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The Bird Joy Podcast — Education
The Bird Joy Podcast

Welcome to the Bird Joy Podcast – where birding meets community, curiosity, and connection! Hosted by Dexter “The Wisco Birder” Patterson and Jason “The Birding Beardsman” Hall, this is your go-to show for all things birds, nature, and the joy they bring.

Whether you’re a beginner birder, a backyard birdwatcher, or a seasoned avian enthusiast, Bird Joy is your destination to explore the beauty of birds, the importance of conservation, and the power of inclusive outdoor spaces.

What to Expect:

Birding tips for beginners and pros alike

Inspiring stories from birders, naturalists, and STEM professionals

Deep dives into urban birding, green spaces, and conservation efforts

Honest conversations about equity, access, and inclusivity in nature

Updates on birding trends, tech, and tools

Each episode celebrates how birds connect us to nature, to science, and one another. With expert guests, heartfelt stories, and a shared love for our feathered friends, Bird Joy is more than a podcast—it’s a movement.

Discover the magic of birding. Build community. Find your flock.

Subscribe to the Bird Joy Podcast today—because everyone deserves a little more joy, and a few more birds, in their life.

Latest Episodes:

Mapping Nature's Stories with Calvin Feagans Dec 27, 2024

Show notes

Dexter and Jason welcome Calvin Feagans, an environmental scientist, educator, and talented nature photographer, to the Bird Joy Podcast this week! Calvin shares how his passion for urban ecology and biodiversity drives his creative work, from the educational EnviroBytes to urban ecology report cards. He also discusses the challenges and joys of turning data into storytelling tools, mapping bird migration patterns, and reclaiming old industrial spaces for conservation efforts.

Throughout the conversation, the homies touch on themes like environmental stewardship, advocating for nature in urban spaces, and navigating the highs and lows of social media advocacy (including a few words on those inevitable trolls). They even reflect nostalgically (and humorously) on their shared love-hate relationship with R programming!

Get ready for an inspiring, educational, and joy-filled conversation that will leave you seeing urban green spaces—and the role you can play in preserving them—in a new light.

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Finding Healing Through Birding with Tammah Watts Dec 20, 2024

Show notes

Get comfortable. Take a seat. Gather around friends for a warm and meaningful conversation with the famed author, mindful birder, licensed marriage and family therapist, California Audubon board member, and accessible birding advocate Tammah Watts! In this episode we discuss her approaches to birding as it pertains to her own healing and connection with our community, including incredible encounters with Red-shouldered Hawks and Mourning Doves to aid in the healing. We cover some experiences we’ve all had in nature, some with each other. We look into her book, “Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching,” and even explore some pages together. You will be delighted to participate in a prompt read live by Tammah, where we embody a crane looking at still water for some self-reflection. We also talk about some birding adventures with the SoCal Bird Nerd crew (of which Jason is an honorary member), where they look for Cactus Wrens and Say’s Phoebe. We also get some great advice from Tammah on how to approach our birding in ways that help us cope with life in a sometimes very challenging world.

This is a space we gather to fill up each other’s cups with that everlasting Bird Joy! Join us!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Urban Birding, Motherhood, and the Power of Community with Indigo Goodson-Fields Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

The vibe is SOOOO right this week with our homie Indigo Goodson-Fields. Indigo comes to hang with us from Brooklyn, NYC, where she is a birder, poet, bird guide, writer, educator, and bird model (with Bird Collective). We spend some time talking about how she curates her community in ways that enrich her own mental health as well as the community around her. This includes leading “Birding, Poetry, and Power” outings through Field Meridians as well as those more quiet and reflecting moments in Prospect Park or the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We break down what it means to find your space and your community in nature, especially in the most well-known city on the planet. Indigo brings us inside the life of a new mother, navigating the caregiving responsibilities while still trying to find time to fill up one's cup in nature. This can be through the reflections on the intertwined lives of Eastern Bluebird and Brown-headed Cowbird mothers or the arrival of a special Yellow-breasted Chat in her local patch.

Join us this week as we find that unique Bird Joy with Indigo, and give her a follow if you want to get to one of her upcoming outings in 2025!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Field Inclusive Superheroes with Lauren D. Pharr and Dr. Murry Burgess Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

We have some excellence for ya’ll on this episode! Our two guests today are Dr. Murry Burgess and Lauren D. Pharr, the founders of Field Inclusive Inc. In this episode, we get into the need for an organization like Field Inclusive when it comes to helping marginalized field researchers, including those who are out in our forests, swamps, ponds, oceans, and deserts studying birds! This covers everything from field training to safety training and even equitable financial compensation. You can learn more about this in the upcoming Field Inclusive Week 2025.

Additionally, we cover some of the research that has impacted birds across the spectrum. From the key research by Lauren on the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, which was recently delisted from endangered to threatened by USFWS to the key research by Dr. Burgess on light pollution on the lives of songbirds. We do not forget to discuss the colorful and magical book Sparrow Loves Birds, authored by Dr. Burgess and illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. We discuss the impetus for the books and why it’s such a comprehensive onramp for kids to explore their communities.

Join us this week for incredible joy and inspiration with these two heroes of ornithology.

