2007 Beaver Diary

Introduction

On Friday 14th April, 2006 we introduced a pair of European beavers into our freshwater loch at Aigas. As a member of the Scottish Beaver Network, Aigas Field Centre has commenced this captive demonstration project to allow visitors to the centre to view beavers in their wild surroundings in the Scottish Highlands. The loch is contained within a large 200 acre beaver-proof enclosure. The habitat within the enclosure is perfect for beavers with a large freshwater loch fringed by wet deciduous woodland. The woodland consists of the kinds of trees which beavers are known to favour such as silver birch, eared willow and rowan. In addition the loch contains a huge amount of water lillies and horsetails and the wetland surrounding the loch contains bog myrtle which the beavers seem also to enjoy. We have constructed a comfortable viewing hide on the loch which allows us to view the beavers in comfort whilst minimising any disturbance to the animals. Ospreys and otters were also regularly spotted from the hide during 2006.

Summary of 2006

It didn't take long for our beaver pair to settle in, they soon abandoned our beautifully constructed palacial artifical lodge for a home-made lodge on the far bank opposite our hide. Nevertheless in the long daylight hours of spring and early summer we got some great views of the adults grooming, feeding and swimming. We were soon to realise just how well the adults had settled in when on July 28th 2006 eminent ecologist Roy Dennis, on his first visit to the hide, managed to spot what he thought was a baby beaver - a kit. Over the next few nights we were able to confirm that the pair had indeed produced a kit - the first baby beaver to be born in the Highlands of Scotland for over 450 years! After a web competition, the beavers were given the names Boris and Lilly (Dad and Mum) and Willow the Kit.

Over the next few months we spent many pleasurable evenings watching the family at work and managed to get particularly close to Willow who seemed to be almost fearless. As autumn progressed and winter approached we noticed a marked increase in the beavers tree felling activity. They were busy building up a store of cut trunks and branches to use as a winter store of bark. Sometimes beavers build a food store around the entrance to lodge and this is exactly what ours seemed to be doing. The lodge expanded considerably through October, November and December as the beavers added more and more twigs, branches and trunks. Much of this wood is stored underwater where it can remain accessible to the beavers even if thick ice coats the surface of the water. In addition they added a partial covering of mud in an attempt to increase the insulation around their cosy lodge.

So that's what happened in 2006, read on below for the latest developments in the Aigas beaver story. To read the full beaver diary for 2006 click here. 

If you've got predictions, questions or comments about the beavers in 2007 please email them to  ian@aigas.co.uk. 

2007 Diary    

Thursday 20^th December

We have been having a bit of a cold spell this week at Aigas. Temperatures have been down near -8˚C almost every night this week and barely rising above freezing during the day. This has meant we have had a beautiful white dusting all around, but more importantly for the beavers, the loch has completely frozen over. It is just over 2 inches thick in most places, thick enough for Phil and Donald to walk from one end to the other without falling in! It is thinner at the edges and it seems that in certain places the beavers are still coming out of the water. There is one particular area that isn’t frozen beside one of the beaver paths. We also found some wood chips above the ice, suggesting there is some above ice activity, but certainly not as much as there has been recently.

This is by no means extreme conditions for beavers; their fur is well designed for more severe climates in Scandinavia and Russia. The literature suggests that beavers above-ice activity is greatest in air temperatures higher than -10˚C. Anything colder than this and beavers seem to prefer to stay under the ice or in their lodge. This would explain the reduction in visible activity here at Aigas and if it gets any colder they may well choose to stay inside!

Luckily beavers instinctively build a food cache – a store of bark underwater (therefore also under ice) outside the lodge entrance to eat when it is cold. Over the autumn the beavers have been felling tree to stock up the cache in case the loch was to freeze so they will have plenty food if it does get any colder.

Monday 10^th December

During a recent visit to the loch Ieuan, Donald and myself noticed some interesting marks on the uprights holding up the dipping platform. This is a small pier that heads out into the loch which we use for environmental education for children, specifically for pond dipping. At closer investigation we noticed that two of the uprights have been completely gnawed through!!! The photo on the left shows the support on the left is completely cut through just under the water level (The feet you see are Hugh's as he was checking the load bearing!!) This is unusual behaviour as the wood is treated and has no bark, so it is useless food for beavers. We decided to put up a small fence and add some more support. Hopefully this will be enough to keep them away without being too intrusive. I will keep you all posted on its success!

Friday 30^th November

The beavers are still being very busy around the loch. They have recently felled another of the large birches that hang over the water. They had started this tree almost a month ago, and then just left it half finished. Normally beavers ring bark the tree and take chunks of wood from all the way around the trunk. This gives them the control to fell the tree in the direction they wish – normally towards the water. The problem with this particular tree is that it overhangs the water so they could only bite from the landward side. Normally this would mean the tree would fall towards land as that side would be weaker, however this tree was leaning over the water so much it meant they could just bite right through, so it was never completely ring barked.

We have noticed that they have started on another of these large trees and so have decided to fence off the trunk to stop the beavers felling it. This will hopefully show how easy it is to manage beaver felling.

