirty yards on the other
side of the lodge at the fringe of the area of rotting ice in the
middle of the pond. I could tell it was still worried about me
because it swam back and forth.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There was other life in the pond,
though four clumps of grass and turf swollen with the rain fooled
me for awhile into thinking they were two still and dark ducks at
the edge of the marsh. I did see a pair of mallards, and thought
I saw a ring neck duck, but couldn't find it in the spyglass. A
muskrat popped out from under the rotting ice a couple of times.
At the head of the canal behind the north end of the dam there
were some freshly stripped logs so the beavers are getting back
to their old work.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxmAdvOc1L9uPNBU32hNTed_vqRfMoMMwyKoa9MKbSdbyOrocUQIQyqBX4X0T4IKsny1mb6nXxtpuK0D-wGq2pUUAHcrPz86DbPw2Zqub-BRJLVLrblFR_EvYv7aS_sidl_wqOkSO-XI/s1600/bpwk3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxmAdvOc1L9uPNBU32hNTed_vqRfMoMMwyKoa9MKbSdbyOrocUQIQyqBX4X0T4IKsny1mb6nXxtpuK0D-wGq2pUUAHcrPz86DbPw2Zqub-BRJLVLrblFR_EvYv7aS_sidl_wqOkSO-XI/s1600/bpwk3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">However, I didn't try to find where they got
the logs from, saving that for a drier day. Seeing that level of
activity in the usually placid Big Pond, I expected to see a riot
of activity in the Lost Swamp Pond. It took a while to develop.
At first I just saw a few geese out in the now open water in the
southeast end of the pond. The ice between the bank lodge on the
south shore and the dam was just about gone, what remained easily
parted. Yet there were no beavers out. I sat on a high rock above
the mossy cove near the bank lodge and waited. In about ten
minutes a beaver appeared cruising down from the northeast corner
of the pond, perhaps coming from the lodge where the beavers
began the winter. The beaver swam past the lodge by the dam, and
continued closely behind the dam, then climbed up on the shore at
the west end of the dam and went down the slope. I thought it was
resuming the old pattern of winter foraging, but it came right
back over and got back into the water. Then it swam along the
north shore, about half way down, then climbed into a clump of
grass and wiggled its rump as it passed through leaving scent. It
got back into the pond and swam back past the dam and lodge
heading back up into the northeast section of the pond, passing a
pair of buffleheads on the way. As it disappeared a beaver popped
out from the little lodge in the middle of the pond and swam
directly over to the west end of the dam and went up just as the
other beaver did, and returned and went back into the pond. Then
it too swam up toward the northeast corner of the pond, but not
before stopping and getting up on the lodge. I wanted to video
tape this methodical behavior but there was a light rain and I
was a bit far away. There was no more action and I got up to scan
the southeast end of the pond, where I saw a couple of muskrats.
Then I noticed another beaver swimming toward the dam, coming out
of the lodge in the middle of the pond. It went to the middle of
the dam and dove. This excited me because I'm keen to see spring
dam repairs, but it surfaced and I soon noticed that it went up
on the shore at the west end of the dam, checking out the fresh
scents. Then I noticed a beaver swimming behind the dam that
didn't check the scent there, but did swim down and check the
scent further down the north shore. After doing that, it went
higher up the slope and seemed to park itself next to a log.
Meanwhile the beaver just at the dam came down and went up where
the scent was and spent a few minutes worrying over it. With the
drizzle the air turned cold so I eased on down hoping to get
around the pond without disturbing the beavers. But just as I
headed around the end, the beaver at the scent mound went into
the pond and slapped its tail. Not only did the beaver on the
bank pay heed and get into the pond, but a muskrat nearby snapped
its tail and made a splash. All three of them swam away to the
east. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpgbu3JlPSAQkQze5ApXAjwVfRrNvh1XxECbjNDTlEG9DZwdt8VVRRdj6OX_yZKLW24wQYg66Vz0w0myZ8_0x536arm0AAJFnf8w5dnePnUlPQwxYaO3m-FpWNkwkDrBpYGUpwb2YmPk/s1600/lsbvs3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpgbu3JlPSAQkQze5ApXAjwVfRrNvh1XxECbjNDTlEG9DZwdt8VVRRdj6OX_yZKLW24wQYg66Vz0w0myZ8_0x536arm0AAJFnf8w5dnePnUlPQwxYaO3m-FpWNkwkDrBpYGUpwb2YmPk/s640/lsbvs3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For once these beavers seemed to be behaving by
the book, minding scent mounds above all else and taking proper
alarm at my presence. I continued on around the pond to see if I
could find the scent mound and to see if the rain damaged the dam
-- I had expected to find the pond filled to the brim and it
seemed a bit lower to me instead. As I got to the north shore
slope, a frequent otter route, the grass seemed pressed down and
I saw something that could have been an otter scat. On a dark and
dank evening, scats are hard to see and evaluate. I also saw a
definite coyote scat and a possible goose dropping. Plus the
beavers had made paths up on the this slope in the fall, and it
takes awhile for grass to reassert itself and obscure the old
paths. I decided to continue on to the dam where the better light
might show some definite otter scat. Then to my surprise a beaver
swam by me, then swam back, then retreated and slapped its tail
and turned to look at me before swimming back again to the edge
of the rotting ice. Thus ended the by the book behavior. I took some photos and went to the shore to look for the scent mound. I
saw nothing big and guessed that a little patch of dark
vegetation might be it.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybS-8PDl8irCk8V0iB9rsSJRnPVAuVElg8oxX3vzeG7gFihvZmk3RtHs_9lJTqIb6ihBjXrqCVPFdAeuL19REVeBrAUHztRXgfFASlBfM3uTlrwOcJSbEJmI9qlI-rAupslAqgp9A37A/s1600/scent3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybS-8PDl8irCk8V0iB9rsSJRnPVAuVElg8oxX3vzeG7gFihvZmk3RtHs_9lJTqIb6ihBjXrqCVPFdAeuL19REVeBrAUHztRXgfFASlBfM3uTlrwOcJSbEJmI9qlI-rAupslAqgp9A37A/s1600/scent3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile out in the pond another beaver swam
down toward me. I continued on and since I didn't see otter scats
in the usual latrines. I paid full attention to the beavers. Last
April two or three small beavers kept investigating me at this
pond, so small I was sure they were babies conceived in the fall
and born in the winter (whether this can happen is a matter of
dispute among experts.) The first two beavers looked to be normal
though a bit small. Then two more beavers swam down toward me
from the east, one so small that I first took it for a muskrat.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqP1_geDdaBjj8fU9Htiwx7pXbJqKDYJ5G6dXPEKtUm5P6SlmPjzSDOFIpOB1u_kk_9_W7qjl1kbWBPF4l3JVFGjes54mUlDcIcY7ux_xWsJcccx1hQS2cLCgd67N1_Vm_k1gn42GO60/s1600/lssmbv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqP1_geDdaBjj8fU9Htiwx7pXbJqKDYJ5G6dXPEKtUm5P6SlmPjzSDOFIpOB1u_kk_9_W7qjl1kbWBPF4l3JVFGjes54mUlDcIcY7ux_xWsJcccx1hQS2cLCgd67N1_Vm_k1gn42GO60/s640/lssmbv3.jpg" width="516" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Just like last year, they all seemed to be on
their own, even when they passed each other they didn't veer or
hum or circle each other. I got one photo showing them almost
relating</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJexrCcz7Mwa23-k2Q3Xqi-DE0LkUpI7iH3VlS2Djk8fgr2mulXN-Q9WLw_V_rKy2lK1aP6tLIzHQ6bCbHFBFnmumBI6831oMe6w-V8xyxxIYNQSwyzcCBEzvJvFassBfzU-j2g93C3U/s1600/lsbvs3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJexrCcz7Mwa23-k2Q3Xqi-DE0LkUpI7iH3VlS2Djk8fgr2mulXN-Q9WLw_V_rKy2lK1aP6tLIzHQ6bCbHFBFnmumBI6831oMe6w-V8xyxxIYNQSwyzcCBEzvJvFassBfzU-j2g93C3U/s1600/lsbvs3b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">but these were really ships
passing in the night</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JDperb1PSq4osQkL_f9gC2D8-CqTn-ZeStB-8lukinVUJ1zbuK6OtGPOIZ35iWiH1N37vZ5n6O-FGPddP9m3d1L0tKYmndhXNJqxeu9IFnCJDq59vxt8AaThHui4LjYIz1auhutU4Js/s1600/lsbvs3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JDperb1PSq4osQkL_f9gC2D8-CqTn-ZeStB-8lukinVUJ1zbuK6OtGPOIZ35iWiH1N37vZ5n6O-FGPddP9m3d1L0tKYmndhXNJqxeu9IFnCJDq59vxt8AaThHui4LjYIz1auhutU4Js/s1600/lsbvs3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLiYHMxichwY1pl5dNbYvHgDQYqbkBg5SG877-b-ucpPyJ3T9lgsiaR3BSbQwt69Wsz7YZYQo-tafW-Dmk8H9K-89skfz0eaxCi-jCCiAnofOq4iTFh39bQpB-BdFt3oslTWjlQ_UkaE/s1600/lsbvs3c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLiYHMxichwY1pl5dNbYvHgDQYqbkBg5SG877-b-ucpPyJ3T9lgsiaR3BSbQwt69Wsz7YZYQo-tafW-Dmk8H9K-89skfz0eaxCi-jCCiAnofOq4iTFh39bQpB-BdFt3oslTWjlQ_UkaE/s1600/lsbvs3c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Three of the four beavers swam within ten feet
of me, and briefly swam back and forth below me. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3O4O7YKfZ3qQfj0PoDpbfVNZMRX8RGKDXtotMSrBtHiUMegoEuZEDWvj-1_BeyRAcdXcXVkekygPvXjk6naH8fPV4XhTYfiEvj212kR9oB2XIQYGslR3IV6M1ElTYVga6PLPhzj96XgE/s1600/lsbv3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3O4O7YKfZ3qQfj0PoDpbfVNZMRX8RGKDXtotMSrBtHiUMegoEuZEDWvj-1_BeyRAcdXcXVkekygPvXjk6naH8fPV4XhTYfiEvj212kR9oB2XIQYGslR3IV6M1ElTYVga6PLPhzj96XgE/s1600/lsbv3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then one went to the lodge by the dam and got
up on it to gnaw a stick. Another followed but didn't go on the
lodge. Another went out toward the center of the pond. None of
the little beavers slapped a tail at me, nor did the two larger
ones. I decided to head back to the north slope otter trail by
going down the ridge which would give me a chance to see if there
was any action in the Upper Second Swamp Pond, no, and see what
the beavers in the Lost Swamp Pond continued to do -- I lost
track of them. But on a rock atop the ridge I found a fresh
bullhead head. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9RXCc5gySdE_yplyMf4USkUC8xZ9kISGtBHAorzkrDDiBx0nbOwv8s4GgbI1WKZBggxKIAs3Dwv9zzLHHfLwiEPqMZtpSOh7opbYZTm5RTNxXc0qLRMhqn3ywiIekarg53ryUuBAce4/s1600/bullhead3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9RXCc5gySdE_yplyMf4USkUC8xZ9kISGtBHAorzkrDDiBx0nbOwv8s4GgbI1WKZBggxKIAs3Dwv9zzLHHfLwiEPqMZtpSOh7opbYZTm5RTNxXc0qLRMhqn3ywiIekarg53ryUuBAce4/s1600/bullhead3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">That got my head down in the grass and mud.
There was a good bit of fresh digging on this slope for whom I
credited the beavers and deer, and I saw no fresh otter scats.
There is at least one heron around, indeed I saw one fly high
over the pond, but I don't think herons would litter a slope with
a bullhead head. You can always blame crows but they have been
scarce in this area this spring. So back at the north slope I
reexamined the possible scat and still couldn't decide. One
seemed to have a muskrat tooth in it but the dark matter around
the tooth didn't seem typical of otter scat. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMIayVTUxioI7KELbKQDdtBboKFVKJSLmkuy8dQG-2XEAOVWHlp33TyFjJBON1KeR6lUxqowwdFGLro1EMbj5OI2VlZzxKsSXp-JTUIOgdt_zSq4EjIpM7erPRvEaEN6Rq6IOd_qxLlY/s1600/scat3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMIayVTUxioI7KELbKQDdtBboKFVKJSLmkuy8dQG-2XEAOVWHlp33TyFjJBON1KeR6lUxqowwdFGLro1EMbj5OI2VlZzxKsSXp-JTUIOgdt_zSq4EjIpM7erPRvEaEN6Rq6IOd_qxLlY/s1600/scat3b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Plus this scat was not on the usual otter
trail. Over on the trail I found a scat that looked more like an
otter scat but I couldn't tell if it was old and just freshened
by the rain. The close-up photo makes it look fresh since none of
the little bones are bleached and the lack of scales indicates
that the otter was eating scaleless bullheads and pollywogs. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fg2OBo_T5lNZt-WVPSyDNGCPStNm2Ae2cdhjEXavDqnBDEcKFSkKmGjUxB9yC3SmahQ_alL34UbXIk2vGXgYsWR3XcIJeKjmgNBqb86-wuDQvRk6NwmFMtrY6xTGlYsBYWl3G1973Yw/s1600/scat3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Fg2OBo_T5lNZt-WVPSyDNGCPStNm2Ae2cdhjEXavDqnBDEcKFSkKmGjUxB9yC3SmahQ_alL34UbXIk2vGXgYsWR3XcIJeKjmgNBqb86-wuDQvRk6NwmFMtrY6xTGlYsBYWl3G1973Yw/s1600/scat3a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then I followed the old otter route over to the
Second Swamp Pond, and up at the crest saw smears of scat in some
moss, but this was a somewhat dry conglomeration also too much
like an old scat revived by rain. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXVpYdvftiuRVUBlvYlsoWPrbe-pPHRAiPAivTLaDIktZwUHaXcR9VW6E8Ym5lb5bgNgNGnubNkJ3NqHNAn1753cQ2qdRRmtaG48qi5TJqwe-yUxO8FJVMvXtK0PvWTXdj3GbEm6FCZo/s1600/scat3c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXVpYdvftiuRVUBlvYlsoWPrbe-pPHRAiPAivTLaDIktZwUHaXcR9VW6E8Ym5lb5bgNgNGnubNkJ3NqHNAn1753cQ2qdRRmtaG48qi5TJqwe-yUxO8FJVMvXtK0PvWTXdj3GbEm6FCZo/s1600/scat3c.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">That said I didn't recall any scats in that
area in the fall. Then almost down to the Second Swamp Pond, I
saw a more convincing scat in some moss, looser, wet and some
black slime on a nearby leaf. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPwWkaFt_nA_ocMZpb9paL6_8Ln6_yUE4xZhbjoEsBbd512mmZAXpYw6RzxNttqe41fnJq1cOHNIYomqLXybufbVvNwBoXtOOfzsJpzk4EXrhwgb5RV7jWwtee1bngYLZVPaZScFgPw4/s1600/scat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPwWkaFt_nA_ocMZpb9paL6_8Ln6_yUE4xZhbjoEsBbd512mmZAXpYw6RzxNttqe41fnJq1cOHNIYomqLXybufbVvNwBoXtOOfzsJpzk4EXrhwgb5RV7jWwtee1bngYLZVPaZScFgPw4/s1600/scat3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">However, the pond is quite small up here, with
a wide apron of mud and even some rotting ice, and I didn't see
any prints or signs of commotion there. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Aso4B8qNly1kIzhJ9qHdq6RCwouiVYKAUs37bOcC0y5oeYLLV2f5Iw0q_8aQdXFEHODtnIXyc0iFOHh0Vjz3h0hE7PGpaP8pdotbMoBJMaDSeGOrCDSztmxnoMIVMsky3VkRbE-s6y0/s1600/splat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Aso4B8qNly1kIzhJ9qHdq6RCwouiVYKAUs37bOcC0y5oeYLLV2f5Iw0q_8aQdXFEHODtnIXyc0iFOHh0Vjz3h0hE7PGpaP8pdotbMoBJMaDSeGOrCDSztmxnoMIVMsky3VkRbE-s6y0/s1600/splat3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So I decided to head down to the Second Swamp
Pond dam where I have recently scowled over the area looking for
scats. Two ducks flew off near the bank lodge and I paused to
look at them. As I continued, I almost convinced myself that an
otter must be around then I looked up at the Second Swamp Pond
dam and saw an otter scatting. Despite the drizzle I got out the
camcorder. By the time I got it going the otter was back in the
pond swimming toward the lodge, seeming rather fast in the
shallow water. Then I lost it. I scanned the shore with my eyes and saw
that it was on the shore across from me gnawing away on a fish
big enough to require it to get out of the water to negotiate. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKvfSYeRIu-TZglmzQQXb7BsavYwnswv7o5UZkCxMaq6um1Bg2YwK5Dv7HNp7utuurUldUCPgFo6KgNA-9uc_nVXFQzvMczDLHYnWaHTkLNLDodrhdAJI-kY2ModVsSdp16T3c76uSKI/s1600/ot3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKvfSYeRIu-TZglmzQQXb7BsavYwnswv7o5UZkCxMaq6um1Bg2YwK5Dv7HNp7utuurUldUCPgFo6KgNA-9uc_nVXFQzvMczDLHYnWaHTkLNLDodrhdAJI-kY2ModVsSdp16T3c76uSKI/s1600/ot3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Needless to say this was quite exciting, not
only seeing an otter but seeing it successfully forage in water I
thought must be completely depleted. After looking at the video,
I am pretty sure it is a juvenile otter, one year old, and there
was something about it that makes me think it is a male. Then it
got into the pond, swam toward the lodge, and I lost it. While it
made sense that it simply went into the lodge, it also might be
going back to the Lost Swamp Pond now teeming with beavers, and I
couldn't miss that. As I walked along, I saw the otter swimming
up pond well past the lodge. I hurried along, and then I saw it
veer off to the side. I continued up the ridge and then saw the
otter fishing in a pool of water and then it headed back down
pond. I waited for a few minutes hoping it might resume the way
to the Lost Swamp Pond, but it didn't. Instead something else
moved, a beaver. </span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfWoZcbdybBT1NkKJjsBf2sQwffEEc8NUZzTl0nEeDa3YY-FIuM20c_2xnEMWsdrN7sl81ExTnMb2mMtAg32myAHpehsmCWlMjAvRxGFYSOjjvBfgXpYhrM5tRhAr4YMnnlr9T8_Rtro/s1600/spbv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfWoZcbdybBT1NkKJjsBf2sQwffEEc8NUZzTl0nEeDa3YY-FIuM20c_2xnEMWsdrN7sl81ExTnMb2mMtAg32myAHpehsmCWlMjAvRxGFYSOjjvBfgXpYhrM5tRhAr4YMnnlr9T8_Rtro/s1600/spbv3.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The otter didn't make any noise, which they
often do when a beaver is around. Judging from the video it is
possible that it looked at the beaver. Unfortunately the beaver
doesn't appear in the video until the otter is long gone.
Certainly the beaver didn't seem perturbed that an otter had
passed close to it, but I can't be certain that it did anything
to persuade the otter to turn around and go back down the pond.
Last year I longed for a beaver to come back down to this pond,
hoping one would eventually work on the dam. This beaver was far
from the dam and was obviously eating wet grass, but if the
beavers want to stay in the Upper Second Swamp Pond, it would be
much easier to repair that dam by repairing the dam below and
backing water up to the Upper Second Swamp Pond dam. In case
there was another otter, I went up to look at the Lost Swamp
Pond. Now the beavers were acting more like they did the other
day. I saw two nearby exploring the west end of the pond that had
just lost its ice. They were far apart. I saw another beaver
swimming in the middle of the pond, and thought I saw one back in
the dead grasses above the north shore. To get home I went past
the Second Swamp Pond dam, to check for an otter there. All was
quiet. I went home via that convenient valley that is one of the
few that runs north-south through the ridges. I found another
deer kill there, bones quite clean and spread a part. coyotes
again, I think. It was lovely hike through spruce, pine and moss.
Leaping the creek that drains the Big Pond got one boot soaked. I
cocked an ear for frogs but didn't hear any.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">April 5 cold rain yesterday and puddles iced
over last night. Then at ten o'clock this morning the sun came
out and ice thawed, coats came off. We were at our land and I
checked the Deep Pond first still hoping for a beaver to come and
repair the dam. No such luck. The water running out of the gap is
wearing down a channel. The pond is low and seemingly lifeless. I
also keep checking the third pond, where a beaver can find things
to eat. Three years ago a beaver denned in the Deep Pond and
frequently climbed up to the Third Pond. Mourning cloaks are
flitting around now, and Leslie saw an orange butterfly. The
phoebes have returned and while we were eating lunch in the cabin
one landed on a nearby branch that provided a view of last year's
nest above the cabin door. I spent of the morning working on the
logs at the Teepee Pond. The beavers seem to have lost interest
in that pile. I've only seen one log floating in the pond that
they got from me. I can tell because both ends have been sawed,
not gnawed. The beavers have been busy making scent mounds. There
are two near my wood pile</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrF2YxdP9Qs23uKVWDBek8JcyX0twaJiekwUK0IOr-x_4XnF1MjE0zd7fnIUulfDwLSW1IIxuYTqyKtJfV35MSGbqASBof7uynE7T-e9ILvdTe-i0LkfbJOFQJvjbpBTQB7eo3HI8FPw/s1600/bvsm5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrF2YxdP9Qs23uKVWDBek8JcyX0twaJiekwUK0IOr-x_4XnF1MjE0zd7fnIUulfDwLSW1IIxuYTqyKtJfV35MSGbqASBof7uynE7T-e9ILvdTe-i0LkfbJOFQJvjbpBTQB7eo3HI8FPw/s1600/bvsm5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and three on the bank just south of the dam.
There were contrasting types next to each other, one mostly dead
blackened leaves and the other grasses.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk14zXcrsYZMvEtEd0pC-eWhkzbVnMfI0FF1998FS-3gHEIwUVep8-siyeG8g7mCyjXZ6rDwNJa7f8v8slB_OL7c1gbNf0yaCCwLQk2bhFj9BZjL4icjSEA4f_abhvPPgP8YRaWS5-UH4/s1600/bvsm5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk14zXcrsYZMvEtEd0pC-eWhkzbVnMfI0FF1998FS-3gHEIwUVep8-siyeG8g7mCyjXZ6rDwNJa7f8v8slB_OL7c1gbNf0yaCCwLQk2bhFj9BZjL4icjSEA4f_abhvPPgP8YRaWS5-UH4/s1600/bvsm5a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">They don't seem interested in marking upstream.
They have also been into the small pond at the head of the valley
-- it's quite muddy, and the short path from the Teepee pond to
it is wet and muddy. Last year the beavers dug out a carpet of
sphagnum moss near here, so carefully that I figure they were
after the moss. This year, just off the path, an area about the
size of a throw rug has been worked over making it muddy with
clods of dirt pushed up seemingly at random.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBVweGUyEl07fruO-Dfa6PtmJqawyILizBkgyLXqb4869Mr7k9Puwc6CfVBI_xYsVLkHcJhTY9maBzkVuh5EsjNZkMHM-mZuuv7ZAS8d3pV2VYykBq5ecjZNUbjnjYjSOH0x6h0PjorM/s1600/bvmud5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBVweGUyEl07fruO-Dfa6PtmJqawyILizBkgyLXqb4869Mr7k9Puwc6CfVBI_xYsVLkHcJhTY9maBzkVuh5EsjNZkMHM-mZuuv7ZAS8d3pV2VYykBq5ecjZNUbjnjYjSOH0x6h0PjorM/s1600/bvmud5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Difficult to say what the beavers are after.
It's possible they aren't doing it, because I saw at least three
places where deer had dug down to get at elecampane roots,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlha_-LUj7B5iSq3_AK_7DFzTbYAoUOktGYCG9wk_Ums4tWs3r-y5LABs6s19AAtcSVHVK1WfKqHzsX15aeoBWPUYZMfZ-9v1rNYRIEj-P5jd4REAAQLM0e1XQLuxRPL-cTS5pPunU6Q/s1600/deerele5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlha_-LUj7B5iSq3_AK_7DFzTbYAoUOktGYCG9wk_Ums4tWs3r-y5LABs6s19AAtcSVHVK1WfKqHzsX15aeoBWPUYZMfZ-9v1rNYRIEj-P5jd4REAAQLM0e1XQLuxRPL-cTS5pPunU6Q/s1600/deerele5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">but that activity is all on the other side of
the First Pond. Not that the beavers are neglecting their tree
cutting. They cut an ironwood a few feet from their mudding.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8TFFiA4ne6UMLjJKnW_ttCqKnhOIztfsasM0ISzXPB9aMSHpdYXsIBoexo9L_2VBk-tDGohVvR7AF0RkIb-FYW6PbmS8RJhEt1y_k7mHhBVOSzAIaxicG1kccrYdKRnkNb7kKBfoEA0/s1600/tpironwood5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8TFFiA4ne6UMLjJKnW_ttCqKnhOIztfsasM0ISzXPB9aMSHpdYXsIBoexo9L_2VBk-tDGohVvR7AF0RkIb-FYW6PbmS8RJhEt1y_k7mHhBVOSzAIaxicG1kccrYdKRnkNb7kKBfoEA0/s1600/tpironwood5.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I didn't expect to see beavers in the late
morning and early afternoon, but I am surprised that I haven't
seen a muskrat yet.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">April 6 up to 60 today, mostly sunny, but a
northeast wind kept it from getting hot. I had Ottoleo take me
over to the Narrows in the motor boat around three o'clock and I
took a leisurely hike and got back home at 7:30. Of course, all
the ice is gone from the river and bays, though we passed one
chunk of floating ice. There were a half dozen buffleheads
fishing in the Narrows. As I got off on the rock there, two wood
ducks left the big willow tree nearby, probably looking for a
hole to nest in. I scowled at the usual otter latrines and saw no
fresh scats. I took the trail along the shore and saw beaver
gnawing on one big willow along the shore that I thought might be
fresh.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJRIbHuA4nn6aOQ-lwHgaQYN08w0-H13KHbXQ7rrPvAuvyBwiBALHy0tXBf8Aq4q2J9QsKUh2yuYHiPLLOony3DaYwXcy59JXtvmRCl0mFnT1m-5u5o5y810ae9bMvTHLHwDHIRAMq0o/s1600/bvwillow6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJRIbHuA4nn6aOQ-lwHgaQYN08w0-H13KHbXQ7rrPvAuvyBwiBALHy0tXBf8Aq4q2J9QsKUh2yuYHiPLLOony3DaYwXcy59JXtvmRCl0mFnT1m-5u5o5y810ae9bMvTHLHwDHIRAMq0o/s1600/bvwillow6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I also saw some fearsome looking coyote poop
just off the trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsiOe537de9BZnw_y5yzn5t34o2TNAVB6gFeFn6k7Wj17YCBVI_SZcUFhIwk4p17u-9Ngk8hK64795HXPWdhI2zdb6hLqyG8cWav0kMrx3P3SAQNEewo-DxDmMXbGbw24qCmrz3D2p9Y/s1600/coypoop6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsiOe537de9BZnw_y5yzn5t34o2TNAVB6gFeFn6k7Wj17YCBVI_SZcUFhIwk4p17u-9Ngk8hK64795HXPWdhI2zdb6hLqyG8cWav0kMrx3P3SAQNEewo-DxDmMXbGbw24qCmrz3D2p9Y/s1600/coypoop6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There were no fresh scats at the high latrine
at the entrance of the bay. At the docking rock I did find some
new scats in the grass. Then I headed up to Audubon Pond and saw
some familiar spring scenes. Below the embankment three deer were
grazing in the grass. Two moved into the woods, but one, the
biggest, kept its ground as I got closer even continuing to
graze.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tWoj-cqHNj3b8BrRC5N-ak-Jv2ZBHSnDuFmZmIzw0v5NquA0dfs5A9aAlqudkbY53_8JxfQI3La9xSBsZl5rjbmghiqmlIZHMbPFpbBcVRIuwP4fKbbOnz8ROC4D1bWgtxh2ZGqg9l4/s1600/deer6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tWoj-cqHNj3b8BrRC5N-ak-Jv2ZBHSnDuFmZmIzw0v5NquA0dfs5A9aAlqudkbY53_8JxfQI3La9xSBsZl5rjbmghiqmlIZHMbPFpbBcVRIuwP4fKbbOnz8ROC4D1bWgtxh2ZGqg9l4/s1600/deer6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then it raised its white flag</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCavxdpWGK6xccawzt5rV4K2jOl2apH1QdM_BmaBDLLoUSAfPw10Gve1cDlngDjyP4ivaos5jlkPSXLNbIPx_pao9wTScWyZC7Js68EwrLiek5U1VFxDLbuly7eIwkamCLjFQBCfpNd4/s1600/deer6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCavxdpWGK6xccawzt5rV4K2jOl2apH1QdM_BmaBDLLoUSAfPw10Gve1cDlngDjyP4ivaos5jlkPSXLNbIPx_pao9wTScWyZC7Js68EwrLiek5U1VFxDLbuly7eIwkamCLjFQBCfpNd4/s1600/deer6a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and fled, the other two deer still in the
nearby woods joining the flight. On the long causeway I saw two
geese, who displayed the same aplomb as they did in other years,
moving slowly off into the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjparVCEm3ZnAMkKeqyC6sR9TZB5Gk1sHJ-4ZvFSDG7KnkI4sE0MYVKbYvps-FCKIBjP_ugCy1-nDRjso9gQt2ut4wQbhGUcoekK0t2QdR6KVQc5f1UG62ib9tlPEeB0eFti2W66ZaWC-4/s1600/apgeese6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjparVCEm3ZnAMkKeqyC6sR9TZB5Gk1sHJ-4ZvFSDG7KnkI4sE0MYVKbYvps-FCKIBjP_ugCy1-nDRjso9gQt2ut4wQbhGUcoekK0t2QdR6KVQc5f1UG62ib9tlPEeB0eFti2W66ZaWC-4/s1600/apgeese6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">At the drain of this 40 year old man made pond, a beaver had pushed some mud up
in a vain attempt to slow the water from running out of the pipe.
There were some scent mounds on the causeway. And on the slope
behind the lodge, another ash was down and a bit trimmed </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZXlDn1i8VjRtB4HvneI8z_M0QHT095hBTJFQQ6C8FzbmRM0nhqIHDX3TqG1Q4dkus2ViEffSmRabySqh9Ny3wFRnN1GbNEH2wS_dst4CUBx87AeD2pPMXqeX9bPgCt-NMrJ64DUKVv4/s1600/apwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZXlDn1i8VjRtB4HvneI8z_M0QHT095hBTJFQQ6C8FzbmRM0nhqIHDX3TqG1Q4dkus2ViEffSmRabySqh9Ny3wFRnN1GbNEH2wS_dst4CUBx87AeD2pPMXqeX9bPgCt-NMrJ64DUKVv4/s1600/apwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">but not stripped like one in front of it cut in the fall. Then
floating next to the bank lodge in front of the bench I saw a
freshly stripped log.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-J7YVcRAAv_B43R3xtFUE2lLq1ByFy-CxiHcbIsq6BAzU4R1KH4VF9eGl3yGU_4YueFDY34VUs4dxCWP1aENAvYwkM7n7u0OfweJEcI1JBC4iPPnTpNFeMM4S_bYLvtySGLano0-6Cs/s1600/apwk6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-J7YVcRAAv_B43R3xtFUE2lLq1ByFy-CxiHcbIsq6BAzU4R1KH4VF9eGl3yGU_4YueFDY34VUs4dxCWP1aENAvYwkM7n7u0OfweJEcI1JBC4iPPnTpNFeMM4S_bYLvtySGLano0-6Cs/s1600/apwk6a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So the beavers are still here. There is a still
a large mass of rotting ice in the pond, and two seagulls flew
down to prospect on it. Then they flew off quickly. I expected a
fight but they flew high up. Then two large birds flew over me.
At first I thought they were crows after the seagulls, but I saw
they were quite large. When they perched on a high tree on the
other side of the pond, one of seagulls dived at them. The big
birds flew off and I saw enough brown and flashes of white to
convince me that they weren't vultures and were probably eagles.
