About a month ago, I watched a little red-backed vole dash into this hole in an old downed aspen tree in my backyard. It was clear that it was living there, so I set up my trail camera to catch a glimpse of the wildlife using this log. #cameratrap 1/ ๐Ÿงต
I caught the little vole coming and going from the hole several times over the first night. 2/ #CameraTrap Night vision shot of a little red-backed vole climbing out oA little red-backed vole sitting in the entrance of its hole
The vole wasn't the only one hanging out in the area. A deer mouse also came and went near the log, scurrying along the tangled forest floor looking for food. #CameraTrap 3/ #TheOldLog
After the first night, I moved the camera. Logs are often used as highways on the forest floor and I figured I'd have a better chance of getting a sense of the activity in my backyard from this angle. 4/ #TheOldLog #CameraTrap A trail camera view down the long end of an old aspen log ly
I was right. I still saw vole and mouse running up and down the log most nights. They were often too fast for the camera to catch them. However, they weren't the only critters using the log.... 5/ #TheOldLog #CameraTrap 5/
Squirrel is the most common visitor to the log. He uses it like a highway, racing top speed along its length. Once, he decided that he didn't like my camera placement and had to rectify that. #TheOldLog #CameraTrap 6/ A red squirrel standing at attention on top of an old aspen Close-up of a red squirrel's tail as he fixes the trail cameRed squirrel with a mouth full of peanut that he stole from red squirrel on all fours on the log looking agitatedly just
I meant the red squirrel was the most common daytime visitor. One night, a northern flying squirrel stopped by the log. These guys are almost completely nocturnal and despite being active all year, you rarely see them. #TheOldLog #CameraTrap 7/ A small grey squirrel sits in the shadows far away from the Close-up of the back of a flying squirrel in the dark, sitti
Snowshoe hare stopped by one night. One set off down the log while the other stopped for a bit of preening in front of the camera. #TheOldLog #CameraTrap 8/ Close-up of the rear end of a snowshoe hare sitting on the oSnowshoe hare up on its haunches on the log, likely doing a Back end of a snowshoe hare as it disappears down the log in
Birds like #TheOldLog too. Juncos would forage on it now and then, usually in the early morning and the chickadees stopped by once, though that was because I was sitting just behind the camera and had seeds in my pocket. #CameraTrap 9/12? A grey sparrow with a white belly and pink bill hops along tA rain-clouded photo of a brown female junco hopping away frBlack-capped chickadee perched on a branch behind the log stTwo black-capped chickadees bopping around on the log in the
The white-tailed deer forage near the log and sometimes get into the camera frame. There have been a few different bucks hanging out in my yard this fall. 10/12 #TheOldLog #CameraTrap Infrared photo of the log with the antlers and ear of a deerThe stunned face of a deer looking into the infrared camera A very wet deer forehead with sizable antlers pressed up alm
The coolest visitor to #TheOldLog however, has been coyote. He had to come and sniff where I had been sitting only a few minutes earlier. 11/12 #CameraTrap
While the tree may be long-dead, downed logs are hugely important parts of the forest ecosystems. They're a home, a place to rest, a source of food, and a corridor. Wherever possible, it's best to let old logs lie. #TheOldLog #CameraTrap 12/12
I forgot the Alt text on the last two. Two tweets before this is two photos of the feet and tail of a coyote standing in front of the camera on the log. The one above shows photos of a chickadee, vole, and hare sitting on the log and a photo of a deer passing by in the night.

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More from @SecondNatureMB

Dec 23, 2022
With so many people in North America experiencing cold they're not used to, I thought it might be a good time to look at how wildlife handles snow and cold in places like here in Manitoba where these temperatures are the norm. 1/ Looking out over a frozen lakeshore. All of the trees and ro
Although many insects die in the winter, leaving their eggs behind to hatch in the spring, some do hibernate. These overwintering insects break down glycogen that they accumulated from their diet into glycerol that acts as an antifreeze in their blood and tissues. A bulge in a goldenrod stalk is a gall where a goldenrod galA spotted tussock moth caterpillar. This black and yellow stA brown butterfly with pale yellow wing edges is a mourning
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Feb 13, 2022
Happy #SuperbOwl Sunday! I spent a decade studying #owls for my masters and Ph.D. In that time, I've accumulated a lot of interesting facts about our favourite feathered friends. I thought I might take this opportunity to share some. ๐Ÿงต1/ *all images mine unless otherwise noted.
There are 243 species in the order Strigiformes (owls and barn-owls) divided into 2 families. Here in Manitoba, we have ten species (all in family Strigidae), though burrowing owls are starting to get a foothold again (which is mess up my poster ๐Ÿ˜‰) 2/ #SuperbOwl
The great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is the largest owl in North America by size. They have a wingspan of about five feet, but they're not the heaviest (they only weigh about 1 kg - 2.2 lbs). Snowy owls can weigh up to 4 lbs. In most species females are larger. #SuperbOwl 3/
Read 16 tweets
Feb 3, 2022
I get a lot of questions about how our wildlife can survive the cold. It can be -35C and you'll still hear and see signs of animals everywhere. How do they do it? I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of our wildlife's amazing adaptations for winter. #scicomm 1/
Losing heat, especially from the core, is their biggest problem. We just put on more clothes and in some ways, animals do too. Chickadees have 50% more feathers in the winter. Mammals grow thicker fur, with longer guard hairs that trap warm air near the body. 2/
Many animals have counter current heat exchangers in their limbs (bird legs, mammal noses and legs, ears, tails). Arteries and veins form a network so warm blood going out transfers heat to the blood coming back. The extremities are kept near freezing, but the core stays warm. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Feb 2, 2022
Happy #WorldWetlandsDay! Wetlands are critical to the well-being of the planet. I've been lucky to have had many opportunities to share the stories of wetlands through interpretive signage and thought it might be fun to look back on a few. #sciart #scicomm 1/
I often find myself answering the question 'What good are wetlands?' Once considered wasteland by farmers and developers, we're finally understanding the important ecological services they provide. #WorldWetlandsDay #sciart #scicomm 2/
Wetlands are critical habitat for hundreds of bird species who nest and find food and cover among the waterlogged vegetation. #WorldWetlandsDay #sciart #scicomm 3/
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May 12, 2020
I was asked if I could outline the steps I go through to create a panel like this. It's a long process and I'm lucky to have the skills and training to do all of the pieces: content writing/research, illustration & layout, so I thought I'd walk you through it. 1/ #scicomm #sciart
It starts with a concept sketch. The client and I discussed the story they wanted to tell and the looks we liked and I scribbled it into my sketchbook. Species were chosen from the garden plants this panel was for and I researched their associated pollinators. 2/ #sciart #scicomm
Once I have an general idea of what images I need, I start drawing. I have a huge reference photo library, but will sometimes ask for permission from other photographers to use their images as references. 3/ #scicomm #sciart
Read 9 tweets

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