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The post Encounters Kentucky Warbler appeared first on BirdCallsRadio™ | Exploring birdlife around the world™.

You Keep Us Going!

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 16:45:49 +0000

BirdCallsRadio has aired its 206th show and has had on more than 330 guests. BirdCallsRadio has developed a unique voice worldwide in all matters relating to wild birds and conservation.

We have been steadfast in continuing to bring listeners weekly shows in these unprecedented times every Tuesday through BirdCallsRadio website and podcast outlets. In addition to our regular shows we offer, Featured Series on Legacy Interviews, Women In Conservation, Pay It Forward; Blog Articles; Know Your Bird Calls; The Thrushy Awards presentations and Event coverage on location.

BirdCallsRadio’s Mardi Dickinson presents Inaugural “Thrushy Award” to Kimberly Kaufman, BSBO Executive Director at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2019 10th Anniversary on May 9, 2019, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge, Oregon, Ohio. ©Townsend P. Dickinson All Rights Reserved.

The production of BirdCallsRadio Podcast takes much time and resources. Keeping the lights on is expensive. All of this is possible through the generous support of people like you. Please consider making a donation so our work can continue!

BirdCallsRadio Host, Mardi Dickinson on location with Young Birders that discovered the Townsend’s Warbler at Maumee Bay Lodge, OH. May 10, 2019. Photo ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/KymryGroup All Rights Reserved.

BirdCallsRadio means so much to so many people, including teens! Young people are our future so we created a special featured series to showcase the impact that the natural world has had on them and provide an opportunity to tell their stories. Won’t you please take a moment to read and listen in to these remarkable teens here Pay It Forward

Now more than ever, your donation will allow us to continue to be here for you regardless of what is going on in the world! It will help us provide opportunities for people to connect with nature in many different ways.

Thank you for being a part of BirdCallsRadio. Together we are the voice of birds!

Sincerely,

Mardi W. Dickinson

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BCR 206: Paul Desjardins, Longtime Birder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 06:00:08 +0000

Paul Desjardins, Photo Courtesy of Hartford Audubon Society

Paul Desjardins is a Connecticut birder, a meticulous record keeper of the birds he has seen worldwide. We will focus today on the life and times of this long time and serious birder.

Paul’s love affair with birding began when he was in elementary school. He joined what was then the Hartford Bird Study Club in 1959, when he was just twelve years old. His first recorded field trip was on February 21, 1959, when he visited Old Saybrook for the first time. Since then, he has made an astonishing 6445 recorded outings !! Paul has a North American Life List of 728 species, with 376 in Connecticut, and 236 in the South Windsor meadows.

Show Notes:

when you got serious about birding? What tools did you have, who were your mentors and where did you go?
In Air Force basic training what memorable bird did you see?
You once met Allan Cruickshank in Arizona, tell us the story, and remind our audience who he was.
What’s with you and the estimable ladybird Johnson?
You birded in two states in one day in 1989, what was so special about that?
on two different occasions and places you were able to scoop up two good state birds in one day.
You have been birding in much of the lower 48 states; tell us about your trip to Gambell Alaska.
What are some of the rarest birds that you have seen in U S?
Your thoughts on finding first state record for Townsend’s Warbler in CT this year 2020.
Tell us about your best one day warbler count, where it was, what species, species totals and the day.
Hartford Audubon Society trip to Jamaica Bay one year you saw 99 species
keeping records for each sighting, what system you use, what details are captured how do you use these records?
Favorite patch or area you revisit often?
One last thought on records, it would seem to me that such records in detail, over a long period of time would have some value to future generations. What is your view?

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Smithsonian American Art Museum

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BCR 205: Bruce Beehler & Tim Laman, New Guinea

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 19 May 2020 06:00:42 +0000

Dr. Bruce Beehler, a renowned author and expert on New Guinea, and award-winning National Geographic photographer Dr. Tim Laman joins BirdCallsRadio to talk about their lastest book and takes us on an unforgettable journey through the natural and cultural wonders of the world’s grandest island. Skillfully combining a wealth of information, a descriptive and story-filled narrative, and more than 200 stunning color photographs, the book unlocks New Guinea’s remarkable secrets like never before.

Lying between the Equator and Australia’s north coast, and surrounded by the richest coral reefs on Earth, New Guinea is the world’s largest, highest, and most environmentally complex tropical island—home to rainforests with showy rhododendrons, strange and colorful orchids, tree-kangaroos, spiny anteaters, ingenious bowerbirds, and spectacular birds of paradise.

New Guinea is also home to more than a thousand traditional human societies, each with its own language and lifestyle, and many of these tribes still live in isolated villages and serve as stewards of the rainforests they inhabit.

Villagers at Payakona Village in a traditional singsing ceremony put on as part of a “compensation”. Feathers of multiple species of Birds of Paradise adorn their headdresses, which are famiy heirlooms. Traditional use of feathers such as this continues in New Guinea. Photograph ©Tim Laman All Rights Reserved.

Human population growth is a major underlying threat that looms on the horizon. When population density is low, subsistence agriculture an local forest and coastal resource extraction can be environmentally sustainable. With higherpopulationdensity, sustainability disappears.

Accessible and authoritative, New Guinea provides a comprehensive introduction to the island’s environment, animals, plants, and traditional rainforest cultures. Individual chapters cover the island’s history of exploration; geology; climate and weather; biogeography; plantlife; insects, spiders, and other invertebrates; freshwater fishes; snakes, lizards, and frogs; birdlife; mammals; paleontology; paleoanthropology; cultural and linguistic diversity; surrounding islands and reefs; the pristine forest of the Foja Mountains; village life; and future sustainability.

Complete with informative illustrations and a large, detailed map, New Guinea offers an enchanting account of the island’s unequalled natural and cultural treasures.

NOTE: Thank you to Dr. Tim Laman, Wildlife Photojournalist for the use of the photographs that are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast Article/Post: BCR 205: Bruce Beehler & Tim Laman, New Guinea. Audio of Dawn Chorus, Courtesy of Dr. Bruce Beehler. All Rights Reserved. Audio and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission from Dr. Tim Laman or Dr. Bruce Beehler. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders. Cover photo designed by BirdCallsRadio may also not be used without written permission.

Show Notes:

Natural history of New Guinea
Documenting the natural history of the region through photography
Island’s geographic history
Theory of island biogeography
Current geography of bird distribution
Estimated 10,000 species of moths, photo of collection tray of moths caught in just one might.
Broad look at New Guinea bird families and why they are so diverse.
bird photos in this book are simply extraordinary.
Importance of this region
First impressions upon being immersed in this pristine forest
What does the future look like for New Guinea?

Mentioned In Episode:

Purchase New Guinea Book & signed copy Click here ➨ Tim Laman

Addendum: BCR 198: Bruce Beehler, Ph.D., Natural Encounters

Bruce Beehler

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BCR 204: Jeffrey Ward, Science Communicator, NYC Birder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 12 May 2020 06:00:25 +0000

Jeffrey Ward, a self-described science communicator who works to educate people on what they can do to protect birds and their habitats. Loves leading walks with children. Been into animals his whole life and started birding in 2014 after his spark bird moment in 2013.

Show Notes:

Proudly proclaims to be born and raised in the Bronx.
Your interests in animals.
What spark your interest in birds?
What qualities and skills are necessary to be successful as bird guide.
Your presence on social media is apparent.
Birding competitions, Instagram live sessions.
Strengths in birding.
Leading walks with children.
Champion the notion that cats should be kept indoors.
Birder of color gives you a unique lens.
Advice do you have for young people who are interested in nature birding conserervation.

Mentioned In Episode:

Twitter: JeffreyMWard

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BCR 203: Lynn Barber, Big Years, Biggest States Birding in Texas and Alaska

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 05 May 2020 06:00:41 +0000

Lynn E. Barber is the 1st women to complete a North American Big Year & identify over 700+ species; Shares her experience in these two diverse landscapes of Texas and Alaska and explains how to plan & enjoy a Big Year of your own with over 100+ color photos along with illustrations in her latest book.

Lynn was born in Wisconsin, and has lived (in order) in Alaska, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, South Dakota, and now again, Alaska. Her books, Extreme Birding: One Woman’s Big Year(2011);Birds in Trouble (2016); and Big Years, Biggest States: Birding in Texas and Alaska (2020) were published by Texas A&M University Press. Other avocations include painting birds, bird-photography, giving bird-related talks, church volunteer activities, playing the hammered dulcimer, and baking cookies. She is married to David Barber, a meteorologist with the US Weather Service in Anchorage.

Show Notes:

You have done several biggest years in addition to the two mentioned in this book, tell us about the others.
Tell us about the Texas Big Year.
Next big year was Alaska, what was the plan for this vast state with few roads?
What was the best and hardest bird in Texas and Alaska?
Tell us about the illustrations both photos and art found in the text?
Devote considerable space in the book to include an extensive write up of each species seen listed by state.
Doing a big year may be expensive, break this down for us.
Essential kit for a big year type travel either by auto or by planes, clothes, equipment, note taking and such.
Final statistics for each portion.
Describe your vision for the outrageous biggest year.
What were your concerns as a sometimes solo traveler about your safety?
What advice do you have for someone considering a biggest year?

Mentioned In Episode:

Purchase Book directly Click link here ➨ Lynn E. Barber Email: dalybar@aol.com Call: 682-365-6531

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BCR 202: Lauren McGough, Falconer

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 06:00:20 +0000

Dr. Lauren McGough is a licensed and practicing falconer since age 14. Lauren has been particularly enamored with golden eagles as hunting partners – a unique branch of falconry that has only a handful of practitioners in the United States. After spending two years as an exchange student in the United Kingdom and learning the strong European tradition of eagle falconry, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with dual degrees in Zoology and International Studies. In 2009, she was a Fulbright Scholar to Mongolia, where she apprenticed herself to local eagle masters and trained eagles for hunting foxes off of horseback. She loved Kazakh eagle culture so much, that she earned a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland on the subject.

Show Notes:

Early days, what was the spark for an interest in falconry?
You became a licensed and practicing falconer when you were 14.
Expand on the notion, that falconers in the United States hunt with falcons and hawks, almost nobody hunted with eagles.
Fulbright Scholar in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia a reality.
Studying the traditional cultural practices and folkways of Kazakh eagle hunters. apprenticed to local eagle masters, trained eagles for hunting foxes off of horseback lived with a family of nomadic herders.
Mastery of hunting with eagles with the Kazakh Berkutchi means you had to catch an eagle.
Partnerships & Understanding Between Kazakh Pastoralists and Golden Eagles of the Altai Mountains
Using techniques also to rehabilitate African Crowned Eagles in South Africa.
Tell us about the eagle you are currently flying.

NOTE: Thank you to Dr. Lauren McGough, Falconer for the use of the photographs are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio Podcast & Article/Post for BCR 202: Lauren McGough, Falconer. Courtesy of Lauren McGough, Ph.D., Falconer. Photo by selected photographers. Photographs & Audio Courtesy of Dr. Lauren McGough, Falconer. All Rights Reserved. Audio and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission from Dr. Lauren McGough and the photographers. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

Mentioned In Episode:

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BCR 201: Eleanor Jones Harvey, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 06:00:27 +0000

Dr. Eleanor Jones Harvey is senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, photo by ©Libby Weiler.

Eleanor Jones Harvey is senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She earned her Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale University. Her last project was the award-winning exhibition and book from 2012, The Civil War and American Art. Her current exhibition and book project explores the considerable impact of Alexander von Humboldt on American art and culture in this newly anticipated book “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States Art, Nature, and Culture”. This book is in collaboration with Smithsonian American Art Museum within The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.

Book Cover Art: L. Back Cover; Friedrich Georg Weitsch, Portrait of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), 1806, oil on canvas, 49 5/8 x 36 3/8 in., Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Photo: bpk Bildagentur / Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany / Klaus Goeken / Art Resource, NY. R. Front Cover Art: Frederic Edwin Church, The Natural Bridge, Virginia, 1852, oil on canvas, 28 x 23 in. The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Gift of Thomas Fortune Ryan.

Let me start off by saying that this is simply an astonishing book. The depth of research, the meticulous documentation and scope of the included art and first hand accounts, impress the reader at every page turn. This is not a quick read, it will have place of honor in our household and undoubtedly be revisited time and time again. The very foundations of American scientific thought are investigated here and our laid out for all to understand. I fear that our time spent here in our conversation today will only hint at the scope and hopefully whet one’s appetite to secure their copy and, when the exhibit that is based on this work finally opens, visit it too.

Cat. 91 Frederic Edwin Church, Cotopaxi, 1855, oil on canvas, 28 x 42 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Frank R. McCoy, 1965.12, Photo by Gene Young. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Book Page above 336

Cat. 55 Albert Bierstadt, Valley of the Yosemite, 1864, oil on paperboard, 11 7/8 x 19 1/4 in., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865, 47.1236, Photograph © 2020 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Book Page above 254

Cat. 63 Mató-Tópe, Battle with a Cheyenne Chief, 1834, watercolor and pencil on paper, 12 3/8 x 15 3/8 in., Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Gift of the Enron Art Foundation, 1986.49.384, Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Book Pages above 271 and below 140, 411

Cat. 26 Skeleton of the Mastodon, excavated 1801–2 by Charles Willson Peale, bone, wood, and papier mâché, approx. 118 × 177 × 65 in., Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany, Photo: Wolfgang Fuhrmannek, © Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

NOTE: Thank you to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for the use of the Illustrations, photographs are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast Article/Post: BCR 201: Eleanor Jones Harvey, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States. Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photo of Dr. Eleanor Jones Harvey by ©Libby Weiler. Photo of the Humboldt Penguin, eggs in nest courtesy by ©Ximena Velez-Zuazo,PhD, Courtesy CCS/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Audio Permission and Courtesy by recordist Cristian Pinto; Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus-humboldti. All Rights Reserved. Illustrations and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission from Smithsonian American Art Museum. Please respect the wishes of all the copyright holders above.

Show Notes:

Who was Alexander von Humboldt and what training did he have prior to his voyage of discovery?
The work, “Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent during the Years 1799–1804”.
June of 1804, Humboldt met with President Thomas Jefferson in Washington, DC
The Long and Fremont expeditions, George Catlin and later Prince Maximilian and Bodmer.
Humboldt published the five-volume work Cosmos between 1845 and 1859.
Who were William Dunlap, John Trumbull and Samuel F. B. Morse and what did they discover in Thomas Cole?
Frederick Edwin Church and how did he channel Humboldt and the painting Heart of the Andes?
Concord Transcendentalists.
Humboldt and Agassiz were at odds over one fundamental issue based on “scientific racism”.
Humboldt influence Arnold Guyot’s interest in geology and meteorology.
Humboldt’s connection to the 1st transatlantic telegraph cable
Simon Bolivar considered Humboldt “the discoverer of the New World”.
Humboldt’s influence eventually reached Dr. Harvey and James Smithson in Europe
“Dusting for fingerprints to find his influence…”
The list of Lenders to the Exhibition and hence the book is impressive.
Tell us what is planned for the Humboldt exhibits.

Mentioned in Episode:

Purchase Book Click link here ➨ Alexander von Humboldt and the United States

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BCR 200: John W. Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 06:00:45 +0000

Today’s show is one of BirdCallsRadio’s featured series called “For The Record, Legacy Interviews” with this series 10th guest Dr. John W. Fitzpatrick, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Executive Director of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Cornell University, and Professor for The Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. John still wears three hats, one as a leader of a prestigious institution, two as an educator and three as an active ornithologist.

Show Notes:

What early influences shaped your interest in birds and the natural world?
Tell us about your work with Tyrant Flycatchers and other Neotropical avifauna in Central and South America.
Intern at the Archbold Biological Station, Studied the Florida Scrub Jay with Glen Wolfenden.
A stint as the curator for the Field Museum of Natural History.
Since 1995 you have been the Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Executive Director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Since you have been leading the lab, what has been the most significant milestones.
The role of Professor, Educator in ornithology and conservation biology at Cornell fit into the scheme?

Mentioned in Episode:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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BirdCallsRadio Celebrates 200th Show

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 13:54:02 +0000

BirdCallsRadio & Podcast has reached a joyous milestone with its 200th episode. And to celebrate, we thought it proper to invite in BirdCallsRadio friends, contributors and supporters beyond the red velvet rope and have some fun with this landmark anniversary.

Guess who the 200^thguest will be by leaving your answer below in the comment section. The first person who answers the correct guest will be published and annouced on Monday April 13, 2020 on all BCR platforms!

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NOTE: Thanks to Townsend P. Dickinson for the use of photograph in this post are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio Blog Post: ©Courtsey Townsend P. Dickinson, All Rights Reserved. Photograph may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

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BCR 199: Christopher Leahy, Birds of Mongolia

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 06:00:59 +0000

Christopher Leahy was the first occupant of the Gerard A. Bertrand Chair of Natural History and Field Ornithology at the Massachusetts Audubon Society from 2001 to 2017. From 1985 to 2001 he was Director of Mass Audubon’s Center for Biological Conservation.

Chris retired from Mass Audubon in the spring of 2017, after a 45 year career as a professional naturalist and conservationist, but continues to work on selected conservation projects under the Bertrand Chair (emeritus). His comprehensive interest in natural history began in childhood, and he is a recognized authority on birds and insects.

Perhaps his deepest international involvement has been in Mongolia, which he first visited in 1982 and to which he has returned almost annually since the early 1990’s following the end of Soviet domination and the establishment of a parliamentary democracy and market economy. Between 2009 and 2011, he worked to create a conservation program within Nomadic Expeditions, the country’s premier travel operator to promote sustainable ecotourism though guide training, marketing, publications, and exploration of new itineraries. More recently he has played a significant role in an international project involving American, Mongolian and European scientists, naturalists, park administrators and others to improve the infrastructure and management of Mongolia’s national park system.

Show Notes:

Gombobaatar Sundev, Mongolia’s foremost ornithologist.
Mongolia almost defies imagination.
Describe the topography and climate of the region.
What are the main ecological zones and habitats?
Describe the climate of Mongolia.
Mongolian’s traditional resource conservation and the practice of sustainable use of resources.
Mongolia known as the last wilderness nation?
Mongolia’s best-kept secret is that it is one of the world’s greatest bird sanctuaries.
History of Ornithology in Mongolia.
What are the best places for a birder to visit when time is limited?

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BCR 198: Bruce Beehler, Ph.D., Natural Encounters

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 06:00:41 +0000

BRUCE M. BEEHLER, Ph.D. is an ornithologist, naturalist, conservationist, author, and lecturer. He is a research associate in the division of birds at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He served as a scientist and conservationist for the Smithsonian Institution, Conservation International, U.S. Department of State, and Wildlife Conservation Society.

Bruce is best known for coleading a survey of biological diversity in the Foja Mountains of Papua New Guinea in 2005, during which the Wattled Smoky Honeyeater was discovered and the Bronze Parotia and Golden-fronted Bowerbird were photographed for the first time. He has published eleven books about nature that include, Lost Worlds: Adventures in the Tropical Rainforest and North on the Wing: Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring; and Natural Encounters, biking, hiking and birding through the Seasons.

Show Notes:

Keeping field notes
Who was Louis Halle
Starting your natural year in the summer
Existential value of a pleasurable natural experience
Summer you visit favorite regional areas
Make longer road trips
Arrival of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Storms 1962 and Sandy
Observe that leaves switch abruptly
Return of the beaver
Describe winter as having three stages
Who was William Vogt
Spring time run to Eastern North Carolina
May 1, is the opening season for birding in DC
The attraction of the Northeast Kingdom Vermont

Mentioned In Episode:

Addendum: BCR 205: Bruce Beehler & Tim Laman, New Guinea

Bruce Beehler

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BCR 197: Wenfei Tong Ph.D., Bird Love

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 06:00:04 +0000

Wenfei is a biologist with a passion for understanding and conserving the natural world. She has been a keen birder since the age of 12, and has gone on to share her love of birds through her paintings, photography, research, teaching, nature guiding and writing. Wenfei has just moved to New York City from Alaska, where she was a professor in the biology department, and where she wrote most of her first book, Bird Love, The Family Life Of Birds. She spends part of her summers in Montana, where she guides birding and nature tours on horseback.

Show Notes:

Many of us were lucky enough to have mentors at key points in our life.
Your latest book celebrates bird reproduction.
Birds are essentially living dinosaurs and most bird reproductive strategies have seen eons of evolution.
Dunocks and what they show us about the cooperation and conflict within a couple.
Flashy courtship displays and the Red Queen hypothesis.
Leks, what are they, and why do they exist?
Bird eggs, vary in size, design and the many uses of eggs shell colors.
Why does an adult Gentoo Penguin run away from its chick when it’s feeding time?
Cuckoos and Cowbirds.
You describe an evolutionary arms race by those birds in parasitic relationships.

Mentioned In Episode:

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BCR 196: Richard Allen, Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 15:51:29 +0000

Richard Allen, Wildlife Artist and Illustrator of the recently published book, Birds Of Paradise and Bowerbirds sits down with Mardi Dickinson for the exclusive talk about this book and his illustrations within.

Richard Allen’s work has gradually drifted towards his main interest of birds and wildlife especially after winning British Birds – Bird Illustrator of the year in 1993. Moving to Essex in 1988, and more recently to Wivenhoe, the bird rich estuaries and marshes of the Essex coast have provided an endless source of inspiration and fueled a passion for field-sketching. Richard enjoys the immediacy of working directly from nature, trying to capture the life and vitality of wild birds, and the patterns of plumage, light, water and foliage.

This essential field experience has proves invaluable when working on paintings in the studio, or when illustrating bird identification guides. Publications include, “Concise Birds of the Western Palearctic”(Oxford University Press), “The Handbook of Birds of the World” (Lynx Editions), “A Field Guide to the Birds of South East Asia”(New Holland) and the solely illustrated “Sunbirds and Flowerpeckers”(Bloomsbury).

Such work has led Richard on exciting trips to China, USA, Southern Asia, Senegal and many parts of Europe have filled many of his sketchbooks with observations of wildlife and landscape.

King Bird of Paradise + coccineifrons. Illustrations by ©Richard Allen. Photgraphed by ©Sally Allen. All Rights Are Reserved.

Such work has led Richard on exciting trips to China, USA, Southern Asia, Senegal and many parts of Europe have filled many of his sketchbooks with observations of wildlife and landscape.

Vogelkop Bowerbird, Illustrations by ©Richard Allen Photgraphed by ©Sally Allen. All Rights Are Reserved.

This grounding in field is also a considerable help when producing wildlife interpretation illustrations for nature reserves and visitor centres. A rounded knowledge of all forms of wildlife is vital when designing complete habitat compositions such as chalk streams, ancient woodland or estuary salt-marsh.

Emperor Bird of Paradise & Blue Bird of Paradise. Illustrations by ©Richard Allen. Photgraphed by ©Sally Allen. All Rights Are Reserved.

“I do always though come back to my passion for studying and depicting the natural environment. After many years working in watercolours I have recently been experimenting with oils, and I’ve enjoyed using a new medium, developing a new style, and revealing in the rich colours attainable in oils paint”.

NOTE: Thanks to Richard Allen and Sally Allen for the use of the Illustrations and photographs in this post and Phil Gregory for the Audio bird songs by Phil Gregory; are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & podcast post BCR 196: Richard Allen, Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds. Courtsey of Illustrations by ©Richard Allen that were photographed by ©Sally Allen; Audio birdsongs by Phil Gregory. All Rights Reserved. Audio Illustrations and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission from the copyright holders. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

Show Notes:

Drawing and painting birds for years, what or who influenced your development as an artist?
Other illustrated guides or significant bodies of work have you produced?
How the illustrations for this title came to be.
The ability to render in color feather details that almost seem to shine
Much of the research for your illustrations comes from examining specimen in museums.
Field work and the use of photos.
Gray areas in the systematics of these two bird families that became evident.
About the research that went into each illustration.
Photographic illustration, which add a whole other dimension to the guide.
Major players through out the history of bird illustration.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 194: Phil Gregory, Author of Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds

Richard Allen Wildlife Artist and Illustrator

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BCR 195: Don Kroodsma, Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 06:00:34 +0000

Donald Kroodsma has 45 years of active birdsong research as his guide, he cherish the birdsong of spring and summer more than ever. An excellent day is when Don is out in the predawn darkness, waiting for first light to deliver the dawn chorus, and returning home hours later with a wealth of recorded song for further study. A good day is listening and studying and writing about birdsong at his desk. A bad day has no birdsong in it.

Don is a life-long scientist, one who asks questions, seeking answers and increasingly deeper understandings. No longer entrenched at the University, Don is eager to share what he have learned and eager to encourage a deeper appreciation of birds and their songs by the tens of millions of others who also treasure birds.

Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist is a basic, how-to guide that teaches anyone, from beginning to advanced bird-lover, how to listen to our singing planet. The approach is organized concept by concept, and nested within concepts, species by species.

Show Notes:

Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist, Your Guide to Listening.
Designed to stimulate and encourage active listening to birds on many levels
Explore on you own
hearing with my eyes
songbird, passerine, sub oscines
Big Silence
bird calls and bird song
Matching calls
Examples of Dialects
What do songs of widespread birds tell us about the status as a species?
Ruff Grouse and Vancouver Island
Sister species with common ancestor

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 152: Donald Kroodsma, Birdsong

Donald Kroodsma

NOTE: Special thanks to Don for the permission and use of his audio birdsongs of the ; including his photographs. All audio birdsongs, sonsgrams and photographs in this show are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast show BCR 195: Donald Kroodsma, Birdsong. Courtsey of ©Donald Kroodsma & ©Janet Grenzke All Rights Reserved. Audio birdsongs WAV files and photographs may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the creators of Donald Kroodsma and Janet Grenzke.

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BCR 194: Phil Gregory, Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 14:58:52 +0000

My guest today is author Phil Gregory. We will be talking with Phil from Australia about his latest book called “Birds Of Paradise and Bowerbirds; An Identification Guide by Phil Gregory, Illustrated by Richard Allen, published by Princeton University Press on Feb 25, 2020.

Phil has been interested in birds since the demise of the steam trains when he was about 11. Born in Southampton, England he first came to Australia in 1977, but got side-tracked, and spent the next twenty years living and birding in Nigeria, Zambia, the Falkland Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Phil’s major interests are field identification, vocalizations, and the geographic distribution of birds. He is also a writer with assorted contributions to many reference books including Handbook of Birds of the World and Field Guide to the Birds of New Guinea.

Phil is a well-known tour leader, working for Field Guides Inc. and Sicklebill Safaris, and is one of Australia’s foremost birders. He is also one of the most experienced New Guinea guides with many tours led there ever since 1998.

NOTE: Thanks to Phil Gregory for the use of the Book Cover Illustration, Audio of Bird songs and photographs in this post are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & podcast Article, BCR 194: Phil Gregory, Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds: Photo and Audio of Birdsongs Courtsey by ©Phil Gregory. All Rights Reserved. Audio, Illustrations and Photographs may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

Show Notes:

Two very different families of birds
State boundaries of the region
Wallace Line in Sulawesi
King of Saxony Bird of Paradise
Types of displays Birds of Paradise
Bowerbirds
Former Birds of Paradise
Threats and conservation efforts
People who live among these birds
Tim Laman and Ed Scholes

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 196: Richard Allen, Illustrator of Birds of Paradise & Bowerbirds

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BCR 193: Marky Mutchler, LSU Biology Student

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 07:00:32 +0000

Marky Mutchler, LSU Biology Student and BCR’s 3rd guest in our series called Pay It Forward swoops and talks with Mardi Dickinson about LSU, Brazilian Expedition and her life and interests.

In the third year of her biology degree, Marky (20) is still as keen as ever on pursuing a career in ornithology. Upon graduating, she plans to start her PhD in evolutionary biology. Attending LSU, she has had many opportunities to work in both lab and field settings. She has recently returned from the very first all-women ornithological expedition which was located in the remote depths of the Brazilian Amazon. The expedition focused on honoring Emilie Snethlage, a pioneer in ornithology and exploration in the Amazon in Brazil. In addition to joining this expedition, Marky is also currently working on several genetics-based projects and hopes to have much of this published for presentation at several international conferences in the near future.

Marky has also been involved in several activities close to home. In addition to being the American Birding Association’s 2015 Young Birder of the Year, Marky has also spent the last several years guiding at multiple birding festivals around the US. She has even had the opportunity to work with and share the conservation success story of the once-endangered Kirtland’s Warbler. Marky hopes that the coming decade will bring even more opportunities to share her passion for birds with others and inspire more people, especially women in STEM.

Show Notes:

Factors influenced your early life.
Expedition to the Brazilian Amazon.
Emilie Snethlage pioneering ornithology in the Amazon.
2015 the American Birding Association choose you as the Young Birder of the Year.
Your connection with the Kirkland’s Warbler.
You currently are deep into genetic research on Amazon birds.
Development of song and nocturnal flight calls in migrating song birds.
Lumping or splitting.
Artistic side with recent Front Cover for The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
How has LSU supported your efforts to work towards your goals.

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BCR 192: Bernd Heinrich, White Feathers

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 07:00:49 +0000

Bernd Heinrich, a preeminent Naturalist, Author and Scientist. Bernd is also a noted educator, biologist and runner. Today we will be talking with Bernd about his latest book scheduled for release today Feb 18, 2020 called “White Feathers, The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows” by Bernd Heinrich, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. The book is centered on a research journey that provided answers about the rich lives of tree swallows during nesting season.

The book we are discussing was compiled from observations and notes made from 9 consecutive Tree Swallow nesting seasons each lasting approximately 2 months per year. The observations are arranged yearly and progress in a linear fashion through each season.

Show Notes:

A spark is required to ignite a line of pursuit
Typical nesting cycle of a Tree Swallow
Experiments with feathers from a goose carcass
Feather offering and feather play
Conclusions or suppositions
Tree Swallows are birds of the sky
Various vocalizations that you noted indicated different behaviors
Determining who’s who in complex relationships is a vital

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 137: Bernd Heinrich, Preeminent Naturalist, Author and Scientist

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BCR 191: Tom Wood, Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary Saved

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 12:16:55 +0000

Tom Wood is co-founder and co-director of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, a non-profit conservation organization. A native Texan, he has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and was director of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge for 14 years before moving to Arizona in 1988 to manage The Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon Preserve. In 1996 Tom and his wife, Sheri Williamson, founded the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory. They have collaborated on a book The Birds of North America, conducted a 23 year banding study of hummingbirds on the San Pedro River, conducted breeding bird monitoring on National Park Service sites, and worked on development of birding tourism in southeastern Arizona and Sonora. They have also taught biologists and banded in hummingbirds in Colombia and Ecuador.

NEWS: The former residence of the late Mary Jo Ballator was purchased by the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory in November 2019, thanks to an exceptionally generous donation. The site includes feeders for hummingbirds (most active March-September) and other species (year round), naturalistic water features, a pollinator garden, and a photo blind available by reservation. eBird lists 196 species for the site, including some of the Southwest’s most sought-after avian specialties.

