On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #35 I talk with Dr. Ursula Valdez about her birding story and about her decade plus of work in the Peruvian Amazon. We cover a lot of issues, and in this post I hope to add details and clarification to some of the topics we discussed. Her doctoral work was studying forest falcons in the Southeastern Peru Amazon. Here is a list of some of her publications related to that work listed on the Peregrine Fund page on a global raptors site. Here is the article on my birding club’s site after she made her presentation to us at a club meeting.
This is a photo of her slide at that presentation of the five species of forest falcons she studied in her doctoral work.
More recently Dr. Valdez has been working with a local landowner, other researchers, local youth, and visiting volunteers at él Centro de Educacíon, Ciencia y Conservacíon, in the Madre de Díos, a great name translated the Mother of Gods, in the Tambopata Province of Peru, near the town of Puerto Maldonado. This is one of the most species diverse areas of the world, and in an area being ravished by land clearing, slash burning and gold mining. We talk about the gold mining, much of which is done illegally, in areas where it is not legally allowed. The gold there is disbursed in the runoff sediment from the river, and huge areas of the river itself and surrounding forest are cleared, dug up, the gold extracted in a process using mercury, and left ravished. The ecological and health consequences are devastating to the community and of course to the wildlife of the area. Here is an article about this issue on the USAID website. The article addresses the social, ecological and community issues related to the illegal alluvial gold mining in the Madre de Díos region.
Dr. Valdez also talks about her local work at the Bothel Campus of the University of Washington, where she teaches, does local conservation work, and continues her research activities.
The facebook page @CECCOT is a great way to keep touch with their great organization and to hear about volunteer opportunities there. Be sure to like and follow their page, and support their work in any way that you are able
Until next time, good birding. Good day!
Category: Blog
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #34 with Brad Waggoner Additional Info
In this episode Brad and I talk a lot about birding in Clallam County, WA. Over the last decade or so it has become increasingly clear that Neah Bay is a special place in the fall. If you look at a map of the northwestern U.S. you will see that Neah Bay and Cape Flattery are at the very northwest most point of the lower 48 United States. 
Just this fall rare Washington species found in Neah Bay include Blackburnian Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Tropical Kingbird (frustratinglyk found the day after I left Neah Bay), Lapland Longspur, Lark Sparrow (rare for that location, not eastern WA), Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Mockingbird, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and American Redstart.
I am hopeful that Brad will help me mark up a Neah Bay map with the birders names for locations often used in describing places in the town.
Here is a link to Matt Bartell and Ken Knittel’s WA Birder website. http://wabirder.com/
Here are some photos from my recent Neah Bay trip:
Here is a link to the ABC Birding website of our local birding club. http://abcbirding.com/
Good birding. Good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #33 with Mike Resch supporting notes.
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #33 with Mike Resch we talk primarily about his lifelong quest to see over half of the birds on the state bird checklist in the lower 48 states + Washington D.C. So far he has about 14,700 state ticks, and is only 2 states from achieving his goal. Oregon and Montana are yet to succumb to his passion, but they are on the near-term horizon.
You can find Mike at his blogG. State Birding on Blogspot, or you can email him at reschmike1 – at- gmail -dot- com”
Mike has a public profile on eBird. Here is a link to his profile. https://ebird.org/pnw/profile/MjM1MjQ3/US
I mentioned my Ferruginous Hawk trip. Here is a link to a facebook post about that.
Please ask questions, leave comments, and subscribe to The Bird Banter Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher.
Good Birding. Good Day.
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #31 with John Patten Moss- Supporting Notes
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #31 John Patten Moss and I talk about his planned cross-country birding big year completely self powered and primarily on a UNICYCLE! Can you imagine, starting near where I live in the Puget Sound region of Washington state, travelling south to California, across to Arizona and across the southern U.S. using only a unicycle and his feet.
In episode Dorian Anderson and I talked about his 2014 Biking for Birds big year, when he saw 618 species, and started in Massachusetts, going south in freezing weather to Florida, then crossing the southern U.S., up the west coast and back through part of the central U.S. completely self powered on a bicycle. John and I talk about he unique challenges he will face on a unicycle, his life story of learning to unicycle and his birding story.
I look forward to following his big year at his blog: 2020: The Vision
There is a really cool video produced by a student at his alma mater Berry University about his unicycle use during college. Check it out here:
In case you have not seen it here is the blog of Dorian Anderson’s Biking for Birds big year
You can reach John on e-mail mossbill16 – at- yahoo dot – com
Be sure to reach out to him if you are interested in helping him in any way on his big year quest.
Until next time; Good birding. Good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #30 with Peter Wimberger Supporting Notes
In this episode I go to the Slater Museum at the University of Puget Sound to meet with Peter Wimberger, the museum director, and we talk about the role of a natural history museum in the world of science, education, research and ecology today. Peter is a passionate advocate of the museum and natural history museums in general, and an eloquent guest.