They flew together in pleasant fashion, keeping low and
disappearing over the trees. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFg_o91peZxU3bxou5Gl8HSTCGorj1k4xZWbAUFUp5NKFV44YigYkPWh_Knnq-X7RBqN85d0pWKqf_ZBkPjfDqsFC7Bfzj_5E_M6IHw2Jx_HhfYzyauT3TPCKhDOSmcLFcORCuD0g7kU/s1600/eagles6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFg_o91peZxU3bxou5Gl8HSTCGorj1k4xZWbAUFUp5NKFV44YigYkPWh_Knnq-X7RBqN85d0pWKqf_ZBkPjfDqsFC7Bfzj_5E_M6IHw2Jx_HhfYzyauT3TPCKhDOSmcLFcORCuD0g7kU/s1600/eagles6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As I approached the dry Short-cut Trail Pond, I
heard a scattering of peepers. When I got up to Meander Pond, I
heard the start of a chorus of peepers. Before sitting to enjoy
that I checked the dam of the pond and was pleased to find it
repaired and the pond water level quite high.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3DIwizVBb6hsnhErbYxFKQAmmXwH5Pcmv7V4rozRA-jAATWT4JdOtOautE0UVV5Ewc46zQgLdmtzCYwqlt_NdTL_tCiZONZrFNUoCXx7vOTj0bAn-7OHKe3yKRPcHPWZuwXN2BKQ6Qs/s1600/mpdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3DIwizVBb6hsnhErbYxFKQAmmXwH5Pcmv7V4rozRA-jAATWT4JdOtOautE0UVV5Ewc46zQgLdmtzCYwqlt_NdTL_tCiZONZrFNUoCXx7vOTj0bAn-7OHKe3yKRPcHPWZuwXN2BKQ6Qs/s1600/mpdam6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I sat on a recently cut white oak not far from
the lodge hoping to see a beaver as I enjoyed the chorus of
frogs, at least a dozen peepers often trilling in unison with
their sound reverberating off the huge granite cliff to the north
of the pond. The log I was
sitting on attracted several flies. Then I saw a small thing
swimming around the lodge that dove like a muskrat with a back
kick. It never stayed up long enough to get a video. Then a good
bit of blackness hurried from one clump of grass to another right
in front of me - a huge shrew? I put off trying to find the
current meals of these beavers for another day, and headed south
aiming to check the New Pond knoll for otter scats and then head
up to the East Trail Pond. In the south end of Meander Pond I saw
two geese, one curled up and the other looking at me.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2MhyXnV-z7mqqBVYzrN5_MI0-B-L3PpAzvOLm8XwNUPgX73VSfTEXQCv2jRPgBHpCJxJNG_g8yJb09UtJNvFwLNMA5FAtUj9ajJg_ugrszPmsziDm42iIht8Gh6JvwgKuI6ppf6I0Jw/s1600/mpgeese6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg2MhyXnV-z7mqqBVYzrN5_MI0-B-L3PpAzvOLm8XwNUPgX73VSfTEXQCv2jRPgBHpCJxJNG_g8yJb09UtJNvFwLNMA5FAtUj9ajJg_ugrszPmsziDm42iIht8Gh6JvwgKuI6ppf6I0Jw/s1600/mpgeese6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Neither budged as I walked by. It was fun
walking on the still frozen ground under the trees and sinking
down when the icy dirt collapsed. I imagined I was in muskeg, if
only for a few yards. As I approached the end of South Bay I saw
the tips of a heron's wings lift up. I got the camera out and
snapped away as the heron flew off when I got closer.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zVoh7TCK88WquKUiy_PE2FwCXO1e4fDRe9XC_c4oCmDzvPBFBCndNU-ckUyWLCBPDEMKCm2Nq0t_OKW1b6bEKXJxV2nEFmwUDHFY76sxnyjGbFlADVWlnqwPGgRLjxzHVhfdcxCn4NM/s1600/heron6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zVoh7TCK88WquKUiy_PE2FwCXO1e4fDRe9XC_c4oCmDzvPBFBCndNU-ckUyWLCBPDEMKCm2Nq0t_OKW1b6bEKXJxV2nEFmwUDHFY76sxnyjGbFlADVWlnqwPGgRLjxzHVhfdcxCn4NM/s1600/heron6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Then heading up the knoll, I scared two wood
ducks out of the raging creek</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTRkaPXKoywwIiJ-oRoHb9nDfyj8Phsm5SwgCABf_FU7dvH0QI1wKAdrVRoot9laUnEUyE9xJWvAMHf6Ya7dyWjhhom0bsd9CoT1Y_AsgZ8-Iea8cN9Fb_0Lx0WUj_L8A9HVQ8P9yUTc/s1600/wducks6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTRkaPXKoywwIiJ-oRoHb9nDfyj8Phsm5SwgCABf_FU7dvH0QI1wKAdrVRoot9laUnEUyE9xJWvAMHf6Ya7dyWjhhom0bsd9CoT1Y_AsgZ8-Iea8cN9Fb_0Lx0WUj_L8A9HVQ8P9yUTc/s1600/wducks6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and then two more out of the New Pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1Izd78-6PSXIs1Os1DnrGwrGLWGQpwalNFZ24YVOvxWNTx_7psnSU7a7Z_9zwe78S3M6gkpQAazy4sd4O7qZz9cSN9o_9LQ1uERfeWx0CiewFPC4kE1B7dEciCInqziMeCcQ6H199UM/s1600/wduck6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1Izd78-6PSXIs1Os1DnrGwrGLWGQpwalNFZ24YVOvxWNTx_7psnSU7a7Z_9zwe78S3M6gkpQAazy4sd4O7qZz9cSN9o_9LQ1uERfeWx0CiewFPC4kE1B7dEciCInqziMeCcQ6H199UM/s1600/wduck6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I didn't see any fresh scats, and so went back
to the East Trail. Going up the ridge the line made by the beech
branches still sporting dead leaves looked like an array of
spring flowers.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajglI6VAxxyaFwSzMXItptce6Tms3fKWyGqnqiV7iP1A877c239OPxrdwI2myaVBhqUn2aOVAUxxWMZkqYcXNH0FMW2LpAfzE98dBo8r4BncwGZt1N5Ke3QMP2p1g9ogD3w9GUIw1P8k/s1600/beeches6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajglI6VAxxyaFwSzMXItptce6Tms3fKWyGqnqiV7iP1A877c239OPxrdwI2myaVBhqUn2aOVAUxxWMZkqYcXNH0FMW2LpAfzE98dBo8r4BncwGZt1N5Ke3QMP2p1g9ogD3w9GUIw1P8k/s1600/beeches6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Further along two small trees, in a forest of
the largest trees on the island, that had been completely
stripped by porcupines had an aura of being strange white
blossoms,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbh3SnKPaB46uSLHCQ36sHpCoj_ukrSbDpSkujoy7gVc08s4QlPFnZ-ClhHzJsXXE4qamzthbhd7u6tubFtpbzjXjfTOccP7omKeUD3DV7P7NsP3X9-Kuel2vcGnMew-ePafta2z_tjk/s1600/ppwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbh3SnKPaB46uSLHCQ36sHpCoj_ukrSbDpSkujoy7gVc08s4QlPFnZ-ClhHzJsXXE4qamzthbhd7u6tubFtpbzjXjfTOccP7omKeUD3DV7P7NsP3X9-Kuel2vcGnMew-ePafta2z_tjk/s1600/ppwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">a sign of spring when death seems lively.
Coming over the rock ridge to the East Trail Pond was quite a
shock. The pond was quite empty, black with dead leaves and muck
save where there was still some snow and where the downed tree
trunks still had some pallor.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ULwNZIgctpdmY0obtEu-xzNAwB4ps6wvb9oGdIdDoNxBOhF5D6tV4IxdwKe5955z9fTBZsm4XTFioo3zZhnkT0CAwhj_0VhUcDeDeCK3exGFVcswGloebzSDb5ftUEF_heTYfi53eKI/s1600/et6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ULwNZIgctpdmY0obtEu-xzNAwB4ps6wvb9oGdIdDoNxBOhF5D6tV4IxdwKe5955z9fTBZsm4XTFioo3zZhnkT0CAwhj_0VhUcDeDeCK3exGFVcswGloebzSDb5ftUEF_heTYfi53eKI/s1600/et6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There were pools of water along the stream and
behind the dam. </span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfheht9tU2N3qviA8IPa9izZY0eLDb5UWjg6HK-7YC2DaAQ4ZT8BOPampHYyFMIFV1NLYz94fz35RXvq_XEjpMKB9a5ECAXIf9bUZYexedgtap88IPDlOHte8_FEaAgkW7c5zcycT-Y44/s1600/et6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfheht9tU2N3qviA8IPa9izZY0eLDb5UWjg6HK-7YC2DaAQ4ZT8BOPampHYyFMIFV1NLYz94fz35RXvq_XEjpMKB9a5ECAXIf9bUZYexedgtap88IPDlOHte8_FEaAgkW7c5zcycT-Y44/s1600/et6a.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The lodge appeared to be high and dry. However,
despite all the signs of depletion, a heron flew off and robins
seemed eager to get around to all the dank opportunity around
them. Wood ducks were in the pool behind the dam. I dutifully
checked the latrines for fresh scat. Then crossed the dam where I
noticed how deep the hole through the dam had become. This was
most likely caused by the rush of water during the last big rain,
but its possible that the otter that spent so much time there
continued to dig in an effort to keep the water flowing and
delivering things to eat as it survived under the ice gallery
along the dam -- which still partially remains in all its
splendor. If we have a bit of a drought I might be able to get
down into and see if I can see what happened. After taking more
photos of the low pond,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ11ndTlQyAMbsd1nXQ8UVmWhVZTbi2CZIfnvIcmsAlYKVyRnq3cWsDZMrprfS8RRDK5Nhm_93GIExzyLxE8XssFLh9r-Rvn5Vzf-bJmki-CyrtPOFkfKIBxXiBQGdzgOUaV2pFtEaHE/s1600/et6b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZ11ndTlQyAMbsd1nXQ8UVmWhVZTbi2CZIfnvIcmsAlYKVyRnq3cWsDZMrprfS8RRDK5Nhm_93GIExzyLxE8XssFLh9r-Rvn5Vzf-bJmki-CyrtPOFkfKIBxXiBQGdzgOUaV2pFtEaHE/s1600/et6b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I headed up the ridge, no scats at that
latrine, and then went to the knoll overlooking the Second Swamp
Pond lodge. I was in for another shock. The pond was filling up,
already attaining three-fourths of its former glory.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7TYVSjidkxZ9TDmauOt36tcdfAv_gjp8_z-JXkcWnsSBt2IiWG7h1Q87wVJ8sP-xaZbkktfqx7CGieimjgZmlAYOwE-WSPupAhdpaZFKfobax39PcIRE8dlWObJZ7uGi4rOzNagJlAY/s1600/sp6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7TYVSjidkxZ9TDmauOt36tcdfAv_gjp8_z-JXkcWnsSBt2IiWG7h1Q87wVJ8sP-xaZbkktfqx7CGieimjgZmlAYOwE-WSPupAhdpaZFKfobax39PcIRE8dlWObJZ7uGi4rOzNagJlAY/s1600/sp6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I sat down above the lodge to admire the
expanse, though I only had two geese to watch. Then two more
geese flew in and their was a brief fight between the pairs. Then
the pond's recreator swam below me, a beaver. It swam over toward
me and perhaps my presence kept it from going on to the dam.
Instead it dove out in the now flooded marsh in the middle of the
pond</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcOiKh5zJsPJDKW67in2yDctTJvyEG-xqhU43nqlKHrUwVUnXtCIlcZO-ZC0xsYN-MJTyFFn_hMZLlu62XIQBQ8hf7RCsLYPDXnbX3jw940WbsJOGfK__B9hxLnpxzvHOATc3krXgGqM/s1600/spbv6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPcOiKh5zJsPJDKW67in2yDctTJvyEG-xqhU43nqlKHrUwVUnXtCIlcZO-ZC0xsYN-MJTyFFn_hMZLlu62XIQBQ8hf7RCsLYPDXnbX3jw940WbsJOGfK__B9hxLnpxzvHOATc3krXgGqM/s1600/spbv6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and foraged over to the other side where it
found a spot to get mostly out of the water and munch. Looking
out in the middle of the pond, I saw a deer carcass floating
there, still bloody. I've never seen that before. I crossed the
dam and saw how tentative the repairs were,</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9KXNhZCKeFenxhEgDgnJ4J6gK0oHypnTr8Q41Af2G0JczStD1wWpXzUVvDHoI_LUhOeeolHhCLHDv8eT-ibRZ3uonys4Xb1i-mlPFKtfE5Sdg8QDzXL6Xv8nRhyphenhyphensGzvD0eRV4S5q0K90/s1600/spdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9KXNhZCKeFenxhEgDgnJ4J6gK0oHypnTr8Q41Af2G0JczStD1wWpXzUVvDHoI_LUhOeeolHhCLHDv8eT-ibRZ3uonys4Xb1i-mlPFKtfE5Sdg8QDzXL6Xv8nRhyphenhyphensGzvD0eRV4S5q0K90/s1600/spdam6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">and there was still a bit of a leak. This
beaver, I assume, wintered in the Upper Second Swamp Pond, which
for the last month has been almost dry under the ice. The beaver
came back down to its old home pond to repair its dam so that the
water will back up below the Upper Second Swamp Pond dam, making
it easier to repair that. Of course, the relatively easy repairs
it made resulted in a glorious sheet of water, much more than a
repair of the upper dam would have afforded. I found fresh otter
scat in the grass below the dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCS-ylITUiuxCl2wiM2EyKsPNzSUgN33nTl9a4Qn88c_g8n4R5dGwq1cjZDVKawNEnFTWMhRrqLu3whlMI5osAVnXHAchaR-taNrYY3o_mmz4NvecXqE5sP_vqqBvmL2BH2ZsJ8xPwLk/s1600/spscat6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCS-ylITUiuxCl2wiM2EyKsPNzSUgN33nTl9a4Qn88c_g8n4R5dGwq1cjZDVKawNEnFTWMhRrqLu3whlMI5osAVnXHAchaR-taNrYY3o_mmz4NvecXqE5sP_vqqBvmL2BH2ZsJ8xPwLk/s1600/spscat6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In the short term this growth in the pond
doesn't make it easier for the otter to find fish. Hopefully, it
won't get the great notion of breaching the dam. I didn't go out
on the Upper Second Swamp Pond dam but from afar I didn't see any
evidence of repair. I went up to the Lost Swamp Pond which was
quiet, so I checked the otter trail back over the Second Swamp
Pond for new scats. The trail looked so unused, the scats in it
looked so old, that I began to doubt the scat I saw on a wet
evening a few nights ago, which convinced me that an otter was
around, was really fresh. Even though it was after 6 pm there
were no beavers about, so I decided to lay low in the rocks
beside the dam and hope that a beaver came out for its evening
scent marking right in front of me. I resolved to wait at least
twenty minutes then I saw something on the lodge near the dam
that disturbed me: a a five foot long, five inch in diameter,
beaver log sticking straight up in the air from the top of the
lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06DNbhccmjr0YYCz1aAvhAMtZJ3CEn8wmHpDkYc6H5mIhA18UdIPTV94DitvOl0bf03sh4bDjuTdb4qmID9gWMlRDCWNAVk3IcrJb1rTGUtnVPGSlNj6IeCT5LMFNUShLamgUlCUNjww/s1600/lodgelog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06DNbhccmjr0YYCz1aAvhAMtZJ3CEn8wmHpDkYc6H5mIhA18UdIPTV94DitvOl0bf03sh4bDjuTdb4qmID9gWMlRDCWNAVk3IcrJb1rTGUtnVPGSlNj6IeCT5LMFNUShLamgUlCUNjww/s1600/lodgelog6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I immediately suspected a human vandal. Someone
had made a hole in this dam back in the fall. I crossed the dam,
looking for footprints and found none. Nor were there footprints
on the lodge. As I stood there I heard a beaver swim out from the
lodge into the pond, and around the lodge I could see several
freshly stripped sticks in the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7PP7ngEMTbUV7_I255n_ipMpcHJdmMAQALvKuNyRZErWZg-0QGeuL65uzzu83unMSxfsINR3ls01XBV8jfOz4gA8Ow8_wc5tkFwM1e_99s9POOW07FjrxcEq_x0g-WvkuzqY6Nr8xhA/s1600/lsbvwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7PP7ngEMTbUV7_I255n_ipMpcHJdmMAQALvKuNyRZErWZg-0QGeuL65uzzu83unMSxfsINR3ls01XBV8jfOz4gA8Ow8_wc5tkFwM1e_99s9POOW07FjrxcEq_x0g-WvkuzqY6Nr8xhA/s1600/lsbvwk6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">When I hopped over onto the lodge, another
beaver swam out. I pulled the log out and saw that it went into a
hole about a foot deep. I put the log back in. I suppose it would
be possible for a beaver to push the log up so that it would go
into the hole. I have seen beavers fill holes in this lodge with
sticks, smaller than this log, when otters were around. I know
otters like to wiggle dig into the tops of lodges looking for a
place to den. Of course, coyotes and foxes dig into them too, but
I have never been on top of the lodge so I don't know if a hole
was there. Quite a quandary. Meanwhile there were two angry
beavers out in the pond, tail slapping and swerving. So I hurried
away, and went to the Big Pond. There too, I had a pleasant
surprise, this pond is also refilling.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaQkAFTvlX5GxjJky1MJxHbYkZOrZ5mh7cFTRssQCOysALNQ_tx0Ogbg8WdAtpridYqD-C_L_vZOCnJBug4enK_kxvv2Yk4QMAruur5-7odJyJg9bEuoxRqWal5IZwB2OPJOOGZIn8tQ/s1600/bp6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaQkAFTvlX5GxjJky1MJxHbYkZOrZ5mh7cFTRssQCOysALNQ_tx0Ogbg8WdAtpridYqD-C_L_vZOCnJBug4enK_kxvv2Yk4QMAruur5-7odJyJg9bEuoxRqWal5IZwB2OPJOOGZIn8tQ/s1600/bp6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This surprised me because the gap in the dam
was five feet wide and the drop down to the next pond was three
or four feet. There was no way to flood water back to this gap.
However, using a few sticks, cattail stalks, grass and mud, the
beavers had managed to make a dam almost a foot high that was
holding back water.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08XRotougEjJZDf3Y9eOWgrq80oEtsnkJP07mgTYareL_uggbqlpzKt2yhsEq1BLdXE2osyPfqBGAtDDXjG11LsUhwLZyQHwm_EnWloyMxKjdzPKqVhiLqkKl8xzEs7_YxaauxnDnADM/s1600/bpdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08XRotougEjJZDf3Y9eOWgrq80oEtsnkJP07mgTYareL_uggbqlpzKt2yhsEq1BLdXE2osyPfqBGAtDDXjG11LsUhwLZyQHwm_EnWloyMxKjdzPKqVhiLqkKl8xzEs7_YxaauxnDnADM/s1600/bpdam6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps the pond drained out enough so that the
water stopped flowing over this gap and the beavers built up
their repair. There is still water leaking from the dam
elsewhere. Of course, I sat at my perch at the south side of the
dam and hoped a beaver would come out to at least inspect the dam
if not work on it. But none came and it got dark, so I headed
home. I had to pause along a beaver path near the pond because
the light made it easy to see the winter's harvest.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG8LCLYSrMr9X1Nl74xaX9gpUDhDQv9KqwqjznMJMxJpBEeU3Si-cGGWrkXsJSeW7eqT6MXSpSNL45FrgiW55OI_5oss3ChUKW2kGH9Znt0VEGNtGnDtFYIDC_qAcgts_aq1f0nJ6jxE/s1600/bpwk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJG8LCLYSrMr9X1Nl74xaX9gpUDhDQv9KqwqjznMJMxJpBEeU3Si-cGGWrkXsJSeW7eqT6MXSpSNL45FrgiW55OI_5oss3ChUKW2kGH9Znt0VEGNtGnDtFYIDC_qAcgts_aq1f0nJ6jxE/s640/bpwk6.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And then up on the ridge above the golf course,
I bumped into a porcupine climbing a pine tree.</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjajG45MLf4gUBzXKJxzqTcGgnr7_faf17T1r7sPR9tEiEOlJlThgF2HkOS9L6Kw1KSJVygb9umcNNqvoEB50Tfb7Bkf-o3LgjbwY9I16hOh2QK4imZaWRpd-VPa9uIf9ZJWR2xST_t1zY/s1600/pp6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjajG45MLf4gUBzXKJxzqTcGgnr7_faf17T1r7sPR9tEiEOlJlThgF2HkOS9L6Kw1KSJVygb9umcNNqvoEB50Tfb7Bkf-o3LgjbwY9I16hOh2QK4imZaWRpd-VPa9uIf9ZJWR2xST_t1zY/s1600/pp6.jpg" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Not a bad day, three dam repairs, even if I
didn't see the otter or sure signs of it being in the ponds
today. </span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-22089978682642595392014-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:002014-02-21T07:10:21.531-08:00June 25 to 30, 2003<span style="font-size: medium;">June 25 went fishing this morning and caught
two perch worth keeping. The larger, about ten inches, had hollow
stalks of some grass in its belly. I noticed a good number of
goslings being escorted in the river. This evening I went to
check on the beavers, and otter scats. There were no fresh scats
on the South Bay trail and only one fresh scat at the East Trail
Pond, few yards up the ridge trail.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUmxbCrxNEeeoyPYOsR970eJm42aFlPa55tOtiHuOlf09cPP1AtRksuwVq9K9F-oesXvM-ZnbCHguHEvehWQbv6KIvetPwEooqXioDd1Dx7ZmUgor-E0Hztad2QN6lSUGHVaDXeL7oGg/s1600/scat25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUmxbCrxNEeeoyPYOsR970eJm42aFlPa55tOtiHuOlf09cPP1AtRksuwVq9K9F-oesXvM-ZnbCHguHEvehWQbv6KIvetPwEooqXioDd1Dx7ZmUgor-E0Hztad2QN6lSUGHVaDXeL7oGg/s400/scat25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Is it possible only one otter in the group of
four marks? or is this the scat of a resident otter who has more
or less been there all spring? Now to the beavers: I briefly went
up to the end of the Thicket Pond. I could get a good view of one
of the canals coming off that pond, but it was about 80 degrees,
humid and windless near that wooded area, so I didn't stay. But I
was pointed in the direction of the rocks overlooking the old
lodge in the upper East Trail Pond, so I went there. I eased down
because last time I scared a beaver right below the rock before I
saw it. No beaver this time but I still sat and within a few
minutes a beaver splashed from the middle of the ferns and shrubs
in the pond.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDFRzItIXBRp6Jb7Uht3bjTBg-DEP-RMwnIwkBz7cRMmqF82vdCbTj2up1zeAxORGI08MZKhuJ63udh3wVP3ubR41H2PE-xk3_0RdGPf3EkJDFLwxIKNlXsP0Rhi2eRYObZaWgScoD3E/s1600/upperet25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDFRzItIXBRp6Jb7Uht3bjTBg-DEP-RMwnIwkBz7cRMmqF82vdCbTj2up1zeAxORGI08MZKhuJ63udh3wVP3ubR41H2PE-xk3_0RdGPf3EkJDFLwxIKNlXsP0Rhi2eRYObZaWgScoD3E/s400/upperet25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I thought that would put a damper on my beaver
watching, and didn't even strain to see the beaver swim to the
lower end of the pond because the vegetation was so thick. Then I
heard subtler splashes getting closer and figured a muskrat must
be out. The critter came to the lodge below me and dove into it
before I could see what it was. Then I was treated to beaver hums
from the lodge. Not until then did I notice that the lodge had
been rebuilt with old logs, and some freshly nipped shrubbery was
on top of it.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpZmRQ23HXkOc5hhU_h_TZ8es5ap3zAiUGvWOfKueIq33utaVsRIm3_JnhJEI9jHHQapPaQkbT59io7aw5xMdQJgO_cXY5rNcn5Vq4SF46F_Bu5kUG1XcKid_whTqeB-y0FF5zkAHxK8/s1600/upetlodge25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpZmRQ23HXkOc5hhU_h_TZ8es5ap3zAiUGvWOfKueIq33utaVsRIm3_JnhJEI9jHHQapPaQkbT59io7aw5xMdQJgO_cXY5rNcn5Vq4SF46F_Bu5kUG1XcKid_whTqeB-y0FF5zkAHxK8/s400/upetlodge25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers had moved back in as they had in
previous springs. When I learn a new wrinkle in the story of a
colony, I am content to move on, almost want to, as if I felt it
was somehow wrong to let the beavers reveal too much in one
night. When I slid down the knoll above the Second Swamp Pond
lodge, I heard something splash in the water but soon decided it
must have been a turtle or muskrat. At first all was quiet in the
pond, save for the two redwing blackbirds in an endless dogfight.
Noting the lack of gnawed sticks on or near the lodge, I began
thinking the lodge had been abandoned for a new development up
pond. Then a small beaver materialized, swimming toward the
lodge,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbP056QxaMfmKPqae8IXp1Xmh2o22uTtC4CJmpfyQD8BHLK-5KjEAtaAxHImI3CQhm6E7LXoWu_65P90eeYa-aaRAwkvDPmUCjsn01lD7r3TqSZ-0rNlGHyXCzBGJIPZW1ifuYlG7d8lM/s1600/bv25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbP056QxaMfmKPqae8IXp1Xmh2o22uTtC4CJmpfyQD8BHLK-5KjEAtaAxHImI3CQhm6E7LXoWu_65P90eeYa-aaRAwkvDPmUCjsn01lD7r3TqSZ-0rNlGHyXCzBGJIPZW1ifuYlG7d8lM/s400/bv25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and dove directly into it without paying any
attention to me. Then I noticed a beaver diving into the shallows
on the other side of the pond, demonstrating why there were no
gnawed sticks about: the beavers are feasting or roots and
grasses, and, with nose and tail up, looking happy about it. Then
I was distracted from beavers by a doe walking down to the pond
followed by her fawn. The fawn came closer to be licked, then
they separated again.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3LdzSuzGQY5phIDgjfyvQpxCLjS-0R2xhUlHWcTP4tlcnUvh6g0vrYBp6i483ZpKC9daBmEqyhZcJo0VysJ6IuyavtqtSIQTnS4N4vI2Ah7Acqvu48yLdw8MHsXaz4S-QUHt0GYCZCs/s1600/doefawn25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3LdzSuzGQY5phIDgjfyvQpxCLjS-0R2xhUlHWcTP4tlcnUvh6g0vrYBp6i483ZpKC9daBmEqyhZcJo0VysJ6IuyavtqtSIQTnS4N4vI2Ah7Acqvu48yLdw8MHsXaz4S-QUHt0GYCZCs/s400/doefawn25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They were on the opposite shore of the pond,
their reddish fur bathed in the light of the setting sun.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBmTKj2JgjbrObNgBscxI-vJTGym4uyUSmRR37DEArempNN0Ee3jS_isEUK28uYyUK1IDqqBsOujIcTCB_jrVi4tybJp7re0PFmOBC92vzhoa4z81Xm9fIre1wJYQl7Ge_8JiSRY-9iw/s1600/sp25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBmTKj2JgjbrObNgBscxI-vJTGym4uyUSmRR37DEArempNN0Ee3jS_isEUK28uYyUK1IDqqBsOujIcTCB_jrVi4tybJp7re0PFmOBC92vzhoa4z81Xm9fIre1wJYQl7Ge_8JiSRY-9iw/s400/sp25.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I glanced down at the pond below me and
saw a beaver's back arched up out of the water, disappeared,
bobbed up, and then that back rolled in a dive and the beaver
went back to the lodge. I lingered, hoping that beaver would come
back out. No, but a muskrat shot out of the lodge so fast that I
got the impression that the muskrat entrance must be higher up
than the beaver entrance. The muskrat went off toward the grasses
closer to the dam. Meanwhile I lost track of the beaver foraging
on the other side of the pond; the deer continued their bucolic
pas de deux. I went home a good hour before sunset, content with
what I learned. Crossing the East Trail Pond dam, I found some
bittersweet nightshade.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjda6DKDGI6umx0bOdkK-Z_ZaMbZhIgZY7fzjM3hoxzNSFAiE-iFZCDLa3VilbJhO6nNpEoCdSvhZ1kiDEYBnQ1KLG0hltYaud3OcdsLnwzLQNoVOrGMJqW8uAD9s1yrd38lMOcMIBdSO8/s1600/damflower25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjda6DKDGI6umx0bOdkK-Z_ZaMbZhIgZY7fzjM3hoxzNSFAiE-iFZCDLa3VilbJhO6nNpEoCdSvhZ1kiDEYBnQ1KLG0hltYaud3OcdsLnwzLQNoVOrGMJqW8uAD9s1yrd38lMOcMIBdSO8/s400/damflower25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 28 a succession of sunny days
now, and long days. I headed across the meadow behind the golf
course expecting to trip over something, but no deer to be seen,
let alone a fawn. The elecampane are cranking out their big
leaves, but no blooms yet. It's the season for small flowers like
blue eyed grass</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwFsoOFhxdro4LMa5Ak6NfYjVrJbvDBYaRN7btEuw6hgpXi8jf6HayH3MN_a3anxmRCvAlF_mTCs4qzkM8nbOvM9EStHv0Zr6sOKDzPxqurvQITmHSv4gpQCG9II-YTghlm5sd3lejNg/s1600/blueyed28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwFsoOFhxdro4LMa5Ak6NfYjVrJbvDBYaRN7btEuw6hgpXi8jf6HayH3MN_a3anxmRCvAlF_mTCs4qzkM8nbOvM9EStHv0Zr6sOKDzPxqurvQITmHSv4gpQCG9II-YTghlm5sd3lejNg/s400/blueyed28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">as well as butter and eggs,
cinquefoil, and on the ridge above the meadow this elderberry
bush with berries</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IztwfXt50QfAJfJhBTKcws-Nx8mOYTO9UjMvLdlsxoXjBkmCeA_nDBs57Aprf8kIwpsWJ2BfCGGOZDOtnx68U87M_7X3lu3alI0iSliF7LFnMl9Ad0dfySPkWPZY_lvNEFlMch5dfzU/s1600/eberry28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6IztwfXt50QfAJfJhBTKcws-Nx8mOYTO9UjMvLdlsxoXjBkmCeA_nDBs57Aprf8kIwpsWJ2BfCGGOZDOtnx68U87M_7X3lu3alI0iSliF7LFnMl9Ad0dfySPkWPZY_lvNEFlMch5dfzU/s400/eberry28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the ridge there was not a
towhee to be heard, and no deer there either. All quiet in a
place that should be crawling -- but the days are very long.
Down in the swamps there were more birds, though not as many
redwing blackbirds as before. No geese or ducks, but I saw a long
line of the former -- that is goslings still in line and probably
in family groups, just off Goose Island. They went to the shallow
area and practiced flapping in the water -- call it running in
the water because they can't fly yet. It is easy enough to get to
my perch beside the Big Pond dam, where there was no otter scat
but an eyeful of tiny fish fry to watch, but crossing the long
dam is now a chore. The cattails are beginning to bloom, as it
were, and they are thick in the middle of everything</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPEcqz5jXpRDXxe3dZAUEqCLUafajF9Mus3Oi6G5ZDwL3T8ph5OyEhjT5W9tlAO0C2qVsMVx2pCIrF2ODTriGs_YaRaVoGr3ivYnLy7rEVEJWVQCWjkOBFw7BQQ6fwzMKS0cVASDK8q4/s1600/ctails28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPEcqz5jXpRDXxe3dZAUEqCLUafajF9Mus3Oi6G5ZDwL3T8ph5OyEhjT5W9tlAO0C2qVsMVx2pCIrF2ODTriGs_YaRaVoGr3ivYnLy7rEVEJWVQCWjkOBFw7BQQ6fwzMKS0cVASDK8q4/s400/ctails28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Behind them it is not as wet as it
was, call it soggy, but it is tangled, and with touches of beauty
like this bindweed</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ji8fLo4KbtQkD4ulx2AHkYHDJm25KOf-PAs9smhH1Wb7plcY9aHpoPrydcjirq_xy4Yr0LnOqTC0C5uyHi_AOB2hHRxnizWwL5MXFk6LYrHvatf4XW-tEjtADHRvzdSVi6biEanpg9I/s1600/primrose28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ji8fLo4KbtQkD4ulx2AHkYHDJm25KOf-PAs9smhH1Wb7plcY9aHpoPrydcjirq_xy4Yr0LnOqTC0C5uyHi_AOB2hHRxnizWwL5MXFk6LYrHvatf4XW-tEjtADHRvzdSVi6biEanpg9I/s400/primrose28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It is hard to say if the beavers
are still tending the dam. It is in good repair but I think the
wet mud is the result of the pond level beginning to drop, not
the beavers pushing wet mud up on the dam. Dragonflies and
damselflies are everywhere, principally white tails and bluets.
The latter fancy the leaves of the emerging pond vegetation</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagtsrh3MLPrYTvTpvqB-6UJGFMGCWXLH__CpmG6LsqCQkkCWgvpHNiclPEvgLowpGLWsjERtRoXft5yCri2_EtaYlvm7sGDmnWdO9p1BHFO9gqqIQ9Pu3A4TMHD2_leJq6KEOGON_4WU/s1600/damselpond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagtsrh3MLPrYTvTpvqB-6UJGFMGCWXLH__CpmG6LsqCQkkCWgvpHNiclPEvgLowpGLWsjERtRoXft5yCri2_EtaYlvm7sGDmnWdO9p1BHFO9gqqIQ9Pu3A4TMHD2_leJq6KEOGON_4WU/s400/damselpond.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The rocky banks of the Lost Swamp Pond
are not as lush as the mud flats around the Big Pond, but with
such a good view of the dead trees in the pond, there is much
activity if you are patient to wait for it. I sat so I could
check out the kingbird nest in the birch trunk column. I soon saw
a handsome kingbird near it. Then when it flew off a smaller,
squeaky bird landed on the birch bark. At first I thought it was
a baby, but when nobody came to succor it after it squeaked I
began to wonder.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5grQF7HqO-D2RUYlX15hm4iv3e_x95mAL9NPSI8iZkHKRhrYCgxuNB3WCbqgIUrzKHTYBY98h9pggbzeL3m_XsL7g98zs7FC4TWWxHX0-7VY_8OX0GQfnhVkxMsWRVbPCBRS7gWnhKE/s1600/kbird28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5grQF7HqO-D2RUYlX15hm4iv3e_x95mAL9NPSI8iZkHKRhrYCgxuNB3WCbqgIUrzKHTYBY98h9pggbzeL3m_XsL7g98zs7FC4TWWxHX0-7VY_8OX0GQfnhVkxMsWRVbPCBRS7gWnhKE/s400/kbird28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The adult stayed at a distance.