Show Notes:

Your early days. What were the origins of your interest in birds?
Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory
Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary and who was the late Mary Jo Ballator?
Ash Canyon most famous for?
How did the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory acquire the property.
Why was the Southeastern Bird Observatory the best choice to manage the Ash Canyon?
Can birders still visit? Are the bird blinds for photography still available?
What does it take to keep the hummers fed each day?
Tell us about parking and birding the sanctuary. What are the best times to visit, when?
How can one find up to date information on the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory and the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary?
How can one support the efforts of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory to manage the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary.
Recommend getting the most out of a visit to ACBS?

Mentioned In Episode:

Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory

Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary

BCR 129: Sheri Williamson, Hummingbirds

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BCR 190: Ted Gilman, Senior Naturalist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 07:00:13 +0000

Ted Gilman, Senior Naturalist and Education Specialist for Greenwich Audubon and our 9^thguest in our featured series called “For The Record, Legacy Interviews”.

After 43 years with the Greenwich Audubon Center Ted Gilman is retiring at the end of Jan 2020. Ted has lived and breathed nature and conservation his entire career. He more than just knows his stuff, he cares about it too. Birds, butterflies, botany, you name it…Ted loves sharing knowledge about them all and how they work together to sustain the Earth and all living things. His enthusiasm has been contagious and influence far-reaching—he has inspired a love of nature in generations of children and helped train educators from across the country through his work at Audubon.

Ted received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Earlham College and was first hired at Audubon in 1974, as a birdlife instructor at Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine. While working on graduate coursework in Environmental Education at Cornell University in 1976 (where he was roommates with Stephen Kress, founder of “Project Puffin”), he received an invitation to apply for a staff naturalist position with Greenwich Audubon Center. He left Ithaca to pursue what he hoped would be his dream job and he has been living that dream ever since.

About BirdCallsRadio & Podcast Featured Series: “For The Record, Legacy Interviews”. Is/ are focused on the notable careers of individuals that have distinguished themselves in the world of wild birds or natural sciences. The questions are aimed at giving a perspective on a long and varied career. It is desired that the crucial points in these lives be touched upon. We intend to give a voice to notable individuals, to provide in a sense of the measure of the women or men, and to pass onto the next generation the lessons learned from their guidance. In this context, we will steer away from the commercial aspects of Greenwich Audubon, we will focus on the career of the man whose whole life has been intertwined with birds.

Show Notes:

How long were you a working naturalist for the National Audubon Society?
What early influences, helped to shape your interest in all things natural history?
career was spent at The famed Greenwich Audubon Center in forests of northwestern Greenwich.
The gig at Greenwich Audubon and what were job requirements at that time?
I know my husband Townsend went to summer camp for adults at Greenwich Audubon, it was one of four famed education camps for adults seeking to improve their skills in environmental issues and natural history for educational purposes. Most of the attendees were teachers. Tell us more about these camps.
How was the Greenwich camp different from the other three?
National Audubon changed focus and the Greenwich Camping experience ended. What were your thoughts and observations on this?
The new center building, what changes were heralded by this massive building project?
measure of what a naturalist educator should feature or stress to students, or to put it another way how did managements focus on education evolve over the years?
Teaching style evolve to meet the changing needs?
some of your note worthy natural history sightings in Greenwich?
What changes have you witnessed in the forests and environment around the center?
Teaching for years in summer at Audubon’s Hog Island.
What changes would you like to see happen in Greenwich and National Audubon in the face on continuing challenges to our environment and natural history?

Mentioned In Episode:

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BCR 189: Tricia Miller Ph.D. Golden Eagles

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 07:00:15 +0000

Dr. Trish Miller has been studying birds for over 20 years and has been tracking and studying Golden Eagles for over a decade. She has a long standing interest in bird conservation and spatial ecology. Dr. Miller works as a senior research wildlife biologist and the executive director of Conservation Science Global, Inc a non-profit that conducts research to inform management, conservation, and education of natural resources. Including where she studies movement ecology and conservation of raptors, especially eagles. Her research integrates telemetry and spatial modeling to address conflicts with human development. She received her B.S. in biology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in ecology from Penn State.

Show Notes:

Your interest in the ecology, behavior, natural history, and conservation of Golden Eagles come to be
Use of telemetry, to track Golden Eagles in eastern North America and how this technology is deployed.
When and why did you start studying eastern Golden Eagles?
This study also found reason to be concerned about lead poisoning of eagles.
Use of baited wildlife cameras, motion activated to located winter resident Golden Eagles and help with employing GPS data devices for tracking.
Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group.
Potential effect of wind energy on Golden Eagles.
First hand the negative effects of wind energy.
Work used to successfully steer wind energy development away from high use areas by Golden Eagles.
What is Conservation Science Global?
What other research projects do you work on?
Advice you have for young women who are interested in a career in the natural sciences?

Mentioned In Episode:

Consevation Science Global, Inc

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BCR 188: Mark Stackhouse, Tropical Birder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 07:00:03 +0000

For Mark Stackhouse, birding has been his passion since he was 5 years old. Mark says, “I can’t even remember a time when I wasn’t birding.” Mark has enjoyed watching birds throughout the Americas, and especially likes to share the beauty of birds and nature with other people. For most of his life, he has done this through teaching and guiding others in the field, and in recent years, through his photography as well.

Military Macaws near San Blas. ©Mark Stackhouse

Mark led his first birding tour, a trip to Crane Creek, Ohio for the Dayton Museum of Natural History, when he was only 16. He has now been guiding birding tours for over 40 years, including 20 years in Mexico. He is the owner of Westwings, where he guides birding tours in the western U.S, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Mark has also done consulting work as a biologist for government agencies and private industry, and worked seasonally as a wildlife biologist at Deseret Land and Livestock, Utah’s largest ranch, where he also guided birders for 21 years.

Cinereous Owl ©Mark Stackhouse

He was Director of Education at Tracy Aviary, a Salt Lake City, Utah bird park for 12 years, and has taught college-level courses in Field Ornithology in both English and Spanish. He attended Earlham College and Utah State University, earning degrees in Biology and Range Management. Mark fell in love with Mexico, its people, culture, landscapes, and of course its spectacular birding, on his first trip to San Blas 22 years ago. After 25 years of living in Utah, he now lives, and receives visiting birders from all over the world, in San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, with his wife, Elizabeth Oregón Gonzalez, also of San Blas, and their daughter Daniela.

A Golden-cheeked Woodpecker faces-off with a Yellow-winged Cacique, both species endemic to Mexico. ©Mark Stackhouse

Show Notes:

Worked as a consulting biologist, and as an environmental educator.
Where did the interest in natural history come from?
Climate in the San Blas area
The San Blas Christmas Bird count & history.
Tell us about the “Cinereous Owl”
birders in the San Blas area is Isla Isabel
Major San Blas birding areas.
Specialty species that can be found in the San Blas area.
Your dream of birders retreat in the San Blas area.
Tell us about functioning with a high audio awareness.
What is being done to engage the locals and draw them into birding and the environment.

Spotted Wren (3) (species endemic to Mexico) ©Mark Stackhouse

Mentioned In Episode:

Westwings, Inc.

Sunset from the famous La Tovara boat ride in San Blas. ©Mark Stackhouse

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BCR 187: Richard Crossley, The ID Boot Camp

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 07:00:52 +0000

Richard Crossley an internationally acclaimed birder, photographer and Co-Authored of The Shorebird Guide w Michael O’Brien • Richard Crossley • Kevin Karlson. And an award winning author of ‘The Crossley ID Guide’ series. And now a NEW venture called The ID Boot Camp!

“Our goal is to provide you the opportunity to ID birds in a simple way, to build your confidence, and enhance your encounters with the natural world.” ~ ID Boot Camp with Richard Crossley and Holly Merker

Show Notes:

Reflections on past shows and projects.
Your approach to Bird Guides has been revolutionary and innovative.
Publishing birds guides, what works and what you would change.
Story of how you learned to identify birds.
NEW VENTURE: The ID Boot Camp
Skills and techniques that you will employ will be effective.
The ID Boot Camp Co-Founder, Holly Merker.
Noticeable hole in your bird guide coverage of North America, care to share.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 185: Holly Merker, Environmental Educator

The Crossley ID Boot Camp Website

BCR 105: Richard Crossley, ID Guide Waterfowl

Book Review – Reactions to NEW The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds

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BCR 186: BirdCallsRadio NEWS REEL

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 07:00:50 +0000

Today’s show is about what BirdCallsRadio and Podcast has been up to this year. This episode called “BCR News Reel” will reflect on our endeavors for 2019 and looks at what’s ahead for an exciting year in 2020!

Welcome back to BirdcallsRadio and season’s greetings to everybody. Hope you had a great holiday with your family and friends. I certainly did including finishing up my 32nd Christmas Bird Count this year as a participant and my 10^thyear as Co-compiler for the Westport CTWE CBC on Dec 16, 2019.

Show Notes:

Thanks You’s to all our Guests, Sponsors and Donors.
Guest Highlights.
Attending Festival and Conferences.
BCR Annouces NEW Opportunities & Coverage.
The THRUSHY AWARD
BCR attending & slated for 2020
BCR Wish List

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR Events

Thrushy Award

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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Young Birder Finds Vagrant Townsend’s Warbler

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 23:29:30 +0000

BirdCallsRadio Host, Mardi Dickinson on location with Travis K and Young Birders that discovered the vagrant Townsend’s Warbler at Maumee Bay Lodge, OH. May 10, 2019. sm Photo ©Mardi Welch Dickinson KymryGroup All Rights Reserved License #5102019.

In the early evening of Friday May 10th word reached various Biggest Week in American Birding participants, gathered in the lobby of the Maumee Bay Lodge for the evening social hour, that a Townsend’s Warbler had been found somewhere nearby. It was not a formal announcement and details were sketchy at best, but spread like wildfire.

My husband Townsend picked up this intriguing yet vague report and immediately came to find me in the crowd at the social. He only had to whisper Townsends Warbler and in no time, adrenaline pumping, we ran out the door headed to the trails on the grounds.

As the word spread hasty, unorganized departures were made from the Maumee Bay lodge, and individuals and small groups caravanned by foot and automobile to the site of the sighting on the boardwalk in the wooded swamp natural area of the State Park. Initially details were sketchy, but as we approached the parking lot for the boardwalk, the pieces began to come together. Yes there was a Townsend’s Warbler and it was still being seen out on the boardwalk.

BirdCallsRadio on location with Young Birders who discovered the Townsend’s Warbler Maumee Bay Lodge, OH. May 10, 2019. sm Photo by ©Mardi Welch Dickinson:KymryGroup All Rights Reserved. License#5112019

As we proceeded out onto the narrow wooden boardwalk with no handrails, we passed people who had seen it and were leaving, and we were passed by others hurrying for their look. We saw it in the waning daylight, around 7:30pm; we were in an excited crowd of fellow birders, many of whom declared that this was a life bird and/or state bird. The buzz of a shared rare life bird sparked many conversations with complete strangers.

What was the big deal? After all it was just another migrant warbler seen during the Biggest Week of American Birding, which eventually turned up multiple Kirtland’s and a Connecticut Warbler and over 30 other species in a two-week period. What makes the Townsend’s special is the fact that this is one migrant not expected at all in Ohio in the spring or any time of year.

The Townsend’s is considered a vagrant. The Warbler winters in two groups, one along the Pacific Coast of NA and second group in SE USA, Mexico, and N. Central America. Most vagrant Townsend’s are found in the east coast in the fall, fewer vagrants are found mid continent at any time. Spring migration brings the warblers to breeding areas in the mountains of Pacific NW, which is approximately 1800 miles west of Maumee Bay, OH.

Finding this warbler is classic example of the Patagonia Picnic Table effect, the more eyes on birds the more different birds will be found. Best of all, the warbler was found by a group of young birders who were not too tired to keep birding.

And so it was that Travis K initially spotted the odd looking bird and yelled out it’s a TW. The sighting was confirmed by others in the group of five Ohio Young Birders. They had found a Townsend’s Warbler in NW Ohio on the grounds and trails of Maumee State Park Lodge & Conference Center by doing what good birders do, keep going and keep searching and question every sighting.

The unsung bird hero award should go to our friend Eric Bruhnke, a selfless VENT Bird Guide who kept his eagle eyes focused on the bird as it flitted around the canopy, and helped an army of newly arrived birders locate the desired quarry. It was not an easy bird to see or track. It stayed high in swampy trees with other foraging migrant and was intermittently lit by the last rays of the setting sun that grazed the treetops with alternate bursts of light and deep shadows.

NOTE: Thanks to Townsend P. Dickinson & Mardi W. Dickinson for the use of photographs in this post are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio Blog Post: ©Courtsey Townsend P. Dickinson & Mardi W. Dickinson, All Rights Reserved. Photographs and Video may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the copyright holders.

https://birdcallsradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BirdCallsRadio-Video-of-Townsends-Warbler-May-10-2019.mp4-©MardiWelch-DickinsonKymryGroup-All-Rights-Reserved..mp4

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Season’s Greetings from BirdCallsRadio 2019

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 02:30:38 +0000

We are so thankful to ALL our wonderful Guests, Supporters and listeners in 2019. We have a lot of exciting new guests, fun filled new programs and events coming up for a wonderful 2020 year and hope you all come along for this extrodianry ride!!!

Cheers, Mardi Dickinson

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BCR 185: Holly Merker, Environmental Educator

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 07:00:32 +0000

Holly Merker is passionate about outdoor education, and the therapeutic value of connecting all people to the natural world, Holly Merker works with people of all ages towards that goal. In recent years, Holly has worked as a birding instructor and guide for National Audubon’s Hog Island Camp, Red Knot Outfitters Birding Guides, and the American Birding Association.

Holly recently co-founded the Crossley ID Boot Camp, with author Richard Crossley, to help people better learn bird identification.She has taught many workshops, classes, and programs on birds, bird identification, and citizen science. In addition to her bird-focused endeavors, Holly can also be found teaching watershed ecology to thousands of school students at a non-profit organization in South Eastern Pennsylvania.

Focused on bird distributions and populations, Holly serves as the Pennsylvania State Reviewer Coordinator for Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird.org, and is the Chair and Voting Member of the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. A strong believer in giving back to her community, Holly currently serves on the Boards of Directors for: Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, the Delaware Ornithological Society, and is a Founding Member and Co-Chair of the annual Frontiers in Ornithology: A Symposium for Youth.

Show Notes:

Art therapy. Using birds and nature therapeutically in your work.
2002 was a tough year and period in your life.for you and your family.
toes in many endeavors; tell us about the professional organizations that you have worked with.
You serve on the Board of Directors of multiple organizations. Why do you devote so much time giving back to the birding and conservation community through volunteer hours?
Devote a lot of your time to working with young people.
Co-founder, and current Co-Chair of the successful Frontiers in Ornithology: A Symposium for Youth.
the role of Chair of your state bird records committee. Share with us some of your records committee’s challenges, goals, and why you think records committees remain a vital part of the birding community.
Citizen science and why are you so keen on it?
Your role with eBird, and how long have you been involved with the project?
You have a new business and are the co-founder of ID Boot Camp, with noted bird guide author, Richard Crossley.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 187: Richard Crossley, The ID Boot Camp

The Crossley ID Boot Camp Website

Frontiers in Ornithology: A Symposium for Youth

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BCR 184: Geoff LeBaron, Director, Audubon Christmas Bird Count

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 07:00:45 +0000

Geoff LaBaron, is the Director of the Christmas Bird Count International for the National Audubon Society, a position Geoff has held since 1987. Geoff is an integral member of the Audubon Science Division, Geoff also works on the other Community Science projects including Climate Watch, Hummingbirds at Home, and the Great Backyard Bird Count, as well as ornithological and birding advisor on projects from the Conservation Science team.

The first CBCs were done on Christmas Day of 1900, as a program to count birds rather than hunt them during the Holidays. Beginning on Christmas Day in 1900, Dr. Frank M. Chapman, founder of Bird-Lore proposed a new holiday tradition that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them. Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. So began the Christmas Bird Count. 120 years later, the tradition continues and still manages to bring out the best in people and contribute valuable data to the worldwide scientific community.

Show Notes:

When did the CBC start, and why?
Who were the Founders and where was the first CBC?
Basic notion of count circle and how is it determined?
Current talk about citizen science, in reality the CBC is the longest running wildlife census and relies almost entirely on volunteers. What is the impact of this data as a scientific tool?
Why has CBC data been so vital to our understanding of birds and is it still relevant today?
What are the drawbacks to CBC data?
The CBC has long been aware of the vagaries of individual sightings, how do you ensure that sightings and counts are relatively accurate?
The diversity of CBC’s, in terms of locations and countries.
Starting a new CBC, what are the requirements?
How does the CBC differ from eBird and why is it still relevant today?
How can eBird and the CBC’s compliment each other or be used together for those who utilize eBird?
If you were to start CBC count efforts from scratch, would there be a better time period, from the strictly science perspective, to do this?

Mentioned In Episode:

Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count told by Chan Robbins

Christmas Bird Count History

BCR 083: Chandler S. Robbins; 1st For The Record, Legacy Interview Series – BirdCallsRadio

National Audubon Society

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BirdCallsRadio Gives Thanks 2019

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 17:41:50 +0000

BirdCallsRadio Team and the Ocellated Turkey from Tikal, Guatemala are singing and wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and giving THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS! We are so grateful to each and every one of you in helping us be the best show and give a voice for and in the world for wild birds and conservation!

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BCR 183: Roger Pasquier, Author of Birds In Winter

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 06:00:21 +0000

On today’s show is our guest Roger F. Pasquier, Author of five books that includes his latest book “Birds In Winter, Surviving the Most Challenging Season”. Illustrations by Margaret La Farge; Published by Princeton University Press in August 2019.

Roger F. Pasquier, is currently Associate, Vertebrate Zoology, Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History. Prior to this he had experience at Wave Hill Center for Environmental Studies in the Bronx, then as a curatorial assistant in the Department of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History, on to the U.S. National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. He then worked for the International Council for Bird Preservation, the World Wildlife Fund-U.S., the Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Audubon Society. He was also the treasurer of the Xerces Society (devoted to butterfly and other invertebrate conservation), a trustee and then chairman of RARE, a founder of the Friends of the Peruvian Rainforest, and a trustee of the Rainforest Trust.

Mr. Pasquier has written several books on birds and art. The birds of the Republic of Panama, Part 4, Alexander Wetmore, Roger F. Pasquier, Storrs L. Olson, Smithsonian Institution, 1984. Watching Birds – An Introduction to Ornithology, Houghton Mifflin, 1977, with a foreword by Roger Tory Peterson. This was also reviewed in the Journal of Wildlife Management by the late Chandler S. Robbins and in many other publications including the New York Times. Masterpieces of Bird Art: 700 Years of Ornithological Illustration, Abbevill Press, New York, 1991 with a foreword by Roger Tory Peterson. PAINTING CENTRAL PARK, Roger F. Pasquier, The Vendome Press (Oct 6, 2015), with a foreword by Amanda M. Burden. Amanda Burden is the former director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Commission. 100 masterpieces from 150 years of Central Park by the likes of Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Childe Hassam, and Marc Chagall.

Show Notes:

You are a self-described lifelong birdwatcher, and spend time in Central Park through the years watching birds. At some point your career focus shifted from art to conservation, can you tell us about this transformation?
The many black and white illustrations by Margaret La Farge in Birds in Winter, help amplify the rich content. How did the collaboration with Ms. La Farge come about and what was your goal for the art
Approximately 10 thousand species birds in the world, how many of them actually experience winter?
Winter brings bird’s cold weather, shorter days and the continual challenge to find food and shelter. What are some of the coping skills employed by various birds to meet the challenges?
What are some adaptations specific to winter survival?
What are the wintering patterns in other hemispheres?
Territorial behaviors and foraging patterns employed by wintering shorebirds, swifts and songbirds.
What behaviors signal the coming spring to wintering birds?
How do birds know when winter is over and its time to move?

Mentioned In Episode:

Purchase Book at Princeton University Press. Click link here ➨ Birds In Winter, Surviving the Most Challenging Season

Roger F. Pasquier presentations:

Connecticut Audubon Society – Tuesday, December 10, 2019.
NYC Audubon – Monday, December 16, 7-8pm Parish House of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church
921 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. (between 73rd Street and 74th Street). Google Map here.

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BCR 182: Keith Mueller, Bird Artist and Sculptor

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 05:00:06 +0000

Keith Mueller, a native New Englander, has been carving professionally for over forty years and author of his latest book just published called Half-Sized Great Horned Owl. He resides in Killingworth, Connecticut. Keith was originally educated as an engineer/draftsman, but his carving and painting skills are self-taught. Mr. Mueller has been awarded the celebrated title of World Champion bird carver seven times and is one of only two bird carvers world-wide to win four of five divisions at World Level Competition at the prestigious Ward World Championships also including two “People’s Choice” Awards. Keith has been honored and awarded the prestigious “Living Legends” title from the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art as well as being honored three times as “Living Legend-Master Folk Artist” in decoy carving by the State of Connecticut sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Keith is also currently working on an innovative birding identification book and guide entitled “Identifying the Winter Alcids of New England”. He has also created his innovative Color System, Color Bar and Mixing Guide.

Show Notes:

Costa Rica to see the birds and especially the Resplendent Quetzel.
What was the Krausman’s Woodcarving Studio 2016 Costa Rica “Pura Vida” Bird carving Extravaganza!
Difference between carving decoys and bird art?
Steps in a bird carving walk us through them as they relate to a single bird.
Teach classes in bird carving.
Spending time in the field observing birds and gathering information for art projects.
In the field, you are often capturing photos of birds and habitats, how does photography play into the art production?
Pelagic trip and very realistic decoys of various seabirds in the water.
Use of your decoys in a wide variety of conservation efforts.
Conservation of birds is important to you.

Mentioned In Episode:

Contact Keith Mueller through Facebook

Purchase Book Half-Sized Great Horned Owl at Wildfowl Carving Magazine

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2019 Ward’s World bird carving competition

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BCR 181: Wildlife Telemetry

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 08:30:44 +0000

On todays show are my next guests, Michael Lanzone, CEO; Casey Halverson COO; David LaPuma, PhD., Director of Global Market Development from Cellular Tracking Technologies. This conversation will give you a deep dive into the world of wildlife Telemetry.

The founders of Cellular Tracking Technologies have over 40 years of telemetry research experience between them. In 2007, when not satisfied with the current products on the market, they created Cellular Tracking Technologies in order to bring the newest innovations and highest levels of service to the wildlife research market. Cellular Tracking Technologies is a small and nimble company that constantly strives to make improvements to our telemetry units and data visualization systems for both customer and our own satisfaction. In 2019, we are celebrating our 12th year as the world’s leading wildlife telemetry company.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Show Notes:

Explain telemetry for the lay person.
Talk about the downside of all this technology.
Who are the potential users of CTT telemetry products.
It is one thing to track a critter around a particular area or region, but it is quiet another to track a small songbird that travels from Canada to South America and back in a year.
What role does the Cornell Ornithology Lab have in the development of trackers?
New LifeTag tracker can be deployed on songbirds.
Walk us through the concepts of sensor stations, nodes and locators.
The needs of the researchers in the field are paramount to you success, how do you work with researchers to develop solutions to real world problems?
What is Argos and how does if differ from the similar service from Iridium?
Difference between GPS and GNSS and which is better?
Tell us about the preference for UHF for LifeTag and PowerTags.
Give us some examples of positive results derived from use of your trackers.
What is the internet of wildlife?

Mentioned In Episode:

Cellular Tracking Technologies (CTT)

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 180: Tom Reed, Visible Migration

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 06:00:37 +0000

With family roots that go back several generations, Tom Reed is one of few birders who truly calls Cape May County, NJ home. He discovered birds at a young age and was immediately captivated by the spectacle of migration visible from his Reed’s Beach backyard– be it Red Knots departing for the Arctic on late-May evenings, or Sharp-shinned Hawks bounding along the bayshore treeline after an October cold front. Tom started a hawk migration count along Delaware Bay at the age of 11 and has been actively involved in Cape May’s birding community ever since.

TR has traveled throughout much of North America since graduating from Rutgers University in 2011, with assignments ranging from wintering Piping Plover surveys in the Bahamas, to breeding bird atlas work in Wisconsin, to guidework in Alaska, and naturally, several fall seasons at Cape May. He has also appeared at various local and national birding events and represented CMBO in Israel’s Champions of the Flyway competition on three occasions. Tom is editor of the Cape May Annual Bird Report, founded and compiles the Mizpah Christmas Bird Count, and was a two-term member of the New Jersey Bird Records Committee.

Tom has invested well over 10,000 hours monitoring bird migration across all seasons at Cape May and was instrumental in the creation of CMBO’s Migration Count Coordinator position in 2015. Not surprisingly, his favorite birding takes place in wide-open spaces: oceans, grasslands, deserts, marshes, and anywhere visible migration occurs.

Show Notes:

How and when did you get started in birding?
What was it like to grow up birding in Cape May?
You did a Big year in 2011, and had the top NJ List. Tell us about this please.
Involvement with the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II from 2016-19.
You are currently the Cape May Bird Observatory, Migration Count Coordinator.
History of the Migration Count Coordinator position, and what your responsibilities as Migration Count Coordinator entail?
You’re the Author of Cape May Annual Bird Report, a 60,000-word document that reviews and memorializes the area’s birdlife each year and is the only publication of its kind in North America.
Your role with the electronic point data entry system at migration count sites.
Projects that focus on non-avian migration monitoring?
Monitor moths and bats?
Visible migration (“vismig”) the importance of migration monitoring as a tool for studying bird populations?
Biggest challenges in sustaining bird migration counts and related long-term projects?
CMBO’s migration count data? Websites that bring together migration data from other places?
Regional coordinator for the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology eBird Regional Data Coordinator for New Jersey.
The new Cape May Spring watch.
The 1st annual NJ Young Birders Conference this year
What advice do you have for young people who are interested in birds and natural history?

Mentioned In Episode:

CMBO Migration Watches

Trektellen

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BCR 179: Nick Bonomo, Shorebirder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 06:00:30 +0000

Nick Bonomo has been birding his home state of Connecticut since the age of thirteen. He works as an Orthopedic Physician Assistant and spends much of his free time in the field. Nick leads international tours for the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Eco Travel department, sits on the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut, and writes for the Connecticut Ornithological Association’s quarterly journal.

Show Notes:

Shorebirder is informative and well documented with pithy sightings.
Weekly contributor to Connecticut Audubon Society Bird Finder
January 2019 you began a Self-Found Big Year in your home state of Connecticut.
You often report birds from boats seen while fishing. Tell us more about the fishing.
Shorebirds, Gull’s And You!
Involved with the Connecticut Ornithological Association, articles for Connecticut Warbler.
A trip to Alaska in 2019.
Walk us through the seasons in Connecticut.
Winter is an interesting season and brings a host of new birds in.
Spring is the time of neo-tropical migrants and other birds passing through.
Summer is the quiet post breeding time.
Connecticut Breeding Bird Survey, CT Bird Atlas. why such studies are so important.

Mentioned In Episode:

Shorebirder

CT Bird Altas

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 178: Julie Zickefoose, Saving Jemima

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 06:00:21 +0000

Julie Zickefoose lives and works quietly on an 80-acre wildlife sanctuary in the back country of Whipple, Ohio. She is a prolific writer and painter and Contributing Editor to Bird Watcher’s Digest. Among her other books are Natural Gardening for Birds, Letters from Eden,The Bluebird Effect, andBaby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest are joined by Saving Jemima: Life and Love With a Hard-Luck Jay, the intimate story of how an orphaned bird can save a soul.

Listen in for a chance to win a copy of her newest book Saving Jemima: Life and Love With a Hard-Luck Jay in this episode!

Show Notes:

Blue Jay egg, but it did not end there. Incubation attempt in 2016, what you hoped raising a young bird?
Raising a wild bird is not advised for a variety of good reasons.
In 2017 you were flat out with book tours and lectures and feeling in a creative funk.
Facebook got you your Blue Jay.
How did the very young jay get it’s name Jemima?
Fledging is a significant growth step.
What is imprinting and how did this effect Jemima?
Young bird as a housemate, what routines developed.
Letting the bird go, but Jemima really did not go.
enchanted with Jemima’s socialization.
Jemima fame spread.
Who was Peg and what revelations on jays unfolded from your association?
Blue Jay migration and Jem, what did you learn?

NOTE: Thanks to Julie Zickefoose for the use of her paintings and photographs in this post are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast episode BCR 178: Julie Zickefoose, “Saving Jemima Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay” and this article only. Courtsey of ©Julie Zickefoose, All Rights Reserved. Paintings and Photos may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of ©Julie Zickefoose.

Mentioned In Episode:

Purchase Book at Redstart Birding Click link here ➨ Saving Jemima: Life and Love With a Hard-Luck Jay.

Julie Zickefoose Website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 177: Arthur Singer, American Master

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 06:00:12 +0000

Paul Singer is one of the two co-author of the truly wonderful book about their father’s Wildlife Art. The book, a biography with illustrations in fact, is titled Arthur Singer, The Wildlife Art of an American Master, by Paul and Alan Singer, RIT Press (Rochester Institute of Technology), 2017. The book is simply stunning, you must hold it in your lap, and page through it and read any section of this book to appreciate the artist and the depth and beauty.

Paul Singer is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art (1968) with a BFA in graphic design. Interested in nature and the outdoors, he has focused on designs for zoos, museums, and botanic gardens. He has also worked as an interpretive sign designer for the National Park Service, state park systems, and greenways in California, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. His illustrations are included in The Knopf Nature Guide series for Audubon, The Audubon Master Guides to Birding, The Knopf Collector Guides to American Antiques and other publications. In his leisure time, he paints seascapes, studies history, and collects antiques. Paul and his wife, Janet, reside in Brooklyn, NY.

Alan Singer is a graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art with a BFA in Fine Art (1972), and an MFA from Cornell University (1975). For nine years, Alan worked with his father, Arthur, on revisions to both of Singer’s field guides to birds, and helped illustrate the State Bird & Flower Stamps for the Postal Service. Alan illustrated the State Bird & Flower first day covers for Unicover Corp. Alan has also illustrated books which include The Total Book of Houseplants and State Birds. Since 1988, he has been an art educator and professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. A painter, printmaker, and author, he has had 27 solo exhibitions and blogs at The Visual Artworker. Alan and his wife, Anna, reside in Rochester, New York.

Show Notes:

Trips to the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History,
A student at the Cooper Union Art School in New York City.
Singer produced the caricatures of jazz greats and politicians? What was the fascination with jazz?

U.S. Army during World War II and the 603rd Camouflage Engineers.
Singer’s watercolors painted during his army years have appeared in the documentary and book entitled, The Ghost Army of World War II, some of the art from this period has been included.
1950s Singer got assignments from Sports Illustrated, World Book Encyclopedia, Reader’s Digest and from The American Home magazine that launched his career as a full time wildlife artist.
The idea of painting all species of North American birds began with John James Audubon.
The Golden Years saw the creation and publication of Birds of the World.
The field Guide to Birds of North America that he illustrated by Chan Robbins and Bertel Bruun.
In 1969 author Dr. Bertel Bruun and Arthur Singer published the Birds of Europe, following year the Hamlyn Guide to Birds or Britain and Europe came out.

