Three Kits and a Cannonball

Holy cow. Steve and I hit the beaver pond last night around 6:30 and hung out for a little over an hour. Steve got a couple of shots of the Canada geese pair we saw last weekend, but two of the goslings are missing (there were eight last week; now there are six). We walked over to the second pond, hoping the adult beavers would appear. I was standing near the edge, just above the entrance to a culvert, and happened to glance down. There, looking up at me, was a baby beaver -- a kit in wildlife parlance -- and despite my frantic gestures to Steve (I was trying to get his attention so he could scurry over and snap a pic), the little guy never moved. He just lay on his belly, watching.

To our delight, two more kits appeared. The second one approached through a path in the tules, pausing when he saw me. He didn't seem perturbed, and so I stood, heart pounding, while Steve's camera clicked off a dozen shots. That second little guy apparently needed a snack, because he began nibbling a reed.

All of a sudden there was a ka-boom in the middle of the pond, followed by a significant splash. My immediate thought was that someone had tossed in a ten-pound rock, and then it happened again. Steve hollered, "It's the adult -- she's slapping her tail on the water to warm them!" It was a sign the kits had come too close and were in danger. She wanted them out of there.

Just like that, they were gone. In the end, we decided there were three kits and one adult. We guessed the second adult was in the hut, or possibly foraging for food. But Steve got two great shots, which I wanted to share. This one is of the kit eating a cattail; the second (part 2, above) is of the hut.

Two Baby Hummingbirds Sittin' In A Tree

Yesterday evening, Steve and I rode our bikes to the pond behind one of our local business parks to check out the beaver hut. We saw the two adults we knew were there -- one schlepping a willow branch back to the den -- the other skimming the edges of the pond, generally checking things out. No kits, though, which was a little disappointing. There was a pair of Canada geese, however, with eight goslings (or geeslings, as Oprah calls them), as well as a Mallard pair with two fuzzy ducklings.

Just as we were preparing to leave, the Canada geese swam over to the beaver hut and climbed atop it, the youngsters trailing behind. Steve said he thought they'd roost there, and seeing them settle in was a perfect cap to the evening. I wish we'd brought the camera.

Meanwhile, my neighbor, Laura VanCouvering, took this photo of a hummingbird nest, two tubby babies tucked inside. The nest is in a camillia in the yard of a friend in El Dorado Hills, and was taken in late March. Babies here are a little over two weeks old.

World Wetlands Day – A Good Day for Muskrats, Beavers, and Birds

Tomorrow, February 2, is World Wetlands Day, and as I walk the trails in the middle of the suburbs in Folsom, California, I am reminded of the importance of ponds and marshes to our local wildlife. A muskrat is a frequent visitor to a pond adjacent to the footbridge I cross every day, and a pair of beavers occupies another pond near a suite of offices with a man-made waterfall.

I’m curious about beavers, and thanks to an IMAX documentary, I’ve learned a few things about them. Here is a sampling:

They are 3-4 feet long and weigh 40-60 pounds.

They eat the bark and leaves of trees such as cottonwoods, oaks, willows, aspens and alders.

They can remain under water for up to fifteen minutes.

They’re nocturnal.

Bears, coyotes and bobcats prey on them.

They do a fair amount of wrestling – a sort of rigorous face-to-face embrace – and they talk to one another, making amusing little noises similar to baby grunts.

Two beavers can topple over 400 aspens in one year’s time, which makes me worry for them, here in the suburbs. All the more reason to protect our environment from overzealous development, and to financially support our state and national parks.