Visit from Woodswalker

Here are photos from Woodswalker's visit last week.

Our first cool tracks were from a grouse. Here it landed and went walk-about:

A close-up of grouse tracks. Grouse toes are pretty cool. In the fall they grow projections on their toes that make their feet larger, essentially turning them into snowshoes. This gives them almost grebe-like toeprints in the snow:

Woodswalker was thrilled to see snowshoe hare tracks - new ones for her:

I was excited to see snowshoe hare scat, a rarity on the VIC property:

Other good tracks were from a wandering raccoon. Raccoons sleep away the cold days of winter, but on mild days (and nights) they get up and walk around, probably scrounging for food. These are the first raccoon tracks I've seen this winter.

Cheers to Woodswalker for coming to visit and getting me out of the office!