The Thing with Feathers: birds and hope with Courtney Ellis

As a mom of three youngish kids (6, 9, and 12), I was so excited to talk to Barbara Hunsicker. Barbara is a Florida birder, a theologian, and a mom of two. She shares her best birding tips to welcome kids into the joy, the gift of watching youngsters discover the world of birds, and how we might learn from our kids, too.

Plus, we talk hurricane relief and what natural disasters can mean for us and our feathered friends. Barbara and her family were new to Florida—her husband Dave pastors a Presbyterian church there—when Hurricane Helene came through, wreaking havoc on their church property as well as many of their congregants’ homes. It was a trial-by-fire in beginning their ministry, and in many ways they are still recovering.

She helps answer the questions: what happens to birds in a hurricane, and how does a community’s recovery shape its togetherness and its love?

Plus, we celebrate the birds of Florida and talk theology, mystery, favorite birds, nemesis birds, and the small, surprising places where Barbara is finding hope today.

You can follow Barbara’s birding journey on Instagram, too, where she’s one of my very favorites for bird photography and Florida joy.

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Today on the podcast, Daryl Ellis—beloved and patient birding spouse—joins the show to celebrate our 100th episode. Together we talk about the origin story of The Thing with Feathers, what it’s like to be married to a birder (and discover that you’re slowly becoming one yourself), and the importance of purusing joys and hobbies in midlife.

Plus: which local bird we can set our watch by, the delight of mulch (yes, really), and how to support your spouse in that which brings them joy.

A great word of thanks to all those who have supported The Thing with Feathers in its journey. From molting to migration, faith to falcons, bird fests to binoculars, sparrows to spiritual reawakenings, we’ve covered so much ground in these 100 episodes.

I can’t wait for the next 100.

What topics haven’t we covered that you’d like to learn about in the days ahead?

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Shemaiah Gonzalez is back! This time she joins us to unpack her beautiful new book, Undaunted Joy: The Revolutionary Act of Cultivating Delight. My friends, if you need the perfect book to be your nightstand right-be-for-bed companion, this is it. In this collection of short essays, Shemaiah unpacks the small ways uncovering, accepting, and welcoming joy can change our lives.

The opposite of toxic positivity, she argues for slowing down, being present, and experiencing our lives rather than rushing through them. You’ll meet delight in surprising places like the laundry room, with surprising companions like capybaras, and amidst surprising companions like sorrow.

Join us for this conversation about cultivating delight. Plus: what is Shemaiah’s least favorite bird? The answer may surprise you!

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Have you ever had a crisis of faith? I can point to several points in my life—my mid-teens, my early 20s, and my late 30s—when serious doubts crept in. It can be a fearful and unsettling time, and even more so if we feel alone.

Authors Catherine McNiel and Jason Hague are no strangers to this type of crisis. Catherine faced her first at the tender age of twelve when the church her father pastored kicked her family to the curb. Jason’s biggest came to him in mid-life when a beloved friend died unexpectedly. In both seasons, they found themselves reeling, aching, confused, and lost.

But this isn’t the whole story. Jason shares the journey of his oldest son’s autism (where is God when our prayers seem to go unanswered?). And Catherine unpacks how a crisis of this kind can be incredibly painful, with no silver lining… and yet still create space for a deeper faith on the other side.

Join us for a special episode about hope (and penguins, loons, and Red-winged Blackbirds!) as we dig into Mid-Faith Crisis: Finding a Path Through Doubt, Disillusionment, and Dead Ends. It’s a gentle, truthful book that takes an unflinching look at crisis, pain, and the presence of God.

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I’m a big fan of the ABA. No, not the American Bar Association. Not Applied Behavioral Analysis either. (Though I’m sure they’re both great.)

I’m a fan of the American Birding Association! The ABA does truly fantastic work on behalf of birds, wild spaces, and birders everywhere. From its young birder initiatives (start ‘em young!) to its bird of the year to its magazine to its podcast… I could go on and on.

But I don’t have to, because today we have the ABA’s director, Wayne Klockner, with us to talk about the ABA, his life’s work in conservation, and why he can’t ever choose a favorite bird.

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Deb Rienstra is a professor of English at Calvin University. Her beautiful book, Refugia Faith, takes us deep into both an aching planet and the goodness of God. Friends, I couldn’t put this one down.

From despair to preparation, alienation to kinship, and indifference to attention, Deb’s masterful weaving of theology, literature, ecology, and a love for creation makes this book sing.

Join us for a conversation about birds and hope, about how the church calendar can help remind us of our creatureliness before God, and about the ways both lament and gratitude can tether us to one another.

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One of our greatest tools in understanding ourselves and the world is the concept of both/and. When we can hold two ideas or feelings in tension, we discover whole worlds of understanding and goodness.

Author, speaker, and Episcopal-priest-in-training Cara Meredith has been fascinated with this concept for years. After dabbling in some essays about it, she landed on a both/and topic that really spoke to her soul: church camp.

Today we celebrate her new book, Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation, hot off the presses from Broadleaf. We talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, and how we might all be a little bit more faithful to the both/and in our lives.

Plus: a little detour about penguins.

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Jo Swinney is the Director of Communication for A Rocha International, a global Christian nature conservation charity.

She’s also the author of several books, including The Whole Easter Story: Why the Cross is Good News for All Creation. On this Easter Monday she joined me to talk about the power of hope in helping us steward our planet well.

“Love is what generates the desire to care,” she told me. It all comes down to love.

Join us for a hopeful Easter episode about loving this beautiful planet, signs of hope springing up all around, and the good, creative work of conservation from elephants to coral.

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Dan Van Voorhis is a professional podcaster with a PhD in Church History. His podcast, The Christian History Almanac offers daily 5-minute episodes all about the work of God in the world over the centuries. It’s one of my favorites.

Dan is also a friend, congregant, and the best interviewer I know. He graciously agreed to come on The Thing with Feathers and interview me about the launch of the audiobook for Looking Up that comes out today (yayyyyyyy!) on the one-year anniversary of the paperback’s launch.

Come join us as we chat about the ins and outs of audiobook recording, the joys and surprises at the ways Looking Up has made its way into the world, the birds of spring, and the special additions that come with the audio version of this book.

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Lee Pfannmuller and Jerry Niemi know a thing or two about birds. With over one hundred years(!) of birding experience between them, they have spent their lives doing fieldwork related to conservation and ecology throughout the state of Minnesota and beyond.

Today we celebrate the publication of their new, beautiful book The Breeding Birds of Minnesota. We talk about everything from bird surveys to caring for creation to wrangling volunteers.

Find out the most frequently seen bird in Minnesota (the answer surprised me!), the most difficult places to perform bird surveys, and a great story about one place you should never drive a Prius.

Join us for this special, encouraging episode all about the beautiful birds of one of our most fantastic and ecologically fragile states.

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