Want to learn more about a fairly easy sparrow to identify by sight and sound? Join Bob and Tina for a fascinating dive into the life and behavior of white-throated sparrows.

You can find out more about Tina and Red Oaks Forest School at redoaksforestschool.org.

Related episodes with Tina: A Can of Earthworms, Peregrine Falcon and What’s Your Zugunruhe?

Our sources for this episode include:

• Hear White-throated Sparrows Learning to Sing
• White-throated Sparrow is Not Just Another Little Brown Bird
• Andrea Boyer Effects of Winter Weather on White-throated Sparrows

Merlin Tuttle is a tremendous advocate for bats and has done amazing things throughout his career to help protect them and change people’s misconceptions and fears about them. His motto is “win friends not battles” and that’s been his approach throughout his 60+ years doing this work!

Merlin shares with Bob some of his amazing bat adventures. Merlin will be the keynote speaker at the Arc of Appalachia’s Wildflower Pilgrimage in April of 2023.

Related Episode: Bat in the House and Story: Bats! The Sequel I Never Wanted to Write from listener Jake

Our sources for this episode include:

• Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation
• Merlin Tuttle’s The Bat House Guide
• Arc of Appalachia’s Wildflower Pilgrimage

How do you go from a city girl who likes being inside to the host of the BirdNote podcast Bring Birds Back? Tune in as Tenijah Hamilton shares her inspiring story.

Thanks to Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode. Visit www.CincyNature.org to register for February 2023 online classes and don’t forget to use promo code NATURE to get 25% off.

Related episodes: Purple Martin, Whitebark Pine: The most important tree you have never heard of

Our sources for this episode include:

• Bring Birds Back Podcast
• Feminist Bird Club

Bob and Gia chat about one very special bird. The etherial song of this bird is inspiring!

Learn about Helen Black in this wikipedia article.

Special thanks to Cornell Lab for the wood thrush audio clip (ML 29922711 Glen Chapman May 9, 2016) and to Tam Teow for the beautiful wood thrush art. Click here to see more of Tam’s art.

Thanks to Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode. Visit www.CincyNature.org to register for January 2023 online classes and don’t forget to use promo code NATURE to get 25% off.

Related episodes: Merlin Magic, Merlin 2, What It’s Like to be a Bird with David Sibley

Our sources for this episode include:

• Bird Songs
• All About Birds Wood Thrush
• Four Fun Facts about the Wood Thrush
• Wood Thrush
• Cornell Chronicle: Songbird population declines linked to acid rain, Cornell ecologists report

Bob welcomes Greg Torres back to revisit the eastern redcedar tree. Bill and Bob did an episode on this tree in 2017 and had some questions that Greg, our very own plant guru, has some thoughts on.

Thanks to Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode. Visit www.CincyNature.org – that’s C-I-N-C-Y-Nature.org – to register for January 2023 online classes and don’t forget to use promo code NATURE to get 25% off.

Related Episodes: Why We Don’t Hug Eastern Redcedar Trees, Walnut Woods

Our sources for this episode include:

• Eastern Redcedar
• Juniperus Virginiana Facts for Kids
• Eastern Redcedar Control on Range and Pasture
• The Pros and Cons of the Eastern Redcedar

Greg is excited to share all about a project he has been involved in for a number of years. We bring in some of the collaborators to explain their roles in this inspiring project. Tune in to learn how they turned ten acres of forgotten land into a Cincinnati City Park.

Thanks to Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode. Visit www.CincyNature.org – that’s C-I-N-C-Y-Nature.org – to register for January 2023 online classes and don’t forget to use promo code NATURE to get 25% off.

Related episode: Invasive Plants

Our sources for this episode include:

• Cincinnati Parks – Walnut Woods of Evanston
• Civic Garden Center
• Walnut Hills High School

Bob opens with some thoughts on Thanksgiving. Many of us eat Cranberries around Thanksgiving. Charles joins Bob to share the unique ecology of this amazing plant.

Related episodes: Mistletoe

Our sources for this episode include:

• The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American I’ve found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday by Sean Sherman
• The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman
  (The Cranberry Sauce Recipe Beth adapted is on page 108)
• The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue by Claire Bugos
• The Vicious Reality Behind the Thanksgiving Myth (requires subscription to The New York Times)
• Cranberry

Thanks to Christina Zorn for providing background research.

We have opened a can of worms with this episode! Join Tina and Bob as they discuss the common earthworm. They invite some kids to share their thoughts on earthworms. A big thanks to Ruth and Levi for inspiring this episode.

Special thanks to the Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode. You can find out more about Tina and Red Oaks Forest School at redoaksforestschool.org.

Our sources for this episode include:

• Earthworm invaders alter northern forests (informative article suggested by Ruth)
• Deer, Worms and Invasives
• The American Robin hasn’t Always Gotten the Worm
• Earthworm

Hometown Nature Heroes are everywhere! Bob talks with Courtney Ryan a passionate advocate for getting kids outside.

Special thanks to the Cincinnati Nature Center for sponsoring this episode.

Courtney’s Recommended Resources:

Sands Montessori Outdoor Campus

Sands Montessori Partners:

• Native Roots
• Madison Tree Care and Landscaping
• Motz Turf Farms
• Sunbelt Rentals

Books to Read: 

• Balanced And Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, And Capable Children By Angela J. Hanscom 
• Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to A Nature-Rich Life By Richard Louv 
• Play The Forest School Way: Woodland Games and Craft For Adventurous Kids By Jane Worroll And Peter Houghton 
• There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets For Raising Healthy, Resilient, And Confident Kids By Linda Akeson Mcgurk 
• The Call of The Wild And Free: Reclaiming Wonder In Your Child’s Education By Ainsley Arment 

Resources:

• Children and Nature Network
• Orange Is the New Green: Exploring the Restorative Capacity of Seasonal Foliage in Schoolyard Trees

Playscape photos courtesy of Courtney Ryan.

Greg and Bob share a misunderstood plant that they both love to see in the fall. Find out why goldenrod takes the blame for sneezing in the fall.

Our sources for this episode include:

• Sneezing? Don’t Blame Goldenrod!
• Five Golden Truths about Goldenrods
• How to Grow and Care for Goldenrod