While spending part of last summer in the Czech Republic we visited Sumava National Park on the south western side of the country by the German/Bavarian border. We had stayed at the same place we have done for the past few years but this time I made an awesome discovery that I’d never noticed before…

While wondering along the same route I usually do each early morning, through the meadows and birch forest bogs, looking for Black Grouse, Deer etc, I noticed the reflection of water through a small wooded area. I remembered seeing a small pond on the map but had never checked it out. So, I went to take a look and as soon as I got down to the pond I immediately noticed how many felled trees there were, all around the bank. There were two dams constructed on the left hand side and many newly chewed twigs and branches, so I was pretty certain they were still there.

That evening we went back to the pond and before we got to the bank… there it was… that unmistakable log shape in the water. I was really excited, even though I was kind of expecting it.

The pond itself was situated perfectly, with small trees around, the sun setting behind us and a relatively clean background with the reflection of the mixed birch and pines. I was able to get right down level to the water, to get the kind of shots I like to get with waterfowl and waders (it’s not often you’d get to try this style with Mammals).

We had many warm late afternoons with them (that’s when they seemed to be the most active). Being able to see what may have been the whole family, we enjoyed watching their daily routine. We saw both adults on the water at the same time and even a couple tail slaps, as well as watching it walk up the bank towards the forest on the other side, where it revealed just how big their body’s actually are; as you only see the top half when it’s in the water, just like an ice berg!

One thing that you’ll notice while spending time watching Beavers is not just how industrial they are but how they look after their family. We managed to get brief views of the young kits. Their strange and soothing sounds coming from a irrigation pipe were quite cool to here as they munched on food the parents had left them. With Mammals it’s hard to actually be able to observe their lives due to how elusive they are, but this was one of those rarer occasions.