Beaver Pond Wildlife: Part 1 - Early Spring

[Music] just days ago this was a typical new england beaver pond scene a snow-covered beaver lodge with its residents inside the beaver dam has kept the water level in their pond deep enough for them to access under the ice the winter food supply of branches that they stored last fall enabling them to survive the winter breezes bring warming temperatures last autumn's oak leaves still clinging to branches are now swept from the trees soon ice will melt into memory many canada geese are now permanent residents of new england but the honking of migrating geese returning to open waters is still a call of the wild their timing isn't always perfect things change quickly in early spring a few more days can make all the difference spring is all about the renewal of life plants resume growth animals reproduce among the first birds to return to northern wetlands are male red-winged black birds they've come ahead of the females to stake out breeding territories food is at its lowest ebb at this time of year what largely sustains the arriving birds are mosquito-sized insects midges some species are already airborne in mating swarms these are fuel that power early spring birds the first priority of arriving birds is to eat insects are the main menu items there is no decisive end to winter it trails off as days gradually warm early spring snowstorms are part of the mix tree swallows flitter above the water dipping down for a drink and to pick insects off the surface several species of ducks have arrived and some wood ducks black ducks pin tails and mallards and this ungainly looking bird the american woodcock or timberdoodle probes damp wetland soil for earthworms it may have come a thousand miles or more from its southern wintering grounds i wonder if it's regretting that right now hey in colder hollows ice is slow to leave the pond but open sunny locations have warmed more quickly the cache of branches the beavers gathered just outside their lodge last fall can now be accessed at the surface this food store is critical to the survival of beavers there is no other food available once the pond freezes over if it freezes to the bottom the beavers are doomed a family of beavers will need about a ton of branches to last through winter a pond and swamp dweller often mistaken for a beaver is the muskrat it's not a rat but it is in the rodent family like the beaver whereas a beaver's tail is broad and flattened top and bottom a muskrat's tail is narrow and flattened on the sides as it swims it undulates its tail using it for propulsion and as a rudder it eats a variety of aquatic plants as well as crayfish snails frogs and mussels cattails are a favorite in ponds muskrats build lodges of plant material they look similar to beaver lodges but don't include large sticks as beaver lodges do both also live in excavated bank boroughs with underwater entrances this is a beaver bank borough exposed by dropping water level muskrat bank den openings are smaller maybe six inches wide sometimes muskrats even live with beavers in active lodges the wind is disintegrating last year's cattail seed heads it's helped by a black-capped chickadee this fluff is gathered for nesting material but that's not what this chickadee has in mind it's looking for a meal not seeds but the tiny larva of the shy cosmic moth cattail stocks harbor insect meals for downy woodpeckers too many other birds are feeding in the surrounding woodlands a tufted titmouse hammers a seed nut hatches pluck tiny insects from trees palm warblers hop through the branches hunting for insects and flush them out of the leaf litter yellow rumped warblers are skilled at gleaning a meal from among the thickets of shrubs and trees but there's another hungry bird watching not a warbler a larger bird a sharp-shinned hawk and it specializes in chasing down small plump birds other duck species visit or nest in some beaver ponds american widgeons eat mostly vegetation but at this time of year insect protein is important to the female for egg production ring-necked ducks which probably should have been called ring build rather than being named for the male's inconspicuous purple neck ring hooded merganzers are small diving ducks that eat aquatic insects plants and crustaceans like wood ducks they nest in tree cavities common merganzers are diving fish eaters more often found in lakes and rivers but occasionally in beaver ponds and of course there are mallards early spring initiates the renewal of life for animals that means reproduction a new generation some species have lifelong mates others have multiple mates or find new ones each year for mallards courtship involves a lot of bobbing and shaking of their heads [Music] she lowers her head signaling that she accepts his advances so canada geese have a similar ritual dunking their heads underwater with the urgency to find a mate comes the need to establish and defend nesting territories what good are all those dead trees in a beaver swamp well for one thing they're a telegraph system that male woodpeckers use to find a date and to declare their territory male red-winged blackbirds display their bright red epaulets to declare their ownership of territory to competing males an intruding male keeps his red patches covered to avoid provoking the territory owner if he doesn't there's likely to be a fight the dominant male makes it quite clear he won't tolerate the intrusion into his territory the drive to pass his genes onto the next generation is a powerful urge critical to the survival and adaptability of the species the intruder receives a sound thrashing yes the intruder has learned his lesson and is driven off wherever there are mallards there always seems to be a duck drama this female mallard seems to have a complaint and this male has had enough of its blue male tree swallows have gathered to stake out their nest sites it doesn't take long for squabbles to arise