November 18, 2012
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Beaver Pond 001
We drove to a pond located in Tettegouche State Park to photograph the wildlife before ice completely covers the pond. This is the time of year that beaver are busy storing up their winter food supply. We spent about three hours watching and photographing 6 beaver, 3 muskrats and one wood duck. The sights and sounds were amazing. It is surprising how much noise young beaver make when they communicate with mom and dad. It sounded like a basket full of puppies.
Beaver Pond 002
The pond was about half covered with a thin sheet of ice and one of the beaver had a piece of that ice froze to the top of its head. It must have pushed its way up through the ice and this one chunk held fast to its fur. It kept eating the bark off a branch and this extra weight on its head didn’t seem to bother it.
Beaver Pond 004
As we were watching we both noticed some movement behind us. Here comes a wood duck flying into the pond. Neither one of us have seen a wood duck hanging around the shore this late in the year. It was a beautiful male showing all the colors of the rainbow in its feathers. I love the green and blue feathers on its head that seem to glow in the sunlight. I think wood ducks are so beautiful. They are definitely my favorite.
Beaver Pond 008
Soon it is side by side with the beaver having lunch. At this point I am thinking the wood duck is saying something like, “Well it has been nice having lunch with you but I think I need to head South”. Soon the wood duck takes to the air and hopefully will catch up to his friends who I am sure are many miles ahead of him.
