Ear Candy Alert: Latest Podcast Episodes!

If you enjoy listening to podcasts about birding, there are new episodes posted in the past few days from two podcasts in which I'm involved.

This Birding Life has been going for more than a decade and just passed the 70 episode count. Episode 73 is a collection of four different birding-related stories I recorded during a recent trip to Taiwan. These first-person tales range from trying to charm you way into an exit-row seat on an international flight to being rescued in dire remote circumstances. Here's a link to listen to episode 73 of "This Birding Life" entitled "More Birding Stories."

That's me in the yellow sleeves with our Taiwan birding group.

"Out There With the Birds" is the second podcast I'm part of, along with my colleague and friend Ben Lizdas. Where TBL is an interview-style podcast with me interviewing an interesting person or people, OTWTB is pretty much just Ben and me talking back and forth about anything that comes to mind. And we usually crack up along the way.

Ben lives and works outside of Madison, Wisconsin, so most of our episodes are recorded via Skype, which makes the audio quality , occasionally challenging. When our paths converge, we record episodes in person and take lots of silly selfies.  Here's a link to a recent episode that included a short discussion about recent research into male duck genitalia.

If you like what you hear, please click on the RSS feed link to be notified when new issues are posted. TBL is once monthly, OTWTB is twice monthly. In between episodes, you should go birding.

Happy listening! We'll see you out there with the birds!

Giant Things of Oaks, PA

I just remembered I still have a blog, such as it is. 

And one of my most favorite-ist blog post categories ever is Giant Things. Go ahead. Search the Bill of the Birds archives and let the wonders fill your eyes. And your nightmares.

This beauty of a Giant Thing is in Oaks, Pennsylvania, standing outside an indoor amusement park and immediately adjacent to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, where we just held the third-annual American Birding Expo. My guess is Ol' Jughead used to be holding a wrench or some other sort of tool, advertising a car repair center. Now he's standing, empty handed, on the edge of a parking lot, next to his buddy, Life-size Giraffe.

Lifesize Giraffe and extraneous minutiae.

Ben and I spied the Giant Things and had to hold an impromptu photo session. We like to get selfies for use with our "Out There Wth the Birds" podcast. Check out episode 21 in which we walk the aisles of the 2017 Expo, talking to ourselves and others.

No, Ben is not head butting Jughead in the photo above.

Later in the weekend, the Expo staff from Bird Watcher's Digest, along with two of our super volunteers, Ann Hannon and Jessica Melfi, struck a pose with Juggers.

You can find these Giant Things for yourself, when you come to NEXT YEAR'S EXPO, September 21 to 23, 2018, at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center.

If you come, we can take a selfie!

Spring Migration 2017, Part 2

Birders at Magee Marsh.

For those of us who are still scratching our heads about this year's spring bird migration, there seem to be more questions than answers and, of course, theories aplenty. Only yesterday (June 8) there was a female black-throated green warbler in our yard in southeast Ohio—a bird that should be in the northern forests brooding eggs or feeding nestlings by now.

The dedicated news team at our Out There With the Birds podcast sent Ben Lizdas, cub reporter, into the field to speak to two migration experts for a special episode focused on spring migration. Ben spoke with Greg Neise of the American Birding Association and Dr. David LaPuma, director of the  Cape May Bird Observatory.

Greg Neise of the American Birding Association.

Dr. David LaPuma of Cape May Birding Observatory.

Both of these guys are avid birders with loads of spring migration experience—Greg primarily in the upper Midwest in Illinois and David in both Wisconsin and New Jersey. I found what they had to say quite informative and most interesting.

You can hear their take on spring migration 2017 by listening to Episode 13 of Out There With the Birds: Spring Migration Report.

Enjoy and happy (late) spring birding!

Your OTWTB podcast hosts Bill (left) and Ben (cub reporter).

How Was Your Spring Migration?

Taking a respite from posting all my content, quips, and thoughts to the immediate-gratification machines of the social media channels, I thought I'd add a pithy question here on the dusty old Bill of the Birds blog.

Male cerulean warbler.