Here is a link to the website of the Slater Museum and the Burke Museum, a similar museum at the University of Washington. Both museums have the premier outstretched wing specimens of birds in North America. You can see photos of many of the wings on the websites.
Here is a link to my 
Here is a photo of the new Oceanic Bird Identification guide I talk about in the introduction
Until next time. Good birding. Good day!
The Bird Banter Episode #29 with Christian Hagenlocher Additional Info
In this episode Christian talks at length about his recent trip to Attu. Attu has a rich history of being a place where rarities can be found like no other place. I believe the book Christian mentions in the podcast is Attu: Birding on the Edge by Crista Waters. It is available on Amazon
Here is the link to the place to preorder Christian’s new book Falcon Freeway.
The National Audubon Society Hog Island Camp can be looked at here.
Here is the company Christian is guidingfor.
Here is the boat used for the Attu tour. M/V Pukuk on a tour with Zugunruhe Birding Tours.
I’ve looked at several Attu trip reports, and there really are not that many “highly likely” species I could add to my ABA life list that are not almost as likely on a trip to Gambel or Adak. Mega rarities would certainly be more likely, but at this time I don’t see Attu in my birding future.
Good birding. Good day.
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode#27 with the McQuades- Additional Information
I had an absolute blast recording this episode of The Bird Banter Podcast. Both Tammy and Dave McQuade have the energy you’d expect from a couple doing their 5th consecutive lower 48 Big Year, and have a great story to tell. Maybe the most interesting part of the episode to me was hearing about their new boat that they use for pelagic trips on the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike many west coast pelagic trips, where large flocks of birds are relatively easily found, in the gulf the birds are found in much smaller numbers, and congregate around bait fish, so it’s easy to miss them. Dave and Tammy have the solution. A fast boat with super powered radar that can detect a single bird as small as a term from two miles away. Then with their fast boat they can race over to see the bird. They can cover over 300 miles in a single day of birding.
Here is a photo of the boat:
This is the radar:
They are exploring what they call ABA birding’s last frontier, the relatively unbirded gulf waters.
I also talked about several other birder’s big years in the podcast introduction. Here are some links to those that I know of with websites or blogs:
https://www.facebook.com/david.mcquade.96
https://www.facebook.com/david.mcquade.96
Dorian Anderson’s blog from his bicycle big year.
Christian Hagenlocher’s The Birding Project page: .
Blair Bernson’s blog with details of many of his 50 state saga:
Olaf Danielson’s Big Year Blog:
John Weigel’s 2019 Big Year blog
The book I mentioned outlining a strategy to find 650 ABA birds on a budget is
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Birdfinder: A Birders Guide to Planning North American Trips
by Jerry Cooper. You can find it used on Amazon.
Noah Strycker wrote the book Birding Without Borders, available anywhere books are sold.
I am currently working on competition only with myself for Pierce County and Washington State Big Years I have no illusions about “winning” either year, but am enjoying getting around and finding what I can. By starting each year fresh, it gives incentive to get out to lots of places and go birding.
I currently have found 202 species in Pierce County, after Levee Pond dried up just in time for migration and yielded 5 FOY shorebirds this week, and 291 Washington State species for 2019. I am aiming for >300 this year, and it is pretty reachable with at least one more Pelagic trip planned and an Eastern WA trip set for early Sept that should yield a few new year birds.
Here are photos of some of the Levee Pond bonanza seen this week. From top to bottom, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, and Semi-palmated Sandpiper.
Until next time, good birding and good day.
Episode #26 with Tim Larson
In this episode Tim larson, passionate advocate for seabirds on the Farralone Islands off the California coast tells us about his work in support of mouse eradication on the islands. This topic is controversial, but I agree with Tim and the near universal supporting biologists who are trying to get this project done. Listen and let me know if you agree.
Here are supporting links.
First the snail mail address to send letters in support of the project.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230
Here are links related to the project and rodent eradication efforts elsewhere:
https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/12/15/miracle-palmyra-rats-birds-recovery-restoration-invasive-species-hawaii-nature-wildlife/?fbclid=IwAR0iIyQeuskChvJiokAEw9B7ImDNAZvJIidVbOBto8_DAYkl1zj8kXTEoQ4
https://www.facebook.com/Farallones-House-Mouse-Eradication-Project-534040270353530/?modal=admin_todo_tour
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/on-assignment/assignment-paradise-lost-found-n572216?fbclid=IwAR1FoCNxOaSVDxpGPAv1U2jZXWCa2fTiChaP7k740Bpcp-9RsN9Uy_Muv_M
one i
Leave comments and let me know what you think.
Good birding. Good day.
Episode #25 with Dr. John Fitchen
In episode #25 I talk with another physican Dr. John Fitchen. He is a retired hematology-oncologist and a top Portland, OR area birder. He recently published a book:
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Life Through the Lens of a Doctor Birder: A Memoir
. I read the book and it is an enjoyable read for birders or for general interest. Birders will enjoy chapters on his trip to Attu, and his Multnomah County Big Year, as well as the field notes at the end of each chapter describing the last 20 species he saw entoute to getting to 300 on his Multnomah County Life List.
