Host Wendy Clark interviews Tom Ferguson, co-host of the podcast "Ninja and the Birdman," which focuses predominantly on the themes of birding, martial arts, nature, and meditation. Tom Ferguson is the founder and CEO of Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken, a restaurant chain that has experienced great success in a short time. Tom reveals a time when he was in a dark place in life, and found healing through the doorway of birding.

Out There With the Birds

Episode 98: How Birding Saved My Life

Host Wendy Clark McGlynn interviews Lucy McRobert, an author, columnist, mother of three, and a wildlife storyteller based in the UK who works freelance for wildlife charities and businesses. Her first book, 365 Days Wild, offers 365 ways to make nature part of your life every day. In this episode, Wendy and Lucy discuss life during the pandemic, birding and conservation work in the UK, diversity in birding, and much more!

Episode 106: An Interview with Lucy McRobert

Liz Hackett works with Bush Heritage Australia, a conservation organization in Australia that mirrors the work of the Nature Conservancy in the US. She is an avid birder, has traveled the world extensively, and she and her late husband, Paul Hackett, owned and managed a bird-watching tour company in Melbourne before his sudden death in August 2019. Liz and BWD's Wendy Clark McGlynn enjoy a conversation about birds and birding in Australia, living down under during the pandemic, what it's really like to live in the city of Melbourne, and finding the strength to move on after sudden loss.

Episode 105: An Interview with Liz Hackett

What's Up at BWD? We're glad you asked! Join BWD publisher Wendy Clark and BWD editor Dawn Hewitt as they enjoy a candid discussion about what's happening at Bird Watcher's Digest in the fall of 2021. On the road together in Bossier City, Louisiana, Wendy and Dawn discuss the magazines, tours, and life as a birding company in a post-pandemic world.

Episode 104: What's Happening at BWD

Have you heard about the ReThink Birding and Travel Expo? This is a virtual global travel event tailor-made for the bird-watching industry that will take place online on February 11-13, 2022, hosted by ReThink Travel and Bird Watcher's Digest. Host Wendy Clark talks with famed birder James Currie and Green Team Global President Hugh Hough in today's episode of Out There with The Birds about what it's like to travel right now for bird watching, about changes in international and domestic birding travel in our post-pandemic world, and more!

Episode 103: The ReThink Birding Expo

In this episode of Out There with the Birds, Bird Watcher's Digest editor Dawn Hewitt interviews Katie Fallon. Katie is author of two acclaimed books, Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird; and Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird; and two acclaimed books for children. She's also writes for Bird Watcher's Digest, penning the WINGBEATS column in two issues each year. She is also a co-founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a bird rehabilitation facility that takes in hundreds of ill or injured birds every year. In that capacity, she also cares for numerous non-releasable birds, including vultures, hawks, and even a peregrine falcon, which provide her with personal knowledge and insights most birders can't even imagine.

Episode 102: An Interview with Katie Fallon

Jeffrey Gordon is the president of the American Birding Association, a position he has held since late 2010. Jeff is also a well-known writer, photographer, tour leader, and naturalist and a former Field Editor for Bird Watcher's Digest. He is a frequent speaker and field trip leader at various birding and nature festivals. Jeff recently joined Out There With The Birds host Wendy Clark in a conversation about transitions and trends in the American birding community, and how the American Birding Association is faring during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Episode 101: Transitions and Trends in the American Birding Community

Welcome to the 100th episode of Out There with the Birds! Host Wendy Clark continues her interview with Holly Merker, Richard Crossley, and Sophie Crossley to discuss their new book, Ornitherapy: For Your Body, Mind, and Soul, published by Crossley Books. This is a different kind of birding book that teaches you how to use birds and birding to promote mindfulness, peace, and healing in your everyday life.

Episode 100: Ornitherapy, Part II

This two-part episode of Out There with The Birds is about "Ornitherapy." Yes, you read that correctly, that's Orni-THERAPY! Host Wendy Clark joins authors Holly Merker, Richard Crossley, and Sophie Crossley to discuss their new book, Ornitherapy: For Your Body, Mind, and Soul, published by Crossley Books. This is a different kind of birding book that teaches you how to use birds and birding to promote mindfulness, peace, and healing in your everyday life.

