I have posted more extensively on the Ed’s Birding Notes for related information. Click here to see the details. Here are just a few photos.
Category: Blog
The Bird Banter Podcast #128 with Alex Marine Additional Information
On this episode I talk with Alex Marine, a birder from Missouri, now living in eastern Kansas, but who works in Missouri, and who did a Missouri big year in 2021. I reached out to Alex after finding him through his eBird profile, and really enjoyed talking with Alex. He has been birding most of his life, living in a number of pretty great U.S. birding locations, and was kind enough to join me on this episode.
Alex talks about lots of great birding spots on the episode and here are links to information on a few of the ones mentioned.
Alex works at Prairie State Park in Benton County. Here is a like to the park website and the eBird Hotspot.
The Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary is the top eBird hotspot in Missouri, is a place I hope to visit on my upcoming trip, and was discussed on the episode.
You can find Alex on his eBird Profile, or on Facebook and Instagram.
I also talk on the episode introducation about my upcoming Mississippi River flyway/Great River Road trip. Read more about the Great River Road here.
I’ll try to post regularly under Ed’s Birding Notes about the trip and watch for possible podcast posts.
Until next time, good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #127 with Raphael Fennimore Additional Info.
Raphael Fennimore is my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast #127 and we talk about not just his record breaking King County 2021 Big Year, but also his broad natural sciences background as a marine mammal biologist, scuba diving, as an Antarctic Cruise guide and his experience with a new mirrorless camera. Raphael identified 278 species of birds in King County in 2021, more species than had previously been found in any county in WA in a single calendar year.
I mention on the episode that I think Common Grackle is less common in central Maine than when I was child, and though that may be my impression, per eBird bar charts it is still pretty common, so maybe it’s my faulty memory, or maybe they were more abundant then like many species that have generally declined in numbers over the last half century.
Here is a link to the Birding in King County, WA book that Raphael mentioned by Gene Hunn.
This is the Canon R5 camera Raphael mentions.
Here is Raphael’s Instagram feed
You can also reach Raphael by email Raphael.Fennimore- at – gmail- dot- com
Here is a link to the eBird 2021 top 100 eBird listers page.
Again, thanks for listening and reading here.
Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #126 with Dr. Daniel Klem Additional Information
On this episode Dr. Daniel Klem and I talk about his long career as an ornithologist, and especially about his research, passion and recent book about the widely underappreciated deaths of birds from collisions with glass. The title of his book captures the essence and magnitude of the issue.
Birds have incredible vision. They can see a wider spectrum of colors, including some wavelengths of UV light invisible to human eyes. They can see a wider field of vision, with significantly greater visual acuity, and in dimmer light than humans. That said, they cannot see glass panes for what they are, and collisions with glass, which to them must seem like “solid air”, kill unimmaginable numbers of birds annually. Dr. Klem talks about all of this and more in his book, which I encourage you to buy.
Here are just a few amazing facts to put the magnitude and importance in perspective.
-Unlike predators, storms, and natural causes of death, glass collisions kill indiscriminately. The fittest and the weakest of birds are equally likely to die from glass collisions. Research has shown that adult, immature, healthy and sick birds all crash into glass proportionately.
-The issue is not with skyscrapers. Very few birds die in migration by crashing into the tops of skyscrapers. The issue is with residential and commercial buildings in places where birds live. The big risk is glass in areas where there are a lot of birds living, like homes, schools, businesses etc.
-Between 370 Million and 1 billion birds die of collisions with glass annually. For perspective this is on the low end >1 million birds daily! The number of birds killed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill die DAILY from glass collisions!
If this sounds hopeless, take heart. There are real, relatively inexpensive things you can do to reduce the bird deaths in your yard. It is not putting falcon decals on your windows! Here are some options:
-Use decals for your windows available at Feather Friendly.
-Use Acopian Bird Saver cords. You can buy them or make your own, see video below.
-For new construction use bird safe windows, for example AviProtek windows.
-Become an activist in your community.
-Place bird feeders <1 meter from windows to prevent birds using the feeders from gaining enough speed to hit windows at lethal speeds.
There is just too much to write for just the blog post, and I encourage you to read the book to become an informed advocate.
Thanks for listening.
Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #125 with Nick Bayard of BirdNote Additional Info
On The Bird Banter Podcast #125 with Nick Bayard, executive director of BirdNote we talk a lot about the BirdNote organization, from its inception as the brainstorm and creation of Chris Peterson and the Seattle Audubon Society to its present day status as a widlely known and respected creative force for birds, birding and conservation through the Bird Note Daily podcast that is heard on 250 NPR ratio stations as well as its two longer form podcasts Threatened and Bring Birds Back.
