E51 - Jeff B + Northern Mockingbird + Desert Plants

08/06/23 • 44 min

1 Listener

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!

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!

Previous Episode

E50 - Frank M + Northern Cardinal & Green Things

My guest is Frank Mead, an Arizona native who’s spent the last 10 years in the horticulture industry. Some of his experiences include working in the Conservation Core, a branch of Americore, where he helped to build trails in national parks and cooperated with fire crews during fire season. While he doesn’t have a formal background in birding, his older sister is an avid birder and has taken him along for many birding outings.
Conveniently, right before the backyard bird segment began, a nearby Northern Cardinal began calling!
I apologize for all the cicadas in the background, as their sounds come and go throughout the episode.
Chapters

0:00 - Intro
00:59 - Some of the Birds that Visit Green Things
01:36 - Frank’s Background with Birds
05:07 - Bird of the Episode: Northern Cardinal
8:53 - Native Plant: Desert Ironwood / Olneya Tesota
16:11 - Canyon Hackberry / Cletus Reticulate
22:22 - Yellow Bells / Tacoma Sans
29:33 - About Green Things
31:28- About Poinsettias
33:08 - Frank’s Role at Green Things
34:25 - Upcoming Classes @ Green Things
35:43 - Outro

For more about Green Things, please check out:

Their website: https://greenthingsaz.com/
Their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenThingsAZ
Their Instagram: @greenthingsnursery

For pictures of the Northern Cardinal and some of the native plants discussed, please check out the podcast's Instagram: @lookingatbirdspodcast
Thank you for listening!

Next Episode

E52 - 2023 Southeast Arizona Birding Festival

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.