Birds of a Feather

Themes of waterways, wildlife, and especially birds weave through this show, beginning with the visit of Bill Stowe, director of Des Moines Water Works, to Ames on Monday, to discuss water quality. ICCI organizers are launching a campaign for a moratorium on hog confinements, saying that the state has reached saturation, with 7 hogs for every 1 person.

Summer intern Isaac Biehl explores the Pokemon Go! phenomenon with ISU student Tate Huckstadt; meanwhile our Local Talk engineer Jonah DeGeest catches a pidgey and pidgeotto in our studio. Evidently, our radio station provides good habitat for these imaginary birds.

Wildlife correspondent Pat Schlarbaum tells us of the Iowa DNA’s work in this 18th year of bringing osprey back to Iowa, and the many types of volunteers who are involved in the project. Young birds are taken from nests in osprey-rich Minnesota at an age where they are old enough to eat a fish on their own, but young enough not to remember their Minnesota roots.

Speaking of native birds, Nevada poet Jennifer L. Knox tells us of her crowd-sourced poetry project, Iowa Bird of Mouth, by which anyone can add words / lines / verses to a poem created each month about 12 different birds of Iowa. The project starts this September 1 with the American Goldfinch, Iowa's state bird.

Listen Here Now Originally broadcast 07/20/2016
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