Alvaro warns against getting creative when packing for a birding trip. Also, blue jays, green jays, brown jays, and gray jays are all part of the intriguing family of corvids. What makes these birds so inquisitive and social? Listen here and find out! https://www.birdwatchersdigest.net/podcasts/otwtb/episode51.mp3
Ben and Alvaro discuss bird behavior in winter and how big birds, little birds, and vagrant birds cope with temperature extremes. Some birds fly away from the weather while others become zombie birds, preying on their fellow feathered friends! It’s looking like spring in Southern California while Alvaro braces for more winter as he discusses… Read more »
Episode 49 is a special two-part episode of OTWTB. Bill and Ben have a heartfelt discussion about why 2019 is going to be a different kind of year for the podcast, and why it will be the “Year of the Big Sit” for Bill. Ben then welcomes Alvaro Jaramillo to the show, and we learn… Read more »
Ben gives LeBron-like advice for buying binoculars for kids or beginning birders, explains the visual difference between roof- and Porro-prism binoculars, and updates us on his last backyard bird sighting: a red-breasted nuthatch. Bill talks about a rusty blackbird encounter and how to tell rusties from common grackles. Then the boys welcome Clay Taylor from… Read more »
Favorite holiday gifts given and received is a major topic of this episode and among those gifts mentioned are a hockey stick, a mink coat, ten-speed bikes, and a vintage saucepan. Ben’s nightmare Christmas Bird Count experience and Bill’s Disney World surprise stories take center stage. Also mentioned are a conspiracy theory about wild birds,… Read more »
Back to the North from points farther south, the fellows chat throughout a winter-themed episode about such topics as suet feeding, birding in Texas and Colombia, weather and birds, winter clothing, acclimatization, fogging optics, and Ben’s new-found love of silk long johns. Bill recounts a traumatic first grade incident involving yellow snow, and his latest… Read more »
Have You Ever Eaten Squirrel? With the guys poised to head off to far-flung birding destinations, Ben asks Bill for advice on his backyard bird feeding efforts. Bill, who is the Guy Fieri of bird feeding, dishes the knowledge on mixed seed, suet, peanuts, and the best foods for feeding birds. Ben also asks Bill… Read more »
The boys connected via the Interweb to chat about the importance of bird clubs, favorite Feasts of Birdin’ (eateries) near birding hotspots, the upcoming (potential) winter finch invasion, and Ben’s latest life bird (and head cold). Bill shares his newest musical recommendation: the band Phox, from Madison, Wisconsin. Listen here: https://www.birdwatchersdigest.net/podcasts/otwtb/episode44.mp3
The birding dudes cover a smorgasbord of topics here, including a recap of the recent American Birding Expo, birding during migration, upcoming festivals, The Big Sit, and tips for your optics upgrade. They also celebrate, in the briefest possible way, Ben’s birthday. This episode was recorded in two parts, one via Skype between Wisconsin and Ohio,… Read more »
Ben and Bill share a baker’s dozen tips for enhancing your birding enjoyment, including where and when to go, and what to wear, eat, carry, think, hear, and do, and lots more. If you’re willing to take advice from these two guys, then you deserve all the joy that birding can bring you. They also… Read more »
