Today my guest is a familiar one, Jeff Babson, you might remember him from a number of previous episodes, namely 7, 16, 22, 23 and 42, all of which I encourage you to check out, if you haven’t already listened to them. Jeff is an all-around naturalist who currently works for the Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, as the county’s Wildlife Viewing Program Specialist. He also runs his own eco-tour and environmental education company, called Sky Island Tours. You will often find Jeff leading walks that focus on birds, insects and plants. Next week, he’ll also be leading a trip at the upcoming Southeast Arizona Birding Festival to Cienega Creek.

This is the last episode in the series about backyard birds and native plants. This one will be a little different, as Jeff's background is not in horticulture, although he is quite familiar with these plants where they naturally occur in the southwest.

For more on the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, please check out their website:
https://tucsonaudubon.org/festival/

For some pictures of the Northern Mockingbird, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast

Chapters

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:15 - Jeff’s Recent Southwest Wings Trip
• 04:04 - Bird of the Episode: Northern Mockingbird
• 18:24 - Native Plant: Desert Hackberry
• 25:21 - Native Plant: Desert Mistletoe
• 32:41- Jeff’s Southeast Arizona Birding Festival Experience
• 41:26 - Upcoming Events that Jeff is Involved With
• 43:26 - Outro

Thank you for listening!