Posts in Category: Beavers

A Visit to the Eastons and Hank Finds a Friend

On August 9, 2026 - Beavers, Herons, Wildlife Photography

The weather let me get out three times last week. I had a visit with the Eastons and a change of pace took me to the Waits River where it looks like Hank has found a friend.

The Beaver Meadow Chapel at 1672 Beaver Meadow Road Norwich, VT will be hosting me to present my slideshow An Uncommon Look at the Common Loon Saturday August 22 at 7:00 p.m. Free and everyone welcome.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my setup at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair. My next show is going to be local. I’ll be exhibiting in the Vermont North By Hand Open Studio Tour October 10-11, 2026. I’ll be set up at the Martin Farm on Route 5 right on the Bradford – Fairlee Town Line. Sue Martin is a very talented stained glass maker and has kindly offered me space to set up next to her. (I’d open my ‘studio,’ but my work at home is in a very cramped 6′ x 9′ office – mostly filled from floor to ceiling. There’s not much to see…) The map and details for the Open Studio Tour are here.

Last Tuesday, I made the trek up to check in on the Eastons. On my last several visits, Mrs. Easton had been facing a serious, ongoing challenge for the pond. On each of my visits, an intruding female arrived and a scuffle began.

When I arrived Tuesday, there was peace on the pond. Mom and Dad were foraging lazily. The chicks were sleeping in. Every so often, one of the parents would deliver a snack to the chicks, often having to wake them to make the delivery. The chicks would often take the snack, yawn then return to his nap.

Being a well-fed chick can be very tiring.

Sometimes, they’d take a moment to just look cute before going back to nap.

After getting a snack from Mom, this chick scored what looks to be a caddisfly emerging.

Dad took over babysitting and Mom headed up the pond on her own. I went looking for Hank. Before I could find him, an intruding loon flew in. He landed not too far from the chicks.

A closer look. This gives a good look at her bands – that’s how I tell the parents apart.

The intruder seemed more interested in breakfast than fighting. Dad went to face off with him repeatedly. The intruder would dive and cover a lot of water before resurfacing. Dad eventually put on a wing-rowing display and the intruder took the hint and departed.

Dad looks kind of smug as he returns to the chicks.

Peace returned to the pond. I poked around a bit more, without finding Hank. The female intruder didn’t show up while I was there.

On Wednesday, I headed down to the Waits River. There have been black-crowned night herons nesting there for several years and a least bittern has been a regular in the marsh. There was a thick fog when I put in and it stubbornly refused to lift. I explored around the marsh.

I flushed a beaver I hadn’t seen from the reeds. He circled around close to the boat a couple times before deciding to resume breakfast somewhere else.

I was about to give up and head in. As I started upstream, a great egret flew in.

The egret set to work finding some breakfast. Can I name him Egret Allen Poe? OK, I’ll work on it.

And stalking something along the river bank.

When I looked up from the camera, I discovered Hank had appeared just a few feet upstream. I assumed someone was going to chase someone else away. But for a time, they foraged near each other. Hank would follow the egret as they went downstream.

Hank eventually made a halfhearted lunge towards the egret. The egret danced out of bill’s reach and resumed foraging. Hank gave up the chase and also went back to foraging. They stayed close as they worked their way back upstream.

After a time, Hank flew a couple hundred yards upstream. The egret followed promptly and they went back to foraging near each other. They repeated this a couple more times.

I returned the next day and found them flying upstream together. They headed away from the River and I didn’t see them again that morning.

Both herons and egrets are solitary birds. The heron looks to be a juvenile, I have no idea how to spot a juvenile egret. I wonder if they’re used to having company in the nest and haven’t grown into the need for solitude.

Hank checking downstairs to see if breakfast is down there….

Hank managed to come up with what looked like sticks on a couple tries. They were promptly tossed.

After getting nothing edible, Hank strode upstream to find better opportunities.

Hank flew a bit upstream and hid in the reeds. The egret followed. But apparently didn’t like the set up as he flew further upstream after just a couple minutes. Hank followed along.

The egret found this territory more to his liking.

The egret making a catch. Harold “Doc” Edgerton, call your office.

The fog had lifted enough to start getting some contrast in the photos. I took advantage and got the egret posing.

The egret seemed to think his left profile was his good side…

A note on the type, I’ve tried to increase the font size on both the text and photo captions. Is this an improvement?

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beaver, egretss, great blue heron, loon chicks, loons

A Visit to the Westons and Heron Chicks

On May 31, 2026 - Beavers, Herons, Loons, Photography, Turtles, Wildlife Photography

A slower week this past week. I had a chance to visit the Weston loon family on a foggy morning and visited the great blue heron rookery.

I’ll be at the Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4, 5. I’ll be in booth 212 lots of prints and note cards. Stop by and have a look.

Tuesday morning found blue skies over the hill in West Newbury and the Weston’s pond in deep fog.