Finally I saw the game afoot. Not until the fledgling flew up and
fluttered in the air, did the adult come and feed it. Good
training. At the same time a downy woodpecker was beside itself
above me. Then I moved a few feet away and saw the trouble. I was
too close to the little hole in the dead trunk on the bank which
contained the babies. Both parents popped bugs inside the hole. A
kingfisher also flew by as well as the usual herons. I had an eye
out for fresh beaver work, but saw none. The woodwork on the
north slope has not been resumed. Despite being completely girdled
the maple tree there has a handsome crown of leaves,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6sZ4ey8KVDjH9Ukz8GGzOPOcMap9On_XYAh5LIpVpGyP-QlJStCRctXlmpwIzlQXteNmZJ0ceImOh8d-DAqO-6mxNNPJXSmxJSE4XtUgzBGHVJrpaaHAAhvSPC_CI6K2M-RD_nmELFY/s1600/maple28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE6sZ4ey8KVDjH9Ukz8GGzOPOcMap9On_XYAh5LIpVpGyP-QlJStCRctXlmpwIzlQXteNmZJ0ceImOh8d-DAqO-6mxNNPJXSmxJSE4XtUgzBGHVJrpaaHAAhvSPC_CI6K2M-RD_nmELFY/s400/maple28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">at least this year. The milkweed
is beginning to tower over the dog bane, and I saw one
appreciative hanger on. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZ9gwWlxSS6OEoV_dGdrkZKGRwwcSzHtbKYSmhyphenhyphenUndSh9taC-zvdpSHrUDX3rHQWFvODbWOPlC9fSOQE3fYP9rwuWJ_GhYmARqyyWhE4wY11oFAhSGOIzwCWSXqQmRUPT6cCM8IxjKnM/s1600/dfly28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZ9gwWlxSS6OEoV_dGdrkZKGRwwcSzHtbKYSmhyphenhyphenUndSh9taC-zvdpSHrUDX3rHQWFvODbWOPlC9fSOQE3fYP9rwuWJ_GhYmARqyyWhE4wY11oFAhSGOIzwCWSXqQmRUPT6cCM8IxjKnM/s400/dfly28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I take it to be a widow going
white on the wing tips. It looked like an otter, or otters, had
been up the north slope but I couldn't be certain there were any
new scats, and certainly no fresh scats to be seen. I checked the
old rolling area and dam and no scats at all there. I expect this
to be a famous place for otters in the fall. It was relatively
untouched in the winter, and since then, and never lost much
water. Along with the fry I am now seeing schools of tadpoles. I
should have had my camera ready when I walked down to the Second
Swamp Pond because I knew a fawn had been there, but I didn't and
I missed getting a photo of the lovely as it scampered on its
wobbly jagged legs across the little dam and into the shady bush.
The lack of rain and surfeit of sun are telling on the newly
fashioned upper dam</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vNX68pG5mFK27bKbScx1jFb_hXVq-OSqJzjLFKQHU59iqPt2Aob587gGBRSiLs8uHOakRd1SGiqfgq3TLKFWHf2hb0eaqKe8mWm8zPSGsnjRsUS2n1ogjiId8z_fcxik3irQ7SOAo_k/s1600/upsp28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vNX68pG5mFK27bKbScx1jFb_hXVq-OSqJzjLFKQHU59iqPt2Aob587gGBRSiLs8uHOakRd1SGiqfgq3TLKFWHf2hb0eaqKe8mWm8zPSGsnjRsUS2n1ogjiId8z_fcxik3irQ7SOAo_k/s400/upsp28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">though there's still plenty of
room for a beaver to maneuver in. Behind the dam was a fine
collection of symbols of the season: muskrat leftovers, boiling
algae</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA_MNorxAFDTldnn3QN8xoxJTl1-GII5l9qnfE6UM4T9l0XLzCvSKtyIHQfbml0VgNrvru2ojwhgJhLoRl8JjLxkH3xzaz3wOdrdQmRq75TVnQw9IurF85qc3DdlJ3Hrwk5V26pozGVs/s1600/bhinddam28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEA_MNorxAFDTldnn3QN8xoxJTl1-GII5l9qnfE6UM4T9l0XLzCvSKtyIHQfbml0VgNrvru2ojwhgJhLoRl8JjLxkH3xzaz3wOdrdQmRq75TVnQw9IurF85qc3DdlJ3Hrwk5V26pozGVs/s400/bhinddam28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and heron poop on the side. My
walk down the north shore of the Second Pond was uneventful, save
for seeing some old friends, a patch of beard tongue set off with
ox-eye daisies. I sat above dam in the shade of the thick cedar,
but the heron still squawked when it flew by. The oak there also
makes shade despite its being girdled. Over at the East Trail
Pond, I realized what I had been missing: no wood ducks ducklings
yet. I crossed below the dam, because this is the time of year
when interesting things can grow in that ever wet area and I did
see this</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkRehl0QzxVhHVhpMt7PJx9AqjBIf1wO6ENr8Idi9Uu0ahBl3NiLXiR37bZJ4_JCttEc74GnFeW3dWEpkB4KyR6PG112pYFQE-xf_CxIW2CGdONhc9TrlKBWbLQDpDd3x0yJPZc269Ls/s1600/greenber28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkRehl0QzxVhHVhpMt7PJx9AqjBIf1wO6ENr8Idi9Uu0ahBl3NiLXiR37bZJ4_JCttEc74GnFeW3dWEpkB4KyR6PG112pYFQE-xf_CxIW2CGdONhc9TrlKBWbLQDpDd3x0yJPZc269Ls/s400/greenber28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">which strikes me as a deer
devoured jack-in-the-pulpit with berries quite unripe. At the
latrine beside the dam, there were too many flies for just old
scat and I did find a fresh scat a few feet from, and very
similar to the last fresh scat there</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI98RqTspTB0u5zwkwVZxYUy2Wc06jkWT-2h-aA1tMcVwYwbPkGdmurNINqTmhwuuJdBB5HFdiY9PxUFCEUPWvSdhslWIMsg9RDvJW8oFDZD420yzpKSQoJuFPVUbfkG-BpXpbSCRKfxI/s1600/scat28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI98RqTspTB0u5zwkwVZxYUy2Wc06jkWT-2h-aA1tMcVwYwbPkGdmurNINqTmhwuuJdBB5HFdiY9PxUFCEUPWvSdhslWIMsg9RDvJW8oFDZD420yzpKSQoJuFPVUbfkG-BpXpbSCRKfxI/s400/scat28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">so at least one otter is coming
by. This was such a small scat that I can't believe the crossing
of the twigs was intentionally done by the otter, but who knows?
I went over the ridge and found fresh scat near the same spot
where I last saw fresh scat about ten yards up from the creek.
This careful marking of this route mystifies me because there are
so many other ways into these ponds, like along the creek. I
checked the mud there and it looked like otter tracks, print and
tail, to me.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOs0b2QTNDNmx7L-Iosvu0I6gpVFGhK9IuLh2HQj0OwU_GKyzpgInxZcEEj37cQcCQVzEoQiEqBW4eJ5pDUIxzD9AIgAhq47xHqQVc9JaLaHk4_DPWE6AV9uxmK0vXYdc1xcK-uA6cnLo/s1600/mudprints28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOs0b2QTNDNmx7L-Iosvu0I6gpVFGhK9IuLh2HQj0OwU_GKyzpgInxZcEEj37cQcCQVzEoQiEqBW4eJ5pDUIxzD9AIgAhq47xHqQVc9JaLaHk4_DPWE6AV9uxmK0vXYdc1xcK-uA6cnLo/s400/mudprints28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went back over the ridge to
check the mossy rock. On my way there I got a whiff of otter
scat, but saw none. Before leaving I noticed a curious two tone
look to the duckweed behind the dam</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5HzZyl12DZLPvaT5GkYftuRTUEF23FmMBl4-eAgLfoYvjfTHJ-4sZhlsmVpdsKN6fMS-arvo5mKG3_s59un5NOM7p72_zDVILoHiEzP8h9GTWZCLLbtm5EotK_oGcugQ6PblHJhyphenhyphen1ys/s1600/duckweed28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5HzZyl12DZLPvaT5GkYftuRTUEF23FmMBl4-eAgLfoYvjfTHJ-4sZhlsmVpdsKN6fMS-arvo5mKG3_s59un5NOM7p72_zDVILoHiEzP8h9GTWZCLLbtm5EotK_oGcugQ6PblHJhyphenhyphen1ys/s400/duckweed28.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No new scats along the South Bay
trail, and one goofy yearling doe who didn't want to get out of
my way.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 30 up at 5:15 am, and using
the bike, got to the South Bay cove before 5:45. I saw a bit of
new scat at the south causeway latrine, but nothing fresh, and,
during my 45 minute sojourn on the banks of the bay, saw no
otters. The carp seem to be done spawning. I heard one splash.
Saw at least three herons, two in a chase. A front moved through,
with a brief afternoon shower yesterday, and left a breeze that
kept some waves rolling in, which may have diminished the usual
seething life one sees in the water on a sunny morning.
(Yesterday, during the gale, I lay on the dock and a mallard with
six ducklings swam by. The babies able to chase bugs on the
surface. Then a handsome water snake swam under my nose. Flip on
my back and see the swallows hovering, and an osprey.) I headed
up to the East Trail Pond, sitting on the big rock and then lower
for a better view. No otters nor beavers, nor muskrats, for that
matter. Birds provided all the entertainment. The flickers are noisy
again. Baby redwing blackbirds are as persistent in the squeaking
as their parents are in their screeching. A brief glimpse of a
goldfinch. Battling hairy woodpeckers, on whom I almost pulled
out the camcorder before deciding I could never capture their
bouncing ferocity. A pileated woodpecker went to a tree where I
saw one go another day -- perhaps a nest there. I wondered where
the orioles were, and a few minutes later saw one dashing about.
Behind me in the woods, there was a woodpecker drumming duet, and
distant songs of the veery. I saw no fresh scat, perhaps a new
scat on the top of the ridge.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzowxamacL4mQDd0xbC7wBtZJP7-1IBN0U7aqXSWWCWR8mnpRZZ4hI4Ra2LeiqDVxvuwh7pygesyANjrhYobeJe_ixjpgJBu0dM80PYcbjPE4NC29X3h5GU1rCpLbed2dOSKRToea1Qo/s1600/scat30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzowxamacL4mQDd0xbC7wBtZJP7-1IBN0U7aqXSWWCWR8mnpRZZ4hI4Ra2LeiqDVxvuwh7pygesyANjrhYobeJe_ixjpgJBu0dM80PYcbjPE4NC29X3h5GU1rCpLbed2dOSKRToea1Qo/s400/scat30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went up and over and looked
hard, and was rewarded with a vision of a small toad</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnodVEn9AWufcJjYbnzQt0NHLUGIbERWaR8Tc913LGxBiDUrcAZUSyNilvrpRLfOTA27a-E0gUPMm4ty51AgezdZaDwyKISzIO6uVSYibAMVbtvhnwLnsakuGPVXcoBpdyiUFYxPJGsRo/s1600/toad30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnodVEn9AWufcJjYbnzQt0NHLUGIbERWaR8Tc913LGxBiDUrcAZUSyNilvrpRLfOTA27a-E0gUPMm4ty51AgezdZaDwyKISzIO6uVSYibAMVbtvhnwLnsakuGPVXcoBpdyiUFYxPJGsRo/s400/toad30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Down in the creek there didn't
seem to be any fresh tracks -- water from the rain filled the old
ones. I saw a large plant in the middle of the mud, and looked
hard to see if it was a jack-in-the-pulpit</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUe50ECy3_SKEokHFVCkfVZBgxQU29sJ6pQlQernJACoY6PIApj_DB3tnAxRsDKxD9DqHTKqLQd18O9a8v7Tm9tNTTOCibrExgo8qdeQ37JxQgM90N4JaaZKG-V-Z7cqlhaS7g7E57dY/s1600/plant30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUe50ECy3_SKEokHFVCkfVZBgxQU29sJ6pQlQernJACoY6PIApj_DB3tnAxRsDKxD9DqHTKqLQd18O9a8v7Tm9tNTTOCibrExgo8qdeQ37JxQgM90N4JaaZKG-V-Z7cqlhaS7g7E57dY/s400/plant30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That early in the morning I always
find it hard to decide where to go. But since I have been telling
myself that the Lost Swamp Pond is ready for otters, I headed in that
direction, stopping first at the Second Pond lodge, just as I
came over the top of the knoll I saw a beaver make a rolling dive
into the lodge. I waited and it came out again, and just as one
did the other evening, humped over in the water</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zs_aGVaPOQ2ZQVim04uaRBEWasqpxGGA_I1A06uiK8B8uqqRoBISAq_pJ0FFfh7XTLbeVdlLMaoLYzME6aZ3CBSgHEiZnDKH-eaIlaIrvZxfre3G65QlKtzNb97pLg1hfu5VZ_k48NY/s1600/spbv30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zs_aGVaPOQ2ZQVim04uaRBEWasqpxGGA_I1A06uiK8B8uqqRoBISAq_pJ0FFfh7XTLbeVdlLMaoLYzME6aZ3CBSgHEiZnDKH-eaIlaIrvZxfre3G65QlKtzNb97pLg1hfu5VZ_k48NY/s400/spbv30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then went into the lodge. I waited
and it came out again, and this time humped into the water and
did a strange twisting of the body, then dove back into the
lodge. Don't yet know what to make of that behavior. Behind me I
heard some strange noises. First, like a crying mammal -- but I
guessed right that it was a bluejay, which soon made its
characteristic call. Meanwhile I finally saw some wood duck
ducklings. Rather mature, buddying about the grass in the middle
of the pond. When mother duck flew in and squeaked for them there
was no quick paddling to her side. I headed up the grasses of the
north shore stopping to photograph the beard tongue</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7xoaoj7p8cxRvRWG4g4PQB0PU4L1KjDLo81QHR2L6XhpQzzjVnWmRgmIQvJ6cgUSLM3d_Lcq2v_R9MR8hahkabOGbc3sE-3IjX4b_MRpUS-6GD9W_IMjnLMRSo5W8Z2OBhyphenhyphenOD-vsOD0/s1600/bbet30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7xoaoj7p8cxRvRWG4g4PQB0PU4L1KjDLo81QHR2L6XhpQzzjVnWmRgmIQvJ6cgUSLM3d_Lcq2v_R9MR8hahkabOGbc3sE-3IjX4b_MRpUS-6GD9W_IMjnLMRSo5W8Z2OBhyphenhyphenOD-vsOD0/s400/bbet30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and then admiring this milkweed
plant which showed the flowers in three stages of development</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NMafQ7tEZ9txN-Hqf0g3-WXms7aHaIbua4rCe2-dM4aMQPMig4MwGahS7wAk15G8CyPhu1xHweYQZ1ox-oydUOntNc6P_RUsPCEC7rR4Usr66UNFkH9VqBrk3_ZwWLBren-SlvAOwEI/s1600/mweed30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4NMafQ7tEZ9txN-Hqf0g3-WXms7aHaIbua4rCe2-dM4aMQPMig4MwGahS7wAk15G8CyPhu1xHweYQZ1ox-oydUOntNc6P_RUsPCEC7rR4Usr66UNFkH9VqBrk3_ZwWLBren-SlvAOwEI/s400/mweed30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I kicked up a flurry of small
dragonflies, sparkling gold as I walked through the green</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_P-NNhcpjrMHeyIjuNqyNqofHjPv8V1w-uGv-a3dDY7_sPR85nY6aS8GK7zIVXc5_z4Jo80tvRnBhE3WVwv9Zrm35vq6ljo0YuaJ69kOa2OZGrhkThlzQMCL_VBEt5fWZlKTbs1Pu5c/s1600/dfly30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_P-NNhcpjrMHeyIjuNqyNqofHjPv8V1w-uGv-a3dDY7_sPR85nY6aS8GK7zIVXc5_z4Jo80tvRnBhE3WVwv9Zrm35vq6ljo0YuaJ69kOa2OZGrhkThlzQMCL_VBEt5fWZlKTbs1Pu5c/s400/dfly30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It is getting drier going to the
upper dam. However, I saw a sure sign that the beavers are still
using it -- willow left out for nibbling.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n8z2sUIIZv-pffQz1zo_rgZ433kxgO2PA3Kzr0t03rNujr9bKcpDIB8bLX1TQFMGSn047uBlpLNEzAOBILNnqWe4bDcZXWHXjaLXtkYarH7uFT_ykXsSWPCIfubA0y2kahFUh7nt2U0/s1600/upspbvwk30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n8z2sUIIZv-pffQz1zo_rgZ433kxgO2PA3Kzr0t03rNujr9bKcpDIB8bLX1TQFMGSn047uBlpLNEzAOBILNnqWe4bDcZXWHXjaLXtkYarH7uFT_ykXsSWPCIfubA0y2kahFUh7nt2U0/s400/upspbvwk30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had my camcorder ready for a
fawn, but none jumped out. As I sat beside the Lost Swamp pond, I
did see a buck browsing across the pond on the point, just making
out his big velvet antlers. I was waiting for a muskrat to
reappear, and soon one did. I got a video of what looks like a
youngster -- no longer a baby. It came out to me twice before
going back to the den in the bank. As I walked toward the den, I
saw another small muskrat swimming from the end of the pond
toward the den. It seemed to detour just to get a look at me</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNgvQEXeRasO0BIWqTg-Slw4uZOdXE9gfW9IpEaIMRZbAJJRhnp0VsHmukSfdd9a7XbvQIpo2mfy5mpMvrDwIkKdtUxvtrtjjupFksCnbDkuFeTcIMN2cT6lgfRXUdn4dqOZzAMS_yek/s1600/mrat30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNgvQEXeRasO0BIWqTg-Slw4uZOdXE9gfW9IpEaIMRZbAJJRhnp0VsHmukSfdd9a7XbvQIpo2mfy5mpMvrDwIkKdtUxvtrtjjupFksCnbDkuFeTcIMN2cT6lgfRXUdn4dqOZzAMS_yek/s400/mrat30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then dove and went on its way out
in the pond. I rarely see muskrats acting so much like beavers,
and these seeming so young. But they looked, sniffed, once
wiggled water out of ears. All I can say is that these must be
very fat and cocky kids. The kingbirds were still at it, and even
sparing with swallows. Perhaps the wind and front drove the bugs
closer to the ground and hence the competition. The mullein is
starting to bloom -- strangely, with just one huge flower out.
The rest, I guess, is still cooking</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsI4R8jU3DSClI10XUnrnhu4SNKZHjkzac1jw8671YonppBKwrnwuSV-wZOb6WiEKduWPSHgm25D6yYayfopa_WMHpHiChPBwZ4J3_3Ioo0TG6Vwu6cDNN8BrNmXaEbEdojzYsYM0Vno/s1600/mullein30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsI4R8jU3DSClI10XUnrnhu4SNKZHjkzac1jw8671YonppBKwrnwuSV-wZOb6WiEKduWPSHgm25D6yYayfopa_WMHpHiChPBwZ4J3_3Ioo0TG6Vwu6cDNN8BrNmXaEbEdojzYsYM0Vno/s400/mullein30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I continued on down to Otter Hole
Pond, where, save for one heron in the middle pond, nothing much
was happening. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-87491635032808919422014-02-16T17:51:00.002-08:002014-02-16T17:51:12.730-08:00June 17 to 24, 2003<span style="font-size: medium;">June 17 I woke up early and headed for the
ponds at 6:30 -- just 50F but sunny. I expected it to warm up
quickly and it did. My plan was to check out the possibility that
an otter came into the East Trail Pond from the northeast, as was
the case during the winter. So I headed to the East Trail Pond as
quickly as possible via the South Bay trail. As I came down to
South Bay, I could hear the carp spawning all around the end of
the bay. Two groups were sloshing around in the cove. There was
also an array of otter scat along the usual latrine area. There
were four different scats, grass mussed and stomped </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJYb1XnliLlUXOIUFXek8SioOAbFihNAUxyWTmy-6tU09E8_oTjO-Dj6UTMIKZHcpl3YXNslgGboXuLlE-RsoAiJgmCqZ7H-MGfMgfj2BMN3U1fanF_W3xcgOhIM6CiV7jOrcFjN2FaE/s1600/sbcovescats17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJYb1XnliLlUXOIUFXek8SioOAbFihNAUxyWTmy-6tU09E8_oTjO-Dj6UTMIKZHcpl3YXNslgGboXuLlE-RsoAiJgmCqZ7H-MGfMgfj2BMN3U1fanF_W3xcgOhIM6CiV7jOrcFjN2FaE/s400/sbcovescats17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and even a stick left in the array. At the
creek from the New Pond, there was only one scat. I'll have to
check for otter ravaged carp along the South Bay shore -- I did
find one last year at about this time. However, so that I
wouldn't be deflected from my purpose this morning, I went
directly to the north shore of the East Trail Pond, only pausing
to get a photo of the raccoon-digging up on the ridge,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSfKDmkit_gQMUma9-e9pZO0YavUNH96sF9cEelZQk-g9hWndWJppRnvZVm5rrwM0wnGkxiJEPv-mG4hINIlQE476FtLCWLbuuXsd4uT2S01eHBwMKZw9hofsAyPaVgWPzILAf5XjvCE/s1600/holes17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSfKDmkit_gQMUma9-e9pZO0YavUNH96sF9cEelZQk-g9hWndWJppRnvZVm5rrwM0wnGkxiJEPv-mG4hINIlQE476FtLCWLbuuXsd4uT2S01eHBwMKZw9hofsAyPaVgWPzILAf5XjvCE/s400/holes17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">where they did succeed in finding turtle eggs.
Then I sat for 10 or 15 minutes watching the East Trail Pond,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8cEABvhvfFeYEgsvjVoQ7ZmeF-bFgy5AM96UKwHpHxcPzgY2HQ-soL0iN9_7l8fiyMhteKeI7HERibRfzvJXBRZ0k00BInFEbud61xcODJ269zA8MOm8t9PRmPPF-DLSqQSGArsUc5M/s1600/etpond17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8cEABvhvfFeYEgsvjVoQ7ZmeF-bFgy5AM96UKwHpHxcPzgY2HQ-soL0iN9_7l8fiyMhteKeI7HERibRfzvJXBRZ0k00BInFEbud61xcODJ269zA8MOm8t9PRmPPF-DLSqQSGArsUc5M/s400/etpond17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and saw nothing stirring, except an oriole
behind me. Somewhat surprising not seeing a beaver that early in
the morning.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsaMzxcknse4we5Ao6v08jdn5zHOh8jbfikAyeRvSZn5p03Y54rSmwe6PF-GY_dBTIKrnsmDJroDFxwVCnRGvpVwt9R2NcsIgVwep9TzAWhJ7zswLC-IRqQZhEH8Nghjm4sLphpEkcDo/s1600/oriole17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsaMzxcknse4we5Ao6v08jdn5zHOh8jbfikAyeRvSZn5p03Y54rSmwe6PF-GY_dBTIKrnsmDJroDFxwVCnRGvpVwt9R2NcsIgVwep9TzAWhJ7zswLC-IRqQZhEH8Nghjm4sLphpEkcDo/s400/oriole17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was no trail in the grass to today, and I
could pick out trails here and there, most likely made by deer.
As I went up the ridge I didn't see any of the muss in the grass
that I associate with otters in transit. Usually when I retrace
routes that I took on the snow, the going is much slower in the
summer. However, the forest in the broad plateau above the swamps
I watch is quite open, and I made better progress than I did in
the winter. So an otter could easily get from the swamp up on the
plateau through the open forest and down to the East Trail Pond.
On my way to the swamp I saw a raccoon trotting through the
forest. When I reached the swamp, which is huge,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TrIszSY8o8GoadTnlQ9gHGW1COsotbO24qpmonJhnmI5C0HCkdxhA5KWV1Vp6skHgHKWk3ff2GEzChgYlPkjigJLBNZISWjku9SwH20MYNDoxBMkmeBAd69Aio-5WBKoSFVW8MG-Bic/s1600/huge17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TrIszSY8o8GoadTnlQ9gHGW1COsotbO24qpmonJhnmI5C0HCkdxhA5KWV1Vp6skHgHKWk3ff2GEzChgYlPkjigJLBNZISWjku9SwH20MYNDoxBMkmeBAd69Aio-5WBKoSFVW8MG-Bic/s400/huge17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I sat on the height of land that afforded a good view. I didn't see any herons, nor any other fish eating
bird. I saw wood ducks near and far. Not the best place for an
otter. However, the otter trail in the winter ignored this swamp.
I walked to the west and found the small beaver pond nestled
between the broad swamp and a granite rock cliff.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJXyVPL7mHMVPv6PhtkPwt-3242pU88xHmiQhJ91Uf41TF_onnXQgiaKsjmPqiQn3W95O4Sq2bBPMze3t7ZJLXyTzECvgZFbBD7ev5SyB-X-J8A0u8rpf4UuBwuZ5m7G5fI5E_sL0o-8/s1600/paradise17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJXyVPL7mHMVPv6PhtkPwt-3242pU88xHmiQhJ91Uf41TF_onnXQgiaKsjmPqiQn3W95O4Sq2bBPMze3t7ZJLXyTzECvgZFbBD7ev5SyB-X-J8A0u8rpf4UuBwuZ5m7G5fI5E_sL0o-8/s400/paradise17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The winter otter trail had touched this pond
though I saw no evidence that any otters stayed there. I
immediately named the pond "Paradise Pond," though it
did take some work to build -- a dam at the runoff into the swamp
and a mud wall around half of the pond to collect the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHTmiE0R17UWe1xEkNEAV9VuLs-wSp1WEkEFVkrMAn9zEl8pVqqr4FIRo5XJh5JOPWeUakLsOF5Hcq63vrgxw4ZUZmfkK4hW64ZOq9Q2lURMWRObuiN0CC17PFbR8LG2zuALzBDgplwY/s1600/ppmud17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHTmiE0R17UWe1xEkNEAV9VuLs-wSp1WEkEFVkrMAn9zEl8pVqqr4FIRo5XJh5JOPWeUakLsOF5Hcq63vrgxw4ZUZmfkK4hW64ZOq9Q2lURMWRObuiN0CC17PFbR8LG2zuALzBDgplwY/s400/ppmud17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It also had another small pond connecting and a
relatively new lodge right where the ponds connect.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC8KfbMsBFkttud2iMnynjZ0M7BoioDeJnr2psHdTHXaxWvhXwDYz7E9oxH4zPaZ6Zl_0Ct7Nlr88NMbkj971NjHg7KeGUJ1bfSqP-myYXqyAtanvtFIuSrvntBQ4EecuBzCKdJm8QsA/s1600/pplodge17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC8KfbMsBFkttud2iMnynjZ0M7BoioDeJnr2psHdTHXaxWvhXwDYz7E9oxH4zPaZ6Zl_0Ct7Nlr88NMbkj971NjHg7KeGUJ1bfSqP-myYXqyAtanvtFIuSrvntBQ4EecuBzCKdJm8QsA/s400/pplodge17.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suppose this is a paradise for someone
watching the pond, not necessarily for the beavers in it, because
the open forest is not the best area for foraging. I think
beavers are there. There was mud on the dam, one small scent
mound, and nibbled sticks, though I couldn't vouch for their
freshness, and above the small pond some fresh girdling on a
large red oak. Of course, the foraging area this time of year is
in the huge swamp with its seemingly limitless supply of
vegetation. There was a trail through the duck weed, leading from
a hole in the bank. It looked like raccoons had dug out turtle
eggs, and then dug into an old beaver burrow. The photo on top
is of the hole into the hole on the bottom.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zqtHvMfvfiOcVIQIvTsA4rzPE2geUVMRSMHufyuwcD5y6DKE8QMbE7W4x4Y97kpEMZEYwTv2a08QW3C2QwKwGtLLVwPGan8GPFV3JbxmWGcY6l78D5tzZ6Nz7KHaIZWa27-qf1-9l0I/s1600/pphole17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zqtHvMfvfiOcVIQIvTsA4rzPE2geUVMRSMHufyuwcD5y6DKE8QMbE7W4x4Y97kpEMZEYwTv2a08QW3C2QwKwGtLLVwPGan8GPFV3JbxmWGcY6l78D5tzZ6Nz7KHaIZWa27-qf1-9l0I/s400/pphole17.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvf0npgabhansALVo5louXxne4MucHEG_Q6xsHAOza2TeeKIjAlG0MVRBhjICRYYnDP4xFvpo9R38KMGMR-puOnOs23p0eEQoyLhf-XxJu1t4rlkKWQ9pR2fGT5KVi6arLzDVHeGPiMQ/s1600/pphole17a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvf0npgabhansALVo5louXxne4MucHEG_Q6xsHAOza2TeeKIjAlG0MVRBhjICRYYnDP4xFvpo9R38KMGMR-puOnOs23p0eEQoyLhf-XxJu1t4rlkKWQ9pR2fGT5KVi6arLzDVHeGPiMQ/s400/pphole17a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But, there was no otter scat, and so I can't be
sure that otters came to the East Trail Pond via this route. On my way
home I checked the East Trail Pond latrines, no scats there, but
I forgot to check the log where I saw scat before. I crossed
Otter Hole Pond dam which still has a leak.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 19 after four dry, mostly sunny days, with
temperatures in the low 70s, we had a cool rainy day. A little
before 5 pm, about two hours after the rain stopped, I went out
for a hike. Eager to get into the thick of it, I crossed over the
meadow behind the golf course and soon got between a grouse and
her chicks. She flew off and then came at me, almost growling to
get my attention and then whimpering off in the opposite direction,
away from her chicks. Almost as quickly as the ruckus began all
was quiet, and I was left contemplating a new ant hill.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKW90F5hkCuDQIcvXMccBASWPpVY_3plpEdzsFdyuiD9qqVaQ_yeZFshtEhxtRfB8_8WAxv99hTjBVJafceoZOiAz4qniT94iFwukQQG2GQArOn3D3IRf7MK29CGicO3oE6enQmCUYMk/s1600/anthill19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZKW90F5hkCuDQIcvXMccBASWPpVY_3plpEdzsFdyuiD9qqVaQ_yeZFshtEhxtRfB8_8WAxv99hTjBVJafceoZOiAz4qniT94iFwukQQG2GQArOn3D3IRf7MK29CGicO3oE6enQmCUYMk/s400/anthill19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the ridge, where bushes heavy with leaves
and rain make the going tough, it was also quiet. I saw a butter
and eggs flowering, seems early.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmX_plmFH2QSCaYcz4FApAeIuTBZftm2FULveGz2c-3IGY2gBSmF8NMg7h4V15gVn_K48UV-BUC7wT3aQhrsl3sXSywjMNlpvGRm3iUU8dBXND-IpCDF00kBExiS01FhayAFndfHLTic/s1600/bandeggs19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmX_plmFH2QSCaYcz4FApAeIuTBZftm2FULveGz2c-3IGY2gBSmF8NMg7h4V15gVn_K48UV-BUC7wT3aQhrsl3sXSywjMNlpvGRm3iUU8dBXND-IpCDF00kBExiS01FhayAFndfHLTic/s400/bandeggs19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I came upon a deer eating the grasses around
the rock outcrops. She hopped away before I could get a photo,
and I was left contemplating the lush grasses and mosses.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LRT-CztJYc3ZKbg5c36niUxzKTI_znY9Tx2PTTbECxog2SJB4m-5-hmz-htv9aWqb7H2Qw2S7_3zxuYJpnD9wuHVruXM6smybfybeFkAV8YxmR5hBuvDS47Fv19qRmNQ6sdJd21TpVM/s1600/rockgrasses19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LRT-CztJYc3ZKbg5c36niUxzKTI_znY9Tx2PTTbECxog2SJB4m-5-hmz-htv9aWqb7H2Qw2S7_3zxuYJpnD9wuHVruXM6smybfybeFkAV8YxmR5hBuvDS47Fv19qRmNQ6sdJd21TpVM/s400/rockgrasses19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going down to Double Lodge Pond, I flushed more
deer. That dam is overflowing, with water and milkweeds (some
strangely rouged)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNhkzITLwkFH-i-uyRSC-yn7XS3pL3ZU8dcz273CSCVEIZxeoY-rZDrogMg4VVkayrU-EmvovD1HruFCkiRANuTnuDoRqciYkiKWr7WimmYJsc93xZe8w3QKtBem0kjf9wgoJWEAFS_M/s1600/mweed19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNhkzITLwkFH-i-uyRSC-yn7XS3pL3ZU8dcz273CSCVEIZxeoY-rZDrogMg4VVkayrU-EmvovD1HruFCkiRANuTnuDoRqciYkiKWr7WimmYJsc93xZe8w3QKtBem0kjf9wgoJWEAFS_M/s400/mweed19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The dam doesn't seem repaired of late, nor did
I notice any certainly fresh beaver work. But they must be eating
grasses. They are thicker than I've ever seen them, as are the
vine weeds choking small plants themselves more robust than
usual.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EJGiCOV0aubMOlEG1FiKzERMPcrNnJUGcg5Q9Q5zRjNHu62eEXUOXMUO-KLMhZNiYz9ErxPaAgzAKHntYFZg_xbpvmKLExCCIkMkhWouZBwvJ5iJizxtJYh6Ncqpck80p4SmeADuQ3Y/s1600/weed19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EJGiCOV0aubMOlEG1FiKzERMPcrNnJUGcg5Q9Q5zRjNHu62eEXUOXMUO-KLMhZNiYz9ErxPaAgzAKHntYFZg_xbpvmKLExCCIkMkhWouZBwvJ5iJizxtJYh6Ncqpck80p4SmeADuQ3Y/s400/weed19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Blue flag iris are blooming away from the pond
helped by pools of standing water that seem to have no place to
go. The Big Pond dam is also overflowing but seems in order and
probably tended on a nightly basis. I crossed over the spillway
to get to my usual perch, and noticed amidst a clump of iris, and
on the opposite shore, a few tufted loosestrife plants.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSy5SqDu_BeASeFca72ZCPVed_wVraLuU7QNtEFx84BvagP9fVQBys7KIJUzfGCt8xW7o_9X9dtzYa9OOUz3LlWsngO898hIt-VORi64Y5OSGJ9jkvnzsJvCEcGwqvZQdqwV27oaWILJw/s1600/lstrife19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSy5SqDu_BeASeFca72ZCPVed_wVraLuU7QNtEFx84BvagP9fVQBys7KIJUzfGCt8xW7o_9X9dtzYa9OOUz3LlWsngO898hIt-VORi64Y5OSGJ9jkvnzsJvCEcGwqvZQdqwV27oaWILJw/s400/lstrife19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We have these in a shady bog in our land. That
they are growing in a sun drenched pond indicates how cool, wet,
and shady the spring has been. I saw a trail going by my perch
and mussed grass.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhAdeGc5yPKGmR4gli8T6Q1l3iZ9pzNvEbobaaWXhCATa3jQm5AV8KccsFVinVmEJXt40_LEpzW6ANSJjNou21WFzhOXJO-g839HWVlqmUeRwhX9y0mECMNpdf5EWuHvqkC_JxfsO0YM/s1600/bplatrine19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhAdeGc5yPKGmR4gli8T6Q1l3iZ9pzNvEbobaaWXhCATa3jQm5AV8KccsFVinVmEJXt40_LEpzW6ANSJjNou21WFzhOXJO-g839HWVlqmUeRwhX9y0mECMNpdf5EWuHvqkC_JxfsO0YM/s400/bplatrine19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked back at the usual area for a latrine
and found about four squirts of otter scat, two crowning bunched
grass, and one a classic otter-on-the-run scat.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iSuHHKbkkUHzVYiqZht0CFVR7lnidH-r4dndujBRU2JoXTRXwR_zpBe0A-ksZ4YOOjnQ2ltZ4IgJvrx3FCTrbPryz66P4UBZuEmYSEM14GKH4YRH_Bq_vwt9PpeH8TE-NKZcuPSAv8Q/s1600/bpscat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iSuHHKbkkUHzVYiqZht0CFVR7lnidH-r4dndujBRU2JoXTRXwR_zpBe0A-ksZ4YOOjnQ2ltZ4IgJvrx3FCTrbPryz66P4UBZuEmYSEM14GKH4YRH_Bq_vwt9PpeH8TE-NKZcuPSAv8Q/s400/bpscat19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So the otters who scatted at the end of the
cove probably continued up to the end of the creek as far as the
corner of the pond I so often sit at.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulE0Mb1yUBokh-iYYDLENb2tw66F0Y41MW6qJYe5v9yUWJV6T6XQtcb30QVS3-n73wRoGVbwRKzYhJb1uMjI6-3bm7zfZ9sPT5Ghex4ebqMMOQKJF7GKhkD4K2ydFr2zIKccY5ThklIM/s1600/bplatrine19a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulE0Mb1yUBokh-iYYDLENb2tw66F0Y41MW6qJYe5v9yUWJV6T6XQtcb30QVS3-n73wRoGVbwRKzYhJb1uMjI6-3bm7zfZ9sPT5Ghex4ebqMMOQKJF7GKhkD4K2ydFr2zIKccY5ThklIM/s400/bplatrine19a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The north wind playing on the pond invited
hopes that otters were there, but the only things swimming were
some wood ducks and mallards. The grasses were full of vibrancy,
blooming as I had never seen them before</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeU5ekXaRPciLpTaOcruW9MUrluAOs650j_AV0p6CQWdF0FnNilJZ2E_O0fKw_N7M_p4ndevfXDnZaZRj53Jmf6RwLS5R4DSpB_N4ntXGZtzZ_C7glgPypiZhTO8e91lyX9qdkT94l5_o/s1600/bpgrasses19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeU5ekXaRPciLpTaOcruW9MUrluAOs650j_AV0p6CQWdF0FnNilJZ2E_O0fKw_N7M_p4ndevfXDnZaZRj53Jmf6RwLS5R4DSpB_N4ntXGZtzZ_C7glgPypiZhTO8e91lyX9qdkT94l5_o/s400/bpgrasses19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As if to compensate for the otters horning in,
the beaver made an obvious scent mound on the north shore of the pond
near the long dam.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdb4o5E_h_svz-WZ7eb6kA-4q6jVJCYdVnXDY9F5pjNLXx26Kw-bmLZmQpJWy_OXgjUoipvXtnHhf1e-rNHmIvj1s3zW8Tm3qXEfY1EtsMHDxmmniTzmtCGjPwq3WtG3LB_vbWofjOfg/s1600/bpbvmk19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdb4o5E_h_svz-WZ7eb6kA-4q6jVJCYdVnXDY9F5pjNLXx26Kw-bmLZmQpJWy_OXgjUoipvXtnHhf1e-rNHmIvj1s3zW8Tm3qXEfY1EtsMHDxmmniTzmtCGjPwq3WtG3LB_vbWofjOfg/s400/bpbvmk19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked away from the pond a common tern
began circling over the pond. I also saw two dragonflies, one
posed next to an iris</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuXfd4Pw5o1vHZZrFYrB-OUrqfV5aK2L661W6i7U-jysLc4ctkKkkwELO-zEj-T10hJ4Nje0mEXpdhUTT11nKsgYtpJqE_KAAhRGenMUOuhWGZtGyKppxWEFusiAkVFsTux29EHSMRTw/s1600/dfly19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuXfd4Pw5o1vHZZrFYrB-OUrqfV5aK2L661W6i7U-jysLc4ctkKkkwELO-zEj-T10hJ4Nje0mEXpdhUTT11nKsgYtpJqE_KAAhRGenMUOuhWGZtGyKppxWEFusiAkVFsTux29EHSMRTw/s400/dfly19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the other quite striking, a
"widow" dragonfly</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AgAh__cTXX9LJZSih1K7h-4JTU16pkP-cYQ1DziyCoVk3lK6w9ksPdKlOEp98htGosoyiDVMFyx0L3k7UgUg7BTOrtr_1nhy8rik9AatCsCUTcFNWRYc7TrXc79iypqIVQUsXKqvIco/s1600/dfly19a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AgAh__cTXX9LJZSih1K7h-4JTU16pkP-cYQ1DziyCoVk3lK6w9ksPdKlOEp98htGosoyiDVMFyx0L3k7UgUg7BTOrtr_1nhy8rik9AatCsCUTcFNWRYc7TrXc79iypqIVQUsXKqvIco/s400/dfly19a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Coming down to the Lost Swamp Pond, I sorted
through geese, goslings, muskrats and beavers, in that order. The
two beavers I saw seemed to be coming out of the lodge by the
dam. All the critters disappeared into the grasses fringing the
pond. I got the closest look at two rather small wood ducks who I
suspect might have been chicks. They too swam into the fringe of
grass. Geese have been all over the shore of the pond so it takes
some time walking around it, since the disturbance geese make
looks like what otters might do. At the north shore slope there
was a fresh trail out of the pond, and there were four or more
fresh scats</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNctsKJFgnFlgroREUCZ-Ld6JGww6eDlAIgElYL9jJo14he2S2yIn8yOfrPIInhleljyrujTVkrncayq_saWogClf7UdhWjr2tLlHwEUnh3AzKAi7sNev9OzSN45Zn7q5R0XqHKjheMLc/s1600/scat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNctsKJFgnFlgroREUCZ-Ld6JGww6eDlAIgElYL9jJo14he2S2yIn8yOfrPIInhleljyrujTVkrncayq_saWogClf7UdhWjr2tLlHwEUnh3AzKAi7sNev9OzSN45Zn7q5R0XqHKjheMLc/s400/scat19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- all in a row at angle to the usual trail. </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr1YySXo9PIVuC55hDLpDXPNXTmi347GOGnbd6Ac6vdoSNhaxJaHJifXqmZ8W5NarfLIT7cBbBBoIXAesOGrUxhsd9NowiCrnsxT4sR0k7mckJja2wH5k5KRK79WVAfb6V4_L8i7S1wg/s1600/scats20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr1YySXo9PIVuC55hDLpDXPNXTmi347GOGnbd6Ac6vdoSNhaxJaHJifXqmZ8W5NarfLIT7cBbBBoIXAesOGrUxhsd9NowiCrnsxT4sR0k7mckJja2wH5k5KRK79WVAfb6V4_L8i7S1wg/s400/scats20.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">a bit further up than usual,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSZ_QcSkCKyZtvBgMFxCKERPl6bdJoKPvqU9pLvpS_2oevVHZP03JYlLft0GmsULWsAxkjWKmARVBmcKiLpPOXn5lrV54JrybhTmPtnAzaMiqbRzNeKfAbkNGg6OLXZy5DuGjmL8LbGY/s1600/viewscat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWSZ_QcSkCKyZtvBgMFxCKERPl6bdJoKPvqU9pLvpS_2oevVHZP03JYlLft0GmsULWsAxkjWKmARVBmcKiLpPOXn5lrV54JrybhTmPtnAzaMiqbRzNeKfAbkNGg6OLXZy5DuGjmL8LbGY/s400/viewscat19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was a trail going west, but I also found
fresh scat further along the usual trail up and over to the upper
Second Swamp Pond. I walked up to the dam, to see if the otters
used any of the old latrines -- no sign of that. Some of the pink
flowered spreading dogbane that flourishes here</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5FakGkZFplEBgnLe9y6zgYAvT0zqWKDryKlTTEW-Sa0gzY5gWPdUoinXR21S-Yb-S2pvW2DNsb0QsTH0dnebMCxNSC0FlHINk0nNIQjSaLzmMndRVxK6i5Gm4LGzIyviWQdlVCVQ634/s1600/dogbane19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5FakGkZFplEBgnLe9y6zgYAvT0zqWKDryKlTTEW-Sa0gzY5gWPdUoinXR21S-Yb-S2pvW2DNsb0QsTH0dnebMCxNSC0FlHINk0nNIQjSaLzmMndRVxK6i5Gm4LGzIyviWQdlVCVQ634/s400/dogbane19.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">was roughed up, but not, evidently, by otters.
