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The Bird Joy Podcast

The Bird Joy Podcast

Dexter Patterson and Jason Hall

Welcome to the Bird Joy Podcast, where birds, community, and connection take flight! Hosted by Dexter "The Wisco Birder" Patterson and Jason "The Birding Beardsman" Hall, we bring together bird enthusiasts from around the globe to share the joy of birding, inspire curiosity, and build a welcoming space for everyone.

From tips for beginner birders to in-depth conversations on conservation, urban birding, and green spaces, we explore how birds enrich our lives. Our episodes feature expert guests, personal stories, and lively discussions on birding, inclusivity in the outdoors, and the latest birding trends.

Whether you're a seasoned birder, or a newbie curious about what makes birding so magical, the Bird Joy Podcast is your place to discover, learn, and celebrate the feathered wonders around us. Are you ready to find your flock and soak in some Bird Joy? Let's go!

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Top 10 The Bird Joy Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Bird Joy Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Bird Joy Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Bird Joy Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The Bird Joy Podcast - Finding Joy Outdoors with Alex Troutman
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01/03/25 • 52 min

In this uplifting episode, Dexter and Jason are joined by Alex Troutman, known as the “Best Smile in Birding,” to explore the many ways to find joy in the great outdoors. Whether it’s birding, fishing, hunting, or camping, Alex inspires us to live life with a wildlife mirror, reflecting the beauty of the natural world.

Alex shares his incredible research journey highlights, including studying Karner Blue Butterflies in Wisconsin, sea turtles in Texas, and bats in Malaysia.

The conversation includes Bird Joy Podcast shoutouts to Hunters of Color, Black Duck Revival, and the homie Mahdi Woodard, the Atlanta Birdman.

Don’t miss Alex’s thoughts on his upcoming merch and the hosts’ shared dream of birding in South America to spot the iconic Harpy Eagle. Want to help them get there? Holler at your bird-loving crew!

Connect with Us:

Follow Alex Troutman: @N8ture_Al

Dexter: @WiscoBirder

Jason: @TheBirdingBeardsman

🌐 More episodes & resources: Bird Joy Podcast

🎙️ Are you ready for some Bird Joy? Let’s Go!

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The vibe is SOOOO right this week with our homie Indigo Goodson-Fields. Indigo comes to hang with us from Brooklyn, NYC, where she is a birder, poet, bird guide, writer, educator, and bird model (with Bird Collective). We spend some time talking about how she curates her community in ways that enrich her own mental health as well as the community around her. This includes leading “Birding, Poetry, and Power” outings through Field Meridians as well as those more quiet and reflecting moments in Prospect Park or the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We break down what it means to find your space and your community in nature, especially in the most well-known city on the planet. Indigo brings us inside the life of a new mother, navigating the caregiving responsibilities while still trying to find time to fill up one's cup in nature. This can be through the reflections on the intertwined lives of Eastern Bluebird and Brown-headed Cowbird mothers or the arrival of a special Yellow-breasted Chat in her local patch.

Join us this week as we find that unique Bird Joy with Indigo, and give her a follow if you want to get to one of her upcoming outings in 2025!

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

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Birding and Conservation

Birding and Conservation

The Bird Joy Podcast

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06/28/24 • 44 min

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

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Birding and Mental Health

Birding and Mental Health

The Bird Joy Podcast

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06/14/24 • 44 min

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

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Ethical Birding

Ethical Birding

The Bird Joy Podcast

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05/24/24 • 45 min

In this week’s episode, join Dexter and Jason as they discuss some key birding ethics that one needs to know and consider when finding bird joy. Everything from dogs and pets off leash while trying to experience Eastern Meadowlarks to the use of lasers to help folks get on birds, the attempt (and sometimes failure) to see birds like the Eastern Towhee, and the controversial practice of playing bird calls to lure birds in (why would you do this for Short-eared Owls?). Key attention is given to how we treat each other as an extension of our birding activity while out on the trail. It is no surprise that the experience of Black and brown folks in the outdoors provides a key nuance to this discussion (as indicated by Drew Lanham’s 9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher). Of course there is also some bird joy, even if it’s found in the macabre practices of the “little bitty murderers” the Northern and Loggerhead Shrikes.

