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

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

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

Wow. We started in “Fake Spring” and took you through birding etiquette, safety, diversity/inclusion, and budgeting. We are here in mid-summer, excited to celebrate the bird joy we created and shared! We look forward to continuing that and bringing you new and fresh voices from around the birding world. We are all “nerding out” through our bird joy, and it’s so beautiful. Sometimes, we focus so much on the technical aspects of birding that we miss sharing the joy involved in the process. Although Dexter and Jason love talking birds and bird joy, they only provide two perspectives. There are so many other voices we’d like to highlight and hear from along this journey. We want to discuss fun things like best bird songs, fall migration (crazy fall warbler ID) winter birding (weird duck season), and GULLS! Are there other pathways to bird joy that we have not discussed yet? Our host, Jason, is diving into field journaling and bird sketching. Can we interpret nature like our homie and creator of our podcast representations, Casey Girard? Can we get good at nature photography like our homie Anwar Abdul-Qawi? We are taking a break to get the next season going, but we aren’t going anywhere! We will continue to share items on our Instagram profile. Be good and bird safely!

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

Join Dexter and Jason in this jam-packed episode, where they emphasize the crucial role of planning in ensuring a safe and enjoyable birding trip. The homies delve into the basics of safety, including the essential steps to plan your visit to a birding area.

Are you aware of what you need to safely get there, bird, and safely get home to those folks who love you the most? This includes making sure you have things like food and water if you need it for a longer trip, accessible and safe parking or public transport; clothes are safe and comfortable for the conditions you will be in; sunscreen, gloves, hats, and other items to ensure your physical self is well taken care of. Additionally, the homies dive deep into safety in numbers and ensure that you let folks know where you are going. There are natural (large carnivores, dangerous plants, venomous reptiles) and human dangers (social or political groups that do not accept those different from them) in some areas, and we must ensure we are aware of those. There are several examples throughout history of folks being harmed in the outdoors simply due to who they are. Feel free to use technology (e.g., Find my iPhone or other similar apps) to share your location with others if you can.

In a separate episode, they covered birding ethics and inclusive birding. The homies return to some of those themes when it comes to ensuring we are aware of how we impact the safety of others on the trail. For example, how men… or bears… approach women on the trail, ensuring we are not overstepping bounds and only presenting safe and equitable spaces. There is also consideration given to how some of these points of safety may change depending on a disability that someone may be challenged with at any point and how we should consider those when going out in groups.

As heavy as this episode is with tips and advice, the homies keep it fun and uplifting at all times. As usual, there are many laughs along the way. There are some lesser talked about topics like common birding injuries and how to take care of yourself during your bird outing. In the end, they want you to be safe on the bird trail, no matter who you are.

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

What is conservation in birding? How can you contribute to bird conservation locally? Join Dexter and Jason as they explore how to find bird joy while contributing to conservation. You don’t need to be a tenured PhD in Ornithology to contribute to conservation locally. There are several local opportunities to participate, such as those offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Seek and join the conversations in your local municipalities, counties, and communities. Those likely lead to laws that impact habitat and access to green space. It’s a good way to stay engaged. Other initiatives like Homegrown National Park give you the pathway to contributing habitat for birds, bugs, plants, and other types of wildlife.

Whether it’s American Kestrel Banding, Monarch Butterfly plantings, Bluebird Box Monitoring, or monitoring the homies coming to your patch feeders, there are multitudes of opportunities out there to get involved.

Who knows where this might lead you? You could end up learning why Large Billed Terns are showing up in Florida or contributing data to Brown Booby migration patterns. You may even get lucky enough to count gulls in a trash dump one winter.

You don’t need to do it all. Stay within your means and understand that every little bit matters.

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

This episode is dedicated to all of our listeners and supporters. Dexter and Jason recap an amazing spring, including Black Birders Week 2024! They get in and out of our amazing bird moments, which include finding a Blackburnian warbler in Central Park with Indigo-Goodson Fields and Emmy winner Christian Cooper. This included a trip to Queens to find Piping Plovers with the NYC Plover Project, culminating in a Black Excellence in Birding Gala! Dexter describes what it was like to bird in Madison with the founder of Black in NPS Week, Ms. Nicole Jackson! They cover key moments like Dexter's amazing spring getting onto his first American Avocets and the long-awaited nemesis bird, the Cerulean Warbler! It is incredibly evident that birding is for EVERYONE in this episode… including babies in diapers! Rounding out with stories of the homies hanging with Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons from the Hoo’s Woods Raptor Center. Heading into Juneteenth, they discuss their week and summer plans. Overall, this episode is meant to BE A CELEBRATION OF THIS COMMUNITY. Thank our listeners for their journey thus far. The community is growing because of you all!! Please continue spreading Bird Joy where you can, and keep listening! Huge shoutout to Black AF In Stem for another great year!

#Birding #BirdJoy #TheBirdJoyPod #Joy #Community #Smile #Birds

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

Join Dexter and Jason as they delve into the mental health benefits of birding. Even when you have to wake up at 4 am to see Greater Prairie Chickens in freezing cold weather, there is still an immense health benefit. Those moments when you can commune with and observe nature provide joy, anxiety reduction, stress reduction, happiness, and perspective. Sometimes we forget that birding presents challenges through adventure and pursuit of birds. The payoff for finally seeing the bird is a rush of endorphins. Additionally, the journey to the bird is just as valuable as seeing the bird.

We are inspired by mindful birders like Tammah Watts (author of Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching). Do you check your mental state before and after you bird? Did you know that birding can be used to deal with grief? Do you ever feel like you’ve gotten physical exercise while birding? Do you feel better when you help other birders see birds?

Humans are social beings, and we built ways of interpreting the world through nature. We evolved within it, so it’s not surprising that nature directly connects to our mental health. Our brain was wired to pay attention to it. Watching birds survive also affects how we move forward in life. The struggle to provide for our families isn’t limited to humans; birds do the same. It’s important to try and connect with that. Like the small but powerful Blackpoll Warbler who travels thousands of miles and blesses us with its song for a few moments on its journey, we can take inspiration from its success.

Don’t shortchange the community connections and the support systems developed with those friendships. Those connections are also important for maintaining your mental health. This includes the proper use of your social media outlets. Have you adjusted your social media algorithms to show you bird joy and a positive bird community? One day, you never know, you may end up birding with your favorite homies and looking at Roseate Spoonbills!

Get out there and find some 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