Podcasts about canada jay

Last time we talked about crows, raven and magpies. This episode we talk about mountain corvids, well mountainish; including Pinyon Jay (0:47), Clarks Nutcracker (4:05), Canada Jay (6:20) and Steller's Jay (9:13) and we finish with a review of all the corvids so far at (11:30).  If you missed the episode mountains vs valleys you can check it out here https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-cghrj-14182ec   Feel free to email me at birdingbyearpodcast@gmail.com or through Facebook at BirdingByEarPodcast.  Other helpful links include: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/ https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/peterson-field-guide-to-bird-sounds/ https://xeno-canto.org/ Music is Called Good Thoughts by Diana Taylor from  https://taketones.com/track/good-thoughts  

Dr. Ryan Norris, a biologist at the University of Guelph, discusses the Canada Jay. This is part of a series on the decline of native birds, produced by Mark Jacobs.

Jay Martin thinks people might be celebrating a bit too early when it comes to Justin Trudeau's resignation, as none of the main problems plaguing Canada have been solved and the political future remains more uncertain than ever as the Liberal party seeks a new candidate to face off with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Jay discusses how a Conservative victory could affect the metals and mining sector in Canada, the commodities he thinks will outperform in 2025, his outlook for gold and silver, and much more.Get Your FREE Tickets to the VRIC: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conferenceThe Jay Martin Show: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJayMartinShowFollow Jesse Day on X: https://x.com/jessebdayCommodity Culture on Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/CommodityCulture

Canada Jays are perfectly Canadian. Low key, soft spoken, resilient and enduring. They are a companion with whom we share a landscape and they serve as a symbol to ourselves.They are a much-talked about survivor that plays by the rules of the bush and they win by always being up to something – even if it means getting the best of us every now and then. All of this makes the Canada Jay one of the most perfect - Birds of Alberta. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ma tells us about the time she got arrested protesting the Canada/USA border that intersects the Kanien'keha'ka (Mohawk) community of Akwesasne in 1968 and lets us in on all the crazy shit that happened after that. Warning: We swear and curse in this episode.Helpful resources used for this episode:You Are on Indian Land by Michael Kanentakeron MitchellFirst Nations and Native Americans - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Canada Jay's Treaty | The Canadian EncyclopediaHosted by - Kaniehtiio HornYou can follow us on TikTok and Instagram or check us out on our website at www.coffeewithmyma.com. Many nia:wen ko:wen's to our Sponsor, Moccasin Joe Coffee and to Canada Council for the Arts for making season 2 possible. Check out our lovely brand and website designer, Denita Gladeau. Her website is www.lushtre.com, and you can find her on her Instagram at @lushtre. And Many Nia:wen's to our photographer, Daniel Esteban, for our season 2 photoshoot. Check him out at www.danesteban.com.

It's This Month in Birding for August 2023, our monthly round table discussion featuring voices from around the birding world. This month, we welcome back our friends Jody Allair of Birds Canada, Jordan Rutter of the American Bird Conservancy, and Brodie Cass Talbott of Portland Audubon to talk about American Kestrels, Canada Jay siblings, 50 years of Project Puffin and more.  Links to topics discussed in this episode: The Mystery of the Vanishing Kestrels: What's Happening to This Flashy Falcon? Sibling Rivalry Pays Off for Canada Jays, U of G Research Finds 50 years of Project Puffin Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!    

Dragging STEM forward - LGBTQ scientists perform their work for inclusion; Lucy was swole! Scientists reconstruct a 3.2 million-year-old hominid's muscles; Canada Jay siblings fight to see who lives at home, and who moves out; Baby skateboard gives a boost to preemie development; Cockroach baits don't just kill, they're driving evolution of the pest's love life.

Oh me, oh my! Our hosts are ready to fly...the coop that is! On this bird-centric episode, B tells us about a corvid with as many alter egos as it does mythological stories - and Jackson is simply cuckoo for it! Sources: Wikipedia Canadian Geographic: Anishinaabe stories about the mischievous, wise gray jay by Niigaan Sinclair; Oh Canada jay! The story behind an icon-in-the-making by Julia Zarankin Trickster by Amanda Robinson for The Canadian Encyclopedia The Man Who Plucked the Gorbey: A Maine Woods Legend by  Edward D. Ives The Soul of a Dead Woodsman by Ross Caron for Northern Woodlands Moosehead Lake, “The Man Who Plucked the Gorbey” from the Maine Folklife Center New England Folklore blog: The Gorbey - Pluck at Your Own Risk You can reach out to us via email - homegrownhorrorpod@gmail.com - send us stories, questions, Maine movie recommendations, or just say hi! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homegrownhorrorpod/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hghpod/support

