Category: Podcast summary

April 22, 2020

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #57 with “Puffin” Pete Salmansohn additional Info.

Pete Salmansohn, knows as Puffin Pete, is my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #57. Pete has worked as an educator for National Audubon Society and other organizations, and has been especially involved in education about seabirds off the Maine Coast. We talk about the highly successful and ongoing reintroduction of Atlantic Puffins and other seabirds to breeding islands off the Maine Coast. Enjoy.
Seabirds are one of the true wonders of the world. These birds in many cases spend their lives at sea, coming to shore only to breed. The family called Alcids, or Alcidae, are the northern hemisphere equivalent of the southern hemisphere penguins. They may be less well known to non-birders, but are incredible creatures none-the-less. Atlantic Puffins are maybe the most colorful of the puffin family. We have Tufted Puffins and Horned Puffins in the Pacific, and in the Atlantic are the Atlantic Puffins. Our commonly seen Rhinoceros Auklet is relatively closely related to the puffins also.

Rhinoceros Auklet at Westport this Feb.

These days it is relatively easy to see Atlantic Puffins on a short boat ride from New Harbor, ME. This is the boat that Pete Salmansohn led trips for decades, and we talk about these on the episode. Here is a link to the company that offers these trips.

We talk about Hog Island Audubon Camp and here is a link to their site.
Here is the Project Puffin website link
Here is a link to a 2010 Smithsonian Magazine article on the Puffin Reintroduction.
Here is another article about the work of their project. I like this one a lot.
You can find both of Pete’s children’s books on Amazon on or other book sellers. Here is a link on Amazon to the Project Puffin book
Here is Saving Birds- Heros Around the World link.
You can find out about the Hudson Highlands Land Trust here.
We also mention the artist island Monhegan Island on the episode. Here is information about that fabulous place to visit.
Here are links to other Bird Banter Podcast Episodes we talked about:
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #26 with Tim Larson
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #44 with Clarice and Jerry Broadus
Enjoy Spring Migration.

Solitary Sandpiper from the muddy field in Fife mentioned in the intro of this episode.

Good birding. Good Day!

April 15, 2020

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #56 with Mike Bergin Additional Notes

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!

April 8, 2020

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!

March 25, 2020

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!

March 22, 2020

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!

March 6, 2020

Episode Notes on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #51 with Lane Epps and Corrie Fulsom-O’Keefe

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!

March 1, 2020

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #50 with Nathanael Swecker

Long-eared Owl at Heritage Road on the Waterville Plateau on our ABC Birding Club Freezathon Trip.

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.

February 18, 2020

TBBP Episode #49 Home from Texas Notes

I believe in the podcast I called this bird a Red-breasted Becard at times, it’s Red-throated. Anyway a cool bird.
To read a more detailed trip list with photos check out the trip report on our birding club website ABC Birding. Also here for the time with Ken and Bruce. You’ll find several more posts on the Ed’s Birding tab on the birdbanter.com site.
I’ll keep this brief as it is well documented in the links above.
Good birding. Good day.

February 8, 2020

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #48 with Mary Guatafson Notes

A poor photo of the Eastern Screech Owl Mary showed me at the National Butterfly Center after we recorded the podcast episode.

I’ve been in the LRGV now for almost 2 weeks, and am starting to feel like I can find my way around. I am also starting to meet some of the local birders, and today was able to meet with Mary Gustafson. I learned that Mary and I have at least one thing in common. Ken Brown was helpful to us in our earlier birding days. When Mary was at UPS Ken often took her out locally birding.

On Feb 6th this female Rose-throated Becard was found at Benston Rio Grande SP. Mary messaged me about it and I got our whole ABC Birding group onto the bird the next day.

Mary is a top national birder, and has lived in the Lower RGV for about 15 years. She has been a trip guide here, has a long resume as an ornithologist working around the country and abroad, and was really fun to meet and talk with today.
Mary runs the listserv for the Lower Rio Grande Valley birding area, a nice resource for birders in this area.
She mentions that she worked at the National Bird Banding Center, and here is a link to their website.
She mentions Peter Pyle’s two tome book used by bird banders and museum curators for bird ID, aging, etc. Here is a link to that on amazon. This is part 1, part 2 is easy to find also.
Here is the web site for the National Butterfly Center.
Be sure to check out BirdBanter.com blog for more info, photos, etc.
Follow @birdbanter on Facebook and @birdbanter on twitter. My error on the podcast, I changed my twitter handle from @dredpullen to @birdbanter.
Good birding. Good day!