Tracks and trails

[nightshade]

The view from the top of a ladder early in the morning (my early) is quite an eye opener.
Looking down at lawns covered in dew emphasises the tracks made by animals as they go about their business and can answer some questions as to what does traverse the urban highways and what crosses your territory,tracks become apparent that would otherwise go unnoticed

[StuartDH]

Last summer I went out at 5am for a walk on the clifftops above a beach in cornwall and saw a lot of trails for turtles, fish (slithering back into the water from rock pools), crabs, birds and snails. By 9am they were completely covered by thousands of footprints

Next time I'll try and get out even earlier to see the wildlife while they're actually making the prints

[Beryl]

Thart would be very interesting , some thing I would love to see.
What part of Cornwall. I was at Heltson for a while when I was in the WRNS(long time ago). Some lovely places in Cornwall

[Adam]

I thought turtles only came ashore to lay eggs though?

If this is the case I had no idea any laid their eggs in Cornwall!

[StuartDH]

It was on a beach about 5 miles from Lands End on the south shore towards Penzance. I assume they we turtle tracks as they looked identical to some that we found on a beach when I used to work as Diver in Turkey.

[Beryl]

Well it might be that the eggs have hatched and the little ones have made their way to the sea, or that the adults went ou to lay there eggs,. I must look up their breading times, what else would leave trackslike a turtle?

[Adam]

I didn't mean to doubt your judgement, I was just unaware of turtles coming out of the water for any other reason, and if they do - I want to go and see it too!

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by Adam

I didn't mean to doubt your judgement, I was just unaware of turtles coming out of the water for any other reason, and if they do - I want to go and see it too!

No, don't worry about it. I might be wrong, but I can't think of anything else that it could have been.

It was basically a big C shape about 15-20ft in diameter that came straight out of the water and went back in again. It had a wide central groove with paddle marks either side, but it also had a thinner, deeper groove down the centre line and the paddle marks were closer than you'd expect for a seal - they were almost touching one in front of the other.

Stu

[Beryl]

We had a seal here in Devon a local was telling me and eachtime he tried to capture it bobbed down and all he got was sea every time, made me gigle , so you sea it could have been a seal. What fun

[Gill Catton]

I love it when I walk onto a site and just have a tingling feeling that there's Badgers there somewhere, and I'm searching and I'm searching getting beaten up and scratched and stung by the vegetation and then all of a sudden I find a little gem of a footprint to reassure my hunch and then all my mud stains, blood and scratches are worthwhile! puts a grin on my face!

[Beryl]

I usually trip over a fallen tree trunk or down a shallow trench but so frar have only come accross dogs paw prints.
I like when it has snowed during the nigh in winter and you look out of the window and see all sorts of littl bird tracks
And when I see cat prints hoping it didn't catch the bird.
My poor cats had a lowd bell on theri collars so they could be heard by all the birds

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I love it when I walk onto a site and just have a tingling feeling that there's Badgers there somewhere, and I'm searching and I'm searching getting beaten up and scratched and stung by the vegetation and then all of a sudden I find a little gem of a footprint to reassure my hunch and then all my mud stains, blood and scratches are worthwhile! puts a grin on my face!

Quite a few years ago, when I found my first Badger sett, I too did similar. I was walking down a woodland track and spotted the well-worn trail, and well formed Badger prints. I followed these through, around and into the woods, where I eventually came across the sett. I was well chuffed. There was prints and hay and stuff all over the place - a textbook sett if I ever saw one. A few nights later I managed to see the inhabitants. An adult and two large cubs playing and yikering as I watched. Marvelous

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Beryl

I usually trip over a fallen tree trunk or down a shallow trench but so frar

I fall over at least once a year on fieldwork - I actually think that bramble could be arrested for actual bodily harm sometimes!!