So...How was spring migration in your area?

I'm hearing that the spectacle of migration was quite unimpressive in many parts of the eastern half of the United States. I was at Magee Marsh in northwestern Ohio from May 10 to 14—which normally would be at or near the peak of spring songbird migration. My experience was one of "more people than birds," which is unusual for that spot at that season. Even at my farm in southeastern Ohio the migration seemed to be in dribs and drabs with no single day standing out as impressive or amazing.

All of this begs the question: Is this our new subdued migration reality? Have we reached (or passed) some sort of songbird-population tipping point where numbers of warblers, thrushes, tanager, orioles, vireos, etc, have crashed? In other words, are we experiencing "Silent Spring?"

Or, is this spring an anomaly, affected by weather, foliage development, insect hatches, etc?

I'd love to hear how the migration was in your region. Please use the comments section here, or comment on the inevitable Facebook and Twitter posts for this blog topic.

In an upcoming episode of our Out There With the Birds podcast, Ben Lizdas interviews several avid birders about the spring migration of 2017. Tune in to find out what they say.

Male prairie warbler.

Ten Pro Tips for When You're Stuck at the Airport

Today I'm trying to fly to Portland, Maine from Columbus, Ohio. But the travel demons are afoot and the only flight delayed from the John Glenn International Airport in Ohio's capital city is the one I'm on to Detroit. This means I will probably miss my connection in Detroit to Portland, Maine. ¡Así es la vida!

This kind of thing happens and it's happened to me before. So here are some tips, coping strategies, and suggested activities for you, the stranded birding traveler, the next time you find yourself in an airport with a loooooong delay.

Pro Tips for Dealing with Flight Changes & Challenges

1. Calm Blue Ocean. Don't let this unexpected wrinkle rattle you. Say your mantra. Count to 10. Do some yoga breathing. But don't lose your cool because that helps exactly zero percent.

2. Take Action Immediately. Often the first folks trying to re-book are the lucky ones who get a satisfactory result. Find an actual person at the airline's help/service desk. Then...

3. Be Super Nice & Cheerful. The folks at the counter or gate hold you destiny in their hard-working hands. Upset travelers are almost never nice to these professionals, so if you are, they are more likely to empathize with you and help you to solve your travel dilemma.

4. Ask for Advice. I've had several trips saved from oblivion by throwing myself on the mercy of an airline gate or ticket agent. This is helped mightily if you can abide by #3 above. They can use their computer wizardry to find alternate flights, routes, and solutions to your travel dilemma.

5. Stay Informed. I keep abreast of flight delays, gate changes, and other curveballs via my airline's app and other helpful apps, such as FlightStats. I'm often the first to receive updates—sometimes even before the gate agents.

6. Long, Unexpected Layover? Buy a magazine or newspaper (I treat myself to the New York Times when traveling). Buy some WiFi and download a movie or TV show. Get an airport massage.

7. Rest & Recharge. Find an unused gate with a quiet corner seat and an electrical outlet or charging station. You can recharge your electronics and yourself. I recently did this in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and the nap completely saved my day.

8.  Use Yelp for Food. I use the app Yelp to find the best non-chain airport restaurants. So what if you need to go to another terminal to get the best shrimp-n-grits? That beats eating a hotdog that's been in the weiner broth since the Wright Brothers took flight at Kitty Hawk.

9. Avoid the Bar. I know a beer or bloody Mary would taste super right now, but airport bars are great places to have one too many, lose track of time, and miss the announcement that your flight is boarding. "William Thompson, William Thompson! Please report immediately to Gate Z-74. Your flight to Oskaloosa is ready for immediate departure!"

10. Bird the Airport! If you're  birder like me, you're never not birding. Believe it or not there are birds inside most airports the world over. And there is often good birding outside the airport windows. Walk around, find the best habits and start watching. NOTE: Some international airport security officials may not understand that you are just birding. You may want to tell them in advance just what you are doing. Showing them your field guide helps.