Readers or listeners can get a 10% discount on the book at https://aerbook.com/store/fitchen using the code BANTER
On the podcast we talked briefly about the role of physician in early American ornithology. I looke more into this to be sure I was remembering correctly. Spencer Baird, of Smithsonian fame, married the daughter of the Secretary of the Army, and with that influence managed to recruit the help of many Army Surgeons on exploratory expeditions, as well as at outposts, who sent him species skins, eggs, etc. Some names that will sound familiar are:
John James Cooper (Cooper’s Hawk)
Adolphys L Heermann (Heermann’s Gull)
John Fox Hammond (Flycatcher)
In addition George Stellar was a Russian physician who explored the northwest and Arctic areas, having Stellar’s Jay, Stellar’s Sea Eagle, the Extince Stellar’s Sea Cow, Stellar’s Sea Lion named after him.
You can read more about this at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44442753?read-now=1&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
I hope you enjoyed the episode. If you have yet to listen, you can find it at http://birdbanter.com/
On that page you can listen on Podbean, or can find one-click links to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.
Thanks.
Good Birding. Good Day!
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Life Roads in Eastern WA
Last weekend I headed east of the Cascades to bird some areas I had not visited before, and to introduce a friend and new birder to the experience of a birding trip. We found new roads, good birds and Marian survived, so overall I consider the trip a success.
We started going north to Hwy 20, the North Cascades Highway. The first birding stop was at the Goodell Creek Bridge near Newhalem. This is one of the best places in WA to see Black Swift. Black Swifts are believed to be breed only in nests behind waterfalls, and forage far and wide espeicially high up, so are tough to go find. It seems more often they are seen almost by accident, looking up into the sky on overcast days near the mountains. Today I lucked out. As I munched a PB&J sandwich on the bridge a single BLSW flew by, among many more Violet-green Swallows.
Next stop was at Washington Pass. I had never really stopped there before, but David Poortinga had reported a Spruce Grouse there a month prior, and it was a good half way stop for the day to stretch, so we pulled off on the Chelan County side and explored a bit. The meadow on the west side of the entrance road was lush, moist, and beautiful. A Spotted Sandpiper teetered on a stump in the middle of the meadow. Above the parking lot is a nice short hike to vistas in several directions, that was quite spectacular.
From there we headed on to Republic, where I thought I had reserved a room. As I got near, I brought up my Priceline app to get exact directions, and was momentarily confused when the map showed it was 1 day, 3 hours to the destination. It turns out I had a reservation in Republic, Missouri. Not helpful, and so we had to settle for the Honeymoon Suite at a low quality place. I felt like a newbie, egg on face. Still, a place to sleep was fine.
The next day I was excited to bird the Sandpoil River Valley. It is a well known area for eastern U.S. species whose range just makes it into WA in this riparian corredor. The best bird there for me was a calling Least Flycatcher. Misses were Northern Waterthrush, supposedly easy, but not for me that day, Red-eyed Vireo and Bobolink. Still it was great to explore a new area, and the overall birding was good.
About midday we took the turn east onto Wilson Creek Road to Freidlander Meadow, and had lunch and a sit down there. As we ate, and I studied the Red-crossbill flocks, Marian pointed out a large raptor. I oblgingly checked out what I figured was the Red-tailed Hawk that had been screaming, and was very happy to see my FOY Northern Goshawk zipping along the back side of the meadow. No photos as it kept popping behind trees, and gave only interrupted looks, but a clear-cut ID.
Just before lunch we had seen a Black Bear browsing beside the road, and the trip from lunch to the Inchelium Ferry across the Columbia River was uneventful. The ferry was pretty cool, and the drive down to Spokane was beautiful.
Saturday we headed up to Mt. Spokane State Park, and enjoyed the scenery, the short hikes, and another new area for me.
Sunday was maybe my favorite day of the trip. We birded Turnbull NWR in the AM, with lots of Gray Catbirds, waterfowl, and a nice scattering of Spokane County species.
After lunch we dipped into Whitman County, to fill out my county list there. Highlights were the two-track roads high with weeds in the wheat fields I chose from the DeLorme road atlas. We didn’t get high-centered, and on the way to Moses Lake for the night tried for Ferruginous Hawk at Wilson Creek (different place I think) but settled for a fly by FOY Black-crowned Night Heron.
I finished the trip with 5 FOY WA birds, 77 new Spokane County species (I started with only 10), 36 new Ferry County birds (83 now) and 22 new Whitman County species failing to make it over 50 species for the county as hot early afternoon was not a productive time there, and we only spent about 2 hours in the county.
It is always fun to explore new places, and Marian got a feel for what a birding road-trip is like. We got home safely, and I score the overall experience as quite good. Here is the route we took.
Good birding. Good day!