Summary: In this final episode of Family Corvidae join Cheryl and Kiersten as they talk about what makes jays so interesting and learn about the five different jays found in Arizona.   For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.   Show Notes: Ornithology by Frank B. Gill  Https://corvidresearch.blog/catergory/jay-behavior/   Transcript   Host Voice: Welcome to The Feathered Desert a podcast all about desert bird feeding in the Southwest region of the United States. (Various bird calls play) Corvidae Family Part Four: Jays Kiersten: Intro – Welcome to the Feathered Desert, everyone!  This is part four of Family Corvidae, our final episode on this amazing bird family. In part four we are discussing Jays. This is my second favorite bird in the Corvidae family. My first is Ravens and I know Cheryl is extremely partial to crows.   Cheryl: Yes, I am!   Kiersten: If you have listened to the previous three parts you know that this bird family is celebrated for its complicated behaviors and problem-solving skills. Jays are no exception to this and the one attribute they are most well-known for is their spatial memory capacity.               First question is, what exactly is spatial memory? Spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event.   Cheryl: Something that humans need more of! (laughs)   Kiersten: Spatial memory is necessary for orientation in space. In layman's terms, it means you can recall where you put your car keys or remember the route to the grocery store. Without this kind of memory, you just stumble through life coming across things randomly.               The part of the brain that processes spatial memory is the hippocampus. The hippocampus of both mammals and birds are functionally identical, meaning they both process the same kind of information in the same way. Birds that rely heavily on seed-caching, like our Jays, have an enlarged hippocampus. Their enlarged hippocampus helps jays remember all the places they've hidden seeds for future use. In general, they have an 85% retrieval rate. The size of the hippocampus in jays was quite a surprise when scientists discovered it, but has led to a whole variety of questions about bird memory and social relationships.             Cheryl: Birds! The never-ending amazing facts! How I marvel at them! Canada Jay             We're going to start off with the Canada Jay and I'm kinda excited because I didn't know we had them in Arizona. My first experience with a Canada Jay was when I was up in Yellowstone National Park. We are lucky to have five different jays in Arizona and we're going to talk about one that is found in only a small portion of Northeast Arizona first, the Canada Jay. There are several subspecies of the Canada Jay that range across the northern North American continent. The one we will see most commonly in Arizona is a medium sized bird at approximately 11.5 inches with gray wings and tail, white chest, and pale gray underparts. The head is white with a gray stipe that circles the head from eye to eye. The beak and legs are both black. The Canada jay has no crest and a short, small beak. Juveniles are all gray. This jay is also known as the Gray Jay, Camp Robber, and Whiskey Jack. I have a story to go with the Camp Robber! They are found mainly in coniferous forests in Arizona. They eat insects, berries, seeds, carrion, bird eggs, and fungi. They forage in trees, shrubs, on the ground, and can catch insects on the wing.             As we talked about before, this jay caches food but they have something that sets them apart from other jays. They have super sticky saliva! When they find food that they want to cache, such as seeds, they coat it in their sticky saliva and they deposit it on the sides of a tree trunk or the bottom of a tree branch. Once the saliva dries, it hardens around the food and keeps it safe for later use. The reason they place it on tree trunks is to keep it available when the snow covers the ground, especially in the northern regions where they are found. They are a non-migratory bird so they tough out the winter where ever they live. Placing their caches above the snow allows them to survive the winter and awards them the most northernly jay on the continent.               When we were in Yellowstone we were cooking outside at the fire and had a run-in with Camp Robber! We were cooking chicken kabobs that you would cook over the campfire and these birds began to collect over our campsite. One swooped down and snagged a piece of un-cooked chicken off the cutting board! By the time we organized to get everything covered them took green pepper, potato, carrot, a few chips, and a roll! Talk about a Camp Robber!   Kiersten: Mexican Jay             Next, we're travelling down to the Southeastern corner of Arizona to talk about the Mexican Jay. Once again, there are several subspecies of this jay and their coloration can vary by population. The one found in Arizona ranges between 11-13 inches in length. The face, head, neck, back, wings, and tail are a bright sky-blue color while the throat, chest, and belly are white. They have no visible crest. The beak is long and wider at the head tapering down to the end. It is black, as are their legs. They prefer pine, oak, and juniper woodlands. They eat fruits, insects, seeds, carrion, bird eggs, and acorns. Acorns are especially coveted and are often cached for later use. They find about 85% of these cached acorns, but the ones they forget about are extremely important to the environment because those will grow into mighty oaks. Mexican Jays are very family-oriented jays and can live in groups of 5-25 that often contain parents, siblings, and other relatives in the same territory or in an adjacent territory. They can live up to 20 years surrounded by family. With the warming temperatures brought on by Climate Change, Mexican Jays in Arizona now lay eggs 10 days earlier than they used to back in the 1970s.   Cheryl: Pinyon Jay             Our next amazing jay is found throughout most of Arizona except the southwestern portion of the state. The Pinyon Jay is approximately 10.5 inches in length and is a lovely azure blue from head to tail. They have no visible crest. The beak and legs are both black. Clear leg feathers can be seen giving them the look of pants. The beak is thin but great for cracking open seeds. They prefer habitats with ponderosa pines, pinyon-junipers, and mixed forests of oak and pine. They eat nuts, pine seeds, grass seeds, berries, fruits, insects, and eggs. They forage in trees mostly but will go to ground for something worth their while, and have been seen searching for food in coniferous forests at elevation of 3,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level.             Unlike other jays, the pinyon jay does not have feathers that cover their nostrils. This is because they probe deep into pitch-covered pinecones to extract the seeds and if they had feathers covering their nostrils, they would get goopy. It is also why this jay's beak is so slender compared to other corvids. Breeding season in pinyon jays is closely correlated to the seeding time of the pinyon pine and when green pinecones appear it can trigger their breeding hormones. These birds can live in flocks up to 500 and they often stay in that flock their entire lives.   So those aren't necessarily family groups?   Kiersten: Definitely! I'm sure there is some family but this is a big enough group you'll find someone you're not related to.   Cheryl: They have a strict dominance hierarchy that they abide by that is decided through observation alone, not direct interaction. For example, if Jay H sees Jay T, a dominant bird to Jay H, respect Jay F's dominance, Jay H will also concede to Jay F's dominance without having to physically interact with him.   That's like mutual respect.   Kiersten: It is and it makes a whole lot of sense! If you are living in a group of 500 and are constantly jostling for position, you'd be fighting all the time and never get anything done. It's so amazing!   Cheryl: We could learn something from birds there. They get more done than we do!   Kiersten: Steller's Jay             Our next jay is our most strikingly colored jay, in my opinion. The Steller's Jay is approximately 11.5 inches in length with a black head, face, neck, and back and light blue underbelly and dark blue wings and tail that have black striping. This jay has a prominent black crest that they can raise or lower. In Arizona they are found in the eastern portion of the state with some residents in the northwestern areas,  as well. We are in the eastern half of their North American range and our populations often have thin, white stripes on the face above the eye and on the forehead. Like most of our other jays they prefer wooded forests as their chosen habitat. They eat nuts, seeds, acorns, small invertebrates, and bird eggs.             The crest on the Steller's jay is used to communicate with other jays. When the crest is raised to 90 degrees this can indicate an imminent attack, but if the crest is lowered flat the jay will most likely retreat. The length of the crest will vary by population and it is determined by the openness of the vegetation in their habitat and the effectiveness of the crests as social cues. There are several subspecies of this jay ranging somewhere between 15-17 different subspecies but all are found in the western portion of the US. They get their name from Georg Steller, the European naturalist who discovered the species in 1741.             Cheryl: Okay. I have a question. It has to do with subspecies. What exactly is that?   Kiersten: A subspecies is usually a population difference. Different regions will have slightly different versions of the species. It is most often determined by isolation. Coloration or size will differ in the entire population and scientists will determine whether they are considered a subspecies or not. They are all Steller's Jays but with slight regional differences that are common enough in a population to make them a subspecies.   Cheryl: Thank you!   Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay             Our final Arizona jay is Woodhouse's Scrub Jay. Their approximate length is 11.5 inches and they have a blue head with a thin, white eyebrow stripe and gray cheek patch. Their neck, wings, and tail are blue. The upper back is dark gray. The throat is white and the underparts are light gray. Beak and legs are black. They have no crest. They are found in the majority of Arizona with the exception of the southwestern corner. They are found only in the Southwestern region of the United States and Central Mexico. It prefers pinyon pines and juniper forests but can also be found in oak woodlands and mixed forests. They eat insects, grains, small lizards, frogs, fruits, and bird eggs.  They have been seen picking ticks off the backs of Mule Deer.             The Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay used to be lumped together with other species of scrub jays all called the Western Scrub Jay, but as time has gone by and populations of birds become more isolated scientists have broken the Western scrub jay into different species such as the California Scrub Jay and the Woodhouse's Scrub Jay. When these birds ranged across the entire United States the Florida Scrub Jay was also included in this group and all were just called Scrub Jays. There is also the Island Scrub-Jay that lives only on the island of Santa Cruz off the coast of California. This particular jay is helping scientists replant trees that were burned from wildfires.             Kiersten: Replanting forests is actually one of the most important jobs that all jays across the continent have. When the birds cache their nuts and seeds, they don't just cache any nuts and seeds, they must be just right, kind of like Goldie Locks. These birds look for the perfect nuts by shaking their heads after they've picked up the nut with their beaks. This motion helps them determine the weight of the nut. The weight of the nut can tell them exactly how many seeds are in the shell and whether it's worth their effort to cache it. This also means these are healthy seeds that, if left buried, will grow into new trees, and as we mentioned before, jays have great memories but they always miss a few caches. I think that's by design!   Cheryl: Yes!   Kiersten: Researchers on the Island of Santa Cruz have put the Island Scrub-Jay to work replanting the island's lost trees by offering them acorns to cache. For a more in-depth look at this project check out our Groundbreaking Women of Ornithology Part 1.   We hope you've learned some new things from our Family Corvidae series. I know we both learned a lot as we researched and wrote each episode. This family of birds never stops amazing us!

