Birdnote Podcasts

Just as the osprey completed their journey south for the cold-weather months and the chickadees have cached their share of seeds in their winter hiding spaces, we’ve wrapped up a wonderful series on birds here at Nature Links. We were lucky enough to have been joined by Nick Lund from Maine Audubon who began our bird series with an informative class on loons. We were also so happy to meet Michael Goode of Downeast Nature Tours. Michael showed us a handful of his gorgeous and intriguing photos of snowy owls, eider ducks and other majestic birds he’s witnessed during his time leading birdwatching tours in and around Acadia National Park. Along the way, we also learned about the epic migration patterns of Arctic terns, why owl flight is practically silent and whether gulls’ negative reputation is warranted. I loved learning about a new bird each week in our series since our Nature Links participants are so passionate about their avian friends. Each class topic was chosen by our participants themselves and some classes, like the one on piping plovers, were taught by our students themselves.

But perhaps the most fabulous thing about our bird series was the culminating project. After listening to the Birdnote podcast, an engaging 2-minute daily podcast about birds, we were inspired to create our own podcasts! (If you haven’t checked out Birdnote before, you really should!) Nature Links participants each chose a bird to focus on, as well as a question they wanted to research. Why do birds fly in patterns? Why do flamingoes stand on one leg? These questions and more formed the basis for students’ work as they learned about the answers through independent research and then wrote and recorded their own 2-minute podcasts. The results are so impressive! Not only did we all learn from each other as we listened to each podcast, but our participants also felt incredibly proud to produce their own finished products. I hope you enjoy our Birdnote Nature Links Edition podcast episodes! If you’re like me, it may make you a little wistful for the birds’ return to the North next spring.