Transcript of Episode 79 Bird Walk at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge - The Casual Birder Podcast
[Opening music]
Suzy Buttress:
Welcome to the Casual Birder podcast. I'm Suzy Buttress. As a casual birder, I take time to watch birds as I go about my daily tasks. In my show, I'll tell you about the wild birds I've seen, speak with other enthusiasts, take bird walks, and share stories from listeners around the world.
In Episode 79 Tony Testa, host of the Finding Subjects podcast, takes us on a wonderful bird walk through his local wildlife reserve, the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania, USA.
But first, an update about the Global Bird Weekend which took place on the 17th and 18th of October. This event was created just a few months ago by Global Birding, a new venture of Tim Appleton, MBE, who had previously created and organised the Bird Fair for many, many years. If you missed it, do take a listen to my last episode, where Tim told me all about Global Birding’s mission.
Global Birding partnered with eBird, Birdlife International and Swarovski Optik for the Global Bird Weekend, to encourage as many people as possible to get out and watch the wild birds on their local patch and raise money to stop the illegal bird trade along the way.
It was timed to coincide with the October Big Day, a 24 hour period where as many birds as possible are recorded by those taking part.
eBird reported that the 2020 October Big Day was an outstanding success, with over 32,000 people taking part and logging 7,097 species in one day. That breaks the previous world record for the most species reported in a single day. For the whole of the global bird weekend, 7,243 species were recorded.
Listeners of the show, from three continents, came together to form the Casual Birder Podcast Team. We each watched in our own locations and shared our checklists with the team account. What I loved about this event was that birders of all experience levels could take part. Our team saw 324 species over the weekend, with 304 of them reported on the October Big Day. We also raised £402 for Birdlife International. So thank you to everyone that donated and helped make that possible.
There'll be a separate episode in which we'll hear from some of our team that took part in the Global Bird Weekend about our experiences and the birds we saw. In the meantime, I want to thank Jessica, Geoff, Boris, Karin, Joe, Natasha, Sean, Adam, Jane, Annika and Keiren and Rob, Brandt, Jeremy, Angel, Laura Mae and Stephanie for joining me in submitting checklists for the Casual Birder Podcast Team.
[Music transition]
Suzy Buttress:
Tony Testa is the host of the Finding Subjects podcast, a show that thoughtfully mixes life observations, self reflection and real talk. He takes us on a wonderful bird walk through his local wildlife reserve at Tinicum in Pennsylvania, USA.
According to its website, the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is celebrated as America's first urban refuge and it was established in 1972 for the purpose of preserving and developing the natural area known as Tinicum Marsh. It was also established to provide environmental education and the opportunity to study nature. The refuge is actually within the city of Philadelphia, and it has a variety of habitats, including a tidal marsh, open waters, woodlands and mudflats. The walk was recorded in May this year.
Tony Testa:
Hey Suzy, this is Tony from Finding Subjects podcast. Today I'm going into John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, over 1200 acres of refuge that are full with migratory birds and different kinds of animals and such. So we're going to walk in there today, try to get some sound bites of different animals and birds. Here we go.
[Bird song and Bullfrog calling]
Tony Testa:
[Whispers] Hear the Bullfrog?
[Bird song and calls continue in background]
Off in the distance you'll hear a Red-winged Blackbird, along with the Yellow Warbler. And off to my right is a Northern Cardinal somewhere.
[Bird Song fade out]
[Bird song fade in]
Tony Testa :
[Whispers] There's the Red-winged Blackbird
[Bird song and calls continue in background]
And more warblers off to my left.
That's the Red-winged Blackbird you hear.
A Robin in there, got another Mockingbird in there.
I think that was a juvenile Red-winged Blackbird … and there's an adult
[Bird calls] About 200 yards out and up, got a pair of Ospreys.
There's your blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird.
Northern Cardinal behind me, deep in the woods.
Looks like a Song Sparrow off my left
And just up above me, at the top of the tree looking down is that Red-winged Blackbird, getting closer and closer
[Whispers] Here he is
Off to my right you can hear Robins
[Bird calls]
I got an Osprey, ah, teasing me here. It's coming right at me and then banked to the left.
I kinda normally stay out of these woods because they are loaded with ticks, as most woods are. But I did spray today, which I highly advise you to take precautions if you are going into wooded areas. And this is normally how it is back here in this area, minus people. So I normally have this place all of myself.
