back to where the beavers work

post #130
       Before the recent rains we've been having, I returned to make more photos of beaver activity.  The hike there requires several crossings of the creek.  Less water in the creek means 1) easier crossings! 2) less chance to fall in the creek and get the camera wet! and 3) more time for taking photos!  I ended up leaving the house in the late afternoon, so I didn't make it back home until 8 pm, just before dark.

      First, signs of beaver dining and destruction:

     These stumps seemed like an h'ors d'oeuvre or perhaps a training opportunity.  The close up of the stump tops that follows in the second photo reveals dual spiders...who knew! 

      

        

         

      Another duality seems to be at play here on this log.  I wonder if this could be a his and her munchies bar?  Or a parent/child side by side training effort?  There is so much I don't know.

        
      Here are two variations on beaver paths to the water, or perhaps a beaver slide is a better word:

     The Wikipedia beaver information says the purpose of these trees which may drown in the water is to create "standing dead wood" which is a necessary food for "a wide range of animals and plants."

  The area these beavers cover has high cliffs, on one side, and many trees left to choose from.

        

      These last two photos show the last dam of three that I could see on the creek.  The second photo shows a detail from the first -- a very clever severing of the tree trunk, though the tree itself was caught in another tree so it has not yet fallen across the creek.  (I am standing on a hillside; I am not in a tree!)

    
      There have been some heavy rains since I took these photos a week ago.  And it is raining tonight.  I look forward to another visit there when I can make it.  Beavers work at night, and I do not.  But other years I have seen beavers in nearby lakes, in the daytime, so who knows what is possible if one has ample fits of curiosity!

mid-winter musings

 post #126
       This blog's intent has been to talk about photography and about Appalachia.  I try to keep each week's post fairly simple, mostly short, and always fun, at least for me.  Along the way I share my photos, including ones that are not perfect.  If they tell part of the story I have in mind, I go ahead and use them.  I am not trying to show off.  I much prefer to share -- and to learn from whatever I do.  For these same reasons I have appreciated occasionally including work from other photographers, such as John Flavell and Chris Garris and who knows who in the future.  I also include my own work from other places where I may happen to be.  The line John Lennon used in a song, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans," works for me as well.
       Today's photos are a combination of where I have been (England) and where I want to go again (the beavers nearby).  Therefore they are not the whole story -- one's a finishing up and the other's a hint of more to come.



   First, the snow at night, in England, coming back from a Chinese New Year potluck!  Surprise!  We ended up with five inches, but it didn't last all that long.

      Here is the same place, the next morning:

      
        In fact, the next day I drove to a garage that was at a lower elevation, and there was a lot less snow around:

        I don't know which of these two views I prefer, so here are both of them!

   Now, back in Kentucky, where the snow seems more persistent.  I had to slip and slide a bit to get the angle I wanted to show the water falling AND the unusual snow circle below.

       I am on the way to check out "our" beaver colony.  The waterfall, the stream edge and the chimney are all en route.  The pile of rocks shows the back of a chimney built by homesteaders years and years ago.  In the early spring, it is beautiful, surrounded by daffodils.

        Getting to the beaver area requires several stream crossings.  I finally began to see clues.  I call this a beaver cupcake -- even the bark is gone -- and the tree that used to be on top was nowhere to be seen.  It is a marvel, really, despite the aura of destruction along the stream.

       Beaver munchies?  Busy, busy...

        How about some beaver chips for dinner....  Again, notice the missing bark on the lower part of the stump.  When I return to this place, I will look to see if this tree remains standing -- though I doubt it will be.

   
       My true confession for that day is that I did not have my good camera with me!  Neither did I have food or water.  I had just planned a "look see".....  But now I am eager to return better prepared.  (Even truer confession: most of the beaver photos were taken with my iPhone.)