Tag: North

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Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the boreal chickadee

By Romeo Andrei Cana/Shutterstock

Look, it’s a black-capped chickadee! No, wait, it’s a boreal chickadee. Every Canadian can recognize the former, and its calls. But the lesser-known boreal chickadee has the same tiny body, big head, and round belly. (Adorbs.) Look carefully, though, and you’ll note the differences between the two species. The boreal chickadee has a brown cap, and darker, cinnamon-coloured sides. (Why isn’t it called the brown-capped chickadee? Good question.)

Where does the boreal chickadee live?

In North America, this songbird sticks almost exclusively to spruce and fir forests in Canada, and a few neighbouring states, such as Alaska. You can find these chickadees in almost every province, and, like black-caps, they don’t migrate (though they’ll move slightly south in the winter if there are food shortages). They prefer to feed off older trees. They’ll cling to tree cones, and poke around with their beaks to get at seeds or bugs. Their short bills are also tough enough to loosen tree bark and uncover insect eggs and larvae.

What does the boreal chickadee sound like? 

The species produces a call that’s similar to its black-capped cousin’s, but it’s a little rougher and harsher, less sweet and melodic: tschick-a-dee-dee. Like other birds, boreals have all kinds of vocalizations, for alarm, warning, courtship, and aggression—everything from a low gargle to a twitter to a series of short chirps and squeals. Still, it’s a lot less chatty than the black-capped chickadee—one reason why some birders consider the boreal reclusive. And unlike our other chickadee species, the boreal chickadee doesn’t vocalize to announce its breeding territory. (For such a wee bird this can be a large chunk of real estate: up to 13 acres.) Instead, to scare off intruders, males will use a chin-up motion, or a “ruffle display”: they puff up their feathers and wings. Oh, stop frontin’, chickadee. Just kidding. We know that you’re tough.

Are they endangered? 

Because boreal chickadees have a more remote and northern range than many other bird species, it’s hard for experts to monitor their numbers. Still, one survey estimated that population increased by 38 per cent between 1970 and 2017, and according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, their numbers appear stable. So even though a lot of avian species are struggling, the future looks bright for this bird.

 

 

 

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Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the red-throated loon

By Wolfgang Kruck/Shutterstock

If you’re asking, “What the heck is a red-throated loon?” you’re probably not alone. This smaller, paler diving bird is a cousin of the Canadian-famous common loon. But the red-throated loon is far less known, and definitely less photographed. One reason? Red-throats breed in the north. The only time a cottager is likely to spot one is when the birds journey south in the fall, stopping along the way at large water bodies including the Great Lakes.

Like other loons, the red-throated loon is a strong swimmer but terrible at walking on land. This is because its legs are positioned far back on its body. No matter—fish-eating loons were designed to dive for their dinner. Or, in the red-throat’s case fly, then dive. They often locate prey while flying—sometimes in flocks. Then, they drop rapidly into the water when they spot a school of fish. Red-throated loons have thin, dagger-like bills (all the better for spearing a meal).

Red-throated loons are more masterful fliers than their common cousins. At least, they’re better at getting airborne. Other loons need a long runway of water to “patter” along before they can take off; red-throats can spring into the sky. This means that they can use small tundra and taiga lakes, or even ponds, for nesting.

Just like the common loon, a red-throated loon loses its red eyes and breeding colours—a rust-coloured neck patch—in the winter. Their generic greyness makes nonbreeding common loons and nonbreeding red-throated loons tricky to tell apart during the cold season. Look closely: a common loon still has a mostly-dark face and neck, with only a blaze of white down the front. A red-throat has more white on its face and neck, with a more black-and-white speckled back. The latter is smaller, with a sinewy neck, a slighter build, and pointier wings.

Cottage Q&A: Why are these loons gathering in groups?

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Potins

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s date night

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have enjoyed their first date night since the arrival of third child Chicago.

The ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star and her husband – who welcomed daughter Chicago via a surrogate on Monday (15.01.18) – stepped out for some one-on-one time at the movies over the weekend.

