Dorian Anderson is my guest on this episode of the podcast. Dorian was a guest on one of my earliest episodes #5 in Feb. 2019, and I have been waiting it seems forever to talk with him again once his book was written and published. After you hear from Dorian today I'm sure you'll want to read Birding Under the Influence: Cycling Across America in Search of Birds and Recovery. On the episode we talk about Pop Tech , a pretty cool concept and event that I had not heard about before. Check it out. ...
Nov 11, 2023•42 min•Ep. 179
On this episode my guest is Michael Hobbs, a King County, WA based birder who has been doing weekly bird surveys at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA for almost 30 years. You can contact Michael at this link to the park. We talk about the experience of such regular intentional bird surveys of a single location, the benefits, both in friendships made and birding experiences of his efforts, and about his other birding interests. County birding is also fun, and Michael is one of a handful of WA birders ...
Oct 28, 2023•52 min•Ep. 178
I'm guessing you know about The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, but do you know about the man who willed it to existance, the man known as "The Birdman of the Senate?" I didn't until Will McLean Greeley, the Great-great nephew of Senator McLean, and author of a biography on Senator McLean reached out to me and we talked for the podcast. It's a great story, and one I'm enjoying learning more about. You can find the book on Amazon here or at the publisher's website her e. Read more about the bo...
Oct 13, 2023•40 min•Ep. 177
ON this episode Frank and I talk about his PhD work on field guides and how they have influenced conservation. To hear a video with Frank on this topic watch this You Tube. We also talk about the recent ABA social media network called ABA Community. Check it out. For more info about Frank and this episode visit the blog post on BirdBanter.com Until next time, good birding and good day!...
Sep 27, 2023•39 min•Ep. 176
On this episode we talk about John's birding story, birding in Connecticut, and his chase to see American Flamingos that were blown north by Hurricane Idalia. We talk about why the Long Island Sound is not great for pelagic birding, but is excellent for other birds. Read more at the BirdBanter.com blog . Learn more about John on his eBird Profile....
Sep 11, 2023•28 min•Ep. 175
eBird is a great tool for many purposes, but there are times when a birder wants to know how to best bird a hotspot, where to park at the hotspot, are there restrooms there, and generally about birding the hotspot. It is great to ask a local birder, but often that is not possible, and so what to do? Now the answer is easy. Go to BirdingHotspots.org where my guests Ken Ostermiller and Adam Jackson have created an open source, crowdsourced site for birders to help each other know how to find birds...
Aug 26, 2023•28 min•Ep. 173
On this episode I talk with two of the leaders of The Feminist Bird Club, Molly Adams who is the originator of the NYC chapter, and Sydney Golden Anderson who has been active in the Chicago chapter and now lives in Colorado. I was excited to hear about the clubs work to increase diversity and be inviting to all people with an interest in birds. Their work toward this goal is inspiring to me and I hope to you. You can find the the Feminist Bird Club NYC Chapter website here , and there find links...
Aug 12, 2023•37 min•Ep. 174
On this episode I talk with Greg Harrington, a Seattle, WA birder I've met several times in the field, and who had become a proficient and prolific birder in the area over a very few years. He is always fun to meet, and was really fun to talk with on this episode. He is a high school history teacher, and spent some of the Covid time when teaching was online teaching from the road while travelling around the U.S. exploring and birding. You can find Greg's email on his eBird profile here . Here is...
Jul 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 172
On this episode Scott and I talk about his discovery of birding as a passion later in life, and about how this led to his quest to see all of the Lower-48 raptors, initially in a year, but eventually in 17 months. Scott is also a prolific author, and we talk about his writing and his future birding plans. His newest book: RaptorQuest: Chasing America's Raptors See more about the places and people we talk about on the BirdBanter.com blog . Thanks for listening. Good birding and good day!...
Jul 10, 2023•49 min•Ep. 171
On Episode #155 I talk with Arkansas birder Dan Scheiman about birding in Arkansas, his birding story and creating backyard habitat by Planting for Birds . You can see Dan's eBird profile here , and read more on The Bird Banter blog here . I'd love to hear about birders you'd like to hear from as guests. Reach me on the contact page or in part of an episode review. Thanks for listening. Good birding....
Jun 27, 2023•38 min•Ep. 170
Pelagic birding is different in many ways from birding on land. It's fun, exhausting, and difficult, but can be really great too. Ken Brown, my long-time birding buddy, and I have dreamed of getting out of Hatteras N.C. with Brian Patteson for years, and finally made it happen this year. Despite difficult weather we had a great trip, and talk about that and more on this episode. Patteson Seabirding Westport Seabirds The Science of Birds Podcast Blog post on Birdbanter.com Dynamic Soaring Video...
