A Woman with a Camera: March 13th

A chilly start to the week, but the temperatures are supposed to warm up. You never can tell in Michigan though. One day we are all walking around with our coats off and the next bundled up again from an incoming snowstorm. I'm hoping things are starting to turn. I am looking forward to seeing spring birds though it might still be a little early for them.

Mornings at the lake are lovely and peaceful. I use the time to wake up and appreciate the beauty around me. Over the last year there have been some tough times, but I always find something at the lake to smile about. I am excited the beavers are back and are putting in some appearances. I still have only seen one at a time. Last year we saw four at one time at the older lodges.

Tree down at the Beavers' Lodge to start the week! I wondered which way this one was going to fall. It's right by the lodge. Apparently, beavers are good at working out which way they will fall. For a while there was speculation as to whether it would actually fall onto the lodge!

There is still so much ice left on the lake, but this seems to be the week to see the beavers. Every day I walked at the lake this week I saw them.

It was lovely to see one reaching up to try to munch on the felled tree with its tail stuck up in the air!

There were some muskrats around too. It's not unusual to see the muskrats close to the beavers' lodge. Apparently, they are even known to take up residence in active beavers' lodges. That would make sense as we often see several coming from close to the lodge.

Before I started watching the beavers and muskrats at Asylum Lake, I wasn't sure how to tell the difference between the two. Their tails are different - the beaver's tail being large and flat, the muskrat's long and skinny. You don't always see their tails though! Their size is another big clue. Muskrats are really quite small, beavers are much larger. I've noticed that muskrat's noses are rather pointy whereas beaver's faces are more round, as are their ears. Muskrats are spooked quite easily and can make quite a splash. I've observed that our beavers at Asylum Lake are very quiet as they submerge back under the water. The only time they seem to make a lot of noise is when they are sensing danger. They slap their tails quite loudly against the water. The rest of the time you really have to watch closely - if you look away you might miss a beaver coming up and going back down again.

The muskrats and the beavers are sharing the area with the returning Canadian Geese. Every year a pair seems to take up residence near the prime spot. There are lots of reeds nearby to build nests. Hopefully, later in the spring, there will be some goslings around. For now, the geese are loud and quite territorial as they claim their area and their mates. Canadian Geese mate for life.

Away from the lake and further into the woods and fields there are signs that that warmer weather has arrived. The snow from last week has all but disappeared. The Bluebirds have been making appearances in the field, perhaps beginning to decide which birdhouse they want to claim before the Tree Swallows appear.

There was a lovely Cooper's Hawk in the woods searching for something small to eat. He was sitting on a branch down low. Usually, they can be quite jumpy, but this one must have had its mind on food as it didn't seem that bothered that I was nearby.