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Please share this with a friend and help us spread a little Bird Joy.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Gull Joy with Amar Ayyash Nov 29, 2024

Show notes

It’s finally here! The long-awaited Gull Joy episode. This week, Dexter and Jason converse with one of North America's most well-known gull experts, Amar Ayyash. We sit down with Amar and discuss how he went from making French fry-infused eye contact with gulls as a kid to being the author of a sensational new gull text, “The Gull Guide: North America.” We dive into how to find joy in the pursuit of gulling. This includes visiting Cape May to see an Ivory Gull, hanging in landfills, and enjoying a nice Gull Frolic every winter. Amar makes it clear that gulling can be for everyone. He shares his experiences with beginners and advanced birders alike. You can feel the gull joy emanating from every moment of this episode. If you are looking for a fun and inclusive discussion on how to get started, look no further. Be sure to check out the North American Gulls Facebook page and anythinglarus.com for the community you seek!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

The Joy of Bird Migration with Mariah Hryniewich and Luis Eduardo Gles Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

On this week's episode, Dexter and Jason sit down with two fun and amazing folks, Luis Gles and Mariah Hryniewich of Woodstars Nature Tours. Mariah and Luis speak to us from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas about manning the Florida Keys Hawkwatch and experiencing the greatest Peregrine Falcon migrations on record. The Hawkwatch also boasts incredible numbers of Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, Bahama Swallows, and tons of warbler flight. If that extreme heat, humidity, and mosquitoes weren’t enough, Luis and Mariah now spend the spring and summer months in the Bering Sea on St. Paul Island, AK, leading bird tours and doing surveys. You never know what can show up on the island. This year, they got folks on a Smew and a Garganey, Song Thrush, and Little Bunting. They discuss biting on the island and how it differs from the Hawkwatch.

You will hear about more different bird species in this episode than in any other episode. Have those Google fingers ready to explore and enjoy!!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

The Study of Birders with Jordan Rowley Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

Dexter and Jason sit down with Jordan Rowley on this week's episode. Jordan is a PhD student at Utah State University, where he focuses on the social science surrounding birders and birdwatchers. It’s like birding… but of people! The research is fascinating as it breaks down some of the demographics of birders and where they fall on different social scales. We research and discuss why things would break down that way. Dexter and Jason get a crash course on multi-species justice. We also discuss adventures and misadventures surrounding McGillivray's Warblers and Mountain Bluebirds. We get into the fantastic YouTube channel Bright Eyed Birding and discuss how it helps create a welcoming and inclusive community. Jordan puts us onto what he sees as the opportunity for a better birding community in his area and has us dreaming about Pink Robins and Montezuma Quail!

Join us this week as we have a convo with Jordan and spread some of that Bird Joy!!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Birding & Science Communication with Isaiah "Ike" Scott Nov 08, 2024

Show notes

Extraordinary episode ahead! This week, we speak with Isaiah “Ike” Scott, a senior at Cornell University, specifically focusing on studying ornithology at the Cornell Lab or Ornithology. Ike talks to us about what it’s like to study birds and how we followed this particular path in his education, including his teaching under Dr. Irby Lovett. Ike is also a bird artist and can express some beautiful aspects of his birding. Check it out at Ikes Bird Art. We touch on what it’s like to be a student birder seeing his first Golden Eagle and how those experiences play a role in developing as a practical science communicator. It’s essential to get more folks from various communities involved in birding. That comes through in Ike’s social media, educational pursuits, and advice to other budding Black science communicators! We journey to the future, Snoop Dogg album in hand, and figure out where Ike is going!

Join us as we spend some time sharing the always welcome Bird Joy!!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

A Conversation with Christian Cooper Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

Join Dexter and Jason on this fantastic episode where we welcome our FIRST-ever guest on the podcast! In this episode, we are so excited to chat with best-selling author Christian Cooper about all things birding and bird joy! We cover experiences from his books, “Better Living Through Birding, Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.”, and his amazing Emmy-winning TV show, Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper. How does Christian find his “bird joy”? How does he feel about the movement of many new Black and brown birders in the community to create new space? We get into all things the experience of being a birder today, some of our grounding experiences with each other on Little St. Simon’s island in Georgia, how we contextualize our own birding journeys, blushing from unsolicited compliments from folks in rainbow unicorn shirts, and even the decision by the AOS to change all eponymous bird names. Christian gave a fantastic talk at the formerly San Diego Audubon (now San Diego Bird Alliance), which covered all 12 points of opposition to #BirdNamesForBirds. We also are so honored to discuss Christian’s new book, “The Urban Owls, How Flaco and Friends Made the City Their Home” which releases on Feb 18th.

Take a listen and enjoy this special conversation with Christian Cooper!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Welcome to Season 2 of the Bird Joy Podcast Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

We are back!!! It’s been too long homies. We have missed you!

On this episode, Jason and Dexter get back in the saddle and catch up on what’s been going on in the bird world. This includes visiting the International Crane Foundation with the homies to see birds like the endangered Whooping Crane and the incredibly beautiful Blue Crane. It also included doing some conservation work with Bird Safe Philly and advocating for bird safe windows/glass. Most notably however is the discussion on how homies in Philly and Madison got to witness this seasons SWIFTNADO action! So much joy and wonder watching Chimney Swifts go “nite-nite” for the evening while preparing to migrate south for the winter.

Dexter and Jason wrap up by discussing some upcoming trips with their bird clubs and the migrants they are still looking forward to this fall including Golden Eagles and sparrows. They discuss their excitement on the number of guests for next season including a special guest for Episode 2!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

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