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HomeAlgonquin Winter Tracking

Algonquin Winter Tracking Expedition 2008

Thursday (Day 5)

We decided to follow the trail of a large fisher today.
These interesting tiny marks on a white birch tree are the gnawings of a snail as it eats the algae that grows on the bark.
Along the way we got distracted (of course!) by this trail left by a northern flying squirrel as it made its way across the surface of the snow.

It was a bit of a challenge to identify these tracks, partly because we weren't expecting a flying squirrel to be bounding across the snow for such a long distance (200 feet).

This was a very interesting scene. In crossing this creek the fisher went through the thin ice - the hole is still visible. It hauled itself out of the water and rolled in the snow to dry itself off, and then continued on its way.
A tuft of bear hair stuck on a hydro pole. Bears will mark poles by biting them and rubbing against them.
This is a classic "what happened here?" scenario which trackers love to try to figure out.

Turns out this was a crooked landing by ruffed grouse. He (or she) landed with its left wing extended, which made the large wing print in the snow at the lower left of this photo. It then walked off towards the top of the photo.

After about 2 km we stopped in a nice clearing where there were lots of birds looking for handouts. We obliged them with nuts and dried fruit.
 
And a black-backed woodpecker!
 

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