I will make this unusually brief, as I wrote a full trip report under the Ed’s birding notes tab of this page. See lots of photos on my Antarctica Flickr album.
Stay tuned for the next Bird Banter episode with George Armistad. I hope have several upcoming episode with fellow birders I met on the trip. The ABA was a main driver behind filling a ship with birders for a birding focused expedition cruise, which added greatly to the focus and fellowship on the ship.
For me one of the best parts of the trip was meeting Alvaro Jaramillo, and spending time with him and his co-leader Ricardo Matus. Both are not just extremely accomplished birders and guides, but have a fabulous depth of knowledge about the bird world. Alvaros lecture on the likely new species split from Wilson’s Storm-petrel was great, but all trip we got to learn life history and exquisite details of innumerable topics. Super fun to be around Alvaro and Ricardo.
Rockjumper Birding was the organizer and primary birding tour managers, and did a fine job.
If all goes as planned my next episode will be a talk with one of the top guides on the trip, and fellow podcaster George Armistad. Follow his podcst (along with Alvaro Jaramillo and Mollee Brown) Life List: A Birding Podcast.
As I mention on the episode, Belize was one of the first places outside the U.S. where I birded with my late wife Kay. We took a trip to Belize, and while at an ecolodge hired a guide for a couple of half days, and enjoyed the dry tropical forest birding there. We also took a side trip to Tikal, the famous ruins in Guatamala and also spent some time at Caye Calker on the coast. Overall a great trip. Talking with Francisco brought back really good memories.
Francisco was recommended as a guest by a listener, which is one of my favorite ways to find great guests for the podcast, so please let me know who you’d like to hear from on the show.
I had no idea that hawk watching was such a special time in Belize, and seeing large numbers of Hook-billed Kites there sounds pretty unique and intriguing.
I did know that for a small country, Belize has a nice mix of habitats, from coastal to the mountains, and all areas in between. You can check out Francisco’s eBird profile here.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!
On this episode it was cool to talk with avid father and son birders Mathew and Levi Radford. They have been birding together for about a decade, since Levi was a young boy, and they continue to enjoy birding and being advocates for the environment, birds and birding.
Levi is just getting started at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater as a freshman there. We talk about the owling that they did just a couple of days before this recording.
or by email Mathew at–> mathewradford2-at- gmail-dot-com and for Levi–> featherfanatics1-at- gmail-dot- com
To hear from Zach Poland, my prior Okalahoma podcast guest, check out The Bird Banter Podcast #114 with Zach Poland
I talk in the introduction about our ABC Birding group trip to the Washington coast and you can see the trip report on the ABC website here.
Here is a photo of the Hudsonian Godwit we found at Tokeland. The Hudsonian Godwit in flight.
Thanks for following. Good birding and good day!
On this episode you’ll hear from Doug Hitchcox, a top Maine birder who recently saw his 400th (and since 401and 402nd) species for Maine, one of only a few birders to reach this milestone, and the youngest. Read about it in the Portland Phoenix here.
Doug is a staff educator for the Maine Audubon Society, and state orgainzation independent of National Audubon.
You can reach Doug at the Maine Audubon by email naturalist@maineaudubon.org
You can follow Doug on Twitter @dhitchcox
I have loved the times I’ve visited the Gilsland Farm site, and you can read about it here.
I’ve heard about the Hog Island Audubon Camp on a prior episode with Christian Hagenlocher and you can read about the camp here.
For context here is a screenshot of the top 100 Maine eBirders
This is what the White Ibis, which was Doug’s 400th species in Maine looks like in Florida. Adult White Ibis from South Padre Islandk Texas. This is a juvenile White Ibis from Santa Ana NWR also in TX.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!
