The Beavers Prep for Winter

Our Beaver Colony started making preparations for the upcoming winter over a month ago, but now they are really stepping it up. The underwater food cache has been growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of saplings and even a few larger trees have been felled and dragged down to the pond. The dams are being fortified too, which is a good thing since during the winter, dam maintenance becomes difficult if not impossible.  Just last week the beavers decided to resurrect one of the lower ponds. This particular pond (Sarah's Pond) was at one time the largest pond on the property. A dam breech drained it 2 years ago; in the intervening time it has become what is known as a "beaver meadow", characterized by rich silted-up soil and dominated by wildflowers and grasses.

The beavers' growing food cache holds a diverse mix of tree branches

One of the adults goes off to find trees - note the kit following behind

Two kits engage in a shoving match while another watches from shore

A kit returns with a small contribution to the food cache

A kit munches on Aspen bark

Kit and an adult both partaking of Aspen leaves

The underwater view

Working to patch the long broken dam at Sarah's Pond

For this task they used a lot of mud, turf and goldenrod

Tartarian Honeysuckle boughs were also used since they were close at hand

The water started visibly rising as the beavers worked

At night White-tailed Deer feed on the plants that cover the beaver dam

By day, a Great Blue Heron patrols the dam looking for fish and frogs

A Green Frog sits in the shallows alongside the dam

Hooded Merganser and Mallard swimming at the beaver pond

Recent Happenings at the Nature Preserve

The summer season is not quite finished yet. There are still new flowers coming into bloom and fresh butterflies emerging. At the same time, the procession of fall migrant songbirds continues. Each day brings the promise of an as-yet-unseen species for the year.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeds on Joe-Pye-Weed

A Giant Swallowtail feeding on a lingering BeeBalm flower

A Gray Comma licks a friendly hand

Red Admiral feeding on Spotted Knapweed 

Red Admiral

Downy Skullcap is a late bloomer

Jack-in-the-Pulpit berries just starting to turn

Ripe Jack-in-the-Pulpit berries

Water Horehound in full bloom

Blue Lobelia 

Giant Blue Hyssop 

Broad-leaved Arrowhead blooms near the shore of the pond

Turtlehead flowers begin to turn pink as they age

Silver-spotted Skipper visits a Hawkweed flower

Great Spangled Fritillary on Knapweed

Hummingbird Moth on Knapweed

The other day there was a migrant Olive-sided Flycatcher vying for the same perch as a Red Squirrel. I took a few blurry shots of their interaction.

A Red Squirrel and an Olive-sided Flycatcher via for the same perch

The flycatcher wins it, but only temporarily

The squirrel is persistent 

The squirrel wins!

A few minutes later a Gray Catbird is on the same perch - What is it about that snag?

A Merlin stops by the nature preserve

Plenty of Fall Warblers and Other Migrants

Magnolia Warbler in all of its fall glory

OK, so plumage-wise, most fall warblers aren't as spectacular as spring warblers, but they are still pretty glorious and well worth the trouble it takes to see them. The best way to find them is to seek out a noisy group of Black-capped Chickadees moving through the forest or along the edge of a woods. Chickadees, titmice and nuthatches often form the core of mixed foraging flocks and during fall migration their numbers are bolstered by migrant warblers and vireos. There are a few known advantages of traveling together, but probably the main one is security. In a flock there are many pairs of eyes which might discern a predator skulking in a bush or flying over the habitat. An alarm call given by one of these birds is recognized by the others regardless of species, and so individuals in a flock stand a better chance of surviving the danger.

Nashville Warbler

Tennessee Warbler 

Female Black-throated Blue Warbler

Magnolia Warbler can be easily identified by its  half-black & half-white tail 

Black-throated Green Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Magnolia Warblers have been among the most common migrants so far

Of Course, the warblers and vireos were not the only south-bound migrants to be found, there are still flycatchers, grosbeaks and even a few hummingbirds around.

One of 6 Brown Thrasher seen near an Elderberry Bush 

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

An immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird - just been feasting on nectar from orange jewelweed 

The hummingbird checks out a mostly spent Joe-Pye-Weed flower

A Least Flycatcher hangs out at the periphery of the mixed foraging flock

An Olive-sided Flycatcher hunts for flying insects over the beaver pond