Probably by geese or deer. I walked down the south side the
Second Swamp Pond where all was quiet. In upper Otter Hole Pond,
I flushed about five deer, reddish body, white tails, leaping
above the lush green grasses. Down at the dam, I sent the usual
heron aloft, poop staining the pond -- like a fool I didn't have
the camcorder ready. I took the short-cut home only pausing at
the end of the south cove of South Bay where there was more fresh
otter scat, gobs on both sides of the trail. If I let my
imagination run, I'd credit these fresh scats in groups of four
to that group of four males (I think) that came into the ponds
from the east during the winter. But it would be nice to see
these otters! And on the road almost home, a handsome slug.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xnN1ehGsMBPpYPPus8z5Mf3Sx7WuNNCJ43qdh0q265Pvnf9xIj_79r5hyVbnrQt1AJkSQCf09_OCtGZ_LPIkLOObDWRqTeGUD40EcloK1viMDMTguyFTpI9sbGvKkkrtaQhyphenhyphenE42Px7w/s1600/slug19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3xnN1ehGsMBPpYPPus8z5Mf3Sx7WuNNCJ43qdh0q265Pvnf9xIj_79r5hyVbnrQt1AJkSQCf09_OCtGZ_LPIkLOObDWRqTeGUD40EcloK1viMDMTguyFTpI9sbGvKkkrtaQhyphenhyphenE42Px7w/s400/slug19.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 20 I took Trevor and Samantha
over to patrol South Bay for spawning carp but there was no
spawning (I'll have to check again to see if they are still doing
it in the early morning) and only one or two carp to be seen. The
bullheads are still bubbling and at least one was hanging just
below the surface. A baby turtle was out,</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and not as many adults as I would
expect. Dead fish are being enjoyed,</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZh8Lb9LByow_lNCyxwa_tDWRYhyphenhyphentd2gyFH9WRR1002yVIy-MiAlOdYhX6B4UdIgLBZA7fK2XV16xnNSKpeLmgx9fsvuO93Nlyf4z3jBN_Cj83y8MARP0Xu5dSczkKuerHbNmRX_hYi2I/s1600/deadfish20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZh8Lb9LByow_lNCyxwa_tDWRYhyphenhyphentd2gyFH9WRR1002yVIy-MiAlOdYhX6B4UdIgLBZA7fK2XV16xnNSKpeLmgx9fsvuO93Nlyf4z3jBN_Cj83y8MARP0Xu5dSczkKuerHbNmRX_hYi2I/s400/deadfish20.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and a great rarity, two terns
resting on part of a busted dock in the middle of the bay. I also
saw a crop of yellow flag irises on the shore but the great
treat, all tucked far enough away to preclude a good photo were
great blue herons and and blue flag irises</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcpG8IGkI0s-4ht8fOTNhJgEEWcSJD4k80TKY8U00yDC82k0_Bp1tcIrweNLC1-HA1c5hyphenhyphenlQ099N7BqWolrcgzm0-8IJNi1agGJtEiRBeCHHkhl4CUsIv0c762woUE1C-pveTHyd_V_I/s1600/yelflag20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcpG8IGkI0s-4ht8fOTNhJgEEWcSJD4k80TKY8U00yDC82k0_Bp1tcIrweNLC1-HA1c5hyphenhyphenlQ099N7BqWolrcgzm0-8IJNi1agGJtEiRBeCHHkhl4CUsIv0c762woUE1C-pveTHyd_V_I/s400/yelflag20.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The underwater vegetation is slow growing
this year and what has come up has been well worked by the geese,
who kept slipping away from us</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 22 a last moderately cool
morning before summer conditions, heat and humidity, arrive.
However, the woods remain moist enough for mushrooms to grow on
mushrooms. </span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8CVWmw5BFTnBD-2iKxl12O8j8a7UG5AHyO-r3KHNCJsLCSTc9hJidF2IgJmKY7Gkg8FmmrubOEk0Ul9S16xzIF9E2wqz7zWsN4YS9PFwScXKLpfinE1faAH8S5FEjQvnKR_eA6yluBE/s1600/mroom22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf8CVWmw5BFTnBD-2iKxl12O8j8a7UG5AHyO-r3KHNCJsLCSTc9hJidF2IgJmKY7Gkg8FmmrubOEk0Ul9S16xzIF9E2wqz7zWsN4YS9PFwScXKLpfinE1faAH8S5FEjQvnKR_eA6yluBE/s400/mroom22.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the South Bay trail for
otter scat first, and found nothing fresh. I decided it behooved
me to check above the rock half way up the South Bay shore. As I
came up along the old dock I heard a splash in the water and
assumed it was a turtle diving off its perch on a tree. Then I
saw a huge carp jump halfway out the water, at about the spot
where, seeing grass move, I had rammed the boat hoping to make a
carp at least show a fin for Trevor and Samantha. When a fish
leaps straight up like that I always think it's trying to tell me
something, but what? Meanwhile, as I walked I launched at least a
half dozen herons, one must have been too well fed because it
crashed in the middle of the bay before getting aloft and away.
As usual the leaves on the shady shore above the rock looked
raked over and haphazardly piled. I snooped about and just beyond
the grandest pile, with a stick crossing through it, I found a
pile of leaves with otter scat. </span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgvEbhf8EOcUHDVet3U_CypEXFwNAEq36urhd-iXvCIk5pYxFe4W5l9l21_m3ysr6aywidqgw70b4uwUA1rg0Kl6V-euvlFTT_7YKglYeU9ZUtmjufwvDnvFbI3YM7oIWbK4uza0hU3U/s1600/scat22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHgvEbhf8EOcUHDVet3U_CypEXFwNAEq36urhd-iXvCIk5pYxFe4W5l9l21_m3ysr6aywidqgw70b4uwUA1rg0Kl6V-euvlFTT_7YKglYeU9ZUtmjufwvDnvFbI3YM7oIWbK4uza0hU3U/s400/scat22.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I probed deeper I found more
otter scat below. But once again my expectation that otters might
then have left signs around Audubon Pond was not fulfilled.
Either that area along South Bay is an otter bulletin board of
sorts, or otters mark territory to warn away otters coming down
to the bay via the land -- though that would be rather
nonsensical on an island this small. The two families of geese
were still in Audubon Pond, rather slow to escape from me as I
walked along the embankment peppered with goose poop.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The patch of blue flag iris off
the northeast corner of the pond is almost in full bloom. Of
course with such patches flourishing throughout the swamps this
is not as special this year, but still quite beautiful.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A few ducks were in the grassy
areas of the ponds, but I didn't see any ducklings. I went up to
Meander Pond and it is evident that the focus of foraging is to
the east. The Thicket Pond lodge had more sticks on it and
muddied water around it.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I soon saw that the beavers had
made two trails from the east end of that pond to harvest small
trees.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They are now just a few yards from
the limit of the East Trail Pond beavers' harvesting. Of course,
this year, the East Trail Pond beavers are going upstream to the
east. Beavers wintered in Thicket Pond in 1998-99 and so at least
one member of the colony may have a memory of it. I sat for
awhile about the East Trail Pond and watched two cedar waxwings
eat insects off the bark of the dead trees in front of me.
Perhaps for this activity they break up their usually tight knit
flocks of a half dozen to a dozen birds. Then I continued down to
the dam checking the usual latrines. Some moss was pawed up on
the mossy rock, but no scat. Then at the foot of the otter trail
down the ridge a wide patch of grass had been worked over and
several scats spread about.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The otters who had marked the
South Bay Cove, then the Big Pond dam and Lost Swamp slope had
come here too. Some scats were old but many were fresh. Judging
from the lack of kingfishers and from the dearth of shiners in
the ponds I drag a net in on our land, I suspect that the long
cold winter, combined with a cold wet spring cut down the shiner
population considerably. But I think I saw scales in the scats,
though the freshest remains looked like the innards and hard head
of a small bullhead.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">(In the ponds on our land,
bullheads are lush.) I checked for scats up the ridge and found
none, nor were there any across the dam. I also walked around to
that trail I saw a few nights ago to see if these otters might
have marked there, but they had not. I did flush a green heron.
Though the kingfishers are not about, the herons continue to work
the ponds. From that northeast end of the pond, I weaved through
the third ponds toward the upper Second Swamp Pond dam. The
beavers left a muddy trail through the long canals that connect
the small ponds.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I saw some trees gnawed to the
east. Going down to the upper Second Swamp Pond I passed the
poplar that they had cut and cut again. Since then they have cut
it two more times, and appear to be doing some desperate gnawing
to cut it again.</span><br />
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">A medium size birch is holding the
poplar up and it seems to have been tasted. They have done much
more work on the upper dam, mostly with grass and mud. </span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I must keep an eye out for a new
lodge back in the grasses. The old one there is almost flooded
over. I checked the channel the two beavers seemed to fight over
a few nights ago and found a clump of willows cut high about a
foot to two feet off the ground, which is what they appeared to
be doing when I saw them, as if the newest shoots were the best
eating. As I came up to the Lost Swamp at the dam, a muskrat swam
in front of me and dove with an angry flourish of its tail.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then as I walked along the shore I
sent another muskrat diving. Such mid day work must mean that
there are babies that must be fed. I didn't see any fresh otter
scat which leads me to believe that the otters are not touring
every day, but have stayed in the East Trail Pond for a couple
days at least. That in turn might mean this season's mother otter
may have relocated to a small backwater pond to teach her young.
Such imaginings are in order on the first day of summer. When I
got down to the Big Pond, a tern almost flew over my head. I took
some video of it, but for all its circling it never dove. I'm
beginning to think that terns have certain territories where they
generally confine their foraging, why else this unproductive
flying over this pond. That said I am seeing small fry along the
shore, here, and in the Lost Swamp Pond. </span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Other than a muddy dam, there were
no signs of beaver activity, nor had the otters left any more
scat. On my way home, going along the ridge above the first swamp
ponds I saw such a bodacious forest of foam in the grass,</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">that I picked a stalk, blew back
the foam to feature one of the perpetrators.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">All through the hike I kept an eye
out for fawns, but saw none, only a few fleeing deer, some even
snorting, so I don't think they were happy mothers.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 24 I was out of the house by
5:30am, resolved to see otters. A red sun peaked over the first
fairway of the golf course, promising another hot, hazy day. Deer
scooted into the woods and the robins were melodious as usual.
Coming down to South Bay I heard and then saw the carp spawning
throughout the cove, though not down at the very end. I saw a
smear of fresh otter scat closer to the causeway than usual. It
was difficult to read the grasses for tracks because tree
trimmers had been through servicing the power line. I didn't see
any scat at the inlet to the north cove. Then as I walked around
to get a look at the cove there, I saw two otters swimming across
the neck of the small cove at the end, heading for the marsh.
Otters, at last!</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Once again I faced the challenge
of getting a good video of the otters and at the same time trying
to ascertain how many there were. Soon I knew there were three
because as they came down toward me, one seemed to lead the way
and another two followed. And I got an inkling that there was
another. They didn't seem to me to catch any good size fish, and
since they were heading for the end of the cove, I wondered if
their fishing was done and they were planning to go up to the
beaver ponds. However, I heard some distress beeping as they
neared me. I went up the small ridge and got a glimpse of one
otter at the usual latrine by the creek. That otter returned to
the cove and then the group of them swam back out for more
fishing.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also noticed another noise, a
kind of staccato rolling purr, not unlike the sound adult geese
make when they are controlling goslings. As they swam out, I got
a view of four at once, </span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">before they moved out into the
bay. Then I heard that rolling purr back over in the marsh across
from me, and I thought perhaps it came from a goose that I was
not noticing with all the excitement. However, soon an otter's
head popped up, then another, and those two otters disappeared
into the rather formidable looking marsh. I walked up along the
South Bay shore, where the carp were spawning (and perhaps that
leaping carp the other day was trying to tell me to come see the
otters!) I saw fishermen in a boat. So I reasoned that the otters
saw them and backtracked quickly into the marsh. I didn't see any
fresh scat at the rock I usually check and I asked the fishermen
if they had seen any otters -- no. I saw a small porcupine going
down to the shore, eating the greens it could fish out of the
water -- these critters do not have such a dry life after all.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAoZFX7A_9_GTqC3SJXOMWX8uZQ_9mT4VG6iOoFEfwqbGazQQm9xL30pG-nn1VsAZiiogij5Y1hH-0ak0lU8W3SDPCQwyawa6LYsxe7Cp9FftdzGF1BjR6IApGbAqovf03169XFs6v1s/s1600/ppine24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAoZFX7A_9_GTqC3SJXOMWX8uZQ_9mT4VG6iOoFEfwqbGazQQm9xL30pG-nn1VsAZiiogij5Y1hH-0ak0lU8W3SDPCQwyawa6LYsxe7Cp9FftdzGF1BjR6IApGbAqovf03169XFs6v1s/s400/ppine24.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had an excellent opportunity to
see what a porcupine by the water would do when frightened from
the rear, but in the spirit of a peaceful morning, I walked on
without bothering it. I continued on to the East Trail Pond,
first sitting on the high rock overlooking all. As I cooled down,
I kept an eye out for otters coming up from South Bay. The birds
did the entertaining: two goldfinch either feeding together in a
flurry, or gently fighting; I think there were two green herons
in the pond because I heard stereophonic croaking; chickadees
were right over my head; I heard but did not see an oriole. A
painted turtle made such a stir of the water when getting on a
log that I first thought it was an otter's head. As I went down
to check the otter latrines, the reddish beaver swam off its
favored marking spot,</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and splashed me with gusto, again,
and again, and again. This beaver will not get used to me. I did
find one fresh scat at the latrine,</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and as I went up and over the
ridge, the grass was bent toward South Bay. I also saw a scat,
perhaps older, ten yards above the creek between the ponds.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MZSzxS8xsLATL3eyeiWcmD9p-uCduAP5Y4L51AyAZmZJKuwkgGmnil8A8RlFruJKMM0A406DO602ShG8WZUqxlpfoJFqJ2h7viCN5HYam-q-a2aOsM5z1sZKm6rQerr4J2Dp0RDZh2o/s1600/scatview24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MZSzxS8xsLATL3eyeiWcmD9p-uCduAP5Y4L51AyAZmZJKuwkgGmnil8A8RlFruJKMM0A406DO602ShG8WZUqxlpfoJFqJ2h7viCN5HYam-q-a2aOsM5z1sZKm6rQerr4J2Dp0RDZh2o/s400/scatview24.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Plus the mud in the creek seemed
to have an otter trail in it. I rested again in the shade
affording a good view of Otter Hole dam. Two geese families
relocated, one with three and the other with five goslings. These
birds, so noisy in the spring, are all elegant silence now, young
and old. I went down to check Beaver Point Pond dam. The pond is
dry enough for me to use the old boards across the swamp with
only a few feet of fallen log to negotiate over what water
remains in an old beaver channel. There was some digging in some
moss on the rock next to the dam, but no scat there, or on the
dam. Little Porcupine Hotel Pond sports three clumps of blue flag
iris.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I checked the latrine near the
trail over the outlet creek into South Bay, and couldn't find a
scat. I did get a photo of some wood anemone which has been out a
few days.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_tUbQWUYO2IbHchdqLXIOtbBKYBb8FfoNF7ugUn5zm-HHQK6WojskNkO8JzU8ir8MxTucft230RTj81LjEjRR6Gm_cGH2bz2FKIELx7p79BM-UQkX9BVXT0QQCv_k8DeaCYFzFhvJQg/s1600/woodane24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_tUbQWUYO2IbHchdqLXIOtbBKYBb8FfoNF7ugUn5zm-HHQK6WojskNkO8JzU8ir8MxTucft230RTj81LjEjRR6Gm_cGH2bz2FKIELx7p79BM-UQkX9BVXT0QQCv_k8DeaCYFzFhvJQg/s400/woodane24.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So it is possible that my presence
got the otters off their usual routine -- then the fishermen out
in the bay. I think it probable that they denned in the East
Trail Pond, went down to South Bay and were possibly on their way
back. Of course, I know they have dens in the cattail marsh. I
assume these are the group of males, even though one seemed
bigger than the others, and even though they beeped and purred so
much. The other supposition would be that they are a family still
together after over a year. If I had seen this group in late
October or November that's what I would say they were. Generally
at this time of year I've seen a lone otter, easy to assume that
it was a male, or two otters, easy to assume they are one year
olds not old enough for mating. Now, I guess, I am assuming that
I saw one adult male and three younger otters. These are
enjoyable conundrums as long as they come after a half hour
watching otters swimming and fishing. </span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-28006705980056473162014-02-11T19:27:00.000-08:002014-02-11T19:27:16.028-08:00June 10 to 14, 2003<span style="font-size: medium;">June 10 I headed off a little after 4 pm
planning to check on otter latrines and then see beavers coming
into the upper Second Swamp Pond with a calm pleasant evening in
store. As I sneaked up on the first creek into South Bay, a heron
flew up from behind the causeway. However, no sign that otters
had been through. No action at the second creek, save for a good
flow of water, so I knew Otter Hole dam had not been repaired
again. An otter had been by, leaving one of the best scent mounds
I've ever seen </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy18-mcmNkXQ5IzHtM2T5JlTqigIOlZ7VXNtyS_TZrI24KLhAfRq6g0tLzLPxAzogVvPFOLCFod8VgMWk2uOCFiPIux09uMrVPB4iZ-u6MXNi5dZB8Z3Ft4QOFCIXmO7Q384_DdxCK2vQ/s1600/scentmd10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy18-mcmNkXQ5IzHtM2T5JlTqigIOlZ7VXNtyS_TZrI24KLhAfRq6g0tLzLPxAzogVvPFOLCFod8VgMWk2uOCFiPIux09uMrVPB4iZ-u6MXNi5dZB8Z3Ft4QOFCIXmO7Q384_DdxCK2vQ/s400/scentmd10.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- a neat pile of grass with a neat squirt of
scat on top, right next to the flowing water.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdhlIzD4SG-taihiHZeEJ4djPlSUkSe9-jfRZtFM86Wev7NHR7pYsopuD2yD44BaoWvLuQbEbKJAUZtWs_54kWoLphdUllrS98Y-19RgyLTRUH3DQhizf_aU6UEA-WbJsPsXZ6-AtMM8/s1600/scentmd10a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdhlIzD4SG-taihiHZeEJ4djPlSUkSe9-jfRZtFM86Wev7NHR7pYsopuD2yD44BaoWvLuQbEbKJAUZtWs_54kWoLphdUllrS98Y-19RgyLTRUH3DQhizf_aU6UEA-WbJsPsXZ6-AtMM8/s400/scentmd10a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, as I walked around the bay I had an
eye out for an otter fishing in the cove. That is where the fish
are. I kayaked around the area two days ago bumping into carp not
quite spawning yet, and eliciting plenty of bubbles that suggest
bullheads are still around. (I also saw a raccoon working the
shore, wading rather far into the water, and heard a fantastic
toad trilling in mid-afternoon.) Today I saw a few carp swishes,
and a common tern working further out in the bay. So I headed for
the East Trail Pond. I went down off the big rock and sat on the
grass ledge half way down where I often wait for otters. I
noticed one new angle. The beavers have reduced the shade in this
area and down where the otters like to sleep. I wonder if that
will make a difference this year. A beaver soon swam out from the
dam area, looked up at me and circled and then slowly swam up
pond, heading for the ferns. However, just a few minutes later a
beaver swam quickly out of that area, going directly to the dam
without casting an eye or nose at me. I bet that it was another
beaver, oblivious to my presence so I looked forward to sneaking
up on it as it worked at the dam, which I did directly, going
slowly to ascertain that geese not otters had matted down the
grass at the old latrine. A little further on the beavers had
matted down and mudded up a good swath of grass, and also a
hole was dug. </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6C2h5_Marqe_m62tsj_PcSxoSdTXI9UFdmB5jmqkfXbMRX2kUHf4QO7ZfLyxveCmIzgOBOS-RREEtlrApFfI61nh-3MDTxV0m_nxtvszq1Bhp3cKKqreuCXGHtvGqNcAIlR732Ka-Gc4/s1600/etbvmuss10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6C2h5_Marqe_m62tsj_PcSxoSdTXI9UFdmB5jmqkfXbMRX2kUHf4QO7ZfLyxveCmIzgOBOS-RREEtlrApFfI61nh-3MDTxV0m_nxtvszq1Bhp3cKKqreuCXGHtvGqNcAIlR732Ka-Gc4/s400/etbvmuss10.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe the beavers are doing this looking for
roots-- raccoons usually make more of a production as they try to
get turtle eggs. Or, of course, turtles might have dug them and
been scared off before they laid or covered up eggs. And then
climbing up the rocks I saw a violet flower I don't recall ever
seeing before, some kind of honeysuckle.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Camcorder ready I lurched up to see the dam and
no beaver was there. The dying wind kicked up a gust now and
then, perhaps one blew my scent to the beaver and instead of
investigating, the beaver simply dove and swam under water to a
lodge. The beavers had also marked where the otters enter the
pond. No fresh otter marking down the ridge, but on top it looked
much more mussed -- but no new scats that I could see. Realizing
that I had to get to the upper Second Swamp Pond without alarming
the beavers, I went to cross Otter Hole Pond dam. Coming down I
saw a deer with fine reddish coat, working the shore. It soon ran
off. The dam still has the same leak. Only thing new was a fine
clump of blue flag iris where I had never seen them before. Going
up beside the ponds I tried to stay inconspicuous and first
checked the otter trail. As I approached I saw a beaver swimming
in the Lost Swamp Pond, as well as two groups of geese, probably
with goslings. Then I saw so much diving I thought an otter might
be out but a big beaver climbed up on a log -- and don't forget
the muskrat sitting on a log motor mouthing some grass. Meanwhile
there was fresh otter scat in a muss of grass close to the pond.
