WEEKEND BIRDER

Celebrate the joy of birdwatching together.This episode is a special collection of listener stories, curious questions, and bird recordings from the Weekend Birder community. Thank you to Alexa, Kerrie Robertson, Tom Raw, Meg Dow, Jia Yin, Pete Brothwell, Anelie Joy, Jeff Smith, Christoph Devoil, and Roger MacKertich for your contributions — and to Andrew Skeoch for his dawn chorus recording of budgerigars.🎧 All links here: weekendbirder.com/podcast/118-season-finale-with-the-weekend-birder-community 📬 Subscribe to the Monthly Letter: weekendbirder.com/monthly-letterMore at weekendbirder.com | Instagram: @weekend.birder

Listen to the world around you. This episode is about learning from birds, deep listening and why the Australian dawn chorus is so unique.Andrew Skeoch is a professional wildlife sound recordist, acoustic ecologist and author of ‘Deep Listening to Nature’. Over the last 30 years, he has documenting the sounds of environments around the planet, and through his label 'Listening Earth', published over one hundred recordings allowing listeners to immerse themselves in wild soundscapes from around the world. His recordings have been heard in documentaries, installations and feature films such as Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to 'Rabbit Proof Fence’. He has given presentations to audiences ranging from local community and naturalist groups to university students. He’s appeared at festivals such as WOMADelaide’s Planet Talks, written for The Conversation, and presented radio features, keynote addresses and a TEDx talk. He is the president of the Australian Wildlife Sound Recoding Group, and on the board of the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology.Links:* Andrew’s website - andrewskeoch.com* Listening Earth website - listeningearth.com* Andrew on Instagram - @andrewskeoch_author* Listening Earth on Instagram - @listening_earth* All recordings were gifted and licensed from Andrew Skeoch* Subscribe to the Monthly Letter - weekendbirder.com/monthlyletter* Be part of Episode 117 - weekendbirder.com* Subscribe to the Monthly Letter - weekendbirder.com/monthly-letterWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Take a trip to the Australian outback. This episode is about the unique birds that call Broken Hill home and the passion of a farmer who cares for wildlife and the planet.Dr Anika Molesworth is an Agriculture and Environmental scientist who works on climate smart farming across Australia and the Asia Pacific. With a passion for rural communities and healthy ecosystems, she is committed to help create sustainable and vibrant rural landscapes now and for the future. Anika established Climate Wise Agriculture to focus on supercharging green initiatives, and is a founding Director of Farmers for Climate Action – a national network of nearly 8,000 Australian farmers undertaking climate change action. She has presented the TEDx talks Farmers are Key to a Better Future and Repairing the Broken Food System. Anika is the author of her book, Our Sunburnt Country, which won the Royal Societies of Australia and New Zealand Writer’s Award for Outstanding Writing on Social Change, and is currently working on an illustrated children’s picture book.Links:* Weekend Birder Meet-ups - weekendbirder.com/meet-ups* Subscribe to the Monthly Letter - weekendbirder.com/monthly-letter* Anika’s website - anikamolesworth.com* Anika on Facebook - @anikamolesworthdr* Anika on Instagram - @anikamolesworth* Anika on X - @AnikaMolesworth* Anika on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/anika-molesworth-phd-93519187/* Curtin University Zebra Finch research - curtin.edu.au/news/media-release/zebra-finches-survive-australian-heatwaves-by-predicting-high-temperatures/* Emu recording was by Marc Anderson and licensed from www.wildambience.comWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Look at Australian birds with new eyes. This episode is about the adventures of an English birdwatcher and podcaster, the power of the human connection and where to go birding in the UK.Suzy Buttress has loved watching birds ever since she was a child, likely inspired by hand-feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square. Her passion for birds and the desire to share birding stories with others led to the creation of both The Casual Birder Podcast and her monthly virtual bird club. The connections made within the community that has built up around the show has created friendships and extended her appreciation of the birds around us.Links:* Suzy’s website - casualbirder.com* Suzy on Facebook - @CasualBirderPod* Suzy on Instagram - @casualbirderpodcast* Suzy on BlueSky - @casualbirderpod* Weekend Birder Google Map - weekendbirder.com/travel* Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo recording was by Marc Anderson and licensed from www.wildambience.comWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Get to know birds of prey on a whole new level. This episode answers listener questions about things like bird parenting, food and morphs.Stephen Debus has been interested in birds, and especially raptors, since childhood. He’s had a long association with the University