[Bird calls fade out]
[Bird calls fade in]
Tony Testa:
I was hoping, I moved this way hoping to see the warbler
[Sound of water splash]
There is a monster fish right here. And what that is, is what they call the Frankenfish down here.
[Whispers] There's a Mockingbird, he's away deep in a bush. I mean, they're common here. I just think they're cool because they are actually like so plentiful here. But they'll get within five foot of you and just hang out.
So we have a nice sized Snapping Turtle right here. And those kids are coming up behind me, I er, the gentleman just passed me. I asked him to mention it to the parents of the children to be aware of that Snapping Turtle. They're laying eggs right now. And if you put your finger near them, you'll be missing a finger.
So I got some nice pictures of this Snapping Turtle I'll show you them as well.
[Whispers] We got something over here. It might be a warbler.
Nope. Black-capped Chickadee. Yeah, it's a Black-capped Chickadee, there's a bunch of them.
It's a water source here. That's why they're all hanging out, probably 5, 6, 7 of them in the bushes right in front of me. Robins, Catbirds, Mockingbirds.
It is very fragrant here with the smell of flowers, Honeysuckle.
Simultaneously swarms of flying Ants, or possibly Termites, just making their way from one side of the trail to the other.
Way up high, you have a bunch of Barn Swallows, Swifts.
See how good my photographic skills are to catch one of these guys. They are quick!
[Birds calling]
Possibly a Woodpecker in there. Yellow warbler all the way up. Baltimore Oriole.
Suzy Buttress:
Along the way, Tony met Neil, a birder from Washington, who had seen an impressive number of birds that day.
Tony Testa:
This is Tony, and I'm down here and I'm speaking with Neil.
Neil:
So here's my list. I'm gonna run through it real quick:
House Wren, American Robin, European Starling, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrow, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Marsh Wren, Carolina Wren, Mute Swan, Red-shouldered Hawk, Great Egret, Canada Goose Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Fish Crow, Double-crested Cormorant,
Baltimore Oriole, Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Great Blue Heron, Mourning Dove, Warbling Vireo, Green Heron, American Crow, Cedar Waxwing. House Finch, Carolina Chickadee. American Goldfinch, Blackpoll Warbler, Turkey Vulture, Brown-headed Cowbird, Laughing Gull, Northern Flicker, Orchard Oriole.
Almost done. Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Duck, Mallard, Pileated Woodpecker and Eastern Wood Peewee so far.
Tony Testa:
Amazing.
Neil:
Well, it's good place.
Tony Testa:
You've been doing it for a long time.
Neil:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tony Testa:
I mean, you have skills to recognise a lot of their different calls and such
Neil:
Today, I've probably seen 40 Gray Catbirds.
Tony Testa:
Yes.
Neil:
And heard and seen 30 Yellow Warblers. I mean, some of the birds are quite prevalent.
Tony Testa:
Right.
Neil:
It's a great place for Warbling Vireos. Hard to see. Hard to distinguish from other birds. But today, you can see them. so...
Tony Testa:
Fantastic. Thanks so much.
Neil :
What's your name?
Tony Testa:
I'm Tony. I actually am from Finding Subjects. But we're sending this soundbite to Suzy over at Casual Birder Podcast, based out of London.
Neil:
All right.
Tony Testa:
If any of your listeners or yourself find yourself in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend getting down to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. It's a great place to birdwatch and just get outside in an open space and check out all the animals.
Suzy Buttress:
Thank you so much to Tony for sharing his walk with us. Do take a listen to Tony's podcast: Finding Subjects.
The link is in the show notes.
[Music transition]
Suzy Buttress:
Red-winged Blackbirds are a medium-sized bed, a similar size to European Starlings, mostly black all over and with a sharp, pointed bill. The males have a glossy black plumage with bright red shoulder patches edged with yellow. They can hide these so the colours might only be seen when flying. Females have a streaky brown plumage and can often be quite well camouflaged.
According to All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most abundant blackbirds found across North America. They may sit on top of reeds near standing water or telephone wires along roads. As heard in the birdwalk, the call has a raspy, trill element and is frequently heard.
[Red-winged Blackbird calling]
This is one of my nemesis birds. While I've been able to observe some female birds at various times, I've only ever seen the males when we were driving down a freeway, and I saw them fly from fences. Such fleeting glimpses of these black birds with their shockingly bright red shoulder patches have left me wanting more. It made me laugh to read how abundant they are. I feel a bit embarrassed that, even as a casual birder, I failed to see such a commonly-found bird. It was great to hear them on Tony's walk. I'll have to listen back to some of my recordings to see whether I might have captured some of their calls.
