birding trip planning – Bird Banter

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.