Then I angled up to get a view of the upper Second Swamp Pond and
the little pond above.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Many times I've set out to rendezvous with
beavers and wound up sitting alone for a long time. Today, just
as I reached my vantage point, I saw a beaver swimming up the
pond, setting sun glinting its wake. It swam quickly, was soon
over the dam (though I couldn't quite see that) into and through
the little pond. Mission accomplished -- but it was too nice a
night to just go home. So I sat longer, and heard some wood duck
commotion in the cattails in front of me. Then a muskrat swam out
from the rocks below me to my left (I've always thought there
were burrows down there that even otters used.) Then another
beaver swam up the pond, going slower, diving more and taking
little detours. But it too eventually went over the dam. It
stayed in the pond and even nosed into the channel through the
lush vegetation. Then I had the great notion that the quick
beaver might have continued on to the Lost Swamp. I've been
religious in my belief that the two ponds were starkly different
territory, though once before I had some evidence of a beaver
crossing over. I went up the rocks so I could see the Lost Swamp
Pond and indeed I saw a beaver swimming near the dam, then I
heard some splashing in the little pond above the Second Swamp
Pond so I hurried down to see what was going on -- I may have
even heard some growling. When I got close enough to see what was
going on the splashing stopped, but I heard the bushes and
grasses in front of me moving and indeed a beaver was walking up
and then stopping to eat some greens. It soon paused, sniffed the
air, and me, and turned and went back to the little pond, over
the dam and back down the Second Swamp Pond. I didn't follow
because another beaver was in the little pond and it came up just
where the other beaver had been. So I think there had been a
brief fight for rights to this delicious channel. The second
beaver did more eating, especially of willow, but soon paused,
perked up, smelled me </span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and left just as the other beaver did. Then I
went back to check on the Lost Swamp Pond, where again I saw a beaver
leaving the dam where I think it left some mud or a mark. It then
swam up pond toward the grasses peacefully swimming by two small
muskrats who were swimming to their burrows on the other side of
the lodge. I sat on the old rolling area, among some narrow holes
dug into the ground, and soon enough a large beaver came around
the bend and swam up to the grasses. So I think these were the
Lost Swamp Pond beavers and the territories remain distinct. Going
around the pond, I noticed four emerging mullein enjoying the
view</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The only excitement on the way home was some
blue flag iris on the Big Pond dam -- not as lush as usual.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpU4rVmenZBcLq_l5ZyTMcddZZbN5JggxZh1bCEabDoMUv_dzI9Wzbt2kW0w9Fvoo3oGB3nlt1Nwl8sXrsR4_TDRo1rF7UbNzzCpnNMHAndvwJdahsisqmjpg88JgNfxlRhVw2bZ2KuVw/s1600/iris10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpU4rVmenZBcLq_l5ZyTMcddZZbN5JggxZh1bCEabDoMUv_dzI9Wzbt2kW0w9Fvoo3oGB3nlt1Nwl8sXrsR4_TDRo1rF7UbNzzCpnNMHAndvwJdahsisqmjpg88JgNfxlRhVw2bZ2KuVw/s400/iris10.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Much mud work on the dam, revealing tracks, but
still some leaks. I sat briefly alarming the small birds and
watching two terns diving. On the way home I separated a grouse
family. Nice hike.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 12 Leslie was interested in the red
honeysuckle I found so I invited her to go botanizing with me. We
took the boat over to South Bay, and, of course, the first sport
is to see what the huge carp are up to. They still don't seem to
be spawning. We saw several "hovering" in the shallows</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cCxgXU40HYpsk4aH8imdIuVI4FlabZmi-D3r9s90pQ5-CxbUs3jgD3jeUyoFacvPjTI9ekcY-zcDYppy_2xblXVfXA9gPGbM9wiBLW4roApCHljD_WNUY9vlIahIf22fvxDReE9Z4Z8/s1600/carp12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cCxgXU40HYpsk4aH8imdIuVI4FlabZmi-D3r9s90pQ5-CxbUs3jgD3jeUyoFacvPjTI9ekcY-zcDYppy_2xblXVfXA9gPGbM9wiBLW4roApCHljD_WNUY9vlIahIf22fvxDReE9Z4Z8/s400/carp12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but not chasing each other. Indeed, when we
flushed a duck from the grasses below us, that set the carp to
splashing. We detoured to check for otter scats near the creek
coming down from the second swamp ponds, and there was a fresh
squirt, but no new scent mound. Leslie brought the wildflower
guidebook with us and gamely checked everything blooming. I'll
note the specimens I got a passable photo of including good old
fleabane</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9eebooNKS7nIL_0DUbfw91XIboLRJYA1SyJrnmBbZ3a0AEBdjtzuI2sds8jfeMYP3KYkk3DvlphkyivAKN-nZq9Hu34GkNcekzsq6FdC_k3mSh5lFefrHYJI6MnxVZZMeIV6Wli1EV4/s1600/fleabane12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9eebooNKS7nIL_0DUbfw91XIboLRJYA1SyJrnmBbZ3a0AEBdjtzuI2sds8jfeMYP3KYkk3DvlphkyivAKN-nZq9Hu34GkNcekzsq6FdC_k3mSh5lFefrHYJI6MnxVZZMeIV6Wli1EV4/s400/fleabane12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and speedwell</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30zKJrJEf9PKTt5BVcf5fg8WedeKog6Rztj3dfJzggejFtY-hX8uIiEGjyOXqzH96Py8EpdMXxIoeyDjRHsd0sA6zQZLIj3N2OorsSj2gANPKy_bh9_tL-5o-_DCDbZ64LVn0saOyyGY/s1600/flower12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30zKJrJEf9PKTt5BVcf5fg8WedeKog6Rztj3dfJzggejFtY-hX8uIiEGjyOXqzH96Py8EpdMXxIoeyDjRHsd0sA6zQZLIj3N2OorsSj2gANPKy_bh9_tL-5o-_DCDbZ64LVn0saOyyGY/s400/flower12.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and yellow wood sorrel</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDvW5EPZRdpUAwlXq9T4SBdcbjKsQeg9VTkjNQaXNnGfI7HVctRzft_qF019TDDtMQ54Iw1x9TUJUBbDPshmeg_JIRIwdUehsqKjS3vyPfaTTU_Hy8m6E2a-7zYmLI9h8W_7fZn-PYPk/s1600/ywsorrel12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDvW5EPZRdpUAwlXq9T4SBdcbjKsQeg9VTkjNQaXNnGfI7HVctRzft_qF019TDDtMQ54Iw1x9TUJUBbDPshmeg_JIRIwdUehsqKjS3vyPfaTTU_Hy8m6E2a-7zYmLI9h8W_7fZn-PYPk/s400/ywsorrel12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and she found a characteristic leaf pattern
that allowed her to identify the trumpet honeysuckle</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggY02C-OuyAUziVjXOJvBTdjyFX3PzciRn5WwPyDokvh7J9XI8fS7P-gQD2mF0wQ_dENSQeJ8LLpqFpyUn8TmEiZHhvrRBZHFrGkIeQ4BzLyAtomV-pFpdt3sjqacd_BZWfJaPUAPZwss/s1600/hsuckle12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggY02C-OuyAUziVjXOJvBTdjyFX3PzciRn5WwPyDokvh7J9XI8fS7P-gQD2mF0wQ_dENSQeJ8LLpqFpyUn8TmEiZHhvrRBZHFrGkIeQ4BzLyAtomV-pFpdt3sjqacd_BZWfJaPUAPZwss/s400/hsuckle12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We sat for a while looking at the East Trail
Pond, enjoying battling orioles, swallows, kingbirds, and I spied
what we always look for in this pond -- a Blanding's turtle.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYprfvsvjeYO5Cp5d_yADRubhVmwtp5Cs_Vr7VTZlYQ-4CX-IrfxHlGrTk8GpAdstbkjL0pqc94aJv9C68GoB24jAcGZj43iUEUk6pBX2-bw_gxlU8jQKT-2FIGk-iO7TPaoTEXVOZPU/s1600/bturtle12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYprfvsvjeYO5Cp5d_yADRubhVmwtp5Cs_Vr7VTZlYQ-4CX-IrfxHlGrTk8GpAdstbkjL0pqc94aJv9C68GoB24jAcGZj43iUEUk6pBX2-bw_gxlU8jQKT-2FIGk-iO7TPaoTEXVOZPU/s400/bturtle12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but as I tried to get close for a good photo,
it slipped into the water. I checked the otter latrines and found
nothing new from otters, but at the foot of the trail just off
the pond there was a fresh scat that looks like a fisher scat to
me.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Eg0zLwAR4ymcf9qTxBdPbWsZsAkqffihmK1Th0GheuIyEcA3Ykimpdal6Wer_zr1tCQW-VQNPpyS1-Mre9Olg_-vpN24j5D3okrPxx4PCPFH4Z87XBVOHUnsIY-aqtJ3MEnhfCRwAaw/s1600/scat12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Eg0zLwAR4ymcf9qTxBdPbWsZsAkqffihmK1Th0GheuIyEcA3Ykimpdal6Wer_zr1tCQW-VQNPpyS1-Mre9Olg_-vpN24j5D3okrPxx4PCPFH4Z87XBVOHUnsIY-aqtJ3MEnhfCRwAaw/s400/scat12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">On our way around the upper East Trail Pond,
Leslie found another honeysuckle growing out of the rocks,
tartarian</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbh4Hk_ky8cCrDVHhH2FoKW1tEDAgt9ivdGjAsIL2DxI15zg7NGa9hjbxGtaU4lFsbWgyMcLZKI9vYDQrZyv21WmVXVRNttiVYhAocU32xeZm4Tbi6HRaXnLHubVjbLjv2a1IeJ-EtBQ/s1600/hsuckle12a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbh4Hk_ky8cCrDVHhH2FoKW1tEDAgt9ivdGjAsIL2DxI15zg7NGa9hjbxGtaU4lFsbWgyMcLZKI9vYDQrZyv21WmVXVRNttiVYhAocU32xeZm4Tbi6HRaXnLHubVjbLjv2a1IeJ-EtBQ/s400/hsuckle12a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">but it had no flowers. Closer to the pond we found
some old deer bones, well bleached</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbosb10WtXlYcgsODR2xY6eiXP2xvWEIZY3I0xA2a4XNk63emCg7tcFK5r0d_niK0QHZeRqQeILoFy_bYoDAkRKxkTEau-_C6fcVftMtlC0Chgxt7oESahTbT3GxAdYJGF3wRLulsxJ0/s1600/skull12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbosb10WtXlYcgsODR2xY6eiXP2xvWEIZY3I0xA2a4XNk63emCg7tcFK5r0d_niK0QHZeRqQeILoFy_bYoDAkRKxkTEau-_C6fcVftMtlC0Chgxt7oESahTbT3GxAdYJGF3wRLulsxJ0/s400/skull12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">we recalled the days when we would have eagerly
taken all the bones home. We got down to the pond shore near
the old beaver lodge where I've seen muskrats, and this winter,
otter slides.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPOXtVhnQyOe870UaAr8GlSGqK-eKZDGS0Sjqum7lboOROz6UEfatZ14_BQKn8PV4fTzFUjL8BSGC0Rjz4s51QZXspl2sQphTNAcitfsbeeWzJxklrs-g3JfU88w-iVLD8FJ_rAMy9DA/s1600/oldlodge12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPOXtVhnQyOe870UaAr8GlSGqK-eKZDGS0Sjqum7lboOROz6UEfatZ14_BQKn8PV4fTzFUjL8BSGC0Rjz4s51QZXspl2sQphTNAcitfsbeeWzJxklrs-g3JfU88w-iVLD8FJ_rAMy9DA/s400/oldlodge12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There are two holes in the ground going down
into the burrows behind the lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp3arYcdkHnBwS46eUXO3GukAH07g33HAqFGrQn2oRrqP_1E_T3iXB5Fwzuvg-yMQDUwbsJPjThyg5fcWw4gRFmxWtE7KCPq41Z7bfT4DR-gRHswjXK_um3IJGXCDll9wRDJ6bGGfhZg/s1600/hole12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkp3arYcdkHnBwS46eUXO3GukAH07g33HAqFGrQn2oRrqP_1E_T3iXB5Fwzuvg-yMQDUwbsJPjThyg5fcWw4gRFmxWtE7KCPq41Z7bfT4DR-gRHswjXK_um3IJGXCDll9wRDJ6bGGfhZg/s400/hole12.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7NcY1EelVbqbBFpmw_vKTkQVgJgkC1LM33jEAMvCn9NNO1LBBI8I0K5x1qrsLSCIkDOdwmjH8mNm14h3SDykQA30jvsdIx-fpeFOcssoxyh_ZH9XcHnxFPeWekDWng91LD_3C5DHwBA/s1600/hole12a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ7NcY1EelVbqbBFpmw_vKTkQVgJgkC1LM33jEAMvCn9NNO1LBBI8I0K5x1qrsLSCIkDOdwmjH8mNm14h3SDykQA30jvsdIx-fpeFOcssoxyh_ZH9XcHnxFPeWekDWng91LD_3C5DHwBA/s400/hole12a.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign of anything using it now, and even the
channels coming from the pond seemed unused. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokoWB_qUEG9ywVQ_WN_g1x0_iIWnGj1sm66flYsOMbnR7D3WQkzOSfs1te4uy3b-gEPs1HiFcF2TYqL4ma4hDncmbU1ChWiqw1CaX2xptKSxZguhBVSGthURI_ASU7gXeVQw_d2z5QU0/s1600/etchan12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokoWB_qUEG9ywVQ_WN_g1x0_iIWnGj1sm66flYsOMbnR7D3WQkzOSfs1te4uy3b-gEPs1HiFcF2TYqL4ma4hDncmbU1ChWiqw1CaX2xptKSxZguhBVSGthURI_ASU7gXeVQw_d2z5QU0/s400/etchan12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There continues to be work around the Thicket
Pond, and the beavers have put some sticks on the old lodge.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRSf3NDzIroI5vEzr0EpoVa6-gPnx6Y3MQ5oDnED6__e678mhEUQC0Iombu40gA-7WHmPrJA31roFx9tccNvkGWJHR7wJyIVIZeQXS8cn0ibEbnaDcFq9Mr1ofL5byWTvvz4qMWfp2Xw/s1600/tplodge12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRSf3NDzIroI5vEzr0EpoVa6-gPnx6Y3MQ5oDnED6__e678mhEUQC0Iombu40gA-7WHmPrJA31roFx9tccNvkGWJHR7wJyIVIZeQXS8cn0ibEbnaDcFq9Mr1ofL5byWTvvz4qMWfp2Xw/s400/tplodge12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'll have to come here in the evening and try
to see a beaver lurking on it. The trail up from Meander
Pond is not only well worn, but the beavers chewed down the
rotten logs in the way.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHsqCN29io-TU7khF7yiuNf7CWCZMORyMAKVmtuKJYnlgHjYEhdYVKj6AN0czoOx3jzvRw6PV1K7TybiI0Oi10c5FFE1gcqBiHa9cOU4hq9kLHqHt8NFn3ZfjPjTy0LszsWR5PaIRI6uU/s1600/mptrail12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHsqCN29io-TU7khF7yiuNf7CWCZMORyMAKVmtuKJYnlgHjYEhdYVKj6AN0czoOx3jzvRw6PV1K7TybiI0Oi10c5FFE1gcqBiHa9cOU4hq9kLHqHt8NFn3ZfjPjTy0LszsWR5PaIRI6uU/s400/mptrail12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">We went around Meander Pond on the north side
affording a better view of the beautiful cliffs there</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16d9VvZm-nc4ZhDHslL0vMbLDhWMsKdUWyvTE4lxJX1mfFtl7ZUGqCHaqIJJlc9aGDEdL1rqFEWq7lMVrt4Uz9FmX52jEjwvNXB5KlujePHdg5ddMcMv1-JrL2-EXQeynnQeI-c0d1Oo/s1600/cliff12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16d9VvZm-nc4ZhDHslL0vMbLDhWMsKdUWyvTE4lxJX1mfFtl7ZUGqCHaqIJJlc9aGDEdL1rqFEWq7lMVrt4Uz9FmX52jEjwvNXB5KlujePHdg5ddMcMv1-JrL2-EXQeynnQeI-c0d1Oo/s400/cliff12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">only the lichen didn't look vigorous.
Looking the other way, we admired the blue flag irises in front
of the well tended beaver lodge</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_J1Zu0S0_C2SOfznu1zRzyGh3Psr6iRIxZ8yi5AI6HKsjbHEz4PoKL6NARM0N1bYxr8dsg99bO1hHhHh-ridVuF9K0pypZA-DZvqU4qmR0Lo_WFnKu1yAtdCmlnYbdvZnVc2ABg7YUOs/s1600/blueflag12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_J1Zu0S0_C2SOfznu1zRzyGh3Psr6iRIxZ8yi5AI6HKsjbHEz4PoKL6NARM0N1bYxr8dsg99bO1hHhHh-ridVuF9K0pypZA-DZvqU4qmR0Lo_WFnKu1yAtdCmlnYbdvZnVc2ABg7YUOs/s400/blueflag12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This pond continues to have plenty of water,
but, the Short-cut Trail pond remains dry. I expected to see
goslings around Audubon Pond and we did -- two families munching
the fresh grass in the pond just above Audubon Pond. Not much
happening in that big pond, but we did see this beautiful silvery
blue butterfly, closed</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9_wz5GyW6t09wsKW4xp-W5fWTSJJNLvRb4_PqfCqNTdMG9POKFq_7mEX0jfKNjmBA93t9a3e2gFzBcmqexOCVDIObYINQobtHRSFLRO7yCuTuF726H18DY46ssuAJVmcxG0vU7979og/s1600/bfly12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl9_wz5GyW6t09wsKW4xp-W5fWTSJJNLvRb4_PqfCqNTdMG9POKFq_7mEX0jfKNjmBA93t9a3e2gFzBcmqexOCVDIObYINQobtHRSFLRO7yCuTuF726H18DY46ssuAJVmcxG0vU7979og/s400/bfly12.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and opened</span><br />
<br />
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<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 14 I headed off in the boat a little after
6 pm. I paused at the rock off the headland because there was a
merganser sitting there along with a gull. We had another couple
inches of rain yesterday. The paths were wet, the creeks running.
I couldn't even cross over to check for otter scat. When I got up
to the rock overlooking the East Trail Pond, I saw some broad
ripples and then a beaver splashed me as it swam off the point
where they had been marking. I walked down, earning more
splashes, and getting a closer look</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After splashing and weaving before me in
displeasure, the beaver swam across the pond and briefly went up
on the green grass, humped over a clump of grass -- a brief
marking, then swam back to me and started splashing me again. It
was not to be deterred from its imperatives. The heavy rain has
broken up all the duck weed, and, of course, brought water
brimming along the dam</span><br />
<br />
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Quite beautiful, but I wanted to
check on the Second Swamp Pond beavers to see if the blind beaver
is still in that colony. I checked the otter trail for scat, well
knowing that with the heavy rain and damp ground it would be hard
to see anything fresh. Since the dam was brimming I decided to
cross the creek on the logs down where I fancy the otters
sometimes den. The growth of a sticker made it dicey getting onto
the log and then, just as I was over the middle of the creek, I
saw a large wet oozing scat on the log</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It also dripped down the side of
the log. I stuck a stick in it, brought it up for a quick whiff.
Didn't smell like otter scat but certainly looks more like an
otter's doing -- unless a raccoon was having stomach trouble. The
ground around the creek was wet, and under a log I saw two slugs
have quite a time on top of a mushroom</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't notice the little green
worms until I looked at the photo. I angled toward the Second
Swamp Pond so that I'd come up on the knoll behind the beaver
lodge. Up on the top of the knoll I was greeted by a raccoon dig
out</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMTqhKPUxEuBaWe0Nn4xYZAJ-PEFGKRUtEkq5U_hZlY3c0G8JeR0cZphcN6hq4-4W7yMNibkPPyjdto-GCZlal0C9OA_8rWOBqiDsWl7_I3pDU6dIlaR906RhnLl7HxCgPY0MO2eRkc0/s1600/eggdig14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMTqhKPUxEuBaWe0Nn4xYZAJ-PEFGKRUtEkq5U_hZlY3c0G8JeR0cZphcN6hq4-4W7yMNibkPPyjdto-GCZlal0C9OA_8rWOBqiDsWl7_I3pDU6dIlaR906RhnLl7HxCgPY0MO2eRkc0/s400/eggdig14.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and one of the holes did have turtle eggs
which the raccoon devoured -- I didn't get a good photo of it. I
looked down at the lodge and saw that it had been dug out.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday, on our land and in the
rain, I saw a snapping turtle digging out a nest on the
beaver lodge. By putting so much mud on a lodge beavers are
inviting this. As I stood on the knoll the wind was swirling
behind me so I decided to sit half way down the slope, propping
my legs against a cedar. Then the wind crossed me, heading east,
which, I feared, would ruin my beaver watching because the
beavers returning from foraging up pond would easily smell me.
But I hoped to see the blind beaver, and I reasoned that it was
unlikely to be one of the beavers charging up pond, and seeing it
bump into logs around the lodge would be the easiest way to
identify it. First the muskrats entertained me -- one coming out
of the little burrow just to my right and another bringing a
mouthful of grass across the pond </span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and taking it into the beaver
lodge. Last year I thought the muskrats used a different entrance
to the lodge -- not the same one the beavers generally used. And,
of course, the old conundrum: why do the muskrats go all the way
across the pond to get grass that is abundant close by? When the
muskrat went in the lodge, I set my timer to see how long it'd
stay in. In 10 1/2 minutes it was back out, saw me, thrashed its
tail and went back in the lodge. But meanwhile I was being
distracted by beavers. I saw one cruising down from the east,
just as I feared, nose up, but when I thought it should smell me,
it veered toward the shore, not away from it. Then to my
amazement it continued on, swimming right below me, and then
getting out of the water to sniff, I thought me, and then rooting
around on the shore. I hadn't noticed that a scent mound that was
right below me.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCl-l0vXST0tXEzkuLXFfKpaYiaMEWJYF7SfLARrtCkerRY9nH7oE-HNo3ttAN-v1wCQk4BdPSsypZ_rrw6BtTw8jj7yMAbM7mmJAetmKWFEGiZCCtao9j5mYTKI_tbwOyd3_zKMyAhQ/s1600/scentmd14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCl-l0vXST0tXEzkuLXFfKpaYiaMEWJYF7SfLARrtCkerRY9nH7oE-HNo3ttAN-v1wCQk4BdPSsypZ_rrw6BtTw8jj7yMAbM7mmJAetmKWFEGiZCCtao9j5mYTKI_tbwOyd3_zKMyAhQ/s400/scentmd14.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got good video of its sniffing, and how it
sniffed a few feet around the mound,</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtU1_6OFZ_WPKjha4aekYubOuKT6gmpccME6X7FModbZcAlcpo02KcAg0U30F21xj-0J-hKXhkpWLOjUoVz35c2XcDG4mr9mLOAWEiF60O-z7JBRUUjrM2a9td6xy8nwfaALSauigOSjk/s1600/bvsniff14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtU1_6OFZ_WPKjha4aekYubOuKT6gmpccME6X7FModbZcAlcpo02KcAg0U30F21xj-0J-hKXhkpWLOjUoVz35c2XcDG4mr9mLOAWEiF60O-z7JBRUUjrM2a9td6xy8nwfaALSauigOSjk/s400/bvsniff14.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then the beaver walked over the mound but I
don't think it marked the mound. It continued swimming down pond,
going around the bend of the knoll so I couldn't see it. Would it
come back? In about ten minutes a beaver reappeared, emerging
from the water, so I couldn't be sure if it was that beaver
returning, or another coming out of the lodge. It swam straight
for the dam, seemed to check it briefly, and then disappeared
into the grasses in the southwest corner of the pond. Then there
was some confusion but I eventually did see two beavers
patrolling the dam. One, I think, eventually went over and the
other did some curious leaping into the pond. Then another beaver
swam down from the east, and this one smelled me, veered out into
the middle of the pond and splashed its tail.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNt5ZZw4eqSJgGaUVTzrofAMwhnbN8pe7hABrbfVwmrAY9_ufiaT3Psf1jAC3eUxSam1DU9x7SsMPoAKVOkf6qq2hnq9AynPPtdORT-4L7XqZhYU9CsWIOuTvjpfXTDGonN4rgrFTqlxY/s1600/splash14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNt5ZZw4eqSJgGaUVTzrofAMwhnbN8pe7hABrbfVwmrAY9_ufiaT3Psf1jAC3eUxSam1DU9x7SsMPoAKVOkf6qq2hnq9AynPPtdORT-4L7XqZhYU9CsWIOuTvjpfXTDGonN4rgrFTqlxY/s400/splash14.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It dove and I lost it for a number
of minutes, then I saw a beaver on the far side of the pond
swimming down to the dam. It went up to the dam as if to go over
and then thought better of it, and swam off into the grasses,
where I had seen another beaver go. Then a beaver swam out of
that area, and went along the dam to the north. Meanwhile I was
losing light, which made it more difficult to keep track of the
beavers. Then just before I was about to leave, indeed I was
standing up to leave, I saw a beaver come over the dam and swim
directly toward me. I looked forward to seeing it dive into the
lodge, but as it approached it slowed and I feared it saw me. It
dove, and I saw bubbles, but not leading to the lodge. The beaver
surfaced below, swam to the scent mound, emerged with an armful
of grass, put that up on the scent mound,</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">climbed over it, turned, and
climbed over it again, this time shaking and rubbing its butt on
the mound.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3YSdCD1pa6Bu69QCnBbGAnCPRx4eGEhsBhDFjc7Fxn7fEH6L04FqfcI4jdUf4fIP1TuprPYpzx-u96HkxSVcPk9YyearrOH_p1PG-_kwb_mliHjkCIN9zft9CZZoyMk1Q9eib6VgI1o/s1600/bvmarking14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3YSdCD1pa6Bu69QCnBbGAnCPRx4eGEhsBhDFjc7Fxn7fEH6L04FqfcI4jdUf4fIP1TuprPYpzx-u96HkxSVcPk9YyearrOH_p1PG-_kwb_mliHjkCIN9zft9CZZoyMk1Q9eib6VgI1o/s400/bvmarking14.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqAN1o_8JcHHgsVFHu7ajtHy7twSGUvU2zOQDsDaD2wDVpGcw0ypSjcgn_vJ0i-iELGzKvrU9ZB9S-riV32l0NYbvlnsuIhyy-yKS-i1Qvu1jPMc_Bfha8VFVM0kELqbkN4D3gTP88IvY/s1600/bvmarking14a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqAN1o_8JcHHgsVFHu7ajtHy7twSGUvU2zOQDsDaD2wDVpGcw0ypSjcgn_vJ0i-iELGzKvrU9ZB9S-riV32l0NYbvlnsuIhyy-yKS-i1Qvu1jPMc_Bfha8VFVM0kELqbkN4D3gTP88IvY/s400/bvmarking14a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had never seen marking so well
-- and had the camcorder running.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7hEVPYYEJMU?rel=0" width="480"></iframe></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It plunged into the pond and,
after ignoring me so long, finally, its duty done, gave me a long
look, first as a floating log and then splashing. As I walked
away it continued splashing. It was getting dark but I still
managed this photo of a blue flag iris -- it was out of the pond
and so irresistible </span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuuQCLVpQzmMwFbeVn7wtt_eXnax4T1Em9QsoeDjtbmDpsFoaUPqqauKWrTMNfN1iKAI8jTaxoJV_gX_-Pn0ByDMcI7GAwlM8xGEG8Dnes_fZMsDcZaWH21RAmUG6rIW-22x70M2efQA/s1600/bfiris14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuuQCLVpQzmMwFbeVn7wtt_eXnax4T1Em9QsoeDjtbmDpsFoaUPqqauKWrTMNfN1iKAI8jTaxoJV_gX_-Pn0ByDMcI7GAwlM8xGEG8Dnes_fZMsDcZaWH21RAmUG6rIW-22x70M2efQA/s400/bfiris14.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went around the north end of the
East Trail Pond, reasoning that would be drier in the dark. I
danced along on fallen trees, and escaped without a great
soaking. I was also curious to see if beavers were in those small
ponds to the east of the East Trail Pond -- didn't see any muddy
canals. Walking around the lodge, I did notice a fresh trail in
the wet grass, coming down to the pond, narrow, more like an
otter trail. First I walked down the trail and saw that the
critter did go in the water. There was a stick with a dollop of
wet grass on it beside the fresh trail. Then I followed the trail
up the hill, a route otters used in the winter. It didn't lead to
any fresh beaver work. I'll have to check the ponds up the
plateau to see if otters have been there. Then I got on the East
Trail and up atop the ridge between the East Trail Pond and
Shangri-la Pond, the raccoons again did a lot of digging, and
managed to find some eggs.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi5CkfyVTXGSM6UxcBXpseCuPJR7Oq-2R-BXt_0vl6gh86rphj7JjUFA6sJGTVN8lWCSlGGbTC6eb-aiNX9htmSMt55X7KQxAH9JmikembOUJHCvZEJd7eTZQZz7r3VFT3CSx-5sB0l0/s1600/teggs14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi5CkfyVTXGSM6UxcBXpseCuPJR7Oq-2R-BXt_0vl6gh86rphj7JjUFA6sJGTVN8lWCSlGGbTC6eb-aiNX9htmSMt55X7KQxAH9JmikembOUJHCvZEJd7eTZQZz7r3VFT3CSx-5sB0l0/s400/teggs14.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That's a good 50 foot climb for turtles coming
from the ponds. Instead of staying on the trail, I walked along
Thicket Pond, where I didn't see a beaver, nor hear one above the
din made by the tree frogs, but the pond had the look of a beaver
using it.</span>Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-23114660927761071622014-02-05T20:51:00.000-08:002014-02-05T20:51:30.259-08:00May 30 to June 6, 2003<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 30 We had light rain yesterday
which stymied my hope to get out and see some beavers in the
evening. But this morning there was a rare outbreak of sun, and
warming up as I headed off for the ponds. I moved under the
warbling vireo and came down to the South Bay trail, still damp
and puddled from the more or less week of rain we've had. I
didn't see anymore fish parts, but there was fresh scat in the
same area the otters used before. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_R2xM5DuHLgJ4d1TsjgG3X0Oej_cHD-98zEhSt96piF9_NswlDncz4DwtDO9iC2NLUpe9WrAjONm55JrNU7eu-yJDLM2OZNH-dBphntuX4ubNUV6vhRwVaH1PYumkGZqwfD0qVQMKlNg/s1600/scatm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_R2xM5DuHLgJ4d1TsjgG3X0Oej_cHD-98zEhSt96piF9_NswlDncz4DwtDO9iC2NLUpe9WrAjONm55JrNU7eu-yJDLM2OZNH-dBphntuX4ubNUV6vhRwVaH1PYumkGZqwfD0qVQMKlNg/s400/scatm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But on a rock and so moist that I
had to kick it to make sure it was not just mud from the trail. I
decided to follow an otter's possible path up the creek.
