Today I returned to my phenology spot in Centennial woods from last fall. It was nice to see all the phenological changes since being there last, and the fresh snow from today offered some great tracks.
Above is a picture of my spot. When I visited in December the river was still flowing and not fully covered by snow. This time there was enough snow (Maybe about 6 inches) and ice to fully walk on the river, which was a nice way to view my spot in different angles.
There were some tracks present, but the two had key differences. One had side by side prints that were about two inches in length. This kind of hopping motion and what we’ve seen in class makes me think it was left by a rabbit. The other tracks had an alternate gate with 3-4 in long prints. I’m not sure what would have left these.
There weren’t any nests present in the trees, but large birds (what appeared to be hawks) were flying over the area in circular motions. This makes me think they were probably looking for some food.
Update: 2/1/22
After discussion in class, I feel differently about the identification of my tracks. For the one on the left, I think this bounding pattern matches more closely to that of a mink, based on the tracks proximity to the water and size of the prints. For the one on the right, this exhibits a diagonal pace, and based on the size I think this could have been a white tailed deer.