Tuesday 27^th November

With the recent tree felling the beavers have been doing, I thought it would be nice to show you some close-ups of the wooden stumps and the woodchips. As you can imagine biting through all that wood isn’t easy, but beavers are well adapted to it. As rodents, their teeth have open roots which means that they continue to grow throughout the animals life. If they are not worn down through use they will grow too long and may even grow right back through the animals skull. Therefore felling trees serves three important purposes – 1) Wears down the incisors 2) provides food 3) provides building materials.. When they gnaw at the wood they take very small bites with the lower incisors cutting against the upper incisors, which act as an anchor. These very small bites are demanding on the muscles and so beavers do a cycle of bite and rest, bite and rest, to allow the powerful biting muscles to re-oxygenate. This takes time but it means they can cut thin chips of wood from the trunk, eventually cutting right through the stem. The outcome is lots of small grooves or notches on the tree stumps and the woodchips. The photo at the top right shows the resulting log that has been felled from the stump and the photo to the left shows the woodchips scattered on the ground around the stump.

Wednesday 21^st November

Well it was again a perfect night for watching beavers again last night. It was still, mild and there was a half moon brightening up the loch. I went to my viewpoint, this time a little later, arriving after dinner at 8pm. I quickly set up my equipment and threw out an apple split into quarters. The beavers have been very busy here at this point taking two large birches right on the waters edge… I thought it would make a nice backdrop to the photo.

I climbed into the bracken to hide, and waited. Because of the good light and flat water I could easily see any movement close on the loch. It didn’t take long to see my first beaver swimming from the old lodge to my left. It was poor light but I was pretty sure it was aspen, this year’s kit, because the young float very high in the water compared to older beavers. As it got closer my heart started racing, but I was trying not to breath too heavily and stay as still as possible. After a little sniff it emerged (I say ‘it’ as we don’t know the sex of Aspen)!!! This confirmed it was Aspen, it was small compared to the beaver I saw last week (see Nov 14^th), and it went straight for the apples. Again the noise of the crunching apples was great, so loud on a quiet night! I let it feed for a few minutes to let it settle before I took some shots. It didn’t flinch at the camera or the flash going off, but it wasn’t sure and after I had taken my third shot it took its apple and ate it in the water, again because they feel much safer in the water. When this was finished it emerged again to finish off the apples and let me get some more shots. On the right is one of the photos I took!

When it slipped away quietly into the water I thought I would give it 10 minutes to swim off before I got up, so I didn’t scare it. As I waited I saw another beaver, a larger one swimming again from the left towards their main feeding ground at the far end of the loch. I watched with my binoculars. Then I decided to pack up, and as I was doing so another beaver approached, it was quite close in before it spotted me and then it calmly turned and swam the other way… it seemed beavers were everywhere last night… roll on more nights like this!!

Monday 19^th November

Well the beavers have been very busy over the weekend. At this time of the year they are very active as they prepare themselves for winter, not only fattening themselves up but also preparing their underwater food store known as a cache. This cache is as close to the lodge entrance as possible for easy access in the winter, as it is underwater it is difficult to see and keep track of. They also become structural engineers and enlarge and strengthen their lodge and dam. Here at Aigas it looks like the dam and pool is getting larger (see photo on right). They have also felled most of the trees that they could access from the pond. This morning I also noticed what could be the start of a new dam… I’ll keep you posted.

They have felled at least 4 trees over the last week, some larger than others, but they are all well established birch within 10m of the loch.  This is one of the largest of the recent birches to be felled. You can see that a lot of the branches have been stripped off and carried down a path to a canal to the right of the trunk. These branches will either be stored in the cache or the bark will be eaten in the safety of the loch. Striped branches are then sometimes used to strengthen the lodge or the dam.  

Friday 16^th November

Last night I went up the loch to show off my new found November beaver watching technique to our senior education officer Morag. I set up as before and we waited for beavers to emerge. Typically, nothing turned up, partly because I think we were too early as we left at 7pm. Serves me right I suppose but I still live in hope…. I am determined to have photographic evidence on here next week!!

Wednesday 14^th November

Wow, it is still possible to watch beavers in November!!! Last night I wrapped up warm and grabbed my camera equipment and headed up to the loch straight after work. It was just after 6 when I arrived at the loch and it was already very dark. The night was crisp, clear and still, perfect for beaver watching. I set up my equipment including a rear bicycle light so I could see what was going on, and left some apples by the side of the loch. The rear bike light is good because it is red, and like most mammals beavers are more tolerant of red light than white. I then hid in the bracken about ten metres away and waited…

There was no moon so it was difficult to see beavers in the water, so I concentrated on the area where I predicted they would emerge. I waited for 50 minutes and then suddenly I saw a round head peaking out of the water by my red light. It stepped up onto the bank and revealed its true size… it was large, maybe 3 foot in length, but I would guess it wasn’t one of our adults.

It was a little confused by the light and so walked over to it and started smelling the tripod I had fixed it to. It smelt all the way up and had a good sniff of the light… this gave me a cracking view of the animal. Luckily it didn’t knock it over, and it soon decided everything was fine as it walked over to the apples. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. It was now in silhouette, but I didn’t need to see it to know what it was doing!!! I suffered some minor technical issues and decided not to take any photos this time.

