What’s going on out on the land?
Ruffed Grouse Questions from 2022.01.15
Ruffed Grouse were all around us in the forest when we arrived. Many were heard, some were seen, but even more so, their tracks littered the forest floor. There were these sunken oval impressions generally in the shape of a Grouse body pressed into the snow. We put our hands in despite the -20°C temperatures and felt the bottom the impressions. There was a hard icy crust in some of them, but not in others. There was scat in a couple, but not all. All had long chains of tracks emerging from them, but none had discernable tracks leading to them. What was going on?
What happened to this Gull?
I was walking up the frozen river with some kids in tow. We’d been out for a few hours tracking when we were on the last stretch and one of the kids pointed to a small mound on the ice. “Look a Penguin!” I think she’d meant it as a joke, but I took note and walked towards the mound. I had walked along this frozen river the day before and hadn’t noticed a mound on the middle of the river bulging out of the ice. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, but my guess was that a log or branch had broken through somehow. As I got close, I learned it was nothing of the sort.
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.
Shrew, Mouse, and Vole Trails
I still get confused between Shrew, Mouse and Vole trails. A couple of mornings ago, when we got a fresh coat of snow, I could look down and see some pretty clear trails running perpendicular to the path I was walking on. They were small, had tracks of feet, and some showed tail drags. Some were hoping, some walking. While I looked at them I realized that I wasn’t 100% on which species or group of species they belonged to.
In light of this conundrum, I thought it would be worthwhile to put a little post together to help me better learn what to look for. Here goes.
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?
Scapulae pt. 1
Detailing the scapulae I find, where I find them, and who they likely belonged to. I hope to turn this archive into a zine someday, and will make an effort to return to post more images or perhaps just make new posts as I go.
Tracking Journal 2021.10.09 pt. 2
After most folks left, the rest of us sat down for a quick lunch. There was 4 of us left. A big group can find a lot, but a small group can go at a different kind of pace, both physically and mentally. It is nice to have had the chance to have the big crew in the morning, and a smaller group for the afternoon.
I can’t quite recall who spotted the next mystery first, but it was a big unknown to me. A strange something I had never seen before or experienced before, and I have walked this trail hundreds of times. This special little treasure was handed to me and my brain clicked to wonder and awe. What the hell was it?
Tracking journal 2021.10.09 pt. 1
Very shortly after we started out from the parking lot, I noticed the pale long form of what I first thought was a drowned Earthworm in a puddle on the gravel. I walked up and immediately recognized the scales as the underside (ventral) of a snake, but which snake? As I bent down to pick the snake out of the water I noticed they were very small. This narrowed it down a little in my mind and then confirmed as soon as I flipped the snake over.
Thus begins a fairly long and detailed account of the first half of our tracking meet up on October 9, 2021.
Tracking journal for June 13, 2021. Orangeville Sandpits
The first popsicle sticks were going in and I was coming up from behind everyone. A couple of people mentioned some details about some possible tracks, and others noted that they could see sand. I circled around trying to get a better view myself, but I couldn’t see much at all. Then the sun came out from behind the clouds, and the tracks appeared, with the popsicle sticks placed carefully behind the imprint of the heels. Two things clicked in that moment. I recognized the gait pattern in the popsicle sticks, and once that happened, I started to see the tracks.
Predated Mallard nest
Returned to a Mallard nest only to find that someone had come along and eaten the eggs. Thus began the search for clues to sort out who was the predator? An old fashioned whodunnit, tracker style.
Rock Dove Kill site?
I was on my morning walk along the riverside when up the path I came across a large pile of feathers.
I love how a simple walk in the morning, just to get out of the house can turn into a chance to really look at the details of a killsite and study the gaits of the possible predators, and look at the structure of a feather. What amazing teachers these wild neighbours are.
Tracking along the Eramosa River, Jan 17, 2021
Today I went out to find Beaver sign which a friend had told me about yesterday evening. He had seen what looked like a trail emerging from the river, heading up the bank and into the scrubby wooded edge on the far side of the river from a trail by his house and was thinking it was a Beaver. I had previously seen Beaver signs further up the river when I was out trailing an Opossum a few weeks ago and it would be likely that the Beavers up there would come down to his neck of the woods. I thought I would go and check it out.
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit killsite on the way to work
The blood was still bright and vibrant when I took the photo. That's what first caught my eye while walking by, the living red against the white. Tufts of brindly hair strewn about the edge of the Staghorn Sumac grove, with lots of Rabbit pellets punctuating the bounding tracks through the snow.
I couldn't make it all out with the short time I had but I have a feeling the Coyotes were coming from the Southeast, making their way Northwest. More wild spaces Eastwise, and the city was behind me to the West. The Coyote tracks are often headed Westwise, flowing with the river.
Tracking Journal Jan 01, 2021
There were familiarities and mysteries while out tracking with Carolyn. She asked if I wanted to go check out a some Hemlocks she knew and I, as per usual, was down. She picked me up and on route she asked if we should go look at the Beavers she’d been visiting with her family. Again, I was down.
Tracking Journal, Dec 30, 2020
I went back to the spot along the river trail where I encountered the Opossum trail a few weeks ago hoping that I may find the sign of something or someone out in the newly fallen snow. I did find something…
Tracking Journal : December 25, 2020
I heard Coyotes howling as I walked up to the forest. Maybe two or three, but the way their songs work, it sounds more like 5 or 6. I only was able to record the last little bit as I didn’t have my phone out and really wasn’t expecting it.
When I got to the mouth of the forest I saw some Canine tracks coming in from the field to the East, onto the road, and then tuck quickly back into the woods. I noted them, and then continued in and onto the main trail, only stopping to introduce myself to the woods and announce my intentions.
Tracking journal December 13, 2020
I got out of the car and began making my way to the woods. There are some areas on the way where I am sure it would be preferred I not go, but this was the fastest, safest way so I was quick and discrete. As I climbed a bit of a gravel hill I got to the slope of the hill, where one side of the property is bounded by a Cedar tree line. As I came down I was looking lightly but most just making my way back towards the woods, when I came across a set canid of tracks.
Tracking journal for December 5, 2020. Along Eramosa River.
I took the normal trail I usually take, but when I came to the Northward split I decided I would take it, just to see if anything new stuck out for me along the way. And, of course something did.
I stepped on the first few tracks before I even saw them, but I luckily did look down with enough time that I didn’t crush the whole trail. The snow was just crusty enough from thawing a little bit the day before and then freezing overnight that these tracks were stable enough to guess that I may be able to follow this trail for a while.
Exploring the Eramosa River Valley, Nov. 21, 2020
Today some pals and I went out for a couple of hours along the Eramosa River Valley. It’s always nice to explore the wilder edges of the common places we know, and even better with others. Others will see things I’d miss, and I may be able to contribute to the conversation with things I have been learning about. Together we get to know the land a little deeper, a little more thoroughly, every time we step out there.
Snail trails on Birch
A lot of questions arise while looking at Snail feeding sign on a Birch tree at the Guelph Arboretum. Why Birch? Are they eating? How are they eating? What is the direction of travel?
Sometimes the answers are out there, and it’s just about looking a little deeper to figure it out.