Karine is your go-to birder for advice based in Ottawa!Find out more about the Canada Jays!Connect with me on Twitter, email, or website. Short-tailed ShearwaterIngredients4 oz Red Wine1 oz Maple Syrup2 oz Canadian Whisky1 dash nutmegDirections1.    Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat2.    Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring periodically3.    Remove from heat and pour in a mug

Ukraine recaptures southern island, vasectomy uptick, Australia's lockdown for bees, a Swedish zero-star hotel, the Canada Jay, a wheelchair user left on a plane again...and more.

Dr David Bird is a professor emeritus at McGill. He lays out the case for the Canada Jay to Andrew Carter.

We're chatting with Ottawa native Jay Bhindi, now an assistant head coach with Valour FC. Jay's career has taken him from Ottawa South United, to Fury FC, to Austin, Edmonton and now Winnipeg. Jay is one of the great young coaching minds in Canada, and in this wide-ranging interview we touch on: -the developing soccer pyramid in Canada -Jay's love of Turkish footy -learning from Phil Dos Santos -favourite slushie flavours -and lots more!

Episode 34:  The Amazing World of the Canada Jay Ever since I was a child, I've been enamoured by what my family used to call Whiskey Jacks - now called Canada Jays. I and my brothers would sit on our front deck holding our hands out whilst these little gray darlings would come and, with a little coaxing, take pieces of bread and other goodies from our hands. In this episode, I am joined by Dan Strickland, former Algonquin Park Naturalist and Dr. Ryan Norris an ecologist who is an Associate Professor with the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Both are experts on the ecology of the Canada Jay and share some of the latest research findings based on nearly 60 years of Algonquin Park-based research out of the Wildlife Research Station. Some key links: Indigenous artist Mark Nadjiwan's drawing of a Canada Jay can be found on his website https://www.threetreesart.com/for-seven-generations.html This episode's musical interlude is called Dawn of the Lake from Dan Gibson's Solitudes' CD called Breaking Through the Mist. Many thanks to Digital Funding LLC, owners of the Dan Gibson's Solitudes' copyright, who have granted  permission for its use. Search using Dan Gibson's Solitudes' as the search term on your favourite music streaming site to listen to the entire CD. For more details on the Canada Jay research check out the Wildlife Research Station website publications page https://www.algonquinwrs.ca   Also check out Dr. Ryan Norris' complete research portfolio at the Ryan Norris Lab, including some really interesting work on migrating monarch butterflies.  https://norrislab.ca      

The gray jay, also known as the Canada Jay, is a common bird of coniferous forests in Montana and across the west. This “camp robber” looks for handouts around camps in the high country. This bird is a “scatter hoarder”, caching a variety of food items in the summer for winter use.