Jun 13, 2023•49 min•Ep. 169
On this episode I talk with Rebecca Heisman, author of the new book Flight Paths , and hear about the story of writing the book, more stories about the people behind the research on bird migration, and her personal and birding story. In the introduction I talk about the migration watch scene at Dune Peninsula. Check out the eBird hotspot page here . You can learn more about Rebecca at her website rebeccaheisman.com As always find more related info on the Bird Banter Blog post about this article....
May 23, 2023•34 min•Ep. 168
On this episode I talk with Seattle area bird----more----er Bryony Angell, who is a professional writer with many published articles related to birding. Much of her recent work is related to women in birding and the birding experience from a woman's perspective. You can reach Bryony on her website here . Read more about Bryony, and topics discussed on the episode on the Bird Banter blog post related to this episode. Here is a link to the article about women only birding trips we mentioned on the...
May 09, 2023•41 min•Ep. 167
Jim and I talk about his birding in Johnson County, Iowa as well as his birding story, which began as a youth, had a long dormant stage, and has been revived in recent years with county big years, birding around the ABA area and a reinvigorated interest in backyard nature habitat. I think you'll enjoy hearing Dr. Kettelkamp's story. You can reach Jim on Facebook @jim.kettelkamp where you can check out his backyard habitat. Read more on the Bird Banter blog. Thanks for listening and until next ti...
Apr 25, 2023•34 min•Ep. 166
I put up this episode in part because it's been longer than usual since my last episode was published, and I didn't want listeners to think I had disappeared. It's a different than usual episode, without a guest. I talk about my recent getaway trip from the rainy Pacific NW, to the Florida Keys and to Costa Rica. It was primarily a winter vacation trip, with some time dedicated to birding. I loved the chance to enjoy Big Pine Key from the comfort of a vacation home of a friend of Marian, and I t...
Apr 10, 2023•22 min•Ep. 165
On this episode I have my first guest from the Czech Republic, Mikuláš Řimánek. I met Mik when he was a teenage Rotary Exchange student and had the chance to get out birding with Mik then. Since then Mik has become a leader in his country in the effort to recruit more youth into birding, and his story is both inspirational and exciting for me. I think you'll enjoy hearing Mik's story. You can reach out to Mik on Facebook or Instagram. You can see his eBird profile here . As I mentioned please le...
Mar 13, 2023•31 min•Ep. 164
On this episode Holly Merker talks about Ornitherapy, her experiences with birding as therapy and of ways we can use birding as a means of improving our state of wellness. She is also an extraordinarily talented and accomplished birder. You can find out lots more on the BirdBanter.com blog post about this episode. Buy her book Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body and Soul on her website. Check out the Mindful Birding Network website here . Please leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast ap...
Feb 27, 2023•57 min•Ep. 163
After several episodes with guests who are big-time birding listers, we change pace for this episode featuring a birder whose passion has led him to trekking, birding and supporting the communities of some of the highest elevation communities on earth, in the mountains of Nepal. When I met David Swain on the ship on my recent Antarctica trip I know he would be really fun to talk with for the podcast. Learn about Nepal, life in some of the highest elevation villages on earth, about trekking and b...
Feb 10, 2023•35 min•Ep. 162
I had a chance to meet Peter Kaestner on my recent Antarctica trip. On the cruise Peter gave a talk about his life passion of seeing as many species of birds as he can in the world. He worked for the U.S. diplomatic service, lived in many "birdy" places and visited many others. He now works part-time as a birding tour guide for Rockjumper Worldwide Birding Adventures, and has seen over 9700 of the 10,933 species now on the IOC checklist . It's an amazing story, and I hope you enjoy hearing Peter...
Jan 27, 2023•53 min•Ep. 161
In 2022 Victor and Ruben Stoll, brothers and birders from Tennessee, shattered the only one year old Lower-48 U.S. big year record, seeing about 25 more species than the previous record set by Tiffany Kersten, a prior guest. The Stoll brothers seemed to manage to have fun while often driving day and night, taking turns sleeping and driving from one birding site to the next. Hear about aligator attacks, a mouse in the food stash, rare birds and lots more. Enjoy. Find both Ruben on Facebook and VI...
