Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast platform or watch the video version on our YouTube channel to see the birds we identify during our walk!

This episode continues our conversation with park ranger Alex Wild, featuring a guided nature walk around San Elijo Lagoon. Alex identifies various birds and plants while discussing his role as a park ranger and sharing stories about inspiring environmental elders. This episode follows our previous discussion with Alex about recent attacks on National Parks and federal worker cuts that affected him personally. We had a special guest join us, Franklin the desert tortoise, Alex's former pet now serving as an animal ambassador at San Elijo. Keep reading to learn more about the birds we saw in this episode!

Major talking points included bird identification and birding tips, including creating a "life list" for birding. We also defined "Spark Birds" - the species that ignite someone's passion for birding and how ornithology lends itself to Alex's responsibilities as a park ranger. Spiritual connection to the land and the importance of role models as environmental elders who inspire. Most importantly, we discuss what it means to use our voice to protect natural spaces we love.

Poetry Feature:

"The Peace of Wild Things" By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Featured Segments

Endangered Bird Segment: Endangered bird species are under threat! This recently published report from the 2025 US State of the Birds Report by the American Bird Conservancy outlines the threats that birds face across America and defines proactive solutions to protect bird populations for future generations.

Key findings from the new report show that more than one-third of U.S. bird species are of high or moderate conservation concern, including 112 Tipping Point species that have lost more than 50 percent of their populations in the last 50 years.

Betty Reid Soskin Park Ranger segment: Betty Reid Soskin (born Betty Charbonnet; 1921), now retired, was a park ranger with the National Park Service, assigned to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. In 2015, Betty was selected to participate in the national tree-lighting ceremony in President’s Park at the White House, introducing President Barack Obama during the PBS telecast. At 100 years of age in 2022, Betty retired as the oldest park ranger in the National Park Service. Thank you for your hard-earned work, Betty!

Protecting National Parks and Keeping Nature Wild w/ Alex Wild. Check out our earlier conversation with Alex about the challenges facing National Parks and federal workers.

Hosts:

Natalie Jane Cibel (@nat_uralistjane) and Coral Carson

Birds Mentioned:

Gnatcatcher (photo: Audubon & US Forest Service)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (photo: Barbara-Houston)

Gadwall

Snowy Plover

Coots

Snowy Egret (Photo: Peter Prokosch & Mark Schocken)

Grey Egret (Video: Lukas Pich)

Double-crested Cormorant

Least Tern

Malachite Kingfisher (Videos: Anton Herrington, Matthew Williams-Ellis)

African Spoonbill (Video: Day’s Edge Productions)

Marabou Stork (Video: Day’s Edge Productions)

Yellow-billed Stork (Video: Wind Collective)

Saddle-billed Stork

Wall Creeper

Wall Creeper Reddit

American Dipper (Photo NPS/Jared Hughey)

American Dipper (Photo: Donald M. Jones and Lee Rentz)

Black-backed Woodpecker

Sapsucker (Photo: Grace Oliver)

White-tailed Kite (Photo:Chris Conard)

Mallard (Videos: Monster Filmmakers & Day’s Edge Productions)

Ridgeway’s Rail (Photo: Ed Henry)

Golden Eagle (Video:Wesley Aston)

Elegant Tern (Photo: Willian Tyrer)

Caspian Tern (Photo: Teal Baremore)

Royal Tern (Photo: Owen Deutsch)

Mullet Fish (Photo: Luvsd)

Wrentit Bird (Photo: Scott Strei)

Killdeer (Photo: Kira Henderson/Audubon Photography Awards)

Robin (Yosemite) (Photo: Dennis Church)

Anna’s Hummingbird (Coastside Land Trust)

Towhee (San Diego Bird Spot)

Sparrows - San Diego Region (San Diego Bird Spot)

Pied-billed Grebe (Photo: Jared Keyes)

Eared Grebe (Photo: Matt Davis)

Plants Mentioned:

Sagebrush (My Home Park)

Ponderosa Pine (Video: Amy Bornstein)

Nasturtium (Botanical Interests)

Arroyo Willow (Photo: Joan Avice)

Wild Radish (Photo: Will Elder, NPS)

Ragweed (Ambrosia) (Photo: Joanna Gilkeson/USFWS)

Places Mentioned:

Ramona Grasslands Preserve

Sawtooth Canyon

Yosemite

Devil’s Postpile

People Mentioned:

Alexander von Humboldt (Painting: Friedrich Georg Weitsch)

Shelton Johnson (Photo: Cayce Clifford)

Betty Reid Soskin (Photo: Luther Bailey)

Apps Mentioned:

E-bird

Inaturalist

Happy Whale

Merlin Bird