Beaver Pond Journal 2012 #1

Journal entry for July 15, 2012  "As Mary and I traveled over Otter Brook and then Indian Lake Road I was wondering what changes, if any, we would discover at the pond. As we pulled up beside the pond I could hardly believe my eyes, the level of  the water in the pond was lower than I had ever seen it. I wondered if the beaver had been trapped out or if the spring seeps that fed the pond had dried up, forcing the beavers to move on. The dam was still intact, but that gave no clue as to what happened to the beavers. Well, now I was back on track with the abandoned beaver pond succession project.
     Continued another one hundred feet up the road to a small parking turnout, which has been designated as an official trailhead. The road that ends at Indian Lake has been barricaded by four large boulders spaced across the road at the new trailhead.
     It was 9:45 A.M. when I parked the truck, then Mary and I walked the short distance back to the pond to check it out. Found all three of my set up pins; panorama, stump detail and the dam detail. Some of the old standing dead timber had fallen. Lots os new grass growing on the newly exposed ground. A check of the blackberries revealed a poor crop or maybe no crop t all due to the drought this summer.
     We returned to the truck, Mary for her sketch pad and me for my camera gear. Mary wanted to try sketching some of the rocks and interesting dead standing timber. I had forgotten to get my panoramic set up equipment before leaving home, so I tried shooting a panoramic series without it. Worked O.K.

The Beaver Pond Had Been Drained Again

      I discovered a few old moose tracks in the area of the panoramic set up location and decided to shoot some images of the best track. The track was made on dry ground rather than mud so it wasn't as well defined as I would have liked, but not bad.

Moose Track Along The South Side Of The Abandoned Beaver Pond

The last image of the day was a retake of the stump detail I shot last year just before the beavers moved in and repaired the dam and lodge, flooding the detail set up pin under at least a foot of water. Comparing the original stump detail image with the new image clearly shows the difference in the water level between summer 2011 and summer 2012. The 2012 water level is at least a foot lower than 2011.

2012 Stump Detail

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You can view more Adirondack beaver pond images on my website:

bunchlewisphotography.com

More beaver pond posts are on the way

Thanks for visiting my journal,

Bunch