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My Birding Life · July 8 · 45 min

How the Weekend Birder was Born with Kirsty Costa

Kirsty Costa didn't grow up with binoculars around her neck. Her birding life began in the first week of Melbourne's pandemic lockdown, on a dawn walk with her dog when a strange, wide-eyed shorebird appeared in the reeds of her local wetland. It turned out to be a Latham's snipe, a species that migrates every year between Japan and Australia, and something about that discovery, a bird she'd never known was living on her doorstep, changed how she saw the world around her. That single sighting became Weekend Birder, now one of the most-listened-to science and nature podcasts in Australia, built around the idea that you don't need to be an expert, or even call yourself a birdwatcher, to fall in love with the birds already sharing your neighbourhood. In this episode, Kirsty joins Chris as the show's first Australian and first non-British guest, to talk about the difference between birders, birdwatchers, and twitchers, why she gets more joy from a surprise garden visitor than a guaranteed rare bird, the mental health science behind why birdwatching works as informal mindfulness, and what a two-week birding trip through Australia would actually look like. Episode Takeaways: Kirsty's spark bird story: how a Latham's snipe on a Melbourne dawn walk during lockdown turned into Weekend Birder Birder vs. birdwatcher vs. twitcher, and why Kirsty calls herself a "bird noticer" at heart Why the surprise of an unplanned sighting means more to her than the guarantee of a rare bird everyone's chasing A rapid-fire tour through Australian birding: where to start, what to see, and the best-kept regional secrets The neuroscience of birdwatching as mindfulness, and why it can leave you "a totally different person" after one walk Episode Timestamps: 03:44 Pandemic Spark Bird 06:48 Birder vs Birdwatcher 08:34 Twitching Ethics Debate 14:25 Melbourne Birding Boom 17:38 Two Week Australia Plan 25:02 Digital Bird Lists 25:45 Backyard Birds With Names 27:05 Tawny Frogmouth Devotion 29:25 Why Weekend Birder 35:49 Birding As Mindfulness Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Weekend Birder Website Listen to Kirsty's Podcast Follow Kirsty on Instagram

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Kirsty Costa didn't grow up with binoculars around her neck. Her birding life began in the first week of Melbourne's pandemic lockdown, on a dawn walk with her dog when a strange, wide-eyed shorebird appeared in the reeds of her local wetland. It turned out to be a Latham's snipe, a species that migrates every year between Japan and Australia, and something about that discovery, a bird she'd never known was living on her doorstep, changed how she saw the world around her.

That single sighting became Weekend Birder, now one of the most-listened-to science and nature podcasts in Australia, built around the idea that you don't need to be an expert, or even call yourself a birdwatcher, to fall in love with the birds already sharing your neighbourhood.

In this episode, Kirsty joins Chris as the show's first Australian and first non-British guest, to talk about the difference between birders, birdwatchers, and twitchers, why she gets more joy from a surprise garden visitor than a guaranteed rare bird, the mental health science behind why birdwatching works as informal mindfulness, and what a two-week birding trip through Australia would actually look like.

Episode Takeaways:

  • Kirsty's spark bird story: how a Latham's snipe on a Melbourne dawn walk during lockdown turned into Weekend Birder
  • Birder vs. birdwatcher vs. twitcher, and why Kirsty calls herself a "bird noticer" at heart
  • Why the surprise of an unplanned sighting means more to her than the guarantee of a rare bird everyone's chasing
  • A rapid-fire tour through Australian birding: where to start, what to see, and the best-kept regional secrets
  • The neuroscience of birdwatching as mindfulness, and why it can leave you "a totally different person" after one walk

Episode Timestamps:

  • 03:44 Pandemic Spark Bird
  • 06:48 Birder vs Birdwatcher
  • 08:34 Twitching Ethics Debate
  • 14:25 Melbourne Birding Boom
  • 17:38 Two Week Australia Plan
  • 25:02 Digital Bird Lists
  • 25:45 Backyard Birds With Names
  • 27:05 Tawny Frogmouth Devotion
  • 29:25 Why Weekend Birder
  • 35:49 Birding As Mindfulness

Important Links & Resources:


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