What’s going on out on the land?
Tracking the Birds at Saugeen First Nations
I believe this was the seventh or eighth year that I had the chance to track at Saugeen Shores with the Earth Tracks Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship program. This is a great tracking spot as every year we encounter a varied array of tracks in the sandy beach and trails and a diverse assortment of sign out on the rocky spit which juts out into Lake Huron (or Naadowewi-gichigami in Ojibwe).
Identifying Skeletal Remains of a Common Loon
While out tracking with the Earth Tracks Widllife Tracking Apprenticeship along a stretch of beach at Lake Huron at Saugeen First Nation we came across the fairly decayed carcass of a medium sized bird...
Two More Coracoids
I have written about coracoids before, but since realizing they are very helpful in the identification process of birds, it has become a bit of an ongoing puzzle now.
This post is about finding two dead birds and using their coracoids to sort out who they were with a little more certainty.
Two Coracoid Bones
Last weekend I was in Grey County helping with a mock tracking evaluation. At the beginning of our second day of the mock eval, I found a small bone near the edge of an old plantation. It was short, “hooked” at one end with a sharp chisel like edge at the other end. There appeared to be a couple of points where the bone could articulate (connect) with other bones in whoever’s body this bone belonged to. Along a flat surface of the bone there were small thin ridges which I ran my finger along, over and over as I wondered as to which animal the bone may be from? I knew I would have to look into it more.