bird or lizard?

[Porcupine]

the following picture i made in white sands yesterday,my first thought upon seeing it is its from a bird.

problem is im not aware of birds moving in such an erratic pattern without any visible track of a bug they might chase. lizards might walk this way but id expect a tailtrail then.

anyone have some more info?

http://members.home.nl/siep.hendrika/768x575.JPG for the small picture or http://members.home.nl/siep.hendrika/DSCN0255.JPG for the full size one.

to the right of the picture a small part is inviseble but the track loops back there.


Porcupine

 

[R-J]

i'm no expert dude, but i'd say bird

 

[pumbaa]

I have a few pet lizards , and i would have to say definately not a lizard .
Got to be a bird
Pumbaa

 

[g4ghb]

Bird! - sure i've seen this track in a book somewhere.... pretty sure the 'extra' marks are from the wings/tail

 

[jdlenton]

To me thats a bird I think you can see a take off/landing mark in the bottom right of the picture i can't quite make my mind up which. I would say the trails could be the tail but it's more likley to be the feet as the bird is sinking in the sand it's not picking it's feet up high enough and catching it's middle toe or the toe at the pack in the sand

edit: It would have been good if there was something in the picture to give scale just a idea

James

 

[wolf]

Bird! - sure i've seen this track in a book somewhere.... pretty sure the 'extra' marks are from the wings/tail

yes its a bird cant remember also,but marks are tail feathers.

 

[ravem]

the following picture i made in white sands yesterday,my first thought upon seeing it is its from a bird.
Porcupine

Yes, imho it's a bird.
You can be sure that's a two legged animal from the line that the footprints follow:
they're almost on a straight line.
The left and right footprints of a lizards are about some centimeters wide apart, usually with the tail mark in between.
Like this: http://www.bear-tracker.com/images/fencelizardtracks2.jpg

 

[Porcupine]

Thanks for the fast reactions,the size of the prints were roughly an inch per print.

next time i make a picture ill put something in view wich marks the dimensions better.


Porc

 

[GeoffreyMcMullan]

Hi Porcupine

It would seem to me that you are looking at a Little-ringed Plover.

There is a single track, if there where more I would suspect Sanderling, also the ripples susgest that the tide was a short distance away and sanderling tend to stay on top of the tide, where as Plovers stay above the tide and also further up the beach.

They move in an erractic way and they also fly catch. The toes appear to be dragging over the ripples and in some cases the back toe seems to be connceting with the middle toe on the way down from a ripple.

Either way I would put my money on Little-ringed Plover.

Aye

Geoffrey

 

[steve a]

Now there's a tracker, thanks for that Geoffrey, further inspiration to get out and do some more tracking. Your knowledge never fails to impress me.

 

[Adi]

Now there's a tracker

A good/best tracker is someone that intimately knows his pray, I would suggest that Geoffrey is a birdwatcher or nature watcher that has done much of his watching on estuaries and/or mudflats. But i don't know Geoffrey and i am guessing

 

[2blackcat]

That's good enough for me

I've just got to finalise the bits and pieces but I'm definately going on the first of his courses next year

 

[Porcupine]

first of all my apoligies for reacting so late,mexico doesnt have a lot of stable connections to the internet outside the big cities.

Geoffrey,the minor detail is i made this picture at white sands,it is a desert area at the area between texas,new mexico and mexico roughly. part of this area is used by the american military for missile tests.

i do agree with the rest of your explanation,it is very thought out and a bird wich fills the same niche probably made these prints.

some more background info,the "sand" you see is some sort of gypsum,it was washed out of the surrounding mountains and dumped into the lower plains. normaly it would be washed out with the water but since it is so dry there it stays and builds up into a big wide flowing sanddune area.

http://members.home.nl/siep.hendrika/DSCN0252.JPG is a picture wich gives more of an overview,it isnt the most beautifull one i made but the car and small shack give a better impression of the size of the area.


btw,i found out most of this after i had been there,had i known beforehand i might have been able to give better information.


still im impressed with the amount of knowledge you have of your own habitat and tracking,being out here told me how much im still lacking now even about my "hometurf".


Porc

 

[GeoffreyMcMullan]

Hi Porc

Thanks for that.

I would be interesetd to know which bird it was? Yes you are right it is always good to get the right information first, still it was fun looking at the photo and trying to work out what was going on.

I later spotted some beak marks as well.

Good Tracking

Geoffrey

 

[Ian "max" Maxwell]

Hi Geoff,
its good to see the tracking forum working up a sweat. Some of good lessons to be learned.
Always contexturise a print.
You can track alone( despite what Tom B sys)if you have the experience and knowledge to interpret the creator of the track and the action indicators. Its all about experience and dirt time- The Phase Method.
I get hundreds of print photos sent in for interpretation, and to be honest I dont even attempt an opinion, they are uni-dimensional, they rarely put the print in context and that goes against RULE number 5 of tracking: Always seek confirmatory evidence.
If the worst comes to the worst and interpretation has to be done from a photo,ask lots of questions.Time spent gathering information is time NOT wasted.

 

[GeoffreyMcMullan]

Hi Max,

Good to hear from you, I trust that you are well? Give my regards to everyone.

Yes I agree, it is good to see the tracking forum working up a sweat, to see people talking about all the different views, it just shows how exciting the subject is and how it can teach you so much. It really is another world.

This is a good example for all to see and I for one I am glad that the forum is working and that people are interested in tracking, the more the better.

It is, always best to have as many tools in your tool box and to gain as much experince as you can, as you so rightly pointed out.

Yes I agree, Its all about experience and dirt time.

And that starts from day one and I take my hat of to anyone willing to go there and get the experince, willing to keep an open mind regardless of philosophy.

I do believe you will not see the world in the same way again.

Time spent is NOT wasted.

I am truely pleased to see you doing so well and I would encorage people to learn from your experince and to take that forward.

Wishing you all the best

Aye

Geoffrey