This Birding Life

By Bird Watcher’s Digest

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What's This Birding Life about?

This Birding Life is a podcast from the folks at Bird Watcher’s Digest. And like the magazine’s content, the topics covered by This Birding Life range far and wide, from the backyard to the tropics, from bird feeding to bird chasing, from authors reading from their books to birders talking about their “spark” bird. This Birding Life is guaranteed to make you think, laugh, and want to spend more time out there with the birds. It’s all about this wonderful hobby we share: watching and enjoying wild birds. Welcome to This Birding Life!

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Episode 89: An Interview wi...

07.24.2019

In July and August, This Birding Life will feature two episodes that Bill Thompson, III, recorded before succumbing to pancreatic cancer on March 25, 2019. In this episode Bill interviews longtime friend Jeff Gordon, president of the American Birding Association, ...

This Birding Life episodes:

07.24.2019 Episode 89: An Interview with Jeff and Liz Gordon In July and August, This Birding Life will feature two episodes that Bill Thompson, III, recorded before succumbing to pancreatic cancer on March 25, 2019. In this episode Bill interviews longtime friend Jeff Gordon, president of the American Birding Association, ...
06.04.2019 Best of This Birding Life: The Early Days of Bird Watcher's Digest As you may know, our beloved TBL host Bill Thompson, III, died on March 25, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. What you may not know is that Bill's mother, Bird Watcher's Digest founding publisher Elsa Thompson, died in ...
05.14.2019 Best of This Birding Life: Music and Birds: Jonathan Meiberg of Shearwater Originally recorded in 2010, this episode of TBL features host Bill Thompson, III, interviewing Jonathan Meiberg, a birder and leader of the indie-rock band Shearwater. Both a musician and a bird watcher, Jonathan Meiberg sparked on music at an early ...
04.18.2019 Best of This Birding Life: The Birding Life of Greg Miller In this popular episode from 2011, TBL host Bill Thompson, III, interviewed Greg Miller, an Ohio birder who served as inspiration for the character played by actor Jack Black in the feature film The Big Year. In this episode, Greg ...
03.06.2019 Episode 88: Jim McCormac: A Man for All Seasons Bill interviews Ohio birding legend Jim McCormac about his lifelong fascination with nature, his career preserving special places and creatures in Ohio, and his many other accomplishments. Jim is the author of several books; he guides birding and photo tours; ...
02.14.2019 Best of This Birding Life: Adventure at Rapi Nui with Alvaro Jaramillo TBL host Bill Thompson, III, will be away from the BWD home nest for a while. We hope soon to resume new episodes of the podcast we all know and love, but in the interim, we're taking a trip down ...
01.17.2019 Best of This Birding Life: Snowy Owl Invasion with Scott Weidensaul TBL host Bill Thompson, III, will be away from the BWD home nest for a while. We hope soon to resume new episodes of the podcast we all know and love, but in the interim, we're taking a trip down ...
12.11.2018 Episode 87: Melissa Groo: Wildlife Biographer Melissa Groo joins Bill to talk about her life and the late start she got to her amazing career as a “wildlife biographer.” Though she is most famous for her captivating bird and wildlife photographs, Melissa strives to convey more ...
11.26.2018 Episode 86: Juan the Guan and Other Birding Stories During a recent trip to South America, Bill collected stories from six of his fellow travelers and shares them here. Included are stories about Juan the Guan, a treacherous journey to Noir Island, a bear story, and three stories about ...
10.18.2018 Episode 85: Cape A-May-Zing: A Visit to Cape May, New Jersey Join host Bill Thompson, III, on his recent birding tour of renowned hotspot Cape May, New Jersey, where he interviews Tom Reed, Mark Garland, and Dr. David LaPuma, expert migration counters from the Cape May Bird Observatory. Along the way ...
09.12.2018 Episode 84: A Birder's Guide to Murder, with JR Ripley Author JR Ripley chats with Bill about his recent birder-murder mystery novel A Birder's Guide to Murder, set at the American Birding Expo. The book is part of the Bird Lover's Mystery series published by Kensington, in which the heroine, ...
08.15.2018 Episode 83: Tom Stephenson and BirdGenie Tom Stephenson is the creator of BirdGenie, an app that recognizes bird songs recorded on your cellphone. Bill interviews Tom about his fascination with sound and sound technology, the cross-over between musicians and birders, and how the BirdGenie app came ...
07.16.2018 Episode 82: Birding in Colombia Part 2: Camarones In part 2 of Birding in Columbia, TBL host Bill Thompson, III, travels to the Caribbean lowlands near Camarones to visit additional sites along the Northern Colombia Birding Trail. We hear from three different Colombian guides as well as three ...