muskrats are highly territorial and often fight [Applause] this encounter seems friendly enough [Applause] so oh well a female kingfisher she sees a male intruder and the chase is on but oddly she runs out of steam and cartwheels into the pond but she makes a quick recovery great blue herons are picky about their personal space and drive others out of it large mute swans were imported to north american city lakes 150 years ago thought to be a symbol of peace and love they've escaped to more remote lakes and ponds and in fact during nesting season are quite aggressive toward intruders of all kinds there are canada geese in virtually every pond and they too have their disagreements this one is trying to deflect a swan from approaching its nest the swan's aggressive posture says something is about to happen [Applause] geese are not above fighting with each other either uh [Applause] a large dark form glides through the treetops it's a bald eagle looking for a meal there are several eagles in this area now and they're frequenting pines a small fish is effortlessly plucked from the water rain doesn't dampen the appetite and the hunt continues this time it's a painted turtle despite its large talons and beak the eagle is unable to make a meal of the turtle and drops it there's no escaping the cold rain sunny days return the sturdy beak of the little pied-build grib serves it well in crushing snails crayfish mussels and fish on silent wings the ospreys arrive they return to last year's nest atop a dead pine tree in the pond while the ospreys are preparing to raise their new family a beaver is discouraging other beavers from moving in by building scent mounds it builds these around the perimeter of the pond by dredging up mud and debris from the bottom sometimes mixing in leaves and grasses it periodically marks them with a bit of castorium from sacks at the base of its tail it everts the two sacks and drags them across the mound to deposit the castorium castorium was also traditionally used in cosmetics and to flavor foods and even cigarettes once you've experienced the not unpleasant scent of castorium you can detect it at a bit of a distance emanating from these scent mounds the first of possibly several litters of muskrat babies have now been born and fed only milk but now are two or three weeks old and need solid food the parents bring vegetation for them to the den through the underwater entrance it's important that water depth doesn't drop below these entrances in another week or two the babies are out foraging for themselves they've been weaned and now voraciously consume aquatic plants their soft nearly waterproof undercoats will soon be protected by luxurious reddish guard hairs they'll spend a lot of time grooming to keep it clean being rodents muskrats have long incisor teeth for severing vegetation as with beavers lips behind the incisors closed to allow gnawing underwater small front feet with nails are adapted for digging as well as holding food compared to beavers muskrats have small eyes a century ago in the early 1900s muskrat trapping was a significant source of income for many rural people as the hide of this animal was sought after for stylish fur coats sometimes marketed as hudson seal fur muskrats seem to single-mindedly go about their business of collecting food which they typically will carry to a feeding platform to eat they pay little attention to other creatures that aren't a threat these canada geese are not above stealing a meal if it's good for a muskrat it must be good for us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hmm maybe not [Music] the beavers dam has caused the stream's flow to slow down and spread across the land into a pond creating new habitat for and benefiting myriad species of plant and animal life shallow warm mucky bottomed ponds are exactly what many species require few such bodies of water would exist without beavers to create them the many species of fish that thrive here combined with a large open space above the pond make it possible for ospreys to also do well here ospreys need fish and are increasingly taking advantage of large beaver ponds in new england bald eagles are now more commonly seen again and they too are drawn to larger ponds smaller birds frequently harass larger birds to drive them from their nests hungry raptors are not welcomed an osprey buzzes the eagle two immature eagles practice their aerobatics over the pond sometimes things don't go all that [Applause] smoothly it's well known that wood ducks and mergansers nest in tree cavities but can there be a suitable nest hole for a mallard she's not really built for this kind of thing so so she tries again she maybe on this side [Music] [Applause] [Music] due to glaciers having buried the land for thousands of years there are no native earthworms in new england only non-native worms that are highly destructive to our forests this american robin is welcome to eat all it can she uses her wing to press mud grasses and weeds into a cup-shaped nest it only takes her a couple days to build her nest although she may build several that won't be used and now she waits until she can lay eggs a morning dove gathers nest material to bring to his mate it has to be just right this one this one is right he stands on her back while delivering the piece to her then leaves to find more while she weaves it into the nest canada geese often nest atop beaver lodges an egg is rolled out of this nest but there's little she can do to retrieve it it will likely be someone else's meal this great blue heron is plucking twigs from the shoreline trees it's nest building time for the herons too and tree swallows are preparing to fill their nest with new life they often line the nest with feathers that they find with rising temperatures and longer days plant life is greening up rapidly now a warm spring afternoon just right for a spotted turtle to bask in the sun this one has a leech clinging