To celebrate episode #47 of #PocketPod #CanadaEh, we have a double-double of an episode for our #AnimalCrossing sister feed. Join us for Canadian facts and faves, a munchies #mukbang, and some not too ketchupy, but definitely ketchupy fun. (Part 1 of 2) For a discount on delicious munchies from Canada delivered to the lower 48 states, go to CanadianMunch.com and use code PocketPod10 to save 10% on your order.

a.k.a. 'whiskey jacks' Corvid queen and friend of the show KAELI SWIFT is back! She's here to tell us about the world's most adorable corvid the CANADA JAY. We get into smoky eyes, sticky sticky sticky sticky saliva and also objective adorableness as we deep dive into Kaeli's current studies.  Show Notes Kaeli Swift on Twitter Kaeli's Blog Know more about Canada Jay Spit here Maggie on Twitter Drunk Safari on Twitter Drunk Safari on Facebook

COMPASSION CANADA_Jay Calder_04.07.mp3 by Millarville Community Church

Your hosts, Lynn, Levon, Marie Claude, Marc  (scroll to bottom for video of show) ListenEN_Interview_2-20180525-WIE20 The Friendly International Dispute Over an Arctic Island View of Hans Island located in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait, which separates Ellesmere Island from northern Greenland. (Photo courtesy of Michael Byers) It's a very small island in the middle of the Arctic ocean. Trouble is it's smack dab in the middle of the maritime boundary separating Greenland, i.e. Denmark,  and Canada. Small, barren and uninhabited, both countries claim it, and have done so for years. Now both Canada and Denmark/Greenland have decided to establish a task force to resolve this friendly dispute.  Levon speaks to Canadian Arctic expert Michael Byers who says the longstanding dispute seems to come back in the news whenever a national election looms, but says the island dispute should be very easy to resolve. Canada's (almost) Official Bird- gets its real name back The Canada Jay is not shy and will land right on your camera even without the temptation of food. (Gord Belyea) Canada, like many countries, has an official animal, the beaver and even a second official animal , the Canadian horse,.  In fact, Canada, and each province, like many countries and states, also have official animals, trees, or other plants, and birds. Canada so far hasn't named an official national bird, although the Royal Canadian Geographical Society held a nation wide contest and the grey jay won.  Except, it really shouldn't be called the grey jay.  A long standing effort to recover the bird's real name has finally born fruit. Lynn spoke with ornithological expert David Bird about the re-naming of the "Canada Jay". U.S. to withdraw from Joint Comphensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran nuclear deal Several world leaders and top government officials including John Kerry of the US and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif are shown in 2015 announcing the deal worked out to end Iran's nuclear weapons programme for at least a decade. Source: CBC news Two weeks ago, U.S. President Trump announced the country was withdrawing from the JCPOA saying it was a bad deal and did not go nearly far enough in limiting Iran's nuclear weapons development goals and capability.  That would mean the re-imposition of harsh sanctions. Iran would like to keep the deal to avoid such sanctions and has expressed willingness to re-negotiate although with an underlying threat that it might restart its uranium enrichment efforts if a deal isn't reached quickly. Most other countries, including Canada, expressed dismay at the U.S decision. In this excerpt, international affairs expert Ferry de Kerckhove from the University of Ottawa says Canada's opinion carries little influence but agrees the U.S decision is ill considered. Lobsters and Snow Leopards Marie-Claude is back from a trip to the Maritime province of New Brunswick and show photos of her experience with lobsters and a lobster recipe, and we have a brief look at Lynn's story along with the cutest photo of baby snow leopards born in the Winnipeg Zoo. Images of the week window.jQuery || document.write('

One of the major birding trends of the 21st Century has been a move away from a sole interest in birds. This is facilitated by an ever increasing library of field guides to various taxa, smartphone apps that make it easier than ever to identify and catalog the things we see, and a general nature aesthetic that has become a bigger part of how we interact with the natural world. In this episode host Nate Swick welcomes two birders who have whole-heartedly thrown themselves into this new reality. Jody Allair is researcher and environmental educator with Bird Studies Canada at Long Point, Ontario, and Frank Izaguirre is a writer and naturalist, currently in Morgantown, West Virginia. His Tools of the Trade article, All the Wonders of the World: iNaturalist and Birding is featured in the latest issue of the ABA’s Birding magazine. Jody and Frank share a ton of great resources for birders looking to expand their nature knowledge at The ABA Blog. Also in this episode, opinions on the proposal to change the name of Gray Jay to Canada Jay. You can help us out by participating on our listener demographic survey here.  

