Sunday, October 28, 2012

A New Trail, Or More Exciting Adventures At The Vermilon River. .

 Up to the eyebrows with cabin fever, and tired of incessant rain, Boom and I decided to cross the ridge and take a chance on avoiding a storm. The rainy duration has been long, and substantial, even washing out highways to the west of us, and forcing evacuations of aboriginal reserves in the Wawa area.The idea was to pick up a trail we had never used before and enter the east track beaver pond from the reverse side.


 Once under way the sky lightened a little, but that as it turned out, was a tease.

CLICK ANY PHOTO TO VIEW THE SLIDE SHOW.

A post to:I'd Rather Be Bird'nOur World Tuesday, and Wild Bird Wednesday.


Beaver Dam

After a long hike we picked up the trail to the beaver pond, but were soon thwarted by nature and the beavers.

The beaver pond empties by a circuitous route into further wetlands, and the River,but the beaver had damed the tributary. With the recent rains, the whole trail was flooded. By moving off trail we got a little way, but the remaining ten feet were impossible, because of depth. The dam is new. I thought you might like to see how clever they are. The dam is constructed of mud and branches, and buttressed on both sides. The dam is constructed to release water under flood conditions.


 Construction material and food is right at hand.
A neat job.

Neat as a pin.

The engineer

Beaver

Beaver.

Evening Grosbeaks.

Blue Jay.

Canada Geese.

Chickadee.

Female Evening Grosbeak

Hidden Blue Jay.

Pine Sisken

Rose-breasted Nuthatch.

Ruffled Grouse.

Pine Sisken

Chickadee.

Same.

Same.

Rose-breasted Nuthatch.

Red Squirrel.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Canada Geese.

Red Squirrel

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Rose-breasted Nuthatch.

Same.

Evening Grosbeaks.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

Male Grosbeak

Chickadee.

Geese in flight.

Pine Siskens.

Two Male Grosbeaks.

Several people asked me how Boomer is in the forest. Malamutes,Boomer in particular are silent dogs. He's feral himself, and after going alert, only grunts to let me know something is there. Canines including wild ones have three senses. Smell is the most active, some 10,000 times more active than mine, followed by hearing, again more acute than mine. Eyesight is the least effective, but is more sensitive to movement than mine. We see instead planes and angles and depth. To see the way canines see, try using your peripheral vision and you'll notice movement. CBC ran a series of programs on new research just recently completed on dogs.
He also obeys commands like stay, but the most effective is steady. That means stay, and watch me. As well the haltie leash acts like a rein to silently signal direction. So all in all, he'a no slouch in the woods.
Red Squirrel.

55 comments:

  1. the squirrels are cute. the grosbeaks are beautiful. the beavers are cool. but boomer is the most beautiful of all.

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  2. I agree the grosbeaks are beautiful. Very interesting info about dogs also.

    Gill

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  3. Hi Gary

    I enjoyed learning more about Boomer. We have not been to our cabin lately but I understand the beaver have run wild there and we have several views we did not actually want.

    Regards
    Guy

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  4. great hike in a great area. Love those grosbeaks. :)

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  5. Boomer is a beautiful dog! Great post and I love all the bird shots. It is cool seeing the beaver, they do so much damage. Wonderful photos!

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  6. Great post again Gary. Boy those beavers sure make a neat job.

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  7. Great post Gary. Incredible job done by the Beavers, and a great selection of Birds.... and of course Boomer is a Handsome beast

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  8. Lots of great bird shot here Gary.
    Amazing creatures Beavers.

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  10. Glad you got out for a walk.Great photos! Amazing what the beaver can do with those teeth!

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  11. Fun seeing the engineering beaver as well as his work. Great shots of the birds and squirrels and your world.

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  12. Great post as always, Gary, and Boomer looks terrific in his winter coat!! Love the bird shots and, of course, the squirrels! Have a good week!

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  13. A great series of photos but the beaver dam construction is especially interesting. I wonder how much they will eventually raise that water level? Boomer is beautiful!

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  14. Really enjoyed the show! Beautiful as always!

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  15. Awesome collection of birds, I managed to name a few of them. From Findlay

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  16. Fristly, that Boomer of yours is absolutely the most handsome of fur babies!!! He's gorgeous.

    Secondly, I loved viewing the 'damage' and construction of the beaver, but mostly...the hidden Blue Jay is a great composition.

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  17. Boomer sounds like the perfect pal to take on fall and winter hikes. The evening grosbeaks are beautiful!

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  18. Great images, Gary, especially the ruffled grouse. Hope your winter isn't too bad, very frustrating when we can't get out.

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  19. Boomer is such a handsome dog! I enjoyed looking at all your photos.