to its shell [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] mornings are still chilly and yet amphibians are making their way to the water american toads dozens of males issuing their mating trill each hoping to attract a female in a frenzy they chase down any toad that moves and very often it's another male so so [Music] but strings of tiny black eggs show that some of them have been successful tree swallows generally get along but they do have their territorial squabbles their sociability belies their ferocity [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] they eat and even bathe on the wing dipping down to the water and are highly skilled at snapping an insect meal from the air there are other swallow species here these are northern rough winged swallows returning from wintering grounds in central america they too are adept at plucking insects mid-air barn swallows distinguishable by their forked tails and orange bellies also make a living over the pond while the bulk of tasty aquatic plant growth is yet to come beavers are still relying on tree bark by bracing its upper incisors against the trunk this beaver can use its lower incisors to take shavings of cambium off the tree muskrats are finding enough greenery though and are busy bringing it back to the den to feed their young a red-winged blackbird forages among the muskrat's leftovers it uses its beak to both grasp and to spread things apart and now the female red wings have arrived on the breeding grounds unlike the males their coloration will be effective camouflage during the coming nesting period a female muskrat is acting a bit erratically her movements lack the usual purposefulness of a search for food she heads off aimlessly into the weeds of the pond a large male venturing into his territory could be trouble [Music] [Music] but it's not conflict he wants quite the opposite it looks like he's had enough of this but wait apparently she hasn't now she's pursuing him he swims away but she's not through with him yet [Music] she finds a grassy hummock in about a month she'll give birth to a litter of up to 14 young but probably about six or so she may repeat this several more times this year newborns are tiny and helpless but will be able to care for themselves at about four weeks of age they may be preyed upon by a number of predators hawks coyotes foxes raccoons and especially this one the mink at night a different suite of animals is active the remains of a deer possibly killed by coyotes it's a lucky find for a hungry striped skunk one of the coyotes returns could this be a fatal encounter for the skunk an approaching possum gets the same greeting the skunk gets its meal now the patient coyote can eat so too the possum mice are active virtually everywhere in the woods at night river otters our largest members of the weasel family in the northeast come ashore after filling up on fish at the opposite end of the weasel family scale is the weasel and another member of the weasel clan the fisher prowls for food this is a favorite haunt of the bobcat too it's the end of april a female hooded merganzer has mated and has eggs in the nest so her mate has now abandoned her earlier they had selected a tree cavity for the nest site but she will raise the brood on her own hooded mergansers dine on small fish tadpoles and other aquatic creatures they have a fun this for crayfish she stays dry and warm in the cold spring water because she meticulously cares for and preens her feathers foreign always prowling around the beaver pond is this blackbird the common grackle like the red wing blackbird it uses its beak as a spreading tool if it's not flipping over debris looking for a meal it's picking a fight with a raptor in this case an osprey its cousin the red wing does a pretty good job of warding off hawks too vibrant spring colors are finally overcoming the dull gray of winter some of the season's first new life forms are exploring the water surface for the first time sharing the surface are dozens of whirligig beetles curious insects that frantically swim in circles they have four eyes two that see above the water and two that see below and this insect swimming on its back is a well a back swimmer it looks like this tadpoles of bull frogs that overwintered lazily forage grazing bits of algae other vegetation and insects they will later metamorphose into their adult frog forms also present and looking for mates are eastern red spotted newts in several months their young will lose their gills and move on to land in the bright orange juvenile phase known as the red eft which may remain on land for up to seven years before returning to water as an olive green adult speaking of orange here's a common gallinule a member of the rail family with its oversized spindly feet it slowly makes its way along the shoreline picking snails weeds and seeds from the water the black and white warbler quickly flits about in search of a meal there are insects flying all around but it doesn't pursue those its preferred method is to meticulously examine branches and trunks all sides top and bottom it looks high and it looks low persistence is rewarded the ospreys are adding to last year's nest she snaps a dead branch off a pine snag she carefully puts it in place to make an expansive nest [Music] then goes for more branches the pair mates he lands nearby to preen while she goes for soft nest material she returns with talons full of mosses the osprey's new family is yet to come but others are already here the towed eggs have hatched into tadpoles by summer they'll be tiny toads and move from water onto land spring a time of renewal and new life in all of its forms and a beaver pond is where so much of it happens [Music] you

Channel: New England Forests

Views: 95,803

Rating: 4.9184227 out of 5

Keywords: muskrat, eagle, osprey, otter

Id: zGyMLG2wnBE

Length: 58min 7sec (3487 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 08 2021