of New England (Armidale, NSW) as a research fellow and honorary research associate on various woodland birds. Stephen is also an ecological consultant, doing fauna surveys and assessments for government and industry. Since 2017 he has been working for NSW Local Land Services, surveying and monitoring the nests of threatened raptors on the NSW Northern Tablelands. Stephen has written numerous field guides on raptors and monographs on the eagles and falcons.Links:* Sign Birdlife’s SGARs poison petition - actforbirds.org/ratpoison* Raptors of Northern NSW on Facebook - www.facebook.com/groups/653339721737939/* BirdLife Australia Raptor Group - ausraptorgroup.org* Birds of prey recordings were recorded by Marc Anderson and licensed from www.wildambience.comStephen’s books:* Birds of Prey Australia - publish.csiro.au/book/7863* Australian Birds of Prey in Flight - publish.csiro.au/book/7792* Australian Falcons - publish.csiro.au/book/8058* Australasian Eagles and Eagle-like Birds - publish.csiro.au/book/7664Weekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Discover the joys of birdwatching with limited mobility. This episode is about two birders who make birding accessible, including for those in a wheelchair, and the wonderful nature discoveries they've made along the way.Ian Kitchen has always been interested in nature, ever since he was a boy in England. When he was little, he was allowed to borrow books from the adult section in the library because they had much more information on animals and insects than the children’s books. Ian, who now uses a wheelchair to get around, has spent his retirement documenting the diverse plant and animal life found in Churchill National Park. Together, he and his partner Julie Sims are encouraging others to join them as they traverse some of the park’s gentler tracks, looking for different flora and fauna.Links:* Ian and Julie on Facebook - @thegreenwheelers* Wheelchair Nature Scoot bookings - eventbrite.com.au/e/wheelchair-nature-scoot-tickets-824748674487* Walks Victoria website - victoriawalks.org.au* Weekend Birder Google Map - weekendbirder.com/travelWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Learn how to record video footage of birds. This episode is about a passionate ornithologist, conservationist and film-maker who has some great advice about creating bird videos.Scot works for Birdlife Australia and is the coordinator of the Lockyer-Toowoomba Birds on Farms Project. He is also the convenor of the Birdlife Darling Downs local branch and runs the social media channel Bird Bites. He has a BA in Anthropology, and a Grad Dip in Ornithology. He's been into birds for over 50 years, ever since he first saw a flock of Red-collared Lorikeets when he was five years old in Darwin. Scot has also done a lot of film making and is currently working on a three-part documentary about Australian birds.Links:* Scot’s website - birdbites.com.au* Scot on Facebook - @birdbites* Scot on Instagram - @birdbitesaus* Scot on YouTube - @birdbites* Scot’s video camera is a Pansonic HC-V180 - panasonic.com/mea/en/consumer/cameras-camcorders/camcorders/hc-v180.html* Scot also likes the Nikon Coolpix P1000 camera - nikon.com.au/digital-camera-coolpix-p-1100* Weekend Birder Google Map and other travel destinations - weekendbirder.com/travel* Paradise Riflebird recording is by Marc Anderson, licenced from wildambience.comWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Try a different form of birdwatching. This episode is about slowing down to learn about local birds and a special place to go birding in Texas.Maggie Galbraith is an amateur naturalist who started focusing more on birds in her early 30s. Since then, she has been trying to educate herself as much as she can. Maggie loves photography. She also adores native bees and enjoys the challenge of macro photography.Links:* Maggie on Instagram - @maggies_lens* Weekend Birder Google Map - weekendbirder.com/travel* Australian Bird ID how-tos - weekendbirder.com/bird-id* Weekend Birder Hobart Meet-up 2025 - weekendbirder.com/meet-ups/hobart-2025* White-winged Fairywren recording is by Marc Anderson, licenced from wildambience.comWeekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder

Try a different form of birdwatching. This episode is about slowing down to learn about local birds and a special place to go birding in Texas.Joan E. Strassmann loves to watch local, common birds as they live their lives. She is Rebstock Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis where she teaches behavioral ecology and works hard to inspire students. The Slow Food movement inspired her to write ‘Slow Birding’ to encourage a thoughtful approach to observing life outside.Links:* Joan’s website - slowbirding.wordpress.com* Joan’s academic blog - sociobiology.wordpress.com/* Joan on Instagram - @joanstrassmann* Joan on Twitter/X - @JoanStrassmann* Merlin Bird ID - merlin.allaboutbirds.org* Weekend Birder Monthly Letter - weekendbirder.com/monthly-letter* Weekend Birder Hobart Meet-up 2025 - weekendbirder.com/meet-ups/hobart-2025Weekend Birder online:* Website - weekendbirder.com* Instagram - @weekend.birder* Facebook - @weekend.birder* YouTube - @WeekendBirder