Life in the Bristolwood

Guess who is still knocking himself out? (nearly literally!)

Yeah, we have become quite accustomed to this silly little bird. Now, when we hear tapping on the window, we know exactly what is going on. Michelle is afraid the poor little fellow is going to hurt himself badly!

This afternoon, we had to run to Canandaigua. While Mark and Ben went into the auto supply store, I decided to wander to the back of the store to see if there were any geese or ducks back there…..

Behind several businesses, there is a long and narrow pond.  On the other side of the pond is a water park. The pond is beautiful, and many times it almost seems to emit a calm and serene “feeling” to onlookers as geese and ducks gently move about on its glass-like surface. The buildings in the photo below are part of the water park. If the photo is expanded, one can see a waterslide or two.

The geese were just enjoying the warmth of the sun.

As I came closer, they got up and slipped into the water.

I stood observing the geese and just about missed something else!

I looked over at the bright green grass and saw the most interesting little *rodent*! I slowly slipped closer and closer, wondering just how close I might get…..

The little bugger was gorging so gleefully, it didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I kept getting closer and closer, then decided to back off a bit as I wasn’t exactly sure what I was even looking at!!!!

I did get some nice shots with that little Panasonic camera! I did indeed commit to never forgetting a camera again after last night!

At first, I was wondering if this little fellow was a young beaver, but in looking at Wikipedia, I have decided my little subject is a Muskrat! The thing that gave it away was the long, round tail as opposed to a beaver’s more flat tail. If you expand this picture, please notice the green blade of grass on the critter’s nose…so comical!

I never, in my wildest imaginings, thought I would see a little Muskrat wandering about in a busy area of Canandaigua!  This may have solved a curious little observation I made while photographing the boathouses at the city pier in Canandaigua. As I was working with my long lens, I saw “something” slide off a rock and into the water.  As it was more of a peripheral sighting, the only element about it that I could verify was that whatever “it” was had a long rather “ratlike” tail. I was totally appalled, thinking that perhaps it was a rat! In reading about Muskrats, (or Musquash) I discovered they were described as looking like a cross between a beaver and a rat. Aha! Mystery solved! Isn’t nature grand?