Paintings of state birds which were seen by millions when the U.S. Postal Service issued the State Birds & Flowers stamps in 1982.
Singer’s talent was honored when he was issued the Hal Borland Award from the National Audubon Society in 1985 upon the 200^th anniversary of Audubon’s birth.
Arthur recieves The Augustus St. Gaudens Medal in 1962.
Arthur fascination with big cats and what art resulted from this fascination.
Vineyard Books and The Life of the Hummingbirds came after Golden. The Birds of the Ocean and Birds of the Seven Continents were planned and started, never published.
Since Singer’s death in 1990, where has his artwork been shown including retrospective exhibitions?
Millpond Press had Peterson’s and Frame House had Arthur Singer.

NOTE: Thanks to Paul Singer for the use of all the paintings and photographs in this post are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast episode BCR 177: Arthur Singer, American Master and this article only. ©Courtsey of Arthur B. Singer Estate, All Rights Reserved. Paintings and Photos may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the Singer Family.

Mentioned In Episode:

Purchase Book: Click link here ➨ Arthur Singer, The Wildlife Art of an American Master, by Paul and Alan Singer. Publisher: RIT Press July 2017 ISBN-13: 9781939125392. Call 585-475-5819 Contact: ritpress@rit.edu

Additional Book coming soon:

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 176: Nancy Grant, Binge Birding

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 06:00:22 +0000

Nancy Grant is a working journalist and researcher, as well as an active naturalist. Her special area of expertise is the electric power industry and she have over 350 scientific and technical articles published since 1986. These skills along with accurate field notes enabled Nancy to capture in great detail the places and things she saw. Sharing trip photos on social media led to the desire to share these observations with others.

Show Notes:

Tell us about how you planned for this trip and what you brought along to meet your goals.
You met some interesting people along the way, your book you’ve chosen to not use their real names. Why?
You give a talk entitled “On the feathered trail. Birding the friendly way.”
Food preferences of the birds you observe, and how they hunt for that food. You are also careful to include details about your meals, and that you sought out food at one-off establishments rather than chains.
As a woman, traveling alone, what, if any, special precautions did you take to ensure your safety?
What advice do you have for others who contemplate a road trip for the birds?
Note taker, your process for taking field notes, what elements you were especially keen to document.
Visited Goose Island State Park in Texas. Your philosophy and the items you bring along with you.
Where do you want to go next?

Mentioned In Episode:

Nancy Grant

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BCR 175: Jason Guerard, BSBO Outreach Director

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 06:00:04 +0000

Jason Guerard is a native Floridian who grew up exploring the woods and family farm, which became the basis for his love of the outdoors and environmental ethic. He earned a degree from Northland College in Ashland, WI, majoring in Outdoor Education/Natural History. Jason brings a diverse background of rich experiences to the Outreach Director position including research, environmental education, and retail management. He spent a number of summers working at the Audubon Camp in Maine on Hog Island, where he was instrumental in delivering ornithological programs along Maine’s mid-coast to teens, families, and adults. While working with the University of Maryland, he studied Grasshopper Sparrows on a restored grassland on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Jason has spent more hours than he can count scanning the skies atop hawkwatch platforms such as Braddock Bay in Hilton, NY and Cape May, NJ. He returned to Cape May years later to live and bird year round while working for the Cape May Bird Observatory as the Sale Manager of the Northwood Center nature store. Jason has an extensive background in bird monitoring (he is a US Army Corps of Engineers certified bird monitor), guiding/leading field trips, and brings ten years of bird banding experience. He has led a World Series of Birding team to victory (more than once), enjoys photographing nature, and loves to share his passion for birds with the community he surrounds himself with. Most of all, he enjoys spending time outside with his family.

Show Notes:

What early experiences in the natural world helped shape your early interests?
First natural history gig after college was at the Audubon Camp in Maine.
Field research and studies as a freelance naturalist for Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences/North Carolina State University, Braddock Bay Raptor Research and New Jersey Audubon Society, Cape May Bird Observatory.
Project manager and faculty research assistant for the University of Maryland
New Jersey Audubon Society, Cape May Bird Observatory as sales manager,
A stint as a middle school Environmental Science Educator.
Florida you also had freelance gigs with LG2 Environmental Solutions and Florida Audubon. Is this when you got you US Army Corps of Engineers Bird Monitor Certificate?
families move to North West Ohio, we know you were not growing soybeans?
How long did it take for the sharp folks at BSBO to become aware of your unique skill set and put you to work on the BWIAB?
In 2018 you were named project coordinator for the Biggest Week and this year you ran the 10^thAnniversary festivities again in May of 2019. Give us the high level view of the single largest birding event in North America from your perspective.

Mentioned In Episode:

The Thrushy Award

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BirdCallsRadio ON THE GO! Subscribe directly on ApplePodcasts; Stitcher; Google Play; Spotify; iHeartRadio to our podcast for Mac, PC & Android users emailed to you automatically so you won’t miss any BCR podcasts; and please leave us a rating and review if you would be so kind! We appreciate it!

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BCR 174: Nate Koszycki, Pay it Forward

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 06:00:48 +0000

On Today’s show is one of our featured series called “Pay It Forward” with this series 2nd guest Nate Koszycki and talks with us about his knowledge and passion for birds since the age of 6, including bird identification, distribution, and conservation.

Nate Koszycki thanks the brilliant red of the Northern Cardinal that started started his birding in Toledo, Ohio at the age of six. In 2013, Nate was interviewed by Birds and Blooms Magazine and has since worked hard on extending his knowledge and passion for bird identification, distribution, and conservation with help from his birding mentors and second family, Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman, and the rest of Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

Nate started guiding at age 15, and has since been leading walks for BSBO, the Biggest Week in American Birding, Ohio Young Birders Club, and Toledo Naturalists’ Association. Nate has written both for Audubon and Birds and Blooms magazines; he continues to write on various birding topics, including aspects of young birding. As an undergrad freshman studying Environmental Studies at the University of Toledo, Nate is currently running a campuswide bird window-strike monitoring project in affiliation with Bird-safe Toledo.

Show Notes:

Ohio native, tell us about the area you grew up birding in?
What got you into birds and how old were you?
Birds and Blooms Magazine in 2013
Work hard to improve your skills in all things bird.
The sphere of the Black Swamp Observatory
You count Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman as mentors, elaborate on their influence in your life.
Ohio Young Birders Club and your participation in this club?
Writing pieces on birding topics.
Guiding bird walks since you were 15
Freshman at University of Toledo studying Environmental Sciences
Participation in a Red-headed Woodpecker research project.
Campus wide window strike-monitoring project. what effects window strikes have on birds?

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 173: Wayne E. Petersen, Legacy Interview

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 15:45:51 +0000

On Today’s show is one of our featured series called “For The Record, Legacy Interviews.” with this series 8^thguest Wayne Petersen, Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society

Wayne R. Petersen is Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. As co-author of Birds of Massachusetts(1993), co-editor of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas1 and 2 (2003 and 2013), Field Guide to Birds of Massachusetts (2013), and a New England Regional Editor for North American Birdsmagazine, and editor of the New England Christmas Bird Count for National Audubon, Wayne’s knowledge of the status and seasonal distribution of New England bird life give him a wide perspective when thinking about Important Bird Areas in Massachusetts. Among his other writing projects are authorship of the National Audubon Society’s Pocket Guide to Songbirds and Familiar Backyard Birds (East), and Birds of New England (with Roger Burrows),andcontributing to The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, and Arctic Wings. Wayne has lead international birding tours on six continents for Field Guides and Mass Audubon, and he serves on the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee (MARC), the advisory committee of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and he is a board member of the Wildlands Trust and Bird Observermagazine. In 2005 Wayne was the recipient of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Awardfor outstanding contributions in regional ornithology.

Show Notes:

Tell us about your early days. What were the origins of your interest in birds?
Affiliated with the one of Nation’s premier bird conservation organizations, Massachusetts Audubon; as Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society what is the desired outcome and what do you do to realize the goals?
You are a widely published author and editor, including co-author of Birds of Massachusetts (1993), co-editor of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 1 and 2 (2003 and 2013), Field Guide to Birds of Massachusetts (2013), and a New England Regional Editor for North American Birds magazine, and editor of the New England Christmas Bird Count for National Audubon, Birds of New England (with Roger Burrows), and contributing to The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, and Arctic Wings. Considering this impressive body of work, which of these are you most proud of, which was the hardest?
International birding tours on six continents for Field Guides and Mass Audubon.
Massachusetts Avian Records Committee (MARC).
Advisory committee of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and your a board member of the Wildlands Trust and Bird Observer magazine.
2005 recipient of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contributions in regional ornithology. Tell us about this award and what it meant to you.
Long-term relationship with the National Audubon Society Hog Island Camp in Maine.
Affiliation with with the Manomet Bird Observatory,
You conservation roots are deep and widespread, tell us about the importance of Massachusetts state ornithologist: Joseph A. Hager and Kathleen S. Anderson.
Your relationship with the late Doctor Noble Proctor of Connecticut.
The late Betty Petersen
You are passionate about conservation and the environment, what issues do you lend your voice to these days, is it still shorebirds and migration?

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BCR 172: Jeffrey Spendelow, PhD on Roseate Terns

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 21 May 2019 06:00:47 +0000

Jeff Spendelow received his Ph.D. (1980) and B.S. (1972) degrees in Biology from Yale University. In 2008 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and he has been a Life Member of the AOU; a Founding Life Member of Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) and several other ornithological societies since the 1970s. He started working on Roseate Terns in 1977, was Director of the Falkner Island Tern Project from 1981-2003, founded the Cooperative Roseate Tern Meta Population Project (CRTMP) in 1987, is a member of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s (USFWS) Roseate Tern Recovery Team, and after 35+ years as a federal employee he retired in December 2018 to become an Emeritus Research Wildlife Biologist. Jeff has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications, his research played an important role in the decisions by the USFWS to list Roseate Terns as Endangered and to add Falkner Island, CT to the National Wildlife Refuge system, and he continues to direct the CRTMP which now includes cooperators spanning the entire range of the Northwest Atlantic breeding population from Connecticut to Nova Scotia. Since 2011 he has focused his attention on learning more about the factors that might impact individuals of different ages and breeding status in their use of summer staging sites, especially those sites in the “Cape & Islands” area of Massachusetts.

Show Notes:

Your work with the Roseate Tern made a significant contribution for the listing of this species as Federally Endangered. What did it take to get this species listed?
The Roseate Tern has a very interesting and somewhat odd world wide distribution. Tell us about this and do you have any speculation why the colonies are so dispersed?
Townsend Dickinson remembers that you had installed many protected nesting sites for Roseate Terns on Falkner’s Island some years ago. Some were made from old tires; others were merely driftwood propped up by cobblestones. You noted at the time that these tern condos might give the Roseate’s a better chance at producing young. What was going on here?
Tell us why the Federal Government has an interest in the Roseate Terns?
You have been the Director of PWRC’s Cooperative Roseate Tern Meta-population Project (the CRTMP) ever since organizing it in 1987, what is this body and what do they do?
You are the USGS member and Chair of the Technical Working Group of the USFWS’s Recovery Team for the endangered NW Atlantic breeding population of Roseate Terns. What effort does this entail?
Some terns may be seen with secondary colored bands or flags, why do researchers give them auxiliary bands or other devices?
Where are the main staging areas for Roseate Terns in the Northeast US?
What effects does the presence of nearby people have on the nesting and fledglings success of Roseate Terns on Cape Cod?
You recently transitioned to Emeritus Research Wildlife Biologist fromPatuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) in Laurel, MD If you follow the model set by your esteemed fellow scientist Chandler S. Robbins also of Patuxent, this means you could have 30 or more years of work to do. Seriously do you have a plan yet?

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BCR 171: Nancy McAllister, Mom’s Big Year

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 14 May 2019 06:00:38 +0000

Nancy is a biologist at the North American Bird Banding Laboratory and an adjunct professor of environmental science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She loves combining a career in field work, research and education. Nancy became an avid birder in the mid-1980’s in her home state of New Jersey. Since then she’s worked for The Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and she started a non-profit watershed association. Recently, Nancy has been working with Wildside Nature Tours and did her own 2016 Big Year of birding, a Mom’s Big Year. In February 2017, she was appointed by her County Executive to Howard County’s Environmental Sustainability Board. Nancy holds an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development and lives in Ellicott City, Maryland with her husband, Paul, and their three children.

Show Notes:

How did you get started in birding?
What got you back into birding after taking a hiatus for graduate school and starting your family?
As a mom with 3 school-aged children, what were some challenges you faced in planning a Big Year and how did you overcome them?
What exactly is a big year & what decisions did you have tomake?
Can you tell us about how your family tragedy affected the way you approached your Big Year?
Did you ever want to quit and give up during the year?
As you continued your big year, did you get help willing or otherwise from other birders?
What resources or local guides did you use to help you locate target species?
What were some of your favorite places and parts of your Big Year
Would you consider doing another big year?
What is the biggest lesson you learned that might be valuable to others?
What were your concerns for you personal safety and what steps if any did you take to reduce such risks?
What is the North American Bird Banding Laboratory and what is your affiliation?
You have taught Environmental Science for The University of Maryland Baltimore County, tell us what you get out of teaching please.

Mentioned In Episode:

Moms Big Year

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Kimberly Kaufman Receives BirdCallsRadio’s First Thrushy Award™

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 10 May 2019 03:10:35 +0000

BirdCallsRadio's Mardi Dickinson presents Inaugural "Thrushy Award" to Kimberly Kaufman, BSBO Executive Director at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2019 10th Anniversary on May 9, 2019, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge, Oregon, Ohio. ©Townsend P. Dickinson.

Good evening and welcome everyone! My name is Mardi Dickinson and I am the host and producer of BirdCallsRadio worldwide. Thank you for joining me tonight to present BirdCallsRadio’s first Thrushy Award.

Before I present tonight’s Thrushy Award, I will take this opportunity to make a few comments.

First, I would like to wish The Biggest week in American Birding Happy 10^thAnniversary this week. It is also the 26th Anniversary of the sponsoring organization Black Swamp Bird Observatory or BSBO for those in the know. We overheard two young birders discussing passionately how Biggest Week is like a homecoming for them, they only get to see old friends now occasionally and this one of the times. They may have not ever experienced Magee Marsh without a Biggest Week. (Applause)

My thanks also goes to the entire team at BSBO especially to Jason Guerard, Jasmine Cupp and the Maumee Bay Lodge for helping to put on this evening’s social event, that is sponsored by BirdCallsRadio, which I promise we will get to shortly. So hang tight for a few minutes please.

Secondly, I would like to share with you what BirdCallsRadio has been up to lately and some fun filled facts.

As of this week BirdCallsRadio has aired it’s 170^thshow with more than 296 guests since its inception in 2011. In that time BirdCallsRadio developed a unique voice worldwide in all matters relating to wild birds and conservation. There is simply no other media outlet with the same broad scope and in depth content anywhere.

Stats indicate that we have unique weekly listeners tuned in from all 50 States, 110 Countries and 6 Continents! Free streaming/listening on all shows is available directly on our website, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio through free podcast subscriptions. Please do consider following us by subscribing to our E-Newletter and fllowing us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We continue to bring exciting and forward thinking guests including birders, artists, educators, authors, scientists, and organizations to interested listeners. Our interviews are recorded by state-of-the-art digital broadcasting in studio or on location. Guest’s inquiries are always given consideration and our booking for future shows is ongoing. Advertising Rates are also available now for website ads and air time spots including Affiliate Partnerships. For more information about BirdCallsRadio Show, please go to www.birdcallsradio.com.

Now onto this evenings Thrushy Award Presentation –

“The Thrushy” will be awarded on an irregular basis to an individual or an organization who, solely in the eyes of BirdCallsRadio, and it’s advisory committee, has made a significant contribution, above and beyond what is expected, in the realm of birding, conservation, the environment and natural history and sciences. Although presently the Thrushy has no monetary award, it is intended to call out and honor the recipient, so that our community is made aware of the extraordinary efforts of said individual or organization.

BirdCallsRadio is in a unique position to survey much of the birding world today. This lofty platform makes it possible for us to identify those individuals whose efforts have enabled them to strive well beyond reasonable expectations. We have long wished for a way to call out to our audience, and the greater birding community, that there are individuals and or organizations, those whose efforts warrant greater acknowledgement. We have decided there for to create an award that signals to the world those who deserve some degree of greater recognition. We are calling that award “The Thrushy.”

Without further ado, in recognition for 30 years of efforts, above and beyond, in support of the birding community, science and conservation, BirdCallsRadio hereby awards Kimberly Kaufman our very first “Thrushy Award”.

I will now make an attempt to summarize Kimberly Kaufman’s contributions to birding, the environment and the sciences.

First, I must start out by underscoring Kimberly Kaufman’s personal qualities. She is caring, gracious, warm, at times outrageously funny, and posses a drive and business savvy to drive to and meet a distant goal.

As the Executive Director of the Black Swamp Bird Oberservatory Kim has been a trailblazer. Kimberly Kaufman, you have truly gone above and beyond.

From the start, with a clipboard in hand, Kimberly began volunteering with the state wildlife agency to monitor Bald Eagles nesting near her home. She trained as a bird bander and worked as a researcher at BSBO.

Now As Executive Director of BSBO you have helped to grow the organization with a first class focus on conservation, community outreach, education, and science. I won’t go into all the details, but among others these include bird banding efforts, young birders clubs, and local environmental lobbing efforts. Further you led BSBO as it incubated and developed the Biggest Week of American Birding, which is in its 10 year this week in May 2019

BirdCallsRadio's Host Mardi Dickinson presents Inaugural "Thrushy Award" to Kimberly Kaufman, BSBO Executive Director at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2019 10th Anniversary on May 9, 2019, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge, Oregon, Ohio. ©Townsend P. Dickinson.

Some of the highlights of the Biggest Week in American birding include.

It is now an event with regional, national and international recognition, drawing tens of thousands of birders.
Today it certainly the largest and perhaps the best bird related event in the United States.
We have been coming to Magee Marsh since 2007; we have seen its beginnings and some challenges, and how The Biggest Week has grown bigger and better each year.
The Biggest Week has dramatically changed the regional outlook on the birding community, which is evidenced by the press and the proven economic benefit to the region.
Through planned efforts you have relieved some of the pressure on the finite resources of the famed Magee Marsh boardwalk, and now birders fan out across the region in vans and personal vehicles to visit other regional hotspots.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, in our society we just don’t do enough to recognize the role of women as leaders. Kimberly, today, we move this frontier forward by recognizing and calling out to the world all that Kimberly Kaufman has done for birding, conservation, the environment and science.

You truly are a trailblazer and have accomplished many good things and it is my pleasure on behalf of BirdCallsRadio, to award Kimberly Kaufman with our very first Thrushy Award on this day of May 9, 2019.

Mentioned In Episode:

Bird Watcher’s Digest Magazine

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 169: Bill Thompson lll Tribute

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 06:00:34 +0000

On today’s Show I am re-mastering and bringing up to modern day an episode I did with Bill Thompson lll aka BT3 back in October 2012. As many of you know by now Bill Thompson lll sadly passed away on March 25, 2019. Far to early. Julie Zickefoose was kind enough to grant me permission to reuse the song Bill choose back in 2012 for this 2019 episode 169 of BirdCallsRadio called, “Celabrating The Life of Bill Thompson lll”.

Please make sure you stay turned-in to the end of the show to hear the completed version of “Fence Mending” solo by Bill Thompson lll and The Rain Crows.

Bill Thompson lll was the editor and Co-Publisher of the magazine Bird Watcher’s Digest. His parents are the founding publishers and the magazine has been going for more than 30 years. His contributions to birding and nature have not gone unnoticed. In 2008, he was awarded a Service Citizen Award from the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service for his contributions in making the National Wildlife Refuge system more bird and birder-friendly.

His book “The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America” (2012, Houghton Mifflin Company), fits right in with BirdCallsRadio’s mission to get young people interested in and involved with nature. The book also won the silver medal in the Environmental Issues category of the 2012 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards!

His contributions to birding and nature have not gone unnoticed. In 2008, he was awarded a Service Citizen Award from the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service for his contributions in making the National Wildlife Refuge system more bird and birder-friendly.

He is also, among other things, “a dad, a field trip leader, an ecotourism consultant, a guitar player, a regular speaker, performer on the birding festival circuit, a gentleman farmer, and a fun guy to be around.”

Show Notes:

How did Bird Watcher’s Digest Magazine get started?
The Betsey Birders
Being a mentor.
What sets Bird Watcher’s Digest apart from other magazines.
Sumissions process of articles to Bird watcher’s Digest
The Rain Crows
Young Birder’s Guide Book
Fence Mending by The Rain Crows

Mentioned In Episode:

The Rain Crows | ReverbNation

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BirdCallsRadio Announces First THRUSHY AWARD™

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 04:00:19 +0000

BirdCallsRadio’s Mardi Dickinson presents Inaugural “Thrushy Award” at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2019 10th Anniversary on May 9, 2019, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge, Oregon, Ohio. ©BirdCallsRadio

BirdCallsRadio is pleased to announce our first THRUSHY AWARD

The award will recognize an individual or an organization who has made a significant contribution to the birding, conservation, education, the environment, natural history and science community. The recipient will be honored at The Biggest Week In American Birding 10th Anniversary hosted by Black Swamp Bird Observatory evening social, sponsored by BirdCallsRadio at 5PM on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center. Please join us for this wonderful event.

Mentioned in Episode:

Kimberly Kaufman Receives BirdCallsRadio’s First Thrushy Award

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BCR 168: BirdGenie App

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 06:00:13 +0000

Tom Stephenson, Scott Whittle and Stephen Travis Pope are the Co-Developers of NEW BirdGenie App. BirdGenie is a new app that allows you to identify birds by their songs. By simply pointing your phone at the bird and tapping the record button, BirdGenie analyzes the song and helps you identify the species confidently from a small selection of the closest matches.

BirdGenie is a breakthrough Apple® or Android® app that helps everyone with an Apple® or Android® smartphone or tablet accurately identify birds in their backyard, local park, or nature trail—all with the tap of a button! Just hold up your phone, record the bird singing, and BirdGenie will help you identify the species. The app’s highly developed sound identification engine and expert matching system enable anyone to achieve results with previously unheard of accuracy. It’s perfect for anyone who is curious and wants to learn more about the birds around them.

BirdGenie includes up to two hundred vocalization types for one hundred species: all of the birds likely to be encountered in a backyard, local park, or on a hike in North America at any time of the year. The app is easy to use: just point your smartphone or tablet at a bird, and tap the screen when the bird starts singing. The app’s automatic pre-record feature ensures that you won’t miss the beginning of the song and BirdGenie’s patented, highly accurate expert system matches the recording to the closest species. The app’s sophisticated noise-reduction feature means that even in noisy environments, where there is conversation or traffic, you can discover what bird you’re listening to.

Mentioned In Episode:

BirdGenie | ID Birds by Song

BCR 085: Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle; The Warbler Guide

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BCR 167: Nancy Langston, Sustaining Lake Superior

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 06:00:14 +0000

Nancy Langston. She is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental History at Michigan Tech on the shores of Lake Superior. She has written 4 books about environmental change, and she’s working now on a 5th. Today we are going to talk with Nancy about her most recent book, Sustaining Lake Superior, focuses on the interconnected histories of watershed health, human health, and forest health–all in the context of climate change.

An important note on the book Sustaining Lake Superior, Nancy is donating all proceeds she receives from book sales to local nonprofits working to protect and restore Lake Superior.

Show Notes:

The initial exploitation from clearcut logging resulted in a massive loss of wetlands what was the impact of the loss?
Water use and water diversion, pragmatic solution solved some problems but left a pollution legacy that still lives.
Why were lakes and streams and boreal forests sprayed with arsenic, copper sulfate, DDT and toxaphene in the 1940s and ’50s?
How does Boreal Forest pulp extraction affect Great Lake Communities? What are dioxin and its effects on peoples health?
What is taconite, what was the attraction and what were the environmental effects of widespread taconite processing?
You have described the human impact of industrial pollution, invasive species, and habitat loss. Why are some environmental ideas sufficient for one era too often fail in another?
What can be learned from those efforts and applied to new threats including climate change, synthetic chemicals, and forest change?
How can this study be considered a microcosm of worldwide environmental challenges?
How do toxins affect common loons in the north?
How is climate change affecting loons?
Loons are good indicators of watershed health, what efforts have people made to restore and protect loons, and what more can we do and what can we learn from Verna Mize and Arlene Lehto?

Mentioned In Episode:

Nancy Langston website

Sustaining Lake Superior

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 166: Nathan Pieplow, Peterson Bird Sounds of Western NA

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 06:00:12 +0000

Nathan Pieplow is the author of the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds-both the eastern volume, published in 2017, and now the new western volume, which arrived on April 2, 2019, both published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. Nathan is one of the authors of the Colorado Birding Trail and a former editor of the journal Colorado Birds. He teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado.

Show Notes:

- You live in Boulder, Colorado and teach writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado. How does this resonate with your secret life as an ear birder?

- recount one story. You went to Rancho La Noria, Nayarit, Mexico in search of a rare and mysterious owl.

- It took you 14 years, you started in 2003, to create the eastern version of Field Guide to Birds and you started the western version before the eastern was published, what motivated you to accomplish this besides the fact that identifying a bird by their calls is arguably one of the most difficult skills to acquire?

- You acknowledge that learning bird song was not easy for you. You essentially had to reverse engineer bird songs in order to deconstruct the variables so that they could be understood.

- Crucial to identifying bird sounds are five key aspects.

- How can spectrograms be used by the average birder, to lead to specific identification?

- So musical training or memorization is not needed to identify bird calls, you have in the book a “Sound Index”, a sort of key that gets the sound you heard quickly to a short list of likely birds. How does this work?

- You have a vast audio component to this book that is available on the web

- How can an individual record a bird sound and get a spectrogram of that sound?

What is the next great frontier in bird sounds, is it possibly a new region or some great new technology?

Mentioned In Episode:

Earbirding

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BCR 165: Kenn Kaufman, A Season on the Wind, Inside the world of spring migration

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 06:00:46 +0000

Kenn Kaufman, Author of the Kaufman Field Guide Series along with other numerous books. Today we will be talking with Kenn about his latest book scheduled for release today April 2, 2019, called “A Season on the Wind, Inside the World of Spring Migration” by Kenn Kaufman, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019. The book is centered on the bird migration over the Ohio Lake Shore near where he lives.

Black-throated Green Warbler_Ohio ©Kenn Kaufman

His book projects have included his own field guide series, Kaufman Field Guides, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company of Boston. This series now includes volumes on North American birds, butterflies, mammals, insects, and advanced bird ID, plus guides to nature of New England and the Midwest. His other books include Lives of North American Birds and Flights Against the Sunset. His current projects include painting portraits of birds. Kenn is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, and has received the American Birding Association’s lifetime achievement award twice—a distinction shared only with the late Chan Robbins.

Bay-breasted Warbler_Ohio ©Kenn Kaufman

Show Notes:

- Overview of the phenomenon called migration

- Migration along the upper Texas coast.

- The significance of the trans-gulf migration.

- What is fallout

- How did the original Black Swamp and duck hunters shape the present lakefront habitat?

- Spring begins with the crows, but there is a major problem with spring migration in NW Ohio

- walk us through the daily comings and goings of the migrants as they flit through NW Ohio

- Black Swamp Observatory runs a lakeside banding station at Navarre Unit of Ottawa N.W.R.

- ideal weather conditions for a good spring movement at Magee Marsh?

Recent technologies like acoustic monitoring of nocturnal migrants being used to get a clearer picture of the daily life.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 092: Kenn Kaufman, Author & Naturalist For The Record, Legacy Interview Series. Third Interviewee.

BSBO SWAMP SHOP – Buy or Call 419.898.4070: A Season on the Wind, Inside the world of spring migration. The book is in stock as of 4/12/19.

KAUFMAN FIELD GUIDES

Donate the Guia

The Biggest Week In American Birding

Blackburnian Warbler_Ohio ©Kenn Kaufman

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 164: Hanna Mounce Ph.D, Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 06:00:28 +0000

Dr. Hanna Mounce the Research/Management Project Coordinator for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. Overseeing the daily operations and implementing a research and management program to recover endangered forest birds and restore ecosystems at remote forest sites on the Island of Maui. Hanna and Alauahio.

Hanna developed a passion for island ecosystems while completing her undergraduate degree at Humboldt State, CA and Lincoln University in New Zealand. Hanna has worked in public and private sectors of avian conservation across North and Central America. Hanna joined the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP) as a field technician in 2006, now the Coordinator of MFBRP. Hanna completed her doctorate in biodiversity conservation at the University of Kent, UK and then spearheaded the incorporation of Na Koa Manu Conservation in 2015. Hanna serves on the Maui County Arborist Committee and the Maui County Board of Water Supply and is a member of the Pukalani Community Association, the secretary of the Maui Conservation Alliance, the secretary of the Olinda Community Association, and a mother of two. She is also a Maui County Ka Ipu Kukui fellow from 2013.

Helicopter landing is the most effective way to get from island to Island. Pezzillo_Nakula

Pezzillo_Nakula

Maui Parrotbill (male) ©Robby Kohley

Mentioned In Episode:

Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project – Put Extinction in the Past

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BCR 163: Rick Wright, Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 06:00:24 +0000

Rick Wright, author of the American Birding Association’s field guides to birds of New Jersey and of Arizona, and of his latest book “Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America”. He leads birding and birds-and-art tours for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, A prolific contributor to the birding literature and is a sought-after lecturer, Rick lives with his wife, Alison Beringer, and their chocolate lab, Gellert, in New Jersey.

Show Notes:

How does this Sparrow book, labeled a reference book, differ from other field guides?
Best sparrow watching locations
Why does the sparrow book cover Mexico too but not beyond.
bird names and interactions with people
What sparrow has the most sub-species or variety?
Sparrow wannabes.
Any sparrows that may be candidates for lumping or splitting?
Your favorite birds are American tree sparrows and juncos. Why?
Cassiar Junco
Vent Birds and Art program

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BCR 162: Dale Dyer, Birds of Central America

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 06:00:24 +0000

Dale Dyer has been painting birds for books for about twenty-five years. These books are mostly field guides, such as those to Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, parts of Brazil, and North America. He has also drawn habitat and behavioral scenes for several books on birds of New York state. His latest book is Birds of Central America, coauthored with Andrew Vallely, for which he painted all 260 plates.

Long an avid birder, Dale began his career painting the human figure, landscapes, and other subjects of modern life, and later brought his interest in birds and art together. He is a long time Brooklyn resident who grew up on nearby Long Island. He does much of his research, and often executes his work, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and in 2014 was made a Field Associate of the Ornithology Department there.

Since 1996 Dale has been travelling frequently to the Neotropics, often in the company of ornithologist Andrew Vallely, who introduced him to Neotropical birds. Years of field study, museum research, and experience painting birds from various countries led the two, in 2007, to feel ready to take on a major project covering an entire region. Birds of Central America is the result on ten years of daily labor.Dale was awarded the Eckelberry Fellowship from the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel in 2014, and the Eckelberry residency at the Asa Wright center from the Society of Animal Artists in 2007. He has taught at the NY Botanical Garden and the Woodstock School of Art. Raised in a family of musicians, Dale has performed regularly as a cellist for several decades.

