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Bird Watchers, Birders, Nature Lovers should hear the Bird Banter Podcast. Hear Birders talk about birdwatching, or birding for the more passionate. Hear their birding stories, about bird watching experiences, about birding research, birding travel, and birdwatching anecdotes. It’s fun, conversational and tries to be a birding ambassador to improve the world one birder at a time.
Episodes
Saturday Apr 20, 2019
Saturday Apr 20, 2019
On the 4th day of my Morocco Birding Tour we drove from Marrakech (not the butchered city name I use in this one take recording) to a ski resort on Oukoimeden Mountain in the High Atlas Range. Our elevation in the parking lot from where we walked up was 8600' and we walked 7+ miles, so I'm about ready to crash as I post this episode.
Our in-country guide is Mohamed Bargache, so we joked that today Mohamed took us to the mountain.
The bird mentioned is Crimson-winged Finch, not bunting or sparrow as I said in the recording.
I hope you are enjoying my one-take and publish episodes from this trip.
I'll also post blog summaries of many of the days.
Good birding. Good day!
Friday Apr 19, 2019
Friday Apr 19, 2019
On the third day of the Legacy Tours Morocco Trip we birded again in the upland area north of Rabat in heavy rain, and then stopped once at a Gazelle reintroduction preserve on the way to Marrakech. The birds were cool, but the Medina at Marrakech is the primary topic of this brief episode.
Enjoy.
Good birding. Good day!
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
Thursday Apr 18, 2019
In this second unedited podcast recording from Morocco Ed talks about the first 2 days experience with Legacy Tours in the areas around Rabat, the Morocco capital city north of Casablanca where the flight landed, and the trip Morocco experience bagan.
The local guide is Mohamed Bargache, a certified local birding guide, and very good Moroccan in-country guide.
Tomorrow we head south again, and will be staying in Marrakech, an ancient city and will be birding our way there after a bit more birding in the north coast area. Stay tuned for more when I'm able to record and publish another update.
Good birding. Good day!
Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
Tuesday Apr 16, 2019
In this episode Ed does a one-take brief recording from outside the Hotel Toubkal in Casablanca, Morocco about 4:45 AM after a jet-lagged night. Please forgive the errors and the city noise, especially calling Michael Carmody, guest on the last episode, and tour guide whom I call Michael Legacy (his tour group is Legacy Tours) as I'm putting these up unedited, mistakes and city noise and all.
The lark I butcher the name of is the Maghreb Lark, recently split from the Crested Lark as its own species. Here is a link to a PDF discussing the status of this group. https://crbpo.mnhn.fr/IMG/pdf/Guillaumet_et_al_2006_galerida_MolPhylEvol.pdf
I put up a blog post about our day 1 birding on BirdBanter.com http://birdbanter.com/index.php/2019/04/16/a-day-in-casablanca-to-recover/
Until next time, Good Birding. Good Day!
Sunday Apr 14, 2019
Sunday Apr 14, 2019
In Episode#12 host Ed Pullen has longtime Mexico and worldwide tour guide and operator Michael Carmody as his guest. Michael is currently leading a Legacy Tours birding trip in Morocco, and Ed along with Bruce Labar from episode #3 are tour participants. Michael talks about his 30 years of experience as a tour guide and operator in Mexico and around the world.
Here is a link to the Legacy Tours website where you can check out which of Michael's tours you want to go on next. https://legacy-tours.com/
This is the summary from the Legacy Tours website for the trip to Morocco:
‘A Birder’s Introduction’ enjoys evening stays in Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir, Atlas Mountains, Sahara Desert, and Anti-Atlas Mountains. Likely birds include Northern Bald Ibis, Barbary Partridge, Spotted Sandgrouse, Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, Egyptian Nightjar, Levaillant’s Woodpecker, Maghreb Magpie, African Blue Tit, Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Desert Wheatear, Atlas Flycatcher, and Trumpeter Finch.
Look for photos and updates from the tour on my instagram page @dredpullen as well as my facebook page @birdbanterpodcast
Good Birding. Good day!
Sunday Apr 07, 2019
Sunday Apr 07, 2019
In episode #11 the Birdchick, Sharon Stitler is my guest. Her podcast was the first podcast I ever listened to and she has a really good podcast. She is quite a character as you will see if you visit her web site Birdchick.com
In this episode I try a new segment where I play a birdsong recording from my Sibley app and the guest talks about what they hear. This is designed not as a "stump the guest" but as an opportunity for birders to discuss how they listen to bird sounds, and what goes into identifying the species making the song or call. Sharon rocked this part, check it out.
Leave a review and rating if you are able on your podcast feed location, and if you like check out my blog, Birdbanter.com to find more related details and other birding relate content. I'll post a video of the hormone crazed DUsky Grouse we talked about on this episode on the blog site.
Birdchick is an expert at digiscoping, where birders take photos through their optics, usually a spotting scope, using a phone camera or other camera. Here is a link to her YouTube series on digiscoping. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj80lDyA_RDDt_vJIPE40sY0u-wjaGziY
Here is a link to the company web site that makes the PhoneSkope adapter Sharon uses. https://www.phoneskope.com/
Until next time birders. Good birding! Good day!
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #10 host Ed Pullen and John Sterling talk about John's remarkable birding career, and especially his recent participation in the Longzhou Bird Race in southern China. Oh, I neglected to mention that John Sterling is the #1 lister in California, with a remarkable 636 species on eBird. Enjoy.
