What Were You Thinking?

In response to a rude email from a listener, Book Character Bill Holm sits out his annual trip to Magee Marsh with Feather Brained author Bob Tarte. In between discussing the birds that Bob isn’t seeing on the famous Magee Marsh boardwalk during a lackluster migration impeded by cold weather, he and Bill lament the lack of support from What Were You Thinking? listeners. The upshot? You folks had better straighten up if you want Bob and Bill to continue producing the only supposedly...

The Giant Silkworm Moths may be masters as public speaking, but Bob Tarte shows he’s no sow’s-ear slouch, either, as he and Book Character Bill Holm extol the virtues and shortcoming of Bob’s latest book, Feather Brained. This is part two of a patience-straining nearly-one-hour talk about birds, birding, and flimflamming the general public on a sunny June afternoon at the Degraaf Nature Center in Holland, Michigan. For pity’s sake, listen to part one first! Questions or Comments? Email...

Two doors leading into the Degraaf Nature Center in Holland, Michigan, were each marked with a sign. Visitors had their choice of seeing 'Giant Silkworm Moths' or hearing a 'Feather Brained Talk' by author Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm. Bob and Bill were fortunate enough to catch the overflow crowd from the silkworm moths. This laugh-filled riot of a talk on Bob’s book, Feather Brained, is divided into two parts to keep your sides from splitting and tears from clouding your...

Surrounded by vocal House Wrens, Baltimore Orioles, Brown Thrashers, Yellow Warblers, and disgruntled park visitors, Feather Brained author Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm try their birding luck at Michigan’s Tawas Point State Park on Lake Huron. Bob recounts an important communication from a listener while Bill hosts an installment of the popular Motel Corner feature. Bob also offers hints on how to tell a Spotted Sandpiper from an Emu or other similar-looking birds. It’s a...

It’s a total turnaround as Bob and Book Character Bill Holm enjoy a wind-free, warbler-filled new morning of birding at Magee Marsh. If that’s not enough excitement, listen closely to a slice of audio verite for a chance encounter with the esteemed author of The Warbler Guide, who had no idea he was being recorded – because Bob and Bill had no idea who he was. Pay close attention as Mr. Tom Stephenson validates an ID by Bob that another birder had just disputed. It doesn’t get any better...

Sure, it’s almost a year late. But the jokes are as timeless as the birding observations when Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm dragged themselves to Magee Marsh in northern Ohio for the annual May warbler migration. High winds nearly ruin the birding, but Bob and Bill’s high spirits blow away potential misfortune in this unique, radio-simulcast episode that’s just begging for a Part Two. Plus you get the skinny on Bob’s new book about birding, Feather Brained. Questions or...

Shamelessly promoting his new book about birding, Feather Brained, Bob Tarte shares birding tips with reluctant birder Bill Holm at Muskegon Wastewater System in a bold January 2017 winter expedition. The pair actually spot some nice birds this time, including a rare Glaucous Gull, whose habits require some delicacy to describe. Tune in for a shocking Enslaved by Ducks movie teaser, too. Questions or Comments? Email Bob at: bob@petliferadio.com More details on this episode MP3...

In Part Two of a Two Part Show, appropriately enough, Bob Tarte and Bill Holm share tips on writing a memoir for publication with the Mid Michigan Word Gatherers Writing Group. Although the tips are for memoir writing in general, pet book author Bob bases the tips on techniques he used writing his published memoirs Enslaved By Ducks, Fowl Weather, Kitty Cornered, and his newest book, Feather Brained. Questions or Comments? Email Bob at: bob@petliferadio.com More details on this...

In this Golden Archive Show from August 2014, available to the public for the first time, Bob and Book Character Bill Holm brave the gathering storm clouds in Tawas City, Michigan, to search for shorebirds – or any birds, for that matter. Bob is posting this Golden Archival Birding Show not only because it is pure gold, but also for the opportunistic reason that his new book about birding, “Feather Brained,” comes out in April 2016. Questions or Comments? Email Bob at:...

Wall Street Journal Best-selling author Bob Tarte shares tips on writing a memoir for publication, aided and abetted by Bill Holm, who also shares tips on becoming a character in someone else’s memoir. The two will also discuss humor writing in dull, unfunny terms in part one of this presentation for the Mid Michigan Word Gatherers Writing Group. Although the tips are for memoir writing in general, pet book author Bob swears by them when he isn't swearing at Book Character Bill, and they...