Show Notes:

Where do you do your fieldwork and what does it entail?
How long did it take you to get to a pub date after you started the project?
Why did you exclude certain areas such as Mexico and the Caribbean when is appears that some of the avifauna is shared?
give us an overview of the existing literature on the ornithology of this region.
This may be the first time that all of the information on the birds of this region have been included into a comprehensive single source, were there difficult decisions made about the scope?
Discuss research on siskins, hummingbird.
You include residents and migrants and vagrants, what are your basic benchmarks for including a species?
You have been drawing and painting birds for a number of years, who influenced your development as an artist?
How is producing field guide art different that creative art?
What region of Central America remains the least understood from an ornithological point of view?
Besides, lumping and splitting, how likely is it that there are still new birds to be found in Central America?
What are you working on now?

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BCR 161: David & Tammy McQuade, Florida Birding

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 07:00:36 +0000

David and Tammy McQuade were high school sweethearts and have been married for 33 years. Tammy and David have always had a love of the outdoors. Their lives changed dramatically in 2012 when they saw the movie The Big Year. The idea of counting Birds and deliberately targeting species had a particular appeal. They started with a big weekend in 2013 and it hasn’t stopped since.

They work together at UBS Financial Services where David is a Senior Vice President of Wealth Management and Senior Portfolio Manager and Tammy administrates their team. David was recently recognized by Forbes magazine as Best in the State Wealth Advisor. Having clients in 34 states allows them to travel quite a bit and they found that birding is the perfect hobby to combine with their business travel.

To date they are the only couple in eBird to have had 3 consecutive years of over 600 species in the Lower 48. They currently have a US Lower 48 life list of 748/747. They administrate the SW Florida Bird Alert Group on Facebook, give presentations at local birding groups, and are guides at the local Cape Coral Burrowing Owl Festival. Additionally they are graduates of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Macaulay Library Sound Recording Workshop. They love doing long-range pelagics on their 30’ boat the McLagic in the Gulf of Mexico when time permits. David and Tammy are proud to have contributed to the science and data of the bird distribution in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico and feel this is their greatest birding accomplishment.

Show Notes:

How long have you been interested in birding?
You have seen some rare and unusual birds. Tell me of those birds you’ve seen already this year?
African Great White Pelican 3rd year visitor of Sanibel Island.
And why is she so controversial?
Sanibel is as birdy as it was years ago?
SWFL/Sanibel was seriously impacted recently by red tide has it not?
McLagic Pelagic birding in the Gulf of Mexico.

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BCR 160: Stephen Moss, Naturalist & Author

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 07:00:15 +0000

Stephen Moss is a naturalist, broadcaster, television producer, and author. In a distinguished career at the BBC Natural History Unit his credits included Spring watch, Birds Britannia, and The Nature of Britain. His books include A Bird in the Bush, A Sky Full of Starlings, The Bumper Book of Nature, and Wild Hares and Hummingbirds. Originally from London, he now lives with his wife and children on the Somerset Levels.

Show Notes:

What is the oldest bird name in the English language and what language was in born in?
Walk us through the history of the word Crow and it’s application over the years.
The Anglo Saxon Wheatear “White-arse” still lives in modern English along with yellowhammer and redstart, tell us what about the journey of these words through history.
Ray and Willugby brought further changes to ornithology and bird names, what was their major contribution?
George Montagu created the Ornithological Dictionary, what was the significance of this work for bird names?
How many North American warblers are named after women?
What’s the story of the Dartford Warbler, which was discovered in Dartford but with no real affinity to the place and the man, John Lathan who discovered it?
Who was Max Nicholson and what changes to bird study, to counter the “Victorian leprosyof collecting” did he promote?
What view of bird taxonomy do Richard Crossley and Thomas Bewick seem to have in common and why may this be needed for bird guides?
Charles Sibley, Burt Monroe and Jon Alquist in the 1990’s dropped a proverbial bomb on bird naming. Tell us how phylogeny and DNA shook things up and just how many species of birds are there?
Finally, please tell us the story of Mrs. Moreau’s Warbler, named for a love story, which is one of the world rarest birds, the Winifred’s warbler.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Stephen Moss – Naturalist, Author & TV Producer

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BCR 159: Maresa Pryor-Luzier, Natural History Photographer

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 07:00:48 +0000

“A Freelance photographer with a goal of bringing awareness to special places throughout the world.”

Since 1987, Maresa’s involvement in the photographic community includes chapter president of the American Society of Media Photographers of Central Florida, and a founding member of the North American Nature Photographers Association.

Maresa specializes macro and long lens photography. She has photojournalism and documentary experience. Her travels have taken her around the world to extraordinary places such as the Galapagos Islands, Cuba, Costa Rica, Norway, Puerto Rico, and Southern Africa.

Credits include: Audubon, Field & Stream, Living Bird,Mother Earth News, National Geographic Kids, National Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer, Ranger Rick, Scholastic Library, Sierra, Shearson Publishing, Smithsonian, Time for Kids, and more . . .

Maresa has A.A. degree from Lake Sumter State College in Leesburg, Florida. She studied at Daytona State College in Photography, and authored Camping with Horses, A Trail Riders Guide to Camping in Florida.

She resides In Florida with her husband and when time allows camps with their horses.

Show Notes:

Tell us about your upbringing and education, and those factors that led up to your pursuit of natural history photography.
You have had, over the course of your career, a great number of photos published in a wide variety of outlets. Tell us about the publications that stand out or the ones you are most proud of.
It appears many of the published photos came from transactions made by your agent on your behalf. Tell us about the agent relationship and who you have used if you can.
What is “stock photography” and how did it work?
What has happened to the old stock photography, one used to be able to make some money from existing photography, is it dead or living in some new form?
Your days as a marine coordinator for the commercial marine industry in photography.
You made the leap from analogue film to digital photography. pros and cons of switching from chromes to digital files?
You have relationships with professional organization including the American Society of Media Photographers. In fact you are a founding member of the NANPA. Please tell us about NANPA and what you get out of it.
What is your involvement with NANPA and what does it do for you?
Do you sell fine art prints? In what form?
You have traveled far in pursuit of photos, what are your favorite destinations and photo subjects?
Tell us about the gear you use to make photos with and why you chose it.
You now lead photo workshops for people who want to improve their photos, what are your goals in teaching?
What do you want your students to walk away with?
Your interests are in education and conservation. Do you incorperate this into your talks?
You seem to have an affinity for horses, how does this wrap in to your photography.
When you are not working, what pursuits do you enjoy?
We have done the entire interview without me once mentioning the obvious; you are successful women who have spent her whole career in a world heavily populated by men. What can you share with us about this?
What advice do you have for a young woman who wants to get into nature photography?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Maresa Pryor-Luzier Website

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BCR 158: Mike Jacobs, Former Publisher, Grand Forks Herald

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 07:00:27 +0000

Mike Jacobs, a former Publisher and Editor of the Grand Forks Herald. He was born at Stanley and grew up in Mountrail County, prime pothole country. The family’s 200-acre farm had multiple wetlands and lots of ducks. Most years, tundra swans took advantage of these wetlands to break their migration across the continent, and one year in the mid-50s, three whooping cranes stopped, too. There were fewer than 50 whooping cranes on earth in those days, and Mike’s father took the kids out of school so they could see the cranes. Jacobs began watching birds seriously that spring, and his interest in waterfowl has grown every year. Since 1981, he’s written a column about the region’s birdlife illustrated with his own drawings. He also writes a weekly column about politics in North Dakota. After the Red River Flood of 1997, the Herald won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and Jacobs was named editor of the year by the National Press Foundation. He has published three books about North Dakota. Jacobs and his life partner, Suezette Bieri, live on Campbell Beach at the western rim of the Red River Valley.

Illustration by ©Mike Jacobs

Show Notes:

You are columnist for the paper to this day, musing on birds from the northern Great Plains and the Red River Valley. It is this connection that brings you to BirdCallsRadio. Is it appropriate to call you a birder or are you a journalist interested birds?
Your career as a newspaper journalist was launched at the Dickinson Press, and you also did stints at newspapers in Fargo, Mandan, St. Louis, and Seattle before joining the Herald. You held many roles at the Herald before becoming Publisher. In 1997 the Red River flooded Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Herald somehow never stopped printing, and helped to lead the community through the harrowing months. The paper won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the Flood. Tell us about this event in detail from the beginning to the end.
What was the impact of the flood on the local birds and natural history?
How long did it take for the bird life to return to normal after the flood?
How did the column “Always in Season” start?
What do you look for when getting inspiration for the next column?
You also do the illustrations for the column, when did you discover that were an illustrator as well as a journalist?
We’d like to learn more about the birds of the Red River Valley, start by walking us through the expected birds throughout the year and highlights of each season.
Are there bird species whose status concerns local birders, such as the Sage Grouse or prairie species where populations have fallen or habitat is being lost?
What birds and natural features interest out of state birders and draw them to the area?
What is the best season to visit and why?
Where do local birders go for a day trip or weekend getaway?
Are there active local and or regional birding organizations?
Are there local Audubon Christmas bird counts, does the paper report the results?
What can you tell us about what’s next for the Journalist/author/artist Mike Jacobs, another book?

Illustration by ©Mike Jacobs 2019

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BCR 157: David Ringer, Chief Network Officer, National Audubon

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 07:00:47 +0000

As National Audubon’s first Chief Network Officer, David J. Ringer oversees the health, vitality, capacity, diversity, and strength of Audubon’s vast distributed network. That network includes hundreds of Audubon chapters, more than 40 Audubon nature centers, thousands of deeply committed advocates and volunteers, and a wide range of partner organizations. He leads Audubon’s Bird-Friendly Communities program, which engages people in practical, joyful solutions to protect birds and special places and to make communities healthier for people too. He is a leader in Audubon’s equity, diversity, and inclusion work, and he oversees Audubon’s public relations and communications team.

Ringer previously served as Audubon’s national communications director, overseeing communications, public relations, and social media, and before that as Audubon’s communications director for the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Flyway. He was Audubon’s front-line PR manager in Louisiana during the 2010 BP oil disaster.

Before joining the Audubon staff, Ringer provided a wide variety of communications and media for NGOs around the world, an experience that took him to more than 25 countries on six continents. He has also worked as a web developer and a biological field technician. Ringer writes about bird taxonomy and systematics and other natural history topics. His love of birds began in childhood, and his connection to Audubon started in high school, when he joined the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society of Springfield, Missouri.

Show Notes:

Your defining influences, what got you into birds and the natural world?
Sometimes the experience is as memorable as the bird itself – what’s one of your most heart-stopping birding moments?
You were on the ground for National Audubon society as the front line PR manager in Louisiana during the 2010 BP oil spill disaster. What was the real story of the event and the aftermath?
Migratory Bird Treaty Act – we know it’s under serious threat today.
What does a Chief Network Officer do?
What do you hear from birders and Audubon chapter leaders as you go around the country – what are their concerns, ideas.
How are you working to diversify the birding & conservation movement in terms of race/ethnicity and age?
The deliberate censorship of climate science by the Federal Government?
Any good news stories to share on the birds or the environment?
What do you tell a young person who is interested in the environment about the future?

Mentioned In This Episode:

National Audubon Society

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BCR 156: Patricia González, Red Knots

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 07:00:34 +0000

On today’s show is our guest Patricia M. González as we talk with her in Argentina. Patricia is a Scientist, field ornithologist, studying migration of Red Knots through the Americas. Known as the “red knot woman” in South America, or the “mother of the famous red knot Moonbird B95”, Patricia is a biologist from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has devoted more than twenty years to shorebird conservation, including investigation of ecology of migration and survival of red knot shorebirds with a strong conservation profile. Actual Wetland Program Coordinator (ad honorem) of Fundación Inalafquen in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina and Shorebird South American Coordinator of International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC).

Show Notes:

In 2013 you in collaboration with three others wrote the definitive entry for the Cornell Labs New Birds of North America: Baker, Allan, Patricia Gonzalez, R. I. G. Morrison and Brian A. Harrington. 2013. Red Knot (Calidris canutus), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. It is safe there for to assume that you know a little about the Red Knot. I’d like to take this opportunity to get an update on the current status. Remind our listeners how you came to be involved with the Red Knot in the first place?

Overview of the biology and key migration stop over sites of the Red Knot Shorebird.
Dramatic decline evidenced by the Delaware Bay spring migration stop over in the 1980’s.
Current status of the Delaware Bay spring stop over.
There was a July 2018 headline, “Red Knots plummet by 25% in a year in Tierra del Fuego”, the story linked the decline to a food shortage in Delaware Bay can you provide background on this?
Can you give us an update on B95 Moonbird, and a brief recap of Moonbird’s story.
In recent years you have been part of a team canvasing various coastal areas in South America to learn more about wintering feeding habits and foraging areas. Please give our listeners an update on the work you are doing in Argentina and other places.
Bahía de San Antonio, Argentina. Estuario del Río Gallegos, Argentina, Maullín, Los Lagos Region, southern Chile
How do you use colored flags to study shorebirds?
Your team is also using geo locators to track migration routes of individuals birds, what have you learned from this?
The stories coming out of Arctic on weather and climate change are not encouraging what do you know about breeding conditions of the Red Knots in the high arctic?
One of your goals was getting local support in South America and changing traditional outlooks on shorebirds, have you had any success with this?

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BCR 155: Katrina van Grouw, Author & Illustrator

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 07:00:38 +0000

Katrina van Grouw, author of The Unfeathered Bird and Unnatural Selection (both published by Princeton University Press), inhabits that no-man’s land slap bang between art and science. She holds degrees in fine art and natural history illustration, and is a former curator of ornithological collections at a major national museum. She’s a self-taught scientist with a passion for evolutionary biology and its history. After a long and varied career on both sides of the art/science divide she now devotes her time exclusively to her books which, for her, “tick all creative and intellectual boxes.”

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Mentioned In This Episode:

Katrina van Grouw

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BCR 154: Chidi Paige, BirdWiser Inventor

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 07:00:21 +0000

Chidi Paige holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Uyo, Nigeria. With a background including more than 15 years of experience as a Science Educator, she has extensive experience in designing and implementing programs that have proven effective in instilling a love of science in youth during the critical ages of 6 to 18 years of age.

Chidi held the position of Explorers Program, Coordinator at the Newark Museum from 2008 to 2015. During her tenure at the Newark Museum, she developed, coordinated, implemented and managed a year-round constructivist curriculum that supports inquiry-based learning; incorporating invaluable instructional and life-enhancing opportunities to instill in students skills critical to academic, and professional success.

Chidi continues with her passion for education, youth development and community enrichment as Education Program Manager at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University, managing the institute’s existing education initiatives, as well as developing and implementing new wide-audience programming for the institute.

Chidi is the inventor of BirdWiser, fun educational games. She is launching hand-on STEM initiatives in middle and high schools in Eastern Nigeria where she grew up. Chidi likes to travel. She has been to many cities within the United States along with others such as, Madrid, Hamburg, Berlin, Dubai, London, and Cancun. For fun, she likes to dance.

Mentioned In This Episode:

BirdWiser Game

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BCR 153: Daniel Lewis, Bird Evolution in Hawai’i

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 07:00:09 +0000

Daniel Lewis is the Dibner Senior Curator for the History of Science & Technology at the Huntington Library in San Marino, and an Associate Research Professor at Claremont Graduate University, where he teaches courses in archival theory and practice, manages aspects the archival studies program, and sits on MA and PhD qualifying exam committees and dissertation committees. Since 2018 he also has an appointment as a lecturer in environmental history at the California Institute of Technology, where he teaches two courses a year, including the history of extinction.

Between 2010 and 2016, Dan also served as Chief Curator of Manuscripts at the Huntington, where he oversaw fifteen professional and paraprofessional staff, including curators, archivists, a chief cataloger, and other staff positions, as well as numerous volunteers.

He earned a BA in English/Writing from the University of Redlands, and received the MA and PhD in History from the University of California at Riverside. He has had a long and distinguished career as an archivist and curator, most recently serving as the Company Historian and Corporate Archivist before coming to the Huntington. He is also on the faculty of the California Rare Book School, where he teaches courses in archives for historians and librarians.

Dan is a native of Hawaii, and is the author of four books, including two about birds (The Feathery Tribe: Robert Ridgway and the Modern Study of Birds, Yale, 2012) and Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction and Evolution in Hawaii, Yale, 2018). His latest book project, now underway, is a global history of biodiversity.

Banko Palila 1973

Show Notes:

How did conservation start on Hawaii and who were the pioneer ornithologists?
Your perspective of life forms on Hawaii is rather unique, what do you mean by the term “Native” in the context of belonging to Hawaii?
We can’t talk about the Hawaiian birds without considering all the birds rendered extinct by the hand of man. Walk us through the extinct birds, and tell us what is known and when and how they were lost.
Extinction is evidence of ecological transformations; these transformations in Hawaii are compelling and tragic.
What is known about the Moa-nalo,
Fossil hunters in the Islands.
Fieldwork of John Sincock and Sheila Conant.
The Kaua’I O’o. What is the history of this bird and man who spent so much time studying it.
Population of Newell’s Shearwater
Impact of 19^thcentury bird collectors in Hawai
The Hawaiian bird survey and the Endangered Species Act
The Palila & avian diseases
The Japanese White-eye
How do you resolve being native and belonging?

Sheila Conant in field with Iiwi.

NOTE: Special thanks to Dan for the permission and use of his photographs. All photographs in this show are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast show BCR 153: Daniel Lewis. Courtsey of ©Daniel Lewis, All Rights Reserved. All photographs may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of Daniel Lewis.

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BCR 152: Donald Kroodsma, Birdsong

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 07:00:47 +0000

****************************************************************************

Show Notes:

Your early years and when you caught the bug for birds and nature.
Development of your expertise in bird song.
The Singing Life of Birds, The Art and Science of Birdsong.
Groundbreaking look at birdsong.
The Dawn Chorus.
Sonagram as a window into the mind of a singing bird.
Programs birders can use to turn bird songs into a visual sonagram.
Your thinking about the new bird song id apps.
What were the most memorable bird songs of the trip?
Did you make any songbirds observations that truly surprised you?

68 Wood Thrush (Male Two) – Wood Thrush normal speed.

70 Wood Thrush WoTh flourish 8 – For wood thrush slowed down, in 3 parts”–contains one normal wood thrush song, and then the terminal flourish in 3 parts, first the left and lower voice, then the right voice box and higher voice, then the two together, slowed to 1/10th normal speed

Mentioned In This Episode:

BCR 195: Don Kroodsma, Birdsong for the Curious Naturalist

Donald Kroodsma

NOTE: Special thanks to Don for the permission and use of his audio birdsongs of the Winter Wren, Pacific Wren, Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush; including his sonagrams and photographs. All audio birdsongs, sonsgrams and photographs in this show are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast show BCR 152: Donald Kroodsma, Birdsong. Courtsey of ©Donald Kroodsma, All Rights Reserved. Audio birdsongs wav sonagrams and photographs may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of Donald Kroodsma.

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BCR 151: Jeff Wells, Boreal Songbird Initiative

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 07:00:57 +0000

Jeffrey V. Wells , Ph.D., is the science and policy director for the Boreal Songbird Initiative and a visiting research associate with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. From 1996-2003 Jeff was with the National Audubon Society, first as bird conservation director for the New York State office, then as the national director of bird conservation. Dr. Wells has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s leading bird experts and conservation biologists. Jeff received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University. He has authored or co-authored hundreds of scientific papers, book chapters, reports, op-eds, blogs, and popular articles on ecology, wildlife, and conservation. He is also the author of a number of books including Boreal Birds of North America: A Hemispheric View of Their Conservation Links and Significance, Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk, Maine’s Favorite Birds, Important Bird Areas in New York State, and most recently, Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao: A Site & Field Guide.

Show Notes:

About the Boreal Songbird Initiative.
There are vast wetlands too within the Boreal Forest.
What are some of key birds reliant on the boreal forest biome?
Various First Nation, Indigenous and or Aboriginal, groups in Canada.
Boreal Birds Need Half: Maintaining NAmerica’s Bird Nursery and Why It Matters
Author of the Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk.
Caribbean Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Boreal Songbird Initiative

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Season’s Greetings from BirdCallsRadio

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 22:38:31 +0000

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BCR 150: John Kricher, The New Neotropical Companion

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 07:00:35 +0000

John Kricher is a Professor of Biology at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts who teaches ecology, ornithology, and vertebrate evolution. His most recent book is The New Neotropical Companion (2017), a third edition, fully revised and full color throughout, much expanded iteration of Kricher’s now familiar handbook. What started out as “the little green book” of John’s highly successful book A Neotropical Companion.

John has also written Tropical Ecology,(Princeton University Press 2011), now the leading textbook on the subject of global tropical ecology. He has authored The Balance of Nature: Ecology’s Enduring Myth(Princeton University Press 2009), and Galapagos: A Natural History(Princeton University Press 2006). Other books include three North American ecology field guides (Eastern Forests, Rocky Mountain and Southwestern Forests, California and Pacific Northwest Forests) all part of the Peterson series. The widely used previous edition of A Neotropical Companion was translated into Spanish through the Birders’ Exchange Program of the American Birding Association. He has also produced three recorded lecture series, one on dinosaurs, one on ecology, and one on the biology of birds, all published by Modern Scholar. John is a Fellow in the American Ornithologists Union and has served as president of the Association of Field Ornithologists, president of the Wilson Ornithological Society.

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BCR 149: Michael DiGiorgio, Artist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 07:00:54 +0000

Michael DiGiorgio is a nationally recognized artist who is currently living in Madison, CT. Mike’s painting and drawings have appeared in a variety of nature books and journals, such as: Birds of Brazil vol. 1&2, birds of Honduras, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Breeding Bird Atlas of CT, New York State Breeding Bird Atlas, Audubon Field Guide to Birds/ Eastern and Western region, and The Narrow Edgeby Deborah Cramer. From 2007 to 2012, Mike was contracted by Houghton Mifflin to completely revise the artwork for the new edition of Peterson Field Guide to the Birds.

Having painted birds since the age of five, Michael began to study bird painting from the late Don Eckelberry in 1979. Under Don’s critical eye, Michael developed his style emphasizing the character of the bird as well as its relationship to the environment. Working outdoors has provided him with knowledge of natural light, atmosphere, and design.

Committed to painting from life, Mike has traveled extensively to create field sketches of bird, plants, and habitat from South America, Central America, the West Indies, Trinidad, and the Outer Islands of Britain. In addition, his numerous trips to the western United States and national parks have allowed Mike to record a full range of American birdlife.

Mike won the first ever Eckelberry endowment award from the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for recognition of his Bird Illustration work. This award was given in memory of Don Eckelberry. Mike’s paintings have been exhibited at the Roger tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, N.Y.; The Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI; and The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. and The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y. Mike is currently illustrating plates for Birds of South America vol.3 with Robert Ridgley and Guy Tudor.

Show Notes:

Don Eckelberry school of Kodachrome.
What artists have had the most impact on the development of your unique artistic style.
fine art exhibits, which ones stand out as memorable or the most important?
the difference between art and illustration, and where do field sketches fit in?
What are you preferred mediums
Copyright is vital to your future income. Please share you thoughts on this.
Your dream commission or where in the world do you deeply desire to visit to create art?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Michael DiGiorgio Website

NOTE: Thanks to Michael for the wonderful Banjo music he create and wrote on intro of Nightjar an outro recorded live in the woods called October Owl. All Painting, Photos & two Audio Banjo Mp3’s in this show are solely used for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast show #BCR 149: Michael DiGiorgio and article. Courtsey of ©Michael DiGiorgio, All Rights Reserved. Paintings Audio Banjo Mp3’s and Photo may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of Michael DiGiorgio.

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BCR 148: Chris Rimmer, Bicknell’s Thrush

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 07:00:23 +0000

Chris Rimmer is the Founding Executive Director of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, a non-profit wildlife conservation group based in Norwich, Vermont.He completed undergraduate studies inWildlife Biology at the University of Vermont and graduate work in Ecology and Behavioral Biology at the University of Minnesota, where he studied Yellow Warblers on the James Bay coast of Ontario. Prior to his graduate studies, Chris was an itinerant field biologist, with stints in Peru, Ellesmere Island, James Bay, coastal Massachusetts (Manomet Bird Observatory), and Antarctica. Much of his recent work has focused on conservation research of Bicknell’s Thrush at both ends of its migratory range, from New York and New England to the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Show Notes:

You have studied the Bicknell’s Thrush in Vermont for over a quarter of a Century, what is the current status of the Bicknell’s Thrush in New England?
What is the biggest threat to the continuing survival of the Bicknell’s thrush?
Is the Bicknell’s Thrush a legitimate species?
90% of the migratory Bicknell’s Thrushes winter in Hispaniola.
International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group?
How have tracking devices on migratory birds helped modern scientific efforts to understand songbirds?
Effects of Mercury in the environment.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Vermont Center for Ecostudies

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 147: Patrick Lynch, Cape Cod

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 07:00:32 +0000

Patrick Lynch is an author or co-author of nine books published by Yale University Press, including his latest book in Nov 2018, “A Field Guide to Cape Cod.” Including Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island & Eastern Long Island. A comprehensive guide to the environmental history, natural environments, plants, and animals of Cape Cod and it’s nearby Islands.

Show Notes:

How does this book relate to birders?
The same glacier that formed Long Island Sound formed Cape Cod, tell us about the connection.
How important are features such as sand dunes to understanding the ecosystem?
What’s the most surprising thing we should know about Cape Cod
What do you see as the primary environmental challenges to Cape Cod?

Mentioned In This Episode:

BCR 089: Patrick Lynch, A Field to Long Island Sound

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 146: Juliana Barrett, Climate Change & Coastal Management

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 07:00:04 +0000

Juliana Barrett is with the University of Connecticut Sea Grant College Program and the Department of Extension. Her work focuses on climate change adaptation and coastal habitat management working with Connecticut’s municipalities, NGO’s and state and federal partners. Prior to coming to Sea Grant in 2006 she worked as a private consultant and for The Nature Conservancy as the Director of the Connecticut River Tidelands Last Great Places Program. She has a doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Connecticut and is a co-author of the Vegetation of Connecticut.

Show Notes:

What led to your Ph.D in Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology?
To help young people interested in a science career, tell us about your degree path.
When and why did you start to work with communities on climate adaptation?
What do you do with Connecticut Sea Grant and Dept of Extension?
Have you seen evidence of climate change here in Connecticut?
What are the most serious potential consequences of climate change in Connecticut?
What are challenges a community, individuals, municipalities and state officials must deal with regarding ecological changes such as rising sea level and habitat loss?
looking ahead to 50 years from now, what actual effects would likely be evident to coastal communities if climate change continues as expected?
What is the UConn Climate Corps, how is it funded and who benefits?
How are students helping communities in Connecticut.
You are co-author of the “Vegetation of Connecticut”.

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BCR 145: Cape May Fall Festival 2018

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 06:00:24 +0000

On today’s show, BirdCallsRadio offically reports LIVE on the 72nd Annual Cape May Fall Festival 2018, hosted by New Jersery Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory and was held in Cape May, New Jersery on the weekend of October 18-21, 2018. Many people agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and share their thoughts about this weekend, including permission from the parents of the La Puma and Lanzone family for their children to be on BirdCallsRadio & Podcast.

Mardi Dickinson Host of BCR interviews Karl Lukens and Burt Filmyer Volunteers at the Garrett Family Preserve Farm for Bird Walk for the Cape May Fall Festival 2018 Cape May, NJ. ©Townsend P. Dickinson All Rights Reserved.

Show Notes:

Karl Lukens, Burt Filmyer; Garrett Family Preserve.
Joanne Bradbury, Garrett Family Preserve.
Roger Horn, Garrett Family Preserve.
Eric Stiles, President, New Jersey Audubon, Cape May Point Hawk Watch.
Eric Bruhuke, Cape May Point Offical Hawk Watch Counter.
Mark Breslow, Hawk Watch Spotter.
Catherine Busch, Associate Naturalist at the Meadows.
Janet Crawford, Hawk Watch, Stevens St Bleechers, West Cape May.
Adehl Schwaderer, Interpretive Naturalist, Cape May Point Hawk Watch.
Dale Rosselet, Senior Vice President of Education for New Jersey Audubon.
Rich Moncrief, Manager, Birding Observation Market, Zeiss Sports Optics.
Rob Ripma & Brian Zwiebel, Co-Owners of Sabrewing Nature Tours.
John Rutta, Celestron birding Scopes.
Chidi Page, Educator, UrbanYoung birders, BirdWiser Game.
David LaPuma, Director Cape May Bird Obsevatory.
Corinna & Rosa La Puma; Willow & Pheobe Lanzone.

Cape May Fall Festival 2018 Kick-Off Party Thursday night!

The Gathering, Thursday night Kick -Off Party, Dr. David La Puma CMBO Director and Mark Garland have a chat with BCR host Mardi Dickinson at the Cape May Fall Festival 2018, Cape May, NJ. ©Townsend P. Dickinson. All Rights Reserved.

CMBO Morning Flight!

CMBO Headquarters at Cape May Point!

Hawk Watching at Cape May Point State Park!

Adehl Schwaderer, CMBO Interpretive Naturlist talks all things birds with Mardi Dickinson, BCR Host on the Hawk Watch platform. Cape May Point State Park, Cape May Point, NJ, Cape May Fall Festival 2018. ©Townsend P. Dickinson All Rights Reserved.

Workshops/ Classes

Keynote Speaker Friday Night!

Friday Night Gathering!

L. to R. Dr. David La Puma CMBO Director; David Mizrahi; Dr J. Drew Lanham, Keynote Speaker; Randy Jones; Eric Stiles, President, New Jersey Audubon. Cape May Fall Festival 2018 ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/KymryGroup. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday

Janet Crawford leads Hawk ID Master Class gets interviewed by Mardi Dickinson BCR Host at Bleechers on Stevens Street, West Cape May, NJ for the Cape May Fall Festival 2018. ©Townsend P. Dickinson. All Rights Reserved.

Warbler Watching

Keynote Speaker Saturday Night!

Awards!

L to R. Dale Rosselet, Sr. VP of Education, New Jersey Audubon; Rick Radis, Recipient of Patricia F. Kane Environmental Education Award; Pete Dunne, New Jersery Audubon’s Birding Ambassador attending the Cape May Fall Festival 2018 in Cape May, NJ. ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/KymryGroup All Rights Reserved.

Awards!

L. to R. Jack & Cindy Niciecki, Recipients of the Richard Kane Conservation Award; Eric Stiles, President, New Jersey Audubon. Cape May Fall Festival 2018, Cape May NJ. October 20, 2018 ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/KymryGroup All Rights Reserved.

Good Times!

Extra Special Video: Cape May Tree Swallows

https://birdcallsradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Video-from-Oct-17-2018.mp4

Until next time, This is Mardi Dickinson host BirdCallsRadio. Thanks for joining in everybody. Have a great day!

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Bird Cape May Fall Festival 2016

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BCR 144: Gulls Simplified

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 06:00:19 +0000

Today’s guests are Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson. I’m on location live at New Jersey Audubon’s Center for Research and Education in Cape May Court House NJ.

Pete Dunne Is the founding director of the Cape May Bird Observatory and now serves as New Jersey Audubon’s birding ambassador. He lives in Mauricetown, New Jersey.

