E46 - Sara P + Elf Owl & Birdathon 2023

Today my guest is Sara Pike, a birder of 30 years and currently a Tour Manager for WINGS birdwatching Tours, she manages 20+ domestic tours in the US along with Guyana and even a sub-antarctic New Zealand cruise. Before WINGS, Sara worked with the Tucson Audubon for 11 years, where she was involved with retail, operations, marketing and even helped launch the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival. Today, she still volunteers with them and helps with the annual Tucson Bird Count.

This is the first episode of two that focuses on the Tucson Birdathon, through the eyes of a local team, the Wrenagades. This episode, we'll talk about what a birdathon it is, and how this team will approach it this year. This episode was recording before the actual birdathon, and the next episode will be with another team member and will be recorded right after the birdathon.

Chapters

00:00 - Intro0:34 - Recent Birding4:09 - Birding Background6:13 - What is a Birdathon? 9:02 - Memorable Birdathon experience10:48 - The Wrenagades16:21 - Some of their Birdathon Stops20:45 - Some Avian Regulars they Hope to See21:25 - Bird of the Episode: Elf Owl21:57 - Add Elf Owl call30:17 - Outro

Thank you for listening!

Please checkout the podcast's Instagram - @lookingatbirdspodcast -  for some pictures of the Elf Owl and some of the birds that were around Tucson Audubon's Mason Center where this episode was recorded.