Beavering, 11-03-16

A dark, wet and murky afternoon it turned out to be, not great for anyone's spirits. Saying that, I needed fresh air and I thought I'd head to the river (no surprise there). I arrived about 1750 and was greeted by a Blackbird roaring at me, not a particularly pleasant welcome but one I'm used to by now. I was in two minds where to sit, opposite the old lodge where I had a sighting a couple of nights previous, or further down where the ripples were coming from last night. I opted for the former and had no sooner got myself settled than this appeared at 1800 on the dot.......

.......a young beaver. To be truthful I wasn't actually expecting to see anything this evening never mind getting pictures. So I was quite happy wih my decision to pop down. The animal did a slow circuit before disappearing under some bushes on the far bank. I waited a wee bit but nothing was showing, I can only presume it had popped into one of the burrows.

I thought I'd go further down the river before leaving and I went to the spot that I had heard the "plop" the night before. This is what I saw, fresh feeding that hadn't been there last night. This particular spot seems to a wee favourite for them in the winter months.