On this episode you will hear from George Armistead, a well known ABA birder, tour leader, podcaster, and all around interesting guy. We talk about his our trip to Antarctica, so after the last episode where I talk about the trip in detail, George can add another perspective and some new stories.
Check out George’s bird tour company Hillstar Nature .
You can find George on Facebook and Instagram too. Hillstar Nature has their own Facebook page too.
I promised more information on a number of topics in this post too. To keep this from being just too much I’ll keep it brief with links to more detail if you’re interested.
Beginning in 2011 the South Georgia Heritage Trust began the eradication of rats on the South Georgia Islands. This was controversial in that it used rodenticides, and was by far the largest land mass with rodent infestation that eradication had ever been attempted. The project was highly successful, and by 2016 rats were likely completely eradicated, but it was not until 2018 that the official declaration of a rat free South Georgia was given. You can read more about it here. Birders who visited South Georgia on the recent expedition cruise I was on saw many South Georgia Pipits, a marked difference from stories of birders who visited 20 years ago (I missed the visits with Covid isolation). The continued vigillence is intense, and we had rat-sniffing dogs search our ship before one landing.
Early in his career Geroge worked in several capacities at the Academy of Natual Sciences in Philidelphia. If I get to Philidelphia again it will be on my must-see list of places to explore. It is the oldest natural history museum in the U.S. and has a great collection of bird specimens. I remember many years ago speakers and others talking of getting photographs from VIREO, the program George mentioned in the episode.
The Bird Safe Philly project reminded me of talking with two prior guests on the topic of light polution and bird safety. First was the episode with Alex Israel of the New York Audubon Society and learning about the Safe Flights Program there. YOu may also enjoy hearing about the dangers to birds from glass collisions, especially in homes like you may live in on the episode with Dr. Daniel Klem.
For many birders the Christmas Season brings the fellowship, birding and experience of the Christmas Bird Counts. George talks about how important the CBCs have been to him, especially the early ones when he met other young birders and the joy of the fellowship of birding. It is still not too late to find a CBC for this year. It’s easy to find your local count or another. If you are looking in Washington State where I live, look here on the WOS websitge. For a worldwide look, check this cool site.
I’ll end with a link to this site explaining Katabatic Winds. In summary it is a wind tha flows downhill after cooling and changing pressure. They can be extraordinary in places like South Georgia with big mountains near the ocean.
Again, thanks for reading and listening. Until next time, Good birding and good day!
Tag: birding podcast
The Bird Banter Podcast #133 with Dan Casey
On this episode Dan Casey and I talk about his birding story, birding Montana and lots more. Dan and I share the goal of trying to see 100 species of birds in each of the counties in our state. I have it much easier in WA, with only 39 counties and a state smaller than Montana. Here is my eBird profile of WA sightings:
Here is Dan’s for Montana.
eBirders will appreciate the NO GRAY counties for both of us.
You can reach Dan by email danielcasey55-at- gmail- dot- com
We talk about a few organizations, places and topics. Here are some related links:
The American Bird Conservancy
Partners in Flight
Hawk Watch International
Westport Seabirds
Northern Great Plains Joint Venture
You can find the Birds of Montana book Dan helped write on Amazon here.
Thanks for listening. Until next time. Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #119 with Michael and Paula Webster Additional Info.
On episode #119 I talk with Paula and Michael Webster. They are a couple who spent 5 years traveling around South America in a pop-up Toyota camper van, birding, making films, supporting conservation causes, and generally having the adventure of a lifetime. You’ll hear a bit about the year on this episode, but will be able to read much more in the soon-to-be-released book The Condor’s Feather: Traveling Wild in South America which you can preorder in the U.K. at Waterstones or in the U.S. on Amazon. I’ve already ordered my copy.
On the episode Michael and Paula talk about Buff-breasted Sandpipers. They are a species that is anticipated but not often seen in Washington. When we do see them it is almost always a juvenile bird in the fall. We saw this one this year in King County.\
If you want to see some great video of the trip here are some You Tube films by Paula.
Tango in the wind is a 30 minute fabulous video of the courtship rituals of the Hooded Grebe, one of the most endangered birds in South America. It is spectacular!
To see about their vehicle and trip check this out:
Here is some of the scenery of the Andes.
Thanks for following and listening.
Until next time; Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #118 with Jim Danzenbaker Additional Info.
