July 9, 2023: A Paddle Up Blake Brook

I took advantage of the high water level - it's been as much as eight inches above full-pond - to take a summer paddle up Blake Brook to the beaver dam that holds back a good size beaver pond.  Along the way I found a number of interesting plants and animals including this bold Green Frog sitting on a lily pad.

It was another case of only seeing a well camouflaged animal because it hopped from one lily pad to another to get out of my way as I paddled through its domain.  But then it just sat calmly as I went by, posing nicely for an up-close portrait, a great opportunity to see the intricate detail of a frog's eye.

Here's looking at you, kid.

Even with high water the beaver dam had no problem holding back all that weight.  There were two spots along the dam where water was flowing over but it wasn't taking out any of the base structure.

The low point on the dam holding back the pond behind it.

I took some video of the other overflow:

The beavers will repair those low spots soon enough.

Here's an unusual flower I found on the trip that I wasn't familiar with:

Large Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)

It turns out it's the blossom of the large cranberry.  I learned that the name "cranberry" comes from the fact that the blossom's stamen resembles the beak of a crane (the bird) though I'll admit I'm not sure I see it.  I later noticed that when I took a picture which includes an unopened blossom, someone photo-bombed it:

A little green monster photo-bombing.

This painted turtle was happily sunning itself in the marsh near the entrance to Blake Brook.

I learned several new things from the Nature of Pleasant Lake Newsletter about the important benefits of turtles sunning themselves; it's more than just raising their body temperature.  I'll say more about this in a future post, or you can read their newsletter here.  Another day this week I came upon a murder of crows (that's what a group of crows is called) highly interested in something beside the road.  Examining the source of attraction it was immediately evident they had located a painted turtle nest and had fully excavated the nest and consumed all the eggs, leaving only the leathery shells behind.

An excavated painted turtle nest.

The shells are soft and pliable and feel like thin leather.

It's good to know that painted turtle are plentiful; the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them in the category of  "species of least concern".

The blueberries are about to ripen; I just hope I get some.  Between the song sparrow and the kingbird (you're a flycatcher - leave my blueberries alone and go catch some bugs!), and the chipmunk, the berries are getting eaten as quickly as they ripen.  

The kingbird flits down to pick off a single berry at a time, but the chipmunk runs from bush to bush to get the choicest berries, stuffs his checks full of them, then sprints off to its den to stash them away for later.

Mr. Puffy Cheeks

He makes quite the acrobatic contortions to get to the berry he wants.

Hanging on by his toenails.

I really don't don't mind sharing - it looks like there will be enough for everyone this year.

And the loon update:  Still no chicks from the second nest, but Checkers and LuLu are doing great, with the parents constantly on guard for intruding loons.

Always on guard.

Watching mom and dad fishing to see how it's done.

The recent hot and humid air augmented with smoke from wildfires in Canada has made for interesting atmospheric scenes at both ends of the day.

Summer humidity makes for morning fog,

and evening sunsets.

It's nice to have summer finally arrive.

And this late breaking news:  We may have a chick from the second nest - I received a report last night (thanks R&J) that both loons were off the nest and there was only one egg visible.  I'll give a mid-week update when we know for sure.