Kim, 37, looked stylish in snakeskin trousers, teamed with matching boots and a baggy neon top from Kanye’s own clothing line, her blonde hair loose over her shoulders. The 40-year-old rapper was dressed all in black with a warm jacket.

The couple attended a movie screening of Damon Dash’s ‘Honor Up’ Kanye’s office in Calabasas, California. They were joined by Terrence J and Pusha T.

Meanwhile, Kim – who is also mother to four-year-old daughter North and two-year-old son Saint – is "so thrilled" to have her three children.

A source shared: "Kim is just so thrilled that her dream of having three kids finally came true. She’s really enjoying these few days just being with the baby and her family and soaking it all in. She was a little nervous about how Saint and North would react but so far everything is great."

And Kim recently took to her official app to thank the surrogate who carried her baby.

She wrote: "I’m so grateful for modern technology and that this is even possible. It’s not for everyone, but I absolutely love my gestational carrierand this was the best experience I’ve ever had. Our gestational carrier gave us the greatest gift one could give. The connection with our baby came instantly and it’s as if she was with us the whole time. Having a gestational carrier was so special for us and she made our dreams of expanding our family come true. We are so excited to finally welcome home our baby girl."

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Potins

Kim Kardashian West launches first business venture since Paris robbery

Kim Kardashian West has launched her first business venture since she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, France.

The ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star, returned to social media this week, following a 10-week hiatus, when she uploaded a raunchy twerking video to tease her new business venture Kimoji merchandise.

And on Friday (16.12.16) momager Kris Jenner confirmed her daughter had launched a Kimoji merchandise range, when she posted on Twitter: "New #kimoji merch launching at 8am pst!! At http://store.kimkardashianwest.com (sic)"

Included in the range is a selection of underwear piece with ‘savage’ written on the waistband, FML fur slides, T-shirts, socks, phone accessories, and air fresheners to name but a few of the items available, priced from $6 to $65.

The video of an underwear clad Kim, was uploaded to her verified Kimoji merchandise Instagram account on Wednesday (12.14.16) which marked the first time the star has been seen on social media since she was robbed by five armed men dressed in police uniforms, who bound and gagged her.

Kim has kept herself out of the limelight since the terrifying robbery on October 3 and was expected to make her return to the public eye on November 21 when she was scheduled to attend the annual Angel Gala in honor of her late father, Robert Kardashian Sr., who died in 2003.

However, the 36-year-old reality TV star was forced to cancel her appearance at the last minute when her husband Kanye West was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles with suspected "temporary psychosis".

The 39-year-old rapper – who has daughter North, three, and 12-month-old son Saint with Kim – has since been discharged from the medical center.

Meanwhile, the Parisian police are "nowhere near" finding out the identities of the five-men gang who robbed Kim Kardashian West at gunpoint two months ago.

The ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ star has been refusing to leave the house unless she really has to since she was tied up, gagged and had jewelry worth $8.5 million snatched from her hotel room in Paris, France, and it seems she may have to wait a little longer before she can breathe a sigh of relief as officers think the investigation will take a "long" time.

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Potins

Khloe Kardashian: Kim isn’t doing that well

Khloe Kardashian says her sister Kim Kardashian West is still "not doing that well" after being robbed at gunpoint.

The 35-year-old star was involved in a "traumatic" incident when she was tied up, put in a bath and had more than $10 million worth of jewelry stolen from her by five masked, armed men in Paris, France, last week, and Khloe admitted it will "take time" for her sibling to recover.

She said: "She’s not doing that well. It’s incredibly traumatic what happened to her, but our family is super close and great and we’ll get through it together.

"We do appreciate all of your guys’ love and support. It will take time. It was horrible what happened to her."

Khloe admitted the incident has been a "wake-up call" for her social media-friendly family, who are often posting tweets and sharing Instagram pictures and Snapchat videos of their whereabouts.

Speaking on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, the 32-year-old star added: "It’s just a wake-up call to make a lot of life adjustments. This is a really serious matter.

"For Kim I think it’s really personal as to when that emotional, like, terror you could move on from.

"It’s a wake-up call for all of us, but definitely [the focus is] just to make sure our sister is OK.

