The sixth week of Birds of the Bow Valley has photographer Michael W. Potter giving us a look at the Canada Jay in time for Canada Day. This is a bird familiar to campers, hikers and skiers and is a typical resourceful member of the crow family.
It was recommended as our official national bird – we don’t have one yet – in 2016, following a campaign by Canadian Geographic magazine, but that hasn’t been formalized. This individual Canada Jay was perched on an old branch of a douglas fir in Bow Valley Provincial Park.
Michael W. (Mike) Potter is a professional photographer specializing in birds. He is a former park interpreter in Banff National Park, and the author and photographer of eight books on hiking and natural history in the Canadian Rockies, distributed by Canmore-based Alpine Book Peddlers. Potter’s website is michaelwpotter.ca, which includes a link to his bird photographs on Flickr.
