Field Notes: Trail Cameras
Field Notes is a YouTube series where two nature videographers and their trail cameras capture a year of hidden wildlife stories from a forest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
In coastal British Columbia, countless wild stories are unfolding. With the help of some trail cameras in a nearby forest, two wildlife guides capture some amazing animal behavior. Watch as the subtle and intimate moments of these stories unfold over the course of a year.
Each episode also has a cheat sheet for teachers that identifies concepts in the videos that may be useful in the classroom. And all episodes have closed captioning options in both English and French.
Produced by Bennett Whitnell, Grant Callegari, and Meigan Henry
Edited by Bennett Whitnell
Videography by Grant Callegari and Bennett Whitnell
Additional footage provided by Jim Palmer and Storyblocks
The Emergence of Spring on Vancouver Island
Follow two science filmmakers as they peek into a west coast forest to see wildlife waking up as spring emerges and their stories begin to unfold.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Field Notes:
– Trail cameras
– Animal characteristics and behaviors in the spring
– Seasonal changes, adaptations to the environment
– Deer: pregnant does, yearling bucks, antlers, sense of smell, winter coats
– Bears: scent marking trees
– Bears, beavers, pine martens, deer, mink, and frogs
A Summer Feast on a Vancouver Island Logging Road
In a small west coast forest, summer is a time of abundance. Glimpse cougars stalk their prey, bears bulk up, and baby deer munch plants, and hear from the two science filmmakers witnessing these wildlife tales.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Field Notes:
– Trail cameras
– Animal characteristics and behaviors in the summer
– Seasonal changes, adaptations to the environment
– Deer: fawns, nutrition, growth and development, scent glands, summer coats
– Bears: nutrition, growth and development
– Animal use of old logging roads
– Cougars: prey, hunting behavior
– Deer, frogs, bears, cougars, pine martens
Fall Deer Ruts, Bear Butts, and More on Vancouver Island
As fall sets in and the weather changes, two science filmmakers follow our cast of wildlife characters as they go through a flurry of last-chance feasting and finding mates before the cold and wet of winter.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Field Notes:
– Trail cameras
– Animal characteristics and behaviors in the fall
– Seasonal changes, adaptations to the environment
– Preparing for the winter, environmental challenges
– Bears: nutrition, foraging
– Deer: ticks (parasites), fawns, weaning, antlers, rut, mating, dominance displays
– Bears, deer, pileated woodpeckers, pine martens, rabbits, barred owls
Salmon Run on Vancouver Island
In a west coast forest, bears, eagles, and herons flock to a salmon-filled creek to fill their bellies. Two science filmmakers and their trail cameras spy on the all-you-can-eat fall fish buffet.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Field Notes:
– Trail cameras
– Animal characteristics and behaviors in the fall
– Seasonal changes, adaptations to the environment
– Preparing for the winter, environmental challenges
– Salmon run
– Bears, salmon, bald eagles, great blue herons
Animals Enduring the Challenges of a Vancouver Island Winter
While some are sleeping through the heavy rains and occasional snow of winter, other animals in this now quiet west coast forest keep on keeping on, finding food where they can as the cold takes over. Two scientific filmmakers follow cougar kittens, beaver, pine marten, mink, and an unexpected winter visitor, before they collect their trail cameras one final time.
Teacher cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Field Notes:
– Trail cameras
– Animal characteristics and behaviors in the winter
– Seasonal changes, adaptations to the environment
– Bears: dormancy, torpor, cubs, nutrition, scent marking trees
– Cougars: hunting, cubs
– Bears, beavers, mink, cougars, deer, rabbit, pine marten, raccoons, robins
Field Notes Q&A
Meet the team behind Field Notes, get your questions answered, hear from experts Jim Palmer and Jan Gemmell from the Morrison Creek Stream Keepers, and get a sneak peek of our next video series, Bare Earth.