"Like I said, we’re a family, we’ll do this together. I think it’s important to make those adjustments and to pull back a little bit I think is always smart."

Late last week, Khloe and her half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner cancelled a number of planned public appearances in the wake of Kim’s horrific ordeal.

A source said at the time: "Due to recent events and ongoing security issues, all signings have been cancelled."

Kim – who has three-year-old daughter North and 10-month-old son Saint, with husband Kanye West – is said to have told police investigating the incident that her robbers acted like amateurs after putting her in the bath and taking her out again before pointing a gun at her a second time.

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Potins

Kim Kardashian West feared sexual assault

Kim Kardashian West feared she would be raped when masked armed robbers tied her up in her Paris apartment.

The 35-year-old reality star went through a horrific ordeal on Monday (03.10.16) when five thieves dressed as policemen robbed her at gunpoint in her room in the French capital, during which they zip tied her hands with plastic handcuffs, duct taped her, and stole more than $10 million worth of jewels.

Sources told TMZ Kim was just wearing a robe when they barged into her room, and she told police when one of the men then grabbed her ankles she feared she was going to be sexually assaulted.

She saw guys approaching her room through a sliding glass door and tried to call her bodyguard but the men snatched her phone out of her hands before she could ring him.

Kim – who has daughter North, three, and son Saint, nine months, with husband Kanye West – begged the robbers not to kill her because she has kids.

After they tied her up she was put in the bath where she began screaming, crying, and begging for her life so they duct taped her mouth shut.

The ordeal lasted around six minutes and the masked robbers took a jewellery box worth around $6.7 million and a 20-carat diamond ring she was given by Kanye worth $4.5 million as well as two phones.

She told police the robbers only spoke French but she understood they were asking for her "ring" and she told them where it was in the apartment.

Kim’s friend Simone Harouche was sleeping downstairs in the two-storey abode and locked herself in the bathroom when she heard the commotion and rang Kim’s personal bodyguard Pascal Duvier, who was at the Arc nightclub less than two miles away.

But he arrived two minutes after the men had fled.

Kim was said to be "hysterical" when she rang Kanye afterwards to tell him what had happened but she has since returned to New York in a private jet.

Upon her arrival, she was reunited with her husband, mother Kris Jenner and her boyfriend Corey Gamble.

When Kim arrived back at her home with her family they were accompanied by 10 vehicles, 15 bodyguards and a group of local police officers.

The raven-haired beauty had been in the French capital with sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, who were with Pascal at the club when the incident occurred, to celebrate Paris Fashion Week.

Her spokesperson said she was "badly shaken" but "physically unharmed" following the ordeal.

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Potins

Kim Kardashian West won’t cook green vegetables

Kim Kardashian West won’t cook greens for her husband Kanye West because they take too long to make.

The US rapper loves to indulge in a plate of vegetables but doesn’t get his way if his wife is in the kitchen because she refuses to spend three hours of her precious time rustling up the foodstuff for her significant other.

He said: "When my wife cooks for me I will always ask for greens and she never wants to cook the greens because they take three hours to cook."

While the ‘Bound 2’ hitmaker, 39, hasn’t been able to convince Kim, 35, to cook him up some vegetables with his evening meal, he is hopeful of persuading America to vote him in as US president one day, despite openly admitting he "doesn’t have views on politics".

When asked why he wants to run for president, he said: "We are numb, we’re numb to 500 kids getting killed in Chicago a year, we’re numb to the fact that it was seven police shootings in the beginning of July…

"We’re numb to places on the earth that we don’t live – like our life is OK but it’s OK for other people’s lives to not be OK.

"When I talk about the idea of being president, I’m not saying I have any political views, I don’t have views on politics, I just have a view on humanity, on people, on the truth.

"If there is anything that I can do with my time and my day, to somehow make a difference while I’m alive I’m going to try to do it."

As well as planning to one day run the country, Kanye – who has daughter North, three, and seven-month-old son Saint with Kim – has dreams of becoming a designer for Swedish furniture company IKEA.

