The gents talk via Skype about their personal fitness regimens, post-spring bird action, appreciating nesting birds, a booby in Maine, jinx birds for 2018, the upcoming Colorado Reader Rendezvous, legalized marijuana and the implications for bird feeding, birds you cannot find by seeking them, their first-ever trip to the Outdoor Retailer Show, and whether or… Read more »
Ed Kanze won the Birder of the Year 2017 contest with his essay, “Find a Bird, Get a Life,” which ran in the March/April 2017 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest. Recently having claimed his prize: a trip to Costa Rica, courtesy of Swarovski Optik, he submitted this story: Costa Rica with Swarovski By Ed Kanze… Read more »
Ben is back from Alaska and is headed to Maine for birding festivals. The guys chat about their upcoming travels, the advantages of spotting scopes and when to carry them, carbon-fiber tripods, missed birds and bonus birds, and the joy of having kids smarter than they are. Finally, they reveal their species totals in the… Read more »
Recorded outside in the bucolic setting at Opossum Creek Retreat during the New River Birding and Nature Festival in Fayetteville, West Virginia, this episode finds the boys talking about this spring’s slow migration, the amazing birder/naturalist Mark Garland, the hot tub origin story of Redstart Birding, birding etiquette, dealing with SOBs (Spouses of Birders), hot… Read more »
This episode is a crazy quilt of topics including an overview of spring birding festivals, a review of the guys’ travel plans, the technological challenges of list keeping, the humor of Al Batt, Audubon’s Elephant Folio, loud rock concerts, choosing the best optics, and a special musical interlude from a podcast listener. And a sort-of update… Read more »
By Diane Porter Birds fly, innocent of national borders. They don’t get their passports stamped at the airport, but they carry the story of one nation to another. A Wilson’s warbler that I welcome back to Iowa in May tells me that a patch of forest in Central America is still there. Some countries where… Read more »
Back in the USA, the boys are excited about waterfowl watching season. Ben talks about his bout with Duck Eye and how the Swarovski BTX scope cured him. Bill talks about #TamronTuesday and the opening day of the new baseball season. They also chat about the challenges of the Global Big Year Challenge™ and their… Read more »
Los dos pajareros (The two birders) recorded this episode in two segments from the porch of their rustic accommodation at The Lodge at Pico Bonito. In Part One they chat about the wonders of birding in the tropics. In Part Two they discuss the proposed closing of the Pico Bonito lodge—a sad possibility. They have no… Read more »
Spring birds and birding are on the minds of Bill Thompson, III, and Ben Lizdas in this episode. Bill waxes rhapsodic about seeing a timberdoodle and shares some tips for getting ready for spring migration. Ben is preparing for a cross-country skiing race and bragging about closing the gap in the OTWTB Global Big Year… Read more »
Fresh from the Space Coast Birding Festival, Bill and Ben welcome special guest Clay Taylor from Swarovski Optik to talk about his start in the bird biz, birding festivals, bird photography, and why Corpus Christi, Texas, is the continent’s birdiest city. Ben and Bill reconvene aprés the Reader Rendezvous to discuss the glamor birds of… Read more »
