Episode 66: Pleasures of birdwatching with Aasheesh Pittie
About Aasheesh Pittie’s book of essays, The Living Air. If you’re looking for new ways to engage with birds and birdwatching, Aasheesh Pittie’s book of essays, The Living Air is a great place to start. This book will not only make you want to get out and observe your city and surroundings in a whole new light, but it will also offer a fresh...
Episode 65: Amazing bird species: Sarus cranes and storks
This is a post-episode trailer. In Episode 35, Dr. Gopi Sundar paints a hopeful picture of cranes and waterbirds coexisting with humans. In this episode we delve into these amazing bird species. Both storks and cranes are wading birds. They dwell in similar habitats and look similar. They have long legs and a long, curving...
Episode 64: Flight paths: about bird migration with Rebecca Heisman
In this episode, we are talking about how we know what we know about bird migration. Our guest, Rebecca Heisman describes herself on her website, as a “bird writer for hire.” Her first book, flight path has the following subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration. This episode...
Episode 63: The Feather Library project with Esha Munshi
This episode is about the wonder of feathers. Salim Ali said that birds were “feathered bipeds.” This episode explores how feathers are marvellously adaptive to suit birds and species. Our guest is Esha Munshi who co-founded the Feather Library, a digital project documenting feathers. Esha read a quote from this book on feathers....
Episode 62: Bird diplomacy with Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud
Photographing birds across continents. In this episode, we interview His Excellency Jacques Pitteloud who happens to be the Swiss Ambassador to the United States. Based in Washington, Ambassador Pitteloud is also a birdwatcher and bird photographer. In 2021, Ambassador Pitteloud’s photograph of a rare painted bunting that...
Episode 61: Bird conservation: experiments that work
In this episode, we highlight conservation experiments that are interesting and have worked. We have chosen three experiments from previous episodes. Our hope is that you will go back and listen or watch sections of these episodes because they are worth your time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjJ6f_-9h0 The first conservation plan that worked...
Episode 60: The race to save our vanishing birds with Beverly and Anders Gyllenhaal
This episode is about conservation efforts across North America. Beverly and Anders Gyllenhaal are veteran journalists and birdwatchers. They ran newsrooms, assigned features and wrote books. They publish a website called FlyingLessons.US: What We’re Learning from the Birds,’’ and are here with us to speak about their new book, “A Wing and...
Episode 59: The big year of birding with Noah Strycker
In this episode, we talk to Noah Strycker. Noah is the Associate Editor for Birding Magazine and author of several popular books about birds. He set a world record in 2015 by finding more than 6,000 species of birds in one calendar year. 6,042 species to be precise. Noah has made more than 70 expeditions to Antarctica and the high Arctic,...
Episode 58: Where bar headed geese and black tailed godwits visit in the winter
This episode is set in Hadinaru Kere, a lake outside Mysore in India. In the winter, the lake attracts a number of migratory birds. Some 85 species have been recorded in March 2023. This episode talks about the black-tailed godwit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsuNI3-tN44 To understand the difference between black- and bar-tailed godwits,...
Episode 57: About Australia and birdsong with author Tim Low
In this episode, we talk to author Tim Low, whose book, “Where Song Began” has been credited with turning the map upside down in terms of ornithology’s Northern hemisphere bias. Tim proves that the world’s cleverest birds originated in Australia. Tim Low is an award winning author, biologist, consultant and speaker. You can read...