Beneficial Beaver Ponds

We live in an area rich with natural water features -- ponds, creeks, branches, and especially beaver ponds.  We even have one in the metro park.  These can spark annoyance in neighboring homes but ours here is an experiment in wildlife management.  After fighting the beavers for years, the city decided to install some special equipment that permits the pond to rise only to a certain level.  The beavers can dam up as much as they want but cannot ultimately stop the drain off.  This seems to be working, and as a result we have the benefits of beaver ponds without flood problems nearby.  This pond attracts water fowl, waders, woodpeckers, and many songbirds.  It's high on the list of places to check for birds in the area.  It will be on mine whenever I'm in the area.

Note to readers:  I will be going off line for the next week.  Posts will resume, I hope, March 15th.  And maybe I'll have some interesting bird stories to tell!  Thanks for reading and see you then...