This morning I noticed that the footbridge is actually a “plum” spot to watch beavers from!
A plum spot to see beavers!
It was unreasonably windy and cold when the sun came up, but the view took my mind off the discomfort. The expected and the unexpected swam home this morning at 5 :30 and 5:31. I was a little surprised. This changes everything! Hold the presses! Our littlest kit-yearling (who I had nearly decided to call ‘REED’ because of his favorite building material) came home at 5:30 with a sizable branch. Less than a minute later our second larger kit came home with reeds. Maybe they build most with what they eat least?
Then the pair made some trips to the dam, adjusting branches and mudding, which was nice to see. I especially enjoyed their proximity to each other, as I think they each cue one another to keep up the good work.
After seeing two so close together I was cheerfully hopeful a third would appear. You can imagine how excited I was to see this!
And did I glare at the man jogging over the bridge at that particular moment! Sheesh! Lucky for him the mystery was shortly revealed to be a usual suspect
Nice mornings at the dam,you should come too.
I’M going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.
Robert Frost
THE IBIS TOM RUSERT was trying to release in Yolo County realized it had a good thing going with the avid birder and did not want to leave his side - make that head.
Our good friend, Tom Rusert, of Sonoma Birding was in the paper Friday for some pretty amazing news. Seems he’s this years winner of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contribution in Regional Ornithology.
Given to individuals who have dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region. This may be through their long-time contributions in monitoring avian status and distribution, facilitating the publication of state bird books, breeding bird atlases and significant papers on the regional natural history of birds. This may also be through the force of their personality, teaching and inspiration.
Emily’s article is a great read and really gives you a sense of how remarkable this recognition is for someone who’s ‘spare time’ has created an exciting, national movement. Regular readers will remember that Tom is the director of the Valley of the Moon Lecture Series where I spoke about the Martinez Beavers this year. He has visions of beavers returning soon to Sonoma, bringing waves of birds and salmon with them. He’s already invited Michael Pollock to dovetail a lecture when he’s presenting at the State of the Estuary Conference in September. Not small world enough for you? Tom will be maintaining a booth and leading a children’s bird walk at this years Beaver Festival!
Congratulations, Tom with recognition much deserved! We couldn’t be happier for you!
Beaver dam at Mendenhall Glacier: Photo Bob Armstrong
Want more good news? Read this article about the long-haul beaver advocatesin Juneau. Remember Bob Armstrong and Mary Willson whose lovely book on the Mendenhall Glacier Beavers you’ve probably seen lying around? Well they convinced US Forestry to come with funds to have Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions out to teach them how to safely manage beavers. Now they’ve installed their first flow device and are excited to implement more.
Willson, who is a retired professor of ecology and co-leader of the Beaver Patrol, had been one of eight who worked last week to install the culvert. The group, who has worked since 2007 to preserve the resources, trails and animal residents of the Dredge Lakes area, spent a full day installing two of these apparatuses. Willson said they are called levelers and their installation will help lower and manage water levels in flooded areas and restore currently un-useable trails.
Great work, Bob, Mary, Mike & helpers! the beavers of Juneau thank you!
And finally, a rumor from a ranger at JMA lead me to check out this article from Patch and the Gazette and contact Mr. Chandler about adding possible beaver footage to the new City Channel 28. He wrote back Friday and suggested that they would be willing to air 10 minutes of promotion for the Beaver Festival, and possibly a review afterwards. Assuming the council gives it’s approval, look for this on your TV screen soon!
Looks like our beavers just looked up the word “busy” in the dictionary and decided to give it a try! The smallest kit/yearling was working like a ranch hand this am and apparently yesterday morning as well, reeding and mudding the secondary dam. He continues his fine tradition of basket weaving that no other Martinez beaver has ever mastered. It is true we have seen dad pull tules to staunch a breach in the dam, but Dad always combined them traditionally with actual sticks. Not so Reed Jr. He happier to build with reeds than with anything else and that works out because there are a lot of them.