Kevin Karlson is an accomplished birder, tour leader, and wildlife photographer. He is a co-author of The Shorebird Guide and the Petersen Reference Guide to Birding By Impression.

Show Notes:

I’ll ask each of you to describe your role in this book. For The Record, First Pete then Kevin.

Tell us why you felt the time was ripe for yet another field guide?
How many gull species are there in the world, how many are included in this guide?
What made you limit the guide to North America?
You use photographs extensively in this guide, why photos instead of art or both?
There are many photos that contain the gull species under discussion but include other gulls or different species of birds. Please explain your thinking behind such photos.
Some gull focus on age patterns of feathers and such, how is your guide designed to help id the gull or phrased in another way, how does your approach make gull identification simpler?
You have added lines and notations to some photos to point out feather topography. Is this more useful than a diagram of feather patterns in the intro, what is the rational behind this feature?
Some gull species do get confused in the frenzy of breeding season, how do you treat hybrids?
How many gulls have distinct subspecies that can be recognized in the field?
What is the most difficult gull species to sort out?

NOTE: Thanks to Wildtones/Wildsight Productions, Inc for their generosity of providing BirdCallsRadio with the audio sound of the Laughing Gull used in this show, Gulls Simplified only.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Purchase Gulls Simplified Book Click here ➨ Feather Edge Optics ➨ Princeton University Press

Addendum: BCR 102: Birds Of Prey, Pete Dunne with Kevin T. Karlson

Cape May Bird Observatory

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 143: American Birding Expo 2018

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 06:00:45 +0000

On today’s show, BirdCallsRadio reports LIVE the 4^thAnnual American Birding Expo 2018 hosted by Birdwatcher’s Digest and held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks PA., a short drive Northwest of Philadelphia on September 21-23, 2018.

Many people agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and share their thoughts on this weekend at the American Birding Expo 2018.

Sport Optics Range & Sponsors

Show Notes:

Jeff Bouton, Manager, Birding & Nature Markets for the America’s, Leica Sports Optics USA.
Carlos Bethancourt, Marketing/Senior Guide, Canopy Family, Panama.
Bill Thompson lll, Editor & Co-Publisher, BWD; ABExpo; Ben Lizdas, Sales Director.
Brandon Leichter, Owner, Allen’s Camera.
Adrian Binns, Kevin Loughlin; Co-Owners Wildside Nature Tours.
Steve Ingraham, Birding Product Specialist, Carl Zeiss Optical Inc.
Ana Maria Castano, Tour Manager, Columbia Nature & Birding.

Niyati Kukadia, Director; Aditya Roy, Managing Director; Sora Excution, India.
Maynor Ovando, Benedicto Grijala; Neotropical Explorers
Dr. Tonia Cochran, Manager Director; Inala Nature Tours, Aus.
Wendy McClain, Hawk Mountain.
Sara Pike, Tour Manager NA, Wings Birding Tours.
Arturo Sr & Arturo Jr. Kirkconnell; Partnership for International Birding.
Jeff Gordon, President, American Birding Association; Liz Gordon, Events Coordinator, American Birding Association.
Dr. David LaPuma, Director, Cape May Bird Obseervatory.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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Subscribe: ApplePodcasts; Stitcher; Google Play; Spotify; iHeartRadio

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BCR 142: Audubon Greenwich Hawk Festival

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:04:09 +0000

On today’s show BirdCallsRadio reports LIVE on the 20th Annual Audubon Greenwich Hawk Watch Fall Festival 2018 about this special place to come and watch the skies for hawks at the Quacker Ridge Hawk Watch and participate in other events fun for the entire family. Several people agreed to be interviewed by BCR Host, Mardi Dickinson, for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and share their thoughts on this event.

Show Notes:

Eli Schaffer, Assitant Center Director, Audubon Greenwich
Ryan Maclean, Communications, Audubon Greenwich
Michele Frankel, Center Director, Audubon Greenwich
Ted Gilman, Education Specialist, Audubon Greenwich
Brian O’Toole, Offical Hawk Watcher, Audubon Greenwich

Beautiful day to spend outside checking out the festivities.

Talkin Hawks

Monarch Butterflies, fall migrants.

Continued Conversations

Fall is in the air!

Mentioned In Episode:

Audubon Greenwich

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BCR 141: Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 06:00:54 +0000

Four trained frog-eating or fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus) being called all at once to Merlin Tuttle’s hand for a reward during his research in Panama. He is recording their echolocation calls during their final approach in his research lab in Panama. Field Work. ©Merlin Tuttle, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used in any form without written permission.

Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle is an ecologist, wildlife photographer, and conservationist who has studied bats and championed their preservation for more than 55 years and continues a fulltime schedule as founder of Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation in support of his many continuing conservation activities.

He is globally known through his scientific discoveries, media appearances, popular articles, and photographs of bats. His work has been featured in expositions from Harvard University to the British Museum and in numerous feature articles that include the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and National Geographic .

Merlin Tuttle and Neil Furey photographing Asian wrinkle-lipped bat (Chaerephon plicatus) emergence from Vihear Luong Cave in Cambodia. Photography. ©Merlin Tuttle, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used in any form without written permission.

His book, The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammals , was released by Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt Publishing on October 20, 2015. It was immediately selected by Amazon as one of its 10 Best Books of the month in its non-fiction category and received numerous outstanding reviews, including by The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, National Geographic Book Talk, Nature and The Huffington Post.

Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) eating a corn earworm moth (Helicoverpa zea) in flight in Texas. Catching Prey. ©Merlin Tuttle, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used in any form without written permission.

Show Notes:

Discovered a colony of gray myotis in Baloney Cave.
Became Curator of Mammals Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
You founded Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation to focus your ongoing conservation work. Tell us about your razor focus on conservation through out your career.
To further bat education and conservation, you taught yourself photography. Today you have over 150,000 film based and digital bat related images in your collection.
Bat photography techniques that you use to this day, the setups and equipment
Brazilian free-tail bat and Austin.
Bat conservation efforts.
The Secret Lives of Bats, My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammals.
Loss of bat numbers and species.
Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation is the most recent contribution by Merlin Tuttle to the world of bats. You have not let up the advocacy for bats through research, photography and outreach.
Transforming your color slide collection into digital files.

Mentioned In Episode:

Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation

NOTE: All photos & Bat audio clip in this show are only for this specific BirdCallsRadio & Podcast show and article is courtsey of ©Merlin Tuttle, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used in any form without written permission. Please respect the wishes of Merlin Tuttle and Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation.

A Painted Bat in flight. This is a rarely seen speccies that is widespread throughout much of Southeast Asia. In Thailand these bats roost in the dried tips of dyiing banana leaves, living in mated pairs, often with a single pup. Their color blends well with the leaves in which they roost, but the purpose for the striking, butterfly-like wing pattern is unknown. When disturbed into flying from roosts during the day, they exhibit a butterfly-like flight, hence their alternate name, Butterfy Bat. Average adult body length is about 4 cm, and weight is approximately 4.5 gms. These bats feed on small, flying insects. ©Merlin Tuttle, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used in any form without written permission.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 140: Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 06:00:37 +0000

On today’s show, I am reporting live from the celebration of Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th year Anniversery, Chester Meeting House, Chester, CT on September 15, 2018 and the 50^th Anniversary of the Tern Research on Great Gull Island. Great Gull Island is off the Eastern tip of Long Island between Plum Island and Fishers Island. Tern research became her life’s work, Helen Hays has spent every summer on the Island for the last 50 years.

Helen Hays has directed, since 1969, the work on the ongoing Tern Research project on Great Gull Island. This project was designed to study and preserve this major tern colony for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which gained control of the Island in 1949. The Great Gull Island tern colony attracted this summer 9,500 pairs of Common Terns and 1,300 pair of Federally Endangered Roseate Terns making this the largest such colony of Roseate’s in the Western Hemisphere.

Order of Battle:

3:00pm – Arrive, get nametags, Hors D’oeuvres.

3:45pm – Photo Shoot

4:00pm – Pizza & Salad Arrive * Video Film

5:00pm – More Pizza Arrives

5:30pm- Champagne Toast * Testimonials

6:15pm – Coffee & Desert

The original plan for the 50^th Celebration was for all to go out to Great Gull Island but due to impending hurricane weather, the historic celebration is taking place here at The Chester Meeting House in Chester CT on September 15, 2018.

Several people agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and to share their thoughts on this historic day to celebrate Helen Hays and the 50^th Anniversary of Great Gull Island! So, without futher ado.

Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th year celebration talks with Mardi Dickinson, BCR Host at the Chester Meeting House, Chester, CT on Sept 15, 2018. ©Townsend P. Dickinson, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used without written permission.

Interviews:

Patrick Comins; Sean Murtha; Olivia Male; Jim Hays; Joan Walsh; Nancy Perkins; Matthew Male; Helen Hays; David Duffy; Pete Paton; Michael Male; Ann Via McCullan. BirdCallsRadio audio interviews may not be used without written permission.

Testimonials:

David Duffy; Lydia Thomas; Sidney Whelan; Dale; Olivia Male; Helen Hays; Jill Hamilton; Helen Hays; Joan Walsh; Patrick Comins; Jim Hays; Matthew Male; Helen Hay; Matthew and Ann Male’s Daughter; Helen Hays; Joan Walsh; Margaret Rubega; Joan Walsh; Champagne cork pop!

Joan Walsh, Keepin things rolling at the Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th year celebration, Chester Meeting House, Chester, CT on Sept 15, 2018. ©Townsend P. Dickinson, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used without written permission.

50 Years and Counting Great Gull Island:

50 Years & Counting Celabration Cake at the Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th year celebration, Chester Meeting House, Chester, CT on Sept 15, 2018. ©Townsend P. Dickinson, All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used without written permission.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 108: Helen Hays, For The Record, Legacy Interview Series; 6th Guest Helen Hays, Great Gull Island

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Help Support BirdCallsRadio DONATE NOW OR ADVERTISING

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BCR 139: Catherine Hamilton, Bird Artist & Naturalist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 06:00:08 +0000

Today’s show is one of our feature series called “Women In Conservation” with this series 3^nd guest Catherine Hamilton, Bird Artist, Naturalist. Catherine Hamilton about her evolution as a bird artist, inspiration, favorite subject matters, field sketching prowess, and her dedication to supporting bird conservation efforts.

Catherine got her love of birds at the age of 6 years of age from her father (a neuro scientist) that was interested in sparrows and shorebirds. Catherine says she was pretty much born with a pencil in her in hand from that time forward. Her parents would refer to her as the kid with no Corpus Callosum. Grabbing pencils and crayons with both hands and drawing with both hands. She is a lefty but also abidectorous.

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Fine Arts from Bennington College, and has taught painting and drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design and other institutions throughout the 27 years she has been a professional artist. Catherine’s fine art can be found in private, corporate, and small museum collections in the US and abroad. Her illustrations and writing can be found in books like the Princeton University Press book “The Warbler Guide” and “Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White” from Houghton Mifflin, and in journals and magazines such as the journal “Nature,” “Living Bird,” “Bird Observer,” and “Orion Magazine.” Catherine is featured in the 2012 HBO documentary “Birders: the Central Park Effect,” and is the presenter for the 2018 short film “A Reason For Hope,” where in her role as ZEISS Sports Optics’ Ambassador for Birding, Catherine worked with partner organization Birdlife International to help promote conservation awareness through birding and art.

Show Notes:

Tell us about your upbringing and the development of an artistic sense and interest in the natural world.
How did you come to teach fine art at the Rhode Island School of Design, what was this life like?
Tell us about this period of your life when you were an accomplished oil painter with major exhibits and sold fine art through a gallery.
You unexpectedly, developed, a severe allergy to the solvents in the oil paint.
To recover from the crushing loss of your career, you dug a pair of used binoculars out of the closet, an old gift from her father, and started birding.
What media do you use, you clearly have not given up being an artist?
You have now transitioned into the world of commercial art.
Tell us about the board game. Evolution.
What else goes on in the life of an itinerant nature artist, you must have lots of projects in the works?
What are your favorite exotic travels to far-flung locale for birding adventures and art that you have experienced recently?
You had recently returned from Morocco where you were painting some of the last wild colonies of the northern bald ibis, one of the rarest birds in the world. Bird Life International commissioned a short film on the project, “A Reason For Hope” which was to debut at the Fair, how did it go?
You joined author Scott Weidensaul’s expedition to northeastern India’s remote Nagaland state as the expedition artist to witness the spectacle of the Amur Falcon migration. Tell us more about this event.
As a successful woman, in a culture still evolving out of male dominated mind set, what particular challenges have you faced and what actions did you pursue to rise above those who would put you in your place so to speak?
What would you like to accomplish or do in the next five years?
Is there any place on earth that you hope to visit soon?

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BCR 138: Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival 2018

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 06:00:26 +0000

On today’s show, I am reporting live at the 13^th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival that is held at the Gateway National Recreation Area unit of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge within the U.S. National Park Service.

This Festival is Founded & Hosted by Don Riepe; Jamaica Bay Programs Director, American Littorial Society NE Chapter; and in partnership with New York City Audubon and Gateway National Park Service.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is a remarkable place. Part of Gateway National Recreation Area, the 9,000-acre refuge lies virtually in the shadow of New York City’s skyscrapers, close to JFK International Airport. And yet it’s one of the best birding spots in the Northeast, where thousands of birds—raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl, songbirds, wading birds, and more—stop to rest and feed during migration.

The refuge boasts a diversity of habitats, including ponds, woods, upland fields, saltmarshes, and a bay with small islands, which explains the wide variety of species it attracts. Both spring and fall are good times to visit to see the largest numbers of birds—both in terms of species and individuals. The shorebird watching is particularly good in June and September when the water in the East Pond is lowered to create a mudflat for the birds.

The daylong activities was packed with shorebird experts surrounding the peak shorebird migration time at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Many learn about behavior, biology and how to identify shorebirds with talks and in the field with naturalists Tom Burke, Kevin Karlson, Don Riepe, Lloyd Spitalnik and many other bird experts.

Several people agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and they tell us why they come to this area for this segment on the 13^th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival.

Show Notes:

Don Riepe – Jamaica Bay Programs Director, American Littorial Society NE Chapter

Lloyd S – Wildlife Photographer

Kathryn Heintz – Excutive Director, NYC Audubon

This is another favorite place I like to visit yearly in the fall to see beautiful Shorebirds that stopover before heading south bound to their wintering habitats. I look forward to next year’s 14^th Annual Jamaica Bay Shorebird Festival 2019 that will take place at the end of August 2019.

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BCR 137: Bernd Heinrich, Preeminent Naturalist, Author and Scientist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 06:00:27 +0000

Today’s guest is Bernd Heinrich, a preeminent Naturalist Author and Scientist. Bernd is also a noted Professor Emeritus of the University of Vermont; biologist and runner. Bernd taught entomology at the University of California, Berkley in the 70’s and biology and zoology at the University of Vermont until 2004. His well-regarded research work in the comparative physiology and behavior of insects is reflected in hundreds of scientific papers. He has written and published 21 popular books on various natural history subjects, drawing on years of original research for his subject matter. Bernd still spends as much time as possible in the North Woods.

Show Notes:

As the son of noted Ichneumon-expert Gerd Heinrich, you grew up in a household tuned into scientific study. How did this nurture your schooling and career choice?
In the 1980’s you participated in a number of significant distance running events including marathons and ultra marathons. How does a patient scientific observer integrate with performance athleticism?
Your writings reminds me of the work of Niko Tinbergen from 1953.
The Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures With Wolf-Birds (HarperCollins, 1999) is one of your better-known works.
You said in Life Everlasting, “I have known many Ravens and never met one I didn’t like.”
E. O. Wilson declared of Summer World.
Life Everlasting, The Animal Way of Death, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
Documentary film 2011 titled “An Uncommon Curiosity: at home & in nature with Bernd Heinrich.”
2018 The Naturalist at Large by my count is your 21st book.
Golden-crowned Kinglets.
The American Chestnut tree.
Arctic bumblebee.
Story of the Diabolical Nightjar.
“Seeing the Light in the Forest”

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 192: Bernd Heinrich, White Feathers

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BCR 136: Brian K. Wheeler, New Birds Of Prey Guides East & West

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 06:00:34 +0000

Brian K. Wheeler has been studying, painting, and photographing birds of prey throughout the United States and Canada for more than fifty years. Brian is a renowned author, photographer, and illustrator of North American raptors. Brian’s raptor photographs and art work have been published in a multitude of publications in the last three decades. He is also coauthor and illustrator of Hawks of North America by Houghton Mifflin in 1987 (1^st edition) and 2001 (2^nd edition), coauthor and photographer of A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors by Academic Press in 1995 and by Princeton University Press in 2003, and author and photographer of Raptors of Eastern North America and Raptors of Western North America Princeton University Press in 2003. His latest set of raptor books, Birds of Prey of the East: a Field Guide and Birds of Prey of the West: A Field Guide by Princeton University Press were released in June 2018. Brian is the author and illustrator of these two innovative books. These two books will be the premier bird of prey field guides for North America.

His latest books ‘Birds of Prey of the West” and its companion volume, “Birds of Prey of the East”, are the most comprehensive and authoritative field guides to North American birds of prey ever published. Written and lavishly illustrated with stunning, lifelike paintings by leading field-guide illustrator, photographer, and author Brian K. Wheeler, the guides depict an enormous range of variations of age, sex, color, and plumage, and feature a significant amount of plumage data that has never been published before.

Show Notes:

When did you realize that birds of prey really interested you to the point that you would essentially devote you entire life to their study?

Your career has changed course several times, you’ve worked in museums and for a while you were selling fine art through galleries.

Who are some of the bird artists you admire and what do you like about them

You incorporated photography into your study of birds of prey and raptors, what led to this change from simply field sketching photographic captures?

Tell us about the Passenger Pigeon mural, that you created for the Chippewa Nature Center, Midland Michigan, what makes this so memorable to you?
You include Condors and Vultures in your latest guide. What is the difference between birds of prey and raptors, what formed your reasoning for including them?

You specifically acknowledge John Economidy for help researching and compiling the data used in the maps, and it is clear, that the final results are unrivaled in size and detail by any other current field guides. Tell us about the detailed range maps, what makes them unique?

You have now done several field guides featuring either photos or art as illustrations. What is your take on both mediums and why did you choose art for this latest guide?

Contact Brian K. Wheeler: Interested in learning more, purchasing orignal paintings or speaking ingagements with Brian Wheeler at your next event. At Mr. Wheeler’s request please contact Mardi Dickinson by sending a message with your details and contact information and I will pass the message along.

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BCR 135: Dale Rosselet, VP Education NJ Audubon

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 06:00:15 +0000

Ms. Dale Rosselet has been with New Jersey Audubon since 1983 and has extensive experience teaching pre-school, elementary, and secondary grades in both formal and non-formal situations. As Vice President for Education she oversees all statewide and center-based programming efforts for the organization as well as nature center operations. She currently chairs the governor-appointed New Jersey Commission for Environmental Education, is co-chair of National Wildlife Federation’s Youth Engagement Caucus, and is past President of the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education, NJ’s statewide professional organization for environmental educators.

Ms. Rosselet has been recognized with several awards including the 2008 Garden State Woman of the Year Environment Award, the 2012 Education Award from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the 2013 Lifetime Achievement award from the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education. She has co-authored several nature-based curriculum guides for New Jersey Audubon including Bridges to the Natural World, as well as a popular birding book, Birding by Impression.

Show Notes:

New Jersey native, a true Jersey girl
Early influence helped shape your career choices
New Jersey Audubon’s strong commitment to Environmental Education develop and what keeps it going.
You have authored four natural history curriculum guides, tell us about these works called Bridges to a Natural World, New Jersey Waters.
Secrets of your success as you meet groups of teachers or students and empower them to be engaged in environmental issues?
Your education team coordinated and conducted the Honeywell Institute for Ecosystems Education Student Forum.
What other types of programs does NJ Audubon do in order to connect children with nature?
You are past president for the Alliance of New Jersey Environmental Education and chair the governor appointed New Jersey Commission for Environmental Education.
In 2012 you received the Women in Wildlife Award as well as the Pat Kane Lifetime Achievement Award in Environmental Education. What’s it like living the legacy started by your mentor, Pat Kane?

Mentioned In Episode:

New Jersey Audubon

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BCR 134: Frank Gallo, Birding in Connecticut

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 06:00:16 +0000

FRANK GALLO is a leading expert on where to find birds in Connecticut and has led birding expeditions all over the world. Frank is a member of the Connecticut Avian Rare Records Committee, and a federally licensed master bird bander. Frank’s new book, Birding in Connecticut, a guide to where, when, and how to find birds in the state. Published date of May 2018.

Birding in Connecticut is the definitive guide to where, when and, how to find birds in the state. Packed with information valuable to birders of all skill levels, from species accounts and a first-of-a kind cumulative list of rare bird sightings to a host of tips and tricks to finding and identifying birds. It is an invaluable resource on the habits and habitats of Connecticut’s birdlife, with clear and up-to-date bar graphs showing seasonal occurrence and abundance for every Connecticut bird species. It is the first guide of its kind to offer QR code links to continually updated information on the occurrence and abundance of birds at each location. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs and maps, Birding in Connecticut is the perfect companion for experts and novices alike.

Book Giveaway Contest: BCR will be giving away a copy of his newly released book at the end of this episode. You must answer both the two questions to win a copy of the book at the end of this show. Please contact Mardi Dickinson by sending your contact information with your two answers. First one to guess correctly will be contacted, posted and announced on BirdCallsRadio.

Show Notes:

Your relationship with the Late Dr. Noble Proctor
Interest in the natural world and birds?
What inspired you to write Birding in Connecticut?
Key elements of the book.
anything tht surprised you about Connecticut’s birdlife and birding locations?
Favorite birding site
What criteria were used to evaluate the sites for inclusion?
Which Connecticut sites have the highest recorded number of species

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BCR 133: Virginia Rose, Birdability for Mobility Challenged

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 06:00:13 +0000

In 1973 at age 14, Virginia Rose was injured in a horseback riding accident and continued her life as a paraplegic in a wheelchair. She taught college and high school English for 28 years and retired 2 years ago in 2016. Virginia began birding in 2003 after hearing a lecture on breeding success of the house finch in Austin, sponsored by Travis Audubon. She took every TAS class and went on as many field trips as I could, working around my busy teaching career. The Travis Audubon teachers and field trip leaders never said no to me, not once. They took me everywhere the other walking birders went. When I could not get to the LeConte’s sparrow, the leader and birders encircled the bird and moved it to within 6 feet of me. A lifer.

Viginia began leading beginning birding birdwalks in 2010 and has identified over 30 accessible birding spots in Austin. Then joined the Travis Audubon Board of Directors in 2017. She did her first independent Birdathon in April, 2018. From dawn to dusk, Virginia visited 5 accessible parks, wheeled about 10 miles, and saw 52 bird species.

Birding brought her a serious, joyful, and meaningful experience complete with a community willing to include her on every level. Viginia wanted to bring the birding experience to as many mobility-challenged people as she could and initiated Birdability just a couple short months ago. Viginia have already led 2 walks with people in wheelchairs I did not know.

The ultimate goal is to introduce mobility-challenged people to birding in as many locations as possible and create teams in locations which can host other teams. So, an Austin team can invite a Houston team to bird the accessible Austin sites and then Houston can reciprocate and host Austin to see all the accessible Houston sites. Ultimately, Viginia would like to see Birdability across the U. S. and beyond.

Show Notes:

life forming remembrances of your childhood.
life-changing event that brought you to the chair at the age of 14.
What led you to become an educator?
Embers from early childhood were fanned and you became an avid birder.
Beginning birdwalks in Austin, active in the local Travis Audubon Society.
into and around a places in a wheel chair
Goals and benefits Birdability.

Mentioned In Episode:

Birdability

Travis Audubon

Interested in learning more about Viginia Rose and Birdability. At Ms. Rose’s request please click and contact Mardi Dickinson by sending a message with your details and contact information and I will pass the message along.

Rio Grande Valley in 2015. Front row, left to right, is Deb Wallace, Virginia Rose, Judith Bailey. Middle row, left to right, Lee Wallace, Frances Cerbins, Terry Banks. Back row, left to right, Craig Rasmussen, Eric Stager, Dennis Palafox, Jeff Patterson. ©Photo Courtesy of Virginia Rose. All Rights Reserved.

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BCR 132: Kimberly Kaufman, Women in Conservation

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 06:00:48 +0000

Today’s show is a continued featured series called “Women In Conservation” with this series 2nd guest Kimberly Kaufman. Kimberly Kaufman’s lifelong love of the outdoors grew into a passion for birds in the 1990s. She monitored nesting bald eagles for the Ohio Division of Wildlife and ran bluebird trails before she began banding migrant songbirds for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Kim’s involvement grew, becoming the observatory’s education director then executive director in 2009, a position she still holds. Kim was instrumental in starting the highly successful Ohio Young Birders Club, a group for teenagers that has served as a model for youth programs in many other states, as well as The Biggest Week In American Birding, which has rapidly become one of the largest birding festivals on the continent. She also co-authored the Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England. She and her husband, Kenn, live in rural Ohio with their two (indoor) cats, Kirby and Pearl.

Show Notes:

When did the passion for birds develop?
Monitored Bald Eagle nesting.
Banding migrant songbirds BSBO.
Education Director of BSBO 2005.
Executive Director of BSBO 2009.
Two key initiatives.
2019 Biggest Week 10th Aniversery.
Published Author.
Prestigious Chandler Robbins Award.
Vital and active Bird Observatory.

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 091: Biggest Week 2017 Snippets

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 131: Biggest Week 2018 Moments

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 06:00:20 +0000

Mardi Dickinson, BirdCallsRadio & Podcast Host, talks with Tom Bartlett on location at the Biggest week In American Birding 2018. Tom has for the past 23 years, conducted the Annual Big Sit fundraiser for Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s (BSBO) education programs on International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). Magee Marsh S.P., Oak Harbor, OH. ©Townsend P. Dickinson All Rights Reserved.

We are reporting LIVE from several locations in Northwest Ohio. This area is a world renowned migrant trap during spring migration of songbirds. Many people flock here to get their fill of warblers and other little gems at this time of year. I am also attending the Biggest Week in American Birding 2018 Festival, now in it’s ninth year, that takes place at the same time. This festival is hosted by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, under the guidance of Executive Director, Kimberly Kaufman and an incredible team of staff and numerous volunteers.

L. to R. Jason Guerard, Outreach Director, BSBO; Mardi Dickinson, Host of BirdCallsRadio; Jasmine Cupp, Communications Director, BSBO; Laura Guerard, Education Director, BSBO. At The Biggest Week in America Birding 2018, NW Ohio. ©BirdCallsRadio All Rights Reserved.

Many people from around the world agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and they tell us why they come to this area for this segment called “Biggest Week 2018 Moments”.

Checking out the Black-throated Grey Warbler who graced itself at The Biggest Week in America Birding 2018, Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, NW Ohio. ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/Kymry Group. All Rights Reserved.

This is one of my favorite places to visit annually in the spring as it always fills my heart and soul with hope seeing these beautiful songbirds that make the long northward journey from the Caribbean, Central and South America to their breeding grounds.

L. to R. Kevin Perozeni, Christian Hagenlocher, Cassidy Flicker, Tyler Flicker and Kandace Glanville. Biggest Week in America Birding 2018, Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, NW Ohio. ©Mardi Welch Dickinson / KymryGroup. All Rights Reserved.

I look forward to next year’s 10th Anniversary of the Biggest Week 2019 that will take place from May 3-12, 2019. Thank you to all the wonderful people who took time out from birding and were kind enough to stop and share their thoughts with me on this episode #131 of BirdCallsRadio.

L. to R. Townsend P. Dickinson, Photographer/Writer; Linda Rockwell, Birder/Photographer. The Biggest Week in America Birding 2018, Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, NW Ohio. ©Mardi Welch Dickinson/Kymry Group. All Rights Reserved.

Show Notes:

Biggest Week 2018 Moments in Northwest Ohio.

Eva Mathews Lark, Maine
James Adams, Honduraus
Maresa Pryor-Luzier, Texas
Dr. Amamda Laplante, Florida
Thomas Bartlett, Ohio
Christian Hagenlocher, Ohio
Tyler Flicker
Kevin Perozeni
Cassidy Flicker
Kandace Glanville
Linda Rockwell, New Mexico

Mentioned In Episode:

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BCR 130: Bonnie Paton Moon, Paton’s Birders Haven Update

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 06:00:02 +0000

Bonnie Paton Moon in yard with Marion Paton’s Rose Garden in the background ready to bloom

Bonnie Paton Moon, author and a daughter of the late Wally and Marion Paton of Paton’s Birders Haven now in perpetuity and called Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds.

After her mother’s passing in 2009, Bonnie embarked on a 4 and 1/2 year odyssey, to preserve and protect her parent’s internationally renowned birding Mecca known as Paton’s Birder Haven in Patagonia, AZ. Due to the foresight of the Paton family, and the partnership of the American Bird Conservancy, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours and Tucson Audubon Society supported by thousand s of generous supporters, this little gem of birding paradise has now been saved in perpetuity. Saved not only for the birds that have come to depend on the Paton’s habitat for food and water, but also for the future generations of birders and nature enthusiast can share this delightful oasis in the desert. Wally and Marion Paton welcomed thousands of visitors from around the world into their back yard for decades, asking nothing in return. Children of the Depression, Wally and Marion grew up in an era of scarcity and self-sufficiency. The hardships of their early years evoked in them a strong work ethic, compassion, kindness, and a generosity of spirit that was the catalyst in transforming their yard into a tiny piece of birding paradise.

Bonnie Paton Moon’s recently published book and eBook, “Journey Home” is the remarkable story of how the world renowned Paton Center for Hummingbirds came to be and how it is being saved for future generations of birdwatchers.

Show Notes:

Dedication of the Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds.
Ceremony for the Richard Grand Memorial Meadow.
Improvements have been made to the property.
making the Center a Monarch Way Station.
Jonathan Lutz, site manager for the Paton’s Center property; Just recently became the NEW Executive Director for Tucson Audubon Society.
Various historical pieces.
Bonnie Paton Moon’s recently published book and eBook, “Journey Home”.
Status of the Viewing Pavilion.
Wally Paton’s Orchard.
“Reunion”

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 080: Bonnie Paton Moon & Larry Morgan – Paton’s Birders Haven Lives On! Part 1

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BCR 129: Sheri Williamson, Hummingbirds

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 06:00:31 +0000

Sheri L. Williamson is a lifelong naturalist, co-founder and co-director of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, and author of A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America in the Peterson Field Guide Series. She lives near the Mexican border in Bisbee, Arizona with her husband and colleague Tom Wood and their dependents: a geriatric parrot, a rescue dog, three pampered pet chickens, and hundreds of freeloading wild birds.

Show Notes:

You and your husband Tom Wood founded the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory in 1996. What inspired you to do that?
You’ve called hummingbirds “a ‘gateway drug’ for birding and conservation.”
Tell us about the Amethyst–throated Hummingbird – first USA record in West Texas then Quebec
Why does Southeastern Arizona have so many different species of hummingbirds and when is the best time to see hummingbirds in Southeastern Arizona?
You are one of fewer than 200 hummingbird banders in the U.S who handled more than 7000 individual hummingbirds since 1990. Tell us about banding hummers.
Some hummingbirds have adapted new wintering areas and the speculation is that the sheer number of feeders throughout the south has literally changed their migration patterns. How can I attract hummingbirds to my yard?
Correction: it has come to our attention from guest Sheri Williamson, that Isabelle Hunt Conant was referred to as Elizabeth.

