Walkin' on the Wild Side

Hey everyone!  Join us for a podcast on location during an "impromptu" trip to San Antonio!  Join Marvin and Gabrielle as they chat about the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas.    Over a weekend, we found ourselves right smack in the middle of the largest festival of the year and during our time, make some startling discoveries, catch a few breaks, and experience some amazing food, culture, and history along the way.  San Antonio is more than just the Alamo, but history surrounds us along with some incredibly friendly folks, the delight of puffy tacos, and of course, a cruise along the famous riverwalk!

Here's some great websites about our visit to San Antonio:

Fiesta - https://fiestasanantonio.org/
Flambeau Parade - https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/fun-and-colorful-moments-from-the-2016-fiesta-flambeau-parade/Slideshow/34409074
More about the Rey Feo - https://reyfeoconsejo.org/about-us/
Rey Feo #73, Augie Cortez - https://sanantonioreport.org/rey-feo-augie-cortez-takes-earthy-approach-to-royal-role/
His Amazing Restaurant - https://augiesbbq.com/
More about the Mission Trail - https://www.sanantonio.gov/Mission-Trails/Home
The Alamo - https://www.thealamo.org/visit/whats-at-the-alamo
Phil Collins Alamo Collection - https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/alamo-artifacts-phil-collins-17805641.php
The Pearl Brewery and Region - https://atpearl.com/
More about the River Walk - https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/san-antonio-river-walk/
The Japanese Tea Garden - https://saparks.org/japanese-tea-garden/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

Gabrielle is back in the podcast chair and this time, we're talking about my favorite owl, the Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio).   These little owls may be small, but they are fierce and formidable predators that keep our rodent and insect population in check!  Join us on our back porch "podcast studio" and learn more about our travels this spring, interesting facts and new information about the amazing little screech owl, and listen for our updates on our nesting pair in our backyard, Otis and Gracie!

Here's more information about screech owls:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Screech-Owl/id
Relationship with Texas Blind Snakes:  https://www.audubon.org/news/what-would-screech-owl-want-blind-snake
Fluorescing Feathers:  https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/glowing-feathers
Tetrachromacy and the importance to birds:  https://www.arcadiabird.com/advice/the-importance-of-uva-lighting-to-birds/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

Well, with Gabrielle traveling, I had to do this podcast on my own, but I'm not flying solo, I have a special guest!  Join Dr. Steve Fields and I on location from the Museum of York County for a fabulous exhibit and discussion about the Pleistocene Epoch in the Carolinas.  It's hard to believe that there were mammoths, terror birds, cheetahs, giant porcupine, ground sloths and more, but there were!  Listen as  Dr. Steve discusses what this unbelievable epoch would've looked like, from the climate, vegetation, all the way to the incredible diversity and amazing size of the unique animals that would've roamed the Carolina countryside.

Here's some more information on the Pleistocene Epoch:
https://www.thefossilforum.com/blogs/entry/265-the-early-pleistocene-marine-fauna-of-the-southeastern-united-states/
https://www.britannica.com/science/Pleistocene-Epoch
https://www.georgiasfossils.com/20-the-ice-ages-pleistocene--holocene-epochs.html
https://www.livescience.com/40311-pleistocene-epoch.html

Want to Visit the Museum of York County and other York County museums?
Featured in this podcast:  https://chmuseums.org/myco/
Additional museums of York County:  https://chmuseums.org/


Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

We're back!  After a little "hiatus" due to technical issues (love today's technology), we're kicking off 2024 with a new podcast on the fantastic frozen frog.  Wood frogs are small little frogs with some incredible adaptations to allow them a competitive advantage, such as explosive breeding, early mating periods, and the amazing ability to be frozen solid.  Yep, that's right...FROZEN SOLID.  Join Marvin and Gabrielle at their new "studio" (also known as the back porch, lol), as they discuss the fantastic frozen frog and share some insights on the potential for studying this little frog...

Here's some additional information:
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Wood-Frog
https://wildexplained.com/animal-encyclopedia/the-amazing-adaptations-of-the-wood-frog/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096495922000355
https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/nature/wood-frog-page-2.htm

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's time for another episode, this time from our new podcast studio, aka, our new back porch!  After traipsing for truffles, we go back to all things nature and explore the incredible acrobatic and speed demons, the falcons.  Join Marvin and Gabrielle to learn more about these incredibly specialized birds of prey, falconry, and the bioinspirations and biomimicry that lead to jumps in technology by studying these amazing raptors.

Here's some more information about falcons, raptor centers, and more:
https://sites.udel.edu/bioinspiredpire/biomimicry/
Peregrines and jet engines:  https://www.pbs.org/video/peregrine-falcons-are-feathered-fighter-jets-basically-tulkgi/#:~:text=At%20high%20speed%2C%20the%20air,the%20same%20kind%20of%20thing.
Jet Engine Inspiration: https://zackandscottkarmachameleons.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/jet-engine-evolution-inspired-by-the-peregrine-falcon/
https://birdwatchinghq.com/falcons-in-the-united-states/
https://wildlifeflorida.org/species-spotlight-southeastern-american-kestrel
Hunting Techniques of Peregrine Falcons

Local Raptor Centers:
https://carolinaraptorcenter.org/
https://thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/center-for-birds-of-prey/
Renaissance Festival Raptor Show - Wildlife Revealed

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

Join Marvin and Gabrielle for a Walk on the Wild Side in the hills of Tuscany!  For this episode, the Bouknights took to the hills to indulge in the tradition of truffle hunting.  We joined an amazing organization to learn about truffles, and how they are traditionally harvested using good ol' fashioned hard work.  Traipsing through the hillside with a trusty and well trained 4-legged companion in search of one of the most sought after culinary products in the world, we joined a seasoned truffle hunter and were mesmerized by the keen eye, nose, and stamina required for finding, digging, and harvesting the amazing fungi known as truffles.  Join us and learn not just about truffles, but about the bond between man and canine, tradition, and a love and passion for nature!

