On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #56 I talk with Mike Bergin, the creator and force behind 10,000 Birds, the largest and likely longest running birding blog anywhere. Mike is an avid birding traveler, and has birded at many of the top world birding hotspots. He has also developed a top team of “beat writers” who contribute regularly to 10,000 Birds.
My favorite column on 10,000 Birds is Mikes every Monday “Best Bird of the Weekend” column. It is fun to read, see what others in the comments section report as their “best bird” of the weekend, and then force me to think back about my weekend.
Mike has also contributed to the birding community with the no-longer-functioning Nature Blog Network, where he helped collect the top bloggers on nature subjects into one place to read. With the evolution of social media this has stopped being as useful, but it was a key resource for years.
Mike also wrote I and the Bird that in addition to being a component of 10,000 BIrds was was featured on the ABA website for years.
I hope you find my talk with Mike as enjoyable as it was for me to produce.
Good birding. Good day!
Author: birdbanter
Supplemental Info: The Bird Banter Episode #55 with Suzie Gilbert.
On Episode #55 I talk with bird rehabilitator and author Suzie Gilbert. Here is a photo of Suzie with a Red-tailed Hawk.
I have had little to no experience with bird rehabilitation centers or the people who work at or operate these facilities prior to talking with Suzie Gilbert. On this episode Suzie tells us about how she came to be a bird rehab volunteer and over time came to own and operate her own rehab center out of her home. After I talked with Suzie and we agreed to do this episode I downloaded and read her latest novel, Unflappable, in the Kindle version. I read it over the weekend, a fun read and pretty much a page-turner as I raced to follow the fate of the heroine as she avoids police, National Wildlife personnel and a jealous abusive billionaire husband on a crazy quest type journey. After reading the novel I was even more excited to talk Suzie.
Here is a photo of the cover of her novel.
She did not disappoint me as a fun, informative and IMHO very interesting guest. I hope you enjoy.
You can buy Unflappable at Amazon or Barnes and Noble online.
Her website is SuzieGilbert.com
We talk about her time as a writer for 10,000 Birds, a top birding blog.
Here is a link to the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association website Suzie mentioned where you can learn lots about bird and other wildlife rehab.
Be sure to check out my blog post with more details about the episode at Birdbanter.com.
Until next time.
Good birding. Good day!
How Bushtits Keep Warm and Other Cool Stuff
I’m taking advantage of more time home than I usually experience (grrr think Covid-19 and “stay home”) to keep working my way through the Cornell University online ornithology course textbook. It is a wonderful text and course, with lots of online video aspects too. I hope to put out summary posts of some of what I’m learning using examples to make learning fun. On the section on thermoregulation Bushtits are used as an example, tweaking my interest in researching Bushtit trivia. Birds, like only mammals in the animal kingdom, are warm blooded, a.k.a. are endothermic homeotherms. This means that when they are in an environment warmer or cooler than their core temperature birds, just like us, need to do something to maintain their stable body temperature. There are exceptions, namely torpor-like states where birds allow themselves to cool down and slow their metabolic temperatures, but most birds find ways to maintain a body temperature without burning external fuels to heat their environment, or wearing warm clothes other than their own feathers.
I’ll focus here on birds staying warm, though how they stay cool is maybe even more interesting. The example used in the text was Bushtits. These tiny hyperactive birds weigh about 5.5 grams. A teaspoon of water weights 5 grams for comparison. This is only slightly more than the Anna’s Hummingbirds that also winter around our area. (4.3 grams) A study looked at Bushtits in the south and showed that they need to consume about 80% of their body weight in animal matter daily to maintain their body temp and metabolic demands at 20 degrees C, a pretty nice summer day here (68 F). It has to be higher in our near freezing winter weather.
Here are some tidbits about Bushtits and things they do to stay warm:
• There is some evidence that Bushtits sometimes build winter nests that are warmer than their breeding nests.
• Like other small birds they often huddle together in tightly packed protected areas on cold nights.
• In the daytime they are constantly moving, both to find enough food to burn to generate heat, but also to use their larger muscle masses to generate heat.
• There is no evidence that they gain body fat in the winter to add a layer of fat for warmth.
• It is not felt that they intentionally allow their body temp to drop at night.
Here is a table comparing some other common wintering birds in our area, with their weight in grams, a calculation of their surface area as if they were sphere shaped (obviously they are not, but for comparison I assume that the ratios are relatively appropriate as birds generally have the same body parts and general shape), and the ratio of surface area to mass.