Mentioned In Episode:

Sheri L. Williamson website

BCR 192: Tom Wood, Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary Saved

Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory

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BCR 128: David Toews Ph.D., Warbler Hybrids & Genomics

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 29 May 2018 06:00:56 +0000

Dr. David Toews is an NSERC Banting post-doctoral research fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, working with Irby Lovette. David is interested in evolutionary biology, genomics, and molecular ecology in avian systems. Much of my research combines DNA sequencing data with other information about birds to learn about general evolutionary processes—how do new bird species evolve? What are the differences between closely related species? Recently, David have been studying hybrid zones between several species of wood warblers, trying to learn about the genes that give rise to the amazing diversity of color in this family of birds. He is also studying how long-distance migration has evolved in warblers, and what genes are responsible for warblers that have distinct migratory behaviors.

Show Notes:

Why are genetic and molecular studies of birds useful, for the layman?
Tell us in broad strokes about closely related songbird species pairs or groups that tend toward frequent hybridization.
What are hybrid zones?
How do you go about catching birds in hybrid zones?
The hybrid zone of the Myrtle and Audubon Warbler in British Columbia is well studied. I believe it is considered a static hybrid zone and studies of this zone led to the conclusion that the two species were actually one species. Tell us about the historic work and conclusions.
What does genetics tell us about the appearance of warblers, particularly feather color?
What is the primary reason that the Townsend’s out competes the Hermit?
There is one more interesting warbler hybrid situation. The Mourning and MacGillivary’s have a recently described hybrid zone in British Columbia and Manitoba. What is the story with this warbler pair?
Can you speculate on the reason for the evolutionary differences, evidenced by hybrid pairs or groups, in terms of the effects of past ice ages in North America on the origin species?

If your interested in learning more and continue the conversation, please leave your questions in the comment section below.

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BCR 127: Women Birders Big Year

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 22 May 2018 06:00:46 +0000

Women Birders Big Year Panel at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2018. l. to r. Laura Erickson, Laura Keene, Yve Morrell, Nancy McAllister and Lynn Barber. ©Photo Courtesy by Nancy McAllister

Show Notes:

Today’s show I am reporting live at the Biggest Week in American Birding 2018 on a keynote panel about five Women Birders Big Year that took place on Wedsnesday, May 9, 2018 called Power Women In Birding: A Big Year Panel Discussion. I was given permission to record and air this Keynote on BirdCallsRadio by Kimberly Kaufman, Executive Director of Black Swamp Bird that hosts the Biggest Week In American Birding Festival 2018 and the five Panelist featuring; Lynn Barber, Laura Erickson, Laura Keene, Nancy McAllister, and Yve Morrell. Each of the panelists had a very different way and reason in doing a Big Year. Plese join us and listen in to these wonderful women birders talk about their Big Years!

Mentioned In Episode:

Biggest Week in American Birding

Cape May Bird Observatory

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BCR 126: Luke Tiller, Field Biologist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 15 May 2018 06:00:18 +0000

Originally from London, England, Luke transplanted to the United States in 2003. As a professional hawk watcher he traveled the world to witness raptor migration and has experience counting raptors in North America, Europe and the Middle East. He has written about birds and birding for publications here in the US and in Europe including Audubon Magazine, Bird Watch Magazine and ABA’s Birding Magazine. Since 2012 Luke has sat on the Hawk Migration Association of North America Board and chairs their Tours Committee. Luke is currently based in Altadena California and employed as a professional tour guide. You will find him at most birding festivals working on the ZEISS Sports Optics booth.

Show Notes:

Tell us about the development of your interest in birds and the natural world.
You frequently visited and re-visited certain local spots and managed to turn up some rarities through persistence. what are benefits to this approach?
You specialize in raptors and hawk identification. What challenges does the identification of hawk species at a distance pose?
The life of an itinerant hawk counter has pluses and minuses.
What’s the appeal for hawk watching?
Where are some of the really good places to go to see hawks and when?
Where are the best places to go for spring and or fall hawk watching in the US and abroad?
Bins and scopes are requisite tools for hawk watchers, tell us in general terms, what to look for when looking to purchase these tools.

Mentioned In Episode:

Under Clear Skies

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BCR 125: Benjamin Van Doren & Kyle Horton, Bird Migration Maps

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 08 May 2018 06:00:18 +0000

Benjamin Van Doren a PhD student at the University of Oxford in England studying the many determinants of bird migration. In his work, he uses a range of approaches, including genomics, radar, and individual tracking. Since 2012, Benjamin has been a member of the BirdCast team at Cornell, where he studied biology and statistics as an undergraduate.

Kyle Horton a Rose Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We will be talking about bird migration and Cornell’s BirdCast. Both Benjamin and Kyle developed and recently launched live migration maps, an incredible tool built upon, of a computer model of weather and bird migration.

Show Notes:

Why is radar the tool you use to study migration?
How is radar used to predict the migration of birds that fly at night?
Ground truth, how can one tell what birds species are being seen on the radar?
Tell us about the results you have found such as daily numbers and peak periods based on analyses of decades of radar images from hundreds of points across the United States. What criteria were used?
How can migration forecast help prevent the deaths of migrating birds from wind turbines, and what is the scope of the migration and the number of potential impact deaths if not mitigated?
What troubles you about the state of migratory birds? The radar images from the sixties would seem to indicate that North America has lost a significant number of migrants. What can we do to help stem this decline?
What advise can you offer young people interested in a career in birds?

Mentioned In Episode:

BirdCast

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BCR 124: Janet Moore, Janet Stein, Seeing Red

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 01 May 2018 11:26:26 +0000

Janet Moore and Janet Stein who discovered a Red Warbler On Monday, April 9, 2018 at Rose Canyon Lake, Mt. Lemmon in Pima County, SEAZ. Arizona. A MEGA Rarity in SE Arizona! This interview was recorded on April 12, 2018; three days after the Red Warbler was discovered by Janet Moore and Janet Stein on Monday, April 9, 2018.

Janet Moore grew up north of San Francisco with parents that loved and valued the outdoors. Family vacations were often camping trips in the Sierra Nevadas.Janet moved to Arizona in the late 70’s and finished up school at the University of Arizona. She worked for 30 years as a Clinical Dietitian, specializing in Nutritional Support. After retiring Janet has been enjoying traveling, birding and working with fellow committee members at her local Church.

Janet Stein grew up in Old Saybrook, CT but left the east coast to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA where she graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Management in 1980. Janet’s interest in marine mammals lead her to continue her education and she obtained a Masters in Marine Biology from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in 1989. She has worked for numerous private and government agencies conducting work on marine mammal /fisheries interactions, researching threatened birds including marbled murrelets and spotted owls and most recently studying the impact of invasive plants in Island County Washington. Janet has been happily married for 36 years and has two children that also love the outdoors. Recently retired, Janet now hopes to do more traveling and spend more time birdwatching, a hobby she loves.

Show Notes:

background on your interest in birding and bird watching.
Tell us about the finding the bird. What were you looking for, before your day got real exciting?
Where was it found, tell us about the area and birding here at this time of year.
How long did you stay on the bird?
What processes did you take to identify the bird and document the sighting?
You must have alerted other birders, tell us about that. Janet M
Do you find rare birds like this every year? Both Janet M to start
A second group of birders later that afternoon found the warbler again and got some more photos. Tell us about that.
The next day, Tuesday April 10, a gang of bird watchers scoured the area but were unable to relocate the bird. For those that are unfamiliar with what happens next can you tell us about the process and thinking behind the follow up.
What is known about this warbler that is endemic to Mexico. There are apparently several races, told apart by range and cheek patch color.
If accepted this will be the first record of this bird in Arizona. What has or will be done to have this sighting considered by the Arizona Rare Birds Record Committee?
Any parting thoughts on this experience that you would like to pass on?

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BCR 123: David La Puma, Director of CMBO

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:00:48 +0000

Dr. David La Puma is the Director of NJ Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO), and avid birder, ornithologist and conservationist. When not leading the bird observatory, or out birding on his own, David can most often be found with his wife and two little girls at one of the Cape May beaches catching waves and pointing out Black Skimmers and all other species to anyone who will pay attention to him. David received his PhD from Rutgers University where he studied the effects of fire on the Federally Endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow in the Florida Everglades, and conducted two postdoctoral research projects on Radar Ornithology, one with New Jersey Audubon and the other at the University of Delaware. Prior to his current position, David worked in the field of high-end optical devices, as the Product Specialist for Leica Sport Optics.

Show Notes:

David, tell us about yourself, what is your background and education?
How did you land at Cape May Bird Observatory?
CMBO is part of New Jersey Audubon; tell us about this relationship.
You are a birder/birdwatcher. What birds interest you the most?
What is the most interesting bird you have seen so far? And what bird still eludes you.
The World Series of Birding fondly know as WSB is celebrating an anniversary.
How did the WSB begin by telling us the history.
Who participates in the WSB? Why do you think it has stood the test of time all these years?
What are some of the most significant changes you see from when the event WSB began in 1984 and today?
How can people get involved in the WSB this year, or in the future?
Tell us about some of the research you’ve been doing through the Cape May Bird Observatory.

Mentioned In Episode:

World Series of Birding

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BCR 122: David Lindo, The Urban Birder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 06:00:04 +0000

David Lindo is The Urban Birder – broadcaster, writer, speaker and tour leader. His mission is to engage city folk around the world with the plentiful urban nature that surrounds them. He has written countless articles on urban birds, urban conservation and wildlife in general for many websites, publications and magazines and has written the Forwards toseveral books. He is a regular television and radio presenter and has been featured on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 in the UK as well as other TV and radio channels around the world including CBS in the United States.

David is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers and a member of the British Travel Writers Guild. He is the Founder of Britain’s Vote National Bird Campaign in 2015 that resulted in over 226,000 votes, Tower 42 Bird Study Group and is on the committee of The Friends Of Wormwood Scrubs. He is the author of The Urban Birder (Bloomsbury) his successful first book that was published in August 2011 and Tales From Concrete Jungles (Bloomsbury) in 2015. He has two new books to be launched in 2018 – #Urban Birding (Kosmos) April and How To Be An Urban Birder (Princeton/Wildguides) July. He is a proud Ambassador for Leica Birding and the London Wildlife Trust and a Patron of the Alderney Wildlife Trust and Birding For All – charity dedicated to facilitating access to nature reserves for disabled people. David was recently named as the 7th most influential person in wildlife by BBC Wildlife Magazine.

CONTEST: Can you guess what bird is David Lindo’s favorite bird. Q What bird does David Lindo love more that any other bird in the world? David gives you a hint somewhere in the inteview. Take a guess and leave your answer in the comment section below this post and you may WIN 1 or 2 of his new books coming out this year 2018! Good luck to all as I will post the results at the end of this week so all can participate.

Show Notes:

David you are the Urban Birder a broadcaster, writer, speaker and tour leader with your own tour company the Urban Birder that specializes in unlikely birding sites around the world.
What got you into birds and nature in the first place?
You teach people field craft, optics and how to find their own patch, in addition to the typical bird lore of identification and migration; this is not the typical bird tour approach. What lead you to develop this approach?
What elements should be sought to locate a good local patch?
You give advice on buying a pair of binoculars, can you share the highlights with our audience.
What are the good bird field guides in use in the British Isle and Europe?
Once you found your patch, what steps can people take to look after it on behalf of the birds?
In a forest or a field, you develop a search pattern for birds based on habitat and expectations. When you bird a city what search patterns do you develop, are there certain kinds of birds that you anticipate in certain environments?
What ties Urban Birders together?
You once told about a tour to a location in Eastern Europe where roosting owls had learned to roost in close proximity in a village due to threats faced by individuals roosting in rural agricultural countryside.
What is your favorite urban birding site/location or do you have several?
What newly discovered urban places can you share with our audience?
You are a patron for Birding For All – a charity set up to champion access for disabled birders. Tell us about your thoughts on the access for disabled people?
You are the author of several books with two new ones coming out this year and they are #UrbanBirding (Kosmos) and How To Be An Urban Birder (Princeton).
The BBC Wildlife Magazine recently voted and named you the 7^th most influential person in Wildlife.
What advice do you have for the young person who is interested in the natural world and despite peer pressure and sage counsel still wants to chase the dream?
What is the most interesting bird you have seen so far? And what bird still eludes you?

Mentioned In Episode:

David Lindo – The Urban Birder

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BCR 121: Ashli Gorbet, Wildlife Biologist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 06:00:26 +0000

Ashli Gorbet is a wildlife biologist and ornithologist. As a child, Ashli was deeply influenced by her grandmother who grew up in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, Romania. Ashli has a B.S. in Natural Resources, Wildlife Management from The Ohio State University and is currently pursuing a Master of Natural Resources from Utah State University. After spending over a decade studying the habitats and bird life of New Mexico and the southwest, Ashli returned to Ohio to work as the Banding Projects Manager for Black Swamp Bird Observatory, a dream job for her. During her time in New Mexico, Ashli had the opportunity to study Yellow-eyed Juncos and Varied Buntings, led an independent study investigating the breeding biology of Black-throated Gray Warblers, spent a decade in ecological compliance-related work for the federal government, and served as the Secretary of the New Mexico Ornithological Society. Ashli currently sits on the Recording Standards and Ethics Committee of the American Birding Association, is a member of the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative Steering Committee.

Know Your Bird Calls – Lets have some more fun! Can you guess what bird is singing on this show after I introduce our guest Ashli Gorbet and before the outro? Take a guess and leave your answer in the comment section below this post! Good luck to all as I will post the results at the end of this week so all can participate.

Show Notes:

You were exposed to the natural world while growing up; you credit your grandmother with spurring your interest in the natural world. How did she do this?
You had the chance to visit Romania, and the village where your grandmother grew up in Transylvania. What would you like to tell birders and wildlife enthusiasts about Romania and why is Romania important?
During your time in New Mexico, you undertook a multi-year study on the breeding biology of Black-throated Gray Warbler, something nobody had ever done previously. What made you want to study Black-throated Gray Warblers?
Walk us through what is required to become a “licensed bird bander?”
We have heard of folks who are concerned about the effects of bird banding on the birds. You have practical experience over a period of years with banding songbirds, what is your take on the pros and cons?
What do you find so interesting about wood warblers and why have you focused so much of your career working to unravel the mysteries of these birds.
What are the questions you are working to answer in your current position as banding projects manager with BSBO?
What is the role and importance of regional bird observatories such as BSBO?
You work to mentor young birders and early-career ornithologists and bird banders. Why do you put so much emphasis on this in your work?
You’re a member of the ABA’s Recording Standards and Ethics Committee. What is the committee currently working on that may be of interest to birders in the ABA area?

Mentioned In Episode:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Albatross Cam

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BCR 120: Seabrooke Leckie, Peterson Guide Southeastern Moths

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 06:00:29 +0000

SEABROOKE LECKIE is a freelance writer and naturalist who became interested in moths after realizing they suited her night-owl tendencies much better than birds. She lives in eastern Ontario with her husband and two young kids, with whom she enjoys roaming their rural yard and discovering its inhabitants, six-legged and otherwise.

Show Notes:

How did you and your co-author end up completing a field guide to moths?
What were your objectives?
How many species of moths are there in the region covered by the moth book?
How many those species are covered by this book?
How did you pick the species to include?
Tell us about the host plants mentioned, how could they be used to find target moths?
How did you get into moths?
What’s the difference between moths and butterflies?
tips for beginners wanting to get started with moths?
Can you talk a bit about the diversity of moths?
Do you plan to do similar moth guides for other regions?

Mentioned In Episode:

Seabrooke Leckie Website

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BCR 119: Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, Bird Conservation Manager

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 06:00:21 +0000

Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe is the Bird Conservation Program Manager for Audubon Connecticut, the state office of the National Audubon Society. In this position she leads the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds and also manages Stratford Point in Connecticut. Corrie is also a pilot and is involved with the Civil Air Patrol. Corrie has conducted field work involving birds in Belize, the Bahamas, Nova Scotia, the Farallon Islands, and CT.

Show Notes:

The effects of surrounding landscape on the abundance and breeding success of shrub land birds in power line corridors.
Duties as a Bird Conservation Program Manager.
Stratford Point, what are the short terms plans for this wonderful site.
Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds.
What is your involvement with the Piping Plovers?
Volunteers can be very valuable to any conservation mission.
IBA – Important Bird Areas – Tell us about IBA’s and their importance in Connecticut.
Wild Life Guards program.
Civil Air Patrol
Does being a pilot help you with your job?
Where are your favorite places to go birding in CT?

Mentioned In Episode:

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds – ctwaterbirds@gmail.com

Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe – cfolsom-okeefe@audubon.org

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BCR 118: Hob Osterlund, Holy Moli

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Hob Osterlund is the founder of Kauai Albatross Network and author Holy Moli, Albatross and Other Ancestors. Photo taken by the ©Jeanine Meyers All Rights Reserved. Photo may not be used without written permission. Please respect the wishes of the Photographer.

Hob Osterlund is the founder of Kauai Albatross Network, a third year Safina Center Fellow, and author of the book Holy Moli, Albatross and Other Ancestors; now in its third printing by Oregon State University Press. She is an award-winning writer and photographer, who live’s on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Show Notes:

Martha Warren Beckwith dream in 1979 that changed your life.
Kingdom of Bhutan
Practicing nurse for years, why is humor important for healing
Life cycle including courtship, nesting, ocean wandering Moli.
Ratio 29,000 birds per person and your visit to Midway.
Missile range and egg adopters.
Current threats to nesting Albatrosses on Kauai?
Kauai Albatross Network.
It was Kaluahine’s daughter Kaloakulua who put on the show, tell us about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s live ” TrossCam” and the lessons she taught the world.
Hawaiian mythology drips from the pages of Holy Moli.
Albatross Cure Effect.

Special Thank You goes out to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library for their generous support to BirdCallsRadio in this show for the use of the audio recording of the Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis recorded on Midway Islands and contributed to Cornell by Chandler S. Robbins.

Mentioned In Episode:

Kauai Albatross Network

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BCR 117: Scott Weidensaul, Author and Naturalist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 06:00:27 +0000

Scott Weidensaul has written more than two dozen books, including his widely acclaimed Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (North Point 1999), which was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean, which was published in 2015.

Weidensaul’s writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including Audubon (for which he is a contributing editor), Bird Watcher’s Digest and National Wildlife, among many others. He lectures widely on conservation, nature and directs the ornithological programs for National Audubon’s famed Hog Island Center on the coast of Maine.

In addition to writing about wildlife, Weidensaul is an active field researcher whose work focuses on bird migration. He is a co-director of Project Owlnet, a collaborative effort among nearly 125 banding and research stations across North America studying owl migration, and for nearly 20 years he has directed a major effort to study the movements of northern saw-whet owls, one of the smallest and least-understood raptors in North America.

Weidensaul co-founded Project SNOWstorm, which uses cutting-edge tracking technology to study snowy owls, and is a founder of the Critical Connections project, which is tracking the migration of birds that breed on National Park lands in Alaska. He is also part of a continental effort to understand the rapid evolution, by several species of western hummingbirds, of a new migratory route and wintering range in the East.

Show Notes:

When did you become interested in the natural world and how did those early interests develop?
Your book Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds first published in 1999 was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction. What effect did the success of this book have on your career?
What draws you back to the well of bird study and naturalists?
What events from The First Frontier still stand out for you today?
Project SNOWstorm uses cutting-edge tracking technology; current season and what you have learned about their winter ecology and climate change.
Your fieldwork is on the cutting edge of technological science.
Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean that was published in 2015. This comprehensive new work, covering all the owls of North America (including Mexico) and the Caribbean, is the latest addition to the Peterson Reference Guide series.
Global Bird Mirgration.
Tell us about your involvement in Hog Island

Mentioned In Episode:

Scott Weidensaul Website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 116: Stephen Kress, Project Puffin

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 07:00:00 +0000

Stephen Kress is Vice-President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and Director of the Audubon Seabird Restoration Program and Hog Island Audubon Camp. His career has focused on developing techniques for managing colonial nesting seabirds. In this role, he manages 13 seabird nesting islands in Maine that are home to more than 42,000 seabirds of 23 species including most of Maine’s rare and endangered seabirds. Hundreds of professional seabird biologists can trace their first interest in seabirds to Stephen Kress’s program- known widely as Project Puffin. Methods first developed in Maine such as chick translocations and social attraction are now standard practice worldwide. Dr. Kress received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and his Master’s and undergraduate degrees from Ohio State University. He is the co-author of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock.

Show Notes:

What got you interested in birds and natural history?
early career brought you to the down east coast, first in Canada and then Hog Island Maine
Project Puffin was started in 1973.
What was the reason it was started and why did some authorities feel that it would not work.
Early days on Eastern Egg Rock, bringing in Puffin chicks from Newfoundland and hand-rearing them to fledgling.
How to decoys, bird songs and mirrors bring terns to nest?
The life and needs of the Atlantic Puffin.
Signal event on July 4, 1981?
Techniques used to restore puffins and have been employed elsewhere.
What does your seabird research tell us about climate change and its effects on seabirds?
Is there an endpoint when you can consider your work with Project Puffin complete?
You have assumed the leadership role for the re-opened Hog Island Summer Camp. Tell us about this magical place.

Mentioned In Episode:

Project Puffin Seabird Restoration Program

Hog Island Audubon Camp

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 115: Noah Strycker, Birding Without Borders

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 07:00:07 +0000

Noah Strycker is the author of three well-regarded books about birds, and a regular contributor of photography and articles to many bird magazines as well as other media; he blogs regularly for the American Birding Association. Strycker set a world Big Year record in 2015, and his 2017 book, Birding Without Borders, relates the experience. Strycker has studied birds on six continents with field seasons in Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Australia, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, and the Farallon Islands. He also works as a naturalist guide on expedition cruises to Antarctica and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, literally spreading the inspiration of birds from pole to pole. His first book, Among Penguins, chronicles a field season working with Adélie Penguins in Antarctica (Oregon State University Press, 2011) and his second, The Thing with Feathers, celebrates the fascinating behaviors of birds and human parallels (Riverhead Books, 2014). Strycker is also a competitive tennis player, has run five marathons, and hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. He is based in Oregon, where his backyard has hosted more than 100 species of birds.

Show Notes:

How did you plan the trip, and what was your strategy for breaking the existing world Big Year record?
Did you change any of your ticks after the fact based on a further study? Can you tell us about it?
Of the thousands of species, you observed, which birds stand out most?
Do particular observations come to mind as the most memorable or interesting, can you give us some details?
Your last species seen for the big year was a Silver-breasted Broadbill seen in Assam, India; this gave you a total of 6,042 species. Your record was broken the next year, 2016, by Arjan Dwarshuis with 6852 species, do you feel challenged to do it again?
Your schedule was very tight throughout the year, were their situations where the habitat or behaviors you were seeing were a draw to stay longer and see more, but the realities of geography, seasons and airlines cut those short. What was the single best habitat and or behavior that you encountered?
What lessons did you learn by birding the world in one year?
What observations would you like to share with our audience going forward, and what advice would you give to someone thinking of doing a world big year?

Noah Strycker’s backpack gear For a Big year:

A 40 liter REI backpack; Leica 10×42 Ultravid HD-Plus binoculars; Leica 65mm Televid spotting scope with tripod; Leica V-Lux camera; GoPro Hero3 videocamera; 11″ MacBook Air laptop; iPhone 4; iPod nano; Surefire Fury LED spotlight; Yalumi LED headlamp; Marmot down jacket; Columbia rain shell; 4 lightweight Mountain Hardwear T-shirts; longsleeve collared bug shirt; one pair of shorts; 2 lightweight pants; 3 pairs Ex-Officio underwear; 4 pairs socks; plain black baseball cap; Oakley sunglasses; 2 kinds of bandanas; silk sleeping bag liner (but no sleeping bag); travel lock; adapters; notebooks; Audubon pins; and various toiletries including malaria pills and Israeli water-purifying tablets.

Mentioned In Episode: Noah Strycker

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BCR 114: Floyd Scholz, Master Bird Carver

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 07:00:36 +0000

Floyd Scholz is universally recognized as one of the preeminent Woodcarvers and Painters in the World today. During the past 35 years he has enjoyed tremendous success as a professional Artist, Author, Teacher and Musician.

In the late 70`s, Floyd was a nationally ranked Track and FieldStar specializing in the grueling 10 event Decathlon. He was a 3 time All American, and 1979 NCAA National Champion, and recipient of a Presidential Citation. While training for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, he and so many others learned that they would never get the chance to realize their athletic dreams due to the Carter Boycott.

Without looking back, Floyd moved up to the mountains of Vermont from his native Connecticut and started a new life. He redirected his focus on his Artwork and Music which turned out to be a very good move!

As a 5 time U.S. National Champion and 2005 World Master`s Best in Show Champion his astonishing portrayal of Eagles, Hawks, Owls and other birds have won him a large enthusiastic international following.

As the author of 7 award winning books on Raptors, Floyd`s passion for Birds and love of Art has been shared with generations of bird lovers and artists worldwide.

In an article in People magazine Floyd was once referred to as one of the world`s true “Renaissance men”

In the Spring of 2014, Floyd was recognized as one of Bird carving`s Living Legends by the Ward Foundation World Championships.

Show Notes:

What is your early background, when did you become interested in the natural world?
Describe your early career, what forces drew you to bird carving?
Floyd, Your best known for your Raptors… Eagles, Hawks, Falcons and Owls… why?
Technique is important to any artist, how have yours changed or evolved over the years?
What type of wood do I carve my birds from and what makes it so special
What skill did you feel you must master to move to another level?
What is it like to take a commission to produce a work of art? Walk us through the process please.
How long does it take, and do you do preliminary sketches for concept approval?
What are some of the tools a modern master carver employs.
What about fine feather details, carved and painted?
Is there a bird that you have not carved that you know you want to carve?

Mentioned in Episode:

Floyd Scholz

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter and be part of something greater. and stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking here on BirdCallsRadio and scrolling to the bottom of the front page to sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

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BCR 113: Ken Elkins, Power of Birds for Dementia

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 08:00:18 +0000

Ken Elkins is the Education Program Manager, Audubon Center at Bent of the River. Ken‘s interest in birds started when he was 10 years old, while watching the birds at his grandmother’s feeders in Vermont, and he has been obsessed ever since. After earning a degree in Environmental Biology, he started his career in conservation education at Westmoor Park in West Hartford, CT and quickly moved onto the state CT Audubon Society. There, he taught at all 5 of their centers and became their Director of Education. He led many EcoTravel trips and organized their World Series of Birding team for 8 years. In 2008, Ken moved onto The National Audubon, where he’s the Education Program Manager at the Audubon Center at Bent of the River in Southbury CT. Most recently, Ken was recognized as a Toyota TogetherGreen Fellow and is past-President of the Connecticut Ornithological Association. Ken is here today to talk with us about his special program he Co-deveoloped called “Bird Tales” for people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Show Notes:

Bird Tales; tell us about this program and how it came about.
This program is for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia please explain the difference between them.
What positive effects has the program had on people with dementia?
Has the program had any impact on birds or birding?
You and Randy Griffin c0-produced a training video and workbook. What was involved, what is it, and what is it intended to do.
Walk us through a successful employment of the Bird Tales Program at a health facility.
How can our listeners at home begin using birds and nature as therapy for their loved ones with dementia?
What evidence is there to prove the concept that this program helps people with Alzheimer’s?
How have you been able to transfer what you’ve learned from Bird Tales into using birds or nature as a positive experience for others?

Mentioned in Episode:

Bird Tales | Audubon Center Bent of the River – Reaching people living with dementia through multisensory therapy

Bird Tales training video and workbook copy click here

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BirdCallsRadio on iHeartRadio

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 23:00:13 +0000

BirdCallsRadio

is pleased to announce we are available on

iHeartRadio

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Library Bird Books

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:40:55 +0000

Today’s Tip! This is a perfect time to go to your local library and pick out a book to read. In this rat race world we live in with all the electronics at our finger tips it nice to read a book! Yes, I do support my local library and when I get the chance, I do take the time to sit down and read a book or two. It slows you down and gets you tuned in to yourself for awhile. I absolutely loved it. On this visit, I found several bird related “who done it” books I can say are worth a read. A good reminder to support and use your Library.

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BCR 112: Sidney Gauthreaux Jr. Ph.D.

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 18:00:12 +0000

Sidney A. Gauthreaux, Jr. Ph.D. in front of a television monitor that shows tracks of migrating birds at night recoded with a thermal imaging camera. The display of a vertically pointing radar is inserted on the side of the thermal image. The vertically pointing radar is used to measure the height of the birds observed with the thermal imaging camera. ©Carroll Belser. All Rights Reserved. Photos may not be used without written permission.

Today’s show is one of BirdCallsRadio’s featured series called “For The Record, Legacy Interviews” with this series 7th guest Dr. Sidney A. Gauthreaux, Jr.

Bio:

Sidney Gauthreaux Jr. Ph.D., received his B.S. from LSU at New Orleans (now the University of New Orleans) in June 1963; M.S. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in August 1965; Ph.D. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in August 1968; and held a Post-Doctorate Fellowship at the Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia from fall 1968 until fall 1970. He retired from Clemson University where he was a faculty member from 1970-2006 and taught ornithology, animal behavior, and behavioral ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences. He currently consults in the area of Remote Sensing and Technology and is a visiting scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign where he works with a group assessing avian radars that can be used to prevent bird/aircraft collisions.

Dr. Gauthreaux’s research emphasis on studies of bird migration across the Gulf of Mexico began in graduate school in the early 1960s and continues today. He has used combinations of radar and direct visual techniques to study the characteristics and geographical patterns of bird migration throughout the United States. His research in applied ornithology has examined 1) the attraction of migrating birds at night to different types of lighting on tall towers, 2) the risks of migrating birds colliding with man-made structures such as transmission lines, towers, and wind turbines, and 3) the problem of aircraft colliding with migrating birds.

Awards:

Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1988
Elected Life-time Corresponding Fellow of the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft, 1988
Elected Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, 1991
Provost’s Award for Scholarly Achievements, Clemson University May 2000
William Brewster Memorial Award, American Ornithologists’ Union, October 2006
Margaret Morse Nice Medal, Wilson Ornithological Society, April 2009

Show Notes:

Bird migration on a local New Orleans weather radar (Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR-57)
If radar could detect raindrops, then it should image birds too.
Using radars to quantify Trans-Gulf migration
Clemson University, continued the radar studies. CUROL was established.
Processes & Tools for collecting data
WSR-88D NEXRAD radar station
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Bird Cast.
Tracking of migratory birds Including GIS, geolocators, Avian NanoTags, MOTUS network, Doppler weather surveillance radar
Next frontiers for today’s ornithologists.

