What’s going on out on the land?

Tracking Bugs and Trees, 2022.03.05
trees, insects, cankers, galls byron murray trees, insects, cankers, galls byron murray

Tracking Bugs and Trees, 2022.03.05

On the drive up to Mono Cliffs, Maddie and I were talking in the car about some things we really wanted to pay attention to today. I was talking about trees and wanting to pay attention to what is going on around the trees, who is interacting with the trees, and who may be living on the trees. She had mentioned a desire to focus on bird tracks and sign, especially after focusing on Wild Turkeys for the past year. Little did we know…

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Tracking Journal, 2021.12.28
mammals, tracking journal, tracking byron murray mammals, tracking journal, tracking byron murray

Tracking Journal, 2021.12.28

It was really windy at the top of the hill. I was really grateful that I had the forsight to bring my jacket, even if I had that thought that it was supposed to warm up a little over the day. For now it was early, it was windy and I was cold. Opening with my backpack to pull out my coat while trying to not ruin the White-footed Deer Mouse trail in front of me was a challenge, but once the coat was on, my attention was on the trail.

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Tracking Journal 2021.11.27

Tracking Journal 2021.11.27

We had just finished part of our climb up Old Baldy, maybe a quarter of the way to the top, just finished checking out some pretty clear mouse tracks, bounding across our trail when we all sort of slowed and stopped. We knew something was a little different about the tracks, but it took a second to register. There were pretty clear, though not as crisp as some of the others we had seen. Perhaps that may have indicated some sense of age… Perhaps the air was cooler when the animal came through and the snow was a little more powdery? Perhaps the animal had come through during the evening the day before or maybe during night?

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Tracking through the Poplars

Tracking through the Poplars

I was out at the University of Guelph Arboretum tracking, looking high and low along the edges of small area bordered by White Pines, Eastern White Cedars, and within a small Poplar grove. Around the periphery of the grove, there were human and domestic dog trails boxing in the Poplars with only a little traffic weaving between them.
I skirted along the edges, ducking under the Pines looking for signs of whomever might be living in the space, or at least passing through looking for food.

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