Christy Stout led us on a great beaver program last week. Nine people attended the Beaver: Ecosystems Engineers program on Tuesday, July 29 at Walden-Parke Preserve. It was a warm and pleasant evening. Christy explained beaver behavior and led us to locations with good amounts of beaver sign. At the first location we were able to see a dam and lodge and movement near the lodge that we think may have been a small beaver. Two nighthawks flew above and we noticed Fireweed, Bunchberry, and some cool sedges in the vicinity. At the second location we immediately flushed a couple of Canada Geese and a Green Heron. After that we clearly observed a beaver swimming around in the pond. It swam back and forth, coming closer as we settled in stunned silence at our luck. The only sound from us for a long while was the click of our cameras. Here are some shots from the outing. (If you double click on an image, it will open up as a larger image with the caption. You can then proceed to the next image by hitting your right arrow key.)
Thank you, Christy Stout, for a great adventure!
Thank you, Christy Stout, for a great adventure!