My apologies to the 50+/- NC readers who responded with great creativity to the latest Mystery Photo! The photographer and I had a miscommunication, and I misdirected readers about the actual mystery you were to solve! I thought the photographer had observed a goose making the two parallel lines in the ice with their feet (nails) as they landed. However, these two lines are actually just cracks in the ice, as many readers guessed (Susan Cloutier was the first to correctly identify them). While Canada Geese do use their feet as well as their wings as brakes to slow themselves down before they land and they do have a hind toe which conceivably could scratch the ice, the landing imprints of the geese (and what I should have asked readers to identify) are actually in the upper half of the photo (see red circle) where the snow has been plowed aside, revealing the darker ice underneath. The presence of a considerable amount of goose droppings confirms the identity of the birds landing on the ice.
Observers often ask how Canada Geese or other waterfowl can stand for long periods of time on frozen lakes and ponds.The legs and feet of waterfowl play an important part in maintaining their body temperature. In the summer, their large, flat feet cool their body by releasing a good deal of heat. In winter, the heat exchange system (counter-current circulation) in a bird’s legs prevents a great deal of body heat loss due to the fact that the warm arterial blood going into the bird’s feet is cooled by the colder blood traveling back to the body in adjacent veins. Constricted blood vessels in their legs further conserves heat. (Photo by Mike Hebb)
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Do you know what is responsible for the two parallel lines that run diagonally across the bottom of this photograph? If so, enter your comment on the Naturally Curious blog. Scroll down and click on “Comments.” Hint: there are numerous clues in photo. Answer will be revealed on Wednesday’s (1/8/20) blog post. (Photo by Mike Hebb)
There are innumerable resources for anyone interested in identifying any part of the natural world — field guides to feathers, fungi, tracks, butterflies, mosses, bird nests — the list goes on and on. What has been lacking, in my opinion, is an introduction to the art of discovering what it is that you may then wish to identify.
Snowshoe Hare tracks are readily discernible because of the paired larger hind feet which land in front of the smaller front feet when a hare bounds over the snow. When bounding, a hare’s front feet usually land side by side, unless they are traveling at great speed, when one front foot tends to land in front of the other (see photo).
Over the years I have discovered and photographed most of my blog post subjects, but every once in a while someone lets me know about something out of the ordinary that they think I might be interested in photographing. (Scattered flying squirrel tails, black bear dens, red fox litters and nesting birds come to mind.) I am immediately on the road if it is something that I think might make a great post (and might possibly still be there by the time I arrive). Distance and subject matter are heavily weighed before causing my car to contribute even more to greenhouse gas emissions…however, anyone who would drive 2 ½ hours to photograph a Monkey Slug has obviously contributed to climate change.
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