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypd and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Diversity in Birding

Diversity in Birding

The Bird Joy Podcast

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05/17/24 • 40 min

In this week's episode, join Dexter and Jason as they dive into why having a diverse birding community is essential. They discuss some of their experiences and growth since the inaugural Black Birders Week, like finding a connection to Dr. Drew Lanham's book, “The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature.” This episode is about our journey and passion to create a more diverse birding community and why that should mirror the diversity we see in birds like the cool Ruff. We also spotlight some fantastic birding groups, like the Special Bird Service, Chicago BIPOC Birders, BIPOC Birders of Michigan, The Oxnard Birders Club, and the Urban Bird Collective. We look to empower all of us to take action to ensure our communities remain engaged with the natural world (through birding or otherwise). Let’s go find that joy together!

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Welcome to the Bird Joy Podcast!
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04/30/24 • 31 min

In this episode, Dexter Patterson and Jason Hall welcome our fellow bird nerds into a space to celebrate Bird Joy. We cover displaying Red-winged Blackbirds, taunting Northern Mockingbirds, and even a lost Yellow-billed Loon in Las Vegas. This episode is all about vibing with nature and the restlessness that comes with Spring fever. Join us as we create space for new birders through the equitable, diverse, safe, meaningful, ethical, inclusive, and joyful pursuit of our fluffy homies.

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypd and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

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The Bird Joy Podcast - Welcome to Season 2 of the Bird Joy Podcast
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10/25/24 • 37 min

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

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On this week's episode, Dexter and Jason sit down with two fun and amazing folks, Luis Gles and Mariah Hryniewich of Woodstars Nature Tours. Mariah and Luis speak to us from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas about manning the Florida Keys Hawkwatch and experiencing the greatest Peregrine Falcon migrations on record. The Hawkwatch also boasts incredible numbers of Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, Bahama Swallows, and tons of warbler flight. If that extreme heat, humidity, and mosquitoes weren’t enough, Luis and Mariah now spend the spring and summer months in the Bering Sea on St. Paul Island, AK, leading bird tours and doing surveys. You never know what can show up on the island. This year, they got folks on a Smew and a Garganey, Song Thrush, and Little Bunting. They discuss biting on the island and how it differs from the Hawkwatch.

You will hear about more different bird species in this episode than in any other episode. Have those Google fingers ready to explore and enjoy!!

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

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The Bird Joy Podcast - The Study of Birders with Jordan Rowley
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11/15/24 • 42 min

Dexter and Jason sit down with Jordan Rowley on this week's episode. Jordan is a PhD student at Utah State University, where he focuses on the social science surrounding birders and birdwatchers. It’s like birding... but of people! The research is fascinating as it breaks down some of the demographics of birders and where they fall on different social scales. We research and discuss why things would break down that way. Dexter and Jason get a crash course on multi-species justice. We also discuss adventures and misadventures surrounding McGillivray's Warblers and Mountain Bluebirds. We get into the fantastic YouTube channel Bright Eyed Birding and discuss how it helps create a welcoming and inclusive community. Jordan puts us onto what he sees as the opportunity for a better birding community in his area and has us dreaming about Pink Robins and Montezuma Quail!

Join us this week as we have a convo with Jordan and spread some of that 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

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Bird Joy Podcast have?

The Bird Joy Podcast currently has 25 episodes available.

What topics does The Bird Joy Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Podcasts, Education, Birds and Birding.

What is the most popular episode on The Bird Joy Podcast?

The episode title 'Birdwatching and Safety for Diverse Birders' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Bird Joy Podcast?

The average episode length on The Bird Joy Podcast is 45 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Bird Joy Podcast released?

Episodes of The Bird Joy Podcast are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of The Bird Joy Podcast?

The first episode of The Bird Joy Podcast was released on Apr 30, 2024.

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