Jan 13, 2023•50 min•Ep. 160
On this episode I talk with George Armistead about our trip to Antarctica, his birding story as well as his birding tour company Hillstar Nature . George has his own podcast with Alvaro Jaramillo and Molly Brown called Lifelist: A Birding Podcast that you may want to follow also. I certainly enjoy it. You can find George on his website at the link above. As promised you can learn more about the highly successful rodent eradication on the South Georgia Islands, about Katabatic winds, Churchill bi...
Dec 30, 2022•54 min•Ep. 159
I don't do many solo episodes but couldn't resist an episode to talk about my recent expedition cruise to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Antarctica is such an awesome, wild, remote and special place I've long dreamed of visiting. Well, after two years of covid postponements I finally managed the visit this November. The ABA, Alvaro's Adventures, and Rockjumper Birding put together a ship full of birders and Quark Expeditions ran the ship, and we did it. For lots of details o...
Dec 19, 2022•49 min•Ep. 158
On this episode I talk with Francis Canto Jr., a birder and birding guide from Belize. I learn a lot about Belize, birding there, and about Francisco and his work and passion for birds and birding. Enjoy. You can find Francisco on Facebook Here is a link to the Belize Bird Conservatory Hawk Watch Project web page . Thanks for listening. As always read more about this episode on the Bird Banter blog. Until next time. Good birding....
Dec 09, 2022•44 min•Ep. 157
On this episode father-son birders Mathew and Levi Radford join me to talk about their birding, birding in Oklahoma, and how birding as a father-son duo had been important in their lives. You can find their Father and Son Birding page on Facebook here . Mathew here , and Levi here . Read more about my recent coast birding trip on the ABC Birding site here, and as always check out the BirdBanter.com blog here ....
Nov 25, 2022•42 min•Ep. 154
On this episode Doug Hitchcox, a field educator with the Maine Audubon Society and one of very few birders to have found 400 species of birds in the state of Maine is my guest. We talk about his birding story and adventures, as well as his work with Maine Audubon. Doug is really fun to talk with, and I cannot wait to try to get together birding with him next time I go home to Maine. You can find Doug @dhitchcox on Twitter or contact him at Maine Audubon by email naturalist@maineaudubon.org Here ...
Nov 11, 2022•53 min•Ep. 155
On this episode I talk with Deborah Green, the president of the Orange Audubon Society , and the chairperson of the upcoming North Shore Birding Festival on Lake Apopka, Florida. This really a pretty cool festival as you'll hear about on the episode. Deborah is also a birder who travels to birding festivals, and so we talk a bit about some of her favorites. To see more about birding festivals check out the BirdBanter.com blog post associated with this episode. You can find Deborah by email at fe...
Oct 28, 2022•33 min•Ep. 156
7On this episode Alex Harper, a birder and trip leader from Las Vegas, NV talk about birding in Sin City, his company Bird Las Vegas that leads half and whole day trips individualized to his customer's needs in Las Vegas. Alex has also birded Alaska extensively, and has a great birding story. Enjoy. Bird Las Vegas Website Check out the associated blog post on BirdBanter.com Contact Alex through his website here ....
Oct 14, 2022•48 min•Ep. 152
Backyard birding has become somewhat a national if not worldwide hobby for many during Covid times, and on this episode Tammy Poppie, creator of the website On The Feeder is my guest. We talk about how to keep birds safer with proper feeder cleaning, bird window strikes, and overall how to enjoy the birds in your yard. As always check out the associated blog post on BirdBanter.com for more links and info. Until next time. Good birding and good day!...
Sep 30, 2022•32 min•Ep. 153
On this episode Matt Goff, a Sitka birder and all around naturalist, talk about birding in Sitka, his 10+ years of doing a bi-weekly radio show on KCAW , the local radio station in Sitka, about birding and many other aspects of the natural history and environment of the Sitka area. He also has a website SitkaNature.org where you can learn lots more. It was really fun to hear about hyper-focused birding in his home city/borough. Matt is a self taught naturalist, who is simply very interested in e...
Sep 15, 2022•42 min•Ep. 151
On this episode Sarah Swanson and I talk about her new book, Best Little Book of Birds: The Oregon Coast, as well as her birding story, her prior book, birding around Portland, OR and lots more. You can preorder Sarah's book Best Little Book of Birds: The Oregon Coast She is @Sarahlovesbirds on Instagram Be sure to check out the blog post with lost more info on BirdBanter.com Thanks for listening. Good birding....
Aug 31, 2022•41 min•Ep. 150
