Beaver Swamp Walk...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation.

​Revelation 4:11 - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, songbird perched in tree. Common winter migrant in the southeast, also known as Butter Butts. Yellow-rumped Warblers winter across much of central and southeastern U.S., and they sometimes come to backyards if food is offered. Photographed on birding hike in Walton County, Georgia, USA.

Wednesday, 7:42 AM - first light on the shelter pond: 

• 17 Redhead ducks
• 2 Canada Geese on the water
• 1 Great Blue Heron by the bank
• 13 Canada Geese fly overhead in V-formation

Canada Goose drake, Branta canadensis , on an open water blue lake. Thousands of honkers migrate north and south each year, filling the sky with long V-formations. Photographed on wildlife birding hike in Walton County, Monroe, Georgia, USA.

​Lunchtime - I pull on the large black rubber boots that my daughter Amanda bought for me. What used to be a small, usually dry overflow creek from the main pond has now turned into some fairly wide wetlands. Trekking down through the wet, muddy standing water I find several large beaver dams now transect the area. I turn on a GPS iPHone app to try and sketch out a map.
 
There are five impressively long and somewhat high dams. It is amazing how much mud, leaves, sticks and branches are all pressed together to build these levee walls. They are so well constructed that there is no problem holding my weight. It is obvious the beaver have been quite busy here, though I failed to see any on my treck.

Red-shouldered Hawk; Walton County, Georgia.

On my little, lunchtime nature walk I spot:

• 4 Wood ducks flush, south end
• 22 Canada geese on the pond at the southern terminus
• 2 Black Vultures soaring
• 1 Red-shouldered hawk hollering
• 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 1 Carolina Wren flitting about
• 1 Eastern Towhee scraping in dry leaves

​Later in the afternoon: the first quarter moon that Rose at 12:42 PM is now plainly visible and hanging in the blue sky about 35° from the horizon, to the east. There is no slow down on the work stress today. The controversies surrounding a dog named “Otis” continue. And just after 5 PM, three pit bulls maul a child and attack a woman trying to save the boy. No doubt tomorrow will be another crazy day.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, songbird perched in tree. Common winter migrant in the southeast, also known as Butter Butts. Yellow-rumped Warblers winter across much of central and southeastern U.S., and they sometimes come to backyards if food is offered. Photographed on birding hike in Walton County, Georgia, USA.

​Walton County, Georgia
Forecast: sunny, high near 56°. Clear tonight, low 31°
Sunrise 7:35 AM, sunset 5:56 PM
Day length: 10 hours, 21 minutes
First quarter moon

Redhead Ducks; Walton County, Georgia.