young beaver with mom
The first video I'm publishing shows something I was able to observe very closely twice and capture on short film.
This is one of two baby beavers that came into the world less than two months early. The mother initially swam out alone, fed the young with milk from the burrow and, over time, began to bring the young with solid food to the burrow.
This moment shows the time when the cub dares to swim after its mother, who just happened to come out of the forest with a bitten piece of poplar and bites it off right where she has the nutritious part with a gulp.
Another moment is when the mother sparks the cub and then the cub sparks the mother.
The second part of the video shows the same two individuals almost in the same place but exactly one year later in a similar situation.
The video was made near Wroclaw.
The arrival of spring at the beaver lodge
Screaming Swans recorded in March 2023 at a beaver lodge near Wroclaw.
It is a secretive species, nesting rarely in Poland (less than 200 breeding pairs).
I mainly observe it just on the beavers during the breeding season.
The depth of water created by beavers is ideal for whooper swans and there are there a lot of natural hiding places for juveniles and adults.
External stereo microphones were used for audio recording. In order to properly hear the recorded sounds it is advisable to wear headphones. In the "SOUNDS" tab you will find a longer audio recording together with the moment of arrival and landing.
beavers give place to live
This video (3:45 min.) is the result of two years of field recordings and I am publishing it for the first time.
It shows only a substitute for the diverse amphibians, reptiles, mammals, insects and birds that profit from the activities of beavers.
These are shots taken during the long hours of waiting for the very beavers. The video shows partly beaver fields covered with water lash, as well as those more extensive with less aquatic vegetation.
Everywhere, beavers have adapted the terrain to their needs, while affecting at the same time positively influencing other species, mainly by collecting water but also by shaping the banks, creating channels, beaver slides, scent mounds, gnawing and cutting branches and trees, forming dams, feeding grounds, filtering and keeping the water in constant movement, providing the right bacteria, keeping water very deep in the ground ... The benefits of beaver activities are many and I will try to show it.
The video was made near Wroclaw.
beaver diving styles
One aspect of beaver life that completely fascinates me is their way of diving, going underwater, traversing completely dark places below the surface and emerging often in completely different places.
Beavers have entire maps of their beaver lodges in their heads and know where the submerged trees and obstacles but an additional factor is the loss of energy. This factor seems to play a big role in how they cover distances on beavers that are more or less overgrown. Added to this are the factors of hazards, which must also surely influence the decision on how to cover the best a given section. Most of the recordings were made shortly after sunset.
At first, we see beavers in early spring on an unplanted body of water. They return to their burrows, where their young are waiting. In further footage, a family can be seen inhabiting another beaver site. Very overgrown with water lash. The way of movement here is quite different. Also, it is harder to observe the beaver's underwater path here and the the wave caused by the beavers dies out faster.