I’ve been hoping to have Jim Danzenbaker on the podcast for some time, and finally made it happen now. Jim has been involved in Washington state birding for a couple of decades, has served as WOS president, is a long time pelagic trip leader for Westport Seabirds, and yet is likely better known outside the state.
Jim has been an active guide on Antarctic Peninsula cruises for Cheeseman Ecology Safaris for many years, and has led trips in Latin America for other tour companies. He is an accomplished pelagic birder and trip leader not just in WA but all along the west coast of the U.S. and abroad.
In addition Jim gathers information about all of the Christmas Bird Counts in Washington and posts this information on the WOS website here.
You can find Jim annually at the Rio Grand Bird Festival as a trip leader, and are likely to run across him if you get out birding anywhere in SW Washington.
You can reach out to Jim by phone 360 – 702 – 9395 or by email jdanzenbaker-at-gmail dot- com
Thanks for listening and good birding. Good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #111 with Mason Maron: Additional Information
On The Bird Banter Podcast #111 I talk in the introduction about a recent pelagic birding trip on Westport Seabirds, the WA pelagic trip company. The fog was difficult in the morning, but by afternoon it has cleared and things picked up nicely. See my birding notes post for photos and details.
Mason Maron is my guest on this episode, and we talk about his birding story, his planned research into Gray-crowned Rosy Finch diet changes in the last 60 years, and about birding near WSU in Whitman County, WA.
Follow Mason on Instagram or see his photogarphy on his web site.
Peter Wimberger, a past guest on episode #30, has been doing research into ice worms. You can hear about this on this really cool article and audio link. It seems that ice worms are an important part of the diet of rosy finches on Mt. Rainier at least.
Mason talks about the Seattle Young Birders group. It is run through Seattle Audubon Society and you can see about this group here.
I’ll be sure to get back to listeners in a year or more after the research on Gray-crowned Rosy Finches is underway and give an update.
Until next time: Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #106 with The Birding Show Hosts
The Birder’s Show is a high quality nature show specifically but not exclusively for and by birders. It is produced by a company called Where Next who produced a previous show called The Birders featuring Diego Calderón and a videographer on the Northern Colombia Birding Trail. Diego and co-host of the show Chris Bell are my guests on this episode, and were fabulously fun to talk with for the episode.
Here is a tiny segment of one of their shows, that they break out and call “Chirps” on their You Tube Channel
I love the relaxed style, interactive banter, and beautifully mixed video of the hosts and guest with bird video footage, maps, and explanatory visuals all combined very adeptly.
I cannot wait to get out birding with Diego in Colombia. I learned that it is only a 1-hour flight from Costa Rica to Medellin, Colombia where he is based, so on a visit to see Jean soon I hope to add on a visit there with his tour group Birding Colombia.
Diego and Chris are relaxed, having fun, and very entertaining on their show. I think that joy of birding and friendship comes through really well on their show, and also on our podcast episode. Birding friends and fellowship are a big part of the hobby, and Diego and Chris are a great example.
Please leave comments or contact me with suggestions for future guests or people you’d like to hear from. Thanks again.
Until next time. Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #105 with Melissa Hafting Additional Info.
On this episode I talk with Melissa Hafting, a terrific young Canadian birder from near Vancouver, B.C. We talk about her excellent work with young birders in B.C., her birding experiences and her work with the B.C. rare bird alert.
Melissa was featured on the ABA Podcast’s “All Canada” episode recently and represented the western part of Canada very nicely. Check it out and I suspect you’ll enjoy hearing more about the great birding found across Canada. Many of the birds that we U.S. birders enjoy seeing in migration depend on the boreal forests, Arctic tundra and vast grasslands for their breeding areas.
You can find the B.C. Rare Bird Alert here. Melissa also has a blog you can find here as Dare to Bird.
She is also a fine photographer and you can find much of her work on her instagram page @bcbirdergirl
It was a real treat to get to know Melissa a bit better as we talked. I look forward to seeing her again in the field soon.
Until next time. Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #100 with Sierra and Scott Downes Additional Info.
Scott Downes is one of the top WA state listers with 440 WA species on his eBird list, and his daughter Sierra is an avid birder who has been among the top WA listers and birders for the last few years. We talk about the joys of birding as a father-daughter team, their experiences and their favorite birds seen together. Scott works for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, largely in the Shrub-Steppe habitats. Sierra is a high-schooler who finds time to get out on many trips with her Dad too. Sierra was honored as the Patrick Sullivan Young Birder Award recipient a year ago, but due to Covid has had to postpone her planned attendance at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory Young Birders Camp Chiricahua until this summer. We talk about how Sierra and Scott made lemonade out of the lemon of the cancelled camp last year by taking an Arizona trip together.