Unfortunately this spring everything is too wet, making it
difficult to discern an otter path through the grass, and the
creek is overflowing so there are no stretches of mud to take the
impression of prints.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_Dozt7XB9b9qIXhNPP4aV6XiRuN1g6H1jSLDon0js_tdb61849piF52whBsYFAsHDvjwcbx7ouGSUz3R18fsqp-pNpoh5B1KZ4p7xzEceeI2MuqUD4TEi6AZvyN3fkkSVTF5RocTcV0/s1600/firstcreekm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_Dozt7XB9b9qIXhNPP4aV6XiRuN1g6H1jSLDon0js_tdb61849piF52whBsYFAsHDvjwcbx7ouGSUz3R18fsqp-pNpoh5B1KZ4p7xzEceeI2MuqUD4TEi6AZvyN3fkkSVTF5RocTcV0/s400/firstcreekm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Two years ago at about this time,
during a dry spring, I was able to see an otter's route up this
valley and eventually saw the male otter making the tour. Today,
all I could do was take some photos showing how untouched this
area is by beavers, </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGZso6YFiaWCbwOdsjqCtUPl-rMsB1g7f2f_WJMyHCMm68teEjx4x4TbepZKv9SCiTaBEi1H01gOhLvHJcaY5ZBTYXf1rMTaphy-fkZmCMYqk-v-YKC_EifHXPAZ1f_LsR8fCYSKw4rY/s1600/lowfirstpondm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIGZso6YFiaWCbwOdsjqCtUPl-rMsB1g7f2f_WJMyHCMm68teEjx4x4TbepZKv9SCiTaBEi1H01gOhLvHJcaY5ZBTYXf1rMTaphy-fkZmCMYqk-v-YKC_EifHXPAZ1f_LsR8fCYSKw4rY/s400/lowfirstpondm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">who had created the series of ponds
back in 1993 and 1994, much to my delight because it brought the
beavers very close to me. The photo above shows the lowest pond
the beavers had a lodge in. The photo below shows the Middle
Pond. When the beavers were around all the meadow below was a
pond too. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTsHXr5czBjojFw_noYvS-MRP3Q78M6FOp_nRqCeK2ujzcxa7CGXK8ok7QfgWzu-t_zbETPL7fqqYjEQizoHToooS5-o_iF7nLNVJU_XSjWmEM1v4BxqmoI77f8ph-gDqsfMzO3FMPjA/s1600/middlepondm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTsHXr5czBjojFw_noYvS-MRP3Q78M6FOp_nRqCeK2ujzcxa7CGXK8ok7QfgWzu-t_zbETPL7fqqYjEQizoHToooS5-o_iF7nLNVJU_XSjWmEM1v4BxqmoI77f8ph-gDqsfMzO3FMPjA/s400/middlepondm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The beavers are still using the
Double Lodge Pond, not exactly tending the small dam which was
overflowing from the water coming down the creek from the ridge
behind the golf course, but bringing in willow and nannyberry and
leaving piles of nibbled sticks.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkNefGRR8TRZyJhofjNHQ1zE4-N1JUlDuPH7rZ8j-mxbHJR1iAsTvdiJFGdM4QS6JHVkSmrKM184l_uWTfbRcqf40GtPwJg8GC3Vn-kDq0IgcuakGYjjhJUXhYNBjZ7ooCt034Fe7f54/s1600/dldamm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkNefGRR8TRZyJhofjNHQ1zE4-N1JUlDuPH7rZ8j-mxbHJR1iAsTvdiJFGdM4QS6JHVkSmrKM184l_uWTfbRcqf40GtPwJg8GC3Vn-kDq0IgcuakGYjjhJUXhYNBjZ7ooCt034Fe7f54/s400/dldamm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were also two sets of
goslings in the pond, one with about 8 goslings and the other
with just 2 or 3.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNdCQ7wsmHDzLFp0ARToxPvNaCJHeLfAHFYg3IknexGMRmJOFEK5jvRoKC0yVfARvdTJ3nHHKLGzXFwNlnm2Kl6bzueWht31V8P8IEeuGkyjOqL7s5-3NpSKbrOZUeRKk_DW8E15VwTM/s1600/geesem30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNdCQ7wsmHDzLFp0ARToxPvNaCJHeLfAHFYg3IknexGMRmJOFEK5jvRoKC0yVfARvdTJ3nHHKLGzXFwNlnm2Kl6bzueWht31V8P8IEeuGkyjOqL7s5-3NpSKbrOZUeRKk_DW8E15VwTM/s400/geesem30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I followed them up to the Big Pond
dam and got some video of them climbing over the dam. There's
something very engaging about the way geese manage their charges
in such a situation, gently nodding, and murmuring in an
undertone while keeping just ahead of the goslings. I was
chagrined at how far they fled, going to the far end of the huge
Big Pond. The dam still has water flowing over it so there wasn't
much mud for otter prints. Nor was there any scat that I could
see. Before, when I crossed the dam, I credited muskrats for
trimming the broad leaves of the cattails. Now I see that they
are cut so high that the deer must be doing it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-kSdMv2mEzaX1hDqYb0Xq9C-myhzyGFVMVysVMZpD86eOJSvYTYf8m9Rb7dIn__d4At8ViFQw0uKCPLjQC_7P6IWPrcNPK1ovv6Wo4tlvEyU5zVsO_R1otwd_yu3O-Fm3US2Imu9uqA/s1600/deertrimm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-kSdMv2mEzaX1hDqYb0Xq9C-myhzyGFVMVysVMZpD86eOJSvYTYf8m9Rb7dIn__d4At8ViFQw0uKCPLjQC_7P6IWPrcNPK1ovv6Wo4tlvEyU5zVsO_R1otwd_yu3O-Fm3US2Imu9uqA/s400/deertrimm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I crossed the dam a deer fled
from the grasses below the dam, and, as usual, I could see deer
prints all along the dam. I went up to the lodge where the nearby
shore had been caked with otter scat. Now all that is flooded and
there were no signs of otters up there, and no sign that the
beavers have been using the lodge either.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0lfLxcCCSnBnbNmQMBMs3JDuNpXTGpZcUyGFwcAbq19m1KFOgpeYGtEKL-5BppKceVus5dgyd4-5ZwXfYSEs0Z0BGb8oZe6ZPgWNhia4k7XLLZrDVzmWOiOb1N4v9_PT5kECqpl8CT8/s1600/bplodgem30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0lfLxcCCSnBnbNmQMBMs3JDuNpXTGpZcUyGFwcAbq19m1KFOgpeYGtEKL-5BppKceVus5dgyd4-5ZwXfYSEs0Z0BGb8oZe6ZPgWNhia4k7XLLZrDVzmWOiOb1N4v9_PT5kECqpl8CT8/s400/bplodgem30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had hoped to get to this pond
last night to see what was going on with the beavers. Of course
the damp conditions have unloosed a legion of mushrooms. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EuBwQuF1KBzrNo0jfD2qOpwzef1BRuPAMjbTadsxZaL5Zybr5Qoh-Npnf8RJ_NO1FHeDxxvBJPyZsXaHCGm1GjX-8gcOOBi9iARr3UWH_iwlvg0u-v8Y2aJOQTmvJAOnL-HeOZARWuk/s1600/mroomsm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6EuBwQuF1KBzrNo0jfD2qOpwzef1BRuPAMjbTadsxZaL5Zybr5Qoh-Npnf8RJ_NO1FHeDxxvBJPyZsXaHCGm1GjX-8gcOOBi9iARr3UWH_iwlvg0u-v8Y2aJOQTmvJAOnL-HeOZARWuk/s400/mroomsm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The Lost Swamp Pond might have
presented an interesting spectacle before I came, but my arrival
sent three heron, who had been fishing together, flying off in
different directions. Four geese steadily moved away, and I was
more or less left alone until a kingbird showed up and a muskrat
did some foraging. I saw the latter seemingly cruising from the
den on the north shore and going all the way to the point of
grassy land that almost divides the pond. Then I saw it swimming
back and expected it to swim back to the north shore, but it dove
near some logs in the middle of the pond, came up with some
greens, climbed on a log and began eating.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoEwLzkRVPFQY4gg_d2MiY5NlHGG60OSBJdV7FGqI9btKFdfxAcSiYVzRoN1tNbmOTA_BY5An4II5o41RTjS4dzk5gL-gVheqUCelQJzLM9f3vv1I4hdEDkd8ynvMuZqqcHYFIFgTS_k/s1600/mratm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKoEwLzkRVPFQY4gg_d2MiY5NlHGG60OSBJdV7FGqI9btKFdfxAcSiYVzRoN1tNbmOTA_BY5An4II5o41RTjS4dzk5gL-gVheqUCelQJzLM9f3vv1I4hdEDkd8ynvMuZqqcHYFIFgTS_k/s400/mratm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">It also did some brief scratching
with its back leg which just reminded me of how seldom I see
muskrats grooming, compared to beavers. It dove for three
mouthfuls before I decided I had to move on. While this was going
on a blackbird landed on a log in front of me, stabbed what
looked like a fish and flew off. I didn't get the camcorder on in
time to see what it caught. I checked the north slope and trail
over to the Second Swamp Pond for fresh otter scat and couldn't
find any big new piles. Nor were there any scats along the shore
up to the dam. I crossed the upper Second Swamp Pond dam and
found that not only had beavers firmed up the larger dam, their
engineering had also slowed smaller leaks.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo43vtCdWFyHEeAdLWxbRLIuOdTzbeU2uNux-4Rgj_WA9FV3vrpp0ovOnDluXkPP3IE5wZvJMdhOamCkJKbBp42FOUJQXV5sji-I4ZNPmoQpMikL4Wr29vREIyv_QJJPCK2a-TBX6BcS8/s1600/upspdamm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo43vtCdWFyHEeAdLWxbRLIuOdTzbeU2uNux-4Rgj_WA9FV3vrpp0ovOnDluXkPP3IE5wZvJMdhOamCkJKbBp42FOUJQXV5sji-I4ZNPmoQpMikL4Wr29vREIyv_QJJPCK2a-TBX6BcS8/s400/upspdamm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The four sticks behind are
testament to the persistence of the rain, usually a push of
grasses would do fine to contain the water. I headed up to the
Third Ponds and had to tax my memory to see if there was any
fresh beaver work. The poplar and red oaks looked about the same,
but closer to the last and largest of the ponds, there was a
downed ironwood that had just been cut,</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_vwzbQ1wGSxx905wKCOc7HIJn1AfOVDYe9iOqwgkSVEG8ZoQXxP3PwXHCWKI0loERlZVd5tz9yLoR8vvxyEGDrP_kDAjFty_l8FsiwnogP3o2MTAfck7ze9KPWDSQqtLCt1YJhFRqY8/s1600/tpbvwkm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_vwzbQ1wGSxx905wKCOc7HIJn1AfOVDYe9iOqwgkSVEG8ZoQXxP3PwXHCWKI0loERlZVd5tz9yLoR8vvxyEGDrP_kDAjFty_l8FsiwnogP3o2MTAfck7ze9KPWDSQqtLCt1YJhFRqY8/s400/tpbvwkm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">plus there were paths made by the
beavers coming up from the pond,</span></div>
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<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and at least one stripped stick in
the pond. Heading down to the East Trail Pond, I saw a group of
about eight morels, half knocked down,</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdTtZ6mVKXTdi049_6thZ49LDXn5DplJdlTkyINsG8UeW8Z1oCi4u0fBUZFiBE1uTSSehnVaZkhsfFJkryPxySxOYmSCQWMf_e85a40J04GaSEjl89Y3Spae6UGQjhyphenhyphenEs44h6MeS7Mi8/s1600/morrellsm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdTtZ6mVKXTdi049_6thZ49LDXn5DplJdlTkyINsG8UeW8Z1oCi4u0fBUZFiBE1uTSSehnVaZkhsfFJkryPxySxOYmSCQWMf_e85a40J04GaSEjl89Y3Spae6UGQjhyphenhyphenEs44h6MeS7Mi8/s400/morrellsm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and one, as I found when I turned
it over, feeding a slug. </span></div>
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<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The East Trail Pond was quiet,
save for a cameo appearance by a flycatcher. Last year I noticed
them nesting in a hole almost on top of a dead tree trunk. One
came flying in, sat on top of the trunk with a big white thing in
its mouth,</span></div>
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<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">looked around, and flew into the
hole (just when I clicked off the camcorder.) When I crossed the
dam I saw an otter scent mound closer to the pond, just under the
downed tree trunk that otters over the years have enjoyed
scatting under, on and around.</span></div>
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<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Up on the ridge, it looked like
the latrine had been freshened and in one area of dirt, I thought
I could discern otter tracks heading down toward Otter Hole Pond,
but that's a tough call. I checked on Otter Hole Pond and ears
alone were able to ascertain that the dam still leaked. The wild
geraniums are blooming</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7CzS5H_xR_MJfx8PgN48koR52i2d35b5bzBQofz3rpcd0fu9hlrdEwRisGE2iQz_ALTMWOm1ib8P28DyvTfMP6zkp1iRWk_17jpAaPpAzvFYvKV_hnUMb9J3OOdiOUyiJGpxdxuapok/s1600/wgeraniumm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7CzS5H_xR_MJfx8PgN48koR52i2d35b5bzBQofz3rpcd0fu9hlrdEwRisGE2iQz_ALTMWOm1ib8P28DyvTfMP6zkp1iRWk_17jpAaPpAzvFYvKV_hnUMb9J3OOdiOUyiJGpxdxuapok/s400/wgeraniumm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked all the way down past
Beaver Point Pond and the New Pond, and it was worth it. I found
fresh otter scat about ten feet from the still rushing creek.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uAz4hhTaKPzE5S67TVJufashtr6XPmLpEzocAFQhEpOpAb4LnlZ3HIHD80e157z2PkAgSqx1KS4OuZDckd3JK3XlgjyYtwjiXf8HLVPYrXghH43BCsRUOXiRqyDZO0Ueqq3B0M0-8Jc/s1600/creekscatm30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uAz4hhTaKPzE5S67TVJufashtr6XPmLpEzocAFQhEpOpAb4LnlZ3HIHD80e157z2PkAgSqx1KS4OuZDckd3JK3XlgjyYtwjiXf8HLVPYrXghH43BCsRUOXiRqyDZO0Ueqq3B0M0-8Jc/s400/creekscatm30.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Although I know the otters come
through this area, I've rarely found scat. So, as best as I can
determine, I am now tracking a touring otter that marks the
interior ponds most every day but probably does most of its
fishing in South Bay. Indeed, two days ago I kayaked around the
bay, and when I cruised into the coves where the creeks come in,
the mud bubbled with fish. The large carp are also moving in.
However, I didn't see any scat at the rock and under the willow
where the otters scatted last year. Nor was there any scat along
the Narrows, save for one point of rock where I caught a whiff of
scat as I paddled by. I investigated and there may be scat up
there. I'll have to go by foot and check -- another day.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 1 a busy then rainy day
yesterday. A cold, cloudy morning, then, chomping at the bit, I
headed off a little before 3 pm just as the sun was coming out.
It was remarkably calm and quiet as the clouds moved off. The
north winds didn't pick up for an hour or so. On the TI Park
ridge I saw an adult deer with a reddish coat. She (probably)
stood looking at me and I approached slowly, but she ran off before
I got a photo. Fawns will be dropping soon. Down on the South Bay
trail there was more fresh otter scat, solid scat on the rock
that had runny scat before</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG23yCxGTGOB44PnbplAa6SX07Pk_HFcOORP52CB8neiOwvp2iI7MV9WGwp2R4JczIdFCjSWU4d4MqmFXe5VZHFbFhSs9wAvVwvuWGQA7hzxwnzjit48t0uch3uAEw5xk0Pg-HZpxcQ1Q/s1600/scat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG23yCxGTGOB44PnbplAa6SX07Pk_HFcOORP52CB8neiOwvp2iI7MV9WGwp2R4JczIdFCjSWU4d4MqmFXe5VZHFbFhSs9wAvVwvuWGQA7hzxwnzjit48t0uch3uAEw5xk0Pg-HZpxcQ1Q/s400/scat1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and another spread a few feet up
the trail. There was no fresh scat close to the other creek, as
there was two days ago. A heron flew off as I walked up to that
creek going up the bay and I noticed a lot splashing as it flew
off. I first thought it might be poop then I saw how broad the
swath of splashing was and I think the heron's flight was
alarming the many fish in the shallows. I decided to walk around
the bay up to Audubon Pond, and paused to see if I could see any
fish swimming, but couldn't. Two Caspian terns were working the
bay. Up above the docking rock along South Bay, I saw new piles of
leaves but couldn't discern any otter scat on them, nor was there
even a hint of scat on the rock. Up at Audubon Pond there
likewise were no signs of otters. Three pairs of geese swam on
the pond, all apparently childless. On the slope above the drain
I found two broken goose eggs, and in the water between the shore
and the drain I saw an egg that looked whole. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7_UPLlaVN79na5pOIj2suDpZGPW2opyFo2cI4PkRhiTqDEVDAVaZ-R2UOXgqnU-YTPFeyAB-K23KuWT9e6ao40W0K5qKfQ48CjAKcOJNaBrfwnteFMuj2W0gRibmb1fn_N42aKIzTQE/s1600/gooseegg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7_UPLlaVN79na5pOIj2suDpZGPW2opyFo2cI4PkRhiTqDEVDAVaZ-R2UOXgqnU-YTPFeyAB-K23KuWT9e6ao40W0K5qKfQ48CjAKcOJNaBrfwnteFMuj2W0gRibmb1fn_N42aKIzTQE/s400/gooseegg1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going up to the Short-cut Trail
Pond, I flushed four male mallards out of one of the smaller
ponds. As I crossed the little bridge below the Short-cut Trail
Pond a small goose family crossed the grassy path in front of me:
just two goslings, both big enough to manage the grass well.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAma03pmSb3kkmq3OMQYVMulkkJhA44xl3dpZcC4vZqhqGOqyGAo4uyGv5Y0unLrdjWGuBBTDO7-sZ-QrY5eT-zTy6swhL8dvJkGJAeIen8tVs5kZkkwBpENuO0P_gS1wNUVCQMxHkUk/s1600/goslings1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAma03pmSb3kkmq3OMQYVMulkkJhA44xl3dpZcC4vZqhqGOqyGAo4uyGv5Y0unLrdjWGuBBTDO7-sZ-QrY5eT-zTy6swhL8dvJkGJAeIen8tVs5kZkkwBpENuO0P_gS1wNUVCQMxHkUk/s400/goslings1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Despite all the rain, the upper
Short-cut Trail Pond is dry, largely because the Meander Pond dam
is so well tended. I leaned on a tree by the dam hoping a beaver
might appear, but none did. Still it was a pleasant spot to
ponder from: </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEior8WR-f7Nl7fomac_JhMo4FXLP3-VPu85P5os-s5ONJCQmXYhunJLzEXL4VUWADh3Tu4S3rNujZrYzkHB-ecE40YCWils4y5nZGuQEzuEUAtsn6EjJWHH3Fw0YJYAS-sVNNLgjD9qz_c/s1600/mp1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEior8WR-f7Nl7fomac_JhMo4FXLP3-VPu85P5os-s5ONJCQmXYhunJLzEXL4VUWADh3Tu4S3rNujZrYzkHB-ecE40YCWils4y5nZGuQEzuEUAtsn6EjJWHH3Fw0YJYAS-sVNNLgjD9qz_c/s400/mp1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The fresh beaver work is up pond,
principally a medium sized red oak cut down leaving a crown of
fresh leaves wilting. Indeed, there is more work at the Thicket
Pond. The dam has been tended;</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAA9JopKkJRmO9PcPC3zeyJ6zxxY9l-TwnMw0iNvZTwoyTFdMRtpXwdg8_MZyBSwj_bGQTZwPZ0muFM3n4DfmMJRIRur0bqaCOlvGluRPqN3EC_qLi2xIY5Mk9pIAW7Dn6BeL0TH1guc/s1600/tpdam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAA9JopKkJRmO9PcPC3zeyJ6zxxY9l-TwnMw0iNvZTwoyTFdMRtpXwdg8_MZyBSwj_bGQTZwPZ0muFM3n4DfmMJRIRur0bqaCOlvGluRPqN3EC_qLi2xIY5Mk9pIAW7Dn6BeL0TH1guc/s400/tpdam1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a tree that was half cut a week
ago is now cut and hanging up. A red oak has been half girdled.
There was path from the Thicket Pond to this work. The old lodge
doesn't look lived in but there is much to hide in at this
pond.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJ48ZxlV0xeyHQUFhlXbGqopECipeKd37w9fbBBEUyNPRycn-3eHcuti2tlRDqnvPkWZhJVX3yPGy0iROru_r4R4K1M0PWrsOPgwV_bHGwZNIQQX6OEmI-0_HAgqbwAhR3cjfkLAEvfs/s1600/tplodge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJ48ZxlV0xeyHQUFhlXbGqopECipeKd37w9fbBBEUyNPRycn-3eHcuti2tlRDqnvPkWZhJVX3yPGy0iROru_r4R4K1M0PWrsOPgwV_bHGwZNIQQX6OEmI-0_HAgqbwAhR3cjfkLAEvfs/s400/tplodge1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I walked around it on my way to
the East Trail Pond, I saw a freshly cut tree up on the bank.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYZY8xxBJ8wC5YzbvlgTnCsKEw_9kULHP_cKcL1paQAqyPfxaWGZ9Vv5ouPh7BsZ8N4G5pDkbQzV7_YTrvA6SNKovPGy6cwTTpbCvOfgmA78XAXTdltDMu9OePHVWzVDOnRuxsqu70yo/s1600/tpwk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYZY8xxBJ8wC5YzbvlgTnCsKEw_9kULHP_cKcL1paQAqyPfxaWGZ9Vv5ouPh7BsZ8N4G5pDkbQzV7_YTrvA6SNKovPGy6cwTTpbCvOfgmA78XAXTdltDMu9OePHVWzVDOnRuxsqu70yo/s400/tpwk1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Once the beavers wintered in this
pond living off the huge clumps of willow roots available to them
under the ice, an amazing feat in a pond that can't get much
more than two feet deep. I went up the ridge between Shangri-la
Pond and the upper East Trail Pond and eased down to the rock
just above the old beaver lodge. I expected to find muskrats
using the lodge and beavers further out eating the ferns. I found
a goose family that promptly left and then a rustling in a willow
clump in the pond right next to me. I saw the brown furry back,
and then a thwack of the tail -- a beaver not a muskrat. It
splashed me just in front of the lodge. I thought for a moment
that it might have gone into the lodge, then it splashed me again
at the next clearing in the pond, and splashed me again as it
moved down pond. I had to admire how it waited to splash until it
had enough open water to have proper effect. I at least got a
photo of where it had been when I scared it. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B4yGXbFQ-z3bLXcieo_MxxbjcRsZEiEVZu67rbUyzwzIpeNPGSP0mSpEF02QyPqv32zFxhWXFf81o1q0uQRR5j1FlepYzH6nR8_05gwW0ySrxx9Rm8IkJhBq4QDoQ6E2Rn1gWRUE9PI/s1600/upperet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B4yGXbFQ-z3bLXcieo_MxxbjcRsZEiEVZu67rbUyzwzIpeNPGSP0mSpEF02QyPqv32zFxhWXFf81o1q0uQRR5j1FlepYzH6nR8_05gwW0ySrxx9Rm8IkJhBq4QDoQ6E2Rn1gWRUE9PI/s400/upperet1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately, my plan to spend an
hour watching beavers munch ferns was ruined. I kept studying the
way down pond and never saw the beaver go there so I think it
simply found another secluded patch, of which there are many, and
continued its munching. A red tail hawk flew over high, being
chased by smaller birds. When I got up to leave I noticed a fresh
beaver path to girdling work above on two big red oaks, and they
had cut a pine. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCISs0UkrA-51l2ehcFG_rygWA3R9p_3ezDw4c0v1QI8k2XwWReG0ViLWLJrOc4iqtojdPxGLoHDzMFmEawHsKuhtjUTrdViAI1jKX9YXVq2IAPLixiUT_rRL-VRkgCDdHQeI4fOcaqw/s1600/upperetwk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCISs0UkrA-51l2ehcFG_rygWA3R9p_3ezDw4c0v1QI8k2XwWReG0ViLWLJrOc4iqtojdPxGLoHDzMFmEawHsKuhtjUTrdViAI1jKX9YXVq2IAPLixiUT_rRL-VRkgCDdHQeI4fOcaqw/s400/upperetwk1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">These beavers have a taste for
pine, in all seasons. I also took a photo of what I wanted to see
them eating: luscious ferns:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAW3orS62JXolRKx_qyMK7cyZ43vC1ucgwJzwyrc9ye02ul2MhIKx3vbCH2XYTBABI52GdDWWiyXtOPIdk8U-1f69UGjEJrrv3pt2O_JMGvwt6AwQQgVQe9zprr7-S8vUWKFvJoDEC-M/s1600/ferns1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAW3orS62JXolRKx_qyMK7cyZ43vC1ucgwJzwyrc9ye02ul2MhIKx3vbCH2XYTBABI52GdDWWiyXtOPIdk8U-1f69UGjEJrrv3pt2O_JMGvwt6AwQQgVQe9zprr7-S8vUWKFvJoDEC-M/s400/ferns1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I walked slowly counterclockwise
around the pond but saw no beaver, nor muskrat for that matter. I
was going to stay longer if there were fresh otter scats near the
dam. There weren't so I walked over the ridge where I didn't see
any fresh otter signs either. I got a whiff of scat down at the
creek, but the only scat I saw looked twisted, more like a mink's
or a fisher's.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtr_wk3GTIRqvOyHIACBlvGCmWGUatjXXeQD-jCVMqEn1f3lgdTtkR9z2DCDowegF3u1sswJtZ2KP4U6AeDmHUjK5afDn6CrMoWIEUVn4xFqEICMDV71qqIlV2-3aRPqm2YCEQqKc4C4Q/s1600/scat1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtr_wk3GTIRqvOyHIACBlvGCmWGUatjXXeQD-jCVMqEn1f3lgdTtkR9z2DCDowegF3u1sswJtZ2KP4U6AeDmHUjK5afDn6CrMoWIEUVn4xFqEICMDV71qqIlV2-3aRPqm2YCEQqKc4C4Q/s400/scat1a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was now after 5 pm and the wind
was in my favor for sneaking up to the Second Swamp Pond dam to
see if there were beavers working there. No. But I think they
continue taking trees around the small pond they fashioned below
the dam -- or reopened, because a pond had been there in other
years (even a lodge 10 years ago.) As I came up to the dam, I saw
a wood duck on the end of a log in the pond, head tucked into his
wings, I guess, taking advantage of the rare glimpse of sun and
defeating the wind that kept getting gustier. A click of my
camera soon had him stretching his wings and then flying off,
rather quietly for a wood duck, only squealing when he was well
away. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVHxjuAXyBhdoVCMqjQfOTAQoBk27cnkyhPLsIwyTSPTt_1OUbFEGNy7sN1GHvwAhzRV31CV1IO5cKztp0d-KwiHqMYOCbnXVoyyZ7WnF5dbqJRWBd__8OfxOrhc0uv0laz7v5VDNaZQ/s1600/wduck1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVHxjuAXyBhdoVCMqjQfOTAQoBk27cnkyhPLsIwyTSPTt_1OUbFEGNy7sN1GHvwAhzRV31CV1IO5cKztp0d-KwiHqMYOCbnXVoyyZ7WnF5dbqJRWBd__8OfxOrhc0uv0laz7v5VDNaZQ/s400/wduck1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crossed the dam which is still
hazardous. The water is being held back by pure mud, another six
inches of it, and it's not doing a very good job. I sat on the
rock on the south side of the dam for 45 minutes and was treated
to the following entertainments: a kingfisher flew in chattering,
perched high on a dead trunk. It didn't fish so I sagely told
myself that the pond was of no use to kingfishers. Indeed, I
haven't seen them much at all this spring. Then another
kingfisher flew in from the Lost Swamp Pond, flying high, swooped
down and their was a brief kingfisher dogfight and they both
zoomed off to the west. Evidently the pond is worth fighting
over. Then a deer waded into the water off the north shore eating
the pond vegetation.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktPXuSWHqcQ8JC_EhP5Sgek1nfEaCS36JweILKzgmA-KKK5i3EXMRtJK1SnVv-Obpt000k9wJ4RB-TXUEnQC3Mb_21BIJEd1u89HG81B-qyQa1M_Uv0SqivehKPVsgf02-jDd_rJ_1Sg/s1600/deer1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktPXuSWHqcQ8JC_EhP5Sgek1nfEaCS36JweILKzgmA-KKK5i3EXMRtJK1SnVv-Obpt000k9wJ4RB-TXUEnQC3Mb_21BIJEd1u89HG81B-qyQa1M_Uv0SqivehKPVsgf02-jDd_rJ_1Sg/s400/deer1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At the same time a muskrat
appeared out of the grass I had been staring at for 30 minutes,
swam over to a clump of grass I could get a good view of, and put
on a fine show of subduing the grass, almost pouncing on it to
get it down and then setting its mile-a-minute mouth to work
eating. Then it swam up pond and I could no longer see it.
However no beavers, even as late as 6 pm. What I want to do is
roughly judge the working hours of the various colonies. Last
year these beavers were good for an early 5 pm start. So far, not
this year. Although it is always possible that they had already
left the lodge and gone up pond to forage. I didn't stay long at
the Lost Swamp Pond after I determined that there was no fresh
otter scat on the trail they had been using between the two
ponds. In the damp wood I saw three or four kinds of mushrooms,
these two being the most intriguing. Both were in clumps. First,
peziza badia (I think)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWynOd_T4wVFZ2Q8Lw6mSrqMlFZVq_3V-ePKXrdcwR549q5hX89yO6aBAIwNDRLX6l8rM2h72XXuEDy2tXxLJmANkZqlaVMsFDqIw8Gf-hS9b3qIe77YvWRRKwD_pp3Bbowzy749sjs/s1600/mroom1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWynOd_T4wVFZ2Q8Lw6mSrqMlFZVq_3V-ePKXrdcwR549q5hX89yO6aBAIwNDRLX6l8rM2h72XXuEDy2tXxLJmANkZqlaVMsFDqIw8Gf-hS9b3qIe77YvWRRKwD_pp3Bbowzy749sjs/s400/mroom1a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The light brown ones, which I
should have peaked under so I might have a chance to identify it,
were more or less evenly dispersed every five feet or so along a
deer path for about 20 to 30 feet. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTw5KCdT9IwH8597IHmIuVzKTtCuJsoE3b7wIp5R_qQpxvZQB6-XSYFJb_ZfrlI79XNSOpMArSl20F8L99bnsLduVdlbwIcSb-vCOUR7FltdEmLmZ9dPtNHpMKcp3pkgn0FBcoOWXxGAw/s1600/mroom1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTw5KCdT9IwH8597IHmIuVzKTtCuJsoE3b7wIp5R_qQpxvZQB6-XSYFJb_ZfrlI79XNSOpMArSl20F8L99bnsLduVdlbwIcSb-vCOUR7FltdEmLmZ9dPtNHpMKcp3pkgn0FBcoOWXxGAw/s400/mroom1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also saw a tanager relatively
low doing its "chickburr" with such a burr to it that
at first I thought it was a woodcock peinting.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQaGPJUxpVk253qDzk-81RpkCDGmKqoWYzPh6GGl9ia5zHvjdoBxKj7-Yd5JRsZOZcC1CICq7ngsZkQT0X_J7f8mtMGhKCHnEAEJGcYQihAMFQdzeR_SKqtwDDBMTznKCEOeSNHumQLY/s1600/tanager1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQaGPJUxpVk253qDzk-81RpkCDGmKqoWYzPh6GGl9ia5zHvjdoBxKj7-Yd5JRsZOZcC1CICq7ngsZkQT0X_J7f8mtMGhKCHnEAEJGcYQihAMFQdzeR_SKqtwDDBMTznKCEOeSNHumQLY/s400/tanager1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I flushed a heron off the Big Pond
Dam and sat briefly at my usual spot and watched the wind play
over the pond.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 3 I went to the Big Pond
after dinner to see what beavers are there. Two years ago I had
frequent close encounters, day and evening, with the beavers
there. I went via the meadow behind the golf course and it was
almost soggy enough to get my shoes wet. Up on the rocks, I knew
I would be treated to thick green moss. I was surprised by the
patches of red made by the blooming sheep sorrel.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDkZ1W5K46wUBFz03IT9V5YHdHQJTocsqtP7EM0qXV0aXr1sVqTTGoR92ab45zrfK_ImgPJBdPA9ex2qiGSkrRQMdyiUkrhZRUXcKEofCCwg-IHqWIeZFrs6qydJWKmtqxaqp5u9NhWk/s1600/red3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDkZ1W5K46wUBFz03IT9V5YHdHQJTocsqtP7EM0qXV0aXr1sVqTTGoR92ab45zrfK_ImgPJBdPA9ex2qiGSkrRQMdyiUkrhZRUXcKEofCCwg-IHqWIeZFrs6qydJWKmtqxaqp5u9NhWk/s400/red3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Just off the rocks were choke
cherry trees in full bloom.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP61bIcQGDz5SBiCgREU7JmDMs7cu-ij-uWTgAT24z-OfBnEXCRHl60uy14t8nCahgQw-6cwLOZeH_YkMPRobSA9s5ciIXYJDSzSGDK61Tfj-Vqb1kRgsRBVhcsKnG0xGv3iiI8sfXvQ/s1600/cherry3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP61bIcQGDz5SBiCgREU7JmDMs7cu-ij-uWTgAT24z-OfBnEXCRHl60uy14t8nCahgQw-6cwLOZeH_YkMPRobSA9s5ciIXYJDSzSGDK61Tfj-Vqb1kRgsRBVhcsKnG0xGv3iiI8sfXvQ/s400/cherry3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I scared up some deer along the
meadow, but none on the ridge. I heard towhees and an ovenbird.
