July 2 to 7, 2003

July 2 after a boat tour around Picton, where I did not see any cormorants, and just a few geese, I took Lois and Stephen for a hike along the East Trail. Herons remain rife along South Bay, in the trees and wading in the water. As we docked a group of ducks and ducklings in all shapes and size didn't blink an eye and swam nonchalantly behind the docking boat.

Much bird song: a warbler, I think, with a five note song I don't recall hearing before; a pileated woodpecker; the usual alluring sound of the far-up scarlet tanager: and some blue jays were going our way too, scaring up birds of all sorts out of nests. First a group of either orioles or redstarts were put into a panic, and then on the other side of the East Trail Pond, a pale yellow bird, that I think was the female scarlet tanager. I also heard and saw a few pine warblers.Obviously an adult was corralling a chick on the loose which was why it came down so low in the pine. An excellent day to see birds, and bored by our excitement was a porcupine sleeping in a tree, eye level to us.

And in another smaller tree we saw a chipmunk, rather high up. First we thought it might be after hardly formed berries, then we saw another chipmunk and they continued their chase down the tree. Down at the latrine I was welcomed by swarming flies and soon saw four small scats just up from the pond, perhaps the scats of some pups. One scat had several carrion beetles in it.

I'll have to start my vigil here to see if pups are about. We continued on the East Trail and on the trail of the marauding blue jays. I heard one unique bird call from the trees and assume it was from one of those imps. Flowers continue to pop out including this stunted wintergreen

Then up on the top of the ridge, I saw a sight to destroy all my complacent theories about beavers contenting themselves with the grasses at this time of year. Just off the high trail we saw a cut shad bush

and then down the hill to the lodge, several more cut trees including pine. Most impressive was the work on this small tree surrounded by rock -

evidence that a beaver does not need cover. Down next to the lodge there were stripped sticks, pine I bet

but no new logs on the lodge. Going up the hill I saw an array of little sticks between the two large girdled red oaks that have again been freshly gnawed

Finally, up on top again, a cut and a stripped pine

Why are the beavers doing this? Celebration of and preparation for the growth of new babies? Trees cut at this time of year strike me as juicier than usual -- are the beavers in part drinking from them, which might account for the larger ratio of cut trees to trees stripped of their branches. Here is another object for study. We continued on the trail taking it up to a crosscountry ski trail along the ridge to Audubon Pond. We passed a stunning forest of horse tails, making us blink at the blur

Again I thought I heard a scarlet tanager. The high ridge trail goes through pleasant grasses and, thanks to the wet spring, a stunning granite plate of lichens

Down at Audubon Pond, the geese families had combined, going into the pond all in the row.

The last time I saw these geese there were eight goslings. Also here and there we saw a beard tongue digitalis type flower

July 4 yesterday I toured South Bay in the kayak; bit of a chore getting over there with wind and much boat churned chop, but well worth the effort. A heron seemed to lurk in the bushes every twenty yards. I saw two get something from the water and at first I thought they might be getting dead fish. But one dropped what it had in my path and when I paddled by I didn't see anything floating. There was a large dead carp arched in rigor mortis; no sign that anything killed or ate it, much less an otter. While there was no spawning, I did see and feel a number of carp. At the end of the cove I saw two fish over a foot long -- not bullheads, and I don't think they were bass. Small carp? One did hump its back out of the water. The grasses have grown up with a vengeance, so thick that at first I thought I wouldn't be able to get into the rock under the willow that I check for otter scats. However once there I found it relatively easy and then found that under the willow, along the shore for about 5 yards, the water was clear. I saw no evidence that otters kept this clear. I pushed my way under the willow to investigate a possible scent mound, but found no scats. A beaver has nibbled on the willow. Continuing along the shore I got closer to herons than I ever have before -- 10 yards away and even with them before they took off. An osprey flew over and a heron flew out, not to challenge it, but to fly well under it as if blocking its view! Going around the marsh I noticed again that the way was clearer in the water toward the shore. It seems exposed granite hems the marsh in so to speak. But there were thick grasses and in one patch a series of wee turtle heads popped under the water as I passed. Down at the end of the cove where I saw otters fishing ten days ago, the water was relatively clear of grass, perhaps because of the carp grazing there. I caused a lot of fish to boil under me. Of course I checked that portion of the marsh that the otters disappeared into, saw a slight pathway, and thought I could see an open patch in the marsh a few feet beyond -- perfect place to escape assuming there is water in there. The boatmen bugs were also scampering and flying low over the grasses -- one hitched a ride on the bow of the kayak all the way to back to my dock.