Scott and Sierra both contributed to a great video on the Shrub-steppe habitat that is on You Tube:
We also talk about how Scott negotiated with Phil Anderson of Westport Seabirds to allow then 10 year old Sierra to take her first pelagic trip, experiencing the pelagic phenomenon off the WA coast at a young age. She did great and has been on several pelagic trips since.
The Downes’ are listers, and this led me to talk in the introduction about my big days of the last week. I posted in the Ed’s notes part of the birdbanter.com site with trip reports for anyone interested.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #97 with Jordan Boersma Additional Info.
Jordan Boersma has chosen one of the more remote and exotic areas of the world to do his PhD field work, Papua New Guinea. In preparing for the conversation with Jordan I learned that Papua New Guinea has the worlds lowest (or at least one of the lowest) percentages of people living in urban centers (13.25% in 2019) and its citizens speak over 850 known languages. Most of the about 8 million people living in the country live in what are known as “customary communities” meaning they are ruled in accordance with their customs, as opposed to by statutory rules of a government, usually one imposed by colonization. In short it is a place untamed by much of the rest of the world, and where the infrastructure to easily do traditional research is not easily available. Things like electricity and running water are not available where Jordan is doing his research. It was really fun to hear his stories. I hope you enjoy them too.
White-shouldered Fairywrens are a small bird of the open fields of Papua New Guinea. You’ll hear lots more about them from Jordan on the episode.
Ice worms are another topic we discuss. I can wait to ask Peter Wimberger from episode #30 more about these next time I see him. They are tiny worms that live their whole lives at temperatures very close to that of ice, i.e. zero degrees Celsius. They cannot tolerate extended periods much above or below freezing, somehow don’t freeze themselves despite as a worm obviously being cold-blooded. (do they have blood?) They appear to be a significant source of nutrition for the Gray-crowned Rosy Finches breeding on Mt. Rainier near the glaciers where they live.
Please leave comments or suggestions for future guests if any come to mind.
Until next time; Good birding and good day!
The Bird Banter Podcast #93 with Debbie Beer Additional Info.
Sometimes while recording a podcast episode I wish I had more time to visit with and get to know a guest. This episode with Debbie Beer was one of those times. She has a goal to bird in each of the 50 states with her sister, and to see 50 species in each state. This is a standing invite to Debbie and her sister to visit WA and I’ll show them the state and far more than their goal of 50 species.
I also mention Blair Bernson as a resource for this goal, and his website. Blair was a guest previously and we talk about his quest to see 50 species in a day in each of the 50 states while birding with a local birder.
Debbie Beer is a birder, traveler, and works at Nature Lands, a land trust in the Delaware Valley area. We talk about her birding and travels. Sometimes on an episode it is fun when I learn that I share experiences with a guest. Both Debbie and I have birded in Kenya and Morocco, as well as the greater NYC area. Enjoy.
Debbie is active in the Delaware Valley Ornithologic Club, and won the Bob Billings Big Year award in 2020.
On the episode we talk about birding in Africa. I visited Kenya with my late wife Kay, Bruce Labar and leaders John Sterling and James Bradley. On the episode I say we birded from the east to the coast. Actually we started in Nairobi at Nairobi National Park, worked our way west all the way to Lake Narusha and the Kakamega Forest then looped back east seeing Tsavo West and Tsavo East and ending our trip at the coast near Watamu. My eBird list has Kenya as the country with the second most species of any country after the U.S. at 548 species. A spectacular trip.
Interestingly Debbie also toured Morocco, and that is the only other African place I’ve birded. Pervious guests Bruce LaBar, Heather Ballash and Marcus Roening were also on this trip with me. The really cold place I mention on the episode was in the Atlas Mountains at a ski area.
Here is a link to a podcast episode with Michael Carmody, the trip leader for the Morocco trip.
The John Heinz NWR sounds great. Here is a link to their web site and the eBird hotspot
After recording this episode I did manage to get out to see my county first White-Breasted Nuthatch with Bruce LaBar at the backyard feeders of a really friendly homeowner.
I hope this finds all of you happy, healthy and finding birding good as winter progresses and spring is around the corner.
Until next time. Good birding. Good day!