Tracking Basics
Tracking wild animals is a skill that takes years of experience, but anyone can follow a set of footprints and learn to become a keen observer of nature.
Gull and Shorebird Tracks
A familiar tracking experience is to follow human footprints in beach sand. The prints give us information about the person’s gait, stride, and whether they were walking or running. The length and width of the print hints at the individual’s size. We can also determine the person’s direction, and whether he/she returned the same way.
Though prints can be observed in sand and mud, winter often gives us an excellent opportunity to study animal tracks in the snow. Trackers use a varied vocabulary to describe how animals move, such as ambling, bounding, galloping, loping, trotting, and hopping. The straddle (width) of the trail, and the stride (distance in length from the centre of one print to the next) are also assessed. “Register” is any mark left by an animal, including a foot, claw, or other body part. Continue reading »
Filed under Nature Writing | Tags: Animals, Birds, Footprints, Tracking, Vancouver Island | Comment (0)‘Tis the Season for Christmas Bird Counts
Birders Bundle up for the Christmas Bird Count
For birders, the Christmas season isn’t about staying warm by the fire. Every year, thousands of birders across Canada get up at dawn to brave the elements for a full day of birding on a freezing winter day. This tradition is known as the Christmas Bird Count.
The requirements are simple: warm, water proof clothing, binoculars, a spotting scope, bird book, field check-list, lunch, a thermos of tea and good supply of cookies. At the end of the day, the birders gather for a potluck dinner, to tally up the numbers and species of birds seen, and share stories about the day’s adventures.
Christmas bird counts have been going on for more than a century. American ornithologist Frank Chapman of the Audubon Society organized the first bird census on Christmas day, 1900. At this time, conservation was a new concept, and scientists were just beginning to be concerned about declining bird populations. Chapman changed history when he proposed that rather than shooting birds, they be watched and counted. Continue reading »
Filed under Nature Writing | Tags: Bird Watching, Birds, British Columbia, Christmas Bird Count, Comox Valley, Vancouver Island | Comment (0)