It seems cool to me that intuitively it seems that the bigger birds can remain relatively still, and the smaller birds seem to need to move around a lot. Likely lots of reasons, but thermoregulation has to be among the more important of these reasons.
Until next time, good birding, and good day.
Episode #54 with Nate Chappell Additional Info
On the Bird Banter Podcast Episode #54 I talk with Nate Chappell. Nate grew up in Tacoma, where I live, and he and his brother Chris were top young birders around the time I moved to Washington 30+ years ago. We talk about his experiences birding around Washington, Christmas Bird Counts, and especially about his experiences as a bird photographer. His tour company, Trogon Photo Tours leads tours all over the world, specializing in bird and other nature photography.
You can follow Nate on Facebook and Instagram
I find Nate’s photos on his Facebook page a reason to smile, and get wonderlust regularly. In this time of being home more, and social distancing, enjoy looking back at his posts.
Nate talks about using a high shutter speed to improve action photos on your camera as a simple trick to improve results.
Please leave a comment here, or better yet leave a review of the episode you listen to on your preferred podcast app.
Thanks.
Until next time.
Good birding and good day!
Social Distancing While Chasing Rare Birds in Pierce County Today
Today Bruce LaBar, my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast Episodes #3 and #46 alerted the rest of our Pierce County birding test chain participants that he had found a Say’s Phoebe on Area 13 on JBLM. This is a common Eastern WA species, that is only seen rarely in migration in Western WA. I had only seen one in Pierce previously, at Brown’s Point March 9, 2017 when one was found at Brown’s Point Lighthouse. (I had actually forgotten about this sighting until reminded by Marcus about it yesterday, at the Say’s spot on JBLM from a nice safe much >6′ distance outdoors.
While looking for the phoebe, Scott Saunders found a Northern Shrike, another tough Pierce bird, and so I got a 2-fer for FOY Pierce birds on the trip. It was really nice to break out of the house and see the beauty of the JBLM prairie as well as the two birds. 
Stay safe, stay well, and find a way to get out birding safely.
Notes Supplemental to The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #53 with Ryan Merrill
Ryan Merrill and I talk about his birding story, birding in Washington State, and about his local patch birding. He also talks about his work on the Washington Bird Records Committee, and life as the husband/father in a family with a young child as a birder. Enjoy.
You can reach Ryan by e-mail: rjm284-at-gmail-dot-com
Here is a link to the Washington Bird Records Committee site:
This is info about the Seattle Audubon Society Young Birders activities:
The Swallow-tailed Gull Ryan found in WA made the local media in many places. Here is an example:
Ryan talks about Carkeek Park near his home in Seattle. Here is info about that local park: https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/carkeek-park
I hope you all stay well, get birding often, and until next time. Good birding. Good day!
A Trip to the Coast and PNP plus Pierce County Birding
It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated my online journal as like most of the world I’ve been engrossed in following this Covid-19 pandemic, have hunkered down staying close to home, and so have really been out less overall.
I did take a great trip to the coast last week with Bruce LaBar and Bill Tweit. I get out with Bruce pretty often, but far less with Bill. Bill is a long-time close friend of Bruce, and it was really fun to spend some time with him on a trip to the Westport area birding on March 4th. This was before recommendations to completely socially isolate came into effect, and we lucked out with a sunny calm and overall spectacular day. Highlights re birds were multiple Black-legged Kittiwakes, seen especially around Westport harbor, but really in many areas. One especially cooperative bird was perched on the railing of the marina floating walkway.
We also had two Glaucous Gulls at the same time at Grayland Beach while looking unsuccessfully for Snowy Plovers, lots of the usual Willets at Tokeland, the flock of Marbled Godwits in the corner of the marina near the start of the walk onto the docks, an unusual place we thought, Black Phoebe, American Bittern and both swan species on Brady Loop on the way home.
After a day of rest I joined Ken Brown for a day of Kitsap County birding, mostly a trip to Point-no-Point and places nearby. It was a windy but clear day, and highlights were many Boneparte’s Gulls, a pair of Black Turnstones seen at two different places, and a nice day with Ken.
Since then I’ve mostly birded Pierce County near home. On Feb 29th Marian and I cruised some of the Ft. Lewis Prairie and the highlight was FOY Western Bluebirds in a large returning flock, along with FOY Tree and Violet-green Swallows near Muck Creek.
