What’s going on out on the land?

Corvid Tracks at Bishop Mac
birds, eggs, tracking, tracking journal, Guelph byron murray birds, eggs, tracking, tracking journal, Guelph byron murray

Corvid Tracks at Bishop Mac

I ended up driving across town this morning to visit a spot where I’ve found Osprey nests, plenty of White-tailed Deer trails as well as tons of Coyote scat and trails in hopes of trailing some animals. While I did backtrack, and later fore track a deer for a good portion of my morning, the most interesting find were the corvid tracks I found in the parking lot as soon as I stepped out of the car.

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Which Weasel Was It?
mammals, identification byron murray mammals, identification byron murray

Which Weasel Was It?

A few years ago, one of my former students called me over to the fire pit to show me something his cat caught. I love it when the kids bring in dead animals because it gives us time to really study them in a way that we wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to. I came over and was totally surprised. A weasel!

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A Side Trot On My Driveway
tracking, tracking journal, mammals, gaits byron murray tracking, tracking journal, mammals, gaits byron murray

A Side Trot On My Driveway

I had stepped outside to take out the recycling when I noticed two canid trails on my driveway. There was one leading towards the back yard, and one heading back out towards the street. I took a closer look to try and see which species it may have been, as I have noted different species in the area on other occasions and wouldn’t have been too surprised to have seen any of them going into my backyard in search of play or prey.

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Along came a skull…
birds, ornithology, skulls, dead stuff byron murray birds, ornithology, skulls, dead stuff byron murray

Along came a skull…

On Saturday October 29th, two days before the episode on my inappropriate appropriation of a Great Horned Owl skull aired, I drove to Mono Tract, North of Orangeville here in Ontario to pick up my partner from a day of learning about and harvesting roots from various species. I wasn’t there while they were doing this. Instead I was off at the Boyne Valley, still a little further North, trailing White-tailed Deer and looking for fungi, but when I arrived at the forest I was met with excitement about a skull.
As I came in, my friend handed me a small brown bag with a excited story about how they found a skull. I asked a couple of clarifying questions to seek out some basic answers, but things didn’t seem certain. I heard that there were talons, feathers, and some bones remaining, that the remains seemed maybe a couple weeks old, but aside from some guesses there was i.d. on whose skull it was and how it got there.

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How To Clean A Skull
dead stuff, skulls, diy, tracking apprenticeship byron murray dead stuff, skulls, diy, tracking apprenticeship byron murray

How To Clean A Skull

This past weekend with the EarthTracks Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship I got to host a mini-workshop all about skulls. It was a chance to share some of my enthusiasm about the wonderful ecologies of a boney structure which hold, protect, support and enables our lives. Why not be in love with skulls?
One thing I wished I could have touched on more clearly and more eloquently for everyone was how to clean a skull, which is a question that comes up every time I bring out skulls in any of my programs. So in light of that questions, I decided to explain some of how I clean the skulls I find.

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Tracking journal for 2021.11.07
tracking, tracking journal, nest, mammals, birds byron murray tracking, tracking journal, nest, mammals, birds byron murray

Tracking journal for 2021.11.07

I woke up “early” because of the time change and realized I had some time before any other commitments for the day so I checked to see if anyone wanted to come out with me to go see the morning world. No one did, so like many other mornings, it was time to be spent between myself and the land around me. Perfect.

An unfinished tracking journal, still worth the read.

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Exploring Some Staghorn Sumac Galls
galls, insects, plants, shrubs, Summer byron murray galls, insects, plants, shrubs, Summer byron murray

Exploring Some Staghorn Sumac Galls

A few years ago my partner and I were leading a walk at a nearby nature reserve when one of the participants looked up at a Staghorn Sumac and asked “what is this?”. I answered, Staghorn Sumac, but they clarified that they didn’t mean the shrub, but instead globular fleshy piece which sort of half dangled from the bottom of the long leaf stalk. As we looked at the soft roundish growth I realized that I had never noticed this before.
Sure, it has taken a few years of passive wonder, but this Summer I finally looked it up.