You can find any of these podcasts on all of the commonly used podcast feeds.
You can also follow BirdNote on most social media venues including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube and more.
I really only knew about BirdNote Daily by hearing it on NPR radio, and so assumed that it was primarily funded by NPR, to learn that it is a free-standing not-for-profit organization that gets >70% of its funding from individual donors and most of the rest from grants from foundations, so instead of paying for this through our tax dollars, supportive donors support the orgainzation and NPR is the beneficiary (along with all of us who listen and enjoy).
Nick Bayard, my guest on this episode has his own interesting story. He started birding along with his family while duck hunting as a child, and went on to take some ornighology courses as an undergraduate at Brown Universily. Later he served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay and birded there. I heard about Nick from his wife when we met while I was looking for Common Redpolls in Titlow Park in Tacoma and she told me about Nick and his work on Bird Note. A really nice happenstance as it led directly to this episode, and my learning a lot more about Bird Note.
I mention a podcast called Grouse on the episode. I believe that the 8-part podcast was produced with BirdNote in conjunction with Boise State Public Radio. You can hear it on most podcast feeds, or here.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!
Food Forest Regeneration Brings Back Birds and Habitat for all Species
I am super excited about the book my daughter Jean Pullen has written that will be published on March 11th. I’ve visited her small Regenerative Agriforestry farm, and can vouch for the fact that their techniques for growing amazing quantities of food in a way that provides habitat for birds, animals and the entire ecosystem is not just possible, but practical. Her book talks about this and a whole lot more. You can go to the Regenerate Your Reality web site to buy your copy by clicking on the hotlink in this sentence. Following is a brief article written by Jean to tell about her passion and the general topic of the book:
A Discussion of Regenerative Agroforestry by Jean Pullen
“As an alumni soil advocate from Kiss the Ground, I was inspired to write my book, Regenerate Your Reality, and continue expanding the @JungleProjectCR mission all about Trees, Training, and Trade. I have felt called to environmentalism since a young age. In 2017, I moved to Costa Rica to follow my passion for nature, permaculture, agroforestry, and community.
Now I am teaching soil advocacy to children and recently activated a monthly webinar series about regeneration in every way. I believe we can be part of the solution to the climate crisis, and that we all can play our part by living regeneration and coming back to our essence of love.” –
— Jean Pullen
AGROFORESTRY IS THE MOST POWER TOOL FOR REGENERATION, CREATING LOTS ABUNDANCE AND RESPECT FOR ALL THE SPECIES ON THIS PLANET.
Planting trees creates so much abundance, because once the trees start fruiting, you can easefully feed birds, animals, your neighbors, your community, and yourself. Planting trees will help your family and community today and support generations to come. We have regenerated cow pasture lands where we saw very few birds to then see abundant agroforests with native plants and flowers where birds are back.
Agroforestry
“Agroforestry . . . is a holistic agricultural management system that integrates trees, shrubs, and edible perennial plants to provide multiple crops resistant to pests and diseases.ˮ
—Craig R. Elevitch and Diane Ragone
Something that we have learned through the Jungle Project is that one breadfruit tree can meet a family’s carbohydrate needs for many generations.
Jungle Project & Breadfruit, The Tree of Life
Breadfruit is a key part of traditional Pacific agroforestry systems, many of which have since been usurped by monocultures. The fast-growing, high-yield perennial trees bear fruit in just three to five years and continue producing for decades. Breadfruit also requires significantly less labor and inputs than crops like rice and wheat. Researchers believe that breadfruit, a highly nutritious source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals, could be key to alleviating hunger and poverty in the tropics.
The Jungle Project Vision: A world that thrives through regenerative food forests.
Jungle Project is a regenerative enterprise dedicated to trees, training, and trade. Through the promotion of its tropical agroforestry model, Jungle Project is researching and establishing underutilized crops like breadfruit, a tree native to the Pacific Islands, with smallholder farmers to create value-added supply webs. Jungle Project supports farming communities, helps diversify farmer production and income by seeking market opportunities for harvests, and fosters the investigation and development of innovative products sourced from farmers’ edible forest gardens. Jungle Project’s Breadfruit Flour is sourced from tropical regenerative agroforestry ‘Jungles’ of Costa Rica, and is 100% gluten free.
Are you ready to get deeper into regeneration? Regenerate Your Reality?
Your Guide to Regenerative Living, Love, Happiness, & Sovereignty is available to order. Visit www.regenerateyourreality.com to learn more.
