January 18, 2004
Mono Cliffs North Side: 25th Sideroad entrance
Meeting Report & Photos by Alexis Burnett
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There were 3 people who came out on this windy day to
explore the northern portion of Mono Cliffs Provincial Park. The
temperature had risen from the previous week of cold weather to about
-10 C and there was a cool northwest wind that would bite at any
exposed skin. However, once in the cover of the forest the wind seemed
light to almost nonexistent as it rushed through and past the tops of
the trees. Two totally different worlds between the openness of the
meadow and the protection of the forest cover. We were pretty sure there
would not be too many animals moving in the more open areas on this day.
Our theme for the day was originally going to be Foxes and/or Coyotes,
but with the snow overnight there was little sign of fresh tracks.
Instead we wandered the landscape taking in the many beauties of the
forest in winter.
With close to 4 inches of snow in the last 24 hours there was not a lot
of fresh tracks from the previous night. As expected, running along the
top of the escarpment we found some fairly well-used deer trails from
the last few days. We were graced with a sighting of a white-tail deer
coming down the hillside only to find us looking back at it. The deer
seemed a little stunned to see us and quickly trotted a few meters away
before stopping and turning to get a better look at us. As we continued
on we came across some small rodent tracks leading from holes in the
snow to under trees, logs, etc... From the size and pattern we judged
them to be meadow vole, but were unsure of their exact identification. |
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Atop most of the cliffs there was also fresh sign including chews,
trails, urine and scat of the many porcupines that inhabit this area. As
we peered in many of the small caves and crevices we could see lots of
porcupine scat and could detect the distinct odor of this animal. How
many of them live in these cliffs during this time of year I wondered?
There was a lot of sign of them feeding on cedar, maple and especially
the tops of the birch trees. Some of the sign was fresh, while some of
it was from previous seasons. I cannot help but see this area as "the
land of the porcupine". |
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We did some
exploring among the cliffs and crevices and reveled in the
beauty of these limestone walls and elder white cedars. |
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From the top of
these cliffs there were some amazing views of the surrounding
countryside and park. The sun, when felt out of the biting wind, was a
much appreciated gift. In the valley bottom there was a lot of old (2-3
days) tracks and trails of deer and cottontails. As we discussed some of
the differences between cottontail and porcupine trails we turned to see
a cottontail bounding up the hillside. There was a lot of sign of
feeding of these two mammals on the apple trees in this area. Years of
bud and bark chews spoke of the healthy population of both of these
mammals. |
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While scouting along the bottom of the cliffs we found some fresh (1-5
hrs.) deer tracks and back-tracked them for a while. Some of the hoof
prints were quite large and seemed to "meander" through the forest. |
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We came upon a scat
pile that was still fresh and unfrozen. The scat seemed larger
than normal and we wondered if this solitary animal was a large
buck? Judging by the size of the tracks and scat this seemed
like a good guess. Perhaps we will see this beautiful animal at
some point in the future? |
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Throughout most of the day we were graced with the presence of
singing chickadees in the trees over our heads. There were also a few
woodpecker sightings and signs of their presence, Hairy, Downy and pileated woodpeckers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. |
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On our way back up
the hill we crossed some more deer tracks coming down and we
back-tracked them. Wondering if this was the deer that we had previously
seen? As we came over the top of the hill the trail led into some tight
brush, where we found a fresh bed and scat. The spot was situated
perfectly with good cover and view of the surrounding landscape. The
scat was fresh and we wondered when this deer had gotten up? The tracks
leading to the bed seemed a little older. They zigzagged through the
brush, almost looking or "sensing" for the right spot to bed down. "She"
seemed to find it. With a little more back-tracking we discovered that
this was a different deer from the one that we had seen earlier. |
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By this time we were close to the cars and near the end of our day. We
quickly crossed the meadow in the strong, cold winds and soon were on
our separate ways through the oncoming snowy weather. The blue skies had
now faded to over-cast and a winter snow flurry was setting in from the
west. I thank John and Daniel for enjoying this day with me and look
forward to our next Winter Tracking Day.
Alexis Burnett |
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