Landed on ~6 different juniper berry clusters before finding the perfect place to cache a pine nut
Some sort of tern species I believe. 4.5 inches long. Found on the beach
Tracks
Tracks. First image shows hallux.
Tracks and scat
A large number of droppings in a cottony web covering a dried out Verbascum thapsus plant
Next to Douglas’ Squirrel tracks.
~50% split evenly in half, and ~50% with distinctive shape of opening seen in photo 1. No nut clusters remained attached to each other, and no husk refuse accumulated as seen in Steller's Jay feeding.
Trail in mud of naiad
Jumping up onto a log. Last image is from an individual jumping down from the same log.
short-tailed or long-tailed weasel. Some tracks looked incredibly tiny, others more in range for long-tailed.
predation event. Bird likely killed by raptor given plucked quills and beak marks showing mid quill
Beaver drag marks up the bank to harvest willow
Old nest site - piles of scat in hollow of willow
Thought the tracks were super cute so why not take a pic. Data!
Tracks
The woodrat was identified by OHV park biologists. The woodrat was placed in a portable tracking station. The substrate was porcelain grade potter's clay. This can serve as a reference for desert woodrat.
Tracks seen at the Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area.
Smaller circled tracks. Larger tracks are common grackle. Not sure about the tiny track between the two RWBL
Cliff swallow scooping up mud for nest. Under highway bridge, many cliff swallow nests
tracks of all four feet in a bounding pattern
Gray fox trail beside the trail of a domestic cat. Stride length for the fox mostly ranged from 58 cm to 68 cm, with no understep.
Opened acorn. Feeding sign showing "chatter" on edges.
Tail length- 95 mm. Total length- 240 mm. Hind foot length - 36 mm
No bed or latrine found in the nearby vicinity. Hair scat found on trail 75 yards uphill of feeding site.
Sheared fur, entered cavity through ribcage behind front shoulder.
Fed on organs and hind leg first.
Timeline:
0730: attacks coyote
0900: coyote hauled to densely forested area, hair is sheared, no entry or disarticulation yet
1700: at least one hind leg gone and some internal organs consumed
2018: returns to feeding site
1700 the following day: Consumed (or at least removed) everything but front forelegs, skin, tail, intestines, and head.
Cutting the base of the flower from the petiole. Presumably feeding on nectar or embryo at the base of the flower. Thousands of cut flower beneath the tree. Seem to focus on many flowers in single clusters.
At High Pond in Half Moon Pond State Park
Almost certainly porcupine tracks but I can’t figure out what in the world the orange is or where it came from. It continued along the tracks for more than 50 yards. Such an unnatural color and it was found in an area pretty far from any human interference
*Approx dimensions of entire pellet: 3" long x 1.5" wide by 1" thick. This seemed to be the entire pellet.
*Approx. dimensions of skull: 7/8" long x 1/2" wide.
Owl pellet found along the LaPlatte river trail near the bridge by the Shelburne Bay boat launch in Shelburne. Photos later taken in Winooski VT are on white cloth. Glove photo taken onsite with pine cone segment for reference.
claws appear to stretch to 8cm / 3 inches
A large pool of blood with opossum tracks, opossum scat, and a dead infant opossum, measuring about 1/2 inch across its curled body, dislodged from its mother's teat and pouch. It may have been from violent shaking by prey, typical of canine species, like a dog, fox, eastern coyote, or, less likely, a large raccoon seen in this immediate area. After inspecting the deck, yard, and adjacent garden, there are no signs of bloody drag marks. The predator must have been large enough to carry the opossum elsewhere for consumption.
Scratch marks across the deck look like they put up a fight.
Salamander / lizard. found under bridge. Long trail, consistent front and hind prints in pairs on either side of trail. Tail / body drag consistent and fairly straight. Trail width about 1.5"
Hole angled at 45 degrees
Mostly straddle trot. When in a straddle trot, the front legs were crossing over the animal's line of travel. That is, the left front tracks appeared slightly toward the right side of the trail and the front right tracks slightly to the left.
Killed presumably by a hawk recently.
2/8 update, revisited and took better pictures
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/lizardking/89558-turkey-vulture-cathartes-aura-post-cranial-skeleton
Almost positive, but tentative ID. I assume all bones are associated although scattered throughout fenced off maintenance area.
The size all seems consistent. Impressive deltoid crest on humerus largely supports my ID, but small and circle ischaic formen on the pelvis supports this as well. Tarsometarus and sternum fragment also look correct but I can not access them and do not have comparative references currently at hand.
Very tempted to jump fence, largely fought off temptation due to accessible bones I could grab through the edges of the fence and measure. All measures bones were pushed back through the fence and returned.
Update i was wrong i found the jaw bone (added pics) this is a vulture probably black I am insanely excited and will confirm ID when I have reference access again
Went back the next day to make a cast but something had stepped on the track already.
This mammal track was in the mud of the San Timoteo Creek.
These were multiple sets of Common Raccoon tracks around.
Photos 2-3 were edited to better show the tracks.
Cache of cherry seeds and caddis casings under plywood in riverbed.
In owl pellet with deer mouse.
Numerous birds on the beach making footprints.
Barn swallows fighting in the water underneath a small bridge.
Muskrat trail showing less common, fast gaits. Begins in a trot (stride 17 1'4"; trial width 3 1/4"), then shifted into an extended suspension lope (stride 16 1/4", trial width 4 1/4", group length 6 3/4").
Mink tacks. Bounding stride 51-64cm. Trail width mostly 7-8cm, with one 10cm wide group.
tracks