Tuesday Mar 10, 2020

Episode 2: Theresa Entriken on birding

I worked with Theresa Entriken, DVM, for many years at a company that offered magazines, websites, podcasts, educational products and national conferences to veterinarians and their team members. But I wanted to come at this veterinarian from a tangent: birdwatching.

While an avid hiker, Theresa says she glommed onto the hobby from her husband (also a veterinarian).

“Hiking, I do like to do for exercise, you cover a lot of ground,” she says. “When I hike with my husband, it’s a lot slower, because you tend to stop and look at things you see fluttering in the trees. And I do like to bird by ear, observing what’s in your environment and just putting the images to the sounds.”

Imagine, then, hiking … only with an intense curiosity constantly pricking up your ears your eyes scanning the trees and the skies, your ears listening and your footsteps falling more gently to catch a distant bird call. Theresa’s thoughtful, measured voice puts me perfectly in mind to imagine a crisply cold, quiet birdwatching trip in a Minnesota bog.

“It’s slowing down and taking notice of what’s around you,” she says. “[Birds] are these biological works of art that are just available for you to enjoy.”

Found out what a “life bird” is, whether birdwatching is ever not relaxing but frustrating, and why Theresa is fired up about suburban backyard plants for conservation.

Want to know more?

  • Yes, scientists think birds are descended from dinosaurs. Cool, right?
  • What locations does Theresa mention? Sax-Zim Bog in Minnesota (check out their friends page on Facebook or their website), Lyon State Fishing Lake in Kansas (website) and Loess Bluffs (website) and Marais des Cygnes, the latter two both in Missouri (website).
  • What are some specific animal species she mentions? American Three-Toed Woodpecker (photos), Barred Owl (photos), Boreal Owl (photos), Gray Fox (photos), Great Gray Owl (photos), Great Horned Owl (photos), Long-eared Owl (photos), Northern Hawk Owl (photos) and Spectacled Owl (photos).
  • Theresa talks about a birding database, a cool citizen science and hobby app, at eBird.org.
  • What does a birdwatcher’s list – their version of a personal avian bingo card – look like? If you want it prepackaged for you, maybe something like this.
  • The coolest toy, of course, as Theresa says, is binoculars. Pick up a cheap pair at retail to get started. If you really get into it, then you can invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a stellar pair of binoculars or even a scope on a tripod.
  • Theresa’s enthusiasm about birding got me to start reading a book that’s been on my bookshelves for more than a year.
  • Last but not least, Theresa says folks interested in wildlife and birdwatching should check out their state’s conservation magazines. Here’s a sampling I found searching on the internet right now:

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