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Deadly Galerina Study
mushrooms, muskrat pond, Guelph, toxic, mycology, fungi byron murray mushrooms, muskrat pond, Guelph, toxic, mycology, fungi byron murray

Deadly Galerina Study

One of the mushrooms I found today at work was the Deadly Galerina. I decided that I wanted to learn as much as I could about this species as they were a hazardous species which I may encounter on the daily with my students. I feel like if I know all of the poisonous species right off the bat, then if I make mistakes with benign/harmless species, then it won’t be as big a deal than if I made that same mistake with the poisonous ones. Make sense? Know the things that will kill you, and then you can take the time to learn more comfortably, and more forgivingly, with the harmless ones.

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Tracking the Smith Loop, 2022.09.05
tracking journal, Summer, bones, fungi, hair byron murray tracking journal, Summer, bones, fungi, hair byron murray

Tracking the Smith Loop, 2022.09.05

hello,

i'd like to go tracking today. I'm going to head out this afternoon, maybe to smith trail because i just need to wander. want to come? i know it's last minute, so no pressure, but it would be fun to track with you.

carolyn

I was just thinking that I wanted to get out for a little and see what I could find, but I couldn’t decide where to go and I was in the midst of researching. I needed a push and when Carolyn’s email arrived, I was stoked. I was most definitely down to go.

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Oak Apple Galls at Lake of Bays
insects, galls, trees, Summer byron murray insects, galls, trees, Summer byron murray

Oak Apple Galls at Lake of Bays

Someone in our tracking crew had found a small, pale brown, hollow papery orb with spots on the surface with a couple of holes in it. I recognized it as an Oak Apple Gall, which my partner and I had found last year at Backus Woods. It wasn’t a green one, but it must be the same thing, right?
Last year, I may have looked up a bit on the Oak Apple Gall, but I no longer remember much. It’s like meeting someone again, but not remembering much of the details of your previous conversation. I had to ask some questions again, and here is some of what I have learned.

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A mystery while tracking in Lake of Bays, 2022.08.13
mammals, Summer, tracking, skulls, bones, dead stuff byron murray mammals, Summer, tracking, skulls, bones, dead stuff byron murray

A mystery while tracking in Lake of Bays, 2022.08.13

The skill set of identifying a fresh trail with certainty in the jumbled quilt of the Summer forest floor is definitely an art and science with which I have little purchase… but a skill set that I do feel a growing confidence about is bone identification, and while making our way up the hill in the leaf little there was a small mandible laying fairly exposed with the lingual surface (the side which would be closest to the tongue in the living animal) facing the canopy.

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Some scat from Point Grondine
scat, mammals, tracking, Summer byron murray scat, mammals, tracking, Summer byron murray

Some scat from Point Grondine

During one of our daily drifts down the Mahzenazing River where we would occasionally have to paddle a little to be sure we didn’t hit an island and wreck out friends canoe, we decided we should stop on one of the islands so we could have lunch and investigate some of the plants a little better. While out of the canoe getting a better look at some Harebell flowers I noticed some scat atop a bed of Star-tipped Reindeer Lichen and White Pine needles

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Fruit and Seeds pt. 5
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Fruit and Seeds pt. 5

Finally, part 5. This entry has been quite delayed, just under a year in fact. I took new photos for the Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) and got some photos and filled out the entry for the Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.). The common scale still remains a canadian quarter, which is 23.88 mm.
What a fun project, all inspired by an encounter with an Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) with some then unknown seeds I noticed in their scat.

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Common Burdock
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Common Burdock

A brief consideration of a common plant which often gets no consideration at all. Common Burdock (Arctium lappa or Arctium minus - often considered interchangeably) seems to grow everywhere, and while I have seen it a ton, I have not taken the time to really look and pay attention… until recently, that is.

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Update on Jessica Reznicek’s case

Update on Jessica Reznicek’s case

8th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld Jessica Reznicek’s 8 year prison sentence. In their decision the three Trump-appointed judges refused to address whether the use of a terrorism enhancement was appropriate saying, “Reznicek argues that the enhancement should not have applied because her actions were directed at a private company, rather than the government. Even if that is right, any error was harmless.” Reznicek’s supporters worry that If the decision stands, the judicial branch will continue applying terrorism enhancements to activists, while claiming that a drastically increased sentence from being labled a terrorists by the U.S. govenment is harmless.

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