tucson audubon

My guest is Phil Chaon,  a life-long naturalist with a background in botany and wildlife biology. Phil has taken field work jobs all over the world and now leads trips for Lindblad Expeditions focused on birds, wildlife and photography. In addition to guiding, Phil works as an audio analyst, training AI systems to categorize bird songs and he also co-authored Habitats of the World and the forthcoming Habitats of North America.

For some of Phil's Photography, check out his Instagram @uropsalis

For more on Phil's upcoming expeditions, check out: https://www.expeditions.com/about/expedition-team/philip-chaon/

And finally, for pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram.

Chapters

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:34 - Phil’s Recent Field Trip to Saguaro National Park
• 03:46 - Phil’s Birding Background 
• 11:53 - Bird of the Episode: Pinyon Jay
• 22:44 - Phil’s Field Work - Coffee Farm in Kenya
• 30:00 - Phil’s Field Work: El Dorado National Forest w/ California Spotted Owls
• 35:00 - Phil’s Field Work: Papua New Guinea w/ White-shouldered Fairy Wrens
• 41:03 - Co-authoring Habitats of the World
• 48:25 - Phil’s Next Book
• 49:13 - Outro

Thank you for listening!

We delve into the world of the saguaro cactus, exploring its cultural significance, scientific studies, and more. We talk to journalist Henry Brean of the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson storyteller Audrey Scheere about different aspects of this magnificent plant, the threats it faces,  and how people interact with it — for good or ill. Join us as we uncover the secrets of the saguaro!

Become a desert defender!: https://90milesfromneedles.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is my second time at the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival and similar to my other festival episodes, I interviewed birders visiting the Nature Expo. We talked about some of their memorable birding experiences as well as their experience at the festival.

Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - DJ from Tucson
05:48 - Lindsey from Tucson
09:27 - Eileen from Green Valley
11:51 - Mary Beth from Tucson
15:12 - Marta from Tucson
18:17 - Kate from North Dakota
24:02 - Outro

Thank you for listening!

For pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast, please check out @lookingatbirdspodcast on Instagram.

Today my guest is a familiar one, Jeff Babson, you might remember him from a number of previous episodes, namely 7, 16, 22, 23 and 42, all of which I encourage you to check out, if you haven’t already listened to them. Jeff is an all-around naturalist who currently works for the Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, as the county’s Wildlife Viewing Program Specialist. He also runs his own eco-tour and environmental education company, called Sky Island Tours. You will often find Jeff leading walks that focus on birds, insects and plants. Next week, he’ll also be leading a trip at the upcoming Southeast Arizona Birding Festival to Cienega Creek.

This is the last episode in the series about backyard birds and native plants. This one will be a little different, as Jeff's background is not in horticulture, although he is quite familiar with these plants where they naturally occur in the southwest.

For more on the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, please check out their website:
https://tucsonaudubon.org/festival/

For some pictures of the Northern Mockingbird, please checkout the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast

Chapters

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:15 - Jeff’s Recent Southwest Wings Trip
• 04:04 - Bird of the Episode: Northern Mockingbird
• 18:24 - Native Plant: Desert Hackberry
• 25:21 - Native Plant: Desert Mistletoe
• 32:41- Jeff’s Southeast Arizona Birding Festival Experience
• 41:26 - Upcoming Events that Jeff is Involved With
• 43:26 - Outro

Thank you for listening!

Today my guest is Jennie MacFarland, a returning guest from Episode 6, a nearly life-long Arizonan that loves exploring different habitats in Southeast Arizona. She currently works as a Conservation Biologist for the Tucson Audubon Society and coordinates the Important Bird Areas Program and other bird survey conservation projects. Jennie organizes several large-scale community science efforts in Southeast Arizona each year, including the Elegant Trogon surveys of five Sky Island mountain ranges.

This is the second episode of two that focuses on the Tucson Birdathon, through the eyes of a local team, the Wrenagades. This episode, we'll talk about how the Birdathon went this year, getting into the details of the route, some of the highlights and trends.

More on the Desert Purple Martin Project (Including some videos of them!)
https://tucsonaudubon.org/purplemartin/

More information on the 2023 Southeast Arizona Birding Festival (Aug. 9-13, 2023)
https://tucsonaudubon.org/festival/

Chapters

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:34 - Recent Elegant Trogon Survey
• 03:26 - 2023 Birdathon Recap
• 18:54 - Trends from the Birdathon
• 20:36 - Things that went well & Things that didn’t
• 23:40 - Curve-billed Thrasher in the Background
• 23:47 - Bird of the Episode
• 33:31 - Southeast Arizona Bird Festival
• 34:39 - Desert Purple Martin Request
• 38:03 - Outro

Thank you for listening!

Please checkout the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast -  for some pictures of some of the birds discussed on the podcast.