Do adult ravens trick juvenile ravens to keep the best food for themselves?

When I watch birds I most watch common ravens close to home. I don't go for long treks across boggy ground to see them; they tend to show up around where I live. I suppose they come around because I feed them: eggs, lard, cheezies, meat and other stuff.
Right now I get visited by two adult ravens and about four very noisy juveniles. I suspect that parents have kicked them out of the nest but they still follow their parents around to beg for food.
Today I watched some interesting interaction.
I threw an egg and one of the adults took off with it; pursued by two juveniles. The adult started eating it, they kept whining and eventually the adult abandoned it to them. Feeling sorry I threw another egg and the adult grabbed it. Then something different happened. The adult dropped the egg by the edge of some tall grass and headed into the tall grass and came out with some rolls. I recognized them as ones I had thrown out earlier; the adult had cached them in the grass.
The adult started to eat the rolls. The juveniles approached. While this was going on another adult raven came and grabbed the egg and took off. The first adult broke up the rolls and gave pieces to a juvenile. Eventually two juveniles grabbed big chunks of the rolls for themselves.
It left me wondering: was this a deliberate strategy to divert the attention of the juvenile ravens while the adult raven removed the egg? Eggs, after all, are a favourite food.
If you want to see more pictures of ravens take a look at the ravens gallery on my website.

Polar Bear Express heads south 2014 July 18th.

Winch driven ferry at Gardiner.

Photographs of the Gardiner ferry.

Coming back to Moosonee we usually stay overnight in Cochrane and catch the train in the morning. This trip we got into Cochrane early and decided to take a drive north on highway 579.
Our goal was the ferry at Gardiner, about 20 miles north of Cochrane. It's a quiet drive on a decent road through peaceful country to get there.

We came on the ferry suddenly; the road turned and headed down to the Abitibi River and there it was.
It is a small ferry, a couple of vehicles but it is big enough to handle the demand. It doesn't have a schedule; it runs when there are people who need to use it.

We grabbed a couple of shots, drove down and drove on. We went across to the other side of the river then drove up the hill and bank down to come back across.

Afterwards we got to talking with Alex Carriere who was the operator of the Cassiopeia IV, something he has been doing for a long time. Alex showed some pictures of the ferry and its predecessors and described how it works in the winter.

Coming from Moosonee we are used to people driving vehicles across the river but here was a new twist. They keep running the ferry until people can drive across beside it. That I would like to see sometime.

The ferry is winch driven. When you look at it you see that there are two guide wires to that keep it in its channel; when you look more closely you see the winch cable that runs along one edge to propel it back and forth. Apparently it is the last winch driven ferry in Ontario.
After making the trip ourselves we decided to wait around for the next run and get some pictures from the shoreline. That took a while, it was more than hour before another vehicle showed up. Fortunately, it didn't rain and the bugs were not terrible. Finally got a chance to get some shots of the ferry in operation.

Pictures of the Gardiner ferry.

Back in Fort Albany, Ontario again. This time for the funeral of an old friend who was also the mother of my partner's son in law.
Fort Albany is a small community on James Bay in Northeastern Ontario; about 90 miles north of Moosonee.
Getting here is a short plane ride; less than half an hour. The cost is $540 return per person. It sounds reasonable to me but is probably outrageous to people who are used to traveling long distances for that kind of fare. We came on a small plane where one side was taken up by mail and cargo; the other by passengers.

I first came to Fort Albany more than three decades ago. In those days we flew on much slower flying DC-3s most of the time. A lot of things have changed; a lot of things have stayed the same.
One big difference today is that there is a functioning water distribution system. Often, you can drink water right out of the tap. To me that seems amazing. Unfortunately right now the water is a bit murky.
There are a lot of new buildings here. A lot of old ones are gone, for example the old residential school which lingered on as a day school, police station and band office for years after it was closed down. There is a good picture of St. Anne's, unfortunately mislabeled as Fort Albany Regional Hospital.
On my first morning here I went for a walk. Beautiful day for it; the ground and snow still mostly frozen but warm enough that I could have gotten away with wearing a medium weight jacket. After about an hour and a half I realized I was in danger of getting a very bad sunburn.
I posted a few shots from my walk.
One thing that is amazing is the availability of internet here. Naturally the place I am staying (Loone's Lodge) has it but everywhere I went people are online, tablets and laptops running. Cell phones don't work here; maybe some day.