Here are some websites to learn more about this region of Italy:
Truffle capital of Tuscany - San Miniato - https://www.visittuscany.com/en/towns-and-villages/san-miniato/
https://www.to-tuscany.com/travel-guide/travelling-to-tuscany/life-in-tuscany/hunting-truffles-in-tuscany-italy/
-AND-
Our  AMAZING truffle experience provided by:
https://www.selektiatartufi.it/en/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

We recently visited Italy for the incredible Slow Food Cheese 2023 festival in Bra, Italy, spending time in the Piemonte region of Italy, located in the northwest of Italy.  Join us on this departure from our nature-based podcasts and experience Part 2 of our visit to Italy that found us traveling by train to the Ligurian Sea and the 5 villages of Cinque Terre!  Once there, they took to the hills of Cinque Terre and hiked to a few villages along the mountainous coast, discovering the wine, seafood cuisine, and amazing people of this incredible region.  Then it was on to Florence and a visit to some of the wonderful historical sites, museums, and a long awaited bucket-list opportunity!  Join us for some interesting discoveries in the Tuscan region of Italy, yet ANOTHER "uphill" adventure, and of course, the amazing food and wine of this glorious country!

Here are some websites to learn more about this region of Italy:
Slow Food Cheese Festival - https://cheese.slowfood.it/en/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Filippo-Brunelleschi
https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Duomo
Leonardo Da Vinci Museum - https://museoleonardodavincifirenze.com/
https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en
https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/sciacchetra-wine-harvesting-le-cinque-terre
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/cinque-terre-vineyards-ecotourism-overtourism
https://www.cinqueterre.com/en/the-wines-of-the-cinque-terre
San Miniato - https://www.visittuscany.com/en/towns-and-villages/san-miniato/

-AND-

Our favorite restaurant in San Miniato - https://www.ristorantelupupa.it/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's time for another episode of Walkin' on the Wild Side and this episode is a 3-parter that we wanted to share with you!  Gabrielle and I travelled to Italy for the Interational Cheese Festival in Bra, and then to Cinque Terre, Florence, and the Tuscan Countryside.  For our first episode, we take you into the heart of the largest artisan cheese festival in the world, focusing on the art and passion of Italian food, and in this case, raw milk cheeses that many times can only be found in remote villages and alpine valleys of Europe.  Yes, sure, it's a different kind of podcast, but if you're a "foodie" and love good food and wine, join us for a different walk on the wild side and learn more about the amazing cheese makers, traditional balsamic vinegar artisans, hazelnut farmers, beekeepers, and more!  Join us to hear interviews, experiences, and stories from the beautiful people and their traditions, and experience the beauty, cuisine, and of course, the wine and cheeses of the Piedmonte region of Italy!

Here are some websites to learn more:
Slow Food Cheese Festival - https://cheese.slowfood.it/en/
Wine Bank:  https://www.bancadelvino.it/en/

Wine producers:
https://www.abbona.com/
https://www.vietti.com/
https://www.gdvajra.it/it/homepage

Our interviewees and their  websites:
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar:  https://acetaiasanmatteo.it/
Beekeeper Fabrizio Zagni:  https://foodoteka.com/fabrizio-zagni-le-api-di-airole

The Restaurant in Verduno:  Trattoria Day Berau, http://www.bercau.it/gallery.aspx

AND FINALLY, OUR USA CHEESE ARTISAN SUPERSTARS!!!
https://www.jasperhillfarm.com/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

With the days getting shorter, and temperatures giving us hints of cooler weather, Fall is right around the corner!  Most are looking forward to the Fall colors but forget about the maturing fruits that provide food for animals preparing for migration, hibernation, etc.  Have you ever stopped to wonder why fruits like persimmon, apples, acorns, and more drop in the fall?  What's the correlation with maturing fruits and winter preparedness?  Join Marvin and Gabrielle on the porch to learn more about how Mother Nature provides for the upcoming winter with this latest episode!
Here's some websites for further info:

https://www.theinteriorjournal.com/2023/07/31/how-fruits-use-color-to-propagate-their-species/
https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/news/entry/the-power-of-poop
https://extension.umn.edu/natural-resources-news/winter-berries-feed-wildlife
https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2022/nrs_2022_wright_001.pdf
https://www.charlottenewsvt.org/2019/09/05/mast-years/#:~:text=While%20squirrels%2C%20other%20mammals%20and,parasitized%2C%20eaten%20or%20otherwise%20destroyed.

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

When Gabrielle and I moved to Chester, SC, we thought the days of seeing the majestic swallowtailed kite soaring in the sky were over, but lo and behold, we have seen them here regularly!  Join us on the porch as we talk about the amazingly acrobatic, striking, and spectacular swallowtailed kite.  Learn about their habits, what they eat, and just the overall mastery of flight these strikingly black and white colored raptors have!

Here's some websites for further info:

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/magazine/articles/mayjune2011/swallowtails.html
https://abcbirds.org/bird/swallow-tailed-kite/
https://www.audubon.org/news/the-secret-lives-swallow-tailed-kites

You can participate in swallowtailed kite conservation by reporting your sightings.  Check out this website to learn more and to report your sightings:
https://stki.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event?  Email us below for more information!

Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback.  Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!