Winter is a special time of year during which we get to observe the patterns and habits of our animal neighbors as they hunt, breed, nest and struggle to meet the demands of winter. Their tracks give us a better sense of who else shares a place like Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC) and what they’ve been up to. On Saturday, Feb. 15, ten students gathered at HVNC to learn about animal tracks and signs.

The class was led by experienced tracker and woodsman Jason Chandler. Jason is a naturalist and educator and has taught many classes at HVNC ranging from fire building to botany. The class began with an introduction to all the ways to characterize signs of passing animals. Looking at drawings of tracks students familiarized themselves with descriptors for gait, stride pattern, track shape, other characteristics.

The remaining few hours were spent on foot looking for signs of local animals. Dense crust following last week’s rain covered many tracks, but the day was far from boring. Students split into two groups at one point to follow a trail that appeared to have many tracks within it. Reconvening, students shared their interpretations of what had passed the night before. The consensus was that coyote had (in order to save energy) opportunistically used a trail that a lone deer had struggled to break.

The highlight of the day, perhaps, was the meandering moose trail that climbed up one side of a granite ridge and descended the other on an old logging road. Within each moose track was a smaller deer print, indicating that a deer had taken advantage of a path already made. Moose occur regularly at HVNC, but their sign is not frequently observed.

“This has been a great group,” Chandler said. “It has been great to have everyone in the group share their own perspective — we have woodsmen, naturalist, hunters, loggers and conservationists all in one group.” Indeed, this is often the case at HVNC education events.

Prowl reveals local owls and amazing stars

On Sunday, Feb. 16, twenty visitors strapped on snowshoes at Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC) and set off down the trails — in the dark. HVNC offers monthly Full Moon Walks, and this month it was paired with an Owl Prowl. Local birder, conservationist and educator Bill Goodwill led the eager walkers in an effort to listen for and call to resident owls. “The idea of walking by moonlight, serenaded by owls, always seems to bring out a crowd,” said HVNC Director Andy McEvoy.

The group made their way to Little Dyer Pond, a secluded great pond, through relatively mature forests. Using a recording, Goodwill played the calls of both great horned and barred owls, the two most common species in the area. These two species are just beginning their nesting season, and so are quick to protect their territories. The idea of the Owl Prowl is to intrigue local owls enough with recorded calls that they’ll either call back, or even fly in to check on potential intruders.

All the hooting turned up one barred owl on the opposite shore of the lake. The owl seemed reluctant to come over to our shore, but seemed content to call back to the group for quite a while.

Before the moon rose, the stars were breathtaking. Many in the group paused to point out constellations and planets, and just to take it all in. Others in the group were more interested in perfecting their own owl imitations.

After the walk most of the visitors gathered in HI-Hut, HVNC’s welcome building, to warm up by a woodstove and wait for the moon to rise. The after-walk conversation is always a highlight of these events, and is a characteristic feature of many HVNC events — after exploring animal and natural communities visitors take the time to build their own communities.

For more information, visit www.hvnc.org or contact info@hvnc.org or 207-200-8840.