Till I can see so wide, Rivers and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside— Robert Louis Stevenson (The Swing)
You won’t wonder at all why I started this post with that particular poem of my childhood when you see this recent photo of the Napatopia beaver habitat. Guess who went out and purchased a drone? This photo was taken at 105 feet.
Just to get you oriented the green part is Tulocay creek, and to the left of that is the Westin Suites and parking lot. The water flows towards the bridge. About a third up on the left is that beautiful lodge of theirs smartly anchored to the dead tree. About a third from the end near the bridge you can see a stand of tulles where the dam is. And then the mostly dry creek continues on with plant and brush growth after that.
This really shows the many benefits that an urban beaver pond can give to a constrained city creek. Flora, Fauna and biodiversity boosts galore. Thanks Rusty, for sharing the results of your new toy with us. We only wish Martinez still had a dam we could talk you into photographing next!
Speaking of amazing photos not taken by us, this photo series was posted on Facebook this morning by Glenn Hori, an old friend of the Martinez Beavers. He wisely chose them in honor of Labor Day. He says they were taken on July 16. Such a hard working beaver! It breaks my heart to think these photos are Jr. bravely doing her job right up until the end. But it’s good to remember what a fantastic craftsman she was. (Click twice on the photos to enlarge.)
I’ve got one more picture to share, and that is the result of many hours labor on my part. I made this as a graphic to use with Audubon, starting with the silhouettes of our beavers and adding everything else in layers. I can’t begin to describe to you the amount of work something like this takes with my hokey little graphics program, but I’m proud of the result. How many bird species do you recognize?