Episode 99: Ornitherapy, Part I

Beloved by Bird Watcher's Digest readers for more than 30 years, artist, author, naturalist, and songbird rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose is Dawn Hewitt's guest on this episode of Out There With the Birds. What sparked Julie's interest in birds and nature as a child? How did she initially connect with Bird Watcher's Digest? What has she been up to during the pandemic? What is she working on now? Tune in and find out!

Episode 97: An Interview with Julie Zickefoose

So, what do people who have travelled with us have to say about our Bird Watcher's Digest Reader Rendezvous Birding Tours? Welcome to our Reader Rendezvous podcast series Part 3! Join host Wendy Clark as she talks with long-time "repeat attender" Roger Taylor and brand new Reader Rendezvous attendee Julia Jackson about their personal experiences on Reader Rendezvous tours, their feelings about traveling in the US and abroad for birding during this post-Covid era, all things birds and birding.

Episode 96: Reader Rendezvous, Part III

Did you know that Bird Watcher's Digest leads bird watching tours for our friends and subscribers all around the world? Our Reader Rendezvous birding tours began in 2014 and quickly evolved into a beloved experience for our staff members, our magazine columnists, and our attendees. In this podcast episode, Kelly Ball and Wendy Clark continue reminiscing about past Reader Rendezvous, discuss how recent events changed as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, and give a glimpse of new and fun destinations to look forward to in 2022 and 2023!

Episode 95: Reader Rendezvous, Part II

Did you know that Bird Watcher's Digest leads bird watching tours for our friends and subscribers all around the world? Our Reader Rendezvous Birding Tours began in 2014 and quickly evolved into a beloved experience for our staff members, our magazine columnists, and our attendees. In this podcast episode, Kelly Ball interviews Wendy Clark who helped develop the Reader Rendezvous Tours from the beginning. They discuss how and why we started our tours, what happened with the tours during the COVID-19 crisis, and how our tours are revitalized and moving forward in a post-COVID era. Join Kelly and Wendy as they reminisce about birding with Bill, hilariously funny Rendezvous stories, and the heart of our mission that continues to drives us onward: Birding Is Better With Friends!

Episode 94: Reader Rendezvous, Part I

Host Dawn Hewitt chats with Mark Garland, a naturalist who has been sharing his enthusiasm for nature with others professionally for over 40 years. Readers of BWD know him as the author of Birder's Question Mark, a column in which he answers questions on birdy topics far and wide. In March of 2019 he was awarded the Paul Bartsch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Natural History from the Audubon Naturalist Society. A popular, highly-demanded, full-time professional birding and nature guide based in Cape May New Jersey, he led tours in Alaska, Central America, and beyond--until COVID-19 struck. In this episode, Dawn chats with Mark about how he launched his career as a naturalist, how his life changed during the COVID era, how he became involved with the Thompson family and Bird Watcher's Digest, and much more!

Episode 93: An Interview with Mark Garland

Scott Weidensaul is living a life of avian adventure. His recent book, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migration, has become a New York Times bestseller--and for good reason: Scott is a masterful storyteller. A field ecologist and bird bander, a founder of Project SnowStorm and Project Owlnet, and an active bird migration researcher, his Migrations column keeps BWD readers eager to receive and devour each new issue. In this episode of Out There with the Birds, editor Dawn Hewitt asks Scott about his long ties to Bird Watcher's Digest, and recent revelations resulting from rapidly evolving technology on bird migration.

Episode 92: An Interview with Scott Weidensaul

Join Wendy Clark, Dawn Hewitt, Alvaro Jaramillo, and Raymond VanBuskirk for their light-hearted and humorous podcast, Out There With the Birds, where they discuss the latest news, trends, and anecdotes about wild birds and the bird watchers who enjoy them. Listen in to find out just how wonderful and weird the world of birding can be when you’re Out There With the Birds.