Out There With the Birds

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Ivan, Gloria, and others dominate the boys' conversation in this episode. They discuss the impact of severe storms on people, birds, and birding as well as the possible extinction of birds such as the Cozumel thrasher and the Barbuda warbler. Also discussed is how we birders can help weather-devastated communities with our ecotourism dollars in the future. Finally, Bill has a musical recommendation: "So You Want to Be an Outlaw," the new album from Steve Earle & the Dukes.

Through the magic of Skype the fellas hold down a conversation about rare birds, The Big Sit!, big sit strategy and rules, big years, world big years, and birding competitions. They also dip into the ornithological literature for a sidebar about male duck reproductive strategy. WARNING: Contains a short discussion of male duck genitalia.

Ben Lizdas has been to Costa Rica twice this fall (lucky dog). In this episode he talks with some of his fellow participants in the Costa Rica Birding Challenge about birding in the tropics, birding competitions, ecolodges, and the wonders of Costa Rica. Sadly, (or perhaps not) Bill is almost completely excluded from this episode, but there's still a strong Thompson Family presence: That's Bill's daughter Phoebe doing the intro and outro voiceover.

Bill and Ben launch their OTWTB Global Big Year Challenge to see which of them can see the most birds in 2018. They discuss the Polar Bear Club, favorite birding gear for travel, high-end compact binoculars, the wonders of Merino wool, and they welcome two new sponsors: Swarovski Optik and Redstart Birding.

Back in the USA, the boys are excited about waterfowl watching season. Ben talks about his bout with Duck Eye and how the Swarovski BTX scope cured him. Bill talks about #TamronTuesday and the opening day of the new baseball season. They also chat about the challenges of the Global Big Year ChallengeTM and their struggles with eBird. Bill shares a new musical recommendation: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's new record "The Nashville Sound."