Happy Holidays

My schedule for track of the week has got a bit off with travel and whatnot so I think I will just wait till next Monday to post the next one and get back on schedule.

Hope everyone has a good new year.

Track of the Week 14

This post is a little late. I drove over to Idaho yesterday and didn't have the energy to feel like putting together a post when I got here.

Setting: I took this picture the other day after the first of the recent snows in our area.

1. Which foot?

This is a front left, the thumb is just visible toward the bottom of the picture.

2. What species?

Homo sapiens.

Bonus. Approximate age?

I think this is a juvenile based on the stubbiness of the fingers. Additionally, I suspect they were wearing gloves based both on the details of the track and the conditions where/when the track was located.

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Low Tide: Starfish

A friend and I went down to the beach late the other night for one of the big low tides of the season. Fortunately her headlamp was strong, because mine was in real need of a battery change - I kept forgetting I even had it turned on because it didn't make much of a difference unless I was holding something a few inches from my face.

We saw quite a bit of cool and pretty things. I may post one or two more later on. A friend suggested this intertidal website for identification purposes. I'm not convinced that what I have pictures of are necessarily the same exact species (and I think some of the species I took pictures of are not on that website), but it seems like a pretty cool resource.

One thing I notice about these starfish is that they have a larger white spot just off center. If I had only seen one of these starfish I probably would have assumed that it was just a random spot, but it seems to be on all of this sort of starfish. I wonder what it is?

Birds in Arbutus

It snowed in Seattle a couple of days ago and the weather has actually been cold enough for it to stay around. So yesterday afternoon I went for a walk to enjoy the snow and see what tracks were out.

I didn't end up seeing many wild tracks, but as I walked down the road there was a cacophony of birds coming from every pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) I passed. I'm not sure if it is because they need extra energy because of the cold, or if the cold made the fruit more delicious, but they were gorging on the small red fruits of the tree.

Track of the Week 13

Setting:
A couple of summers ago along one of western Washington's rivers.

1. What species?

This is from a cougar trail. Kitty did a good job of explaining why they fit with being cat tracks and the size and location narrow it down to cougar. For further explanation of feline track characteristics check out the explanation with the bobcat tracks here and the bobcat tracks there.

2. What is the likely gait?

Cougars move in walks very commonly. It appears to me that this is a portion of a direct register walking trail. The hind foot landing on top of the front, there doesn't appear to be much disturbance to suggest that it was moving in a faster trotting gait.

3. Which foot?

This was a slightly tricky question as there are actually two feet here. Kitty correctly identified the more prominent track as a hind foot. The fact that it is on top makes that the likely option, it is also a bit narrow which suggest hind rather than front foot for cats.

The second toe from the top of the picture seems to be the leading toe which would mean these were on the right side of the body.

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