On this episode I talk with Deborah Green, the president of the Orange Audubon Society who is doing double duty as the chairperson of the Dec 2022 North Shore Birding Festival, sponsored by the Orange Audubon Society, which features 70 field trips as well as speakers, etc. The festival is centered around the north shore of Lake Apopka, a very large lake in central Florida. Here is a look at the lake on Google Maps. Lake Apopka, check out the big green area on the north end of the lake that Deborah talks about on the podcast.
We talk about many of the great birds you could see at this festival. I’ve been fortunate enough to see many of these, and so can show a few photos of some of them (though many not in Florida) Roseate Spoonbill White Ibis Great Egret Limpkin- a Florida specialty. Fulvous Whistling Duck
Deborah is also a frequent visitor at birding festivals, and we talk about a few of her favorites.
She mentions the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival https://www.rgvbf.org/ I’ve attended this and it is really good. There are trips to get Ferruginous Pygmy Owl as well as most of the valley’s winter specialties.
She also mentions the San Diego Bird Festival, which I can also vouch for as a great event. https://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/birding/san-diego-bird-festival/san-diego-bird-festival.html
Here are links to several other prominent festivals as well as ones that seem pretty interesting to me:
Biggest Week in Birding https://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/
Point Pelee Birding Festival https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/on/pelee/activ/festival
New River Birding Festival https://birding-wv.com/index.php/birding-nature-festival/registration?fbclid=IwAR0j0MoiAzGeGBaufo8xWshcTZC2wNrY4xewJDQ_lKv2MiV2XUbV5l096wE
Down East Birding Festival https://www.facebook.com/downeastbirdfest
Acadia Birding Festival https://acadiabirdingfestival.com/
Kachemak Bay Birding Festival in Homer, Alaska: https://www.homeralaska.org/events/annual-events/kachemak-bay-shorebird-festival/
Everglades Birding Festival http://www.evergladesbirdingfestival.com/
Morro Bay Winter Birding Festival: https://morrobaybirdfestival.org/
Winter Wings Festival in Klamath Bay, OR https://winterwingsfest.org/
Indiana Dunes Birding Festival: https://indunesbirdingfestival.com/
Great Salt Lake Bird Festival: https://greatsaltlakeaudubon.org/events/great-salt-lake-bird-festival
Monterey Bay Birding Festival https://montereybaybirdingfestival.org/
Cape May Fall Festival: https://njaudubon.org/cape-may-fall-festival/
I’m sure that there are lots more great options, and please leave a comment if you have recommendations.
On this episode Alex Harper and I talk about birding in the areas around Las Vegas, NV. Sin City is not a place many think of as a birdind destination, but is a place many birders are likely to find themselves for various reasons. Matt and the other guides with Bird Las Vegas are available to take visitors out on half or whole day guided trips during their visits to the city. Alex talks about the nice variety of habitats available, and the cool desert species available. Who doesn’t want to see a Greater Roadrunner, a specialty species Matt can show you near Las Vegas.
You can reach Alex through his website on the contact page or by email alexkharper-at-gmail-dot-com
Alex grew up in Florida, and I hope his family is safe from Hurricaine Ian’s destruction.
Good birding and good day!
Tammy Poppie and I talk about backyard birding and bird feeding on this episode. Tammie is the creator of On The Feeder, a website where readers can find information about bird feeders and feeding, find an injured bird rehab facility nearby. IMO this is a pretty cool feature of the website. I tried it for my home zip code and it gave several facilities in the area.
I talked about two prior episodes on the podcast, and so thought I’d put their players here:
On this episode we talk about Dr. Klem’s decades of work on birds and window collisions.
Suzie Gilbert and I talk about bird rehabilitation on this episode, as well as about her two books related to the topic.
We also talk a bit about feeder related Salmonella infections. Here is an article about the outbreak in the winter of 2021-2022.
As I mention on the wrap of this episode, stay tuned for the next episode with Alex Harper about birding around Sin City.