It fed for just over 10 minutes, by which point my uncomfortable sitting position was starting to make my legs numb!! I hadn’t noticed it until now, but I decided to move my legs, the slight noise of bracken moving made the beaver jump, after all they are very wary on land. It moved nearer the water but finished its apples before a huge belly-flop into the water.

I thought that was it, but then a few minutes later… MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH. It was hard to make out but it had come out of the water again onto a fallen tree a couple of metres from the bank. It is such an amazing sound, can’t wait to get back up there!!

Tuesday 13^th November

Hello! My name is Ian Sargent, a ranger here at Aigas Field Centre. Today I am really excited as is it my first day writing the famous Aigas beaver diary, following on from Jenny Grant’s brilliant work. Our beavers are captive, by law they have to be fenced in, but the fences are a long way from water so the water loving beavers have probably never seen them. There are many captive beaver projects in the UK including one featured on BBC Autumnwatch www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/autumnwatch/ at Martin Mere (www.wwt.org.uk/text/673/meet_the_beavers.html). Unlike Martin Mere we do not normally feed our beavers (unless filming, photographing or monitoring), we have just left them to their own devices.

I have been at Aigas since February this year and have really enjoyed watching the beavers and seeing the changes through the year. Autumn is no exception! The nights are now long, and to get good views of beavers you have to be patient, silent and bring a bright torch (unless you have infra red camera equipment, or watch BBC Autumnwatch!). This said it is a really exciting time to be watching their behaviour; they are keeping themselves busy as they prepare for winter. During the summer months beavers like to eat herbaceous and aquatic vegetation, they can eat nearly 150 different species!! Now this is dying back and so the beavers return to their traditional food of bark. This means in the last few weeks they have been out felling trees to gain access to this bark and in doing so open up the waters edge. They also need to start collecting material to store over winter in an underwater cache or food store.

I am a very keen photographer and over the next few weeks I shall be braving the cold and the wet in an attempt to get a few shots. I will update you on my success, hopefully with photographs as well!! I am hoping at least to get a glimpse of a beaver out of the water, something I haven’t seen for about 3 weeks now!! For the last few days I have been putting out a couple of apples to hopefully entice them out of the water to get a better view. I am really looking forward to the longer days next year when we all get a chance of seeing these wonderfully animals in their natural environment. Its great spending an evening or a morning up at the loch watching the beavers swim, dive and eat. When I first started watching them the thing that really staggered me was the noise they make when they are munching through their food!

 I am really keen to hear from anyone with any questions or comments please email me (ian@aigas.co.uk) and I’ll try to answer you all!!!!

November: Farewell to Jenny!

It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that we report that our Education Officer and regular beaver diarist of 2006 and 2007, Jenny Grant, has fledged the Aigas nest and secured a job with Scottish Natural Heritage.  We'd like to wish Jenny the very best of luck in her new job and thank her for all her hard work on the diary.

To update you on the beavers, it's all quiet here at the moment, not because the beavers aren't busy but because we don't have the benefit of Starlight or heat-sensitive cameras like the BBC's Autumnwatch crew! However there is still plenty of beaver activity evident up at the loch. In the past few weeks the beavers have been working on a couple of large diametre silver birches growing right on the water's edge. The second should come down in the next couple of nights, especially with the high winds that are forecast!

In addition they have been very busy using their beaver pond just at the back of the loch. They created this pond themselves by damming a small stream and it is slowly and steadily growing. Beavers will spend as much time as possible in water, so they create canals and ponds in order that they can feed and source building materials whilst remaining in the water rather than coming out onto dry land. The new beaver pond is a great example of this and they have felled a number of trees in and around the pond. As expected we are seeing an increase in the number of trees felled as the soft vegetation starts to die back, the beavers switch back to bark and they start building food caches or stores for the winter. Over the next few days we'll upload recent photographs of the beaver pond to show you what they've been up to and announce Jenny's successor who will be responsible for the 2008 diary.

September

September proved to be a fairly uneventful beaver month as far as I’m concerned. That may have something to do with me being away for half the month but I think it was also the changing point for the Beavers. We had some great early September watches. It was imperative however, to get to the hide early so that we could have some views of Beavers in the light. The lilies have died back so Willow has had to find something else to snack on.

In terms of our Beavers September was quite uneventful but in terms of Beavers as a whole it was incredibly important. The SNP government has given more very positive signals for their support for a trial reintroduction. Read all about it here.

 27th September

Two weeks in Bulgaria (about the only eastern european country without beavers!) and I had to get up to see if I could get a glimpse. I heard one munching away at about 6.45am and didn't see it until it was away to bed at 7.05am. Glad I had a glimpse. It went into the old/main lodge.

30th September

First of the trees within their dammed area have been started on.

19th September

2nd September 

Aigas Wildlife and Jenny (me)

We had good views of Willow and an adult after arriving at 8pm. The light faded incredibly quickly and we departed at 9.15pm. I had the feeling evening watches would be coming to an end in the next couple of weeks.  

August

Beavers, Film Crew, Staff and Guests go Crazy for Aspen

 

Like Willow, Aspen* has been introduced to a television crew at a very early age. Available Light got some amazing footage of our young Beaver which will be aired on the Christmas special of Johnny Kingdom’s TV programme. It was great fun having such an enthusiastic crew around.