Mentioned in Episode:

Clemson University

BirdCast – The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

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BCR 111: Jim Fowler

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 07:00:37 +0000

Jim Fowler is the well known to many of us as the TV co-host, and then host, of the long running Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom TV show. In his early career as a professional zoologist, he worked with animals as a trainer and lecturer at John Hamlet’s Birds Of Prey in Florida. He also did field work in Africa and later in South America studying the Harpy Eagle in the wild for the first time. In 1955 Jim met Marlin Perkins when Perkins filmed a segment for the Zoo Parade television show in Florida.

Fowler joined Perkins as co-host in 1963 of a new show called Wild Kingdom. Jim also designed modern exhibits at the Chehaw Zoo in Georgia and was associated with the Zoological Association of America. As host of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Fowler received four Emmy awards and the show was approved for family viewing by the National PTA. Jim was the official wildlife correspondent for NBC’s The Today Show in 1988, and made 40 appearances with various wild animals on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 1997, Fowler joined Discovery Communication’s Animal Planet as a wildlife expert and later launched the television program Jim Fowler’s Life in the Wild in 2000. Jim is still concerned about conservation matters to this, and is doing what he can to raise awareness of the issues to this day.

Show Notes:

your early years exploring nature
fieldwork with Harpy Eagles
John Hamlet’s Birds Of Prey
Zoological Association of America
Designing exhibits for Chehaw Zoo
Marlin Perkins Co-Host/Host Wild Kingdom
Critters onto Johnny Carlson’s Tonight Show
Animal Planet as a wildlife expert
Fowler Preserve
lessons and or observations

Mentioned in Episode:

CheHaw Zoo

Zoological Association of America

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BirdCallsRadio on Spotify

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 17:34:00 +0000

Celebrate good times, come on!

BirdCallsRadio is pleased to announce we are now on Spotify!

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Birding in the Woods

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 20:06:39 +0000

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
― John Muir

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BCR 110: Connecticut Bird Atlas

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 07:00:58 +0000

The Connecticut Bird Atlas will map all species found in the state during both breeding/nesting and nonbreeding/non-nesting seasons. This is different from many, though not all bird atlas projects, most of which do focus just on breeding.

Chris Elphick, Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at University of Connecticut who will be talking to us about one of his next projects he is spearheading on the Connecticut Bird Atlas survey.

Starting in 2018, the CBA will be seeking the help of birdwatchers to document the distribution, abundance, and breeding activities of birds at sites throughout the entire state. The resulting data will be used to document changes since the last comprehensive survey of the state’s birds, which happened in the early 1980s; to inform the State Wildlife Action Plan; and to determine priority areas for bird conservation and land protection.

The Connecticut Audubon Society (CAS) recently devoted it’s Connecticut State of the Birds annual summary to the upcoming Connecticut Bird Atlas.

The Connecticut Bird Atlas is a joint project of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Wildlife Division, CT DEEP; and the University of Connecticut, UCONN; with additional funding from the Connecticut Ornithological Association, COA, Great Hollow Nature Preserve and Ecological Research Center, and the support of many other partners.

Show Notes:

To dispel confusion, please clarify who is responsible for this important effort?
Where does the funding for this endeavor originate?
What exactly is a Breeding Bird Survey?
When does this Bird Survey take place?
How long does the survey go on?
How does one verify the accuracy of the data?
When was the last Bird Survey?
There must be certain uncommon species that will require special attention, can you tell us what species but not where they might be found?
Why is this Atlas project so vital to the health and well being of Connecticut’s avifauna?
To what uses, have the data from previous Breeding Bird Survey’s, been applied?
Who can participate? What are the minimum critical birding skills required for participants?
We know that the Connecticut Audubon Society CAS State of the birds report has information, how do those interested become involved? Is there a contact or website that provides further details?

Mentioned in Episode:

BCR 097: Chris Elphick, Saltmarsh Sparrows

Connecticut Bird Atlas

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Best Wishes for The New Year!

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 21:45:24 +0000

Happy New Year to all for a bright and fruitful year!

We are excited to share with you this year, an incrediable line up of guests with indepth knowledge and insight on many topics about wild birds, and conservation. Including, artists, educators, birders, authors, scientists, bird identification, equipment, and ornithology.

Cheers,

Mardi Dickinson

BCR Host

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BCR 109: Westport CT CBC

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 07:00:15 +0000

Westport CT CBC 2017 Norwalk Islands, CT. l. to r. Mardi Dickinson, Co-Compiler; Capt Charlie Wetmore; Morgan Wetmore; Townsend Dickinson, Co-Compiler; Capt Larry Flynn. ©Mardi Welch Dickinson KymryGroup All Rights Reserved.

Show Notes:

Bird Calls Radio reports on the 71st Annual Westport CT Christmas Bird Count by joining a field party on count day that took place on Sunday December 17, 2017.

Thanks to the inspiration of Frank M. Chapman and the enthusiasm of twenty-seven dedicated birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The First Christmas Bird Count was on December 25, 1900. About 18,500 individual birds and 27 total participants Cumulative bird species list: 89 species total.

The CBC tradition has volunteer bird watchers at all levels of experience spend all or part of one day, around the Holiday season, going out into the field in various locations within the local Count Circle. Teams of observers will canvas many local hot spots. The object is to identify and count each species of wild bird they see and to record how many of each type they see in one day.

Westport CT CBC 2017. CT Young Birders paticipants.

The CBC results are published online in AMERICAN BIRDS along with the input from 1700 other counts conducted nationwide and throughout the Americas. This is the longest running annual census of bird populations in the country, thanks to the some 44,000 thousand birdwatchers who volunteer their efforts. After the count this year CBC observers then will gather together to tally the results and join in on the complilation at potluck dinner celebration to discuss the highlights of the day and total species.

Thank you to all the 14 Captains and numerous participants that joined in for this years Westport CTWE 71st Annual Christmas Bird Count and the 118th Anniversary of this National Audubon that took place on Sunday December 17, 2017

The Westport CTWE count circle have tallied 119 count day species and 3 additional count period birds to date.

Westport CT CBC participants at compilation. Sunday, December 17, 2017

Mentioned in Episode:

Christmas Bird Count History

Christmas Bird Count Attire

BirdCallsRadio additional Information:

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BCR 108: Helen Hays, Great Gull Island

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 07:00:39 +0000

Today’s show is one of BirdCallsRadio’s featured series called “For The Record, Legacy Interviews” with this series 6th guest Helen Hays in New York City.

Our distinguished guest today is Helen Hays of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. What can you say about a woman who lives half the year in an abandoned fort in the middle of Long Island Sound and has voluntarily elected to do so every year for fifty years. No, she is not serving time, she has chosen to be at this place, Great Gull Island off the Eastern tip of Long Island between Plum Island and Fishers Island, to oversee what has become her life’s work. The other half of the year, she lives in Manhattan, does office work and writes papers.

Helen Hays has directed, since 1969, the work on the ongoing Tern Research project on Great Gull Island designed to study and preserve this major colony for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which gained control of the Island in 1949. Today the Great Gull Island tern colony attracts in the summer 9,500 pairs of Common Terns and 1,300 pair of Federally Endangered Roseate Terns making this the largest such colony of Roseate’s in the Western Hemisphere.

Before the terns arrive in the spring preservation efforts are undertaken to ensure nesting success and when the terns arrive en masse the team efforts turn to pure research. Helen is the driving force for this ever-changing band of ornithologists and volunteers from around the world, who do the work, cheerfully, under marginal conditions. The research efforts under Helen have expanded to Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico and the Azores and now involve modern electronic monitoring to track migration routes. As everyone who works with her knows, she is a very special person and she has helped nurture, through her labors and perseverance, one of the great ornithological preservation efforts and data banks of our times. Helen is on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, and it is do to their continued support that this work was possible.

Show Notes:

Early years and how you became interested in the world of natural history.
Tell us about the two tern species found on Great Gull; it is for them that all these efforts have been expended.
Please give us the background on acquisition of Great Gull Island be the American Museum Natural History and the early re-colonization by terns.
When you started at Great Gull what were the conditions like and how many people where they’re in the early days.
Tell us about the data that is collected and the path the data travels to the database.
The data gleaned from years of tern research is hard science in its rawest form, what are some of the most interesting findings that have come from this work?
Describe a typical high season day on Great Gull Island.
Great Gull is not the only tern colony in the North East, what are some of the other important colonies and do they have research working on them?
Tell us about Esteban Bremer from the Fundacion Vida Silvestre Argentina and the connection to Great Gull.
There are also connections to Brazil and the Azores particularly related to Roseate Terns.
What advice would you give to young people interested in a career in the natural sciences?

Mentioned In Episode:

BCR 140 Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th Anniversery

Great Gull Island

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BirdCallsRadio Salutes Veterans

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 05:00:04 +0000

BirdCallsRadio salutes and honors those American Veterans and Fallen Soldiers who have served in the Armed Forces. Veterans Day, November 11, 2017.

Show Notes:

In his autobiography, Marching Along, John Philip Sousa writes that he composed the march on Christmas Day 1896. Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain. Licence: This media file is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 “COPYRIGHT BASICS” from the U.S. Copyright Office.

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BCR 107: Paul Baicich

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:00:36 +0000

Paul J. Baicich has been an active birder since his early teens in New York City. A former employee of the American Birding Association, he edited 14 of their “ABA Birdfinding Guides,” edited Birding, ABA’s bi-monthly magazine, and served as ABA’s Director of Conservation and Public Policy.

His concerns include an abiding interest in bird conservation and studies in the breeding biology of North American birds. In this last regard, he co-authored (with the late Colin Harrison) A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds (1997). Paul also has co-led a number of birding tours and workshops to Alaska. These Alaska destinations include the Aleutians, the Pribilofs, the Seward Peninsula, and St. Lawrence Island. He has also led tours to Cuba.

Among his many other activities, he has worked for the National Wildlife Refuge System on a consultant basis on issues of popular birding and parallel refuge receptiveness. In addition, Paul co-edits (with Wayne Petersen) the popular monthly Birding Community E-bulletin. Paul writes a regular column, “Quick Takes,” for Bird Watcher’s Digest, and he is an officer in the Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp. In 2014, Paul received the Ducks Unlimited “Wetland Conservation Achievement Award” in the category of Communications.

Paul is also one of the co-authors (with Margaret Barker and Carrol Henderson) of a book on the historic development of backyard bird feeding, Feeding Wild Birds in America: Culture, Commerce, and Conservation (Texas A&M University Press, 2015). He recently finished work on another co-authored book The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl with lead author Richard Crossley and Jessie Barry (Crossley Books, 2017).

Show Notes:

We recently interviewed Richard Crossley about his new Guidebook, “The Crossley ID Guide Waterfowl” that has been recently published. You are listed as a co-author.

How did your get involved in the project?
What was your role?
Please give us a brief summary of those features that you contributed.
Why “Waterfowl”? This guide seems focused on a view of birds from the perspective of waterfowl hunters. Why is this shift in perspective different from other guides?
How does it compare with Richard’s other books?
Who might be attracted to this book? Do you see this as a potential bridge between birders and hunters? Please elaborate.
Ducks Unlimited Canada has the distribution rights for Canada. We know that DU is seen as a conservation organization, what have they done? Why are they so effective
One important focus of this guide in on the food needed by waterfowl, and that this emphasis on food rather than habitat is a more enlightened perspective. Please help clarify the issue of habitat verse food as conservation concept.
How does the book connect enjoyment with conservation?
There are elements (sections) in this work that are not typical of field guides such as wing cut outs, how to make a nest box, and guidance on saving waterfowl and wetlands. Why this emphasis?
Why do you think the book is important, why did you do it now?
What has the response been… at least so far?

Mentioned In Episode:

Crossley ID Guide Series Website

Book Review: Reactions To The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds. First book in this series.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

To Support BirdCalllsRadio & Podcast DONATE NOW

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter and be part of something greater. and stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking here on BirdCallsRadio and scrolling to the bottom of the front page to sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

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BCR 106: Mark Garland, Monarch Monitoring Project

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 07:00:39 +0000

Mark Garland founded the Cape Charles, Virginia, Monarch butterfly research project in 1995. He is a prolific author with numerous works. Mark currently runs his own company, Garland Cunningham LLC which runs nature related tours, educational efforts and speaking engagements.

Mark teaches the Road Scholar “Cape May Birding” programs, is an instructor for two migration sessions at the Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine, and leads about a half dozen nature/birding tours every year. Mark is the current Director of the NJ Audubon Cape May Bird Observatory Monarch Monitoring Project, which studies monarch butterfly migration through Cape May Point, NJ.

Show Notes:

In 2015 you became the Director of the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May, New Jersey. Tell us what this is about and how you got here.
Tell us about the Monarch Butterfly, why is it so special?
We understand that most birds avoid monarchs, but some insects eat them. What’s going on?
Monarch behavior- Just how do Monarchs migrate south and then north again? What guides them or how do they navigate?
What is the goal of the The Monarch Monitoring Project MMP
How long has The Monarch Monitoring Project been going on
How do you conduct field research?
How do the small tags on the wings work? Tell us about tagging. Describe some significant returns.
What are the principles of butterfly gardening and how does this help Monarchs?
We’ve heard about Monarch declines. What the story?
What can the average person do to help Monarchs?
What’s the overall state of Monarchs today, what are the threats, and what needs improvements?

Mentioned In Episode:

NJ Audubon/Cape May Bird Observatory Monarch Monitoring Project

Hog Island Audubon Camp

Garland Cunningham LLC

BirdCallsRadio Additional Information:

To Support BirdCalllsRadio & Podcast DONATE NOW

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BCR 105: Richard Crossley

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 07:00:38 +0000

Richard Crossley is an internationally acclaimed birder, photographer and award winning author of ‘The Crossley ID Guide’ series. Crazy, wildly passionate, and driven are just a few of the words used to describe his love of birding and nature.

Born in Yorkshire, Richard first visited the USA as a 21 year old. He quickly fell in love with Cape May and its incredible bird migrations, and moved there for good shortly afterwards. After 20 years of hiding in the business world and raising his family (with wife Debra, Sophie, Sam’ and a dog – all blondes,) Richard co-authored the successful The Shorebird Guide. He quickly became obsessed with the newfound opportunities provided by digital technology and book design. The Crossley ID Guide series was created.

The Crossley ID Guides provide a new perspective on how we look at books and nature. Different from any book previously published, it makes the reader pay attention to shapes, patterns, behavior, and other details presented in this type of artwork. It pushes the reader to think about what they are seeing. Recognized with multiple awards, this series has created a movement for other wildlife guides to paint by pixels, and depict habitat, behavior, and wildlife in a more lifelike manner. These are books for anyone who loves nature.

Richard is also co-founder of the global birding initiative Pledge to Fledge, Race4Birds and The Cape May Young Birders Club. He served on the board of directors at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

Show Notes:

I’m struck by the some of the almost whimsical elements in your plates. The moose skedaddling out in the pond in Anchorage Alaska was noteworthy; these items are like presents for the observers who closely examines each one.
The mystery bird plates are particularly interesting and challenging at the same time.
Is your audience the same in this Crossley ID Waterfowl book as in the last 3 books in this series?
This book was is self-published by Crossley Books. Why did you choose this route?
Ducks Unlimited Canada has been given the distribution rights for Canada , why? What do they do right and what is missing?
The preface is revealing in that this book is deliberately designed to appeal to all who appreciate the natural world. Further it seeks to unite with a common vocabulary, these disparate groups, each with different focus, but who share common interests.
Please elaborate on the unique focus of this guide. You say that we are all on the same team. It aims to bring hunters, birders, city park watchers, and everyone else to see each other as one. It’s a celebration of waterfowl and the outdoors presented in a lifelike format so that everyone can relate to, and understand, it.
You call yourself and others who are interested in birds and waterfowl in particular hunters. How do you see this guide uniting the various parties?
One focus of this guide is on the food needed by waterfowl, and that this emphasis on food needs rather than habitat is a more enlightened perspective. Please help clarify the issue of habitat verse food as conservation concept.
There are elements (sections) in this work that are not typical of field guides such as wing cut outs, how to make a nest box, and guidance on saving waterfowl and wetlands.
RSPB and having ear of the Prime Minster of England.

Mentioned in the Episode:

Crossley ID Guide Series Website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Book Review: Reactions To The Crossley ID Guide! Eastern Birds. First book in this series.

To Support BirdCalllsRadio & Podcast DONATE NOW

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter and be part of something greater. and stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking here on BirdCallsRadio and scrolling to the bottom of the front page to sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

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BCR 104: Lucas Stephenson, Young Birder

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Sat, 30 Sep 2017 07:00:22 +0000

Lucas became interested in birding while on a backpacking trip at Point Reyes. One night a great horned owl perched outside his tent and called into the early morning hours, and was there to greet him when he opened the tent at daybreak. Since that moment he has taken a keen interest in observing birds. He has been inspired by his Uncle Tom Stephenson, who wrote the Warbler Guide; Lisa Hug a well known Bay Area birder who leads the Young Birders group called YAMS (Young Ancient Murrelets), and his Dad, a life-long birder who grew up watching birds with Arthur Allen and other avid birders from Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology.

Lucas is fascinated by bird behavior and how birds fit into their larger ecological community. Beyond observing birds, Lucas has become interested in bird art, photography as well. He has given a number of bird presentations in his school using photos he and his Dad have taken; and is scheduled to present at Napa-Solano Audubon sharing his experiences of birding in Kauai.

Lucas loves exploring new places and has birded extensively throughout Northern California. He has had many bird discoveries/firsts during the past 2 years, including the latest Fall record in the Bay Area of a Blackburnian Warbler (Sonoma – December 6, 2016), the 3^rd sighting of a Black-tailed Gull in Northern California, (Monterey – January 12, 2017), and recently the 1^st record of a Black-throated Green Warbler for Marin County in over 6 years, (Point Reyes – December 13, 2017). During the past 2 years, Lucas has observed over 400 species in Northern California. (Quite an accomplishment for an 11-year-old birder.)

Lucas utilizes Cornell’s eBird database to record all of his bird sightings. He also frequently reports to the North Bay Birds section of Birding List Digest to assist other Bay Area birders in locating uncommon and rare species. He regularly participates in local Napa-Solano Audubon and Redwood Regional Ornithological Society Field Trips where he is well known for his keen eyesight, near photographic memory of bird field marks, and knowledge of bird songs and call notes.

Show Notes:

How did you get interested in birding?
I heard that this past week Lucas, you discovered a rare eastern migrant for Northern California, a Black-throated Green Warbler at Point Reyes. Tell us more about this.
What are some other fun experiences you have had birding?
Tell us about YAMS, Young Ancient Murrelets.
Lucas, I understand that you are fascinated by bird behavior and how birds fit into their larger ecological community. What got you interested in this and what conclusions have you made so far.
You have recently become interested in bird art, photography, audio recording. Can you tell us more about your extended passions?
Please share your experiences of birding in Kauai.
What is it about birds that interests you?
You have had several rare bird discoveries during the past 2 years, including the recent Fall record in the Bay Area of a Blackburnian Warbler (Sonoma – December 6, 2016), the 3^rd sighting of a Black-tailed Gull in Northern California, (Monterey – January 12, 2017), and recently the 1^st record of a Black-throated Green Warbler for Marin County in over 6 years, (Point Reyes – December 13, 2016). What skills do you use to make such observations?
How many birds have you seen.
What tools do you use to record your observations and why is this important?
You have certain skills that make you an above average birder, what are they, and when did you become aware of them?

Mentioned in this episode:
Redwood Regional Ornithological Society:
Point Blue Conservation Science
Napa-Solano Audubon

The Warbler Guide

Condor Spotter

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BCR 103: Mike Parr, Part 2

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 07:00:47 +0000

Mike J. Parr, President of the American Bird Conservancy has a lifelong devotion to wildlife conservation, a deep understanding of the threats facing birds in the Americas, and a genuine passion for ABC’s mission, including its science-based, solutions-oriented approach.

Parr joined ABC in 1996 after graduating from the University of East Anglia and working for BirdLife International. He is the author or co-author of three books: Parrots: A Guide to the Parrots of the World, Important Bird Areas in the United States, and The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation, along with numerous articles and papers. An avid birder, Parr lives in Washington, D.C., with his family.

American Bird Conservancy is dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, we take on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

Show Notes:

Tell us about connectivity and full life-cycle management and how does the example of BirdScapes/investments in agroforestry relate?
Why there is a need to increase the provisions of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act? What is the status?
A gaze in the crystal ball looks bleak, What do you think the future holds for birds? A lot of people are worried that climate change and human population increases will destroy our environment.
What can we learn from the British approach?
Why is there a need for good regulatory environment with the voice of the people speaking up?
What lessons can be drawn from the Papahānaumokuākea and sea level rise, that is these albatrosses – the need for high islands.
What is going on with conservation in the current administration – the Sage-Grouse situation, chlorpyrifos, Santa Ana to name a few
Some conservation topics are Management plans – NRCS and states, the EPA situation and NWRefuge integrity – public lands in general. What is the underlying issue?
What are some of the main habitat issues east and west in the United States, and what can be done about them?
Some topics are Diversity of eastern forest habitats, Loss of ranches to crops, Water issues and riparian forests, Fire management, NRCS and farm bill incentives – grazing rotation, fence marking, conifer removal, prairie restoration N, and S
What are some of the ABC efforts currently underway that supports this mission
You are a birder since a young child; tell us how you became interested, and what are your favorite birds.
It may seem at times overwhelming. What can an individual do on a personal level to help stem the tide?

Mentioned in this episode:

BCR 101: Mike Parr, President, American Conservancy Part 1

American Bird Conservancy

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BCR 102: Pete Dunne, Kevin Karlson

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 07:02:55 +0000

Pete Dunne Is the founding director of the Cape May Bird Observatory and now serves as New Jersey Audubon’s birding ambassador. He lives in Mauricetown, New Jersey.

Kevin Karlson is an accomplished birder, tour leader, and wildlife photographer. He is a co-author of The Shorebird Guide and the Petersen Reference Guide to Birding By Impression.

Show Notes:

I’ll ask each of you to describe your role in this impressive book. Pete as the don of this sit-down I’ll ask you to respond first.

An owl, or a shrike or even a warbler is not a “bird of prey” even though they actively hunt their prey, what is the origin of the concept, “bird of prey?”
This book appears to be limited to birds found in North America as defined by the ABA, tell us about the boundaries, and why they were chosen?
Tell us about the incubation of this book, where did it venture from a good idea, to hey we may have a book here?
How did you go about nurturing and selling the idea to a publisher?
Tell us about the writing process and photo production, through to the publishing process. What were you trying to achieve? What goals and standards did you set for yourselves?
Pete, you have been interested in raptors your whole career, what gap, in the existing literature, does this occupy and what compelled you to write another book?
Kevin, you have worked on many other books also, how did you define the role you took with the photography for this book? The credit implies that you processed the photos and contributed many of your own photos, what does processed mean? There were several other fine photographers who contributed to book also, who are they and how did they contribute?
This is a mighty fine book, it has the makings of a series. I here rumblings that you are considering another project on the bird family. Can you share any details on this project at this time? And 2, If you do one on the gulls, we will be looking forward to your definitive accounts to sort out the Iceland Gull and similar species once and for all.

CONTEST: Answer the question at the end of this show to win a signed copy of the book “The Birds Of Prey” donated by BirdCallsRadio. The winner will be picked out of a hat at random from all correct responses received by Thursday 9/14/17.

You must include Answer, Full Name, Email, Address, Phone.
Email your answer to birdcallsradio@gmail.com

Mentioned In This Episode:

Addendum: BCR 144: Gulls Simplified

Feather Edge Optics Books

New Jersey Audubon

The Fat Robin

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BCR 101: Mike Parr, President, American Bird Conservancy

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 07:00:36 +0000

Show Notes:

What is the mission of ABC?
What would you like to see ABC achieve in the next five years?
There is much discussion about the potential extinction crisis for many bird species. Tell us about the case for native birds of Hawaii. What have we lost and why, what birds are on the edge and why we should care about them?
Why is fencing, mosquitos, invasive species a problem and what can be done immediately?
How do biodiversity indicators and bird tourism mesh together?
Why should we be concerned about the changing character of bird migration?
How can modern bird study tools helping us understand what is happening and plan for remedial action?
Why are stop-over sites and wintering habitats critical?

Mentioned in this episode:

BCR 103: Mike Parr, Part 2

American Bird Conservancy

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BCR 100: Victor Emanuel

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 07:00:03 +0000

BirdCallsRadio’s 100th Episode!

Featuring Victor Emanuel

is our fifth guest in this series called

“For The Record, Legacy Interviews”

Victor Emanuel started birding in Texas 69 years ago at the age of eight. His travels have taken him to all the continents, with his areas of concentration being Texas, Arizona, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. He is the founder and compiler for 50 years of the record-breaking Freeport Christmas Bird Count and served a term as president of the Texas Ornithological Society. Birds and natural history have been a major focus throughout his life. He derives great pleasure from seeing and hearing birds and sharing with others these avian sights and sounds, both the common ones and the more unusual ones. He initiated the first birding camps for young people and considers that one of his greatest achievements. Victor holds a B.A. in zoology and botany from the University of Texas and an M.A. in government from Harvard. In 1993, he was the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Excellence in Birding Award, given by the Houston Audubon Society in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to careful observation, education, and addition to the body of avian knowledge. In 2004, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He is a past board member of the Nature Conservancy of Texas, the National Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In May 2017, the University of Texas Press published his memoir, One More Warbler, A Life with Birds.

Show Notes:

Texas birding community Edgar Kincaid gave you a nickname.
March of 1959 you saw a bird that you describe as the “The bird of my life!”
In 1976. You, VENT, literally invented birding eco-touring, what was your thinking at the startup?
You talked Roger Tory Peterson into co-leading a trip for you.
Summer birding camps for kids.
You saw a Horned Guan in El Triunfo, Mexico.
Friends with the legendary Ted Parker from the early days.
1985 Big Day” in Texas that broke a record and recorded 235 species in one day.
Adventures with Peter Matthiessen a valued friend.
A quest with Peter Matthiessen to see all the species of Cranes in the world in one three week period.
Chartered a vessel for an Attu tour.
Your home on the Bolivar Peninsula is named “Warbler’s Roost”. Tell us about your obsession with this family of birds. What were some of the most impressive warbler fallouts that you have witnessed?
Your autobiography, “One More Warbler, A life with Birds” has just been released.

Mentions In This Show:

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT)

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Help Support BirdCallsRadio DONATE NOW

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BCR 099: Debi Shearwater

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 07:00:01 +0000

Debi Love Shearwater, Shearwater Journeys, Inc.

Debi Love Shearwater is a world traveler well known for establishing Shearwater Journeys Inc, a company which has offered pelagic trips from California since 1976. Many seabird records new to the USA and North America have been found on her trips. She has authored several popular articles about seabirds and worked with EarthWatch on a radio tagging project for blue whales at Monterey Bay. Over 65,000 nature lovers have joined her at sea. She has visited all 7 continents and scores of remote islands where seabirds breed. She enthusiastically leads to many unique areas, including Antarctica, the Russian Far East, and Galapagos Islands. Debi is a past member of the ABA Board of Directors. Debi is very involved in conservation projects for the ashy storm-petrel and tricolored blackbird. She lives in Hollister, California where she can see her most favorite bird every day, the Golden Eagle.

Show Notes:

Early days of Shearwater Journey’s
How did you come by the handle, “Shearwater”?
Challenges faced while observing distant & possibly rare species, how can a birder prepare for a pelagic?
Modern tools and technology, help make your tours more productive.
Data gathered on seabirds and other marine life sightings stream to research organizations?
“Shearwater Decision.”
Particular observations come to mind as the most memorable.

Mentions In this Episode:

Shearwater Journeys Inc

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to our podcast for Mac users at Apple iTunes Podcasts, PC users at Stitcher, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

Joel Greenberg on Passenger Pigeon | KGM Article

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BCR 098: Joel Greenberg, Passenger Pigeon’s

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 07:00:55 +0000

Joel Greenberg is the author of “A Feathered River across the Sky: THe Passenger Flight To Extinction”. Pigeon’s Joel stops by to talk about the factors that lead to the demise of Passenger Pigeons. Without a doubt, there are many lessons to be gleaned from this remarkable recount of a bird species, which went from possibly the most abundant bird on earth in the 1800’s to none in 1912 when Martha the last of her species died in 1912. These questions will give you an opportunity to share the story of the Passenger Pigeon and hopefully you will fill in bits that are important, but not specifically mentioned.

Show Notes:

What drove you to the subject Passenger Pigeon and human-caused extinctions?
How did the book “A Feathered River Across the Sky come to be?
What were the obstacles that needed to be tamed to locate primary research material on the subject? b. What were the most productive avenues of research, and what elements proved frustrating?
You draw on account from the likes of John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson to describe the activities of the Passenger Pigeon. In an account by Alexander Wilson, he estimated that one flock he saw contained 2 billion, 230 million, 272 hundred thousand birds. Following in later years you draw on the accounts of Simon Pokagon, certainly less well known today than the early naturalists. Tell us in broad sweeps what they saw, and as important, what we have lost.
What is known of the biology of the species? b. such as what did they eat, where did they nest, why did they fly in immense flocks? Can you give a summary of there life cycle?
What were the most important factors that lead to the demise of Passenger Pigeons?
Please fill us in on the scope of the market for Pigeons.
Tell us about what is known about the final decades of the Passenger Pigeon. There were many forces in play, agriculture, railroads, telegraph, the seemingly limitless supply of birds was dwindling. How did these years play out, what is known about the last sightings of major flocks and then the last sightings of the final survivors?
What conservation observations were made at the time and what steps if any were taken to protect the species?
As a chronicle of a major extinction, how did the research and writing process affect you?
What wisdom would you hope the listener would come away after hearing the story?
Since final manuscript, have you turned up anything interesting that would have made the book had you know about it?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Joel Greenberg

Project Passenger Pigeon

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BirdCallsRadio Celebrates 100th Show

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 12:14:54 +0000

BirdCallsRadio Celebrates 100^th Show!

Connecticut – We are excited to announce BirdCallsRadio’s 100^th episode is coming up on August 24^th 2017. We will have a special guest for this episode, for now, we are keeping this guest under our feathers. So let’s celebrate! Please join us.

Needless to say, BCR would not be possible without the extremely generous support provided by the virtual who’s who of the American birding community who have made the time available for an in depth interview or two. These interviews have been designed to share their contributions with the birding and natural history community across the nation, and yes, around the world. Thanks are also due to those organizations who have supported BCR through an advertisement. These two support elements combine to take this good idea into a weekly reality. My appreciation for this is beyond measure.

Would you like to be a part of this wonderful celebration, and help us keep the momentum going? If so, please considering advertising with us, either through a print or radio spots advertisement with BirdCallsRadio?

BirdCallsRadio has available weekly online & audio spot advertising on our website and podcast. Do you have a product or service that appeals to the birders, and others interested in conservation and the natural world? Your advertisement will be heard and seen in local, regional, national and worldwide markets long after the show has aired; through BCR archives, Social media, BCR iTunes, Stitcher & other podcast directories supporting all MAC & PC platforms + Mobil.

Our current run demonstrates that we are executing on our plan to produce 48 shows in a year, which equals 12 shows a quarter. The shows air on Thursdays. We request that all advertisers supply completed online print logos in Jpeg 300 X 228 format and completed radio spots in wav or mp3 file format.