On this episode you’ll hear from Matt Goff, a longtime resident, all-around naturalist, and birder from Sitka, Alaska. For those of you who have not been to the Alaska panhandle, Sitka is a small city of about 8400 that is located on two large islands that make up a series of islands extending south and east from the large landmass of most of the rest of Alaska. Matt describes the weather in Sitka as “similar to Seattle but about 10 degrees cooler and with a lot more rain.”
Matt has done a radio show on KCAW of Raven Radio, a public radio show in Sitka for over 10 years. He does shows every 2 weeks, so this is over 270 shows. These shows cover various nature related topics and are enjoyable. You can find them on his web site SitkaNature.org where you can also contact Matt, or you can e-mail him at sitkanature-at-gmail-dot-com
Matt mentions his son in the show. Matt’s son is the #1 eBird lister in Sitka, and Matt is #3. Cool to be the dynamic father-son birding duo for a county.
Matt also talks about a Bioblitz he worked with in Sitka some years ago. Here is a link to the Bioblitz in Whistler he mentions.
For those of you who have not used iNaturalist, it is a phone app and website that allows you to keep records of living things that youfind in nature. I am no expert but it has features to allow other users to help with the ID of things you post with photos. I think of it as a bit like eBird for everything.
I mention an episode with Mike Denny on the episode. You can find that as episode #63 at this link.
Again thanks for listening. Feedback is always appreciated. Leave a comment or reach me on the contact page on this site.
Until next time, good birding.
On this episode I talk with birder, author, Portland Audubon volunteer and all-around interesting woman, Sarah Swanson. Sarah has written two birding books, and the latest is: A truly pocket sized book of birds of the Oregon Coast
I think this book will be a great tool for those interested in enjoying and learning the birds of the Oregon coast who are maybe not already familiar with what they are likely to see and their identification. This book is available for pre-order now, and is expected to be available in October of this year.
Sarah previously wrote a book called Must See Birds of the Pacific Northwest which is available used.
Sarah is an active member of the Portland birding community, and it was fun to talk with her about birding in her area, the process of marketing a new book, her birding story, and lots more.
You can find Sarah on Instagram @sarahlovesbirds or on Twitter @MustSeeBirds.
I also enjoyed hearing from Sarah about inclusiveness in birding, how Portland birders have been leading the way with birding groups like Feminist Birding Club of Portland and others. It helped remind me to try harder to be more inclusive and inviting to everyone.
Thanks for listening. As always I welcome suggestions for and introductions to potential guests for the podcast. Reach out to me on the Contact Page anytime with ideas.
Until next time, good birding and good day!
Mike Resch is such a wealth of information on state and province birding throughout the continental U.S. and Canada. He has not just birded in every state and province, he has birded a lot in every state. So much that he has seen >200 bird species in every U.S. state (except Hawaii). You can find more about Mike on his State Birding Blog
We talk about his most recent trip to western Montana and the Idaho panhandle. We talk about the difference between chasing rarities and finding a large number of common birds in each state. Mike has done both, so knows the difference well.
Mike also has a post-retirement business of trip guiding and planning. If you need help planning a trip to see rarities, see great birding spots near where you’ll be visiting, or otherwise planning a birding trip, Mike is available to help. Reach him through his website or at reschmike1-at-gmail-dot-com on email.
I read Mike’s blog, and wondered how he creates the cool U.S. maps with color and numbers for each state. I didn’t ask him how he does it, but this website works.
If you want to hear the first episode with Mike check out episode #33
I’m hoping that when Mike decides to visit eastern WA and OR that we can link up and bird a bit together there. He has not visited these areas, and I love getting east of the mountains birding. Mike has 268 WA species and 249 in OR, all west of the Cascades. I’m sure we could add some good birds for the states in SE WA and NE OR. The Blue Mountains, Mal Huer, and the Asotin County areas would make a great trip.
Here are some photos of birds mentioned on the episode. Black-backed Woodpecker American Three-toed Woodpecker Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Franklin’s Gull
If you know of birders who might make great guests, please contact me with suggestions.
Thanks for following. Good birding and good day!