 

As for construction work, the big dam project seems to be on hold at the moment but the newer lodge is being added to all the time. Willow still feasts on Lily flowers by the dozen and Aspen's having a go at the rhizomes. A huge birch tree has been felled on a night in between two beaver watches.

 

I know August is going to be just as good as July and the excitement never ends with the Beavers. Are they going to work on that massive dam project? Are they going to build a third lodge?

 

*There has been a little bit of debate over a name for our new kit. I want to call it Aspen others call it Bobby because of the way it bobs in the water. It is quite funny how buoyant it is but this is something it will grow out of. In addition, the Beavers had an Aspen feast around the time of its birth. Our new brochure has gone to print with the name as Apen so I think that’s confirmation!

VERY EXCITING NEWS FOR BEAVERS.....

Read about the possiblility of beaver reintroduction in Scotland here.

Above: Derek Robertson is a professional artist and has illustrated Sir John’s books Song of the Rolling Earth and Nature’s Child. While watching the Beavers he was sketching away and captured them brilliantly. His other work can be found on his website http://www.derekrobertson.com/. 

31st August

PK, a local family and myself.

I arrived at 7.00pm. Shortly after a pair of ravens flew over the loch. The first beaver appeared at 7.40pm. I only had a brief viewing but it was either Willow or an adult. Another Beaver swam behind the large fallen birch at 8.00pm. Fifteen minutes later Phil arrived with the guests and then at 8.25pm the kit popped out to say hello. It motored very fast across from its usual hangout and came straight towards the hide to a patch of lilies infront. It took a lily to the bank and couldn't see the wee Beaver for the lily!

From then on we had various glimpses of the kit(s?). It got dark just before 9.00pm. We then started used the 5000 candle power(or something along those lines) torch. The kit didn't seemed phased by it at all. We also saw an adult with the torch.

The bats at the hide were very cool aswell- The insects being attracted to the light were then bringing the bats in very close to us.

After the watch I walked home to see a badger foraging around infront of the cabins. We watched for 15 minutes as it gobbled up some juicy worms.

27th August

That Rowan tree is nearly over. The Beavers have been nibbling it now for  about 2 months. When do you think it will fall. Answers to jenny@aigas.co.uk!

21st August

Jen sees Regen for the First Time.

19th August

The Grants were here and the Beavers knew it......Jenny and parents go a watchin’

15th August

Lots of Eyes & Cameras on the Beavers

 1st August

August starts with a crash

July

June was the month of the baby. We've seen lots of young Red Squirrels, Pine Martens, frogs, newts, toads, all sorts of birds, including in our local Osprey nest which has three fast growing chicks. Its all very cute and nice and on top of all this we have a new Beaver kit.

Amazingly, the kit last year was first spotted on Friday the 23rd of June. This year the kit was spotted on Friday the 22nd of June! Well, we think we still have it. I first saw it over a week ago and its not been seen since. I hope it's OK.

Views at the hide in June were fantastic and with very few midges around. The weather hasn't been so fantastic and whoever said Beavers don't like the rain have been proved wrong. The two adults (Lily and Boris) have been busying away. There's a large Rowan tree that is on its last legs/piece of wood (see left). They're working on it little by little.  Willow remains in the forefront and has developed a real taste for water lily flowers! I have discovered one place where the Beavers like to eat lily rhizomes. The leaves are discarded (see right).

The loch has been a hive of activity as the Ospreys are trying to keep up with the demand from their young family. They've been seen frequently at the loch in the last couple of weeks. There have also been many sightings of both Roe and Red Deer.

Beaver Family Days at Aigas

Beaver theme family days are being held at Aigas on the 6th and 12th of July. Please call the field centre to book your place. To find out more details go to the Naturedays at Aigas website by clicking here. 

NB you will not see a Beaver on these days as they are nocturnal but you will do lots of fun and exciting activities to do with Beavers including looking at what they've done around Aigas.

29th July

Lets Play Beavers

27th July

21st July

A New Dam in the Making?

Donald has written this account of a recent Beaver discovery....

"Ian was on the shore by the new lodge, Phil and I in a boat beyond the dipping platform. An adult was out on a feeding station at the far end of the loch. Another was heard there but not seen. Ian saw the new kit emerge from the new lodge and swimming around for a while. At about half past nine, the crash of a falling tree was heard from the area between the new lodge and dipping platform. The adult swam out into the middle of the loch and began to eat water lilies."

"They appear to be making a new dam just beyond the dipping platform!"

19th July

Close Views of Willow Working

PK, DS, IS and I had amazing views of Willow. The four of us walked up to the loch for a Beaver watch. We were walking anticlockwise towards the dipping platform and there, sitting on top of a birch tree, was Willow! Munching away on the bark. It/he/she was in view for a good five or more minutes. This was the closest I had ever seen a Beaver working at a tree. Really spectacular. It then slipped into the water. We had views of the adult aswell a little later. woweeee

Johnny Kingdom & Available Light Return to Aigas

Sunday 8th July

I saw a Beaver from the Iron Age fort! That's a first for me. It was such a beautiful clear night at Aigas and just perfect for the return of Johnny Kingdom and his film team Available Light. They had amazing views of the Beavers. I can't wait to see the footage.

