About a mile from my house there is a large beaver pond caused by beavers damming the Great Branch Creek. From the looks of things, the beavers left this pond a long time before we moved to Virginia, three years ago. Despite the absence of beavers, their work lives on and the pond is thriving.
This tree trunk sits a ways out into the pond and has had numerous woodpecker nests carved out of it in multiple sizes. The larger holes are probably made by red-bellied woodpeckers and the smaller ones by downy woodpeckers. This is a very safe place for them to raise their brood because no land critter is going to swim out there to get them...which is why beavers dam streams and build the lodges in the middle of the resulting pond.
This is so interesting to read. You're lucky to have this pond so close by. I can't say I've ever smelt water lilies so I can only imagine how heady the aroma is.
@serendypyty I had never smelled them before, either. And 'm blessed with having this pond very close and an enormous state park within 20 minutes of home. A nature photographer's dream.