Here is a link to Don Roberson's website Who Was Who in California Birding 1965-1989 http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CAwhoswho.html
Here is John Sterlings website
www.sterlingbirds.com/about%20SWB.html It's worth a visit just to see his bird photography.
He is on Facebook where you can follow his adventures.
You can read related blog posts at BirdBanter.com
http://birdbanter.com/index.php/blog/
Please subscribe to The Bird Banter Podcast, and give a rating and leave a review whereever you get your podcast feed.
Until next time, Good Birding! Good Day!
Monday Mar 25, 2019
Monday Mar 25, 2019
In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #9 with Shep Thorpe host Ed Pullen and Shep talk about the upcoming Washington Ornithologic Society Annual Conference in Moses Lake, WA as well as Shep’s involvement with WOS, his weekly birding walks at the Billy Frank NWR, and Shep’s experience as a WOS field trip leader.
Washington Ornithologic Society Website. http://wos.org/
WOS 2019 Annual Conference Signup Page http://wos.org/annual-conference/current-year/
Billy Frank Jr. NWR https://www.fws.gov/refuge/billy_frank_jr_nisqually/
Tahoma Audubon Society https://www.tahomaaudubon.org/
WA Birder Website http://www.wabirder.com/
http://abcbirding.com http://abcbirding.com/
Shep talked about trying to see 300 species in a year in Washington. Here is a recipe for seeing 300 species in a year in WA focused around going on most of the ABC Birding field trips plus a few specialty trips. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MXjDic4rF2eNbhg33_Y0lJ1WKR_Vj0c5/view
Find me @dredpullen of @birdbanter on Facebook, or @dredpullen on Instagram and Twitter
Find a blog post with more information on topics discussed on this podcast at BirdBanter.com http://birdbanter.com
Be sure to subscribe to The Bird Banter Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify
Until next time, Good Birding! Good Day!
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
Tuesday Mar 19, 2019
The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #8 with Bill Tweit
In this episode host Ed Pullen talks with Bill Tweit about his birding experiences, especially with Westport Seabirds, and how it came to have the longest continuous database of pelagic seabirds in the world. Bill is a great birder, first rate scientist, and wonderful story teller. Enjoy the episode.
Be sure to subscribe to The Bird Banter Podcast on the iTunes store, Google Play Store, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your RSS feeds.
Leave a ***** rating and a review on the site you get The Bird Banter Podcast, and until next time, Good birding, and Good Day!
Annotated links to things discussed in the podcast:
On the bird banter website you can see photos from the Westport Seabirds Pelagic Trip discussed in this episode as well as read an account of the trip. http://birdbanter.com/index.php/2019/03/17/westport-seabirds-pelagic-trip-3-16-2019-a-three-albatross-day/
Go to the website of Westport Seabirds to schedule your Washington Pelagic Trip, to look at historical sightings or to learn about pelagic birding off the Washington coast. http://westportseabirds.com/
Here is a place to look at the undersea topography off Gray’s Harbor, WA, i.e. Gray’s Canyon and the continental shelf areas discussed by Bill in the podcast. Map of the ocean floor off WA coast https://deepseacoraldata.noaa.gov/habitat-reports/grays-canyon
This site discussed the current population and population trends for Short-tailed Albatross Current data on STAL population https://abcbirds.org/bird/short-tailed-albatross/
Here is information about the AIS tracking system for boats at sea. https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=aismain
Here is a site talking about techniques for setting long lines to reduce albatross entrapment https://wsg.washington.edu/award-winning-researchers-find-methods-to-reduce-seabird-bycatch-in-west-coast-longline-fisheries/
Photo of adult with golden nape plumage Bill talks about on the podcast: https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489452
A link to an online version of the 1909 Status of Washington Birds by Dawson & Bowles https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46764/46764-h/46764-h.htm
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46764/46764-h/46764-h.htm
Here is a link to the ABC Birding Club website, the group mentioned by Bill and Ed near the end of the episode. Ed is the webmaster of the site. http://abcbirding.com
Check out the blog post with photos from the pelagic trip discussed here: http://birdbanter.com/index.php/2019/03/17/westport-seabirds-pelagic-trip-3-16-2019-a-three-albatross-day/
Tuesday Mar 12, 2019
Tuesday Mar 12, 2019
Podcast Notes TBBP #7
In this episode The Bird Banter Podcast host Ed Pullen has Ben Lizdas, world renowned expert on birding optics, and a well known and avid birder as the guest. Listeners should learn lots about optics and enjoy the bird banter.
Find additional information at the Bird Banter Website http://birdbanter.com
Find Ed Pullen @dredpullen on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Find Ben Lizdas @RedstartBirding or @ben.lizdas on Facebook or at the Redstart Birding website https://redstartbirding.com/
Birding Festivals mentioned on today’s episode:
San Diego Bird Festival https://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/events/bird-festival
Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival https://scbwf.org/
Rio Grand Bird Festival https://www.rgvbf.org/
Katchemac Bay Shorebird Festival, Homer, Alaska http://kachemakshorebird.org/
New River Birding and Nature Festival, Fayetteville County, West Virginia https://www.birding-wv.com/
Champions of the Flyway Festival in Israel http://www.champions-of-the-flyway.com/