If you have trouble viewing this content on your mobile device, click here for the original version.
| It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau |
  |
| IN THIS ISSUE -Conference Details -Presenters-Summer -Fall Tracking Events -Field Note -A Grateful Recognition |
 |
| Photo courtesy of and ©Carla Rhodes 2023 |
| EARLY REGISTRATION PRICE BREAK ENDS AUGUST 15! That’s right- you have a less than a month to sign up for the conference at the lower price. Compare the options: Double Occupied Room Until August 15 $295.29 ($275+$20.29 registration fee)August 16 – $337.98 ($315 +$22.98 registration fee)That a $42+ in savings On Site TentingUntil August 15 $268.21 ($250 + $18.61 registration fee)August 16- $311.29 ($290+$21.29 registration fee)$43+ in savings Students can save $26+ with early registration Commuter Registration Opens September 29 Each registration option includes all the programs + meals REGISTER |
| LIONS, TIGERS, AND BEARS, OH MY! Of course, you expect no less but there is lots more. In addition to keynotes Haley Andreozzi and Emma Tutein enlightening us on wildlife tracking & community science/conservation projects: Ray Hardy explores the elusive fisherScott Semmens introduces trailingKathy Dean details skullsKai Pratt & Jonathan Shapiro each do a gaits classRebekah Lowell and/or Will Close help you ease into journalling. These are just a few of the options.Check out the schedule. There is so much more to choose from. |
 |
| MAINE |
| Lead with Nature: Wildlife Track & Sign Evaluation w/ Nate Harvey, 2-day workshop and certification on track and sign, Led by Nate Harvey & Dan Gardoqui, September 21 & 22, York, ME, Lead With Nature Lead with Nature: Monhegan Fall Birding Adventure: 5-day, guided birding trip to Maine’s best hotspot, Led by Dan Gardoqui & Phil Brown, September 25-29, Monhegan Island, ME, Lead With NatureFeather & Bones: Women’s Nature Immersion & Wildlife Tracking. Healing art, ceremony, and wildlife tracking adventures for women. Led by Molly ‘Bones’ Nelson and Danielle Marple. 1 weekend each season. Register now. Cornish Maine. For More Info |
| MASSACHUSETTS |
| Berkshire Environmental Action Team: 1-Day Track & Sign Certification: Highly educational certification & workshop, globally recognized. Led by Danile Hansche, Sponsored by BEAT, October 30, Lee, For More Info Spur Wander: Track & Sign Certification: 2 day highly educational certification & workshop, globally recognized. Led by Daniel Hansche, Oct 17-18, Charlton.For More Info Trotting Fox Programs: Women’s Wildlife Tracking Intensive: Tracking Intensive begins in January. Led by Kathy Dean. Jan-June 2025, Greenfield area. For More Info David Brown’s Wildlife Services: Summer & Fall Tracking Programs: Finding, identifying and interpreting wild animal sign in no-snow conditions led by David Brown: August 4, October 6, November 10. All from 10-3, Quabbin For More Info Trotting Fox Programs: Tracking To a New Level: Wildlife Tracking Intensive for experienced trackers. Led by Kathy Dean, Winter-Summer 2025. Greenfield area For More Info. Trotting Fox Programs: Wildlife Track and Sign Day. Join us for a fun day of summer tracking! All adults welcome. Led by Kathy Dean, Aug 10, Greenfield area. For More Info |
| VERMONT |
| Fox Paw School: Tracking Club. Free monthly tracking club, beginners and experienced trackers welcome. Come learn tracking, bird language, awareness, and more. Led by Jonathan Shapiro. 1st Saturday of the month, Marshfield, VT. For More Info Vermont Wilderness School: Tracker Certification: A highly educational workshop & tracker certification, Led by Daniel Hansche, July 20-21, Brattleboro area, Vermont Wilderness School |
| New Hampshire |
| UNH Cooperative Extension: 1 Day Track & Sign Certification: Highly educational certification & workshop, globally recognized. Led by Daniel Hansche, Oct 23, Concord.For More Info email Haley Andreozzi Spur Wander: Gaits & Track Patterns: A simplified, creative approach to an often-overcomplicated topic. Led by Daniel Hansche, Oct 22, 8:30-2:30, Ossipee Spur Wander |
| ONLINE EVENTS |
| Tracker Tuesdays: Join Tracker Certification North America for free monthly online discussions, presentations, and tracking tips from CyberTracker evaluator team and their guests. Visit Tracker Tuesdays to sign up for notifications. SPUR WANDER: Personalized Tracker Training, Coaching, & Development. Custom Mentoring for Individuals or Groups: honing your tracking ability and process. Led by Daniel Hansche. daniel@spurwander.com Lead With Nature: Engaging, online tracking courses that will elevate your skills. Led by Daniel Gardoqui. Various dates. For More Info |
| FIELD NOTE |
| Article & Photos by Patricia Liddle |
| A Sap Cafeteria |
| A few years back I was wandering up a trail in Harvey Mountain State Forest on the MA/NY border, sunny end of June day. Something whizzed just over my head; I could feel the breeze it made. Stopping, I looked and listened in the direction I thought it went. It didn’t take long to know a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker family had feeding wells in a Grey Birch not far off the trail. Photos show a juvenile and male Sapsucker and the shallow rectangular wells they chip out of the bark to get to the sap produced by the tree leaves and headed to the roots. And they don’t actually suck the sap as their name implies but lick it out of the wells. |
  |
| With any food source comes competition so if the sapsuckers aren’t guarding the tree others take advantage. In fact, male Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will follow Sapsuckers north in early spring before there’s much else to eat, sneaking some sap during unguarded moments and getting earlier access to breeding territories. Check out the Sapsucker Cafeteria freeloaders: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and butterfly in the Angel-Wings family. |
  |
| A month later I hike to the tree again. The action had moved to a different Grey Birch in the same area. This time a Red Squirrel had taken over the sap well although it had to share with various insects. The squirrel would leave the well for a while to let the sap build up. While gone the insects would take over. When the squirrel returned, it approached the well, closed its eyes and waved its paws over the well to disperse the insects, and then start licking. |
  |
 Here the squirrel is having an easier meal without the bees and other insects trying to get back to the sap well. I did not see any Sapsuckers come to this well while I was observing for over an hour. Perhaps they let the squirrel take over this one or maybe had no choice. Patricia Liddle is one of the NWT committee members. You, too, can submit a field note for possible publication. Northeast Wildlife Trackerswith questions. |
| In Grateful Recognition |
| The Northeast Wildlife Committee wishes to pass on the news that long time committee member Pam Landry has retired from the committee. Pam provided major guidance on the conference and her position as a MassWildlife employee was the reason the conference was able to be held at the Fisheries and Wildlife headquarters in Westborough. MA for so many years. Her passion for tracking, natural history, the outdoors, and sharing her enthusiasm with others set her apart. Thank you for your service, Pam. |
| Connecting to the land one track at a time. |
 |
| Happy Tracking!from the Northeast Wildlife Trackers Planning Team(Kelly, Amy, Bryan, Rebecca, David, Pat) Northeast Wildlife Trackers gratefully operates under their fiscal sponsor, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) |