What I've missed this year, so far, is a rose breasted grosbeak
which is usually up here. While still up on the rock ridge, I saw
a busted goose egg. Did a crow fly it up and crack it on the
rocks? I got down to the Big Pond at about 7:15. As I came in a
common tern flew out, a few mallards as well. I didn't see any
geese. I sat in my usual spot, looked out over the smooth surface
of the pond, </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1C1fg-7Jgd7Ho2Jx41wv_eq-t7UvHT3Q9yV7TjgHdyJdmNDMyabD9rtK-Pb2J4zyU0b96YAD1tZ-03fp43mG1JEodvv9zhP3Nss-eyHIzAJSt9rzVO-rd3N7I-CQx8oRIbrxKyIwZ9yA/s1600/bp3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1C1fg-7Jgd7Ho2Jx41wv_eq-t7UvHT3Q9yV7TjgHdyJdmNDMyabD9rtK-Pb2J4zyU0b96YAD1tZ-03fp43mG1JEodvv9zhP3Nss-eyHIzAJSt9rzVO-rd3N7I-CQx8oRIbrxKyIwZ9yA/s400/bp3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and waited which afforded time
enough to speculate on the near future of the pond. The blue flag
iris, which usually blooms in early June, looked stunted in the
clumps of grass in the pond. Perhaps the pond being drained from
January to May didn't help. I didn't see any fish fry at my feet,
but there was continuous nippling in the pond, and I saw one fish
jump out. There was a good size splash along the dam and my
impression was that a larger fish in the water made it, but
bullfrogs are getting active. I noticed that at my feet there was
a bit of muskrat scat and a bit of clipped grass.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQUYO7jM-f8wuU765gW1P8Evm3Yk7MiGE5HNl1ObuZ_BNGazLhFub1ARIYTWt_Cvhfq5E9-dOHzQt8Zt9sE3yS7eSV3JbLdLjiGpNoYIg3iIGjunoZ3taIf-9h-XggfS1Fj19CLnPr38/s1600/ratscat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQUYO7jM-f8wuU765gW1P8Evm3Yk7MiGE5HNl1ObuZ_BNGazLhFub1ARIYTWt_Cvhfq5E9-dOHzQt8Zt9sE3yS7eSV3JbLdLjiGpNoYIg3iIGjunoZ3taIf-9h-XggfS1Fj19CLnPr38/s400/ratscat3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At 7:30 I saw a wake in the middle
of the pond and then saw what looked like a beaver cruising into
the grasses on the south side of the pond. I couldn't be sure
where the beaver came from but a straight line back would put it
at the beaver lodge. I trusted it would come out of the grasses
soon and head my way, but it didn't. About 15 minutes later a
muskrat swam out of a part of the grassy area in the water closer
to me. It swam to the lodge and dove into it. After that, the
only action at the pond was a seagull flying around and evidently
finding things to skim off the surface. An osprey flew high over
the pond</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6NXVbw0MFiYy3MVfZnCe1eeTfpNZsyIex_9eQZiNarySq7CwbkOjk7oW-UEuzEH9i5PayGpYalTYRNyyimQq08lriTl8WMKPKbQboumnbl-398sEz-eqJ5gWmTFax6oh51wUsmi3RCU/s1600/osprey3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6NXVbw0MFiYy3MVfZnCe1eeTfpNZsyIex_9eQZiNarySq7CwbkOjk7oW-UEuzEH9i5PayGpYalTYRNyyimQq08lriTl8WMKPKbQboumnbl-398sEz-eqJ5gWmTFax6oh51wUsmi3RCU/s400/osprey3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">headed, I suppose, for its nest on
the concrete navigational cell in the river. At 8:30, chilly
enough to put my jacket on, I began walking up the south shore of
the pond, hoping to flush out a beaver. I didn't and I didn't see
any evidence of beaver work at the end of the several canals that
come to the shore. A few weeks ago I walked along this shore
marveling at the lack of water. The suddenly dry pond bottom
lost all its mystery. Now, the mystery has returned; once again I
expected a beaver or a muskrat to pop up anywhere, though I now
know the channels, to which a beaver would likely to confine
itself. As I stood at the little spring where the otters had been
so active in the winter, I saw a beaver cruising straight down
the pond, coming from the east. I suspected but never proved that
the beavers moved to the ponds up there in the late fall. Of
course, this could be the beaver I saw earlier returning. It swam
down until it was about even with me, dove, and I never saw it
again. I walked back down to the dam. I really don't think it was
concerned about my presence. I suspect that it went into the
grassy area along the north shore of the pond. Fog was wisping up
above the pond. One whip-poor-will was singing but didn't follow
me up the big rock and then to the golf course and home. At least
I saw a beaver, though I learned precious little about it. </span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 4 a beautiful day with rain
on the way, so after finishing chores I hurried to the East Trail
Pond for lunch before going off to saw wood at our land. Nothing
much happened in the half hour I was there, save for the beauty
of it all.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhl79fnHJG2MfniT8ypqqW7OyVfb36RPfetwf7xQHYiHyQamP9xhsp8YpitvDruOcRntI17Vz36dNzlYhqoMriTAjgUg8WBq7Jh9PRN9VFpxQepaPQQKNutC8c79Buaii41PcgoVps_c/s1600/et4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhl79fnHJG2MfniT8ypqqW7OyVfb36RPfetwf7xQHYiHyQamP9xhsp8YpitvDruOcRntI17Vz36dNzlYhqoMriTAjgUg8WBq7Jh9PRN9VFpxQepaPQQKNutC8c79Buaii41PcgoVps_c/s400/et4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A kingfisher was around and
perched over the upper end of the pond away from me. A flicker
was about, hurrying, probably feeding some young. I heard an
oriole and probably a scarlet tanager. Grackles out numbered
redwing blackbirds. On the way to the pond, I saw this oak apple
gall</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJE3Ax0wT_uQ5Vis9HHQ13_7ML4NKZGEdzDZAiw14RhEcnzT0l6MwIbkjoPYp6WUYaiL0rxMuL9CocEnPLMwZ3G8VlpZr0DILqMUSo0WeX2O8t2fbSJ5-LnUkZa_MI_cmP9XWw9N3V-c/s1600/seed4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJE3Ax0wT_uQ5Vis9HHQ13_7ML4NKZGEdzDZAiw14RhEcnzT0l6MwIbkjoPYp6WUYaiL0rxMuL9CocEnPLMwZ3G8VlpZr0DILqMUSo0WeX2O8t2fbSJ5-LnUkZa_MI_cmP9XWw9N3V-c/s400/seed4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with its curious seed-like inside</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGUDuMqGinw7B4C6M9FMOFjmwHfwR4rFeKH-lFGkwr5PBEziQi70r4cDJXtBb9GI72QhbYjDBFxTvaGf7-r-W5dC23QAhnVzmwOuv34bZuO9dzkmpi1Qr846iy4ZmA54pK1xRP2qNt3U/s1600/seed4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGUDuMqGinw7B4C6M9FMOFjmwHfwR4rFeKH-lFGkwr5PBEziQi70r4cDJXtBb9GI72QhbYjDBFxTvaGf7-r-W5dC23QAhnVzmwOuv34bZuO9dzkmpi1Qr846iy4ZmA54pK1xRP2qNt3U/s400/seed4a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course ants joined my picnic
and I noticed that the large black ones had a touch of gold on
their rump -- couldn't get a photo of the fast moving
interlopers. I went down to dam to check for fresh otter scat. I
noticed something more on the last scent mound they made, but it
was quite hard so I can't say an otter had been by that morning. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRehGKxrgLp0o5JqrUHAOWDgrAVVfheSDBrHQ8N2JLf5u_BTUK_eYZ216vxb1yDPcKd5vp4ttRql5MNGG-byFY4K3qy6MS00owhBOdvzycHHxd-FMJnI7JGVNYY0BNoL-mUBLogJU99AA/s1600/scentmd4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRehGKxrgLp0o5JqrUHAOWDgrAVVfheSDBrHQ8N2JLf5u_BTUK_eYZ216vxb1yDPcKd5vp4ttRql5MNGG-byFY4K3qy6MS00owhBOdvzycHHxd-FMJnI7JGVNYY0BNoL-mUBLogJU99AA/s400/scentmd4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">However, the trail looked like
something freshened it. I went over the ridge to Otter Hole Pond
and on the way saw these squawroot sprouting up</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPMliH835faxWg74IX3zTa6byYB1UAOveJTZeWjsGBdCd38PsVwSX4ZA07x8e3XharT8SCANF0pBEi-h9CrZEmNEabMSJjf6zR4B4DjfyDy1aH0sUuK0qE7_QATsfwghcDwotvdGxVh8/s1600/mroom4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPMliH835faxWg74IX3zTa6byYB1UAOveJTZeWjsGBdCd38PsVwSX4ZA07x8e3XharT8SCANF0pBEi-h9CrZEmNEabMSJjf6zR4B4DjfyDy1aH0sUuK0qE7_QATsfwghcDwotvdGxVh8/s400/mroom4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">On a log almost at the pond I saw
what looked like raccoon scat with goose egg shell bits in it</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpaMUvrd7DixGvMs9e9RiA1AlgVUBhoTQ8ouis4rNy2c4o5jO-ZtZSj75H52vtLbZlp_p08oN5w6qJuS3DqQoYuirqK-_pISg6uKmf21s-rj6XFsNAoIduDUosFUonYXa_MkeWoG0_GQ/s1600/scatshell4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpaMUvrd7DixGvMs9e9RiA1AlgVUBhoTQ8ouis4rNy2c4o5jO-ZtZSj75H52vtLbZlp_p08oN5w6qJuS3DqQoYuirqK-_pISg6uKmf21s-rj6XFsNAoIduDUosFUonYXa_MkeWoG0_GQ/s400/scatshell4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The other day, looking down at
Otter Hole Pond as I went to the Second Swamp Pond, I thought the
pond looked higher, but the rain could account for that. We've
been dry for a couple of days, yet the pond looked higher. As I
crossed I first noticed a hole in the dam made from the front;
looked more like digging for a home than a raccoon
digging for turtle eggs</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskEt3ay4Xw4ri4R94vcDQgR5fukSEaVy7A8svjTqQf6cuhAGiUiDyvwCRDPx60m1b89ipM_JlGjcNA7YuYLNBO8SLE5w8PBeh-BhoSGwemiOXluGYuX2QlzNzhcXwHBZC7bIOnnnau_c/s1600/hole4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskEt3ay4Xw4ri4R94vcDQgR5fukSEaVy7A8svjTqQf6cuhAGiUiDyvwCRDPx60m1b89ipM_JlGjcNA7YuYLNBO8SLE5w8PBeh-BhoSGwemiOXluGYuX2QlzNzhcXwHBZC7bIOnnnau_c/s400/hole4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I went further along I saw
water going down a hole in the dam that had been high and dry for
months, then, sure enough I saw the patch at the main hole. All
that was visible was a good sized dollop of mud on the dam</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuBv__YhIn7oHPdFOm4ehwFrIoUZbba-xDnrLlbkzn_zs2q81VYxLWLDVg01yBfU5qWKIwLuYDhUyhoKo2HerpROwmCU5MPqJmbb9dxsRZMoLITDwdxa0stdh8bylvhqyARjjJHtwydk/s1600/ohdampatch4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuBv__YhIn7oHPdFOm4ehwFrIoUZbba-xDnrLlbkzn_zs2q81VYxLWLDVg01yBfU5qWKIwLuYDhUyhoKo2HerpROwmCU5MPqJmbb9dxsRZMoLITDwdxa0stdh8bylvhqyARjjJHtwydk/s400/ohdampatch4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The pond is certainly not restored
to its former glory. The beavers will have to patch the other
hole to manage that.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7PUQiBJyy9lnXB9dXxR01nlPE5LdslVg_qgalNllGxlpzr4Y40wXMMjbJ4f6azzhkqRDnSsRZd3rzElolgyObVvaA3NtiwQFxTLXqdyRujyFBa0_KfcJFRbX-dGsE5JkXZnSZWlzhlg/s1600/oh4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7PUQiBJyy9lnXB9dXxR01nlPE5LdslVg_qgalNllGxlpzr4Y40wXMMjbJ4f6azzhkqRDnSsRZd3rzElolgyObVvaA3NtiwQFxTLXqdyRujyFBa0_KfcJFRbX-dGsE5JkXZnSZWlzhlg/s400/oh4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had been telling myself that it
was perhaps more likely that the beavers would patch the hole in
Beaver Point Pond dam and then let the water fill back into Otter
Hole Pond, as it did two and three years ago. Beavers proved me
wrong, as the photo of Beaver Point Pond shows</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOD6aZML7goW1BCGXYcBfuZhesHC0BrJuwRx3eEU7jUHRsuLpEIyS68kT9o62EiU1NHt-nz5krQLP7MBQLOY_AOhJQx-9B4fgtrwpXKbHRCrbeZfEoRITIjOeFBhTu2Uu4JhHWEC6nuLE/s1600/bpp4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOD6aZML7goW1BCGXYcBfuZhesHC0BrJuwRx3eEU7jUHRsuLpEIyS68kT9o62EiU1NHt-nz5krQLP7MBQLOY_AOhJQx-9B4fgtrwpXKbHRCrbeZfEoRITIjOeFBhTu2Uu4JhHWEC6nuLE/s400/bpp4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I flushed ducks and a heron off
Otter Hole Pond and set geese at the upper end to honking, too
far away to see if they had goslings. I doubt it because parents
are usually quiet. Seeing a heron fly off prompted me to rethink
my idea that wing flaps stirred fish in the water to come to the
surface. I think the tips of a heron's wing must get wet and when
it flies off drops of water nipple the water below.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">June 6 quite a bit of rain
yesterday, sun this morning and a promise of warmth. I headed off
at 11 with half my lunch eaten. I avoided the wet meadow behind
the golf course, and went up to the Middle Pond along the swamp
side of the ridge. At the Middle Pond I hoped to see goslings and
muskrats -- a combination I've often seen before. Instead I saw a
gaping hole in the dam</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAjH5lThFbgw9IL1LkjDSlvzgL9x9YDcz0g5fwQmmRh4Dbp05so96BYAP4zwGV7L-P2k2E-uqKkqYT3IMfBOMvF0ol9ZEBYk7HVKBehbjZeUm8aWq1nR4t0UnbI_MrbJz2zrmEEFninE/s1600/midpond6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAjH5lThFbgw9IL1LkjDSlvzgL9x9YDcz0g5fwQmmRh4Dbp05so96BYAP4zwGV7L-P2k2E-uqKkqYT3IMfBOMvF0ol9ZEBYk7HVKBehbjZeUm8aWq1nR4t0UnbI_MrbJz2zrmEEFninE/s400/midpond6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">which didn't preclude those
animals being there, but which got me curious about the state of
the dams further up, so I moved on up to Double Lodge Pond where
the water was flowing over a dam that the beavers have been
tending, judging from the mud pushed up all along it. The Middle
Pond dam must have simply worn out with all the overflow. By the
side of the dam the beaver left a bit of nannyberry with blooming
flowers sunk in the muddy water.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEgQklcGePR_ghpQ1Vea6Q9fqZwHGfxirKFOWthw1TSeUkUtNe19gXII-HHQv_SoYBTUK4wmPK7n00I18JpZ4MJ9_DMYnPwjYE-YswaC9qNSvlZw8-STSSTodmSAPEZRq8pxMLORFOTs/s1600/nanberry6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEgQklcGePR_ghpQ1Vea6Q9fqZwHGfxirKFOWthw1TSeUkUtNe19gXII-HHQv_SoYBTUK4wmPK7n00I18JpZ4MJ9_DMYnPwjYE-YswaC9qNSvlZw8-STSSTodmSAPEZRq8pxMLORFOTs/s400/nanberry6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">There is a good bit of this for
the beavers to eat. And at every little inlet as I walked up the
pond there were sticks the beaver stripped. The Big Pond dam is
also overflowing a good bit, but has been tended. The beaver has
even worked some honeysuckle branches into the mud.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_247Q6YFg7uzSimygm-ZIy4Vlq-kl-999FwACs-HxKVxXOGsMdEXQgdisXBdLbokvOiXnGHYlJIxUltnd1CABgtjPQT2MIpEQ53NhWgYI6WCjgMysv4wiSru_x4VzGlrNe9MBr3Ho4TQ/s1600/hsuckdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_247Q6YFg7uzSimygm-ZIy4Vlq-kl-999FwACs-HxKVxXOGsMdEXQgdisXBdLbokvOiXnGHYlJIxUltnd1CABgtjPQT2MIpEQ53NhWgYI6WCjgMysv4wiSru_x4VzGlrNe9MBr3Ho4TQ/s400/hsuckdam6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've seen beavers take honeysuckle
now and then; once they get a taste for it they'll have an
endless supply of food. As I finished my lunch, a common tern
worked the pond but seemed to do more flying and skimming than
diving and eating. However, to answer my question as to the state
of the fishery in the pond, a dead bullhead about four inches
long was on the dam. There was also a speckled bird's egg. I went
up to the lodge on the north shore and saw no signs of beavers. I
did flush three dark ducks, didn't get a good look at them. Along
the surveyor's trail to the Lost Swamp Pond, I flushed a woodcock
family. Four or five little ones went in the direction I was
going; the adult went the opposite way. As I walked along I
scared up three of the fledglings. I went to the rock which gives
such a good view of the upper Lost Swamp Pond. Around the rock were
two holes in the turf but with no turtle egg shells; nor any sign
that an otter might have done it. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzpdVaAo3_hKn5v9mTh7bKhL4PzkDLbeGMbAzw1N1ddT9sLsH0OD2w5azc1okpCYj-pHCiKiCsX8w4OxVY70lWoU1GMleiNIW7DNSbpaXcvQ_PpH7oaN3wBBWg1bAJxWlC8pWM61TqtA/s1600/hole6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzpdVaAo3_hKn5v9mTh7bKhL4PzkDLbeGMbAzw1N1ddT9sLsH0OD2w5azc1okpCYj-pHCiKiCsX8w4OxVY70lWoU1GMleiNIW7DNSbpaXcvQ_PpH7oaN3wBBWg1bAJxWlC8pWM61TqtA/s400/hole6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In the fall they did use the rock
as a latrine. I sat until the sun got too warm and then decided
to sit over at the shady, mossy cove. On my way I kept flushing
myriads of those tiny damselflies who wings seem to move like a
helicopter's. I tried getting a video and some photos -- tough
because they are so tiny. Indeed, they are glittery in the sun.
Of course, the big dragonflies are about: green darner and white
tail. On my way to my perch I almost stepped on a black snake. As
I stood there, it was perfectly still, though its head was up. I
moved five yards behind and its tongue sensed the air and then it
slowly slithered forward, making a slow u-turn. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtoi5x0L8bFoROlbdmIVABZTgSGmQpNJmxK2uptGm8paZMoXCND-_86OD4OQZTHShDmIFvLgPjmfDQPg2p9BKR1W-ON-M1R6rdLT-qSv2AzjGRQnEr5j05wm89xZkwx0DaN69ISYlT8Q/s1600/bsnake6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDtoi5x0L8bFoROlbdmIVABZTgSGmQpNJmxK2uptGm8paZMoXCND-_86OD4OQZTHShDmIFvLgPjmfDQPg2p9BKR1W-ON-M1R6rdLT-qSv2AzjGRQnEr5j05wm89xZkwx0DaN69ISYlT8Q/s400/bsnake6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I very seldom see a snake this
large here -- perhaps ten years ago. I finally sat for my nap,
but I scarcely got my eyes shut, there was so much going on. The
many blackbirds and grackles as always were indefatigable as they
harvested bugs from the logs and stumps in the pond.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzF_v03_tCIzIMAR1p7GrVT0fX7WW8_r8Rc17RvwpSJSOe_kbOEWfWSdBOh0LKyizYpZiuGtPVE7p6378r2Izi8Vt-GWt0XZpEee1EIScOUZHYUlu9_67iZNdcxlAsRcuut7tsqBHeX4/s1600/bbird6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzF_v03_tCIzIMAR1p7GrVT0fX7WW8_r8Rc17RvwpSJSOe_kbOEWfWSdBOh0LKyizYpZiuGtPVE7p6378r2Izi8Vt-GWt0XZpEee1EIScOUZHYUlu9_67iZNdcxlAsRcuut7tsqBHeX4/s400/bbird6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I thought I saw one chase a
kingbird, which I thought curious for the latter is the bird
called tyrannus tyrannus. The kingbird stayed riveted to a dead
branch while the grackles hopped around. Was it chastened?
stricken? No, it was standing watch over his mate in a nearby
nest that was in the top of a truncated rotting birch.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUw3kwaB-IK3pqQQkn0J5b9ic7KHsARVWEoNPobTdHMpnjmJAIbXF5qTVyQwFjaZot2g_fhcLE14dIIIEuz1aawAPIcBiwny6Sg74OepqTLwbBddE3klaqbFNjnvLEAZ5LRh4FOC5eV4/s1600/kbirdnest6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUw3kwaB-IK3pqQQkn0J5b9ic7KHsARVWEoNPobTdHMpnjmJAIbXF5qTVyQwFjaZot2g_fhcLE14dIIIEuz1aawAPIcBiwny6Sg74OepqTLwbBddE3klaqbFNjnvLEAZ5LRh4FOC5eV4/s400/kbirdnest6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The top ten inches of bark had
been cleared of rot and the kingbird nest was in there. The guard
kingbird then chased away two more grackles, indeed, ruling the
pond. Then I saw a quick change of the guard at the nest. So I
waited to see that again. This time the female flew off and the
male promptly parked itself on top to the birch bark so that its
tail shielded the eggs, I presume, inside. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXuZwm1psOP5rrHhPMNZEsjuNZq52IqKzLRJ4P19rBjtoSF9jVtIyEXf0cRfnqf8NWwey2HmNMRmt5VLtuK2f5RBr5GxWvF-5WXX3wiLfbAFUplUUtCWscvrA796Oc_dwYndsdszf858/s1600/kbirdnest6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXuZwm1psOP5rrHhPMNZEsjuNZq52IqKzLRJ4P19rBjtoSF9jVtIyEXf0cRfnqf8NWwey2HmNMRmt5VLtuK2f5RBr5GxWvF-5WXX3wiLfbAFUplUUtCWscvrA796Oc_dwYndsdszf858/s400/kbirdnest6a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When the female returned there was
a brief squeak and the male flew off and she hurried in. While
this was playing out I saw a small mink working the far shore of
the pond, darting ten yards, then stopped, darting, stopping,
sometimes swimming in the water, sometimes going high on logs.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUZgRv8350ySa4ovpoMWf_jSZta2MtjPtyalvwghXQmakA-SABigGxetqRPhYkKzeXat0plL2kJuJ2EtLHSF3jZbY9gJLhTCZgmyRMCAY_UrhnJqI59FZroHf0l-FmJ1ZvIBdSwyGH2I/s1600/mink6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUZgRv8350ySa4ovpoMWf_jSZta2MtjPtyalvwghXQmakA-SABigGxetqRPhYkKzeXat0plL2kJuJ2EtLHSF3jZbY9gJLhTCZgmyRMCAY_UrhnJqI59FZroHf0l-FmJ1ZvIBdSwyGH2I/s400/mink6.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPU0OYxk1ImqdFKk4pb9lPIL1L2C6dD6NtJcnlIOHWArmYbw-7rLVed-Nveuq0Quy8WVKnx7hp0OeCFHOFDiKq-sGIJBnNal7OCBdVfmd5Sdbnect9wvzD-Xq6Yx6r-H6Crzakhl42npA/s1600/mink6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPU0OYxk1ImqdFKk4pb9lPIL1L2C6dD6NtJcnlIOHWArmYbw-7rLVed-Nveuq0Quy8WVKnx7hp0OeCFHOFDiKq-sGIJBnNal7OCBdVfmd5Sdbnect9wvzD-Xq6Yx6r-H6Crzakhl42npA/s400/mink6a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">It stopped where the muskrats
burrow, then in its usual pattern, moved on, and I lost it as it
went up to the dam. And in the third ring, a downey woodpecker in
the dead tree above me:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEZninml1K67KHSqEfsNMf8Obz1CQP_vYlfyf2cI2E3Z92O4A0exXrCLNoKLGegPeuG0CUJ59y_y3U19YuwVWxYwEXQ2ADuc-E6yrzTq3VqY04rQaZzsZ4A3m8dS4BRA-onjSP8R1424/s1600/wpecker6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEZninml1K67KHSqEfsNMf8Obz1CQP_vYlfyf2cI2E3Z92O4A0exXrCLNoKLGegPeuG0CUJ59y_y3U19YuwVWxYwEXQ2ADuc-E6yrzTq3VqY04rQaZzsZ4A3m8dS4BRA-onjSP8R1424/s400/wpecker6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Time to move, I went around the
pond to check for otter scat. As I came around I saw that
something had been up out of the pond, then I saw goose poop;
then right next to that a gooey pale otter scat. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJqxHOcthVY681KvJn8zio_1D4KYE3vwIIsbfrs2tpyb8kwfamFq8-puujDEYxCMvwqEDPQvW3wOA_yj0q-x38qd6kywHb2CjLyPUiASFjvXsrypbSoq9la5AzyJCjYzwyqrLgDdF5yc/s1600/scat6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJqxHOcthVY681KvJn8zio_1D4KYE3vwIIsbfrs2tpyb8kwfamFq8-puujDEYxCMvwqEDPQvW3wOA_yj0q-x38qd6kywHb2CjLyPUiASFjvXsrypbSoq9la5AzyJCjYzwyqrLgDdF5yc/s400/scat6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Some pancaked scats were nearby,
not as fresh. The trail up and over to the Second Swamp Pond
looked roughed up. But the scent mound I saw up there was rather
neat, with leaves over crossed sticks, and no scat was on it.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonGk6PRRo550fPN4PliMhGUoHJ4H74SzJRHqyM8eUTWDaUe9aHvC_j8r1Hrdh32QU3eKqcY01WpZsxEQlrNwIFzO5ydjSeZIT0suLLrPk_CT-evTGkDiGHILgpc3BsJRBWCgnTz77JjE/s1600/scentmd6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonGk6PRRo550fPN4PliMhGUoHJ4H74SzJRHqyM8eUTWDaUe9aHvC_j8r1Hrdh32QU3eKqcY01WpZsxEQlrNwIFzO5ydjSeZIT0suLLrPk_CT-evTGkDiGHILgpc3BsJRBWCgnTz77JjE/s400/scentmd6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I never think of otters as being
neat, so I wonder if a beaver went all the way up there just to
show up the otters! While I didn't see any fresh beaver work, the
dam had mud all along it, </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzz5drMPEedz3gQZgyhbJPfN8fqxnZ31KApMbhne1yyOIVzoGOQAkH42Un_JdYZevXJEZ-ZoYthknNsQ98gc6Qzad7rCM6Ny4238iUdXQ-vy54woUjVUDpnN68zK9UOjsKDDpt5zfztU/s1600/lsdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzz5drMPEedz3gQZgyhbJPfN8fqxnZ31KApMbhne1yyOIVzoGOQAkH42Un_JdYZevXJEZ-ZoYthknNsQ98gc6Qzad7rCM6Ny4238iUdXQ-vy54woUjVUDpnN68zK9UOjsKDDpt5zfztU/s400/lsdam6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and this is the season for beavers
to eat fresh green plants in and out of the pond so I shouldn't
expect much lumbering. The upper Second Swamp Pond dam has also
been well tended, with grass, principally, pushed up all along
the old dam so that there is now a real pond, not just some
skulking knot in a creek, forming behind this dam.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNXVCOTJNlfRiw4UhbdN2E9s86fc4vrSDWPTRjOnJ7PiXmRGFVNuI25Wbop7KivViKLnnONx4oRJBL-_aDphTI_InG3r35GFNMbyZg2HEl2HLSZpC9KSTempGxYJiMYLDFI1gOg-6DhI/s1600/upspdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNXVCOTJNlfRiw4UhbdN2E9s86fc4vrSDWPTRjOnJ7PiXmRGFVNuI25Wbop7KivViKLnnONx4oRJBL-_aDphTI_InG3r35GFNMbyZg2HEl2HLSZpC9KSTempGxYJiMYLDFI1gOg-6DhI/s400/upspdam6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'll have to park myself here some
evening. I decided to check the Third Ponds again, and while I
didn't see any trees freshly gnawed, there was a large smear of
marking mud that hadn't been there before. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK2ahYTDAj0ZLZGSPKQbta1F_-66_NNHG2YX4Cq-YEEzfulHYC7575qoGE0W2ihkkOAMmbuRERDIYkMAA3062Ip09P-pezSVoftKPXoYC-SEVhqERASiKe9pAWU-2_N9nTSMQbUade9I/s1600/tpbvmk6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK2ahYTDAj0ZLZGSPKQbta1F_-66_NNHG2YX4Cq-YEEzfulHYC7575qoGE0W2ihkkOAMmbuRERDIYkMAA3062Ip09P-pezSVoftKPXoYC-SEVhqERASiKe9pAWU-2_N9nTSMQbUade9I/s400/tpbvmk6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Again, beavers can be coming up
just for the grasses. The last of the Third Ponds is especially
sunny. I went toward the East Trail Pond along the morel beds
and enjoyed how the monsters looked completely played out. I
checked for otter scat along the East Trail Pond dam before
parking myself and while the trail looked used, I didn't see any
certainly fresh scat. Up on the ridge there was new scat. With
the damp weather I'm at a loss to explain why the scats didn't
look fresher. Perhaps the dullness arises from being washed out,
which means the otter toured before the rain. I went back down
and spent ten minutes watching the pond, seeing orioles chasing
around, the flicker hustling to feed baby and the swallows, as
ever at this pond, high above the trees. A pine warbler is
singing again, and a yellow warbler. A pair of geese with two
goslings went to the lodge, perhaps where the hatching had
occurred just a few days ago. I went home via Otter Hole Pond. I
admired its fullness and noted the cackle of a kingfisher. Then
to my surprise I saw that the pond was leaking again, at the old
hole, but the water was not rushing out so deeply. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUhnyrW-zqiBvt120hBT2Q82irBTuowziNf0xD5dDJ_FaCPezr4RfaREcnEJxEL7dtcQWnAjXw-TbuF0zRdvjy04gBV2JemJ9w1CFt7zzlGuoVyfcjFn_7CGKDK80TCvmedxZYy5ml-U/s1600/ohdam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUhnyrW-zqiBvt120hBT2Q82irBTuowziNf0xD5dDJ_FaCPezr4RfaREcnEJxEL7dtcQWnAjXw-TbuF0zRdvjy04gBV2JemJ9w1CFt7zzlGuoVyfcjFn_7CGKDK80TCvmedxZYy5ml-U/s400/ohdam6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A beaver will have to come back to
do another repair. I sat along the dam for a few minutes. Geese
in front of me were quiet; a pair down behind Beaver Point Dam
honked loudly. No goslings to be seen. Also to my surprise there
was no sign of an otter going over the South Bay cove causeway.
So perhaps the scats I just saw are not from the touring male,
but from a mother, tentatively stepping out before unveiling her
young. At the gate to the park were some blooming mayflowers </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheo12xgnlB9eJFsMmH_hnyt9C7NI3jYZy-ipNFWeIE_THQ3uRBbGlPCA0w_Yjar_uaKNbjjf-m5S6H0MbFEfA9PyMT71ULnN_CCz-Kois3CtaGP5ZXpUIIL2Z5hsnxVSXi8U2fXYtJU1s/s1600/mayflower6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheo12xgnlB9eJFsMmH_hnyt9C7NI3jYZy-ipNFWeIE_THQ3uRBbGlPCA0w_Yjar_uaKNbjjf-m5S6H0MbFEfA9PyMT71ULnN_CCz-Kois3CtaGP5ZXpUIIL2Z5hsnxVSXi8U2fXYtJU1s/s400/mayflower6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">-- seemed a tad late this year,
since it is now June. In the evening the midges were low in the
trees over the river shore</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3qLtzHQgsApxM2ufHUplixQHPKmzsQwo71CDnS_mKcD9IjrbfHj1612VKSXP1ynmud19BEoAPyg7AK9uEClqqBD5IM07TfjWFQt5oPpylyDZUuHD0bXKwZUI2PxgoqKa7M0zaPvuiRY/s1600/midges6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3qLtzHQgsApxM2ufHUplixQHPKmzsQwo71CDnS_mKcD9IjrbfHj1612VKSXP1ynmud19BEoAPyg7AK9uEClqqBD5IM07TfjWFQt5oPpylyDZUuHD0bXKwZUI2PxgoqKa7M0zaPvuiRY/s400/midges6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">pulsing like a black aurora in the
sky, with music, of course -- a-hum.</span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3629363137524847426.post-66281792420425478242014-01-31T18:23:00.007-08:002014-01-31T18:23:57.113-08:00May 21 to 27, 2003<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 21 a front went through last
night with some steady rain, bright, sunny and brisk in the
morning. The wind was from the north which I fancy is an otter
wind, meaning that if I sit up on the rock overlooking the East
Trail Pond, the otters won't smell me. I heard a warbling vireo
on the TI Park ridge. I was hoping that the rain would energize
otters to freshen their marks, but there was nothing new along
the South Bay cove. With the wind in my face I did get close to a
spindly drear brown deer munching grass along the trail who kept
looking back at me as it went into the woods.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I passed a large slug,
enjoying the damp.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LYcNXU4MbYxQO4zV-b4tTyU2bN9t8tjZXV8ocvQtekpGBrsK0500Z5rIrYHD29Jji4UDuNvLT0qtD1vQ3-Dnx144RQRPrtHv8X_wHxEIL4oDACcWDfeE0q9rmpEdwVILNEXVXnpTjpE/s1600/slug21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LYcNXU4MbYxQO4zV-b4tTyU2bN9t8tjZXV8ocvQtekpGBrsK0500Z5rIrYHD29Jji4UDuNvLT0qtD1vQ3-Dnx144RQRPrtHv8X_wHxEIL4oDACcWDfeE0q9rmpEdwVILNEXVXnpTjpE/s400/slug21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Going up the East Trail I paused
to listen to the birds and saw one warbling bird but couldn't get
the scope on it. As I got closer to the East Trail Pond, I heard
the orioles. The wind at the pond was a bit much. I watched for
ten minutes or so and then decided to tour the shore and get out
of the wind. Grass in one otter rolling area was matted down, but
no scat fresh or old. And there was nothing new at their latrine
by the dam. As far as scatting goes, otters are dropping by every
three or four days. I decided to fancy that I knew what the
otters were doing and went over the ridge and down to the old
stump flanked by loose beaver cut logs that I suspected was a den
for the otters last year.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I didn't see any scat but thought
I briefly smelled some. I did get warm and enjoyed the orioles
singing above me and sometimes swiftly flying in front of me. I
think there were three male orioles at least around me. I admired
the central position of this modest den. If I stood up I could
see lower Otter Hole Pond to my right.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3QNRfSTMVtbwNADi8BYkxvAEogR0e1Bi8AEFA0vv5-Vjt_N1pgikRPdpw0F4r9xHBT0nEsA645aqvK4-Wv4-QWbsZamKHvFSfOktWbqVk_MDzYqJruxQO-oVlQh3t7NGl6YhZYQ2oqk/s1600/viewohpond21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3QNRfSTMVtbwNADi8BYkxvAEogR0e1Bi8AEFA0vv5-Vjt_N1pgikRPdpw0F4r9xHBT0nEsA645aqvK4-Wv4-QWbsZamKHvFSfOktWbqVk_MDzYqJruxQO-oVlQh3t7NGl6YhZYQ2oqk/s400/viewohpond21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In front of me was the circular
central portion of the pond, now connected to the rest of the
pond by the creek. One year I did find otter scat around it in
the summer -- a perfect place to teach young otters to swim. I
walked over there and sat pondering it.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Along with one painted turtle, the birds put on the show: a pair of mallards flew in swallows,
including a few barn swallows, black birds, redwing black birds,
robins, and one killdeer all in constant motion. Then I walked up
toward the Second Swamp Pond. I first tried to cross the dam of
what I call upper Otter Hole Pond, which is small, and the
beavers have been tending the dam, but it was much too soggy on
the dam and below it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ktO7eUUsuqQIe8jVANdui2NzZDFPbeoz9wNsXhYTvGWNLH7kZU2j4EGL_ie_UbkHfcon2YeGsxDOalx474h7_y7x6CGw4KWW3FxsC3P_jVUWx-AoCxA7seIbOIp_z513LAEDOl01dHI/s1600/upperohdam21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ktO7eUUsuqQIe8jVANdui2NzZDFPbeoz9wNsXhYTvGWNLH7kZU2j4EGL_ie_UbkHfcon2YeGsxDOalx474h7_y7x6CGw4KWW3FxsC3P_jVUWx-AoCxA7seIbOIp_z513LAEDOl01dHI/s400/upperohdam21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I retreated and then noticed
that the old pool below the Second Swamp Pond, which once had a
beaver lodge in it, was back in operation. The beavers were
cutting trees, and as I tried to cross the Second Swamp Pond dam
I saw that they were fashioning a canal going down from the dam
to the small pool.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vTXFEq_d5IhcQO82dCiwUKsjuZx_IssAd8DnezjBIrrT7o_FZ64P5thbDEBukPZyDv5a6GHCxCuS_u2z_Tc8wHIyh3ArNeVwrh6oQHT5GHk9FW7CZbJudJDgHV5Wr1Vvm8U_cFgYG60/s1600/poolbelowsp21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vTXFEq_d5IhcQO82dCiwUKsjuZx_IssAd8DnezjBIrrT7o_FZ64P5thbDEBukPZyDv5a6GHCxCuS_u2z_Tc8wHIyh3ArNeVwrh6oQHT5GHk9FW7CZbJudJDgHV5Wr1Vvm8U_cFgYG60/s400/poolbelowsp21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The big dams and huge ponds are
wonders, but the way beavers make these small comforts is just as
wonderful. I hope they'll eventually refashion Otter Hole Pond
dam. Up on the north slope of the Lost Swamp Pond I saw a trail
coming up from the pond through the grass leading to an old scent
mound. This raised my hopes that an otter had been through
checking things but there was no fresh scat to be seen. I did see
the muskrat swim into its bank burrow, so I moved up closer and
waited. Once again what looks to me to be a bigger muskrat came
out, but soon noticed me and dove back into the hole with a
flourish of the tail. Muskrats can see better than beavers -- the
wind was in my face. As I went through the woods towards the Big
Pond I noticed a dozen or more blue needle damsel flies hovering
over the dry leaves</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51M8Ea9ypqHggpgrrPwIdMkl2JgL5gRnVhAIdOjq44S05yq7PdRMHYk-ALaRt33ci09ve2JsrnCVQPiCT2J4F5cW37Fm1o3mJX9FNfd1jVxEbqTMIDIKcCBurH8PALyRS6pXl4lfcIuc/s1600/dfly21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51M8Ea9ypqHggpgrrPwIdMkl2JgL5gRnVhAIdOjq44S05yq7PdRMHYk-ALaRt33ci09ve2JsrnCVQPiCT2J4F5cW37Fm1o3mJX9FNfd1jVxEbqTMIDIKcCBurH8PALyRS6pXl4lfcIuc/s400/dfly21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I've noticed this before with
larger dragon flies. Is it because it is easier to get insects
without grass in the way. The Big Pond dam is still easy to cross
though getting wetter below. I noticed one half stripped stick --
evidence of a beaver's moderation.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsv6bPqhjElvG1AKbqJZHb3-vS64nqb5xL1kNwZTf4t5GZS5U4paeiQjO7MhyphenhyphenZBJreUpNV8529vrP9bR8MnNFJwmN_3ceEGpAxEm3V0E1KoyeGZikUIR5I_R6X6Id2XAkBNV8UZHRmoKk/s1600/bvstick21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsv6bPqhjElvG1AKbqJZHb3-vS64nqb5xL1kNwZTf4t5GZS5U4paeiQjO7MhyphenhyphenZBJreUpNV8529vrP9bR8MnNFJwmN_3ceEGpAxEm3V0E1KoyeGZikUIR5I_R6X6Id2XAkBNV8UZHRmoKk/s400/bvstick21.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I noticed that the geese in the
Double Lodge Pond had goslings. I tried to sneak through the bush
and get a close up of them, Of course they heard me and moved off
but in the thick of it I saw a small tree cut by a beaver hung up
by the other trees.</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdcVOi3wORVIX_sVe1h2cHCihaQeS5A1N6whBS0fPnGYDmb96DNsmXTieIdnDyy5lBHOQtDBg5IZWvQHg6inzLhFw2FbV0WqhLFGh0Z4GirHtYnAYfZUhyphenhyphenVctf6KXoK-GlqcWM-pKDTc/s1600/dlpondwk21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdcVOi3wORVIX_sVe1h2cHCihaQeS5A1N6whBS0fPnGYDmb96DNsmXTieIdnDyy5lBHOQtDBg5IZWvQHg6inzLhFw2FbV0WqhLFGh0Z4GirHtYnAYfZUhyphenhyphenVctf6KXoK-GlqcWM-pKDTc/s400/dlpondwk21.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also noticed a pile of small
stripped sticks beside the stump of the tree. Here is another
comfortable place for a beaver. If a small shady pool is not
available why not a small thicket?</span></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 23 I headed to the East Trail
Pond on a cool, mostly cloudy morning, to see if there might be
fresh signs that otters have been around. The garlic mustard
plant with its tiny white flowers is all over the TIP ridge, but
peters out in the State Park. I do not get as upset about this
invader as most people do, and keep an eye on it to see what
might find it useful. I bent down to investigate a bee or fly
that seemed to be riveted to one blossom and was surprised to
find a doubledecker fly</span></div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They didn't flinch as I nosed
about frustrated at getting a good close-up due to the wind. The
common terns were out over South Bay and the herons fled well
before I got near them. The cool weather seemed to tone the birds
down some, though I did hear a pine warbler so close that I kept
looking up to see him. I suppose I should check for otter scat
first when I get to a pond, but my style is to sit on the rock
overlooking the pond before I check to see if there's much of a
chance for an otter to appear. Anything to prolong my stay at a
pond even if waiting for an otter is probably in vain. I did get
to see the geese. The pair with goslings was quiet and stately in
their procession along the far shore of the pond. The pair
without was quite noisy and I couldn't be sure if they were
honking at each other or the family. They skimmed the pollen off
the surface of the pond, while the parents seemed only interested
in seeing that their charges got food. The only other birds as
active as usual were the swallows. Then I went down to the dam
and first paused over a recent beaver meal -- a twig of white
pine. These beavers definitely have a taste for it, in all
seasons. No sign of otters in the usual places, which was
disappointing. The wind seemed favorable for sitting over the
Second Swamp Pond lodge so I headed in that direction. While
there didn't seem to be any new beaver work behind the lodge, I
did notice some nuances of their past work -- all in my effort to
discern the tastes of beavers. Right next to a large poplar that
they brought down to the ground, and left largely unstripped,
they began girdling a standing red oak.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also checked to see if they cut
any trees near or in the large vernal pool to the left as I faced
the pond and knoll behind the lodge.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">No sign at all that they used this
pool. I might rhapsodize on how beavers like quiet secluded
pools, but they don't always use them. I went over the knoll and
sat under a cedar next to the pond. That didn't fool the geese
who started honking. I didn't see any goslings. A handsome yellow
throat flew into the honeysuckle bush in front of me, and was
gone before I got the camera out. I walked slowly up the north
shore of the pond to see what paths the beavers might be using.
