Hello and welcome to the American Birding Podcast from American Birding Association.

I'm your host, Nate Swick.

Welcome to August.

The official beginning of fall, even if the weather, is still midsummer.

I am recording this, as always here in North Carolina, and we on the Atlantic

coast are sort of awaiting the arrival of what looks like hurricane, Isaiah, category

one storm, but, you know, still no joke. You get to make my regular disclaimer about the

hurricane paradox, that feeling among birders who are

conscious of the destructive power of these tropical storms, but also a little bit excited

about the possibility of storm-blown birds, turns and coastal goals, if you're really lucky, tube noses and tropic birds.

I live in the southeast, so I've seen relatively weak storms that have blown in interesting

birds and fairly strong storms that have been total busts on the bird front, but plenty of

trouble in the way of wind and rain.

It's, it's a strange circumstance

for sure. You never know exactly what you're going to get. And of course, multiplied by the

pandemic, makes it a little more anxiety-inducing. So I'm not sure what to expect. You never are.

We'll just keep our heads down and hope for the best and maybe go look at the lake when this is

all over just in case

there aren't too many trees down. Certainly by the time that this episode drops, it will be all

over. I do have one quick announcement. I was asked by a friend of the podcast, Christy Esmahan,

to announce a seminar from Travis Audubon, Austin, Texas. They are doing a Spanish for Borders virtual class on August 17.

I know a lot of you all love traveling in Latin America.

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