Forest Fires Spreading across British Columbia and now threaten parts of Alberta When I wrote last week's fire focused episode, little did I know that my own community of Canmore would be smelly and smoky this week as fires continue to spread and the number of evacuees in British Columbia climbs. The hot dry weather is showing no signs of abating and over the past week, the number of people forced out of their homes and communities in British Columbia has swelled from 14,000 to more than 45,000 as of July 18, 2017. This makes it one of the largest mass evacuations in the history of the province. The previous record was an evacuation of 50,000 due to fires near Kelowna in 2003. Heat waves that year also caused massive fires across both Alberta and British Columbia. Over this past weekend, high winds caused a number of fires to rapidly expand in size and has subsequently resulted in more evacuations. In other areas, the fires around Williams Lake and 100 Mile House have stayed fairly stable over the past few days allowing firefighters to make some headway. Some people are being allowed to return to their communities, although many may return to find their homes have been destroyed. Members of the Ashcroft Indian Reserve and the community of Cache Creek are returning home after an 11-day absence. Residents of 100-Mile House may also be returning home soon. Province-wide, there are still 155 active fires burning and there is still no sign of significant rain on the horizon. Closer to the Alberta border, a fire in the Verdant Creek area of Kootenay National Park ignited last week. This fire puts flames within just 2.5 kilometres of Sunshine Village in Banff National Park. In just 24 hours it swelled in size by a factor of 10, growing from a few hundred hectares on Sunday to some 2,000 ha by Monday. The fire is considered to be out of control and crews are working in the Sunshine area to try to prevent the loss of any structures should the fire continue to spread eastward. Huge water pumps are also at the ready in order to keep buildings wet if the fire encroaches the resort area. As you can imagine, there is now a total fire ban throughout the mountain national parks. Kootenay National Park has also closed the Verdant Creek area all the way to the Simpson River in the south and Banff has closed Sunshine Meadows and Village, as well as access to the Egypt Lake area, Healy Pass, Citadel Pass, Whistling Valley and Pharaoh Pass. I would expect additional closures to occur as the conditions continue to evolve. Even in towns like Canmore and Banff, the mountains are barely visible and the air quality is dropping fast. Currently, the Verdant Creek fire is approximately 24 km from Banff and 31 km from Canmore. Environment Canada has issued an air quality warning for Banff, Canmore and Kananaskis warning that: "Due to the smoke, the AQHI (Air Quality Health Index) will likely reach 10, or high risk, in parts of Central and southern Alberta on Wednesday. There is some uncertainty as to where the thickest smoke will set up, but current indications are that the corridor of thickest smoke and poorest air quality will be between Hinton, Red Deer, and Edmonton." "Individuals may experience symptoms such as increased coughing, throat irritation, headaches or shortness of breath. Children, seniors, and those with cardiovascular or lung disease, such as asthma, are especially at risk." "In general, wearing a mask is not the best way to protect your health during a smoke event. In fact, masks may lead to a false sense of security, which may encourage increased physical activity and time spent outdoors, meaning increased exposure to smoke. They can also make breathing more difficult." The smoke is not only affecting communities in the Rockies, but it has spread as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. These smoke plumes can carry for hundreds of kilometres and as the fires continue to spread, we can expect air quality to suffer along with it. In the interior of B.C., near Williams Lake, the Air Quality Index was reportedly as high as 23, and that is on a scale of 1 to 10 with a 10+ reserved for very high-risk air quality. Today should see some of the winds shifting to send more wind westward to the coast, but the eastern slopes are still completely smoked in. Also in last week's episode, I talked about the need to ramp up our use of prescribed burns as we see summer weather regimes shift with the shifting of climate norms. As summers see more and more prolonged droughts, separated by severe storms, lightning caused fires may become far more prevalent. To complicate matters, we have had years of fire suppression leaving many of our western forests susceptible to large fires. Even places like British Columbia's Interior Rainforest, some of which may not have burned for a millennium or more, are susceptible to large fires if their normal weather regiments continue to change. The interior rainforest is unique on the planet as more than 97% of all rainforests occur in coastal areas. However, while it is considered a rainforest, it doesn't get enough rain to truly qualify. What it does get is huge accumulations of snow. The slow melting of this snow releases vast amounts of moisture and essentially allows it to simulate a true rainforest. Should that change, these forests could also burn. With changing climates we need to look at fire in a very different way. After my comments last week, I came across a CBC News article that interviews a fire ecologist by the name of Robert Gray, of R.W. Gray Consulting. Gray consults with communities to help them reduce their overall fire risk and he echoes my previous comments. He recommends a minimum of doubling the current number of prescribed burns - especially if we see a continuation of the hot summer drought conditions that are becoming more common in the mountain west. The extreme heat this summer created tinder that was ignited by thousands of dry lightning strikes. According to David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the number of lightning strikes increases by 15% for every additional degree of warming. To complicate things further, years of mountain pine beetle infestations have left tens of thousands of standing dead trees which are extremely flammable. While the potential for large, catastrophic fires has been building over the past decade, the incidence of prescribed burns has dropped in British Columbia from 150-200,000 hectares in the 1980s to just 5,000 in the past few years. Prescribed burns are a hassle. They're smoky and smelly, and tourists hate them, but they are still a way better option than ignoring the problem and waiting for conflagrations to ignite. For generations, first nations used prescribed fires in order to improve wildlife habitat. We need to recognize that these forests are going to burn, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Robert Gray is very clear that there is no way to avoid smoke in a prescribed burn, but as he puts it: "There is no 'no smoke' option…How do you want your smoke — wild or controlled?" Recent studies have also shown that by having smaller, more controlled burns, the amount of smoke is reduced as are the amount of unhealthy particulates that are floating through the air at the moment. Let's use this as a wake-up call to begin looking at our forests and our climate as a pair. As the climate warms, the fires burn. Let's ramp our prescribed burn schedules up to help keep the mountain west a little safer. For some areas of B.C., fire breaks are being created the hard way at the moment. Let's try to make the next decade one of adaptation to new fire realities. Bear 148 Gets a Reprieve In episode 34, I talked about the challenges that the Provincial conservations officers seem to be having when dealing with Grizzly 148, the daughter of Banff's beloved Bear 64. If you'd like to listen to the story, check it out at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep034. After an incident in the Peaks of Grassi area where 148 bluff charged a man with a stroller and two dogs, conservation officers live-trapped her and relocated her back to her home turf in Banff. They also made it clear that they planned to euthanize her should a similar incident occur in the future. This was despite the fact that a bluff charge is simply a way of telling an intruder that she is in charge. Bluff charges are especially common when people bring dogs into bear country as dogs