Brick Pond in the Evening

Last night, my daughter suggested we take a walk after supper. It was a nice change from our usual routine, and we enjoyed the beauty and activity of a local preserve a little later in the day than usual.

In addition to the sights in the slides below, we saw a kingfisher, some green herons, and a few turtles. We were serenaded by an orchestra of bullfrogs, and a few tree frogs. Robins, red-winged blackbirds, yellow warblers, catbirds and an Eastern kingbird went about their business.

When we paused to take one last look at the pond, we were delighted to see what we thought was a beaver pushing a gigantic lily pad along before him as he swam toward the bank under cover of the fallen willow I mentioned in this post. Walking along the edge of the pond for a few minutes afterward, we noticed a muskrat swimming alongside us on its way — well, home I guess! After further discussion later, we realized the muskrat is probably the only swimming rodent we saw, rather than a beaver.

Still, it was an interesting and peaceful walk. We’ll hope for a beaver sighting another time.