Friday, August 26, 2011

Hidden Valley Photo Blog VII

Now that my laptop is back from the shop (finally) here it is Photo Blog VII out of order. This week, around July 29, is all about the dam and how hard the beavers are working.
The rest of the ornamental maple near the old caretaker's house are gone. 
This is the only part of those maples remaining on the bank. The rest has either been consumed or added to the dam. 

If you look closely you can see how much forage the beavers are storing up near their lodge. 

The dam continues to grow. 





I wonder what the salmon will make of this fish ladder when they come back to spawn in the fall. 

I'm sure the salmon will appreciate this still pool to rest in before they go on upstream to spawn. 
These two photos give you a sense of the beavers' ambition as they continue to work on this apple tree.  
The trunk has a circumference of 33 inches, almost 12 inches in diameter. 

The beavers have taken quite a chunk out of it already and show no signs of giving up. 

I like this beavers' eye view of the valley. 

There are still lots of blooms in the valley. Fireweed 

and pink roses are lovely. 

I leave you with this view across the valley. Until next time. 



Thursday, August 25, 2011

Photo Blog X

As Hidden Valley begins the transition to fall the paths through the grass are even more visible.


Work Continues on the apple tree.

Beavers aren't the only ones using the slides. If you look closely you can see the garter snake hurrying to escape my presence.


The dam continues to grow.

The water bugs appreciate all the beavers' hard work since it makes ideal places for them.


The beaver pond is still as glass.

Non-native bamboo grass and native stinging nettles grow along the water's edge














Even though more and more things are going to seed there are still plenty of blooms to be found,

Horse tail ferns continue to provide a fluffy green to the changing valley colors. 
















Seeds are everywhere in the valley.  
Many kinds of grass seed and dandelion abound.






It looks as though the beavers may be adding a dam across Lost Creek. 



I leave you today with this charming photo of the shadows creeping over the valley. Until next time.









Friday, August 19, 2011

Collecting all the Photo Blog Links and Looking at How the Dam has Grown


Since the Hidden Valley Photo Blog spent some time wandering around the internet before reaching its permanent home here I thought a collection of links to all the blogs would be in order. 
At that point the dam was still small and didn't even stretch all the way across the creek.

Photo Blog III appeared as a YouTube video. Number IV is another Facebook album http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.223736167664893.54721.104782249560286&type=1
It's surprising to see how much the dam had grown in just a month. 
There was still a lot of water spilling through at that point.
Photo Blog V appeared in my other blog  http://rangerandhiskat.blogspot.com/2011/07/hidden-valley-photo-blog-v.html and number VI was once again a Flickr set http://www.flickr.com/photos/33350160@N02/sets/72157627141476047/ It's easy to see how much taller the dam has gotten.

Photo Blog VII still hasn't been posted because the laptop where all the photos are is still being repaired. Blogs VIII and IX are here. 

Until next time. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Hidden Valley Photo Blog IX

We're privileged to have a special guest blogger this time. My 12 year old son accompanied me on my last visit and provides the photographs and text for this week's blog.

Hidden Valley is a very cool place. I enjoy going there with my mom. You can see beaver slides


You can also look at the beaver dam. Here is a view from above. 



And this view is from in front of the dam.
Mom is standing in front of the dam so you can see the size of the dam compared to a 5'6" person.
Here are a couple of close up pictures of the dam. Beavers use lots of things for building material.



It's an amazing structure.

Beavers have very sharp teeth for chewing on trees.

I like exploring the creeks and looking at the interesting patterns of water on rocks.


This Daisy is one of the flowers you can find in the valley. You can see that it is almost done blooming. 















 The foxgloves are going to seed.



There are lots of things still blooming in Hidden Valley 

This is one of the buildings that is in the valley.

I always learn something new when I go with Mom. This time I learned to identify Tansy












Wild Carrot

And Yarrow.






























Until next time.