Charles and Bob can’t wait to get out in the field in early spring to check out the woodcock sky dance. This is one crazy bird. It is a shorebird that lives in the forest and is nicknamed the timberdoodle.

The woodcock sound clip is thanks to Karen Hogan and the image below to Vicky McErlean both via the Macaulay Library at Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Thanks to Christina Zorn for providing background research.

Our sources for this episode include:

• The Woodcock Management Plan
• Funky American Woodcock YouTube video
• A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
• Nature blog Gulo in Nature by Charles Van Rees

Gia and Bob discuss wolves a species that inspires a variety of emotions. Tune in to learn about the impacts wolves have on the Yellowstone ecosystem. Thanks to Christina Zorn for providing background research. Also special thanks to Lissa Malloy for creating a picture visualizing the tropic cascade concept.

Keystone Species series: All About Alligators, Firefighting Beavers, Acorn Woodpeckers

Our sources for this episode include:

• The Howling Wilderness an interview with Doug Smith
  January 2021 Issue 541 of The Sun Magazine
  Thanks to Doug Smith and The Sun for giving us permission to link to this incredible interview
• Max Waugh Photography – Gray Wolf vs Coyotes
• Tropic Cascade Picture on Nature Guys web site: Lissa Malloy offered to create a picture visualizing the tropic cascade concept we covered in the podcast. You can find more of her amazing work at: https://lissamalloy.crevado.com/about-cv

Charles and Bob kick off 2022 with a very unique bird. Hopefully we will inspire you to take a walk by your favorite stream or river to see a kingfisher.

Related episodes: What It’s Like to be a Bird with David Sibley

Our sources for this episode include:

• Fun Facts About Kingfishers
• Ten Things about the Belted Kingfisher
• Aerial Ramming, a Burrow Excavation Behavior by Belted Kingfishers, with a Review of its Occurrence among the Alcedinidae by Hendricks et al., 2013
• The Eastern Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle Alcyon Alcyon (Linnaeus), in Relation to Fish Management by Salyer and Lagler, 1949
• Attempted predation of a diurnally active Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum) by a Belted Kingfisher
• Predation of a Western Water Shrew (Sorex navigator) by a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
• North American River Otters Followed by Piscivorous Birds, and a River Otter Parental Distraction Display

Greg and Bob discuss a plant that everyone will probably recognize. Amaze your friends at holiday parties with the story of mistletoe.

Our sources for this episode include:

• The Golden Bough by James George Frazer (available via Project Gutenberg)
• Merry covid Christmas: Don’t kiss under the mistletoe, advises British minister
• 12 Things to know about Mistletoe

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Bob talks with Grace Lynch, the creator and host of an amazing new podcast on climate change from Wonder Media Network. The podcast brings together poems and stories from women throughout the US and territories that depict the effects of climate change on their homes and people.

The source for this interview is the new podcast As She Rises by Wonder Media Network.

Gia and Bob just cannot let go of the 17 year cicadas. They discuss a very cool bird the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo that has a special taste for cicadas.

Special thanks to photographer Richard Payne for allowing us to share this amazing yellow-billed cuckoo picture taken at Cincinnati Park’s Magrish Riverlands Preserve.

Check out this great YouTube video from our listener Deb of a common European cuckoo in Rhode Island (see the details in her comment):
https://youtu.be/vw5XeXrTci4

Related episodes: Cicadas, 17 Years to Awesome and The Nature of Oaks with Doug Tallamy

Our sources for this episode include:

• Cicada Safari App created by Dr. Gene Kritsky 
• Ohio Birds: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar Species published by Waterford Press
• Bird Note Podcast on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Charles chats with Brooke Mitchell-Norman, the host of the podcast Rewildology. They discuss Brooke’s love of big cats and how travel can help protect wildlife.

Related series: Through the Eyes of Nature Guys

Our sources for this episode include:

• Rewildology

It seems everyone has a story about poison ivy. Greg and Bob share some of their favorite stories. They discuss the often overlooked benefits of poison ivy. They will also cover how to identify it and how to remove it from areas where you would likely encounter the plant.

Our sources for this episode include:

• Poison Ivy Leaf Gall Mite by Joe Boggs
• Poison Ivy Rash
• Interesting Facts about Poison Ivy
• 10 Things Nobody Tells You About Poison Ivy

Bob chats with Doug Chadwick, the author of Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All. Doug has travelled the world writing for National Geographic. This amazing book caps a long career. 

The source for this interview is Four Fifths a Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that just Might Save Us All published by Patagonia Books in June of 2021.

The Bug Chicks, Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker, are in Bob’s backyard to share the amazing story of how they got started.  Co-hosts Greg Torres and Chris Anderson (of Science Around Cincy) join in the fun.

Learn more about The Bug Chicks on their website: thebugchicks.com.