Today, I headed off a little after eight, on a hot and hazy morning, hoping to see a family of otters in the East Trail Pond. Going up the TIP ridge I bumped into a black snake right on the path.

It slithered off as I snapped photos. There were no fresh otter scats along the South Bay trail. Going up the East Trail I saw another small toad almost camouflaged on the dead leaves

Not as many birds singing in this heat, but, to my surprise, three deer were on the trail at the top of the ridge, seemingly browsing through the dead leaves along the trail

This put a poem on my lips: black snake and toad/ and deer browsing the road.... so the time passes. I cocked my camcorder as I came over the ridge, but hardly a sustained ripple below let alone an otter. I sat for 45 minutes, heard but did not see a wood duck, a pine warbler, and a pileated woodpecker. Only two painted turtles on logs. I walked down along the pond and saw something curious: where there had been a hole dug into the dirt there was a now a bed of dried grasses

-- no scats or scent mound to reveal who put it there. This area is closest to where the beaver that often splashes me likes to hang out. Down at the latrine, I found nothing fresh except what looks like a fisher scat halfway up the ridge

I went over the ridge and down to the creek, and only one thing suggested that an otter had been through -- some tracks in the mud just above the East Trail Pond, but not one clear print. I decided to walk around the pond, continuing on the East Trail to see if the beavers had taken down more trees on the ridge. They have, going further to the west and further up the hill. One tree blocked the trail on top of the ridge, and one cut tree was on the north side of the trail. Plus I saw that some of the branches had been trimmed.

I didn't go down to the lodge and while there were no new branches on the lodge, I saw more stripped sticks in the water by the shore. The trees are all small, and principally cherry trees, though pine are taken and on one pine the bark was peeled off.

I'll have to come here some evening. I went to check the bank lodge on the northeast end of the pond. There were more scent mounds near it on the shore, but the only perceptible activity on it was raccoon, or fisher, digging out turtle eggs.

My plan was to go up to the third ponds, then check the Lost Swamp and Big Pond, but the canals up to the third ponds had dried out, and the fresh slate of mud revealed had absolutely no tracks.

And then I heard a pileated woodpecker call, which recalled to me my plan to see if the nest was here. And out in the swamp I saw a red combed head sticking out of the hole of a dead tree, calling again, obviously hungry.

So I sat down, getting pretty good video, and waited for a parent to come and feed the baby. I soon saw that there were two chicks (if those huge babies could be called that) and the other seemed smaller. It was also much less vocal. The bigger hogged the outdoor time, but for a while both heads rested forlornly outside the hole. I could hear the whooping call of the adult, I thought, in the distance but it just went around the pond quite a ways away. The big baby almost seemed to get out, and I wondered if the parents weren't encouraging that by their absence. Finally 45 minutes after I sat down, another pileated appeared. I assumed it would go to the nest with a beak full of goodies. Instead it went to another tree and climbed it appearing now and then to pick off more bugs. The call between babies and adult had never seemed to relate to each other, and didn't now. Finally the adult flew over and in a matter of a minute or two fed the chicks, then flew off. One always assumes the big bodies need more food, but this demonstrated the big bodies can survive longer without it, though I don't think the chicks seemed happy about it. The darting dragonflies and an active contingent of small birds, including a song sparrow and a pale yellow green bird, made the long wait enjoyable for me. An hour spent trying to assess if dragonflies are more concerned with prey or with the proximity of other dragonflies would be a challenge. Meanwhile I was getting hungry so I contented myself with going over the ridge and checking Otterhole and Beaver Point ponds. I saw my first strawberry.