are easily perceived as a threat by bears. She was in a designated primary wildlife corridor doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing. The people were in her turf, not the other way around. As we encroach more and more on wilderness corridors, we can only expect to see more and more incidents like this one. After the relocation, a petition was started that attracted more than 4,000 signatures from people that did not want to see 148 killed for no good management reason. Even the individual that was involved in the bluff charge encounter supports the right of 148 to use that particular corridor. She is just at the age where she may have mated for the first time and female bears are critical to the stability of the local bear population. After this huge public outcry, conservation officers have softened their stance on 148. Alberta officials are now talking about a partnership with Banff Park Wardens when dealing with bears like 148 when she leaves the boundaries of the park and wanders into Provincial lands. Despite this, Conservation Officer Jay Honeyman did reiterate that "bears cannot be within the developed footprint of the Town of Canmore", despite the fact that the designated corridors force them to be within this supposed no-go zone. In a recent article in the Rocky Mountain Outlook Honeyman was quoted: “When that bear comes out we’re trying to do what we can to enable her to live on the landscape without causing public safety concerns,” Honeyman said. “Nobody is taking this lightly. Nobody, more so people who work with wildlife, want to harm or euthanize wildlife … but we can’t and won’t ignore public safety.” This is particularly important as the area she was spending time is an area where buffaloberries are now ripening. Many more bears will be attracted to the lower Bow Valley over the next several weeks as these berries ripen. If you don't know how to recognize this plant, then stop right now and watch this safety video that I've put together to help you understand the critical importance of buffaloberries. Buffaloberries mean bears and so over the next 6-8 weeks, or until the first frost of the season, bears will descend to the valley bottom to feast on these critical berries. Don't walk along the town trails without bear spray on your belt - especially in the areas around Quarry Lake and the Peaks of Grassi primary wildlife corridors. Things are only going to get tougher for bears in the Canmore/Quarry Lake area as the Town of Canmore pushes forward with its proposed mountain bike park in the Quarry Lake area. Mayor John Borrowman supports this ecological madness, continually claiming that the area is NOT a habitat patch and therefore not of importance to wildlife. This is something that I have a lot of background in. I wrote two books on mountain biking, including Mountain Bike! The Canadian Rockies and Mountain Bike! Southwestern British Columbia. I also designed the original route for the famous Trans Rockies Challenge that ran from Fernie  British Columbia to Canmore. It was called the  "Toughest Race in the World" by both Mountain Bike and Bike magazines. I've spent the past 30 years out on foot and pedal and, as a biologist, I'm always working to educate people on bear safety. I understand the Mayor saying that there are already too many pirate trails that go through wildlife corridors and they should be dismantled. Wildlife corridors should be signed and marked off limits. This would have to be tempered by the reality that the corridors west of the Peaks of Grassi are already mostly useless - especially if we punish bears for using them. Areas adjacent to the corridors are NOT places to put intensive development. If a bear is using the corridor and feels crowded, it will move into adjacent habitats. New trails will be used by bears if they are perceived to be quieter than the wildlife corridor due to less human use. Building trails does NOT mean that bears will not use them, just ask the Nordic Centre. I would also argue that the off-leash park should also be moved to an area not adjacent to critical habitat - especially since the town does NOT enforce illegal off-leash use outside of the dog park. It's time for this community to make a choice. Do we stand with wildlife, or do we stand with development? Do we want a vibrant community surrounded by intact ecosystems or do we want Disney? If you want the latter, hang out in Silver Tip as they are planning a wildlife apocalypse. Please join with me in opposing this bike park, regardless of the faulty reasoning that the mayor presents to share its ecological basis. His logic is false and his support of this development indicates that maybe it's time for a change at the helm. Next up…no national bird for Canada No National Bird for Canada Way back in Episode 14, recorded in November of last year, I talked about an effort to get the government of Canada to designate a national bird. If you'd like to hear more about the story, check out the full episode at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep014. When I first began writing this story, I was unaware that Canada DIDN'T already have a national bird. After all, we had a national animal, a national tree and even a national horse - but alas, no bird. In 2016, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society sought to put an end to this obvious oversight by doing a national poll to see what bird should win the right to be Canada's feathered flagbearer. There were many contenders. People were invited to submit their suggestions for the best avian representatives and these were compiled to create a feathered list of frontrunners for a national vote. The ballot contained a list of birds that would make an Canuck proud. They included the black-capped chickadee, the Canada goose, the snowy owl, the loon and the Gray (or Canada) Jay. There were ardent avian allies of all the birds submitted. Any Canadian that has set up a winter bird feeder knows the black-capped chickadee with its habit of chirping its name as it collects sunflower seeds. It is a steadfast Canadian and refuses to leave in even the harshest of winters. They are friendly, and faithful to feeders from coast to coast. The Canada goose is another bird known to all. However it has, a dark side as one of very few waterfowl that do most of their feeding on land. This leads them to gather on golf courses and public parks where they have become a nuisance, so their votes suffered accordingly. The snowy owl seemed like a good options, but it is only known to a few dedicated birders and as a result, never garnered the numbers needed for a win. Now the loon. That was one that I thought would be a shoe in. Most of its worldly breeding range is in Canada and its call has become symbolic with the northern wilderness. Few Canadians don't recognize the haunting call of the loon and it has made many a camping trip memorable as campers try to imitate the call with their hands cupped tightly. The Gray (or Canada) Jay has been selected as Canada's candidate for a National Bird The rightful winner was the Gray jay. It's a bird with many names, gray jay, Canada jay, camp robber, whiskey jack, Perisorius canadensis…take your pick. It's an ever present companion to most outings in the wilds of Canada. Gray jays will quietly stalk your forays and appear just when the sandwiches are ready to be eaten. Turn your back on them and you may catch your corned beef flying off into the spruce and pine forest. I was an early advocate of the loon, but I la  ter sang the praises of the gray jay and it ended up taking the title of the bird most likely to become Canada's National Bird. Alas, this hope all came crashing down earlier this month when the federal government sent a terse message that they were not considering any additional national symbols at this time. Is that the end of it? I hope not. Perhaps a flock of crafty camp robbers will roost on Parliament Hill and carry off politicians lunches until they cry "uncle" and demand the liberals move forward with this feathered designation. And with that said, it's time to wrap this episode up. If you would like to explore the Canadian Rockies, Ward Cameron Enterprises is your one-stop shop for step-on and hiking guides, nature workshops and keynote presentations. We will make sure that your next mountain experience is one to remember. And with that said, the valley is smoky, so I'm hanging out with the ashes. Talk to you next week.

