POPULARITY
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
Welcome to 321 Lift Off. On Today's episode, we are joined by Laurilee Thompson: The owner/operator of Dixie Crossroads, the "world Famous" seafood restaurant. The crew discuss Laurilee's family history in Titusville. Laurilee discusses the tool that helped start it all. She also discusses the Space Coast Birding Festival and the she gives a great description on bio-luminescence kayaking.
Multimedia bird artist Megan Massa is the latest artist to create the Bird of the Year cover art, an auspicious list that includes David Sibley, Julie Zickefoose, and Louise Zemaitis, among others. Her experiences have run the gamut from the hobby side of birding to birds research to art and her creation, a Red-billed Tropicbird soaring over a boat full of birders will be featured on the cover of the February 2019 issue of Birding magazine. It's the first Bird of the Year work to exist completely in a digital realm, a fascinating process that allowed Megan to add some cool artistic easter eggs. She joins host Nate Swick to talk bird art, research, and the needs of college-aged birders. Plus, a good-bye to the Iiwi, a bird that asked all of us to learn a little more about Hawaiian native birds. Thanks to the Space Coast Birding Festival for sponsoring this episode. We'll be there! Will you?
Fresh from the Space Coast Birding Festival, Bill and Ben welcome special guest Clay Taylor from Swarovski Optik to talk about his start in the bird biz, birding festivals, bird photography, and why Corpus Christi, Texas, is the continent's birdiest city. Ben and Bill reconvene after the Reader Rendezvous to discuss the glamor birds of Florida, Ben's gull resolution, bus engine trouble, great birding guides Adam and Gina Kent, and playing darts under the unwavering gaze of Mel Gibson. Then Ben refuses to share his species count during a global Big Year challenge update, despite Bill's emotional support and encouragement.
Ben and Bill recorded this episode while sitting outside in southeastern Ohio. They chat about Ben's recent experiences at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in Texas, and the upcoming events at the Space Coast Birding Festival in Florida. Nemesis birds, missed rarities, hoped-for sightings, smelly vans, dump birding, birding skill-building and field-sketching workshops, Tamaulipas and Rain Crows, and shooting video versus recording an audio podcast are all topics that arise in this episode. Then, Bill drove Ben to the airport.
Recorded from his live presentation at the Space Coast Birding Festival, Bill Thompson, III, reveals the humorous side of bird watching.