In Otter Hole Pond I saw a heron preening its feathers -- quite a display of angular dexterity as it stretched its wing out and rotated its head down and beak up. I saw two white flowers in the drying channels of Beaver Point pond. The flowers looked the same but the plants were completely different. The arrowhead was as it should be

but I think the water plantain had not reached its stride

July 7 cloudy day with sprinkles, 70s and humid. I headed off a little after noon to see if I could see what the otters have been up to. No scats along the South Bay trail and I headed up the East Trail. In a clearing in the woods, on the gentle slope up the ridge, I saw a huge brown bird fly off and left behind was a huge baby hawk, actually sitting on the ground with legs out and wings outspread

This was a startling sight, almost as if the bird was stuck on something. I looked behind it and saw beautiful brown tail feathers

Of course I shot away with the camera, then backed off, fearing that this baby still needed mother's help. I thought the mother was still around because I could hear a murder of crows cawing over the Meander Pond area obviously ganging up on a hawk. Then as I walked away I saw a scarlet tanager in a relatively low branch sprucing. Meanwhile mother hawk did not return so I walked back down to the awkwardly placed baby and took more photos

when I moved closer it rattled its wing but made no noise and scarcely threatened me, ferocious as its head looked

and then I retreated again, somewhat in a quandary. I worried that if people with a dog came along I might be able to prevent a bloody scene. However, after about 20 minutes, the bird flew off, low into the woods, of its own accord. Perhaps this is just the way baby hawks begin their career of soaring high above the world. [A few days later I shared this experience with a hawk expert and he thought I saw two rival hawks, one forcing the other to cower]I continued onto the East Trail Pond where all was quiet save for one wood duck. While something had been down the ridge and into the water, I couldn't find any fresh scat. On the other side of the ridge I saw a butterfly land on scat

but the scat looked old and familiar to me. Down along the creek I decided that what I thought might be jack-in-the-pulpit was actually water plantain with the stalk for the flowers shooting up

No sign of other flowers there, like the cardinal. I did see an Indian pipe which has been less prevalent than usual.

I went back to the knoll over the dam and cast an eye to the woodpecker nest where all was quiet and nothing stirred. Over at the Second Swamp Pond I saw a mother and three ducks, and then two larger ducklings scurry away. Up at the upper pond, which is getting quite shallow, I saw another wood duck mother and two ducklings

quite at a loss as to what to do about me. The mother squeaked and went around in circles. One duckling stayed in the grasses and the other followed her back into the pond. Along the north shore of the pond, which is becoming a gorgeous wet meadow, I admired some Deptford pink flowers

and beard-tongue which I had been mis-identifying as bouncing bet

also the beavers had not let the meadow defeat their foraging in the neighboring woods. They maintain canals, leaving a branch in this one

The cattails are quite striking with their male and female parts in two-tone glory

and I noticed that the doe on the other side of the pond didn't have her fawn. Then when I was checking the otter trail coming up from the Lost Swamp Pond, I smelled something dead, and a few yards off the otter trail found a dead fawn just on the other side of the ridge where the doe was grazing

The poor little thing had been dead a few days. No reason not to suspect a coyote for doing it, as this is an area well away from where dogs might go. While I could see the trails they've left in the grass, I didn't see the muskrats. Only sign of life was a huge heron being chased by a small bird. Then as I headed toward the Big Pond, I heard the chick-burr call of the scarlet tanager. I caught a glimpse of two greenish birds -- mother and chick, I assume. Going through the woods I decided to get a photo of what has been a landmark for me for the past 10 years, the Hanging Gardens nestled in the split branch of an old oak

I won't hazard a guess at the plants so elevated. The Big Pond despite losing much of its water during the winter, has resumed its old character as the pond that suffers least with lack of rain. However, it is still difficult getting across the pond on the dam. The grass formed a jungle except at two points where an animal had camped out, I suspect a raccoon in one, and a deer in the other. No signs of otters. I sat briefly enjoying a sprinkle and noting the complete absence of beaver work. On the way home, as usual, I took the deer trail up to the ridge above the Middle Pond. Where the trail crosses the little creek coming into double lodge pond, I smelled death again and in the grass found another dead fawn

like the other this was a few days old. This area is closer to where dogs might go. By the look of the remains, both fawns were probably killed the same day. I also checked the Middle Pond, on the rare chance that beavers went down there, but the pond was half its usual size and crowded with pond plants.