Story 1 - Canada Jay selected to be our national bird For the past year, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society has been listening to Canadians suggestions for a national bird. While the Americans have the bald eagle, Canada has never adopted a national bird. The Royal Canadian Geographic Society listened to some 50,000 submissions from Canadians to whittle down the many suggestions into 5 finalists. After long deliberations, the Canada jay beat out the finalists which included the common loon, Canada Goose, black-capped chickadee and snowy owl.  Story 2 - World Cup Cancelled The first men's World Cup Downhill of the season, scheduled to be at Lake Louise Ski Hill on November 26-27th has been cancelled. After a great start to the winter in October, suddenly the weather warmed to more than 10 degrees above average for this time of year. The warm temperatures made it impossible to make enough snow to safely run the event and organizers had to make the hard choice to cancel the event. The women's downhill season kicks off, also at Lake Louise on Dec 2-4th but the conditions seem to have cooled down significantly so hopefully they will be able to go ahead with these races. Story 3 - Desperate Measures for Johnson Lake Recently, Parks Canada has been looking at some drastic measures to see if Johnson Lake can be rehabilitated. The challenge with whirling disease is that once it infects a lake, the parasites produce spores that can last for decades in the lake sediments. Johnson Lake is an ideal home because it is shallow and warm during the summers with a nice muddy bottom. The goal at the moment is to keep it from spreading upstream towards Two Jack Lake, Lake Minnewanka and the upper Cascade River system. In particular, the Cascade holds some critical populations of westslope cutthroat trout. How can they clean the lake? Well it would take several steps. The first would be to remove all of the fish. That would interrupt the life cycle, but not do anything about the spores. New fish populations arriving in the lake would still be susceptible to the long lasting spores and be reinfected. To deal with the spores in the muddy bottom, on idea is to largely drain the lake and allow the mud to freeze during the winter. This has been shown to kill the spores. Freezing, when combined with removing the fish, may allow parks to clean up this particular body of water. Johnson Lake would then not only provide a buffer between downstream infected waters and the upper Cascade River, but it would also make it possible for Parks Canada to reopen Johnson Lake for summer recreation. It is one of the only lakes in Banff that gets warm enough to swim and so on hot summer days, it is one of the busiest places in the area. The challenge now for officials is to balance the ecological and financial consequences of the various mitigations against the option of leaving things as is.