Visits from our Busy Ospreys

Saturday 7th July

Between 4am and 6am Willow and new sibling were seen along with another fishing osprey.

More Sightings of the New Beaver Kit

Friday 6th July

Ieuan took up some more guests on this evening. They bagan their watch at 8.00pm and saw Willow and our new kit at 8.15pm. They were together in the sedges. The young kit disappeared and Willow took centre stage once again coming ashore very close to the hide. At 10.30pm the group watched as Willow had its dessert of Lily flowers. Then this happened...."He swam right in beneath us and we sat holding our breaths as he passed leisurely below us- fantasitc sights"

Thursday 5th July

Ieuan and six guests from our Aigas Wildlife week arrived at 9pm and saw their first Beaver just ten minutes later! Willow was swimming across to water lilies in front of the hide. It then headed towards the new lodge. The group then had fantastic views of the juvenile Beaver as it sat feeding to the left of the hide from 10-11pm.

1st July

An Osprey was flying as Ian and his group arrived at the loch for a Beaver watch. There was also a Roe Deer on the bog area (I told you it was a hive of activity). They didn't have sightings of the beaver until 9.50pm when they saw one in the centre of the loch. It seemed to take branches into the new lodge. Another Beaver was viewed on the bank to the left of the hide. It then left and swam through the water eating lily flowers as it went.

June

Welcome to our June section of the Beaver diary. This could be the most exciting month in the Beaver year so far.  It certainly was exciting last year with the birth of the kit. We wait with baited breath for what might happen this year.

June has started with lots of sunshine. The end of May saw an unbelievable amount of rain. We wondered if it would ever stop but it has and now it's glorious which makes for excellent Beaver viewing.  Already this month there have been some excellent Beaver tails as they feast on the lilies. We're watching for those lilies being dragged along and taken into a lodge. This a sure sign of some new arrivals.

The increase in light is also good for photographers. The picture below was taken by John Plant who was on our Nature Photography course last month. I think its Willow (now with his/her permanent dentition) gnawing on a lily rhizome on the surface. Thanks John!

Here's also a picture of THE Beaver dam. Quite an achievement Beavers!

 Coming soon...technical hitch!

25th June

Mr and Mrs Robinson and I started our watch at the old beaver hide just after 9pm. We waited until 9.20pm before we saw a beaver. When we saw one, the other appeared. At one point two swam towards each other and did some kind of water dance! Well mayeb not a water dance but certainly some thing communicative. They were diving in and out of the water around each other. I've never seen this before. Also saw some more lily flower munching. All three were then feeding on different parts along the bank. Willow was right underneath the new hide/. The adults were positioned at different points left of the dipping platform and gave us great views as they munched away on lily rhizomes and birch stems. No sign of the new kits though.

We also had great views of an osprey perched on a tree. I had god views of the two chicks at the local nest recently so the adult birds have really stepped up their feeding!

22nd June

Baby Beaver Spotted at the lodge!!!!

 After a walk around the estate, PK and I returned via the loch at about 10.30pm. Near the lodge there is a huge Rowan tree that has been worked on by the beavers over the last ten days. We crept towards it to see if there was a Beaver nibbling at it. However, before we even got to the Rowan tree PK spotted a new Beaver kit outside the main lodge! WOOOOOOOOOOOOhooooooooo. I was beginning to think Lily hadn't had any! One beautiful baby Beaver lay in the water. As bouyant as a bouy! It lay there for a few minutes then disappeared. We hung around for a while to see if we saw a second or a third but there was no sign of any siblings. Excellent news for our Beaver family.

Early Creativity

Tuesday 12th June

An Artist Captures More Signs of New arrivals

Monday 11th June

Highland Foundation for Wildlife Visit the Hide.

Friday 8th June

Kits could be born!

Food Going in to the Lodge for the First Time.

Monday 4th June

May

I think May is the month of the Lily. Firstly because the water lilies in the loch have really started coming up and confusing us by looking quite like a Beaver doing its log impression in the water. Secondly, I think that this might be the month we have all eyes on our very own Lily. She is our adult female. Need I say more.

May 23rd

DS,PK, Georgie, Talia and myself (JG), set out on our watch at 8.30pm. We had fleeting views of a Beaver outside the second lodge from about 9pm. It was diving for lilies and would appear sporadically on the surface as it munched away. It did this for 30-40 minutes. We then had incredible views of the adult male as it swam across the loch in front of us. It was motoring along, obviously on a mission. It then started swimming towards us and got out on to the bank just left of us. We had amazing views from our fab new Beaver hide as it ate, wait for it,.......BOG MRTYLE! Proof at last for the unaswered question.

We were pretty close with our naked eye but with the scope we could see every scale on its tail and every whisker on its face. The Beaver then went up one of their secret channels and once in there we could only see the occassional movement of bog mrtyle as it nibbled away. Occassionally a whiskery nose would appear for us to get a glimpse.

It was then Beaver stalking time. We crept round the corner to where it was but it managed to silently move into the water in that time and when we got there it was doing its log impression on the surface of the water. Where it had been there was only stripped bog mrtyle stems. Fantastic views again. They just keep getting better as we get more and more light and the Beavers feast on more and more lilies!

