November River Walk

Sheffield's Covered Bridge Lane affords comfortable walks the width of Sheffield Plain, in which the Housatonic River winds its way south to the sea and Long Island Sound at Stratford, Connecticut. Under a warm November sun and a drift of clear air, today's walk discovered another osprey in the trees along the riverbank, and this 6-point buck deer, who stepped out of the hedge perhaps 400 yards away and sniffed the air, testing for the presence of a nearby doe, perhaps upwind in the hedge. After curling back his upper lip as he tested the air, he disappeared back into the hedge. (Click to enlarge photo.)
Walking south down the west bank, we noted several signs of riverbank beaver, who at night trod paths through the riverside vegetation as they gather sapling snacks from the banks. The river beaver makes no dam, instead burrowing into the soft river bottom soil of a bank, perhaps near the base of a tree, where in the safety of its burrow it gnaws on the saplings as the river flows silently by on its way to the sea.