Seven members from the Peterborough Field Naturalists enjoyed a beautiful winter day looking for wildlife tracks and sign along the Ballyduff Trails and South Pond Farms. We would like to thank property owners Ralph McKim & Jean Garsonnin for access to their lovely Ballyduff Trails and to South Pond Farms for parking and access to the north end of the trail system.

The winter of 2019 has been poor for tracking due to variable weather and frequent melts or freezing rain. So it was a relief to finally have a good opportunity and we were rewarded with a very rich tracking experience. We observed tracks and/or sign for 13 species of wildlife and we observed or heard seven species of birds. Highlights included the White-tailed Deer kill site, three species of Lagomorphs, Fisher and a large flock of Common Redpolls. Here is the list of species identified by tracks and/or sign: Masked Shrew(?), Red Squirrel, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Eastern Cottontail, Snowshoe Hare, European Hare, Ermine, Fisher, Raccoon, Red Fox, Coyote, White-tailed Deer and Ruffed Grouse. The list of birds uploaded to eBird included: Ruffed Grouse (1), Blue Jay (4), American Crow (2), Black-capped Chickadee (6), White-breasted Nuthatch (1), Common Redpoll (80) and American Goldfinch (5).
(Photographed February 23, 2019, Ballyduff Trails & South Pond Farms, Manvers Township, City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada)