In this episode I talk with Will Brooks. Will took the Pierce County, WA birding community by storm 3 years ago when he matriculated at the University of Puget Sound, about 1.5 miles from where I live. Since he has found many of the rarities in the county, has set a new Pierce County big year record with 245 species, and has earned not just the respect, bur the awe of the rest of the county birders. We talk about his birding story, his county big year, strategies for finding rare birds, and his ...
Jun 10, 2019•39 min•Ep. 29
In this episode Ed and Blair talk about Blair's birding story as well as his 50-50-50 quest to see 50 species of birds in one day in each of the 50 United States each with a local birder. Enjoy. Check out Blair's blog at https://blairbirding.com/ You can also find blair on Facebook as Blair Bernson or often posting to the Washington Birding listserv, Tweeters. http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/ Be sure to leave a review and rating whereever you get your podcast feed. Check out ...
Jun 04, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 28
On Episode #17 Ed talks about the recent Memorial Day weekend, memories of this weekend gone by, and the recent ABC Birding meeting where Ken Brown from Episodes #2 and #6 presents a talk on birding names and nomenclature. Ed talks about stumbling onto a colony of nesting Pigeon Guillemots on Anderson Island, and the Willettes, a group of women in the ABC club. Check out the post on the ABC Birding Blog about Ken's talk. http://abcbirding.com/whats-in-a-name-ken-on-bird-names-and-nomenclature/ L...
May 28, 2019•15 min•Ep. 27
In this episode Ed talks with Shawneen Finnegan, one of the top U.S. birders who offers a wealth of perspective on birding, rare birds commettees and what it has been like to be a top female birder when at times she was part of a significant minority. Here is a link to Shawneen's Linked In page. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawneen-finnegan-4200501a/ Here is her new website where she show paintings of pets. https://www.shawneenfinnegan.com/ Check out my website where I have a blog, as well as li...
May 20, 2019•39 min•Ep. 26
In this episode Ed talks with Alvaro Jaramillo about his career in birding and his experiences. Alvaro is an author, a tour company guide, a top expert in the American tropics, and a respected expert on gulls, new-world blackbirds, and pelagic birds. You can follow Alvaro on his facebook page or at his web site Alvaro's Adventures , http://alvarosadventures.com/ He wrote the Peterson Guide to the Birds of Chile you can find on Amazon at https://smile.amazon.com/Birds-Chile-Princeton-Field-Guides...
May 16, 2019•51 min•Ep. 25
On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #15 Ed talks about his experience at the Moses Lake WOS convention he attended last weekend, as well as two mainstream tidbits of birding news. Link to the Atlantic article on the Birdsafe Cat Collar . Maybe a way to allow your cat outdoors without killing so many birds. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/12/accessories-for-your-murderous-pet/419601/ Article on the feral cat problem in the U.S. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/6/us-is...
May 14, 2019•19 min•Ep. 24
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #14 Art Wang is Ed’s guest. Art is a longtime birder and neighbor of Ed in Tacoma. Art stated birding at a young age in California, has a long history of environmental and political activism, and has a great birding story. Enjoy. Here is a link to the Tahoma Audubon Society Bird-a-thon fundraising page for Art’s May 11th birdathon. Proceeds go to the education, conservation and other efforts of TAS. https://tahoma.z2systems.com/np/clients/tahoma/campaign.jsp?ca...
May 06, 2019•38 min•Ep. 23
Ed talks about the unexpected diversity of birding habitats found on his Morocco trip, as well as a little about the cultural differences observed between more populated and remote places. Desert Sparrow and Fulvous Chatterer searches take up much of the last day in the desert, and on the way to Ifrane Lesser Short-toed Lark and Wood Lark are two new lifers found. The trip is winding down. Back to Washington State birding and listerners can expect more typical episodes featuring guests coming so...
Apr 28, 2019•7 min•Ep. 22
After a shorter day of birding host Ed Pullen talks about birding around Merzouga, a town on the edge of the Sahara that caters to tourists wanting a taste of the desert. Birding was great, seeing the Sahara was great, and having a shorter day was timely. Check out BirdBanter.com for a post with photos and more details. Good Birding. Good Day!
Apr 26, 2019•9 min•Ep. 21
On Day 7 of Ed's Morocco trip the group leaves Agadir heading east in the valley between the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas Ranges, then crossed the High Atlas Range twice, first south to north, then back again in search of high-altitude specialties. Then on to spend the night in the valley, before spending Day 8 in scrub-desert headed towards the Sahara. Highlight birds are Tristan's Warbler, Leaviallant's Woodpecker and lots of larks and wheatears. The Moroccan world continues to be welcoming a...
Apr 25, 2019•8 min•Ep. 20
On Day 5 we leave Marrakech and travel to Agadir, with stops enroute for the Northern Bald Ibis, Audouin's Gull, Ruddy Shelduck, and lots more. The coast of Morocco we pass through is the vacation beach area of choice for Moroccans and has beautiful beaches, scrub-desert habitat, and lots of birds.
Apr 22, 2019•5 min•Ep. 19
In episode #12 hose host Ed Pullen talks with Dalton Spencer, a young birder from Lewis County, WA. Ed first talks about an uncoming trip to Morocco, and then Ed and Dalton talk about life as a young birder. It brings back memories of when every birding experience was new and exciting, and they discuss how a young birder gets involved in the birding scene. A link to Dalton's eBird profile : https://ebird.org/profile/NzUxMTc2/US-WA-041 The Legacy Tours website for the tour group Ed is joining on ...
Apr 22, 2019•36 min•Ep. 13
On the 4th day of my Morocco Birding Tour we drove from Marrakech (not the butchered city name I use in this one take recording) to a ski resort on Oukoimeden Mountain in the High Atlas Range. Our elevation in the parking lot from where we walked up was 8600' and we walked 7+ miles, so I'm about ready to crash as I post this episode. Our in-country guide is Mohamed Bargache, so we joked that today Mohamed took us to the mountain. The bird mentioned is Crimson-winged Finch, not bunting or sparrow...
Apr 20, 2019•7 min•Ep. 18
On the third day of the Legacy Tours Morocco Trip we birded again in the upland area north of Rabat in heavy rain, and then stopped once at a Gazelle reintroduction preserve on the way to Marrakech. The birds were cool, but the Medina at Marrakech is the primary topic of this brief episode. Enjoy. Good birding. Good day!
Apr 19, 2019•5 min•Ep. 17
In this second unedited podcast recording from Morocco Ed talks about the first 2 days experience with Legacy Tours in the areas around Rabat, the Morocco capital city north of Casablanca where the flight landed, and the trip Morocco experience bagan. The local guide is Mohamed Bargache, a certified local birding guide, and very good Moroccan in-country guide. Tomorrow we head south again, and will be staying in Marrakech, an ancient city and will be birding our way there after a bit more birdin...
Apr 18, 2019•9 min•Ep. 16
In this episode Ed does a one-take brief recording from outside the Hotel Toubkal in Casablanca, Morocco about 4:45 AM after a jet-lagged night. Please forgive the errors and the city noise, especially calling Michael Carmody, guest on the last episode, and tour guide whom I call Michael Legacy (his tour group is Legacy Tours) as I'm putting these up unedited, mistakes and city noise and all. The lark I butcher the name of is the Maghreb Lark, recently split from the Crested Lark as its own spec...
Apr 17, 2019•5 min•Ep. 15
In Episode#12 host Ed Pullen has longtime Mexico and worldwide tour guide and operator Michael Carmody as his guest. Michael is currently leading a Legacy Tours birding trip in Morocco, and Ed along with Bruce Labar from episode #3 are tour participants. Michael talks about his 30 years of experience as a tour guide and operator in Mexico and around the world. Here is a link to the Legacy Tours website where you can check out which of Michael's tours you want to go on next. https://legacy-tours....
Apr 15, 2019•40 min•Ep. 14
In episode #11 the Birdchick, Sharon Stitler is my guest. Her podcast was the first podcast I ever listened to and she has a really good podcast. She is quite a character as you will see if you visit her web site Birdchick.com In this episode I try a new segment where I play a birdsong recording from my Sibley app and the guest talks about what they hear. This is designed not as a "stump the guest" but as an opportunity for birders to discuss how they listen to bird sounds, and what goes into id...
Apr 07, 2019•34 min•Ep. 12
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #10 host Ed Pullen and John Sterling talk about John's remarkable birding career, and especially his recent participation in the Longzhou Bird Race in southern China. Oh, I neglected to mention that John Sterling is the #1 lister in California, with a remarkable 636 species on eBird . Enjoy. Here is a link to Don Roberson's website Who Was Who in California Birding 1965-1989 http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CAwhoswho.html Here is John Sterlings website www....
Apr 02, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 11
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #9 with Shep Thorpe host Ed Pullen and Shep talk about the upcoming Washington Ornithologic Society Annual Conference in Moses Lake, WA as well as Shep’s involvement with WOS, his weekly birding walks at the Billy Frank NWR, and Shep’s experience as a WOS field trip leader. Washington Ornithologic Society Website. http://wos.org/ WOS 2019 Annual Conference Signup Page http://wos.org/annual-conference/current-year/ Billy Frank Jr. NWR https://www.fws.gov/refuge/...
Mar 26, 2019•27 min•Ep. 10
