Beside the Stream

Here’s a little beaver pond at 8,300 feet.  See the beaver lodge? 

This gander’s mate is sitting a nest of eggs nearby, and he’s keeping watch over the pond.

At first he keeps a close eye on my dog and me, but after a while he’s back to

preening and

doing very fancy flexibility tricks with his neck. 

Meanwhile, two great blue herons across the pond did neck tricks as well. 

here’s the short version,

and here’s the tall version.

This heron made me wonder who else was watching us, but I’ll never know.