Are you bald? Do you know any bald men? Of course, there is usually a perfectly rational, medical reason for the loss of hair in the male of the species - male pattern baldness, alopecia, or too much testosterone, among others. Before we discovered the scientific reasons for hair loss, we used stories to help us understand it and this tale from the logging camps of northern New England and the Maritimes is one of the most famous. Remember, be kind to our fine feathered friends - any bird could be somebody's mother... Many of the animals of New England have their own story, with each one reflecting either the animal's personality or their place in history. Both prehistoric and historic New Englanders have always seen a part of their own personality when they watched animals in their natural environment and it is that perceived relationship that brings us a very strange tale from the northern woods from the time of the big logging camps. One specific species of bird, common to the deep woods of Maine and Canada, has become a more obscure story as the logging camps in New Brunswick and Maine were closed. Back when logging was a larger industry in the north, however, the stories associated with the Canada Jay or "Gorbey" were commonplace among the men who worked their trade in the deep forests. Because the Gorbey is a deep woods bird that doesn't venture into urban settings, it's stories became obscured as the lumberjacks moved out from the logging camps and into alternative jobs. It was the work of folklorist Sandy D. Ives, founder of the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History,  that helped record the stories of the Gorbey and save them from being forever lost. Through the audio and text recordings that Dr. Ives made, information about this bird's behavior and it's impression on New Englanders can be seen through the tall tales it inspired. The first aspect of the legends are the folk names the Gorbey has been given: Gray Jay, Camp Robber, Venison Hawk, Hudson Bay, Caribou Bird, Moose Bird, Meat Bird, Grease Bird, Woodsman's Friend, Whiskey Jack or Whiskey John. The original Native American name for this bird is the 'wisk-i-djak', which is similar to 'whiskey jack'. Both names are derived from the bird's call. Other unusual traits that the Gorbey possesses are further implied by their names. The name may come from either Scotland or France. It might be either from the French-Canadian pronunciation of the French word "Corveaux", for a bird who is related to ravens and crows. The Scottish origin might come from the word "Gorb", which has a double meaning: 'glutton' and 'unfledged bird'. According to some sources, this bird helped hunters to find moose or caribou. This bird would signal to a hunter where they could be found and in exchange, the hunter would give meat to this bird to eat. Those who tell this story suggest that this is because the Gorbey is not satisfied with eating ticks and fleas off moose and caribou and wants a more substantial meal. The Native Americans believed this animal had a powerful spirit living inside of it and would listen for its call while hunting, as well as give the bird meat after the kill was made. Another Native American legend associated with the Gorbey states that cold weather comes when someone pulls a few feathers off of the bird's chest. Whether this was a magical spell or a warning against harming the birds is not made clear. In later years, when logging camps were more commonplace in rivers across Maine and New Brunswick, the Gorbey did not have to get hunters to give them filling meals anymore. It was said that whole flocks of them would fly out of the trees and steal food straight from the lumberjack's hands and lunch pails. While only one or two would show up on the first day, more and more would appear to make off with the lunches of the lumberjacks as time wore on. They would also hide in the clothes of the lumberjacks, not caring if they were worn or not. The origin of the names "Woodsman's friend' and "camp robber" is probably inspired by these antics. For lumberjacks, these birds were a great source of amusement. Most were happy to see these birds despite losing their food to them and were entertained by their tricks in the air and on the ground. In remote and quiet forests, such entertainment was certainly a welcome sight. Others were not happy to feed such a feathered thief. Whatever a lumberjack's feelings were about the gorbey, there was a strict taboo against harming these birds. The work of the lumberjack was fraught with danger and as a result, superstition ran rife. The bird was regarded as a lucky animal like the albatross from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Sometimes, it was because the bird was a lumberjack who came back from the dead to rejoin his companions. Others believed that if they hurt a gorbey, the injury would be returned on them. This retelling of "The Man who Plucked The Gorbey" has elements drawn from the book Will O' The Wisp: Folk Tales and Legends of New Brunswick by Carole Spray" and the records left by Dr. Sandy D. Ives. There was once a gorbey who frequented a logging camp named Old Ferguson. He was named after a lumberjack who had died at work. The lumberjacks believed this bird was a reincarnation of their dead comrade because he had a big appetite and because he wore a grey coat and black hat that reminded them of the bird's feathers. They enjoyed Old Ferguson's antics as a part of their midday meal and welcomed him and the flocks of gorbeys as if they were equals.But a new lumberjack came to work at the camp who was not pleased with entertaining this bird. He is given many names, but let us call the man Archie Stackhouse. He grew angry with this bird's habit of snatching biscuits from his hand as he was about to eat them. Archie swore he would kill Old Ferguson once he got his hands on him. When his comrades warned him not to harm the bird for fear of bad luck, he scorned this as a foolish belief. It is also relevant to mention that Archie Stackhouse had handsome black hair he was particularly proud of. According to Carole Spray's version, Old Ferguson's favorite snack was biscuits soaked in whiskey. One cold winter day, the bird was fed this treat and soon grew so drunk, he could not fly straight. One kindly lumberjack took this bird into a mitten and let him sleep off his binge. But Archie took his chance to make good on his threats. He seized the small, drunk bird and ripped off the feathers from his back and belly, leaving him very naked with only wing feathers spared. The bird tried to fly up with the feathers he had left but fell down and died instantly. (Dr. Ives' records states that the poor plucked bird merely died of exposure overnight in February.) The lumberjacks were appalled at this turn of events, but Archie went to bed satisfied with himself. In the morning, there was a surprise waiting for Archie. He saw in the mirror next to the washbasin that all of his coveted black hair had fallen off of his head, leaving his chin and head bare. He never grew this head of hair back again. According to Carole Spray's telling, if there was a lumberjack who was bald or lacked hair, he would usually be asked "Are you the man who plucked the gorbey?" as a joke. An alternative version from an article written by Dr. Ives'  included another character: a bad tempered  Frenchman who gave Archie a sound thrashing after he awoke to find his head bare. In the audio retelling recorded by Dr. Ives, Archie is given a specific job at the logging camp. He is described as a 'wangan man', who was the manager of the outpost store. He was responsible for minding and managing supplies for the whole camp as well as selling goods to the lumberjacks. Even in those camps, the exchange of money was still a necessity. Dr. Edward Ives Interview with Charles Sibley - 11-30-58 "The Man Who Plucked the Gorbey" The stories of the gorbey do not end there. According to an informant whose account is on record at The University of Maine, there is an old and simple yarn about a logging camp cook who one day found a gorbey carrying off three stale doughnuts that had been thrown away. Considering that the gorbey is the size of a robin, this is an impressive feat for a bird of that size. Another story is a folk song called "Tom Cray", from Northern Maine. The song warns unwary lumberjacks of gorbeys and blue jays big enough to carry off men to eat. Another version, written on the blog New England Folklore names the bird 'Esau' after a foreman who died. For those who know Hebrew, a hint of what's to come is already given. "Esau" means 'hairy' in Hebrew. Whether this was an intentional hint or not is not mentioned. There are even variations that involve lumberjacks who suffer broken bones after they broke bones on gorbies. In these versions, lumberjacks break either a leg or a wing on this bird and as a result, suffer a broken leg or arm. All of these stories say a lot about the attitudes of those who told them. It reveals a continued respect of nature that may have it's origin with the Wabanaki tribes, but continued on through to the lumberjacks whose respect to the bird was born out of a continued necessity to respect nature and the unexplained. Both the Wabanaki and the lumberjacks understood the perils nature presented and knew that humility and kindness was important to warding off danger and death. It is also possible that Native American and European New Englanders have always found entertainment from these intelligent and bold birds and a unique bond between animal and man has been formed that, to this day, continues in the deep woods. Even today, campers in the Northern woods are greeted by gorbies, who follow humans for their food not because any human encouraged it, but because their instinct to find food draw them to us naturally. This article is published in memory of Sandy Ives, the foremost folklorist on the legends of the gorbey and one of the finest ethnographers at The University of Maine. His organization, The Maine Folklife Center, is still active, working to preserve Maine's rich folk traditions through preserving languages, stories photographs, recipes, songs and recordings. You can use this link to access the Facebook page, where they talk about their work as well as advertise their events. You can also find them on the campus at The University of Maine and at the Annual Maine Folk Festival in Bangor. Resources The Man who Plucked The Gorbey: A Maine Woods Legend by Edward D. Ives in The Journal of American Folklore Places-Moosehead Lake "The Man Who Plucked The Gorbey" New England Folklore At Blogspot.Com: The Gorbey-Pluck at Your Own Risk The University of Maine-The Man Who Plucked The Gorbey Audio Recording photo credit - Strathcona Wilderness Institute