May 18th

May 16th

May 15th

 May 10th

 May 9th

May 7th

May 6th

May 1st

I realised my days of having the loch to myself were numbered as the seaon progresses and so on this fine May, midge-less night, I headed out on the loch in a boat. I rowed over in the calm water at 8:00pm to a very obvious position near the new the Beaver dam.

I sat on the floor of the boat and waited and waited until 9.00pm when I saw Willow for the first time. He/she emerged from the secondary lodge and just hung about for a while on the surface, right of where I had my boat positioned. He/she then swam away from me towards the bank and disappeared. I decided to move my vessel's location to closer to the dipping platform. There was Willow doing the croc impression.

He/she actually started swimming towards me so I in my stupidity rowed towards it. I got really close, about 10 metres away and then it did a giant tail slap. This is something they do when they are threatened -oops, that taught  me! Willow is a lot more wary thatn last year.  That was the end of my mid-summers-like viewing.

April

Its been a busy year so far for our beavers and with the lengthening hours of daylight, the viewings are getting better and longer and so our attempts at analysing the Beaver's random behaviour can really begin again.

Scroll down for April news so far.

Big News coming very soon. Wild Beavers in Norway plus the Aigas Beavers  build their first dam!  

April 29th

An exciting night was had by a few rangers. Here is Donald's account of their adventure....

"PK, RC and myself set out in the boat around 8pm. The weather was clear and calm with the sun just below the horizon. We anchored about 10 metres from the dipping platform and waited. There were a couple of brief appearances from Willow and one of the adults at around 8.40pm having both come out of the main lodge  -this was merely a precursor for the views we would achieve.

Willow clambered onto a fallen tree and stretched up to get at the over hanging branches of birch. At the same time, an adult was eating water lilies on the surface. It was using its front paws to hold the food and staying a float with his hind legs, giving a good impression of a man treading water. All of this while a lily was on the top its head. This adult then headed towards the main lodge.

Willow emerged again from the new lodge and returned there once more. At about 9.15pm clambered onto the nearest bank and started feeding while the  other adult circled around a small area under some hanging branches.

We up anchor and quietly punted towards the shore, getting to within 10 metres before the adult slipped back in. It waited on the surface and only moved when we put a spot light on it. Even then it only moved slightly further away from us and didn't dive.

All of this happened as the pigs snorted about in the background! "

Thanks Donald - nice Beaver anecdote!

April 27th

Here is Ieuan's account of the morning........

" I arrived at the loch at 5am on a beautiful spring day with mist rising and swirling above the loch. At 5.30am Willow came swimming towards the new Beaver hide where I was sitting. He/she came to within 20 metres then turned to the right and spent the next 15 minutes diving for water lilies and eating them on the surface. At 5.50am, Willow turned and swam towards the main lodge and disappeared at 5.55am"

....and the evening when he returned with JLK and LLK at 8pm....

"There were fishermen on the loch and at about 8.45pm we spotted an Iron Age Pig (domestic Wild Boar) drinking from the loch! At 9pm we spotted Willow who swam around near the new lodge for a while before crossing to the bank to work on an already chewed branch. He/she didn't seem to mind sharing the water with the fisherman. At 9.30pm it was too dark to see anymore".

April 17th

A (double) DAM my!

The Aigas Beavers Build their First Dam.

It seems the beavers are celebrating being in the loch for a year by building their first dam! How exciting is that?? Well, we have been watching them for a long time now and they do spend A LOT of time just anticlockwise of the dipping platform. We thought they were feeding but it seems they've been busy doing something else. 

There are actually two dams, each about 1.5 metres across,  in line with each other. Perhaps the first one wasn't good enough at holding the water in so they had another attempt.  The result of the dams is a big puddle basically. It's flooding the area immediately behind the dams. I think this gives them security while they tackle the trees further from the loch. I have to say they are not the most impressive dams. They look like a half hearted attempt! A pile of mud with a few sticks stuck randomly in to it!

The dam I saw in Norway was huge and I could easily walk across this structurally sound piece of engineering. I wouldn't dare put a foot near our Aigas dams though as they would undoubtedly collapse! I think it must be work in progress and they're still learning though so lets wait and see. It does the job, just wouldn't win any architectural prizes for aesthetic appeal!

 P.S Norway diary coming soon!

April 15th

Lily & Boris Beaver have been in the loch for exactly a year!

One year ago exactly I arrived at Aigas to find I wasn't the only new arrival. I remember it vividly. We waited in anticipation of the two beavers emerging from their Hilton, (man-made lodge). They dug themselves out then we watched the two adults investigate their new home while excited rangers feasted on a Chinese takeaway! Now a year on, we are taking guests to a new hide to experience the same thing (without the Chinese).

Meanwhile, our Beavers, one of which wasn't even born this time last year, go about digging canals, and building dams and lodges. It's great to see what they've done in a year and how our eyes have trained themselves to find beavers!

PK, JG and Aigas Wildlife arrived at 8.20pm and settled ourselves into the nice new hide. A beaver was seen at 8.45pm just out side the secondary lodge and dived under the water. Another beaver was seen at 8.50pm. It was Willow. He/She swam right to left along the loch edge past the dipping platform and disappeared.

