Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of

bird biology for lifelong learners. This is episode 121. It's another unscripted from the field episode,

all about my recent experiences traveling here in Japan. Now, if you're new to the Science of Birds

podcast, if you're a new listener, maybe this is your first episode or you've listened to the

last several episodes, you should know that I've been traveling a lot in Asia, so I've been doing

these unscripted episodes, but in general, I tend to do these longer form scripted episodes, so that's kind of my normal

schick. But it's also been fun to do unscripted episodes while traveling. And I've also added some

recent shorter episodes called Random Bird Thursday, and those are also unscripted. So that's just

letting you know if you're a new listener.

And hey, welcome if you are.

So, yes, I have been in Japan for about a month, and I'm here for a couple reasons.

First off, I'm here to scout for a future birding tour that I will lead, most likely in

2027.

And so I'm here checking things out like looking over

the itinerary and checking out lodging and different natural areas to go birding in, that sort of

thing. Just considering lots of logistics. And the other reason I'm here in Japan is for fun.

So I was leading a trip in China and then I was scouting in Mongolia

and I decided just to stop over in Japan and appreciate a few birds with one stone rather than kill

and spend time in Japan because I'm here in this part of the world. Now I've been traveling the last

...