Other places have included around Tacoma and then a trip to the base of Mt. Rainier with Marian yielded Canada Jay at feeders in Ashford, a pair of American Dippers under the Dashel River Bridge with one singing, and a fly-over of two Wilson’s Snipe over Hwy 7 on March 15.
Yesterday I birded at Chamber’s Creek, Farrell Marsh in Steilacom, and the Mountain View Cemetery in Lakewood, adding Band-tailed Pigeon, Purple Finch, Greater Yellowlegs and Red-breasted Sapsucker to my Pierce 2020 list.
Today Bruce LaBar and I got into the same car, not sure if this is social distancing compliant, and birded a couple of hours at Ft. Lewis, adding California Quail to my county year list.
Overall birding has helped get through the social distancing feeling of isolation. Come on migration!
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #52 with Stephanie Seymour Supporting Information
On this episode I am joined by Stephanie Seymour, the artist of the recently released album There Are Birds. She is an avid birder, has her own private official hawkwatch station at her home in New Jersey, and is a longtime professional musician. This album has 12 songs, each with the title of a listable North American bird except the final track, Migration is Over. Three of the songs are included in this podcast. Enjoy.
You can buy Stephanie’s album at her website: www.ThereAreBirds.com It is available as either a digital download or as a CD you can order.
We mention birding in Central Park with Starr Saphir who led walks in spring there for about 40 years before her death. The movie, The Central Park Effect is very cool, and features Starr in part. I really enjoyed this movie.
You can find her on Facebook and on Instagram @There_Are_Birds
On the ABA website Frank Izaguirre wrote a glowing review of this album you can access on the ABA site by clicking here.
Until next time. Good birding. Good day.
Episode Notes on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #51 with Lane Epps and Corrie Fulsom-O’Keefe
On the Bird Banter Podcast Episode #51 I talk with two women who have maintained and nourished a long-time and long-distance birding relationship. They actually used a recent episode of this podcast to help plan a birding trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and interestingly on that podcast two of my best birding buddies and I talk about our trip. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Lane works with the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge, and here is a link to their website.
Here is a link to the Brookline Birding Club website This is the club that hosted the bird walk in the Boston Gardens where Land and Corrie first birded together. This bird club is historically famous, having been established in 1913, and currently has over 1100 members.
Here is a link to the Bombay Hook NWR site mentioned in the episode This is a wonderful salt-marsh habitat refuge, and a place I remember for Saltmarsh Sparrow and biting green flies in July.
We talked briefly about the Farallon Islands on the episode, and this prompts me to mention the Bird Banter Podcast Episode #26 with Tim Larson where we talk about the House Mouse infestation of the island and the issues around eradication of this invasive pest there.
Lane talks briefly about the Mead Botanical Gardens and here is a link to their website.https://cityofwinterpark.org/departments/parks-recreation/parks-playgrounds/parks/mead-botanical-garden/
Stay tuned for the first musical episode of The Bird Banter Podcast coming up next when Stephanie Seymour is my guest and you will get to listen to some of the songs from her new album featuring 11 songs with bird names as titles! Too cool. You can get a sneak preview of her music and download the album here: There Are Birds
Until next time, good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #50 with Nathanael Swecker
On the Bird Banter Podcast Episode #50 I talk with Nathanael Swecker, current president of the Tahoma Audubon Society about his birding story. He has birded on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) extensively, and we talk about that birding resource in Pierce County, WA, as well as his experience with bird banding at the Morse Preserve, his work with Tahoma Audubon, and his experiences as an openly gay birder.
I found Nathanael an exceptionally articulate guest, and it was really fun to hear about his birding on JBLM. JBLM is a large (154 square miles of terrain in Pierce County) military reservation that was created by the merger of Fort Lewis (Army) and McChord Air Force Base in 2010. Over 40,000 service members are stationed at JBLM and there is extensive native habitat remaining that elsewhere in the county has been developed for agriculture, housing and other uses. Large stands of oak trees and relatively open prairie remain, and biologists there have maintained large bluebird trails, and protect habitat for the Streaked Horned Lark subspecies and the Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly. Here is an article about the butterfly.
Nathanael is also the president of Tahoma Audubon Society, the local Audubon Society in Tacoma, where I live.
We talk briefly about his experiences as an openly gay male birder, which seem to have been overall not hostile or problematic. Here is an ABA article about this group. http://blog.aba.org/2016/07/gbna_rycenga.html
Nathanael has been an active bird bander at the Morse Preserve, and here is a link to info about that area.