Greater Greater Washington

Martinez visits Huntley Meadows

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers November 18, 2013

In the whole of our nation, from bright sea to shining sea, there are two locations where you can reliably see beavers on public land. Martinez and Virginia. The beavers in these locations are surprisingly a ‘feature’ not a ‘bug’. In fact the ones at Huntley Meadows have built a lodge up and over this lovely bench. Our friend Ann Cameron Siegal photographs the beavers there, and Malcolm Kenton visits regularly from his digs in Washington D.C. He blogs for the Greater Greater Washington website, and has a host of rail connections. When he stopped by Martinez recently Cheryl gave him a tour and a shirt and I asked him to send us a photo. He promised to pose for us the next time he went to H.M.

As can see, Malcolm dresses way nicer than us for his day job, but he agreed to slub the shirt over his pinstripes for this photo. Thanks Malcolm! I love that Martinez was there in spirit! If you look closely you will see that Malcolm is also wearing his “Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife” cap. Malcolm befriended Sharon and Owen Brown and maintains the Facebook page for BWW. I am very happy to be part of the yarn that knits this vast beaver community together. This photo firmly confirms Malcolm as a friend to the beavers of which there are more than there used to be, but not nearly as many as their ought.

Now, am I mature enough to keep the paraphrase of ‘The Monks’ to myself?

(As in “Nice Shirt, Shame about the Hat”….)

Apparently not.

D.C. comes to Martinez

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Friends of Martinez Beavers September 30, 2013

Malcolm Kenton lives in Washington D.C. and writes for the rail website “Greater Greater Washington.” He was raised in North Carolina and attended Guilford College. We met because of some beaver business out his way and connected through email and facebook. Knowing he wanted to follow local beaver news, I introduced him to the beavers at Huntley Meadows in VA and to photographer Ann Cameron Siegal who was keeping an eye on them. They have been watching those beavers together since. I also suggested he connect with Owen and Sharon Brown and they met up a few months ago, Now he is maintaining their facebook page for Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife. Malcolm is an avid rail and beaver fan, so it’s no surprise that he jumped at the chance to fly out and ride the capital corridor to Martinez. Yesterday he and a friend got a beaver tour from Cheryl and a visit to the John Muir House.

Although the train schedule meant he couldn’t come for prime viewing time, he was able to catch site of a hungry youngster who just couldn’t sleep in until his parents and siblings awoke. He posted this yesterday from his iphone. How’s that for a tourist amenity welcome to Martinez!

Malcolm and his friend loved the beaver dams in the city, the working flow device and the best view of a kit that’s not from the BBC, and then Cheryl kindly drove them out to the Muir House for a bit of Martinez history where he especially enjoyed photos taken by Muir’s daughter of the railroad! Then it was a quick red-eye home and an exhausting day ahead. I’m so glad he got to visit Martinez and sorry I couldn’t be there. At least he got the full natural wonder tour. Cheryl snapped this that day on the secondary dam.

That’s a double-crested cormorant on a beaver dam and he’s not here for the view.

Double crested Cormorant on secondary beaver dam – Photo Cheryl Reynolds

New friends in high places…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental March 12, 2013

Beaver at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Photo by Glyn Lowe Photoworks on Flickr.

Appreciate our furry ecosystem engineers

by Malcolm Kenton

The DC area’s beaver population has boomed in the past 20 years, and that’s a great thing. It’s a sign that our region’s waterways, having suffered from decades of channelization, pollution, neglect and mismanagement, are starting to regain their ecological health, though much work remains to be done.

The industrious creatures’ presence brings challenges when their work conflicts with human activity, but beavers, which biologists recognize as a keystone species, benefit the environment far more than many people realize.

Well? Is that not the best thing that ever came out of Washington? Are you hooked? Go read the whole thing just in case he gets credit for the number of hits it generates. I will wait right here. You know someday there will be dozens of regional sites about beavers, and martinezbeavers.org/wordpress will just be one of many. Then you can decide every morning to read about beavers in the north, or in the great plains, or beavers from a more ecological or scientific perspective. Right now I’m the only game in town but don’t think I don’t know those days are numbered.

Shhh this is my favorite part:

But perhaps the best-known “downtown beaver” success story comes from Martinez, California, a Bay Area city that rehabilitated part of the creek that runs through the center of town. When a beaver colony established itself there in 2008, the local government threatened to have them removed. But citizens’ organization Worth a Dam rose to the creatures’ defense, and the city has come to celebrate its newfound furry, feathered and finned denizens, which have even attracted visitors from around the country and overseas (many of whom arrive on Amtrak).

Did you just get a tingle from your spine to your toes? That’s US! (It was 2007 and not 2008 but who cares!) I absolutely love the fact that its 6 years later and folks are still finding out that cities can work to live with beavers. Thanks so much Malcolm. Really, go read the whole thing. I met him on facebook and when he was kind enough to send his comments on beavers as a surrogate species he described himself thusly;

I’m an urban environmentalist and animal advocate. I grew up in Greensboro, NC, where I double-majored in Political Science and Environmental Studies at Guilford College.

Go say ‘hi’ to Malcolm and welcome him to team beaver. You will be hearing more from him when I get around to posting a collection of comments recommending beavers as a surrogate species. This is a busy beaver time, it seems. I have too many things to tell you about every morning.

But this can’t possibly wait. Jon saw a small beaver working on the secondary dam yesterday morning. Spring is here! Yeah!