The Thing with Feathers: birds and hope with Courtney Ellis

Mark Winter is a birding guide at Even Sparrows. He’s also a lay theologian from the U.K. who comes to us with stories of St. Cuthbert, discovering awe, and his take on why Jesus never mentions eagles in the Bible.

Join us for a visit to this pastoral and wind-swept land as we talk about Mark’s book, Look at the Birds of the Air, encounters with birds in Scripture, and why “just getting out there” is some of the best birding advice for newbies.

Though birding seems like a whimsical hobby, birders can be surprisingly competitive. Bridget Butler seeks to bring mindfulness, peace, and gentle attention into the world of birds and birding.

Her slow birding guiding practice, Bird Diva, brings people out into nature for focused time communing with the birds and one another.

“I just wanted to stop and slow down and watch what the birds were doing,” said Butler. “And there weren’t that many bird outings that were doing that… I wanted more!” Her love for studying bird behavior took her into the world of slow birding, a world she invites us into today.

Join us for this special episode of The Thing with Feathers as we learn from Bridget how to slow down, be present, and accept the gifts nature gives to us day by day.

Ben Lowe is the executive director for A Roche, a Christian organization dedicated to the practice of creation care. Part of its mission is to help people rejoice in the beauty, diversity, and complexity of the natural world, and (get this!) commit to delighting in and treasuring God’s good creation.

Delighting in creation. What a wonderful, important, energizing idea.

So often we encounter news headlines about climate change that are steeped in terror or cynicism. The world is ending, they say, and we are to blame. Lowe believes there is another way to approach conservation: one that is rooted in God’s call to steward the earth and the ultimate hope of the Gospel.

It’s that and his organization’s grassroots efforts with communities and churches to make ecosystems healthier one, small step at a time that made this interview so rich.

“It’s easier to despair when you’re not involved on the ground,” he told me. “Just getting your hands dirty is a great antidote to despair.”

Don’t miss this special episode of The Thing with Feathers as we dive deep on what it means to work together to restore right relationships with creation—including our neighbors.

And don’t forget to check out the work Ben and A Rocha are doing, both within the US and around the world.

Author of Falling for the Birds of Rwanda and the soon to be released Following the Birds of Rwanda, Will Wilson didn’t start out as a birder. From age 18 until his early 40s, he served in the British military.

How did he make the change from military life to a contemplative birding practice in the cities and wilds of Rwanda? Therein lies the tale.

Will Wilson is a generous photographer based in Kigali, sharing his photos far and wide on social media. Looking through his eyes on Twitter and Instagram has been a great gift.

If you’ve never been to Rwanda—or even if you have!—join us for this very special international episode as Will helps us explore weavers and bee-eaters and beautiful birds of all kinds.

New York Times bestselling author Leigh Ann Henion believes we can learn a lot when the lights go out. From lightning bugs to salamanders, owls to bats, a whole world opens up after dark.

Join us as we talk about our shared human need for darkness and why certain things flourish in less-seen times and places.

Plus, check out Leigh Ann’s beautiful book, Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark, which releases with Algonquin tomorrow and can be found everywhere books are sold.

Mark Robertson teaches high school English in San Juan Capistrano, California, a city also known as the spiritual home of the famous cliff swallows. It is from this perch (ha! see what we did there?) that he delves into the world of birds, birding photography, and all things literature.

Friends, I enjoyed my conversation with Mark so very much. His answers to my questions wove together theology, poetry, Scripture, and a deep love and appreciation for all things avian.

From Makoto Fujimura to NT Wright, from Murder on the Orient Express to bearing witness, this is an episode not to be missed.

You may also wish to follow Mark on Instagram or Twitter to see his fabulous bird photos and the whimsical creations of short videos set to music. My kids eat them up. So do I.

Author, speaker, and professor of communication Quentin Schultze grew up in rough circumstances. The child of an alcoholic father who died young and a schizophrenic mother, one of the few things he found solace and connection in was studying robins with his mother.

Decades later, he birds with his wife Barbara in the woods of Western Michigan and beyond. From Sandhill Cranes to Black-capped Chickadees, join us on a journey through the hope of birding in a world riddled with grief.

You can follow more of Quentin’s writings and musings over on his website: www.quentinschultze.com.

Trauma therapist , birder, and author of My Summer with Ospreys, Pamela Lowell believes that hope is a great motivator.

From her decades of work with people dealing with immense suffering, she’s found that nature can be an incredible balm.

But when her enjoyment of birds in the marsh behind her home was drowned out by the sound of chainsaws, it turned out that her sanctuary was being clear cut. 100 acres torn down… for a parking lot.

Thus began Pamela’s foray into activism, birding, and seeking care for the Ospreys who now found themselves at great risk.

“Nature can also break your heart,” she said.

Join us for this special episode all about Ospreys, but also about hope, transformation, and what a few determined people can do to help save one little corner of the world.

Birding links:

The Merlin Bird ID App

eBird

iNaturalist

The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.

Lore Ferguson Wilbert shares with us about her new book The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor. Together we talk grief, hope, the birds of the understory, and how sometimes it is when it seems that all hope is lost that God shows up.

Links from Lore's show:

Lore's book - The Understory

Lore on Substack

Lore's website

Lore on Twitter (we refuse to call it X)

Lore on Facebook

Lore on Instagram

The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes every other Monday.

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Together we walk through Trish O'Kane's beautiful new book, Birding to Change the World, including the New Orleans disaster story that first led her into birding.

Join us for this episode of The Thing with Feathers as Trish, author and senior lecturer in environmental justice at the University of Vermont, illuminates ways we might make a difference for the birds, our neighbors, and ourselves right where we are.

From the local marsh to ill-fated fireworks, from Madison, Wisconsin to rural Vermont, making a positive ecological impact is often easier—and more important—than we imagine.

Trish was such a wise, kind guest. Our conversation inspired me to look at my own community with new eyes, new hope, and new gratitude.

You can find Birding to Change the World anywhere books are sold.

Birding links:

The Merlin Bird ID App

eBird

iNaturalist

The Thing with Feathers is hosted and produced by Courtney Ellis. Original music by Del Belcher. New episodes bi-weekly on Mondays.