Gray Catbirds are a member of the Mockingbird and Thrasher family. These medium-sized birds are characterised by their long tails, which they sometimes angle upwards, and by singing from exposed perches. When not singing, Gray Catbirds prefer dense shrubby vegetation. They have, as their name suggests, a predominantly grey plumage with a black crown and a russet undertail. They breed over much of the eastern and central areas of the United States and winter as far down as Panama. It's called a Catbird because one of the calls resembles the mewing of a cat. But their calls can include more than 100 different elements with whistles and chatter.
[Gray Catbird calls]
And as with others in the Mockingbird family, they sometimes mimic other birds.
I have seen one of these myself when I visited Prospect Park in New York a couple of years ago. I've never knowingly heard their call though.
The Yellow Warbler is a bright yellow bird with a black beady eye and some dark feather edging on its wings. It's a little smaller than a House Finch. The male has obvious chestnut streaking down his breast, while the female's breast has fainter streaks and the plumage is a little duller. Birds found in more southernly locations, such as Mexico and the Caribbean, have more chestnut on the head. It's quite widespread in North America and favours wetlands. It's often found in Willow or Alder trees near rivers or swamps, as in Tony's case, and eats insects. Its call has been described as 'sweet, sweet, sweet, so sweet'. And it's one of the most common calls from warblers that you might hear in the spring and summer.
[Yellow Warbler call]
I saw a Yellow Warbler in Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles a year or so ago. And as I had seen pictures of it previously, when just glancing through the field guides to North America, I was able to identify it fairly easily, but it was difficult to get a good look because it was above my head against a bright sky. One day I hope to have a better view.
The Northern Cardinal is another medium-sized bird, but a striking one. The male's plumage is a stunning red, with a black mask around the bill. The female is brown with red patches on the wings and tail. Both have chunky red bill and crest. They're found year round in eastern and central United States and South into Mexico. And they will readily come to garden feeders, which is why a lot of people know about the birds. Well that, and the fact that males are bright red!
Northern Cardinals are unusual in that both males and females sing. They have a variety of calls, including one that sounds like a laser from a sci fi show.
[Northern Cardinal calls]
I would have loved the opportunity to see this stunningly-coloured songbird on some of my trips across the Atlantic. But most of my vacations have been in Nova Scotia or, more recently, the Los Angeles area which is not in their range. I saw my first glimpse of Northern Cardinals in New York a couple of years ago. But my best views were during our vacation in Baja California last year, when a pair visited the garden of our AirBnb. That all seems such a long time ago now.
To find out more about these birds, check out the bird guide on AllAboutBirds.com
[Music transition]
Suzy Buttress:
I recently vacationed on the Isle of Wight, our first break away from home this year. There'll be a whole episode about my time there, the highlights of which include:
an interview with past guest Kieron Lee Vine, who came bird watching with me on one of the days, suitably socially distant, of course,
spending each morning when it wasn't raining, watching the dawn break and hearing the birds start to call and
seeing a Ring Ouzel a bird from the Thrush family, which looks similar to a European Blackbird but with a white or pale breast band. And this was a lifer bird for me.
As I've been away for 10 days, I was concerned on my return whether I would see my Rook friend again, or whether the time away might have broken the pattern of its regular visits. I'm very pleased to say that it is still visiting most days to get a handful of suet pellets. And having recently gone through its moult, it now has a beautiful purplish blue sheen on its head and back.
Just before I went away, I was able to record this vocalisation from it, which includes the two note call that it often does when it arrives for food.
[Rook vocalisation with caws, chirrups and musical chirps]
I am very well trained. If I hear this call: [two note call from Rook] I rush to the window and check the top of the washing line, the deck railing outside the kitchen window, and the garage roof to see where the Rook is. It's usually on one of those three.
Once we've made eye contact, it flies to the railing in preparation for its treats.
I can't say for sure that the rook deliberately makes this call to alert me to its presence, but it feels very much like it.
I go out every morning to freshen the water baths and to check the feeders, and twice since I've been back I've had to dump all of the sunflower seed out and refill the feeder. I don't like throwing seed away but when we've had such a lot of rain, it's difficult to stop the damp getting in, and I don't want to feed seed that potentially has started going mouldy.