Speaking to BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, he added: "I have to work with IKEA – make furniture for interior design, for architecture and I know that if I do a minimalist apartment inside of a college dorm where the TV goes on the side of the wall…

"Yo IKEA, allow Kanye to create, allow him to make this thing because you know what, I want a bed that he makes, I want a chair that he makes – I want more products from Ye."

Hear the interview tonight (01.08.16) on Annie Mac’s 7-9pm Radio 1 show.

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Potins

Kim Kardashian West had ‘secret midnight’ dress fittings for Met Gala

Kim Kardashian West had a secret midnight dress fitting ahead of the Met Gala.

The 35-year-old star made sure her preparation for the extravagant event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday evening (05.02.16) was perfect in order to avoid criticism for her fashion choice, just like in 2013 when her Givenchy "couch dress" got people talking for all the wrong reasons.

Kim – who walked the red carpet with her husband Kanye West – travelled to the SoHo Grand hotel in New York on Saturday night (04.30.16) for her hush hush dress fitting.

A source told the New York Daily News newspaper: "Kim flew in for secret midnight fittings at a luxurious penthouse at the SoHo Grand at midnight on Saturday."

The metallic dress Kim decided to wear was actually a combination of two Balmain gowns created by Olivier Rousteing and fitted the party’s Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology theme perfectly.

Her husband Kanye West revealed on Twitter: "Thank you Olivier for making 4 dresses for Kim to choose from which we chopped 2 in half (sic)"

Kim and Kanye – who have two children, daughter North, two and six-month-old son Saint, together – were in New York all weekend gearing up for the Met Ball – which is organized by Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine.

Kanye, 38, personally thanked Anna for inviting him and his wife to the Met Gala, which he described as the "Grammys of style".

The rapper – whose outfit was also created by Balmain – wrote in a series of Twitter posts: "Thank you Anna for the invite thank you to the whole Vogue team … This Gala is like the Grammys of style!

"Also (thank you) to Kim’s hair and makeup Lorraine jewelry and the whole style squad at Balmain and the Yeezy team. (sic)"

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Potins

Kim Kardashian to appear on new game show Big Fan

Kim Kardashian West is to appear on new game show ‘Big Fan’.
The 35-year-old star will be the focus of a forthcoming episode of the ABC series, which will see three of the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star’s biggest fans go up against each other in a test to see who knows more about her life and the winner will get the chance to have a unique experience with their idol.
Kim – who is married to Kanye West – took to her Twitter account to announce the news to her 42.1 million followers and urge them to apply to be on the show.
She tweeted: "I am going to be on a new ABC game show and I need some of my biggest fans to play with! Go to bigfan.castingcrane.com to apply (sic)"
‘Big Fan is based on the ‘Who Knows’ segment of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ and the chat show host will lead the production with Andy Richter set to present.
Applications for contestants will close on April 1, and applicants must explain why Kim, or another celebrity, is their ultimate idol, when they first became a fan, what memorabilia they own of the star and answer other questions.

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Potins

Kanye West threatens to sue models if they talk about him or family

Kanye West has threatened to sue his fashion week models if they’re caught talking about him or his family.

The 38-year-old rapper has banned everyone involved in his show at New York Fashion Week from discussing him, his wife Kim Kardashian West, 34, and his daughter North, two, or risk being slapped with a £6.5 million fine after they put pen to paper signed his non-disclosure forms.

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ”Kanye’s hacked off some really high-profile models by asking them to sign the agreement, particularly because it stated that he could sue them for up to $10million if they spoke out about him.”

The source added: ”It’s a ridiculous amount and some models flat out refused. He’s not considered a great talent – everyone knows his show is just a media frenzy, so some girls would rather not be associated with him.”

However, it’s not just his models Kanye has angered as he’s also rattled fellow designer Anne Bowen by announcing at the last minute that he wants to showcase the second season of his Kanye West X Adidas Originals Collection.

The streetwear designer has now been forced to reschedule the date of her show in order to stop it from clashing with the ‘Bound 2’ hitmaker’s.

She said recently: ”Kanye knows he is a media sensation and it is just not ethical to do this. It’s like we are David and he is Goliath. We have put our heart and soul into our show, and should not be stepped on like this​.”