How bad is part two of World’s Worst Birding Show? So bad that Bob Tarte and Bill Holm burn up the first 15 minutes apologizing for how bad the show is. Things get brighter in the second half, recorded live from the Estuary Trail at Magee Marsh, Ohio. A Gray Catbird, a Yellow Warbler, and other birds add their voices as Bob and Bill somehow manage to run into three birders even grumpier than they are. It's all a bolt of blazing sunshine compared to the first half of the show - another...

You may never read this description of the World’s Worst Birding Show, Part 1, because this podcast might never make it online due to the need for certain minimum quality standards. It’s the usual content-free rambling from Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm about their annual birding trip to Ohio for the warbler migration plus breaking news about Bob’s forthcoming book Feather Brained. Tough to sit through. But comedy gold for start to finish as Bob and Bill analyze mysterious doings...

In the long awaited sequel to Part 1, your hosts Bob and Book Character Bill Holm find more birds in the parking lot of Tawas State Park in northern Michigan than most people find in a zoo that has an aviary containing more birds than the Tawas State Park parking lot! On their return to Nayaquing Point, Bill outbirds Bob yet again. But Bob turns the spotlight back onto himself with his impression of Irish actor/singer Richard Harris’ performance on the Jimmy Webb Sessions recordings, while...

Bob interviews animal communicator Kate Sitka, who lives in Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Kate talks about discovering and developing her abilities to make a psychic link with both wild and domesticated animals - though another form of animal communication is simply becoming more sensitive to your pet’s needs. She describes a chicken’s psychedelic view of the world, what it’s like to be a whale, and how her cat loves to tattle on her dog. She also has suggestions for...

In the first Pet Life Radio show ever to be recorded live from a platform, Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm embark upon another epic birding quest. They begin the adventure on an observation platform near the Ferguson Bayou Trail at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge near Flint, Michigan. As a Common Tern flies overhead, Bill shows uncommon erudition in a discourse about the Shakespearean sonnet poetic form. Then, atop an observation platform at Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area,...

Author Cayr Ariel Wulff (Born Without a Tail, Circling the Waggins, and more) likes to talk about her rambunctious dogs. But she surprises Bob by talking about her partner Dalene's rambunctious hermit crabs, whose proper care demands a carefully controlled environment. Learn about proper housing and whether Leroy the crab will eat honey on a cracker. Thrill to tales of crab escape artists and the crab who had two shells. Questions or Comments? Email Bob at: bob@petliferadio.com More...

In part two of the birding show that took a full year to produce, Book Character Bill Holm blows the lid off the fraud that he considers ‘birding by ear’ to be and Bob defends the practice as they recap the 19 warbler species seen the previous day at Magee Marsh in Ohio. Then they set out with open ears if not open minds for day two, though they were spoiled by so many birds on day one, they don’t bird nearly as hard. Bill wows the boardwalk crowd with his Swainson’s Thrush expertise while...

Host Bob Tarte had no idea what Kelly Meister-Yetter was talking about when she told him she wanted to do an episode about 'bomb-proofing a horse.' Kelly, author of the book Crazy Critter Lady, explains the meaning of the term and her very patient work with a skittish horse named Bit in a highly entertaining interview. Questions or Comments? Email Bob at: bob@petliferadio.com More details on this episode MP3 Podcast - How to Bomb-Proof a Horse with Bob Tarte

It took Bob a full year to prepare for this birding show, working every single minute of the day, seven days a week. But it was worth it for his annual return to Magee Marsh with 'don’t call me a birder' Bill Holm, who contributes a report of his own recent birding trip to Cape May, New Jersey. Will the Magee Marsh trip be another bust, as chronicled in last year’s two-part podcast? Or will Bob and Bill babble happily about their huge success in another memorable non-pet Pet Life Radio show?...

Bob Tarte and Book Character Bill Holm experience what one birder terms the worst spring migration day in 13 years at Magee Marsh in northern Ohio, and the paucity of birds is mind boggling. Nevertheless, they manage to see a few noteworthy species - like a White-eyed Vireo and a pair of nesting Prothonotary Warblers - and to their surprise they realize that they had a great time after all. Even more astoundingly, Bill admits to having enjoyed his interactions with birders, who were so...