12th April

Early morning start for MS and the Crehans who arrived at the beaver hide at 5.15am. She saw a beaver at 5.20am swimming by the dipping platform. More sightings at 5.35am and 6.10am when one was doing the familiar log impression to the left of the main lodge.

10th April

MS and the Crehan family had views of a beaver at 9.05pm from the new hide. it was around the dipping platform, seen again at 9.15pm in same area. Left at 9.25pm when it was too dark.

7th April

JG, Sita and Nick (Storyteller/dancer and photographer respectively) on the dipping platform (7.45pm-8.40pm). We first saw an adult inspect us from just outside the main lodge at 8.00pm. It dived back into the lodge but Willow as always wasn't going to miss his/her chance of being photographed so did a repeat of the previous night (see below). An adult followed at 8.25pm. Good light for viewing but a bit dark for photos. Nick managed to get a couple of photos of Willow, including one I now have on my wall! Thanks for that.

6th April

PK and JG on the dipping platform from 8.00pm. We sat down so as not to be so obvious but that didn't stop a tail slap from outside the main lodge from one of the more wary adults shortly after we arrived.

Willow came out of the main lodge at about 8.20pm and swam first of all out towards The Illicit Still then headed towards the dipping platform, swimming past us. He/She then headed into the dense willow patch anticlockwise of the dipping platform. We heard it do some rapid gnawing then he/she reappeared with a willow stick. Willow came back into the water and swam to a point anticlockwise and sat on the side and stripped the stick. It was very camouflaged. If we hadn't have seen it go there it would have been very difficult to pick up in the dwindling light. Good light up until 8.45pm on a mild, clear, dry night.

4th April

Beaver Family out Together

Beaver watch at 7.45pm by JL-K, HL-K and LL-K from the new hide. Willow emerged first from the main lodge at 8.10pm and swam ashore to the far side and was not seen again. At 8.20pm an adult emerged and swam straight past the dipping platform and on to the shore by one of their dug out canals.

At 8.30pm a third beaver was seen by the main lodge and swam slowly and cautiously across the loch to a feeding station. By then it was too dark to see where it went. Good to see all three beavers in April. Last one a pregnant Lily?

March

29th March

AM- MS saw a beaver at 5.55am when it was still quite dark about 2/3rds out into the loch infront of the board walk. She had another brief sighting at 6.20am.

PM - Once again cameraman Daniel from CBBC and JLK were on the dipping platform while Anna and IE sat in the comfortable hide. A beaver emerged from the new lodge at 8.07pm and swam in a straight line across the surface to the same feeding station as the previous night, and disppeared ashore.

28th March

JLK and Daniel from the CBBC were on the dipping platform from 7.50pm while IE, MLK, DS, Anna from the CBBC and I (JG) were in the new hide. A beaver emerged at 8.10pm, swam to the new lodge and disappeared for about 4 minutes. It emerged again and came across the dipping platform. Daniel got some film footage but it was too dark to get any onshore material.

24th March

I am updating the diary and have just been informed that beavers are being watched right at this minute....

JLK was watching tonight and  at 7.17pm a Beaver (probably Willow) emerged from the old lodge 15 yards out  and streamed straight across on the surface and on to the bank for another munching session. He/she almost bumped into female the Goldeneye. She took absolutely no notice of the Beaver which was strange as you would think it looked like a hungry Otter to her. Another very clear still night  and no significant moon.

23rd March

JLK and IE arrived to watch from the new hide at 6.50pm. The night was clear and exceptionally calm and no significant moon. Willow (they think) emerged at 7.20pm and was spotted streaming across the surface from the vicinity of the new lodge and past the dipping platform to the bank some way to the left. It dived. It was too dark to see anything by 7.40pm.

21st March

Return of the Beaver watch (and an Otter too!).

PK and I sat in the gorgeous new Beaver hide until it was too dark  even to see the bright-white, male Goldeneye and so the Beaver stalk began at 7.00pm.

We crept silently, without a torch, clockwise around the loch. We tried to be quiet but ended up crunching onto the dipping platform which still had ice on it. Despite our crunching, we soon spotted a v-stream in the water. We put the torch on it and sure enough there was (the not so wee anymore) Willow! It was definitely the kit. It still hasn't quite managed to get its buoyancy under control and is not fully grown so Willow remains easily distinguishable.

He/she zoomed across the loch and into the favourite area of dense Willow. From then on we could only hear Willow as he/she chomped his/her way through something. We also heard something munching near the new lodge area so after Willow disappearing we continued on around. In the area we had heard the eating, we found a tree wet with either saliva, sap or both so there had definitely been an adult out too.

At last I have seen a Beaver and not just  heard their chomping sounds or seen habitat modifications. It was so exciting. :-) Stay tuned for more Beaver sightings.

One more thing about this evening I have to write about as it was one of the best wildlife experiences I have ever had.

On return from the loch, we walked with the torch on down the path. PK said "Look at that". I looked at what I first of all thought was a hare or rabbit  (really bad ID but it was really far away). It was running towards us and as it got closer I thought it was a Pine Marten (once again poor ID skills!).