06.20.2018 Episode 81: Birding in Colombia Part 1: Santa Marta Mountains In Part 1 of Birding in Colombia, Bill joins a group of avid birders in the Santa Marta region of northern Colombia to explore the Northern Colombia Birding Trail. Besides amazing birding and lots of endemics, he encounters a new ...
05.08.2018 Episode 80: Erik Bruhnke, the World's Happiest Birdman During his recent trip to Honduras, TBL host Bill Thompson, III, interviewed naturalist, photographer, and birding guide Erik Bruhnke. Their conversation covers Erik's start as a birder, his favorite birding spots, his love of lifers and beer, his hatred of ...
04.18.2018 Episode 79: Meet the California Young Birders Club Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews Elisa, Cayenne, BJ, and Ryan, founding members of the California Young Birders Club. These young adults share their birding origin stories, discuss what it's like to be a birder among their peers, the advantages of ...
03.21.2018 Episode 78: James Adams and the Closing of Pico Bonito Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews James Adams, co-manager of the Lodge and Spa at Pico Bonito in Honduras, about the recent news that the lodge's owners plan to close it down. Pico Bonito is one of the finest ecolodges in ...
02.20.2018 Episode 77: Point and Shoot Photography Host Bill Thompson, III, talks with Stephen Ingraham, author of "Point and Shoot Nature Photography," about the explosive popularity of small, super-zoom cameras. Steve has decades of experience as a photographer and has fully embraced today's digital technology. His self-published ...
01.24.2018 Episode 76: Noah Strycker's World Big Year Bill talks with Noah Strycker, self-described birdman and adventurer, who was the first person ever to see more than 6,000 bird species in a single, worldwide birding Big Year. Noah is the author of “Birding Without Borders,” which recounts his ...
12.27.2017 Episode 75: Snowy Owl Invasion with Scott Weidensaul Owl expert Scott Weidensaul joins Bill for a discussion of this winter's invasion of snowy owls from the Arctic. Through Project SNOWstorm (co-founded by Scott), a volunteer field research program studying these magnificent, mostly white owls, we are learning a ...
11.30.2017 Episode 74: Birding Taiwan Bill's recent birding trip to Taiwan is the subject of this episode. Taiwan is an island off the coast of China, with a large number of endemic and near-endemic bird species. While it is a modern country, heavily influenced by ...
11.02.2017 Episode 73: More Birding Stories Host Bill Thompson, III, recently traveled to Taiwan. Four of his travel companions tell fascinating stories about their birding adventures from around the world. Ranging from light-hearted to downright life-threatening, these tales are worth a listen. Topics include: discovering a ...
09.25.2017 Episode 72: An Interview with ABA President Jeff Gordon Bill chats with ABA President Jeff Gordon about his start as a birder, new and young birder outreach, ghillie suits, The Big Year movie, swirlies, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook communities, the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker, and the early days ...
08.30.2017 Episode 71: Catherine Hamilton, Bird Artist for Conservation Bill interviews artist Catherine Hamilton about her evolution as a bird artist, what inspires her art, her favorite subject matter, her field sketching abilities, and her dedication to supporting bird conservation projects.
07.27.2017 Episode 70: Ian Harding and Odd Birds Bill chats with actor/birder Ian Harding, star of the television show “Pretty Little Liars,” about his new book “Odd Birds.” In the book, Ian writes about everything from Hollywood stardom and chasing the rare California condor to the allure of ...
06.28.2017 Episode 69: Three Fabulous Birding Festivals Bill chats with the organizers of three successful--and very different--annual birding festivals in the U.S.: the Acadia Birding Festival in Maine, the New River Birding & Nature Festival in West Virginia, and the San Diego Bird Festival in California. Learn ...
04.29.2017 Episode 67: Katie Fallon, Vulture Evangelinst Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews author/naturalist Katie Fallon about her latest book “Vulture” and about her deep fascination with these carrion-eating, much-misunderstood birds.
03.24.2017 Episode 66: Cat Wars Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews ornithologist Peter Marra, co-author of the book “Cat Wars: The Deadly Consequences of a Cuddly Killer.” The book examines the conservation, environmental, social, and health impacts of the pet and feral cats--unnatural predators--that kill a ...
02.27.2017 Episode 65: Champions of the Flyway, Part II Host Bill Thompson, III, recounts last year’s Champions of the Flyway bird race in Israel where his team, the Way-Off Coursers, raised more than $12K for conservation. The event as a whole raised more than $67K to protect birds along ...
01.17.2017 Episode 64: Voices of India Host Bill Thompson, III, takes us on a journey to India for the second-annual Uttar Pradesh Bird Festival and introduces us to fellow birders from India and around the world.