They continue to cruise through another, smaller, vernal pool,
and typically, are unsuccessful getting the big trees down. They
did cut a huge log out of one poplar, cutting it down a notch but
still leaving it hung up.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZ3lm443KDiEeEWQ56yGk_PZIpvqv61aJrhN1mjL8mOm2qu8_AegucjWe1Yu_cr_npa1JYYQRU-gWfgBEJtWhOpOr9gaMvAS5auKrxSe0anhE0aCCNVcZ40USSSxeKo-MwgjTJu9Yzu8/s1600/poplog23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZ3lm443KDiEeEWQ56yGk_PZIpvqv61aJrhN1mjL8mOm2qu8_AegucjWe1Yu_cr_npa1JYYQRU-gWfgBEJtWhOpOr9gaMvAS5auKrxSe0anhE0aCCNVcZ40USSSxeKo-MwgjTJu9Yzu8/s400/poplog23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It looks like they even tried to
move the log. They did successfully take out some small trees.
Speaking of beaver tastes, I noticed that they had left a small, very
leafy basswood standing on the knoll. When this colony was in the
New Pond downstream, the beavers did cut down some small
basswoods. Usually I continue on to the Lost Swamp Pond, but
since the beavers had lured me into the woods, I took the
opportunity to continue in and over the small ridge and check out
the series of ponds I generally just call the Third Pond. In the
deeper woods I heard a wood thrush and then I saw fresh beaver
work, especially just beyond a pool of water not really connected
to the series of ponds.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgidDNFddrlJWaUq1AvMi7T6G4UhgNi_tBVWchGPX3qi2vDILbFrUu9oDHx5orO9VmAx6xos23wMNj0vF6xgCNxTI7VoVvHAXp6Z6MVOaM-_mMDi8PSVLOwiat10Z9V4_P33k8eqZTVI/s1600/tpwk23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgidDNFddrlJWaUq1AvMi7T6G4UhgNi_tBVWchGPX3qi2vDILbFrUu9oDHx5orO9VmAx6xos23wMNj0vF6xgCNxTI7VoVvHAXp6Z6MVOaM-_mMDi8PSVLOwiat10Z9V4_P33k8eqZTVI/s400/tpwk23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They cut down some poplars and were
girdling red oak. There were strips peeled off the poplar trunk</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRs11zUm0dzjmewDfxUVCbCJDLVFbSYTRVcjfcWEHqK_raf8f8r15y21cLWyFcFstxNfTqTtQbJ7a0Ty-VaLuS6H7A3puygCjJb3bYfMQugJNPJPKt6PaZVktK-zzWhKPsOh_3dQmVwRM/s1600/popstrips23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRs11zUm0dzjmewDfxUVCbCJDLVFbSYTRVcjfcWEHqK_raf8f8r15y21cLWyFcFstxNfTqTtQbJ7a0Ty-VaLuS6H7A3puygCjJb3bYfMQugJNPJPKt6PaZVktK-zzWhKPsOh_3dQmVwRM/s400/popstrips23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and experts say such strips are
used for bedding so I looked around for a lodge, but other than
one small stripped stick there was no sign the beavers used the
pool. My beaver investigations were interrupted by a small
porcupine coming down a huge branch of a huge but stubby oak that
had a huge open invitation to climb down inside its trunk.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyFnBJXzh0mJ6zqqYNoDZCvJzt1JdK8pPfd_gsSyrqvC7R3xEjNEsOllp3eU68u-rf6dCTYlVRhI7kqfP2WMpjzam__PY7MQNVhXJuEaSGtRafUV7sImUyP4VZsb7VP4xWqyp5VCCGnY/s1600/ppine23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyFnBJXzh0mJ6zqqYNoDZCvJzt1JdK8pPfd_gsSyrqvC7R3xEjNEsOllp3eU68u-rf6dCTYlVRhI7kqfP2WMpjzam__PY7MQNVhXJuEaSGtRafUV7sImUyP4VZsb7VP4xWqyp5VCCGnY/s400/ppine23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hurried to get photos and video
because it looked like it would climb down into the
split open trunk. Instead it straddled itself awkwardly over the
hole, obviously uncertain whether it would be better to go up or
down, if I made a play for it.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyr5SdSeE_ZUBvjHRxUuuGCoO7B-IDnpUyHckpGo3ffAJ1Uum_zhAgpDtX1Sc6dTuD4NbK7dp3GaMKtRK9kQjk5yiz3zpZ0TrzEfEexEUD_Xk-C3UyKbFTo1jQdww34w8Hynqoe-nW2E/s1600/ppinebelly23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyr5SdSeE_ZUBvjHRxUuuGCoO7B-IDnpUyHckpGo3ffAJ1Uum_zhAgpDtX1Sc6dTuD4NbK7dp3GaMKtRK9kQjk5yiz3zpZ0TrzEfEexEUD_Xk-C3UyKbFTo1jQdww34w8Hynqoe-nW2E/s400/ppinebelly23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, I didn't attack, though
I did see the smooth underbelly where any attack best be made,
and left it heading up, awkwardly. I soon noticed the absence of
any beaver made paths to this work, and little sign of activity
in the larger pond nearby, which is in the series of ponds.
Indeed the pond was shallow. So I think the work I was seeing had
been done a month or two ago before the grass sprouted. There was
a modicum of work around the three small ponds going back to the
East Trail Pond.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdR-hIKN18eyErM4hlfdQ03l4NJe6vHDRMlnxSI-MZl7tn0X2K1OWhrxk76WdQRo4nDY3tt3yOVztO-Gz9smV0eJXuLrv_nUpI03SxaQmkNspt049s7waRqPqhQ6F4FJrqLuAp-6sITAM/s1600/tpbvwk23a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdR-hIKN18eyErM4hlfdQ03l4NJe6vHDRMlnxSI-MZl7tn0X2K1OWhrxk76WdQRo4nDY3tt3yOVztO-Gz9smV0eJXuLrv_nUpI03SxaQmkNspt049s7waRqPqhQ6F4FJrqLuAp-6sITAM/s400/tpbvwk23a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was detoured briefly by a
pileated woodpecker who was whaling into a rotten stump.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsT77TYTNkV-wMLlBHaRzdMe5VF3c8x7kevUz9snTKrqi7tQlV6HzfYpjgcTDT-D4g6ja1PpYywJmAKXySFJhURda5ahW-3ZaxO3r-e3xjXWGmNH6GUH2Q8ZwpYhO2pIcN5rhw8TWanE/s1600/pileated23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsT77TYTNkV-wMLlBHaRzdMe5VF3c8x7kevUz9snTKrqi7tQlV6HzfYpjgcTDT-D4g6ja1PpYywJmAKXySFJhURda5ahW-3ZaxO3r-e3xjXWGmNH6GUH2Q8ZwpYhO2pIcN5rhw8TWanE/s400/pileated23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">It was oblivious to my sneaking up
and seemed to delight in tossing the rotten wood back as if it
knew exactly where the insects were and there was no necessity to
carefully peck through the rot. I continued around the East Trail
Pond, going along its east shore and caught the goose family on the old boardwalk that once went through the pond</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1Wap0RgSj6buBS_hIcKYmAmIf5SD3BdSp7KWmW7ODTHm-LybA6mlZalsycCEEVOeP4aYA9s1o5O9kONkgipBAcGW7blgvFHml8x43uiSmXEcwLUGntMX5kmcXmsRjcpFiklyNf6XoPI/s1600/goslings23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1Wap0RgSj6buBS_hIcKYmAmIf5SD3BdSp7KWmW7ODTHm-LybA6mlZalsycCEEVOeP4aYA9s1o5O9kONkgipBAcGW7blgvFHml8x43uiSmXEcwLUGntMX5kmcXmsRjcpFiklyNf6XoPI/s400/goslings23.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They made a pretty good escape
save that the runt of the litter had trouble getting over a stick
in the water. I lingered as I went up on the ridge overlooking
the upper East Trail Pond but I saw no mammalian, nor reptilian
activity below. Going back along the South Bay coves, I saw
yellow warblers and a goldfinch.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 25 we had drenching rain
yesterday. This morning it appeared to have stopped but when I
reached the South Bay cove it was raining again. The water was
rushing out of the first creek and an otter or two seems to have
been excited by it because there were two generous scats on the
trail.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjXFYxch3hIf-c6dBcM2TsvLLVGSd12LGJ4wqaMMewFuZMDTLUJRxs88v4SfOpJZsgOBx3FK-MojGn_CshNdazO85jsPOvxrbyNFChNWgecm9qOg7cqFjTBk5IKvgnsXZRWpLrRshJuw/s1600/sbayscat25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjXFYxch3hIf-c6dBcM2TsvLLVGSd12LGJ4wqaMMewFuZMDTLUJRxs88v4SfOpJZsgOBx3FK-MojGn_CshNdazO85jsPOvxrbyNFChNWgecm9qOg7cqFjTBk5IKvgnsXZRWpLrRshJuw/s400/sbayscat25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I could see where the otter
had moved up through the grass from the dead cattails on the
margins of South Bay.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01XlFX4UhoCvPL1swh4c7CYmpBin6AmasUpj8NBjv57fIQn5ZPPIEZeAX2HrCT86RkOMy1WlSrPxoWGsB-Bv8zo5dqp1sibT_XmwWk91-hQEjUU8UFnB8AlZxrCHM1vhcN7ZKmC-3Bl4/s1600/sbaytrail25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01XlFX4UhoCvPL1swh4c7CYmpBin6AmasUpj8NBjv57fIQn5ZPPIEZeAX2HrCT86RkOMy1WlSrPxoWGsB-Bv8zo5dqp1sibT_XmwWk91-hQEjUU8UFnB8AlZxrCHM1vhcN7ZKmC-3Bl4/s400/sbaytrail25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I took the short-cut over the
ridge to Otter Hole Pond and sat on the downed oak atop my perch,
more to defog my glasses than to see anything in the pond. The
rain continued so I decided to move on to the East Trail Pond
where the trees provided more cover. The water was rushing
through Otter Hole Pond dam, but there appeared to be some small
dollops of fresh mud. Perhaps a beaver is getting interested in
this dam. There were also two geese in the way on the dam but no
goslings joined them as they swam off. The ground everywhere was
soggy, not the best conditions for looking for scat. After I got
up on the ridge I moved along to pick up the usual otter trail
and there at the high point as the trail went over the ridge was
a handsome scent mound crowned with scat.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCYG3lhUnljV57otZl4vv6k1GESyTn_gNjsXQJK2wMW7unjvOg9JtQ9JYNFbtHn8haYPWk9HaJIVo4ZssMeEmqx73Qi5E0pCBAxegaUnZETtAtCvnqD7DTfBU9f7DC6nMCH6R26NRCpI/s1600/scentmd25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCYG3lhUnljV57otZl4vv6k1GESyTn_gNjsXQJK2wMW7unjvOg9JtQ9JYNFbtHn8haYPWk9HaJIVo4ZssMeEmqx73Qi5E0pCBAxegaUnZETtAtCvnqD7DTfBU9f7DC6nMCH6R26NRCpI/s400/scentmd25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This mound of leaves and sticks
scruffed up on a clump of grass just off the trail was perfectly
placed to claim both ponds. The more I thought about it, I had
this idea: perhaps the otter placed it at such a relatively level
place to prevents its being washed away by the rain. After taking
many photos at all angles, </span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WxdR-ZnaLktwcuGMlNgw6u3YoD90MVK-RJMsYgemHR177tdE0noBLGEKzI40GnWpK2xtO30ZmdWcy6BK9grPDmLhHUZA52qHNOhJsQnaR35-EmuM1sJoIJUZHkWxgb-ZpLMqtoyPQoA/s1600/smview25a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3WxdR-ZnaLktwcuGMlNgw6u3YoD90MVK-RJMsYgemHR177tdE0noBLGEKzI40GnWpK2xtO30ZmdWcy6BK9grPDmLhHUZA52qHNOhJsQnaR35-EmuM1sJoIJUZHkWxgb-ZpLMqtoyPQoA/s400/smview25a.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I moved down the trail to the East
Trial Pond dam and was surprised to find no fresh scat there. I
sat under the tall pine tree which afforded excellent protection
from the continuing shower. I sat waiting for otters but none
appeared, and the shower subdued all but the singing of the
birds. I checked the mossy rock for scat, none there, and then
took a photo of the ridge where the scat was.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcD0IR1mbbcH9Egxpu_REj0yE7iRu0LS3siOhJ2YpBFF0_EgV41229nn9d9UNVzGRHw_N9evDYdIxHU9Wnp4P4LxgRzbEkbd07i-g6bhGpAPNmcbjL5ILgFNzKhroZBvQAQWJC-eLbE_g/s1600/etridge25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcD0IR1mbbcH9Egxpu_REj0yE7iRu0LS3siOhJ2YpBFF0_EgV41229nn9d9UNVzGRHw_N9evDYdIxHU9Wnp4P4LxgRzbEkbd07i-g6bhGpAPNmcbjL5ILgFNzKhroZBvQAQWJC-eLbE_g/s400/etridge25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, I went up and over
again to check the other end of the trail. I fancied I could see
the trail the otter made, but found no scats down by the edge of
the creek. I crossed there and went up to the Second Swamp Pond,
going up on the knoll mainly because it was drier. No activity in
the rain there either, and I moved along the north shore rapidly
getting shoes so wet that I slogged across the almost flooded
upper dam. The rain stopped as I came up to the Lost Swamp
Pond and I began looking for scat there. There was none at the
dam nor rolling area and what I saw at the foot of the north
shore slope looked like it could have been old scat vivified by
the rain. Still, it looked like an otter trail through the grass
and I followed it. At the top of the trail between the Lost Swamp
and Second Swamp Pond there were several scats. Instead of making
a scent mound the otter or otters covered a prominent bump of
moss with scat.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VWtlYiQx94LiEMwF6dYR5ehMPzQWdEoBHpQAbisZYcRhqaTywzTvOWTmNAHR7MfTYUBc8IWUc42nmslNqX9y72WpRh_wKgDpR_bPZZJOsGY0wG_-Y3USGMDbE2gwySu1hkRRCCVPAb0/s1600/scat25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VWtlYiQx94LiEMwF6dYR5ehMPzQWdEoBHpQAbisZYcRhqaTywzTvOWTmNAHR7MfTYUBc8IWUc42nmslNqX9y72WpRh_wKgDpR_bPZZJOsGY0wG_-Y3USGMDbE2gwySu1hkRRCCVPAb0/s400/scat25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So generous was the scat that I
don't think one otter could have done it. Again I took a photo
showing the view toward the two ponds, first the Lost Swamp and
then the Second Swamp:</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24E9WeWNLBZv0X6q3bREd-X6bD_Foo3XPlJhEQRoll5EIw17jBv6o3SuwnW8S55IbYbIqCvr9NMXwLTNdQNn0Nc2D35vcNL0Y-9-zSzxBvSi0tT0hDmCjHVoLv_A6FXt47CBvGS33Gd8/s1600/viewls25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24E9WeWNLBZv0X6q3bREd-X6bD_Foo3XPlJhEQRoll5EIw17jBv6o3SuwnW8S55IbYbIqCvr9NMXwLTNdQNn0Nc2D35vcNL0Y-9-zSzxBvSi0tT0hDmCjHVoLv_A6FXt47CBvGS33Gd8/s400/viewls25.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRYN8DCyULNXpdE9Vwh8w68irTR3Tdv7ZimeMyHV7KXpCbp_rGrMOKCnIsPNgGJaXOZ1-e2-ejDBp0a_evIQFYe1xEBi4b-RSMkU_jZsdhnC-2SggfoqA0PjUZYcDgNLpSD5xIblGPYc/s1600/viewsp25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRYN8DCyULNXpdE9Vwh8w68irTR3Tdv7ZimeMyHV7KXpCbp_rGrMOKCnIsPNgGJaXOZ1-e2-ejDBp0a_evIQFYe1xEBi4b-RSMkU_jZsdhnC-2SggfoqA0PjUZYcDgNLpSD5xIblGPYc/s400/viewsp25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">One year I think the otters used
the upper end of the Second Swamp Pond to raise young, but then
the pond was much shallower and the upper end a discrete pool.
The Big Pond dam is no longer easy to cross. Fortunately I had
given up on keeping my feet dry. There were several streams of
water going over the dam, especially at the principal part of the
dam flooding the creek below.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDCdlEZrlAuCBw3LEKK0_R3u7ICRaQsqUSAVjRkdmBmZkVx7sijTUsvVEZolXKE4W1emRUYi6GU-QtIxIz6g_KjskarSjkrNTlYI9TesMKM2cN5KoiPLglPg6oWiz6YNjn-Rsq5CwKwI/s1600/bpdam25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDCdlEZrlAuCBw3LEKK0_R3u7ICRaQsqUSAVjRkdmBmZkVx7sijTUsvVEZolXKE4W1emRUYi6GU-QtIxIz6g_KjskarSjkrNTlYI9TesMKM2cN5KoiPLglPg6oWiz6YNjn-Rsq5CwKwI/s400/bpdam25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I looked closely and made sure
that the winter hole through the base of the dam had not
reopened. I also noticed the muskrat work -- some blue flag iris
plants were cut.</span><br />
</div>
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<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There was no scat in the usual
places along this dam. Down in the pond below I saw geese and
goslings,</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiicgfjSj1Y95x0WmasrrerrNwoXtyBwd7uvSrxVv1K43qUKTSk6HznT9rfgA5QkLk6EFR_llRUu1Pf1omFn6nCxzp5JCNuVtYv0Ejhcqo438oyMsKnIH7nVR4S6dA3TDh3md6JOlQB6M/s1600/geese25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiicgfjSj1Y95x0WmasrrerrNwoXtyBwd7uvSrxVv1K43qUKTSk6HznT9rfgA5QkLk6EFR_llRUu1Pf1omFn6nCxzp5JCNuVtYv0Ejhcqo438oyMsKnIH7nVR4S6dA3TDh3md6JOlQB6M/s400/geese25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">then when I crossed the other
small creek draining into that pond, I saw another family with
goslings in the grass of the dam -- just two or three goslings as
best I could tell. I went up the slope toward the TI Park trail
and heard a scarlet tanager above me in the trees, and then saw
it.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-zUc4xPU4KRP19nwSRL7WDeQyS9zPjs4H_DE7jxW0P17nwaARy_FiCpoX3JdOQ6QtxZP7uKrwk6QlQlit40Gl9eqLhyh65FNoUX6Yb1jIuFYlIA02oG7d-SzlSwd-CoRnTQgngmndBQ/s1600/tanager25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-zUc4xPU4KRP19nwSRL7WDeQyS9zPjs4H_DE7jxW0P17nwaARy_FiCpoX3JdOQ6QtxZP7uKrwk6QlQlit40Gl9eqLhyh65FNoUX6Yb1jIuFYlIA02oG7d-SzlSwd-CoRnTQgngmndBQ/s400/tanager25.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was sure a damp day would bring
one down so I could easily see it. While I am sure the otters are
back, I'm not sure exactly where they are since all the scats
were in places of transition, not in the usual comfort zones by
the edges of the ponds. On my next trip I'll see where they are
staying, and perhaps see an otter at long last. Still more rain
when I got home.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-size: medium;">May 27 and more rain the next day,
probably around three inches total for two days. This morning it
was foggy which kept me off the river, but I needed to retrace my
last route to see if the otter or otters stayed on one pond, or
made another circuit. Going over the TI Park ridge the warbling
vireo keeps up its slow song. Coming to the little causeway over
the creek into South Bay, a heron flew off, rather slowly,
grudgingly, and I could hear the water rushing down from the
ponds. I soon saw why the heron was loath to go. There were fish
parts on the rocks behind the causeway. With the rising water in
the river meeting the rushing water in the swamps, fish were
trying to swim upstream. Then a little beyond the last spread of
scat were larger and looser smears.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjne_hl7ClB9Y1sLJjf9l-6lucvkbZfyFqMdsHk9RbsHTi2Dk4DP0wKVaXw7WyljHTnkwsUIT0DMHct6hO2J5NV6_aPjGD78GVQ6s0hfm5mrLbqio0ivOndDOt8zyxcW4WY9Xq12C07-M/s1600/scat27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjne_hl7ClB9Y1sLJjf9l-6lucvkbZfyFqMdsHk9RbsHTi2Dk4DP0wKVaXw7WyljHTnkwsUIT0DMHct6hO2J5NV6_aPjGD78GVQ6s0hfm5mrLbqio0ivOndDOt8zyxcW4WY9Xq12C07-M/s400/scat27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I also tried to discern a crossing
path through the grass and bushes, but couldn't.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrJ_gJ66pLuMmW7SAvueu0eAdMk7mvwljbdT5RgQhf5rX1asI9SEyquZy0OHpp5993JZq_MH8jYBiK_L6mJUYAIAGuJuffAt_KJcMtZ1pvyN4QCZMbVTfyzCS2rV_5pVYNhy9IBfrl1A/s1600/sbaylatrine27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrJ_gJ66pLuMmW7SAvueu0eAdMk7mvwljbdT5RgQhf5rX1asI9SEyquZy0OHpp5993JZq_MH8jYBiK_L6mJUYAIAGuJuffAt_KJcMtZ1pvyN4QCZMbVTfyzCS2rV_5pVYNhy9IBfrl1A/s400/sbaylatrine27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The scats are in the left
foreground where there is a little muss in the grass. But there
were no sign of the otter's scratching grass and piling it up. I kept on the
South Bay trail curious to see if any fish would be running up
the other creek, an easier route, I think, than going up the pipe
through the causeway. And sure enough I found a six inch sunny
flat in a patch of wet grass next to the torrent.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40oncYYF7AJlxiQpmaeOJ7yQYu-8PDCMrPjC5ZixBvSx8Hp6xJ4_Gymcaa_cUPy0Vhepa2CYqvsRfb8fsqtUfULtQItlNHWwuPAjKRtYQYd24f_SHM1q0VW6eeT4aNZKEB7jy04H03Is/s1600/sunny27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40oncYYF7AJlxiQpmaeOJ7yQYu-8PDCMrPjC5ZixBvSx8Hp6xJ4_Gymcaa_cUPy0Vhepa2CYqvsRfb8fsqtUfULtQItlNHWwuPAjKRtYQYd24f_SHM1q0VW6eeT4aNZKEB7jy04H03Is/s400/sunny27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After a few photos, I kicked it
back in the stream and it wisely swam down to South Bay. I
continued around the trail to get a better view of the shallow
reaches of the bay, then turned to go back to the East Trail
Pond, fancying that an otter was more likely to be there in the
mid-morning rather than out in South Bay. The East Trail Pond was
still, evenly covered with duck weed save for just behind the dam
and a trail leading up to the active beaver bank lodge. I
probably just missed some beavers who might have lingered longer
in the pond this foggy morning. The stillness didn't inspire
patience, and I was curious to see if there was evidence that an
otter stayed in the pond for the last two days. However, there
were no fresh scats on the mossy rock or at the foot of the
trail, where scatting had been de riguer for any otter in the
pond for some months. I walked up and over the trail, and not far
from the scent mound of two days ago there were fresh scats in an
area severely scratched up with dead grass and turf tufted up
all over.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJncjmkmfe-v_K_XQFS_lrxmUu9qvTdMCvGklqK8BdgbkYYm_4TI1A5Ucx2yaHCV91K9IV2VSZeOnaVx412MAcAsFujGI9z5ctUbJ44T1qXfGPjCIzhFDENjkGXml3qDOa0xonlpG_zE/s1600/etscats27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJncjmkmfe-v_K_XQFS_lrxmUu9qvTdMCvGklqK8BdgbkYYm_4TI1A5Ucx2yaHCV91K9IV2VSZeOnaVx412MAcAsFujGI9z5ctUbJ44T1qXfGPjCIzhFDENjkGXml3qDOa0xonlpG_zE/s400/etscats27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So I was being entertained by
touring, not necessarily resident otters. Crossing the dam was a
chore thanks to the flood brimming and spilling over it, and on
the other side of the pond the impressions in the wet grass were
probably made by geese. I sat for a few minutes -- but nothing
much happened.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFzfTF52jfDSzO0NEKx2dNGj9ERAKpZw4HmPxTkVljlmr_Pl4JgZLa7FEVZCjxLCAVDTbx4u2A0kuyMYp91YsqQgQ5Va870OySxLzYFmf13ym581x5nMVygvoUrkrMEGqtw-83AtP0JM/s1600/etpond27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFzfTF52jfDSzO0NEKx2dNGj9ERAKpZw4HmPxTkVljlmr_Pl4JgZLa7FEVZCjxLCAVDTbx4u2A0kuyMYp91YsqQgQ5Va870OySxLzYFmf13ym581x5nMVygvoUrkrMEGqtw-83AtP0JM/s400/etpond27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I went to the Second Swamp Pond,
saw a large coyote scat up on the ridge, but not much was
happening there either. As I started up the north shore, my shoes
were relatively dry but by the time I reached the little upper
dam, they were rather wet, and soon soaked. Something had visited
the shore of the pond behind the little dam, flattened grass and
snapped some emerging milkweeds.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhCiV_z10JOqxX411hb4WzdCwWXOg-2BqcCsXVWmSXcB2w8PICImhZ3Mn0Uk02PXVi0BLJh69op1F6P9CMtcfB8wQ5LC1P7AEm0dXj0ACEHPhxmnCvrudRacaUB25NbXDXl3sCDLNsvw/s1600/upspbvmk27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhCiV_z10JOqxX411hb4WzdCwWXOg-2BqcCsXVWmSXcB2w8PICImhZ3Mn0Uk02PXVi0BLJh69op1F6P9CMtcfB8wQ5LC1P7AEm0dXj0ACEHPhxmnCvrudRacaUB25NbXDXl3sCDLNsvw/s400/upspbvmk27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">The strokes were too broad to be
the work of muskrats, and a half gnawed stick pointed to a beaver
having made the impression. Looking back after I crossed the dam,
I got a nice photo.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1iX9TfSCCRBJttfdWPceFp3kcXeEakFrYShdngGcUHrOeRj-nk9NGQPcMopzT0GliCG3iPa-BWahxLcOUmjVRDDIlM3Uj2UpVdILM_dPAX5vFbhikjISP886FSXgLoEc_oorOP-os_A/s1600/upspdam17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1iX9TfSCCRBJttfdWPceFp3kcXeEakFrYShdngGcUHrOeRj-nk9NGQPcMopzT0GliCG3iPa-BWahxLcOUmjVRDDIlM3Uj2UpVdILM_dPAX5vFbhikjISP886FSXgLoEc_oorOP-os_A/s400/upspdam17.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I crossed the dam I noticed
that a heron flew into the little pond just below the Lost Swamp
Pond dam. As I moved up to the dam, I had my camera ready and got
a somewhat interesting photo of the heron's wings cocked up for
the first great stroke toward flight</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJibu_QFc_l6C18p786oU-bOAsWtPnVwOq3QZU0n9_hOkkbVHkl9dxSDv0zFuPyNKMuplfCNy9aT7-TVZb3rXWaeYaVWr7lDEOrNCzWAewBaLNyk2-WZJgDTogwiWqEtPREs1NWbRdKA4/s1600/heron27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJibu_QFc_l6C18p786oU-bOAsWtPnVwOq3QZU0n9_hOkkbVHkl9dxSDv0zFuPyNKMuplfCNy9aT7-TVZb3rXWaeYaVWr7lDEOrNCzWAewBaLNyk2-WZJgDTogwiWqEtPREs1NWbRdKA4/s400/heron27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">There were geese and goslings on
top of the rock by the lodge, but they saw me before the heron
and moved off sooner. I walked slowly along the shore of the
pond, checking the usual otter latrines, and just as at the East
Trail Pond, most of the fresh scat was near where the otter
scatted the other day along the trail over to the Second Pond.
There was one fresh scat half way up the north slope. But just
prior to that investigation, two pileated woodpeckers began
jockeying for position jumping from stump to logs and briefly
lighting low on some tree trunks.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HiK-MBeU7iPBolSFOAm_1broD96Zc3PUQXh9zaTuPB5oWiwdCpL7LcBNySe24JowM9zJsKd1XEnT__wlz-vG7x2iW17iZfK6ED5BZzAN75_rYtIrwFuH5PsK1jnD-B031jPgQ8IGi5c/s1600/pileated27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HiK-MBeU7iPBolSFOAm_1broD96Zc3PUQXh9zaTuPB5oWiwdCpL7LcBNySe24JowM9zJsKd1XEnT__wlz-vG7x2iW17iZfK6ED5BZzAN75_rYtIrwFuH5PsK1jnD-B031jPgQ8IGi5c/s400/pileated27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">They vocalized in a pleasant way
when they got close. I happened to notice this just as I was
passing the muskrat burrow and while I was videoing the
woodpeckers, a muskrat thrashed the water behind me and
disappeared. The flicker nesting nearby was also active and I got
close to a kingbird. I decided to go down to Otter Hole Pond,
curious to see if otters scatted on the dam, and to see if the
hint of beaver mud work I saw two days ago had matured into a
repair job. On the way there, in the moist litter by the edge of
the woods I saw this small white flower </span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFsYx3jGrGCfDLOL6CS9hkzGzR_Av0ULCUkcJm6B0XDasMQ3cGAT5GhEKk76Rh8Pyiz_y7pByn2-4RvB-Dv1j9lAGpGYsB698B3gxSTeaIDuU0O3yg5BrcGmunVbxpyL8UORZGQJLOYY/s1600/flower27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFsYx3jGrGCfDLOL6CS9hkzGzR_Av0ULCUkcJm6B0XDasMQ3cGAT5GhEKk76Rh8Pyiz_y7pByn2-4RvB-Dv1j9lAGpGYsB698B3gxSTeaIDuU0O3yg5BrcGmunVbxpyL8UORZGQJLOYY/s400/flower27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I approached Otter Hole Pond,
the geese started honking and when I got there they honked even
more. No goslings on this pond, though. It didn't seem that any
beavers visited the dam and the water gushed through a high hole
in the dam.</span><br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jhLDAk9rhjph2cZTcblq9iz9ScnCafDqTfD5H8Wrq5NFjmVWTwsTFjN6eotkjKnB7eYCO5komakXGHNvb13UBlN-q7LasPsh91IsG47utaTEFxZOOeRRhqCtYt3Evic9AD9t7UJ0_Os/s1600/ohdam27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jhLDAk9rhjph2cZTcblq9iz9ScnCafDqTfD5H8Wrq5NFjmVWTwsTFjN6eotkjKnB7eYCO5komakXGHNvb13UBlN-q7LasPsh91IsG47utaTEFxZOOeRRhqCtYt3Evic9AD9t7UJ0_Os/s400/ohdam27.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">To see this touring otter or
otters, I'll have to try to get to the ponds earlier.</span></div>
Bob Arnebeckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15893961792819124892noreply@blogger.com0