This past weekend, I went up to State Park. (I keep falling farther behind with posting my hiking pics; I'll try to get them up more quickly.)
Anyhow, the geese were out in abundance:
Mist was rising and it gave everything a muffled look:
You could hardly see the mergansers through the fog:
Every time I see a beaver-hewed tree by the river, I wonder: Are they trying to dam the entire river? Because that seems kind of futile. Maybe they're building a lodge on the riverbank? Or just filing down their teeth? Maybe beavers just gotta gnaw, same as ruminants gotta chew. Hmmm.
Even in January, there's color to be found:
This mallard is showing off his pretty wings - can you spot him?:
The days are starting to get longer. Spring will be here RIGHT QUICK.
6 comments:
Beavers dam flowing water to make it deep enough for their lodges. They are perfectly happy to build in any water without a dam if it's already the right depth. (There's a beaver family living in the Bronx River, and a few here and there in municipal park ponds.) They also continue cutting trees for food.
Those geese give me chills (of horror, haha)...I'm glad they've flown South from here for the winter !
~~Silk, I had no idea that the beavers actually ate the trees. I thought they just used them for dams.
and Zella, sorry the geese squicked you out! They sure can be mean critters.
Having image of poor Zella scouring English/Finnish dictionary for "squicked"..........
They eat the layer under the bark of the trunks o smaller trees, and especially love the twigs and branch tips. Since they can't climb trees to get to the tender tips, they just cut them down. Next time you see a tree downed but still in place, check to see if the smaller branches have been harvested.
Deer also appreciate beaver-downed trees, since the deer also eat tender twigs, and the beaver make it possible to get to them.
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