Much of the proceeds from this book will be filtered back to regenerative community-based farming models and planting trees that feed through Kiss the Ground and Jungle Project!
By Jean Pullen
Author Bio
Jean Pullen is the author of Regenerate Your Reality, a resource for those who seek regeneration in their lives and in the world. She is a partner of Jungle Project, and Soil Advocate at Kiss the Ground. In addition, she enjoys sharing her passions through holistic workshops and regenerative agriculture tours.
The Bird Banter Podcast #124 with Michael Todd
On this episode Michael Todd, the top eBird lister in Tennessee and I talk about birding his home state, his birding story, his mentors, and more. Michael is works full time, and during the Covid pandemic has had a tremendous workload with lots of overtime, so I appreciate his taking time to do this podcast episode. I was especially pleased to talk with Todd because shortly after recording the episode Marian and I flew to Nashville, TN for a brief stop on the way to Florida to visit my brother and then on to Costa Rica to visit my daughter and son-in-law. I was really pleased to hear a bit about Tennessee birding before I got in a tiny bit of birding there.
Michael mentions several top Mississippi River floodplain hotspots in Tennessee on the episode. Here are some eBird links to those areas.
Ensley Bottoms Maxxon Wastewater Lagoons
It was really fun to hear about a new place and from a birder who really knows the area well.
My brief time in Tennessee was interesting. On the first day we headed to an close to the city hotspot called Shelby Park and Bottoms. It was a windy but warm and very pleasant morning, and we managed to see 27 species, including a nice flock of Eastern Bluebirds, and overall had a nice time birding. By the next day it had turned bitterly cold, and birding was limited by temperatures at or below freezing all day long, and high winds. The only really notable bird was a Ross’s Goose in Centennial Park that has made eBird alerts nearly daily for much of the winter. We were really there to see some music and the city, and birding was secondary, so a nice trip.
I hope you enjoy hearing from Michael in this episode.
Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #123 with David and Dee Simpson Additional Information
On this episode I talk with David and Dee Simpson about their Florida birding, Dee’s daily blog where she posts a photo and a poem about the photo, and more.
I got my start as a birder in Florida, and tell about this briefly on the episode, and was headed to visit my brother in Florida when this episode was recorded. That prompted me to look for a Florida birder for the podcast. I have previously had David and Tammy McQuade on the podcast, who are Florida birders, but who are better known for their lower-48 big years every year recently. David is a lifelong Floridian, who has birded every county in the state, and is a wealth of information about everything about Florida birding. This comes out clearly in the episode where you’ll hear in detail about some of his birding escapades and his interest in everything about Florida natural history.
Here is a screenshot of David’s Florida eBird profile map.
Dee is the technical expertise behind their website, and has a knack for bringing the technical aspects of birding and nature to a level where everyong can understand and enjoy the knowledge. She was really fun to talk with also.
David leads trips for birders in Florida, see his website for more information, primarily customized small group or individual trips. He and Dee also produce educational videos on You Tube about birding in Florida and more.
The Bird Banter Podcast #122 With Tiffany Kersten
On The Bird Banter Podcast #122 Tiffany Kersten and I talk about her record breaking Lower 48 United States birding big year, as well as her efforts to raise awareness for the safety of women in nature. During her big year she gave away over 250 personal safety devices.
Tiffany works as a personal guide in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and you can contact her either on her website Birdie Big Year: Elevating Women Birders or on her Facebook page @natureninjatours.
The record breaking species for Tiffany was fittingly found at her home turf place, the Santa Ana refuge in the Rio Grande Valley where she has worked and continues as a conservation advocate.
Hear other episodes about birders and their big years on any of these episodes:
Thanks for listening and until next time, good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #121 with Will Brooks and Jason Vassallo Additional Information
On this episode Will, Jason and I talk about their 2021 big years. Jason did a 2021 Lower-48 States big year and Will did a 2021 Washington State Big Year. Will broke the record for Washington getting 376 species, and Jason saw the 9th highest lower 48 states total ever while visiting most states, 21 National Parks, many other areas of natural beauty, and trying to keep it fun and not too stressful. It sounds to me like both accomplished their goals exceptionally, and it was really fun to have good friends on the show to talk birding.
Below are links to related and I think interesting information.
Jason’s Instagram feed, @jason2012bigyear. Check out not just the great photos but the dialogue too.
Here is a Wikipedia page that gives more than you may want to know about birding big years. It is incredibly current and well done.
Here is a Seattle News 5 video about Will’s year.
This is a local newspaper article about Will’s big year.
This is Will’s first podcast with lots more background and here is Jason’s first podcast.
Thanks for listening and reading.
Good birding and good day!