Well.....It has been a while since we have posted to this Blog! Time to 'blow of the dust' and get some action on here again. Sharing some of the many things that are happening here at Earth Tracks. We are entering our 8th year and are super stoked about the many new and exciting things coming up for us this year. To start with, we have just begun the Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship program and have 9 new folks who will be joining us on our journey into the Art and Science of Tracking. We had a great first weekend and below is a 'Story of the Day' created for each day last weekend by our 2nd year students. A special thanks goes out to Christina, Lee and Malgosia for putting this together.
Enjoy the Spring everyone. Many local birds are setting up territories and beginning the nesting season. Be sure to tune in and perhaps locate a few nests to keep an eye on as we move into this beautiful time of year.
Happy Tracking/Birding
Alexis
Mono
Cliffs Provincial Park (May 10, 2014)
SIGNS
IN THE FIELD
In the field, we encountered signs of Meadow Voles
(runs, scat, chews, castings, and debarking). We spent some time looking
closely at each sign, exploring how they were made and how they look different
from similar sign. For example, could these grasses have been eaten by mice?
How do we know it was voles who ate this bark? We saw three kinds of tunnels
made by voles: one half in the soil, one in the soil, and one made over the
winter that had melted on top of the grass.
SIGNS
IN THE TREES
Our group headed into the trees on the far side of
the field, passing by antler rubs and skunk digs. Before long, we spotted a set
of marks on a sugar maple and asked, who made these? Was it a squirrel, a
raccoon or a porcupine? How could we tell them apart? Why would they be up in
this species of tree? There were sets of claw marks on two more trees. We were
able compare thicknesses of claws and frequency of use.
Further
uphill, we saw the work of a Pileated Woodpecker, a Downy Woodpecker and a
porcupine. We saw a young Red-Backed Salamander and a Wood Frog. There were
several turkey scrapes in the leaf debris, and when we looked closer, we could
see that their beaks had left triangular-shaped nips in the wild leeks. Nearby,
deer had also grazed on some leeks, and it was interesting to compare how wide
the deer’s grazing was to the turkey’s.
An old fox den on the side of a hill brought more
mysteries. Who was using it for a latrine? Was it one species or more than one?
Was the den active? In the end, we figured this spot was a hub for several
species travelling down to and up from the valley. It would be the perfect
place to let your neighbours know that you’re in the area, and find out who
else is present.
SIGNS
ON THE CLIFF AND IN THE VALLEY
Alexis wanted to show us some cliffs that he often
visits when he’s in the area. The group climbed up, then down (there was still
snow and ice!) and got to see some rare and special ferns. We passed under a
Turkey Vulture’s nest and saw lots of fur and fibre on the ground (to line the
nest? Or was it dinner?). We stopped by a pool of rainwater that had collected
on the valley floor, and it was teeming with either mosquito larvae or Fairy
Shrimp.
MYSTERIES:
·
Is Beech Bark Fungus getting better or
worse?
·
Do birds (turkeys) ever pee straight
liquid?
By Christina Yu
We spent the second day of our first
weekend at Lockyer Pits in Orangeville, a large sand pit area surrounded by
cedar and hemlock woods and grassy fields.
It was a sunny, clear, warm day following a few days of rain, ideal
conditions for finding clear prints.
We didn’t need to go very far to find a
wealth of tracks. Across a field from the road where we parked our cars was a
sandy trail leading slightly uphill to the north, criss-crossed with bird and
mammal tracks. We spend a few minutes
marking tracks with popsicle sticks and then set to work examining, measuring,
discussing, listening, consulting field guides and writing notes. We examined a set of clear turkey tracks,
then had a long discussion over a set of canine tracks: were they coyote or fox
or domestic dog? Our measurements and
some of the defining features of the tracks established that we were mostly
likely looking at a red fox moving in a side trot. Two very different sets of bird tracks
highlighted some characteristics of robins and of the corvid family (crows,
ravens, jays). And a set of mammal
tracks in a bounding pattern taught us about the distinctive J shape in the
hind tracks of lagomorphs (ie. rabbits and hares).
So much intense focus! Someone pointed out it was almost noon, we
all stretched, drank water, re-applied sunscreen, talked about the birds whose
songs we were hearing, nibbled on snacks, and pulled ourselves away from the
tracks on the path. We headed uphill,
aiming for the shady cedars and a place to eat lunch. On the way, we came across the remains of a
blue jay, with a bird pellet beside it.
Was the pellet owl or hawk? Why
was it out in the open and not near a tree? Was its story connected in some way to that of
the jay?
After lunch in the cool shade of the
cedars, we walked out into the sand pit.
The heavy rain earlier in the week had left one large pool of water, and
another recently dried depression that drew us to all the tracks at its bottom.
We explored the pit in all direction. Some of our group went up the dune to see
the view from the top. Bank swallows swooped all around. Occasionally a dirt
bike roared past. We spend some time debating a series of what looked like distinctly
patterned scratches in the bottom of the dried pool. Eventually, we came to the
conclusion that they were the tracks of a frog or toad, possible even tracks of
an amphibian swimming in a shallow pool with feet hitting the bottom.
Other highlights: a long string of toad
eggs covered with silt in one of the pools, a large Green Frog swimming nearby,
clear toad tracks under water, and lots more bird tracks to study and compare. In
the sand we found canine tracks that again highlighted the differences between
fox and coyote – it was coyote this time!
And nearby, something that looked very much like coyote again. But wait: there was the J pattern we’d seen
earlier on hare tracks. Hare tracks, but
at high speed, stretched out into a long line, at first glance so easy to
mistake for something else.
Most of the afternoon had passed; we again
needed a break from the intense sun. We
set off into the cool cedars and hemlocks once again, had a water break, and
talked about some of the species we had seen and heard or whose tracks and sign
we’d found. Our day was almost over, we
started to head back, but on the way out we stumbled on one last big discovery:
a wild turkey carcass, female, with parts eaten away and feathers strewn in two
areas. What was the story here? A mystery to end the day. Also a chance to learn from the turkey, to
study its feet and compare them to tracks we’d seen, to examine its beautiful
feathers.
We ended the day with gratitude to the
animals and to the place, to the sun and shade, to Alexis and to each other. It was a day characterized by bright sun,
intense focus over a small area, and lots of detailed learning.
By Malgosia Halliop