12.09.2016 Episode 63: Voices of the Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour Host Bill Thompson, III, talks to participants in the 2016 Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour which raised more than $50,000 for conservation projects. His team, the Velveteen Cotingas, finished last in the bird list competition but first in the fun ...
10.31.2016 Episode 62: An Interview with Rockjumper Birding Tours Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews Adam Riley and Keith Valentine of Rockjumper Birding Tours. His guests talk about birding tourism, unknown destinations, doing well by doing good, and share their harrowing birding adventures.
09.30.2016 Episode 61: My Jinx Bird Host Bill Thompson, III, takes us along on a quest to find his jinx bird, the Connecticut warbler, in northernmost Minnesota.
08.07.2016 Episode 60: A Visit to the Cornell Lab Join host Bill Thompson, III, on a visit to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY and learn more about the Lab’s citizen science projects, bird conservation research, young birders outreach, and rich history of bird study.
07.01.2016 Episode 59: Birding Portugal Host Bill Thompson, III, takes us along on a week of birding in southern Portugal. This European country is a world famous destination for wine, seafood, history, culture, and now, birding! Portugal’s leading birder, Joao Jara, tells us all about ...
05.25.2016 Episode 58: A Conversation with Julie Zickefoose TBL host Bill Thompson, III, enjoys a wide-ranging conversation with author/artist/naturalist Julie Zickefoose about her new book: “Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest.”
04.22.2016 Episode 57: The Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour TBL host Bill Thompson, III, chats about the upcoming Honduras Birding for Conservation Tour with founder James Adams and event guides Jeffrey A. Gordon and Alex Alvarado.
02.25.2016 Episode 56: Champions of the Flyway, Part I TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, examines the monumental conservation effort being undertaken to stop the illegal killing of birds along the Mediterranean flyway.
01.29.2016 Episode 55: Backyard Rarity, Part II TBL host Bill Thompson, III, gets deeper into the experience of finding a rare western flycatcher in his Ohio backyard.
12.28.2015 Episode 54: Backyard Rarity, Part I TBL host Bill Thompson, III, talks with avid birders who came from hours away to see a rare bird in his backyard.
11.11.2015 Episode 53: Great Birding Stories, Vol. 1 TBL host Bill Thompson, III, shares some of the interesting stories he’s gathered in his birding travels: strange animal behavior, mistaken identity, acts of kindness, moments of discovery, spark birds, and memorable passages of life.
10.23.2015 Episode 52: Birding in Uganda, Part II TBL host Bill Thompson, III, takes us along on the second part of his journey through Uganda, birding, trekking for chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, seeing lions, and encountering some of Uganda’s future birding guides. He even gets invited for an ...
07.10.2015 Episode 51: Birding in Uganda, Part I TBL host Bill Thompson, III, takes us along on the first part of a journey to Uganda in East Africa where he competed in the annual Birding Big Day in Murchison Falls National Park.
05.27.2015 Episode 50: Interview with Ted Floyd of the ABA TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews Ted Floyd, editor of Birding Magazine from the American Birding Association.
03.20.2015 Episode 49: A Visit to the British Bird Fair, Part II TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews a few of the many interesting personalities at the British Birdwatching Fair, an event held each August at Rutland Water Preserve in central England.
12.10.2014 Episode 48: A Visit to the British Bird Fair, Part I TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews a few of the many interesting personalities at the British Birdwatching Fair, an event held each August at Rutland Water Preserve in central England.
08.11.2014 Episode 47: Sketches of Homer, Alaska TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, shares audio recordings of some of the very fun and unusual events associated with the 2014 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival held in Homer, Alaska.
06.11.2014 Episode 46: The Voices of Argentina TBL Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews fellow birders, local guides, and other interesting people whom he encountered on a 10-day birding trip to Argentina.
01.31.2014 Episode 45: Jeff Bouton and the Amazon Kingfisher Host Bill Thompson, III, interviews Jeff Bouton, the birder who found an Amazon kingfisher near Harlingen, Texas at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.
12.02.2013 Episode 44: Speakers from the ’13 Midwest Birding Symposium Host Bill Thompson, III, shares audio excerpts from seven different presenters at the 2013 MBS.

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