The Badgerland Birding Podcast

There has been a proposition to destroy important old growth forest on South Padre island in South Texas that is great for migratory birds. Here is how we can stop it from being destroyed. What you need to know, from Jusin LeClaire: "Perhaps the final battle to save the SPI Convention Center native habitat is coming this Tuesday.The SPI City Council has decided NOT to listen to the wills of thousands of their constituents. They are sticking with their latest plans to destroy the majority of native habitat at the Convention Center for the expansion project (see photo – at least half of the habitat on the south side of the property and within the driving loop will be removed). There is officially an agenda item (https://tinyurl.com/ac53j9j3) to seek approval for the CC expansion plans on the Cameron County Commissioners' Court meeting for this coming *Tuesday, June 17, at 930am*. They need a majority vote from the commissioners to move forward because the property is on county land. It sounds like Commissioners Garza, Benavides, and Ruiz may be on our side thanks to all of your support so far, but who knows what the truth is and what has been happening behind our backs. HOW TO HELP: Submit a public comment against the agenda item regardless if you can attend in person or not. Here's how- Download the “public comment registration form” https://tinyurl.com/4wy4nb7k. State your info, check the boxes to say that you are “against” agenda item 4-E and that you do not wish to address the commissioners, add a quick comment to say you are against any expansion that requires native habitat destruction at the SPI convention center, and email the form to publiccomment@co.cameron.tx.us BEFORE 845am on June 17. It'll take 10 minutes of your time, but enough emails against this agenda over the weekend may help push a majority of the commissioners in our direction. Please do also attend the meeting if you can.Feel free to send a/another email out to the commissioners themselves as well. Thanks for any and all help! (special thanks to Karen Nussbaumer for staying on top of details and sharing it all asap)Judge Eddie Trevino(956) 544-0830etrevino@co.cameron.tx.usSofia Benavides(956) 574-8167sofia.benavides@co.cameron.tx.usJoey Lopez(956) 983-5091Joey.Lopez@co.cameron.tx.usDavid Garza(956) 361-8209 dagarza@co.cameron.tx.usGus Ruiz(956) 427-8069 Gus.ruiz@co.cameron.tx.us"Save the South Padre Island Bird Habitat Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/987229576083150/Link to the petition: https://www.change.org/p/preserve-the-migratory-birding-habitat-at-south-padre-island-convention-center?recruiter=1177294348&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&fbclid=IwY2xjawK8jnNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETEyZzBIM20zY1ZRQ2l4b0J2AR4tGk-XgM9QnEXwbZ57dz0K6z6mvOPI0E26dvtwNDVrYJ3n2X12_uOH8tuLig_aem_v1EyGQqL8aJd4-3ABp4wQQ

Cole Roecker joins the show to discuss ur recent 150 species Big Day as well as what it's like birding in Chicago, Illinois.

We catch up with Tim Hahn, who did a Waukesha, WI County Big Year in 2025 and talk about his total, birding in Wisconsin, the Breeding Bird Atlas, and more!

We talk about what we've been up to, birding in may the past few weeks, about crane populations, and more!

We talk with Pat Ready from the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin about the decline and recovery of the Eastern Bluebird. You can learn more here: https://www.braw.org/

We talk with Marissa and Easton from Coddiwomple Chronicles about exploring Wisconsin, birding for the first time, travel tips, and more! Check out their instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/coddiwomple_chronicles/Thanks to our sponsor Brome Bird Care!: https://bromebirdcare.com/en/

We talk with Owen Kroeze, a 17 year-old birder from the Netherlands, all about what it's like birding there, difference between the Netherlands and the United States, and more!

We talk about non-native and invasive species that have taken over the United States as well as some American animals that have made a home in Europe. Visit our shop here: https://badgerlandbirding-shop.fourthwall.com/

We talk with Mr. Train (Jeff Train), co-founder of "Our Tern", a project to help protect Hoboken, New Jersey's honorary bird, the Common Tern. Learn more here: https://www.ourtern.com/

We talk with Matt Miller, director of science communications for the Nature Conservancy and editor of the Cool Green Science blog all about birds, bird conservation, and more!

