We had a great time at the Ambrose sandpit last weekend.
Our first find of the day resulted in a pretty rigorous discussion on canid (Red Fox and Coyote) and felid (Bobcat) scats:
They all have overlapping scat dimensions. They can appear similar (tublar/segmented) based on the current diet of the individual. All three species will place their scats on travel corridors and use their scat as a form of communication (territorial marking or a calling card).
Bobcats are exclusively carnivores so there should be no evidence of fruits, seeds, nuts, or other vegetation. Their scats will contain fine fur and possibly small bones but will not contain an excessive amount of hair or large bone fragments because they don't have the jaw structure to break large bones. Their scats are usually tubular, segmented, may have a small taper at the end, and are firm.
Coyote and fox scat is extremely varied based on their diet but it will contain fruit, nuts, and insect carapaces when available in the growing season and these diets can create scats that have a similar appearance to Bobcats. In winter, they tend to contain large amounts of fur and bones (Coyotes can have large bone fragments in their scat but foxes will not). These scats will often look twisted like a rope and have a long taper. Their firmness can vary a lot based on the diet.The scat that we were examining contained deer (or moose) hair- we could tell because it broke cleanly into a right angle due to it being hollow. We talked about how many different animals will visit coyote carcasses in the winter to scavenge and that the presence of deer hair in the scat doesn't mean that the animal actually took down a deer.
We found deer and coyote tracks throughout the property, and wondered what animals might take advantage of the abundance of cranberries in the cranberry bog right now.
Cindy pointed out the Pine Cone Galls growing on the willows. See the link for Mary Holland's description and photos.
We saw a mature Bald Eagle circling above one of the ponds, and some female Common Mergansers. Initially we thought we saw a pair of Buffleheads but on review we think it may have been a male Hooded Merganser with its mate (less common)!
We saw a number of bird tracks near the ponds. This one was a real stumper when we first came upon it because toe 1 (the rear pointing toe) didn't register. Notice how close together toes 2 and 3 are.
Crow Track comparison
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