Do you know about pikas? I asked that question to some family and friends and was surprised at the uncertain responses I received. I’m breaking podcast rules now, but if you don’t know about pikas, please stop listening and check out their picture on our show notes. They are super cute, potato sized animals that, at least in the United States, live in rock piles generally at high elevations. They gather bouquets of flowers from meadows, storing them for the long winters they endure.

They’re so charismatic that they really should be the next viral animal that all the kids are sharing on social media.

Today, we have pika expert, Dr. Johanna Varner, or Pika Jo for short. With her guidance, we learn about how these tiny animals are able to endure harsh winters at high elevation - without the benefit of hibernating. We learn how pikas are also indicator species for climate change, and Dr. Varner shares some wonderful anecdotes from the field - as well as how you can help track their populations.

I’m so happy to have finally covered pikas on Nature’s Archive! Be sure to check out Dr. Varner on instagram and her website.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links

The Albino Pika adventure Dr. Varner mentioned

Cascades Pika Watch

Pika Patrol App: Google | Apple

Rangers of the Lost Park Podcast Episode featuring Dr. Johanna Varner and Karli Weatherill

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

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Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Today the podcast is going off the rails. That’s right, we’re discussing rails - you know, those absurdly sneaky, pancake-thin wetland birds you’re ten times more likely to hear shouting from the cattails than actually see.

These fascinating birds are full of many secrets. Despite their atypical size, shape, and short wings, many migrate great distances. Their reclusive behavior makes them particularly hard to study, but thankfully we have Dr. Auriel Fournier, a leading rail researcher and director of the Forbes Biological Research Station on the podcast today.

Dr. Fournier shares the wonder and breadth of rail life, the unique methods used to track rail movements, the challenges faced in managing wetlands for rails, and she even offers a few tips on how to see them. I even learned where the phrase “skinny as a rail” comes from!

Be sure to check the show notes on naturesarchive.com for some rail-y great photos of some of the birds that were discussed.

So come be a third rail with me today for this episode. It’s a sora-sly good discussion. Sorry - don’t rail against me for these rail-y great rail puns.

Thanks to Amelia Heintz-Botz for guets sourcing and booking!

FULL SHOW NOTES

LINKS
Forbes Biological Research Station
Illinois Natural History Survey
MOTUS tracking
Firebird Project
Nature's Archive Episode #33: Bird Migrations with Dr. Andrew Farnsworth
Nature's Archive Episode #71: Wetlands with Tom Biebighauser

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Nature is a very broad term, and as we often discuss on this show, everything is connected. Geology impacts soil, which dictates what plants can grow. But if we pull back even further, the ultimate engine driving our planet's systems is the Sun. So when I think of Nature’s Archive—and that big concept of "Nature"—I love bringing these grand, foundational subjects into our scope.

Today is one such instance. Our guest is Dr. Ryan French, a solar astrophysicist and author who specializes in studying solar flares. Solar activity affects life on Earth in surprising ways—from creating spectacular auroras (the northern and southern lights) to disrupting GPS systems and power grids. And most fascinating for naturalists: these solar storms can even disrupt bird navigation and alter the foraging habits of bees.

Dr. French walks us through why solar flares occur, an even more impactful phenomenon called a coronal mass ejection, why these events follow an 11-year cycle, the current state of space weather forecasting, and how you can see and photograph beautiful auroral displays yourself.

Dr. French has an extremely fun and informative social media presence, so be sure to check out ryanjfrench.com for resources and links.

This was a super fun discussion—one I’ve wanted to have pretty much since I started Nature’s Archive.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links

Compilation from Solar Flares and Eruptions from Dr. French's YouTube Channel

ryanjfrench.com

Check our Ryan's Books, including Space Hazards and The Little Book of Eclipses

NOAA's Space Weather Site, including predictions and real-time observations

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!