I bought some more stainless steel cutlery. Same pattern as I purchased in 1974. Plain and simple stuff

Originally submitted at Oneida

Almost 40 years since I first bought thi

By Paul 1974 buyer from Moosonee, Ontario, Canada on 7/19/2013

5out of 5

Pros: Easy To Clean, Nice Weight, Dishwasher Safe, Attractive Design, Classic Simple Look, Comfortable Handles
Best Uses: Formal Meals, Daily Use, Informal Meals
Describe Yourself: Practical

I first bought this pattern in 1974 and have bought a few pieces since then, most recently in 2013 when I bought four more place settings and serving pieces. I was a little worried due to some comments that quality might have slipped. When the package arrived I was impressed. Some pieces look a bit different, e.g. different cut outs in the slotted spoon, butter knife, but nothing significant. The new pieces are just as heavy and solid as the old ones. The knives are made in two pieces - on the new ones the joint is much finer - the old knives tend to show dirt around the joint. Finish may be a little different but could also be from wear over many years. Very pleased.

2013 purchase on left, 1974 on right. Paul Revere

Tags: Picture of Product

2013 purchase on left, 1974 on right. Paul Revere

Tags: Picture of Product

(legalese)

Another part of the cost of living in a remote community.

One hears a lot about the high cost of living in remote communities: food, fuel, etc. But it is easy to overlook another factor that makes things expensive up north - the cost of shipping.

Today, I am giving a small example.

A friend of mine has a son in law who lives in Fort Albany. His wife wanted to give him a cover for his iphone 3 with a Toronto Maple Leaf logo on it. We couldn't find anything in Timmins, let alone in Moosonee so I went to ebay.

Found one from a place in California. It cost US$12.99 plus US$3.98 shipping. Not exactly a bargain but a week before Christmas it seemed like a good idea. Shipping in Canadian dollars from California to Moosonee, a distance of a couple of thousand miles, was $4.05.

Once it got here I mailed it to Fort Albany. Cost of mailing a distance of 90 miles was $17.40.

The cost of shipping effectively doubled the price from the amount that someone living in Moosonee or Toronto would pay for this very small item.

The recipient and his wife are happy but I suspect they would be just as happy if shipping rates were more reasonable.

Riding VIA business class

I make lots of rail trips each year because I live in Moosonee and taking the train is the cheapest way to head south (no roads here). The train is the Polar Bear Express which takes five hours to cover the 186 miles to Cochrane. Right now I am down south for Christmas and yesterday I took the train from Toronto to Belleville.

Since I do not ride VIA Rail very often (a couple of times a decade), I decided to try out business class for one leg of the trip.

Business class means you get to sit in what was a very crowded lounge at Union Station in Toronto before they call boarding for the train and lead you past all the economy class passengers who are lined up to get on. Mind you they are boarding you half an hour before the train leaves.

The coach was 4003, a nice stainless steel car with a long history that has been totally renovated inside. A good stretch of the car consists of non seating areas (galley, luggage storage and washrooms). It has 15 rows of seats and yes, they are 2+2. The seats are nice but rather narrow. The seat trays are tiny. To someone used to wide open ONR cars 4003 seems very jam packed.

Meal service was very good. The car had two attendants who were on their feet the whole trip, up and down the aisles bringing beverages (all included), appetizers and a rather good lunch around to everyone.
My own vision of first class rail travel has 2+1 seating or even parlour seats so it was a bit disappointing to feel so well packed. I know that it lets them get in more passengers. It is funny to think that VIA first class has more seats in the car then a regular ONR coach.

We got up to 90 mph which is a lot different than 50mph on the Polar Bear Express or 70mph on the Northlander. The tracks are excellent, a very smooth ride even at top speed.

Lots of delays though. We were a bit late getting into Belleville after spending some time waiting to get into the station. What was also interesting was the amount of time spent at station stops. Baggage handling is fairly slow and the tightly packed cars take a long time to unload.

We were in the first car. We felt right at home when we got on since the door to the baggage car was open and we could see in and hear the caged dogs, just like at home.





While we were lined up to get off, and parked on the Moira River bridge for a few minutes, the two attendants started singing in the vestibule. The passengers seemed to appreciate it. I realized that you were supposed to tip them and asked a lady behind me who said she was giving $20. It seemed fair; they were awesome at food service and attending to passenger requests.