11. Accept Your Fate. If the travel gods are frowning upon you, don't rage against the machine. If you're truly stuck, you're stuck. Inform your peeps what's happening, find a hotel room, and live to fly again tomorrow. And get that bloody Mary.

Birding in Stereo: The New BTX from Swarovski

The new BTX from Swarovski offers binocular vision through a spotting scope.

There is a clash of Titans at the top of the sport optics field among three European optics manufacturers—Swarovski, Zeiss, and Leica—vying to be the brand that you choose when purchasing a high-end binocular or spotting scope. Your average serious birder interested in using the best optics available could select a model from any of these three companies and be deliriously happy. In the rarified air of these highest, high-end optics, the differences in the optical quality from one to another is probably beyond what the human eye can perceive. It comes down to what feels good to you personally—in the hand, to your eyes, and around your neck. I own and use optics from all three companies and have enjoyed years of amazing optics performance from them.

When one of these manufacturers develops a new product that they feel is important, or even game-changing, they sometimes organize a tour or event to help launch the new product in a big way. That's how I found myself on an airplane bound for Innsbruck, Austria, just a few hours after returning home to Ohio from the Space Coast Birding Festival in Florida. I'd been invited, along with a bevy of other journalists, optics retailers, opinion leaders, and marketing professionals, to attend the unveiling of a new, top-secret product from Swarovski Optik.

I won't keep you in suspense—like they did us. The new product is called the BTX, and it's a modular binocular unit that fits onto the existing ATX/STX line of Swarovski spotting scopes. This means that if you already own a Swarovski ATX/STX  spotting scope, you can purchase the BTX unit and dynamically change how you use your scope. You simply remove the existing single eyepiece section and replace it with the BTX, rotating it and snapping it in place exactly as you would the eyepiece.

Let me explain in my typically non-techy way what is special about the BTX (which stands for Binocular Telescope. ATX and STX stand for Angled and Straight Telescope, respectively.)

The BTX offers incredible, stereoscopic viewing by combining a binocular vision/two-eyed image with the magnification power of a spotting scope. The image gathered by the objective lens of the scope is split into two images in the front end of the BTX and delivered, in stereo, to your eyes. This is something you probably have to experience to understand fully. And I'm sure you'll get a chance at one of the birding festivals later on in 2017 where Swarovski is certain to have the BTX on display.

The BTX can mount on any of the three ATX/STX objective lens bodies.

Like any binocular, the BTX has multiple adjustments that must be made for optimal, customized, individual use. These are:

• the inter-pupillary distance (the barrels adjust in or out like binocs to match the distance between your eyes)
• the eye relief for those who wear glasses (adjusted by rolling eyecups up or down)
• the diopter (to correct for differences in visual acuity between your two eyes; adjusted on the right eyepiece)
• and the forehead rest

The what?

Yes, the forehead rest. The BTX comes with a forehead rest that makes the viewing experience more stable and somehow more relaxing.

The optics inside the BTX are a product of meticulous engineering and rigorous testing, as we've come to expect from Swarovski. I don't pretend to understand the physics behind how the BTX functions optically, but I can tell you that watching birds in stereo is magical.

I noticed much greater plumage detail on distant ducks, despite the mostly gray and drizzly conditions in which we were birding. Birds seemed to pop out of their surroundings because the stereo view added dimension and a shallower depth of field, which made the focus seem much sharper.

Standing on the shore of Lake Constance, in Austria, scanning through rafts of ducks and loitering flocks of gulls, I felt my eyes and brain practically sighing as they relaxed.  Stepping to use a standard spotting scope next to me, I immediately felt the strain of closing one eye and forcing my open eye to do all the work. This may seem weird, but it was my natural reaction.

The BTX test group at Lake Constance.

Sharing a BTX with another birder or birders is a slight challenge because there's no one-size-fits-all setting for the various adjustments. In fact making those adjustments takes time, so any birder in a hurry or overcome by impatience to get a quick, focused look will likely experience some frustration.