This morning his languid sibling came slipping over the secondary dam appreciatively and decided to help a little. Sharon Brown of Beavers:Wetlands & WIldlife said once that male kits tend to be smaller than females, and I’ve always had the notion that our two jumbo bookends are sisters, and Reed Jr, who followed GQ everywhere and built his first little reed dam at 6 months, is a boy. In the absence of any other data I think its as good a theory as any, and would explain his slightly different attitude towards construction and feeding. Still, to any beaver work should be irresistible, they just need one to start the chain and everyone should get motivated. Apparently this has happened, and lord knows not a moment too soon if the temperature is any indication of what’s to come. The secondary dam is actually holding back water! Both of them went to bed in the bank hole by the footbridge looking more like actual beavers than I have seen since March. Go Beavers!
It is surprising that some people still regard our largest North American rodent as a pest. Humans and beavers are the only animals that actively change their environment; however, only the beaver can be relied upon to consistently improve the environment. When a beaver dams a waterway to establish a deep pond, the end result is an increased area of open water, and extensive wetlands, with multiple channels. These wetlands are not only great nesting sites for waterfowl and other wildlife, but they slow the flow of a stream, which mitigates erosion while removing sediment and pollutants from the water. The presence of beaver colonies has a positive effect on fish populations as well.
Did I mention Mary’s in North Carolina? The state that used an awful lot of stimulus money to kill beavers? The State that famously wanted beavers out of an audubon creekthey were trying to restore? Not only is this article good news for the region, it’s good period. It might be one of four favorite beaver articles ever! (Thank goodness the list is getting longer by the day!)
By now, the beavers are quite used to my visits. I love to watch them interact. The male and female will often eat at separate channels, but when they pass each other in the creek, they pause to touch noses. When the kit whimpers, a parent will quietly reassure the youngster with a nose touch and perhaps a share of the particular stick they are stripping of bark. I have never witnessed any act of aggression between family members. Occasionally, I will see the adult pair canoodling at creeks edge. They gently touch noses and cheeks together when they meet, and then go about their grazing.
So Mary has a colony near her home that she visits regularly and has seen the family grow and change (like us). It’s lovely to read as someone discovers them and their habits. I remember, almost with the wispy magic of childhood, the feeling of filming our beavers in the beginning – before the drama and the November 7th meeting and the media and Worth A Dam. In those days I always stood at the Escobar bridge to film with my sleepy old dog Caly laying on the sidewalk beside me. Somehow the primary dam seemed impossibly far away, like a dreamscape, and the creek seemed mystically to go on forever, the old lodge the center of all beaver activity.
In the next few weeks, the new kits will be shyly swimming in Bolin Creek. As tiny kits, they are vulnerable to predation by coyotes, foxes and great horned owls, so they are likely to dive underwater at any moment. It will be a joy to follow a fourth generation of this peaceful family. With all that they offer, from balancing stream ecology to providing homes for wildlife, it is no surprise that Native Americans called the beaver “the sacred center.”
Thanks for the lovely read Mary, and we want a follow-up article to learn how everyone’s getting along. You recalled some magical days, and here’s a glimpse of what it was like back then. This was filmed on June 23rd, 2007, (the moring we were leaving for a week of camping in the sierras), with my old camera and old computer and the most basic windows movie maker. The kit is grown and dispersed, the tree where the owls nested is long since shaved and empty of owls, but this is still magic to me.
It’s June and beaver lovers are missing the piddle-paddle of little feet. If you’ve been sighing for some family interaction, watch these to get your beaver family fix.
Oh and stop by Susana Street Par today to learn about the Alhambra Hills open space campaign, have a hamburger and say ‘hi’!
Martinez beaver has ever mastered. It is true we have seen dad pull tules to staunch a breach in the dam, but Dad always combined them traditionally with actual sticks. Not so Reed Jr. He happier to build with reeds than with anything else and that works out because there are a lot of them.
