Out There With the Birds

Back to the North from points farther south, the fellows chat throughout a winter-themed episode about such topics as suet feeding, birding in Texas and Colombia, weather and birds, winter clothing, acclimatization, fogging optics, and Ben's new-found love of silk long johns. Bill recounts a traumatic first grade incident involving yellow snow, and his latest musical recommendation is "Sanctify" by St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

With the guys poised to head off to far-flung birding destinations, Ben asks Bill for advice on his backyard bird feeding efforts. Bill, who is the Guy Fieri of Bird Feeding, dishes the knowledge on mixed seed, suet, peanuts, and the best foods for feeding birds. They discuss the never-ending battle with feeder marauding squirrels. Ben also asks Bill if he's ever eaten squirrel. Bill's latest musical recommendation: Brandi Carlile's new album "By the Way, I Forgive You," featuring the amazing (and totally timely) song "The Joke."

The boys connected via the Interweb to chat about the importance of bird clubs, favorite Feasts of Birdin' (eateries) near birding hotspots, the upcoming (potential) winter finch invasion, and Ben's latest life bird (and head cold). Bill shares his newest musical recommendation: the band Phox, from Madison, Wisconsin.

The birding dudes cover a smorgasbord of topics here, including a recap of the recent American Birding Expo, birding during migration, upcoming festivals, The Big Sit™, and tips for your optics upgrade. They also celebrate, in the briefest possible way, Ben's birthday. This episode was recorded in two parts, one via Skype between Wisconsin and Ohio and one in person, live, in Cape May, New Jersey, during the Cape May Reader Rendezvous.

Ben and Bill share a baker's dozen tips for enhancing your birding enjoyment, including where and when to go, what to wear, eat, carry, think, hear, and do, and lots more. If you're willing to take advice from these two guys, then you deserve all the joy that birding can bring you. They also extend an invitation to listeners to join them on a birding safari to South Africa.

The likely lads are on the loose at the world-famous British Birdwatching Fair, where they're seeing old friends, quaffing a few pints, promoting the American Birding Expo, Bird Watcher's Digest, and helping to translate between American English and English English. They talk about the beauty and conservation of vultures and flamingos, new birds they've added to the Global Big Year Challenge™, and the long shadow cast by the BBC TV show from the 1950s "Bill and Ben: The Flowerpot Men." All this is discussed while sitting in a giant beer tent in the middle of a sheep pasture. Please note: This was BEFORE they had a beer.

Summer activities--both recent and upcoming--are the focus of this episode's discussion between Bill and Ben. They brag about their super-smart daughters and wonder how the apples could fall so far from the tree. They chat about Ben's upcoming canoe trip, the new issue of BWD, upcoming Reader Rendezvous, and about Bill's recent (amazing) baseball catch on national TV. Bill shares a music recommendation: American treasure John Prine.

Ben and Bill take a break during the Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colorado to talk about the products, trends, and environmental awareness they found at this major event for retail stores. Like Johnny Appleseed, they planted the seeds of birding awareness among the many cool folks and companies they encountered. And there was free beer. Birding tip: It's time to look for southbound shorebirds, swallows, martins, and nighthawks.

The stoke is high for Ben and Bill's upcoming trips to Man Camp (People Camp) in West Virginia and to Colorado for the Outdoor Retailer Show. In this episode, their Zugunruhe has them all over the place topicwise, including fledglings at feeders, higher hummer numbers, famous Birding Expo keynote speakers, the new Duck Stamp, and the demise of the Porro prism binocular (according to the LeBron James of Birding Optics). Bill's music recommendation is TroubleFunk, out of Washington DC.

Recorded live in three parts during the recent Bird Watcher's Digest Reader Rendezvous trip to northern Colorado, this episode features lots of voices. Bill and Ben welcome special guest Clay Taylor of Swarovski Optik to talk about birding optics and his most recent life bird. BWD's own Emily Jones joins in as do many of the Rendezvous participants, to talk about favorite birds, life birds, good food, Pawnee Grasslands, and the ever-majestic Rocky Mountain National Park. Oh, and, in case you didn't know, the "p" in ptarmigan is silent.

The gents talk via Skype about their personal fitness regimens, post-spring bird action, appreciating nesting birds, a booby in Maine, jinx birds for 2018, the upcoming Colorado Reader Rendezvous, legalized marijuana and the implications for bird feeding, birds you cannot find by seeking them, their first-ever trip to the Outdoor Retailer Show, and whether or not high-end optics are worth it. Oh, and Ben finally saw a peregrine falcon, but Bill still needs a great horned owl for the OTWTB Global Big Year Challenge™.

Ben is back from Alaska and is headed to Maine for birding festivals. The guys chat about their upcoming travels, the advantages of spotting scopes and when to carry them, carbon-fiber tripods, missed birds and bonus birds, and the joy of having kids smarter than they are. They reveal their species totals in the OTWTB Global Big Year Challenge™. Spoiler alert: One of them is WAY ahead.

Recorded outside in the bucolic setting at Opossum Creek Retreat during the New River Birding and Nature Festival in Fayetteville, West Virginia, this episode finds the boys talking about this spring's slow migration, the amazing birder/naturalist Mark Garland, the hottub origin story of Redstart Birding, birding etiquette, dealing with SOBs (Spouses of Birders), hot toad action, and paying it forward as a birder and human.

This episode is a crazy quilt of topics including an overview of spring birding festivals, a review of the guys' travel plans, the technological challenges of list keeping, the humor of Al Batt, Audubon's Elephant Folio, loud rock concerts, choosing the best optics, and a special musical interlude from a podcast listener. And a sort-of update on the OTWTB Global Big Year Challenge™.

Back in the USA, the boys are excited about waterfowl watching season. Ben talks about his bout with Duck Eye and how the Swarovski BTX scope cured him. Bill talks about #TamronTuesday and the opening day of the new baseball season. They also chat about the challenges of the Global Big Year Challenge™ and their struggles with eBird. Bill shares a new musical recommendation: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's new record "The Nashville Sound."