The Westons weren’t to be found on the main part of the pond. I continued on to the cove where they nest. The off duty loon was promoting a shift change. You can see the loon on the nest at the far right hidden in the brush. I never did see their legs; without seeing the bands – or lack of them – I couldn’t tell who was who.

They did the nest exchange after a few minutes and the loon coming off duty stretched.

And then set out to find some breakfast. Looks like he? came up empty this time.

An outsider loon flew over and called which set the Westons to tremoloing. The outsider flew on and the pond quieted. Very quiet. I paddled around looking for photos. Seems most of the critters had taken the morning off.

After a time, I found a red-winged blackbird out and about.

He alternated foraging with calling out to announce his presence.

As the fog lifted, painted turtles started climbing out of the water to bask.

The outsider loon returned and landed well up the pond. All three loons started calling. The loon on the nest left the nest to join the other home team loon on the main part of the pond. They were well separated from the intruder. I snuck back into the cove with their nest to see if I could see how many eggs they have. I took a quick look to find two and turned around to leave the cove.

Only to find Slappy Gilmore the beaver entering the cove. He? circled the entrance to the cove, slapping regularly. If he’d gotten out of the way, I’d have left……

Here’s his tail making contact for the slap.

And each slap pushes his butt up out of the water. You can see his webbed feet clearly here.

The loons mostly called at each other before a brief skirmish with some wing rowing before the intruder departed.

Thursday morning, I was up early and headed to see the great blue heron rookery. I’ve been inundated with requests for the location of the rookery. I think I’ve answered everyone. I’m reluctant to share locations with folks I don’t know. Most are likely to be responsible, but the internet has more than a few bad apples.

On three of the four nests with herons, an adult was standing on the edge of the nest. The fourth had a heron still sitting.

After watching for a time, chicks started stirring. The three nests with adults standing guard all have at least three chicks. The chicks are still small enough that they can’t be seen when crouched down in the nest. They appear, then disappear fairly quickly, keeping me on my toes.

The chicks are funny-looking gawky birds whose body parts all seem to come from birds of different sizes. I suspect they were designed by Jim Henson.

Here’s a shift change on the first nest. Both herons will birdsit the chicks and bring food. When one returns to the nest, they go through a ceremony where they stretch and bob their necks to each other.

The returning parent brought back a sunfish which would seem to be much too large. The chick in back put it away without effort.

Back at the second nest, the chicks were getting restless…

This guy seems to be thinking that if breakfast isn’t delivered promptly, he’ll have to go get it on his own.

Poking their parent, and pulling feathers, didn’t speed things up.

The mate returned. The parents swallow the chick’s food and regurgitate it for the chicks when they return. As the chicks get bigger, the parents will bring in larger food that they haven’t swallowed.

The parent that had been on duty wasted no time heading off.

The chicks have been fed, time for everyone to settle back in.

And a returning parent feeding the chicks in the third nest.

The fourth and fifth nests had parents return, but I didn’t see any chicks. Guess I’ll have to go back.

And we’ve hosted bluebirds in one of the boxes on our deck again this year. I haven’t been posting, it seems like many people have cameras in their bird houses now. And, something is amiss with mine, the video quality has degraded. But, here’s a clip of the chick’s final few minutes as our guests before they fledge.

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birds, great blue herons, heron rookery, herons, loons, new hampshire wildlife, vermont wildlife

Rounding Up the Usual Suspects

On April 30, 2026 - Beavers, Herons, Loons, Warblers, Wildlife Photography

The run of nice mornings let me get out several times since my last post. I’ve called on the Middletons and the Westons, visited the falcons and the heron rookery as well as paddled in the Connecticut. This is a roundup of what I saw.

I’m still looking for fox, coyote and bobcat dens. And other mammals bigger than a squirrel. If you’ve got them hanging around where I won’t be in the way photographing them, I’d love to know.

I’ll be giving my slideshow An Uncommon Look at the Common Loon at the Rockingham, Vermont, Library this Saturday May 2, at 11 am. Free and everyone welcome. And I have prints of some of my favorite loon photos hanging in the Library now. Stop in and have a look. Later in the month, I’ll be doing my slideshow of my favorite shots from 2025 at the Bugbee Center in White River Jct. at 1:30 pm on Wednesday May 27 and again at the Blake Memorial Library in Corinth, VT at 6:00 pm on Friday May 27. On to the critters…

I’ve managed to visit the herons twice. The first visit found some herons sitting on their eggs and the others putting the finishing touches on their nests.

They take great care in how they place the sticks. I suppose if you know you’re going to be sitting on them for a few weeks, you want to make sure all the pointy bits are well tucked away.

Finishing up the details on the nest. There’s a heron sitting on the nest to the upper left.

The mate showed up as the first bird was finishing up. You can’t tell him from her by looking, and both birds are involved in building the nest and incubating the eggs.

The member of the pair that flew in as the work was finishing up stretched in a courtship display.

Another heron sat just outside the rookery and provided commentary.