So having cleaned the sunflower seed feeders out, I'm now only filling them partway to ensure the Goldfinches and Greenfinches have dry seed available whenever they visit.
Do please keep an eye on your feeders too, if you have them. If the contents aren't being eaten, there's a chance they've spoiled. Clean the feeders out with a mild disinfectant, air dry them and then refill with fresh food. Also, do make sure you always provide clean water for your garden visitors, even as we move into winter here in the Northern Hemisphere.
And keep an eye out for any bird showing signs of sickness. For example, difficulty swallowing, looking puffed up, sticky feathers near the bill and a lethargic demeanour. These can all be indications of disease which might spread to other birds. Unfortunately, this does sometimes happen. And if you see it, the advice is to remove all feeders for at least two weeks to encourage the birds to disperse.
It's also important to thoroughly clean and disinfect your feeders and clean away any dropped food. You can find out more from the British Trust for Ornithology. Links to their advice on garden bird health are in the shownotes
Each morning I conduct a bird watch of my garden birds and I regularly see House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Robin, Dunnock, Magpie, Rook, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, and Wood Pigeon.
I recently changed one of my feeding stations and put a coconut shell filled with suet in an open mesh tray attached to my feeder station pole, I also drop a few peanuts in the tray. It is quite close to the shrub where the Dunnocks, House Sparrows and Robin hang out.
They took to the new placement immediately, and within a couple of hours I had seen all these species feeding at it, and a Blue Tit taking peanuts away.
Yesterday I was delighted when four Starlings dropped in and fed from the suet in the coconut, and just now I had to laugh as a Squirrel had found the peanuts and was sitting eating them all, while a Magpie sat on the deck railing just a few inches away, waiting for the Squirrel to eat and move on. I could see the Magpie getting impatient and fidgety with the Squirrel, but still deferring to it.
Suzy Buttress:
I've mentioned before about the Bird Fair this year, and about how all their talks and lectures were freely available on their website.
They've now extended the time that you can access these talks and lectures until the end of December. It‘s a fantastic collection of travel diaries with awesome bird photos, documentaries and equipment tips.
I really urge you to go and check them out. And of course I was interviewed about my podcast by a past guest Jamie Wyver from the RSPB for one of them. So I'd love it if you watch that.
Let me know if you do the links to the site and to my talk or in the show notes.
Suzy Buttress:
Thank you all so much for sharing your bird sightings with me. One way you can do this is in my weekly top five birds post that I post on Twitter and Facebook each Sunday. I share my top five birds seen or bird moments experienced and asked for yours.
Mel, from Essex, had a wonderful time in Norfolk recently. I spoke to Mel this week about his birdwatching experiences - look out for that episode in a few weeks time.
He had planned his Norfolk trip to coincide with the Knot gatherings that happen in the autumn. These waders gather in vast numbers, and this year was a particularly good one with over 140,000 Knot flying low overhead as they moved from their feeding grounds at the water’s edge to their roosting areas.
He was also very fortunate that his visit occurred at the same time as the arrival of some rarities, so he saw a Rufous Scrub Robin, Red Flanked Bluetail, and Barred Warbler. To top it all off, he also saw a male Hen Harrier! Amazing!
He was only in Norfolk for just about two days.
In contrast, my top five for that week were:
seeing my Rook friend again after I'd been away on my holidays,
a Robin chasing Blue Tits and Dunnocks out of the garden. It's being very feisty at the moment.
a Black bird chasing wood pigeon so closely that I thought the Blackbird actually had the Wood Pigeon’s tail in its mouth
four starlings visiting the garden and
seeing our team's global bird weekend results. I'm very proud of the way the team came together to share their checklists and raise funds for Birdlife International as well.
Do let me know what birds you've been seeing recently. I love to hear about them.
And you can find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Do tag me in your posts and take a look at my website casualbirder dot com for more information on my episodes, photos and blog posts about my birding
Make sure you don't miss any episodes by subscribing to the show. Subscribing is free and you can do it wherever you listen.
Thank you to Randy Braun for designing the artwork for the show. The theme music is Short Sleeved Shirt by The Drones. Thanks to them for letting me use it. Check out their website at Dronesmusic dot net.
Thank you all for listening. And I hope you will join me again for another episode of The Casual Birder Podcast.
[Closing music]
Transcribed by https://otter.ai and Suzy Buttress