Brooklyn Botanic Garden Goes Birding

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Brigid Bergin: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Brigid Bergin from the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom. Hey, you might want to head to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden tomorrow, not for the cherry trees or the lily pool or the roses or the wisteria, but for the birds. For the Birds is the name of their new exhibition. It opens tomorrow and runs through October 23. You can head to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for bird tours, bird songs, bird houses or even free binoculars if you get there early enough. To talk about why the focus is on birds we're joined by Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the former New York City Parks Commissioner.

For some insight information on the birds at the garden and how to get started birding, we have with us Indigo Goodson, educator, writer, birder and member of the For the Birds exhibition committee. Welcome back Adrian Benepe and welcome Indigo.

Indigo Goodson: Thank you. So happy to be here.

Adrian Benepe: Great to be with you, Brigid.

Brigid Bergin: Adrian, in a nutshell why birds for the botanic garden?

Adrian Benepe: Well, the botanic garden has been here 111 years now and it has always been really a virtual bird sanctuary. We're right next door to Prospect Park, Green-Wood Cemetery is just down the road, so it's a green heart of Brooklyn. If you're a bird looking down over densely populated Brooklyn, you see that green, you say, "That's for me." It's been a bird sanctuary in addition to being a green, safe space without a lot of predators. We've got all kinds of fruit and berry and nut producing trees from all over the world. It's like having an international restaurant for birds. We've got water sources.

As a result, there have been about 181 different species spotted here, which is a whole lot of species. We're doing this to celebrate, but also to call attention to the fact that birds are in peril. Climate change, habitat destruction are really wreaking havoc on bird populations.

Brigid Bergin: Indigo, as a birder and someone involved in this project, can you talk some more about how birds are already really part of this space, integral to this part of Brooklyn?

Indigo Goodson: Like Adrian said, there are so many birds that make the Brooklyn Botanic Garden their home. Some birds nests there, some birds just stop by and dine or bathe or fish or swim. It's always been a home for birds and it will continue to be a home for birds. We're just highlighting that and calling attention to the fact that you can come there and hone your birding skills or learn how to bird and just be exposed to birding as an activity.

Brigid Bergin: Listeners, do you have a question about Brooklyn's birds or the botanic garden for my guests Brooklyn Botanic Garden president and CEO Adrian Benepe or birder and educator Indigo Goodson? Call us at 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. You could even just shout out your favorite spot in the garden for watching plants, birds or people. That's 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Adrian, let's talk about the exhibition. A big piece of it are these 33 birdhouses, each by a different artist. These will be set up in different locations around the site.

Adrian Benepe: Yes. We've got artists and architects and landscape architects from all over the country, including a lot from Brooklyn, have created birdhouses. Some quite pragmatic, that birds can actually live in them, and some extremely fanciful and it really runs the gamut. It's a wonderful diverse group of artists. There's an artist from Mexico City, Helene Schauer, who has made a series of elevated nests. There's several local artists. Nina Cooke John has done an abstract interpretation of a robin's nest. I love that because robins are so ubiquitous and, as she points out, they've become invisible to us because they're all over, but they're really a wonderful bird.

I was walking in the Rose Garden last night and suddenly a robin just flew right over my head and I realized looking up there was a nest with three baby robins in it. It's just such a wonderful moment. I love, there's a work called Descendants by Luam Melake in the Native Flora Garden which uses both architectural forms and found objects. There's a lot of inventiveness. Walter Hood, a really eminent landscape architect, has done something. He took an old dead tree that we had and turned it into something he calls a Nest for Crows with recycled materials.

Then aa truly lovely, almost fairylike, magical habitat by Mary Frank who is a really world renowned artist who made a beautiful fairyland bird nests out of birch bark. There's everything. There's big, there's boisterous, there's realistic, there's fanciful, there's really something for everyone. This was all inspired by this guy Randall Poster, who's a music supervisor, who's worked with Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese with select music. He started out with compiling songs about birds, new songs by artists all over the world and then said, "I also want to do something with visual arts," and brought this idea to us.

Brigid Bergin: Our board is lighting up with birders and artists. Julie in Brooklyn, welcome to WNYC.

Julie: Hi. I hope I'm not hijacking this, but I'm one of the Brooklyn artists in the show. I have a birdhouse in the show. I was just calling in to just express my gratitude to Adrian and say hi to Indigo. It's just so amazing to be a Brooklyn artist and actually have a birdhouse that's helping birds in one of my favorite places in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

Brigid Bergin: Julie, you have to tell us what kind of bird you designed your birdhouse for. What does your birdhouse look like?

Julie: Well, my birdhouse is about 14 feet tall and it's got a giant American robin on it. It's actually for five American birds. Some of them, their populations are in decline and some are not. I designed it so that they could all be brought together, united. They're all American birds. It's an aspirational metaphor for bringing Americans together, to bring all these American birds together.

Brigid Bergin: Julie, thank you so much for your call and thank you for your contribution to this exhibit. Indigo, we were talking about how some of these birdhouses are designed for specific birds, but also some of them, as Julie just described, are pieces of art. Can you describe, were you going for one or the other or a little bit of both?

Indigo Goodson: Really it's up to the artist. The other birding consultant that worked on the exhibition with us, Martha Harbison, really fielded a lot of those questions from birders who did want to make their house more practical, who were worried about certain material like, "Is this safe for birds, is this a good height for the species" They fielded a lot of those questions and I helped and provided some actual locations around the garden where I've seen those species and those birds, but it's really ultimately up to the artists if they want to make something that is actually going to be used as a bird habitat. We've already seen birds landing on them. They've been noticing them, so I think it's already working.

Brigid Bergin: Indigo, what's been your role in this project as a birder?

