Bird Banter

In this episode Ed talks with Alvaro Jaramillo about his career in birding and his experiences. Alvaro is an author, a tour company guide, a top expert in the American tropics, and a respected expert on gulls, new-world blackbirds, and pelagic birds. 

You can follow Alvaro on his facebook page  or at his web site Alvaro's Adventures,  http://alvarosadventures.com/

He wrote the Peterson Guide to the Birds of Chile you can find on Amazon at https://smile.amazon.com/Birds-Chile-Princeton-Field-Guides/dp/0691117403/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=TOABLEDFF5NZ&keywords=birds+of+chile%2C+alvaro+jaramillo&qid=1557964332&s=gateway&sprefix=alvaro+jaramillo%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Here is a link to Amazon for his book on the new world blackbirds.  https://smile.amazon.com/New-World-Blackbirds-Alvaro-Jaramillo/dp/0691006806/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=new+world+blackbirds&qid=1557964406&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Thanks for listening.  Good birding. Good day. 

On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #15 Ed talks about his experience at the Moses Lake WOS convention he attended last weekend, as well as two mainstream tidbits of birding news.

Link to the Atlantic article on the Birdsafe Cat Collar.  Maybe a way to allow your cat outdoors without killing so many birds.  

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/12/accessories-for-your-murderous-pet/419601/

Article on the feral cat problem in the U.S.  

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/6/us-is-overrun-withmorethan50millionferalcats.html

Article on the rail that has been found as an avian example of iterative evolution, where a once extincet species reevolves from a common ancestor.  Cool stuff.  

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vb9bpm/this-bird-went-extinct-and-then-evolved-into-existence-again?utm_source=vicefbus&fbclid=IwAR2vJD_DkPYtZqM7TGVRCI0P7MccmEFAR6-RJUP5wljvrT_o_nAwuGDKyOM

Be sure to subscribe to The Bird Banter Podcast on the iTunes store, or Spotify or Stitcher.  Also please leave a review and rating.  

Until next time.  Good birding.  Good day!

In The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #14 Art Wang is Ed’s guest. Art is a longtime birder and neighbor of Ed in Tacoma. Art stated birding at a young age in California, has a long history of environmental and political activism, and has a great birding story.  Enjoy.

Here is a link to the Tahoma Audubon Society Bird-a-thon fundraising page for Art’s May 11th birdathon. Proceeds go to the education, conservation and other efforts of TAS.  https://tahoma.z2systems.com/np/clients/tahoma/campaign.jsp?campaign=62&fundraiser=8984&

This is a link to Ed’s recent post on the Gray’s Harbor Shorebird Festival trip mentioned in the podcast.  Check out the photos. http://birdbanter.com/index.php/2019/05/06/grays-harbor-shorebird-festival-field-trip-today/

Leave a review and rating on the iTunes Store or other podcast feed site. 

Ed talks about the unexpected diversity of birding habitats found on his Morocco trip, as well as a little about the cultural differences observed between more populated and remote places.

Desert Sparrow and Fulvous Chatterer searches take up much of the last day in the desert, and on the way to Ifrane Lesser Short-toed Lark and Wood Lark are two new lifers found. 

The trip is winding down.  Back to Washington State birding and listerners can expect more typical episodes featuring guests coming soon. 

Good birding. Good day!

After a shorter day of birding host Ed Pullen talks about birding around Merzouga, a town on the edge of the Sahara that caters to tourists wanting a taste of the desert.

Birding was great, seeing the Sahara was great, and having a shorter day was timely. 

Check out BirdBanter.com for a post with photos and more details. 

Good Birding. Good Day!

On Day 7 of Ed's Morocco trip the group leaves Agadir heading east in the valley between the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas Ranges, then crossed the High Atlas Range twice, first south to north, then back again in search of high-altitude specialties.  Then on to spend the night in the valley, before spending Day 8 in scrub-desert headed towards the Sahara.

Highlight birds are Tristan's Warbler, Leaviallant's Woodpecker and lots of larks and wheatears. 

The Moroccan world continues to be welcoming and exotic. 

Check out http://birdbanter.com to see blog posts with photos and more details. 

On Day 5 we leave Marrakech and travel to Agadir, with stops enroute for the Northern Bald Ibis, Audouin's Gull, Ruddy Shelduck, and lots more. The coast of Morocco we pass through is the vacation beach area of choice for Moroccans and has beautiful beaches, scrub-desert habitat, and lots of birds.

In episode #12 hose host Ed Pullen talks with Dalton Spencer, a young birder from Lewis County, WA.   Ed first talks about an uncoming trip to Morocco, and then Ed and Dalton talk about life as a young birder.  It brings back memories of when every birding experience was new and exciting, and they discuss how a young birder gets involved in the birding scene.  

A link to Dalton's eBird profile:  https://ebird.org/profile/NzUxMTc2/US-WA-041

The Legacy Tours website for the tour group Ed is joining on his upcoming Morocco Trip. https://legacy-tours.com/

A checklist from the 2016 tour with an agenda similar to Ed's Morocco Trip. https://legacy-tours.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/9.April-5th-19th-2016-MOROCCO-BIRD-LIST.pdf

As a 16 year old Dalton organized and complied the numbers for a new Christmas Bird Count in Lewis County, WA. Here is a link to a local newspaper article about that effort.  http://www.chronline.com/christmas-bird-count-comes-to-lewis-county/article_c668242c-040f-11e9-b40f-d7bdf9924154.html

Please check out BirdBanter.com for more related info, and for news as Ed tours Morocco.  

Until next time, Good Birding!  Good Day!

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!

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!