The ultimate use for the BTX might be for birders/ornithologists spending long periods of time scanning shorebird flocks, or doing a sea watch, or a hawk watch, or monitoring an active nest. I believe a bird artist would seriously love field sketching while looking through a BTX. It is this type of extended use that can wear out the eyes and brain. In my few days of using one, the more relaxed stereo view provided by the BTX virtually eliminates this fatigue problem.

A variety of accessories are available with the BTX. A sliding shoe-mount balance rail permits a user to position a scope with a BTX for better balance, preventing its weightier back end from obeying the Law of Gravity at inopportune times. A Gimbal-style tripod head makes for smooth panning in all directions. A 1.7x magnifying extender makes the BTX into an even more powerful optical weapon. And a stay-on case protects your BTX from weather, dings, and other damage.

I can attest personally to the durability of the BTX: The one I was using fell off the tripod mount as I hefted the unit onto my shoulder. It crashed hard onto a cement parking lot, followed immediately by my scream of utter horror. Three of the engineers who helped to develop the BTX saw this happen and rushed to help. Other than a small scratch on the unprotected side armoring, the unit was completely fine. Unlike yours truly. They were pleased to witness this independent demonstration of the BTX's durability. I was light-headed with relief.

Like any top-of-the-line product, the BTX isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's a large unit, and, mounted on the ATX 95, it's a bit on the heavy side. With all of the adjustments necessary to "personalize" one's BTX experience, it may not be as easy to use in group settings, such as on guided birding outings. And the price tag, at $2,689 (MAP, or minimum advertised price) means that there probably won't be a BTX in every birder's arsenal. But this type of quality and innovation comes at a price, as Swarovski has previously demonstrated with its successful EL line of binoculars and the ATX/STX scopes. Additional details and specifications on the BTX can be found here on the Swarovski website.

BTX side view.

BTX showing Stay-on Case and Gimbal head.

These considerations aside, the BTX is a great leap forward, optically. It reminds me of the first time I saw true high-definition television—there was a palpable sense of "NOW I get it!" And then a sense of "I can never go back to the old way of watching again!"

If the BTX sounds like YOUR cup of tea, you'll have to cool your jets until early May 2017, when the first units are scheduled to be available for sale in North America.

My thanks to Swarovski for inviting me to have a sneak peek at the BTX.

Starling the Trickster

You fooled me, trickster

with your staticky singing

from the pear tree in late morning

a perfect call ringing:

"killdeer, deer, deer,"

from your bill to my ear

made me drop the axe I was about to swing

and run to the open yard

searching skyward for that 

shorebird sign of spring!

You fooled me later, the day far gone,

with a near perfect rendition of tundra swan.

And now I find

as I search my mind

for a reason to dislike you

that disaffection grows

as melting snows recede

and crocuses poke through.

Soon comes the season of your usurping

nest sites not meant for you.

Try as we might, you still alight

and prospect, select, and build

Secretly at first, then in a burst

your song comes in squeaky trills.

We shout and wave

you fly away

and we believe we've won!

Yet deep inside the martin gourd

incubation has begun.

February 20, 2017

Whipple, Ohio, USA

Last Bird/First Bird of the Year

My last bird of 2016 was the same as my first bird of 2017. I guess that's got a bit of kismet to it.

The species was northern cardinal. A male visited the bird feeders on December 31, right at dusk—as cardinals are wont to do. When all the other feeder visitors have gone to roost, the cardinals are still coming in, loading up on sunflower hearts to stoke their internal furnaces in preparation for another cold winter night. And they're back first thing in the morning, too—just after the first bit of light washes across the yard and things start to become discernible, emerging from the darkness.

I often hear the cardinals' loud, ringing chip notes even before I see them. It's a sound I've heard nearly all my life. In fact the what-cheer song of a male northern cardinal is the very first bird song I remember noticing. I was riding a scooter in my grandmother's driveway one summer day in what must have been 1968 or so. The cardinal was singing high in a flowering magnolia, so I associate the sound of the song with the sweet smell of the magnolia blossoms.

Now that I think about it, that's a pretty fine bird to have for the last one of the old year and the first one of the new! I hope yours was just as pleasing.

Happy New Year!