June Birdwise editing done, ready for premiere

We taped the June and July studio shots at the same time because of scheduling difficulties in July. I finished editing the June show this weekend. As with the May show, there is a pre-show video of a red-breasted sapsucker tapping hard on a douglas fir. The shot divides to show a burrowing owl responding to the sapsucker's knocking with the question: Whoooo is there?

The June show offers cross-species mating (well more accurately cross-species brooding, called "mixed brood") We also do a feature on the do do bird. Our featured bird site is Ellis Cove Trail in Priest Point Park and our bird of the month is the winter wren. We also have a rather disgusting little video of a robin removing a fecal sac from one of its babies. All that and more starting Sunday June 3. Birdwise airs Sundays at 1 p.m. and Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. on Thurston Community Television Channel 22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgWefGz3-T0

Birdwise Recognized in Regional Awards

Birdwise was recognized by the Alliance for Community Media during its Northwest Spring Conference with a judge's choice award in the Best of the Northwest Video Awards. While Birdwise didn't win the top prize the Honorable Mention in the informational program category is not bad given we were using shows from last year when we barely knew what we were doing. The Alliance for Community Media ~ Northwest Region represents Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) cable TV access organizations, community media centers, and access producers throughout Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

May show features spring and bird calls

The hills (and woods) are alive with the sounds of bird music and Birdwise in the month of May pays tribute to a few of the more chattier birds of spring. Host Tom Schooley introduces the show's sponsor (the white-crowned sparrow) while Burt Guttman points out the small features of song birds that make them easier to identify. Sheila McCartan reports on the satellite tracking of godwits migration in the Pacific and provides a timely list of local bird field trips. And Featherman Phil Kelley forecasts what birds to look for in May. Birdwise also takes viewers on a trip through Burfoot Park where Tom offers a short lesson on birding by ear. Birdwise, a 30-minute independently produced television show, airs on commercial-free, TCTV Channel 22, Sundays at 1 p.m. and Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. The show is produced with the assistance of volunteers from the Black Hills Audubon Society and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The new edition premieres May 3.

Thank you.

Tim Sweeney

Birdwise Producer