29 July

eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S90977720

Weather:  6 am 21C wind calm, 9 am  29 C wind  N5, hazy

Tide:  7:30 am 3m


Another glorious morning to be followed by a stinkin' hot day.

The woods were livelier for some reason this morning, and the light was once again magical.


The Beaver plot thickens:  a second beaver appeared this morning, much bigger than the one I've seen the previous days, in fact a honkin' Big Beaver.





From what I read today, beavers who live near rivers often burrow instead of building lodges, although the authors state that the living arrangements within burrows and lodges are pretty much the same.  I had wondered whether the two that I saw were an item, with the smaller one being the female.   Although that's possible, most accounts say there is little visible difference between sexes.  I also note that young beavers stay with their parents for at least two years, and learn the building trade from their family the second year.  So I may have seen a younger beaver and then Mom or Dad.    I also learned that beavers are nocturnal or crepuscular, which could explain why none of us have ever seen them along the river before, but I'm now spotting them just before they den down for the day.  I shall continue to monitor the situation.  They are interesting critters.  

The merganser family had wakened and was fishing busily nearby.


And then when I reached the shore, another family (I think blended) of mergansers was swimming about busily.  There were two adult females and a dozen fledged youngsters, more mature than the little fuzzies upstream.  



There was what I take to have been a heat haze over the Gulf Islands and the interior of Vancouver Island.  Fortunately (so far) I can't see any reports of forest fires apart from well inland.  



Heading back through the forest, I noticed that the red huckleberries are ripening.  


There don't seem to be a lot of them, but I enjoy a nibble of huckleberry now and then.  And soon the blackberries will be ripe, too.  

So, another early morning tomorrow to check out the beavers and enjoy the woods.  


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