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  20. Beautiful outdoor pics!Boomer looks like a wonderful companion!

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  21. Your posts really are the best!
    Did you know, that our European beavers (Castor fiber ) were hunted and somebody carried your beavers ( Castor canadensis) to Finland, they were so strong here that now they are causing troubles in many places near people :)
    All the best to you , your wife and Boomer!

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  22. Boomer is so handsome and endearing ~ Fantastic wild life photography ~ amazing the captures you obtain ~ beautiful ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

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  23. Thank you for introducing Boomer, and these once again impressive pictures of your environment, which in my opinion, make much happier than a book can.
    Please have a good Tuesday.

    daily athens photo

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  24. It must be fun having Boomer in the woods. Socks is just a tiny dog but he loves to go hiking with me. Of course, we don't go as much as you!

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  25. Gary, that Blue Jay photo has completely capture my heart. There's just something about it that I find... meditative. Not a typical posture we see wild birds in, I guess.

    Thanks for the Boomer update! He is just so magnificent (will all the praise go to his head?). How fascinating that he's so quiet in the woods. I have to imagine that makes him an excellent hiking companion.

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  26. Great portrait of Boomer!

    The grosbeaks are wonderful.

    Stewart M - Melbourne

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  27. You have the most interesting collection of bird photos on this post!

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  28. My personal favourite is the Ruffled Grouse - but those squirrels sure are cute!

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  29. Adorable shots of the birds and the beaver. And, of course, a great shot of Boomer.

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  30. That was a lovely journey and so much to see! I wish I was living close to Nature.

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  31. Terrific captures. I would love to watch the beavers in work in real some time.

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  32. Until this, I'd thought 'chickadee' was an affectionate term for the chick of a chicken. Now I know different.

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  33. These beavers are just amazing as are their construction! I really love your grosbeak! They are so colorful! the Ruffled Grouse is also a peculiar bird I would love to meet. I hope you aer safe where you are with all these storms!

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  34. Wow! Just wow. The birds are wonderful and I especially love the beaver sequence. They're almost unbelievable... A long time since i've seen one; same thing for the grosbeaks, although I know both are around this area. Lovely post...thanks!

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  35. Interesting and informative explanation on the senses of dogs. Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

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  36. Great post! Your dog is really beautiful. And so many different birds you saw, I really like the grouse and the squirrel is so cute :)

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  37. Great post ! So many different birds ! Nice to learn more about your beautiful dog :-) Thank you for your comments ! Greetings form Liva

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  38. Great captures Gary, you have some wonderful birdlife around there. The beavers are amazing, would love to watch them or visit regularly to see the progress in their building.

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  39. I'm not sure I've ever lived where I could find all those wonderful creatures on a walk from my house--you are so blessed! Thanks so much for sharing the photos. Give Boomer an extra treat for me because he's just as cute as a bug's ear :)

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  40. Beautiful birds, what an variety.

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  41. A plethora of wonderful birds!
    Love the first squirrel shot! He stand there as if it say, 'who me.' :)
    Wonderful to see a new shot of Boomer! Such a handsome one!

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  42. Enjoyed the walk to the beaver dam. Great images!

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  43. Very cool Beaver dam, there is one near us, but I would have to swim to get to it, and that is no option and so I enjoyed your images. Those Evening Grosbeaks...wow they make a beautiful statement and of course Boomer, is the star of the show~

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  44. Beautiful pictures of the scenery and wildlife around you, the jay, squirrel and grosbeaks are standouts. I really enjoyed learning more about Boomer, as you say no slouch in the woods.

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  45. Great photographs - especially the male Grosbeak. Thanks for sharing about dogs and Boomer in particular.

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  46. Great photos. We've been having a lot of rain here too and more on the way. The sky is so dark right now and it's only 4:12 p.m.

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  47. Particularly loved the blue jay shot, and the lovely one of Boomer - what a beauty he is! A close friend has several malamutes, and the only sound they ever make is to howl together when she is preparing their dinner! My own dog is a cocker spaniel, Lucy, who is uncharacteristically silent - she never barks, although she occasionally squeaks with excitement when playing with other dogs :)

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  48. Love those Evening Grosbeaks, and hoping they may wander down to Illinois while I am here. No chance of seeing them in south Florida! Very nice walk.

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  49. Sounds like a wonderful exploration. I love your beaver dam pictures, and the geese, and the little squirrel standing on its haunches. But most of all, I love Boomer.

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  50. It's been a while since you posted Gary, so just checking in to say I hope you and Boomer are doing fine.

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  51. Great picture:) i really love your dog:)))

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  52. Nature sure does put on a great show for you, thanks for sharing

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  53. Heavenly! Wonderful captures, Gary.

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