We talk to our friend Aiden, a young birder from Ohio about what it's like to bird there, the Biggest Week in American Birding, and more!

We talk all about the different ducks you can find in the United States, give an update on the orange Snowy Owl in Michigan, give an update on the warbler bracket, and more!

We talk about spring migration, the orange Snowy Owl in Michigan and how it may have gotten that way, our America's Favorite Warbler Bracket, and more!

We talk with author and naturalist Stan Tekiela about how he got into making field guys, the highs and lows of having a career involving wildlife, and more! This was filmed in 2022 so some of the new books he mentions are probably out now!

We share an interview we did with Arjan Dwarshuis, who broke the Global Big Year Record in 2016 by observing 6,852 different species of birds in a single calendar year. We talk with Arjan about his amazing Big Year as well as his new book, "The (Big) Year That Flew By"!

We talk about a recent pelagic trip that Derek did out of North Carolina, different experiences between east and west coast pelagic birding trips, and what makes them so cool and difficult.

We talk with the new Lower 48 Big Year record holder, Ezekiel Dobson about his year, his challenges, and his favorite moments!

We talk with Ivan Philipsen from "The Science of Birds" podcast all about his background, his birding tours, and his podcast. You can learn more about the podcast here: https://www.scienceofbirds.com and support podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/scienceofbirds

We talk with Florida birding enthusiast Noah Steinberg about what it takes to do a Florida Big Year, the excitement and disappointment of rare bird chases, and more!

We talk about birding in Florida, the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, and more with famous birder Greg Miller!

We talk with Tarik Shahzad who broke the Cook County, Illinois Big Year record in 2024 with 294 species. His record-breaking bird was an incredible Short-tailed Shearwater. Hear all about his Big Year and more!

We talk with the President of Fresno Audubon, Rick Grijalva about birding in California, mostly around the Fresno area, the Morro Bay Birding Festival, being a bird guide, and more! Learn more about Fresno Audubon here: https://fresnoaudubon.org

We talk with Travis Layton, known online as "Trav in the Bush", all about bird photography, Canada, being a social media influencer, and more! Get Trav's free photography guide here: travinthebush.com/badgerland Link to Trav's workshops: https://www.travinthebush.com/photography-workshops-2025

We talk with Dee and David Simpson, who are a passionate birding duo known for their expertise in Florida birds and wildlife and guiding. Learn more about Dee and David: https://birdingwithdavidsimpson.com https://deefairbanks.com

We talk with graduate student researcher and guide Evan Farese, who researches Gray Hawks in the Rio Grande Valley, all about his work, finding South Texas rarities, and more! You can book a tour with Evan here: https://tiffanykersten.blogspot.com/p/bird-guiding-rates-information.html

We talk with author, illustrator, and naturalist Miles McMullan, who is from Northern Ireland, but now lives in Colombia. We talk about his innovative books on neotropical wildlife, his new US field guide to the Birds of North America, which we helped collaborate on, and more! You can preorder the guide here! https://pelagicpublishing.com/products/field-guide-to-the-birds-of-north-america?srsltid=AfmBOoqNyfdrTCq-75x8AvbYHWyJMcVWjbktvl82CLQDkuG5uS7A47xx

We talk with Minnesota author, naturalist, and photographer Sparky Stensaas about all things Sax-Zim Bog including the best time to go, top species to see, and more! Learn more about the Friends of Sax-Zim: https://saxzim.org Linkt To Spark's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/sparkystensaas

We talk with a crew from the Space Coast Birding Festival and learn all about what the highlights are, what bird species you can expect to see and more. The festival takes place yearly in Florida in January and this year will occur from January 22-26. You can learn more on their website: https://scbwa.net

We talk with our friend Dave who is a beginner birder, about the excitement of getting started, birding in western New York, the Biggest Week in American Birding festival, and more!

We talk with birder and writer Stuart Winter, who is a well-known figure in the birding and conservation community, primarily in the UK, all about what it's like to bird in the UK, differences between the UK and the U.S. and more!