One of the males with a nest in the rookery arrived with the very stick they needed for the nest. The males gather the sticks and deliver them to the nest. The females will nod if they find the stick worthy of being added to the nest.

The female of the pair wasn’t around, so the male stashed the stick near the nest.

He took a few minutes to preen, which seems a challenge standing on a small branch.

The next trip had me visiting the Middletons. There were two loons on the pond. Somewhat embarrassingly, I caught up with them before they finished their ablutions. Mr. Middleton waved his leg, letting me see his bands telling me he was who he claimed to be.

Mr. Middleton greeted me with open wings.

And this appears to be the new Mrs. Middleton. The previous Mrs. Middleton died shortly after being driven from the pond by a female challenging her for the territory. Neither the challenger nor this bird were banded, so we can’t tell for sure, but it is likely this is the challenger from last year.

I typed too soon in the last post when I said there didn’t seem to be many Canada geese around. They’re back in force.

The Middletons finished breakfast and tucked in for a nap. You can see Mr. M’s bands on his leg.

The next couple outings took me to the Weston’s pond. The Westons are often not in the mood for visitors and keep their distance. I try to respect their moods and keep my distance when they want to be left alone. There was a pair of loons on the pond. Mrs. Weston disappeared in early August last year and wasn’t seen again. We probably have Mr. Weston back with a new mate.

There was a flock of about 35 swallows – mostly tree swallows with a couple barn swallows for color. They were using this tree for a perch. They’d – more or less – settle for a bit before something got them going and they’d depart en masse. They’d fly out a ways before promptly returning to the tree. I couldn’t spot what got them going but suspect that one had spotted a tasty looking insect and went to nab it – with everyone following along.

Flocks of birds never completely settle. Someone is always looking for a better spot.

And there were at least a couple of couples intent on making little swallows in the mix.

Mr. Mallard had some place elsewhere he needed to be.

Warblers are back. Here’s the first yellow-rumped warbler (aka butter butt) of the season.

And what appears to be a disapproving palm warbler.

The next trip out was to visit the Middleton’s pond again.

One of the Middletons was up and ready to get going at dawn. They were covering lots of ground while foraging for breakfast. I wandered off to see who else might be out and about.

One of the resident beavers was as busy as himself and was making a quick improvement to the roof of his lodge. He dragged this stick to the lodge and pulled it out of the water.

Carefully adjusting it for the proper pitch and angle.

With his chores done, he stopped for some breakfast. Beavers eat the bark off of branches and trees. That’s why I’ve named this guy – wait for it – Chewbarka.

One of the Middletons gave a good stretch as I was heading out.

The next morning found me checking in on the falcons.

They’re sitting on their eggs, so there wasn’t much going on to photograph. The on nest duty bird did peer out above the lip of the shelf with the nest.

The mate sat in a tree above the nest, mostly preening and snoozing.

There is a brave pair of eastern phoebes nesting on the cliff about 20 feet below the falcon’s nest. I’m surprised at the number of song birds in the area. Steering clear of where falcons frequent would seem to be a good idea. The smaller birds in the area must know the falcons are there. The small birds seem to keep low and close to the cliff – making it impossible for the falcon to stop before hitting the ground if it went after them. I thought of J.R.R. Tolkien’s advice, “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.”

And the next morning found me back at the rookery.

All the nests had birds sitting on their eggs. Again not an exciting morning watching birds just sitting. This heron did pop up several times to adjust the sticks in the nest.

Sticks back in their proper place, the bird settled back in.

Someone’s mate came back from his favorite watering hole and stood guard at the edge of the nursery.

The Waits and Connecticut Rivers have been too high for me to be comfortable paddling. Earlier this week, it had dropped enough for me to venture out. When I got out Wednesday morning, the water had dropped to the point where navigating anywhere but the deepest part of the Waits was difficult.

There were several killdeer out foraging along the mud at the water’s edge. There were lots of grackles and red-winged blackbirds and a few ducks around. A murder of crows mobbed a red-tailed hawk every time he dared fly over. With the low water, I saw several large snapping turtles foraging.

A pair of northern flickers were cleaning up a nesting hole. Tree swallows looked like they were going to move in downstairs in the same tree.

The flickers took a break to make little flickers and share a moment afterwards.

There was a bit of a close call when rounding a curve in the river, I surprised a croc basking on the riverbank.

The killdeer were creating a ruckus calling and flying around. After a time, I found four of them in a kerfuffle. I couldn’t figure out the cast. There was at least one female that presented repeatedly. There were at least two that would charge her when she did. Often one or both would take a short flight, often with an attack while in air. Sometimes it appeared the kerfuffle was two on two and sometimes three on one.

Three of the killdeer disagreeing on something.

Someone has just charged the flying bird causing it to take flight. The bird in the back right seems to be presenting.

The midair skirmishes seemed to be mostly threatening, without any actual contact.

The kerfuffle came to some conclusion I couldn’t figure out. The lady that had been presenting throughout took time for a bath and all the birds wandered off.

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heron rookery, herons, loons