Wednesday 21 October 2009

Burnieshed Burn - The New Lacustrine Landscape

Despite the low rainfall for the better part of the last two months, the beavers have continued to work on their dams. Indeed, as the water levels fell in each pond the beavers made particular efforts to ensure the impermeability of their dams. So, although some rain fell before I took these photographs, the landscape in this part of the Burnieshed has become steadily more lacustrine.





The lawn (mid left in this photo) that the beavers maintained by grazing is on its way to extinction.












Here is what was the bottom dam. The parapet is heightened and the dam has been extended a bit to the south (the left side of the picture).

The existence of the new dam, still only a plug across the burn, has raised the water level below this dam.







This is the new bottom dam from upstream. It is one of a flight of four in the sequence that runs below the drive to Bamff House.

It is built across the burn just north of a large old Sitka spruce tree. Last winter overflow from the dam upstream to the west flowed round the trunk of this tree. What will happen this winter?

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