What’s going on out on the land?
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.
The Season of Fungi pt. 1
‘Tis the season to be on the look out for mushrooms. They are so abundant right now that I can honestly smell them on the wind while I walk just outside the wooded riparian trail by my house.
I don’t know very much at all about mushrooms, or polypores, or fungi in general. I want to learn more.
White Fragility and Fake Blues in a Blue Jay Feather
Lighter or whiter parts of feathers break down more readily. One of the reasons is that darker feathers contain different pigments. The pigments make them stronger and more resilient in the face of harsher conditions. Additionally, white and blue aren’t real colours at all but structural colours created by the structure of the feather itself. Check it out.
Sit Spot, Fox Walk and Owl Eyes
I have been considering awareness a lot lately. I have been wondering at how we can become more aware of in our relationship to the wilder places in the world, in relation to other humans we interact with, and in relation to our understandings of ourselves. This thinking has branched off into how to use my awareness to help me move with more stealth when needed (sneaking games, creeping up on animals I want to see closer, etc), and to understand baselines in different environments I inhabit a little better.
Fruit and Seeds pt. 4
Part 4 in my series exploring fruit, seeds, and leaves. I got two new measuring tapes thanks to my friends (Matt and Steffanie). Thank you very much!
I am also running into problems around identifying some plants down to species, especially those that hybridize easily like the Hawthorns and Grapes. I hope to get better as I go. For now, this is still a blast.
Fruit and Seeds pt. 3
Welcome to part 3 in the series exploring fruit, seeds, and leaves. I have been better at scale for these, and refining my process of photographing on the measuring tape (though my tape just broke). The common scale still remains a canadian quarter, which is 23.88 mm in diameter. Making these guides has already been useful as I have been identifying particular seeds in scats already. It’s a joy to see the work come to fruition.
Tracking Journal for 2021.08.15
I watched in awe and wonder, struck by the beauty of this ordinary everyday animal whom we all have seen, likely ignored and passed by on countless occasions. I took a few photos and just continued to watch in amazement and joy at this wonderful being who only a moment ago was pretty much invisible to me. How long had they been hanging out right beside us? Why weren’t they scared? I still havn’t researched all I’d like to but I will be digging deep into the books this week to learn as much as I can. Sometimes it just takes a short experience to open a whole world of wonder that I end up having to pursue.
Fruit and Seeds pt. 2
This is part 2 in a series exploring fruit and seeds, an leaves as well I guess, of different summer fruits which might be found in some scat of common birds and mammals in my area. This is part two of a series.
Fruit and Seeds pt. 1
I wanted to compile a small collection of images and notes about seeds of the summer which might be found in some scat of common birds and mammals in my area. This is part one of a series.
Tracking Journal for 17.07.2021, Saugeen Shores
We got into the cars and made our way an hour or so West towards the Saugeen First Nation territory on the shores of Lake Huron. There we explored the sandy beach and discovered an amazing amount of animal sign, from the tiniest larva to the largest birds in the region. It was a great day!
Parasitic Zombie Fungus Infecting Cyanide Secreting Milipedes
I went out with the tracking club on the weekend and while out we kept coming across these yellow and dark brown/black millipedes hanging out on the top of narrow stumps about a meter (~3 feet) off the ground.
Who’s this flying bug? Late Spring 2021
I know it’s past the Summer Solstice, but I found most of these bugs before the Solstice so I am counting them as such. Here are some species I am seeing out on the land that I want to learn more about.
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.
Who’s This Plant?
A few questions about a plant unknown to me from a recent walk. Some of the answers were much harder to source than others. Hopefully more resources can emerge that might help other folks like me who’ve got a ton of questions about all the fun stuff we’re finding.
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.
Osprey and headless fish at Bishop Mac
I went out to Bishop Mac with my pal Tamara to practice trailing Deer and Coyotes but when we got there we watched an adult Osprey fly in with a Goldfish and land atop a nest. We watched as the adult leaned over the brim and two small Osprey heads emerged. Almost as soon as the Osprey had arrived they took off again with the Goldfish still in their talons. We both thought this was strange…
Whose Nests Are These? (Ground Nests)
Three small descriptions of finding different ground nests. I offer them as a game. I do not name the birds in the three accounts but offer images of the nests themselves and some features of the eggs and the nest sites. See if you can use the clues I leave to figure out whose nest is whose?
To Know The Land Means To Support Those Whose Land It Is We Are On.
Earth Day Reflections : What do settler facilitators of interspecies communications, instructors of landbased skills, and “ancestral practices” think when confronted by the notion that these skills and teachings do not directly contribute to the decolonial projects of indigenous peoples? How can we work towards supporting struggles for #landback and indigenous sovereignty on their ancestral homes?
Violets and the Telling of the Bees
What happens to the world when we stop to watch and listen? What new things do we notice? What old things do we see in new angles and shades or light? What happens to us when we stop to watch and listen? What happens to us when the world stops to watch and listen to us? Can we feel a sense of being heard and understood when we speak with pets, plants, or planet?
The First Flutterby/Butterfly of the Year.
Looking into the life cycle and natural history of the first lepidopteran of the spring, the Mourning Cloak.