If your interested, please request our BCR Media package for our advertising rates on print or radio spots you prefer by contacting mardi@birdcallsradio.com or phone, USA 1-203-846-0359. We request payment in full prior to placement. Credit Card Payments are available online through BirdCallsRadio website or directly at our office.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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SHARP The Saltmarsh Habitat & Avian Research Program

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BCR 097: Chris Elphick, Saltmarsh Sparrows

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 07:00:13 +0000

Chris Elphick is an Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut; including a conservation biologist, an applied ecologist, an ornithologist, with research interests that span in the areas of behavioral, population, community and landscape ecology. Most of Chris’s research has focused on aquatic species that occur in wetland or agricultural habitats but has also worked in tropical forest, the boreal zone, and the open ocean. The overriding goal that unites much of Chris’s work is understanding how best ecologists can guide management decisions so as to reconcile the conservation of biological diversity with other human activities.

We know that this is the busy season for birds and researchers. Right now in marshes across New England, Salt Marsh sparrows built nests, attended young and lost nests due to tides and storms. This little bird is also engaged in species critical battle with profound lessons for us all.

Show Notes:

Audubon had a headline last year “ The Saltmarsh Sparrow is Creeping Dangerously Close to extinction.” What’s the story behind this?
Who are you affiliated with, and who provides support?
I understand that nests of the bird are hard to find, how do you find the nest and band birds for study?
How does nesting tie into Climate Change/Global warming?
What has been observed and what are the issues from your perspective, there is much rhetoric on all sides of climate issues.
Tell us about the life and habits of this bird
How did you come study these birds?
What conservation efforts have been tried? What works?
Who else is doing significant work with these birds? What is SHARP?
What does studying these birds tell us about other species?”

Mentioned In This Episode:

BCR 110: Connecticut Bird Atlas

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Help Support BirdCallsRadio thru a DONATE NOW OR ADVERTISING

Roger Tory Peterson Institute

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BCR 096: Twan Leenders, President, Roger Tory Peterson Institute

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 07:00:47 +0000

Twan Leenders assumed the position as President and CEO of Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History RTPI in 2012. Guided by Peterson’s example, Leenders actively studies natural history and strives to make nature accessible to everyone. Twan reccieved his doctoral degree from the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands and has more than 20 years experience as a conservation biologist, college professor, researcher, author, and nature photographer.

Show Notes:

Tells us about your multi faceted background as a professional biologist, teacher and expedition researcher.
I understand that you discovered a species of Salamander.
What is the Roger Tory Peterson Institute RTPI, how was it started? What is the mission?
Tell us about Roger Tory Peterson’s legacy.
How did you become involved with the Institute?
What kinds of programs are offered? Can one visit the institute?
What is your current role there, how do you carry out the charter mandate of the RTPI?
Tell us about the “Action Plan.”
Tell us about Project Wild America and youth ambassadors?
What other active programs do you have? I read about a SUNY Fredonia Professor whose groundbreaking research on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes.
I understand that there is an interest in digitizing the Peterson papers to facilitate study.
What is the connection with Connecticut based projects?
What advice would you give to young people interested in a career in the natural sciences?

Mentioned in This episode:

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to our podcast for Mac users at Apple iTunes Podcasts, PC users at Stitcher, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

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BCR 095: Deborah Rivel & Kellye Rosenheim

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 07:00:02 +0000

Deborah Rivel and Kellye Rosenheim are Co-Authors of the book “Birdwatching in New York City and on Long Island.”

Deborah Rivel is an award-winning independent wildlife film producer/director who has been interested in birds, wildlife, and their conservation most of her life. Since 2004, she has been creating nature-focused products, including the first Peterson Field Guides apps for iPhone and ringtones for mobile devices through her company Wildtones. Raised in New Jersey, she is a longtime resident of NYC and nearby birding hotspot, Cape May, New Jersey. Deb is a board member of Audubon New York and Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s avian cognition research project, The Alex Foundation. An avid bird photographer who regularly explores the wilds of NYC and the New Jersey beaches for subjects, she has traveled to six continents in search of birds.

Kellye Rosenheim grew up in Louisiana where she was surrounded by all manner of wildlife, but took up birdwatching in New York City’s Central Park. She has led walks for the Nature Conservancy and New York City Audubon where she now works as Director of Development.

Show Notes:

How good is the bird watching in New York City?
How did you decide to include the five burrows.
Take us through one of your entries.
Photographs add a nice touch to the book.
beautifully detailed maps.
Public transportation in NYC plays a big role.
As conservationists, what concerns you the most about the area covered in the book?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Birdwatching in New York City and on Long Island

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 094: Greg Miller

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 07:00:47 +0000

Greg Miller has been birding for over 50 years and have birded in all 50 states and much of Canada. And I have always been smitten by the birding bug. I love to get outside and go find birds. Every trip out is an adventure!

In 1998 I zigzagged across the continent–traveling 130,000 miles while trying to hold down a full time job at a nuclear power plant–to try to see as many species of birds in one calendar year as possible. It was an incredible experience passing the 700-species mark—an achievement many birders aspire to in a lifetime. But there was competition.

Two other birders, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin also did Big Years the same year as me and also broke the 700-mark. Our competitive quests are documented in the 2004 non fiction book, The Big Year, by Pulitzer Prize winning author Mark Obmascik. And unbelievably, Twentieth Century Fox made a full feature motion picture inspired by the book! It has A-list actors Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson and a really strong support cast. It was produced by Ben Stiller and directed by David Frankel (who also did Marley & Me and The Devil Wears Prada).

Show Notes:

Famous Birdwatcher, movie”The Big Year”Jack Black portrays Greg Miller in the movie.
Windex for The Soul
The Big year
The Miller Scale
The Impatient Birders Guide to North America

Mentioned In This Episode:

Greg Miller Birding Website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to BirdCallsRadio iTunes

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BCR 093: Laura Erickson

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 09:00:23 +0000

Laura has been blathering about birds since she memorized the “Bird” entry in her family’s encyclopedia when she was a preschooler. She whistled in a cardinal when she was very little, and once saw a whole flock of warblers in the tree outside her bedroom window, though she thought they must be the angels of canaries that died saving miners’ lives.

Laura didn’t know how to identify birds until after her mother-in-law gave her a field guide and binoculars for Christmas in 1974. By the late ’70s she was subjecting her middle-school students in Madison, Wisconsin, and readers of her occasional columns in The Wisconsin State Journal to endless stories about birds. She moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and started producing “For the Birds,” a radio spot now airing on independent public and community radio stations from Oregon to New York, in 1986. “For the Birds” is the longest-running radio program about birds in the United States.

Laura is currently a contributing editor of BirdWatching magazine, author of eleven books, including 101 Ways to Help Birds, the American Birding Association Field Guide to Minnesota Birds, and the National Geographic Pocket Guide to North American Birds, and she collaborates on projects with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where she served as science editor from 2008–2010.

Laura served as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator focused primarily on songbirds and especially Common Nighthawks while she was a stay-at-home mother in the 80s and 90s; has counted raptors and songbirds at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and other sites in Duluth, Minnesota; and studied nighthawk digestion as part of an ill-fated Ph.D project. Her professor, Dr. Gary Duke (co-founder of The Raptor Center) told her she was the “world authority on nighthawk digestion” even as he mentioned that no one else particularly wanted that distinction.

An avid birder, Laura saw 604 species (593 countable by ABA rules) during her “2013 Conservation Big Year,” and until recently was listed in the top ten overall on the ABA “Listing Central” for Lower 48 Big Years.

Show Notes:

First and only woman recipient of the American Birding Association’s prestigious Roger Tory Peterson Award.
Your interest in birds and what were the formative events from your early days.
Widely published author of eleven books about birds.
Favorite and hardest book to write.
Currently a contributing editor of BirdWatching Magazine.
Tell us about the “Nighthawk digestion” episode.
Longest-running “For The Bird” radio program in the USA for many public radio stations for 31 years, since 1986.
The 2013 Conservation Big Year.
PIP the birding dog.
Challenges you have faced or still face in the science and birding world.
Words of wisdom do you have for women who share your interests and want to make a contribution to the field.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Laura Erickson Website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to BirdCallsRadio iTunes

BCR 165: Kenn Kaufman, A Season on the Wind, Inside The World Of Spring Migration.

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Green Alert

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 15:31:05 +0000

We are excited to showcase another NEW series called “Women In Conservation.” I am honored to have as our first distinguished guest in this series Laura Erickson who will be joining me this week on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Laura is the first and only woman recipient of the American Birding Association’s prestigious Roger Tory Peterson Award. Laura has been talking about birds since she memorized the “Bird” entry in her family’s encyclopedia when she was a preschooler. She whistled in a cardinal when she was very little. Click on BirdCallsRadio Check out our Guest Appearances for our upcoming & past guests.

We been working non-stop to bring the BCR community a fantastic lineup of exciting guests continuing throughout this year, airing weekly, right here on BirdCallsRadio. You can listen to all our all our shows by streaming directly from the BCR website. All BCR Podcasts are archived here. BCR shows are also available on Mac via iTunes and Android/PC by Stitcher platforms if you choose. You can easily sign up with just a click through our website on the right hand side column.

What better way to enjoy the best podcast about wild birds and conservation than by listening to our podcast anywhere, anytime and anyplace. We at BCR have continued to develop a unique voice, worldwide, in all matters relating to wild birds and conservation. There is simply no other media outlet with the same broad scope and in depth content anywhere!

In addition to our new series called – Women In Conservation, the Know Your Bird Calls segment is returning, so try your ear on the next song and figure out who the call belongs too. We are planning Swag Give A-ways so stay tuned in.

Make sure you sign up for both our E-Newsletter and either of the podcasts platforms that you choose, you will receive updates automatically so you won’t miss a single show or article along the way.

Guests and co-hosts Inquiries are now being considered, and bookings for future shows are ongoing. If you are interested in joining the growing line-up please contact us for consideration below.

Sponsor/Advertising Opportunities are available now for website ads, radio spots including Affiliate Partnerships. Advertising. Please consider supporting BCR through Donate.

For more information about BirdCallsRadio Show, Contact us at www.birdcallsradio.com, call (203) 846-0359 or email mardi@birdcallsradio.com

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BCR 092: Kenn Kaufman, Author & Naturalist

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 07:00:05 +0000

Kenn Kaufman burst onto the North American birding scene as a teenager in the 1970s, hitch-hiking all over the continent in pursuit of birds, an adventure later chronicled in his cult-classic book Kingbird Highway.

After working as a leader of nature tours to all seven continents, he made a transition into a career as a freelance writer, artist, and naturalist. Kenn has been a field editor for Audubon magazine since 1997, and now writes a regular column for the Audubon website, “Kenn Kaufman’s Notebook,” illustrating it with his own drawings and paintings.

In 2005 he moved from Arizona to Ohio, where his wife Kimberly is executive director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. His current projects include painting portraits of birds and writing a narrative account of spring migration. Kenn is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, and has received the American Birding Association’s lifetime achievement award twice—a distinction shared only with the late Chan Robbins.

Show Notes:

Your early days and origins of your interest in all things birds
“Kingbird Highway” was a defining event for you
Your early career, tell us what paths you took to develop your particular skills.
Artist or illustrator?
Field Guide to Birds
The entire Field Guide series followed
Self funded the Spanish Language edition of your Bird Guide
What issues do you lend your voice to these days?
Is birdwatching or birding still fun?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Kaufman Field Guides

Guía de campo Kaufman a las aves de Norteamérica

Black Swamp Bird Observatory – Donate Directly to the Guia

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BCR 091: Biggest Week Festival 2017 Snippets

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 25 May 2017 10:30:29 +0000

On today’s show, I am reporting live from several different locations in Northwest Ohio. This area is a world renowned migrant trap during spring migration of songbirds. Many people flock here to get their fill of warblers and other little gems at this time of year. I am also attending the Biggest Week in American Birding Festival, now in it’s eight year, that takes place at the same time. This festival is hosted by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, under the guidance of Executive Director, Kimberly Kaufman and an incredible team of staff and numerous volunteers.

Many people from around the world agreed to be interviewed by me for this episode of BirdCallsRadio and they tell us why they come to this area for this segment called Biggest Week Snippets.

Plus, I look forward to next year’s Biggest Week 2018 that will take place from May 4-13, 2018.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who took time from birding and were kind enough to stop and share their thoughts with me for episode #091 on BirdCallsRadio.

Show Notes:

Biggest Week Birding Festival & Magee Marsh Interview Moments in Northwest Ohio.

Marie from PA
Richie & Diana Clarke from Ottawa Canada
Loylia & Chuck Estis from Tenn
Barb Stumin from Florida
Moushanadi from India, now living in Michigan.
Tom & Mike from OH
Sandra from Ontario Canada
Laura Guerard OH

Mentioned In This Episode:

BCR 131: Biggest Week 2018 Moments

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BCR 090: Joan Collins, Adirondacks

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 18 May 2017 07:00:36 +0000

Joan Collins is President of the New York State Ornithological Association and Editor of New York Birders. She is also Vice-President of Northern New York Audubon, past President of High Peaks Audubon Society, and past member of the Board of Directors for the Audubon Council of New York State.

Joan is the President of Adirondack Avian Expeditions & Workshops, LLC, leads birding field trips year-round, is a New York State licensed guide, an Adirondack 46er, and has climbed all the Adirondack fire tower peaks. She is a frequent guest speaker and teaches classes on ornithology topics. Joan has published several journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on wildlife and conservation topics in various publications including New York Birders, Conservationist, and The Kingbird.

She authored several warbler species accounts, in addition to serving as a peer reviewer for The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State. Mountain Lake PBS, Adirondack Explorer, and Adirondack Life magazine have featured pieces on Joan, and her regular birding segments with Todd Moe can be heard on North Country Public Radio.

Show Notes:

Where did birding lead you?
What are the advantages of ear birding
You are fascinated by bird sounds and their behaviors, including migratory behavior.
Dramatic changes in the Adirondacks from a warming climate.
The Adirondacks region is important for warbler breeding.
The annual census of the winter food crop.
Some of the effective conservation measures underway in the Adirondacks today.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Joan Collins Website: Adirondack Avian Expeditions

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to BirdCallsRadio iTunes

BCR 147: Patrick Lynch, Cape Cod

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BCR 089: Patrick Lynch, Long Island Sound

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 11 May 2017 04:00:49 +0000

Patrick J. Lynch is an author, illustrator, photographer, and artist. Lynch retired from Yale University after 45 years as an interactive media designer, medical illustrator, biomedical and scientific photographer, video producer, a director of media and communications departments, and a designer of interactive multimedia teaching, training, and informational software and Web sites. Lynch is the author or co-author of eight books published by Yale University Press, including his latest book this year 2017, “A Field Guide to Long Island Sound.” A comprehensive guide to the environmental history, natural environments, plants, and animals of the Sound.

Lynch retired from Yale University after 45 years as an interactive media designer, medical illustrator, biomedical and scientific photographer, video producer, and for the past 30 years a director of media and communications departments, and a designer of interactive multimedia teaching, training, and informational software and Web sites.

Show Notes:

How does this book relate to birdwatchers.
Fascinated historically by how the sound was created by glaciers.
What’s the most surprising thing we should know about Long Island Sound?
Primary environmental challenges to Long Island Sound.
What impact would you like to see for your book?
Why do you think people aren’t more conscious of the Sound as a great natural environment.

Mentioned In This Episode:

If your interested on more about Partick J Lynch and his new book “A Field Guide to Long Island Sound” please go to Patrick Lynch’s Website: Coast Field Guides

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BCR 088: Deborah Cramer Author, The Narrow Edge

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 04 May 2017 07:00:51 +0000

Deborah Cramer, Author, The Narrow Edge at Wingersheek Beach in Gloucester, MA. © Shawn G. Henry.

Deborah Cramer, a visiting scholar at MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative, Deborah lives with her family at the edge of a salt marsh in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she eagerly awaits the return of migrating birds in the spring. She’s the author of Great Waters, a natural history of the Atlantic (W.W. Norton), and Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water Our World, the companion to the Ocean Hall at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. The Narrow Edge, her most recent book, received the 2016 Rachel Carson Book Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists, the 2016 Best Book Award from the National Academies of Science, and the 2016 Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center, honoring “the power of writing to change hearts and minds”.

Show Notes:

This is your third book, how does it rank in your mind with the others?
How did you come up with the title of the book?
Why are the Red Knot Shorebird/Horseshoe crabs the new canaries in a coal mine.
You describe the migration stops of the Red Knot rungs on a ladder.
Review the story of the Red Knot and the Horseshoe crab and their connection.
Does losing one more bird matter?
The Ghost Trail
You seem to maintain an overall positive outlook about what could be taken as a profoundly hopeless series of events. Can you tell use why?
Challenges that you had to overcome to write this book?
In your travels to research and report this story, What were the biggest surprises, or most memorable?

Mentioned In This Episode:

Deborah Cramer website

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

BirdCallsRadio ON THE GO! Subscribe & listen to our podcast for Mac, PC & Android users at Apple Podcasts; PC users at Stitcher, Google Play. Including Mac & PC for Spotify and iHeartRadio on any device automatically so you won’t miss an episode; and please leave us a rating and review if you would be so kind! We appreciate it!

Subscribe to our FREE eNewsletter and be part of something greater. Stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking here on BirdCallsRadio and scrolling to the bottom and sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

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Western Warbler Wander

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 17:38:36 +0000

It’s that time of year again. We considered that if one is going to experience the joys of spring migration, we needed to start early and get to the places where they can be found. As we have seen many of neotropical wood warblers that frequent the United States, we elected to go for the ones that still eluded us.

We audaciously set out for Arizona to locate some of the MIA warblers and to do BCR field interviews and guest planning along the way. A road trip seemed to be the best way and The Jeep was christened “The Warbler Wagon” for the excursion. We drove through 13 states in three days to get to the sky islands of S. E. Arizona which was our starting point; next was the Edwards Plateau of Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Coast; Kentucky and onto Ohio for the Biggest Week.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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BCR 087: Lisa White, Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:00:06 +0000

Lisa A. White is an executive editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In addition to the Peterson Field Guide series and the Kaufman Field Guide series, she has edited books by Pete Dunne, Lang Elliott, Tim Gallagher, Bill Thompson III, Scott Weidensaul, and Julie Zickefoose, to name just a few.

She completed the MassAudubon Birder’s Certificate Program in 2015.

She enjoys representing HMH at various birding festivals throughout the year; stop by and say hi if you’re at one!

Lisa lives in the Boston area with her husband, two sons, one dog, and two indoor cats.

Show Notes:

Your current station at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
What exactly does an Executive Editor do?
Major steps in the creation of a non fiction title.
Preparing the material and then seeking a publisher.
Difficulties an author, working with a publisher, must overcome.
Obstacles the author/editor team must overcome.
What role author agents play in the publishing process.
Co-Editor, Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White, your 2^nd book.
What great subject is still awaiting its author?
How have digital outlets impacted your business?
Potential for growth in the digital marketplace.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to BirdCallsRadio Apple Podcast

The World Series of Birding

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BCR 086: Pete Dunne; 2nd For The Record, Legacy Interview™ Series

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 10:00:40 +0000

When he was seven years old, Pete Dunne was presented with two instruments that would define his life. One was a pair of binoculars; the other a book—a book about birds. One brought intimacy; the other knowledge and through them the woodlands behind his suburban home became a portal that opened onto a world of discovery and wonders.

Pete Dunne uses his talents and energy to make the natural world real for others through his twelve books. He’s latest title includes Birds of Prey.

A field birder with an international reputation, he has served on the board of the American Birding Association and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. An authority on the optical needs of birders he has served as a marketing and product advisor to Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski Optik, Nikon, Bausch and Lomb and others.

Dunne takes time to lead an every Monday morning bird walk in season, and in Autumn assist with the Cape May Hawk Count—the count he established 35 years ago. “It keeps me grounded in what is real and what is important,” he explains.

He is also the founder of, and a 33-year veteran of the World Series of Birding. Called “The Worlds Greatest Natural Treasure Hunt,” the annual event attracts over 100 teams and has raised over $9,000,000 for conservation.

In recognition of this event, and for “life time achievement” promoting the cause of birding, Dunne was awarded the American Birding Association’s Roger Tory Peterson Award in 2001. Other awards include the EPA Environmental Protection Award, Governor’s Conference on Tourism Environmental Award and the 1991 Winchester Good News Hunting Writer’s Contest 1^st prize.

When not working as New Jersey Audubon’s Ambassador of Birding, writing, traveling, or birding; Dunne spends his time with wife Linda and the couple’s Labrador retriever, Raven in the riverside hamlet of Mauricetown, NJ.

Show Notes:

Get “into” birding
Unheated porch in Cape May Point
Founder of The World Series of Birding.
Part of a not-yet-completed four-book series.
Suffered a debilitating stroke, what has this taught you?
Birding Ambassador for the New Jersey Audubon Society.
Are you a bird watcher or a birder?
Pete Dunne, the hunter.
Final take away.

Mentioned In This Episode:

New Jersey Audubon

Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO)

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to our podcast for Mac users at Apple iTunes Podcasts, PC users at Stitcher, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!

BCR 104: Lucas Stephenson, Young Birder

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BCR 085: Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle; The Warbler Guide

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 16:11:24 +0000

Both Tom and Scott are Co-Authors of The Warbler Guide Book and The Warbler Guide App. The Warbler Guide and App are published by Princeton University Press and recently won the National Outdoor Book Award. The Warbler Guide App just won the 2015. Design Award for AAUP Book, Jacket and Journal Show.

Tom Stephenson has been birding since he was a kid under the tutelage of Dr. Arthur Allen of Cornell University. His articles and photographs are in museums and many publications including Birding, Birdwatcher’s Digest, Handbook of the Birds and Handbook of the Mammals of the World, and Guide to the Birds of SE Brazil.

Tom has lectured and guided many groups across the US as well as in Asia, where he trained guides for the government of Bhutan. He has donated many recordings of African and Eastern Himalayan rarities and other species to Cornell’s Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds.

He was on Zeiss’s digiscoping team for the World Series of Birding and in 2011 his team won the World Series Cape Island Cup. Tom and team also hold the US record for a Photo Big Day, capturing 208 species on camera in a 24-hour period.

Scott Whittle has 20 years of experience as a professional photographer and educator. His B.A. in Literature from Northwestern University and M.F.A. in Photography from the School of Visual Arts reflect his passions for writing and photography, and his love of learning and exploration has taken him to over 30 countries and all but four U.S. States.

He is a one-time Big Year record holder for New York State, his and Tom’s team holds the U.S. Photo Big Day record. Scott’s work has been published in a wide variety of well-known newspapers, magazines and other media outlets. After an extensive photography career in New York City, he now lives and works in Cape May, N.J.

Show Notes:

How the Warbler Guide Book came to be.
Understanding visual ID and sound ID
Topography of birds.
Show birds as seen in the field.
Learning & understanding audio.
Complimentary Mac & PC App with the Book.
Surprise Product Announcement!

Mentioned In This Episode:

The Warbler Guide & App

BCR 168: BirdGenie App

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

BirdCallsRadio iTunes

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BCR 084: Patrick Comins, Bird Conservation

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 15:00:43 +0000

Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut

^{Patrick Comins is Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Connecticut}^{and has worked in the bird conservation arena for the last 20 years. He began his}^{career at the McKinney NWR, conducting biological surveys for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. He has}^{been with Audubon Connecticut as the Director of Bird Conservation for Connecticut since 2000,}^{overseeing Connecticut’s Important Bird Areas and other conservation programs, including the}^{Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. He is a former president of the Connecticut Ornithological}^{Association and was the 2007 recipient of their Mabel Osgood Wright Award. He has written several}^{articles on bird conservation and identification for the Connecticut Warbler and is a founding member}^{of the Connecticut Forestlands Council and former president and chairman of the Friends of the Silvio}^{O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.}

Stratford Point, Stratford CT ©Patrick Comins All Rghts Reserved

Show Notes:

Relationship of Audubon Connecticut in relation to National Audubon Society.
History, improvements, future plans of Stratford Point CT.
Important areas Audubon Connecticut is working to protect in the state.
Species that are most important from a conservation perspective in Connecticut.
What habitat types are most imperiled.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

Subscribe to BirdCallsRadio iTunes

Stratford Point, Stratford CT ©Patrick Comins All Rghts Reserved.

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BCR 083: Chandler S. Robbins; 1st For The Record, Legacy Interview™ Series

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 15:37:32 +0000

Chandler S. (Chan) Robbins, Emeritus “War Room” office at U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel MD. Photo taken 6/30/16 ©Mardi W.Dickinson Kymry Group All Rights Reserved.

Chandler S. (Chan) Robbins at U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel MD.

Show Notes:

This was the last documented interview Chandler S. Robbins (Chan) ever did.
Chandler Robbins recently celebrated his 98^th birthday
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center “Emiritus War Room”
Chandler was banding birds in 1937 under a permit issued to his father.
Robbins study & published the effects of the pesticide DDT in 1950’s sprayed on breeding bird populations in forests.
North American Breeding Bird Survey
Co-Authored A Guide to Field Identification, Golden Press in 1966.
Negotiated the first treaty USA/Soviet Union Migratory Bird Treaty 1976.
Laysan Albatross “Wisdom” Robbins banded in 1956, Rebanded in 2002.
Wrote The Early Years chapter in The History of Patuxent.
Currently writing and completing a History of Breeding Bird Atlas in the New World for a publication by The Nuttall Ornithological Club, among other projects.

Host Intro:

Chandler Robbins recently celebrated his 98^th birthday with family in New Hampshire. Some weeks prior to that I visited Chan in his office aka the “Emiritus War Room” at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in South Laurel to conduct this interview. The visit was graciously facilitated by his daughter Jane, who pointed out that Chan still came to the office several times a week to work on ongoing projects. It is difficult to summarize the highlights of his 60 year career, but without doubt there are accomplishments that have had a profound impact on world wide conservation and modern ornithology. The Balimore Sun, May 26, 2016, quoted John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, who described Robbins as “one of the world’s most important figures in ornithology and conservation.” What is sometimes missed in the press is the fact that he was an incredibly hard working and talented field scientist who worked collaboratively with a host of talented men and women.

Chandler was banding birds in 1937 under a permit issued to his father since he was under age at the time. After WWII he took a job as junior biologist in the national banding office at the Patuxent Research Center. He retired in 2005 from Patuxent. Some career highlights include:

DDT studies. He said it all started when the Department got a letter from a lady in the Midwest who was disturbed by the large die-off of robins on collage lawns from application of DDT. This led Robbins to study the effects of the pesticide DDT on breeding bird populations in forests that had been sprayed with DDT in the 1950’s and published the results in the Journal of Wildlife Management. These studies were ignored until Rachel Carson, who had been technical editor for the Journal, published Silent Spring several years later.

Forest Fragmentation. One of Robbin’s longest projects was a study of the effects of forest fragmentation on breeding birds. It began in Maryland with Eastern woodland birds and surrounding states in 1974, then spread to the wintering grounds of these birds in Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, and Venezuela. In the Latin American countries, he always collaborated with local biologists or organizations. They discovered that most songbirds required unfragmented forest on their breeding grounds, but in the winter they lived in fragmented forests that the resident tropical species avoided during their breeding season, so they would not be competing for food with the tropical birds. In the course of our prolonged field work in Guatemala and Mexico we provided enough documentation to assist in establishing the Cerro San Gil Reserve in Guatemala (47,600 ha.) and the Rancho Sandoval Reserve in Campeche, Mexico (8,000 ha.). At the Guatemala sites at Cerro San Gil, the conservation organization FUNDAECO established a research station which they named After Chandler Robbins.

He organized the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the data gathered from these BBS studies has had and is still having a profound effect throughout current ornithology.

He coauthored, with Herbert Zim, Bertel Bruun, and illustrated by Arthur Singer, the groundbreaking Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Golden Press in 1966 with revolutionary colored illustrations, and facing maps and descriptions.

In 1976, he was one of three Americans selected to write and negotiate the USA/Soviet Union Migratory Bird Treaty, which was the first treaty to protect not only the shared species, but also the habitats these species required, setting the example for future treaties.

With John Aldrich and Bob Stewart, Robbins served as technical editor of Audubon Field Notes/American Birds from 1951 through 1989

One of his most remarkable stories stems from chance encounters with an Albatross named “Wisdom”. He was involved in aircraft safety problems at the large airports, one of greatest problems was with nesting albatrosses near the runways at Midway atoll in the Pacific. One of the Laysan Albatrosses he banded there in 1956 was an adult female later to be known as Wisdom. Robbins re-banded Wisdom in 2002 and later learned she was the same bird that he had banded in 1956. In February 2016, Wisdom’s egg hatched under the care of her mate, and so it was that Wisdom was a mother again at the estimated age of 65.

He quietly helped revolutionize bird banding. Using the new Japanese mist nets he urged banders to carefully determine and record the age, sex and weight of each bird prior to release. Until then, banders simply ringed the birds and released them, missing opportunities to gather valuable data.

The Balimore Sun recounted this recent quote by Robbins, “It’s too quiet; there are not enough warblers anymore,” he lamented. “People don’t give birds a second thought when they use pesticides.” Chandler Robbins did and is still doing his share on this, it is now up to others to continue the work. Lets hear from our First “For The Record: Legacy Interview” with Chandler S. Robbins directly.

Chandler S. Robbins coauthored, with Herbert Zim, Bertel Bruun, and illustrated by Arthur Singer, the groundbreaking Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Golden Press in 1966 with revolutionary colored illustrations, and facing maps and descriptions.

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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Subscribe to our FREE E-News and be part of something greater. Stay up to date on all our episodes and exclusive offers by clicking on BirdCallsRadio and scrolling to the bottom and sign up with your email. All emails are confidential.

Chandler S. (Chan) Robbins, Emeritus “War Room” office at U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel MD.©Mardi W.Dickinson Kymry Group All Rights Reserved.

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Episode #082: Katie Fallon

mardi1d@gmail.com (BirdCallsRadio.com) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 14:00:18 +0000

Katie Fallon Author of VULTURE (2017) and CERULEAN BLUES (2011). Birder, tree-hugger, educator. Cofounder of Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia.

Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (University Press of New England, forthcoming March 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (Ruka Press, 2011). Katie’s first children’s book, Look, See the Bird! is forthcoming from Hatherleigh Press (summer 2017). Katie’s essays have appeared in a variety of literary journals and magazines, and her essay “Rebirth” (published in River Teeth, Fall 2013) was listed as a “Notable” in Best American Science & Nature Writing 2014. Katie is also a Co- Founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wild birds through scientific research; outreach and public education; and rescue and rehabilitation. The ACCA is based near Morgantown, WV, and each year treats more than 200 injured wild birds, conducts dozens of environmental education programs, and sponsors citizen-science research projects. Katie has taught creative writing at Virginia Tech and West Virginia University. Her first word was “bird.”

Show Notes:

Katie’s essay “Rebirth” was listed as a “Notable” in Best American Science & Nature Writing 2014
Adventures at The Biggest Week Festival, Magee Marsh NW Ohio.
Cerulean Warblers and the Effects of Coal & Stip Mining in the Appalachia.
Education and the public.
Kids, technology, exploring the great outdoors
Upcoming 2017 books Vulture and a Childrens Book

BirdCallsRadio additional information:

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