Indigo Goodson: Well, I was brought on by Kate, the director of expeditions at the gardens. I provided that initial tour talking about my experience birding and being a site birder there. Birding there up to six days a week at times, and really just sharing my experience of the over 80 species that I have spotted at the garden and provided some birding tips. I gave tours to the artists. I pointed out the existing bird nests that are made from the actual birds that you can find in the garden. I just continued to do anything I can to support the project. Of course, I'll be leading bird tours throughout the summer and fall.

Brigid Bergin: When can people find you for those bird tours?

Indigo Goodson: If you check the event calendar at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website, you can see the dates that I will be leading. I think the first one is two Saturdays from now, but you can click on those dates and you'll see if I'm leading. There's also birders who are leading tours from various organizations all through the summer and fall as well.

Brigid Bergin: Indigo, are you sharing some of your favorite birding spots in the garden?

Indigo Goodson: I am. Yes, depending on what bird you're looking for or the type of birding you plan on doing that day. For example, the overlook that faces the Cherry Esplanade is a great place for me to view birds of prey, look for turkey vultures, red tail hawks, coopers hawks, because you have this open sky. If you want to just sit and enjoy the cherry trees and the lawn, and also keep your head on the swivel, looking for downy woodpeckers, and these other birds that will cross the skies in front of you. That is a really good location for that.

Brigit Bergin: I hate to ask a birder a question, but do you have a favorite bird?

Indigo Goodson: I have two, but there is definitely the Northern flicker I spotted in the native floor garden of Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. That is the bird that made me realize how in love I am with birding. When I spotted it, I started to cry and that's how I knew this is something that I will be doing for the rest of my life. I also spotted in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time the indigo bunting and that bird is my namesake. My dad also carved a walking stick and put an indigo bunting on top of it. I feel like me and that bird have a kinship and I affectionately refer to it as Little Indigo.

Brigid Bergin: Wow. I'm very glad to know the story behind your favorite birds. Let's go to Dave in Westchester. Dave, welcome to WNYC.

Dave: Thank you so much. It's an honor to be speaking with you on your program. I'm Dave from Westchester, but I'm soon going to be Dave from Duchess County. I would like to know how one goes about getting a pair of starter binoculars because I started the old shopping on the internet and of course it's just overwhelming. I would really appreciate for a pair of starter binoculars for birders, something that will last for a while. I don't want to buy a set and find out I have to spend more. I'd also like to know, for starting, if you wanted to learn about putting up a birdhouse and a bird feeder, where would be a good place to start? Really appreciate the answers.

Brigid Bergin: Dave, thanks so much. Any suggestions for our new birders?

Adrian Benepe: I would say that one of our partners on this exhibit is the songs project is Audubon Society, and they are everything about birds. Audubon Society Cornel ornithological labs. Their websites have all kinds of information about birding, about bird feeders, about bird nests, about bird conservation. While we love the birds and help to take care of them, are were organizations who work full time to take care of birds. I would suggest to your caller that he check in with the Audubon Society or the Cornell ornithological lab. There's also great apps for learning about birds or tracing birds by bird calls or things like that.

Brigit Bergin: Adrian, talking about the events coming up, are there many kid-specific events planned for this exhibit?

Adrian Benepe: Yes. Opening day tomorrow's going to be great. It's not just for the birds. It's for the kids. So many activities, it's hard to keep track. Let's start in the morning with bird puppet-making in our Discovery Garden. There'll be volunteers here. People who've helped save wild birds with live owls and kestrel. A kestrel is a small raptor, hunting bird. Between one and three there'll be parades coming from all over the garden and converging on a dance party with avian stilt walkers. They're these giant birds on stilts. They're actually humans dressed as birds, but don't tell the kids. There will be giant bird puppets, and then we'll be giving away birdoculars. These are binoculars for kids primarily, and for all kids 12 and older we will get free binoculars as they come to visit.

There's a huge array of activities tomorrow, Saturday for kids for the opening day for the birds. Then we've got the bird walks, we've got bird classes and drawing birds. It's an entire four months of activities related to birds and educational displays and placards all over the garden explaining this really important connection between birds and plants. Many species of plants depend on birds for seed dispersal and birds, of course, depend on plants and trees for homes, for nesting material, and for food. It's a completely mutually interdependent relationship between birds and plants that is being celebrated here.

Brigid Bergin: Just before we go, there is an admission fee to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, but are these events included in that?

Adrian Benepe: Yes, so everything is included the admission fee, but two caveats. They're important ones. Children 12 and under are admitted free at all times. You don't pay for kids, A. B, if you can't afford to pay for the regular admission fee, we have what we call community tickets. That means you get in for free and they're available at all times and a listener who wants to come and can't afford our admission fee can just say, "May I please have a community ticket?" They get in for free. That's something that we think is very important, that there shouldn't be a barrier for admission

Brigit Bergin: Very quickly Indigo, last question for you. Is there an age for birding?

Indigo Goodson: No, birding is definitely open to all ages. You can start really young, just learning field markings.

Brigit Bergin: Thank you so much. We're going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much to Indigo Goodson for sharing your experience and enthusiasm with us and Adrian Benepe, now president and CEO of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, For the Birds will open tomorrow.

Adrian Benepe: We'll see you at the garden. Thank you.

Indigo Goodson: Thank you.

Brigit Bergin: The Brian Lehrer's producers are Lisa Allison, Mary Croke, Amina Srna, and Carl Boisrond with help from Jessica Botorama and Zach Cohen takes care of the podcast. Megan Ryan is the head of live radio. Our interns are Gigi Steckel, Amanda Rezone, Anna Venarchik and Emily Löwinger. Julia Fonda and Milton Ruiz are at the audio controls. I'm Brigid Bergin. This is the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Thanks for listening.

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