Last July one member of the pair of herons that crisscrossed Beaver Lake daily and stopped on rafts and docks for a better fishing angle, collapsed and died on a waterfront property. That prompted lakefront homeowners to wonder if the years of having a pair of herons call the lake home – something that has been going on for more than 50 years – would come to an end.
But lakefront homeowners saw a new pair of Great Blue Herons flying around the lake early last spring, and watching them poised on a raft with the early morning mist rising has been a delightful visual experience this fall. The pair can often be seen flying around the lake before heading back to the meadow where their rookery is located.
Beaver Lake over the years has seen deer, river otters, chipmunks, squirrels and this summer, plenty of rabbits, along with herons and an eagle. A muskrat surprised a couple of collies leashed in their lakefront yard this summer when it climbed out of the lake and scampered across the front yard, under the picnic table, over the dogs and up the neighbor’s driveway. The excitement the previous summer was a squirrel falling out of a tree and landing on a sunbather in the same front yard.
Being able to see nature up close as it exists within the lake’s environment is one of the many pleasures of living lakeside. But the return of the herons is a particularly welcome sight.