I talk with José Miguel Calvo Rivera from Costa Rican Nature, all about what you need to know before you visit Costa Rica, the top places to go, and some of the coolest species to see. We also talk about tours in the country, and some of the places we went and species we saw last time I visited. Learn more about José's tours here: https://badgerlandbirding.com/costa-rica-birding-tours/

We talk with Lillian Stokes and Matt Young, who authored the new "Stokes Guide to Finches of the United States and Canada" about what it's like making a field guide, the new book, finches, and more! Link to the book (As Amazon Associates we do earn from qualifying purchases): https://amzn.to/48xcLKc

We talk with Oklahoma birder and host of the "Bird's Eye View" Podcast Mathew G. Radford about birding in Oklahoma, Idaho, cryptids, and more! Check out his podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/6iSdFRrx8bXtRzQWTovwvy

We talk with Canadian birder and guide Josh Dewitt about birding in Manitoba, as well as Churchill, the polar bear capital of the world, Canadian stereotypes, and more!

We talk about some spooky birds in anticipation of halloween, as well as the total species seen in a few states, what it would be like to do a Big Year in Rhode Island, and more! You can support us on Ko-fi here! https://ko-fi.com/badgerlandbirding

We talk with Portage County, WI birder and eBird reviewer Rob Pendergast about Buena Vista Grasslands, Greater Prairie-chicken conservation, and more!

We get the inside scoop about the 2024/2025 winter finch forecast from two of the compilers, Tyler Hoar and Matt Young. You can see the written forecast on the Finch Research Network Website: https://finchnetwork.org/winter-finch-forecast-2024-25Link to the new Finch Field Guide (As Amazon Associates we do earn from qualifying purchases: https://amzn.to/3TNEgce)

We talk with the author of the "Birds of Florida" field guide Kirsten Hines about Florida birds and birding, invasive species, and more! Link to Kirsten's book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/birds-of-florida-9781472993366/

We talk with gull Expert Amar Ayyash about all things gulls, including beginner tips, cool hybrids, some underrated species, his new book "The Gull Guide: North America" and more! Link to the book: https://tinyurl.com/5n8xkt79 Link to the blog: http://www.anythinglarus.com Link to the North American Gulls Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nagulls

We talk with president of the Benjamin F. Goss Bird Club, Spence Stehno about how birding has changed over time, the bird club, birding in Southeastern Wisconsin, and more!

We talk with "The Bob Ross of Birding" Erik Bruhnke, who is always excited and passionate about the world of birding. He is a guide for Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours and is also involved with Hawk Ridge, doing migration counts! Learn more about Erik here: https://www.ventbird.com/our-team/ErikBruhnke/26

We talk with Greg Miller, who was the inspiration behind Jack Black's character Brad in "The Big Year". Greg tells us all about what was real and what was embellished in the movie as well as other birding stories! Hear more from Greg on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GregMillerBirding/ Book at tour with Greg: https://wildsidenaturetours.com/team-member/greg-miller/

We talk with the current 2024 Lower 48 Big Year leader Ezekiel Dobson about his historic year, birding across the United States, birding in Kentucky where he's from, and more! Zeke is currently at 708 species for the year. You can donate to Zeke's journey here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/big-year-lower-48-states

We talk about marshes and marsh birds, and the world's largest freshwater cattail marsh, Horicon Marsh, as well as Limpkins, Whooping Cranes, and other species.

We went on our first pelagic birding trip out of Westport, Washington. We give a sneak peak about what we saw and what it was like and also talk about what you need to know before going on your first pelagic birding trip.

We talk with birder Will Huggins about the tour he took with us in Wisconsin, as well as his birding adventures in the PNW, South Florida, Georgia, and more.

We talk about what it was like Birding at the Grand Canyon and seeing California Condors. Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan also gets a shout-out.

We talk about the new AOS update of what bird species are now considered the same and which ones are considered different.

We talk about the latest birding technology from smart bird feeders, to thermal monoculars, to binoculars that ID birds for you, and more!

We talk with Zach Matchinski about his work on Midway Atoll, including the birds that live there, how to get a job working with birds, broken camera lenses, and more!

We talk with Trey McCuen about traveling across the country to see birds, what it's like birding in Georgia, the start of his new guiding business, and his interesting experiences out in the forests of North America.