Birds & Bytes Retrospective
The bread and butter of COS for many years has been in-person programs. So like many organizations suddenly faced with reduced or nonexistent in-person programs in March of 2020, we turned to virtual platforms to reach our audience. After rapidly assembling a new program planning team, some crash courses in webinar tech, and some creative thinking, Birds & Bytes was born!
The first few weeks of programs were admittedly a bit of a mad dash to produce content and compete in the suddenly oversaturated webinar medium. At some point however, it became evident that the pandemic would not be passing quickly and seeing each other on Zoom was no longer a novelty but increasingly a way of life. Many organizations rapidly dropped off the virtual program bandwagon but we, fueled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from viewers, doubled down. Now over a year later, COS is one of the few conservation organizations in the region that has continued to run virtual programs regularly and non-stop through the course of the pandemic. But perhaps most importantly, all of these programs, featuring some of the most knowledgeable and dynamic speakers in birding today, have been completely free and open to all.
Now with vaccines available to all adults, the possibility of in person programs returning, and our 15th episode of Birds & Bytes in the books, we’ve decided to take a break, take a look back, and plan what’s next. While this does mean that Birds & Bytes will not longer maintain a regular schedule, this does not mean our hit virtual program is going away. Indeed, embracing virtual programs has revealed new avenues for us to share the love of birds in ways we never would have considered or been able to do before. Birds & Bytes is here to stay, so keep your eyes on the website and future newsletters for its return. In the meantime, we highly encourage you to check out the recorded episodes which are free and available to watch any time on our YouTube channel. And finally, we’d like to give our sincerest thanks to the many speakers who generously gave their time and expertise.
A Conversation with Josh Engel
Speakers: Josh Engel
Link: https://youtu.be/d9l9-kFJsLo
Inclusivity in Birding
Speakers: Frances Kane, Bridge Kiernan, Virginia Rose, Elizabeth Todd, Jenn Johnson
Link: https://youtu.be/rbIiMqLyxOU
Plover Watch 2020: What to expect
Speakers: Sarah Saunders, Louise Clemency, Brad Semel, Bob Dolgan, Tamima Itani
Link: https://youtu.be/A6UzvBwG8NU
Museum Collections and Bird Taxonomy
Speakers: John Bates, Shannon Hackett
Link: https://youtu.be/KSoglcD4uDg
Better Hearing Through Spectrograms
Speakers: Tom Stephenson
Link: https://youtu.be/hiBwN1eOvFA
Identifying Female Birds with the Galbatrosses
Speakers: Martha Harbison, Purbita Saha, Joanna Wu, Stephanie Beilke, Brooke Bateman
Link: https://youtu.be/yILE69a8cZY
Birding with Radar
Speakers: Geoff Williamson
Link: https://youtu.be/o1kMAAKvUFw
Beginning Birding Chicago Style
Speakers: Scott Judd
Link: https://youtu.be/WOMZWdwNGA4
Nighthawks
Speakers: Gretchen Newberry
Link: https://youtu.be/RwUUY7np_wc
Hawkwatching
Speakers: Adam Sell
Link: https://youtu.be/nQbpRRZ03fY
Migration in the Windy City
Speakers: Douglass Stotz
Link: https://youtu.be/z1pTX7JLXcM
A Conversation with Greg Neise
Speakers: Greg Neise
Link: https://youtu.be/BWpD971nQyU
Birds in the Garden {no recording}
Speakers: Pam Karlson
Building the Bird Safe City
Speakers: Carl Giometti, Claire Halpin, Chris Michalek, Paul Groleau
Link: https://youtu.be/QRIxqn0BL08
The Notorious Cowbird
Speakers: Sarah Winnicki
Link: https://youtu.be/jojNKHqahJY