At about 10 metres I finally recognised it as a beautiful Otter soaking wet from having just come out of the burn. It continued running quite slowly up the track. At only 2 metres  distance from me it stopped and sniffed the air and turned off the track. Incredible. To see an otter that close and so unexpected was the icing on the cake after seeing Willow. I'm sure PK will write about it in his wildlife diary too.

18th March

PK and JG, 6pm-7.30pm. Beautiful but heavy snow fall made it quite hard to see anything from the new beaver hide and also can make you feel quite sick if you stare at it for too long! We moved round to the dipping platform as it got darker and listened. It was completely silent. I would have been all tucked up in my cosy lodge if I were a Beaver too.

12th March

Bamff Beavers

 

It was immediately apparent that the beavers at Bamff have been extremely busy and that ours seem lazy in comparison. I suppose the Bamff Beavers have been there for four more years and there are more of them. They had felled a lot of trees including some grey alder, hazel, birch and willow. On many of the fallen trees there are new saplings coming up, at least four or  five from each main trunk (see picture on left).

Furthermore, there were extensive areas that are now essentially wet woodland created by the Beaver. Running water, ground water, shallow and deep pools are all present in the site and must give an enormous variety of water life. The beaver wetlands created have seen the return of rare Water Voles to the beaver enclosure. There is loads of standing deadwood, really important for invertebrates and in turn for birds like the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The Perthshire beavers have also built several dams one of which is 60ft and like an Andy Goldsworthy sculpture! I hadn’t realised there were different styles of dam architecture.

Also examining the beaver habitat was Professor Bryony Coles , author of “Beavers in Britain’s Past”(see her left with Paul Ramsay at a Beaver dam). She has spent a lot of time in beaver habitat and believes she’s seen more warblers in beaver habitat. Her and her husband/assistant John, have also seen woodpeckers, Fly Catchers and bats using the dead wood in sites in France. Bryony is an archaeologist by trade having got into beavers by finding ancient pieces of beaver eaten wood!

 Did I mention how big the lodge is!

11th March 

New Lodge

February

24th February

Once again I am here to tell tales of stripped sticks, coppiced willow and canal digging but unfortunately no beaver sighting tales or tails. The canals have extended further out. The beavers dig the canals to reach trees further away from the loch edge while retaining the security of being close to water. They are essentially bringing the water to the trees.

This tree on the left is one we want to keep. The chicken wire around it is serving to protect it. Often beaves gnaw some of a tree to mark territories or to say this is me. A bit like carving their name!

 They continue to increase the number of stick stripping areas and coppicing willow in their main feeding area. The lodge still looks as though it is being added too. DS told me that North Americans used to swim inside lodges to escape their enemies. I think we have a volunteer to test this in the European beaver.

20th February

DS, RC and IS went out on this beautiful clear night to see if they could spot our beaver family for the first time. JLK was already on a watch when the gang arrived. He had spotted a roe deer across the loch and a female golden eye, which has been hanging around Loch Cuil na Caillaich for the last three months. Maybe we’ll have some chicks and kits on the loch this summer. No sign of Willow the kit or his parents on this night though.

18th February

What a great way to kick off our ranger training programme with a lecture on beavers from Dr Kevin Jones. Kevin has studied beaver habitat for four years including areas in Norway and at the Knapdale project in Perthshire. He gave us a good background on the species and also some useful information on the Scottish beaver situation. Having spent some time looking around for the log store I now know, thanks to Kevin, that it will be in front of the lodge under the water. Snorkelling gear is now being prepared for investigation of this cache.

The start of ranger training means four new sets of initials to get your heads around (see staff profiles for names and info!).

8th February

PK went out to inspect the loch during the day. The loch was almost completely frozen and the beavers seemed to have broken the surface at a few places around the edge. It didn’t look like they’d been very active so perhaps the weather has deterred their activities.

5th February

I was out collecting plants for a school game at 5pm on this crisp evening. I walked up to the loch. It looked very still and beautiful and I thought to myself  “how lovely it would be to see an otter or a beaver right now”. I looked across to the other side of the loch and there was something at the loch’s edge! My hands were laden with plants and I hadn’t taken my binoculars (typical) but I was sure there was a large mammal at the side of the loch. Gathering my vegetation up in my hands, I ran back to my house where I got a spotting scope, bins, a Melanie, an Amelia and a George. Off we trooped to see my beaver. We crept all the way to the gorgeous new hide and couldn’t see my animal…..it had gone.

We walked back towards the house again and stopped for another glance at the loch. There was the same “animal” in the same place as before. Hmmm….with binoculars and scope I realised my beaver had been a tuft of grass and beaver dug mud. What an anticlimax. Its amazing what you can see when you want to see something! The moral of the story is. Always take your binoculars and beware of models of beavers sculpted by the beavers.

30th January to 4th February.

Use of the Available Light at Aigas

January

29th January – Night

29th January – Day

Hello again avid beaver followers. There’s a flip in the order of things here. Latest beaver news will be at the top. This will save you having to scroll down pages of my silly writings. Can I please stress that  this is a captive, wild-like demonstration of how beavers modify habitats.

These great beaver photos were sent to me by Jonathan Willet who was in Canada over New Year. These are Castor canadensis whereas ours are Castor fiber, the European beaver.