Monday 30 July 2012

A Dam Flooded


I left my trail camera by the ditch whose dams were breached by an attempt to lower water levels before the recent felling of a plantation here. The beavers began to rebuild their dams and a heron is seen in the clip below, fishing or catching frogs.







Ducks are well known to be beneficiaries of beavers' activities. This year, once again, we see this in the successful hatches of mallard here. 


Out of about 160 video clips there was only one of a beaver. What are they up to?



They seem to have abandoned this dam and moved on. The dam below, both pictorially and downstream, is being built up and the dam above is now just under the water.



This seems like a step by step approach to the development of pools. The dam upstream becomes an underwater ridge and contributes to increasing the complexity of the floor of this pool and associated diversification of habitat.




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