Birdsong’s Blog

Meet the oldest and youngest Orcas of the Southern Resident Community

Hello friends!

I’m excited to show you these photos of the oldest and youngest members of the Southern Resident Community of killer whales, aka Orcas. The top picture is a photo of Granny (J2), who is believed to be about 104 years old! The bottom photo is of young calf L122 and his/her mother.

These photos are two of a huge collection of orca pictures taken by my friend, Captain James Maya. You can find more of Captain Jim’s amazing photos on his Facebook page. Learn more about Granny and the entire Southern Resident Community of Orcas at The Whale Museum and when you watch my music video,“ORCAS.“

Sending a whale of a thank you to all who work to protect these beautiful creatures,

Birdsong

Watch “HERE WE GO” – our sea turtle song video for kids of all ages!

Hello friends!

“Here we go, go, go! Wish us luck, luck, luck!” sing the newly hatched sea turtles in this fun and educational sing-a-long video for kids of all ages. Watch it and you will learn about the amazing life of baby sea turtles, the kinds of food they like to eat, and how they find their way to the ocean in the middle of the night. This video features my song “HERE WE GO” with beautiful photos of sea turtles as well as the song lyrics so that you can read and sing along with me.  Also, if you watch carefully, you will see Dr. Marcie and me singing “HERE WE GO” with children in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye in Belize and Orange County, California.

“HERE WE GO” is a favorite of our fans and is on our CD IF I WERE A FISH and other Ocean Songs for Kids. (A download of this song is my gift to you when join our email list!) Teachers and Parents, check out this song’s interactive companion lesson for grades K-2.

Here we go!

Birdsong

Dance to “WORM POOP SONG” – An Animal Song Video about worms and how they help plants grow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg3MPVUSeJc

Dear Friends:
While the worms are hard at work in the ground, I have been singing “Worm Poop Song” to children, teachers, parents and grandparents wherever we go. This kids music video is a live performance of Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders singing “Worm Poop Song”. We asked some children in the audience to volunteer their dads to help us sing and dance to this song. In this video you will see the four volunteered dads wiggling like worms and singing along to the “worm poop” chorus. If worms could laugh I think they would find our tribute to them quite comical! The audience seemed delighted to watch these terrific dads dance, sing along, wiggle like a worm and sing “poop”. It took everyone just a few seconds to realize that it’s okay to say “poop”…and then off goes the whole audience singing with gusto: “POOP! POOP!” And how can we not sing it? Worm poop, also known as worm castings, is very important to our gardens and to the health of our plants and ecosystems. 
Read More

Read “The Kids’ Times” by NOAA and learn more about the blue whale!

Read “The Kids’ Times: Blue Whale”  by NOAA.

Like the blue whale as much as we do? Watch our music video,
“SO BIG! BLUE WHALE!”, and sing your heart out with us 🙂

Birdsong meets Killer Whales! Watch our new kids video featuring our song, “ORCAS”.

Dear Whale and Dolphin Lovers,      Hurray!  I met the Orcas (aka killer whales)!  In a recent trip to the U.S. San Juan Islands, Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders had the privilege of encountering the Southern Resident Orcas that are featured in my song “ORCAS” from our CD EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids.  Imagine my delight when we sighted “Doublestuf” (JPod-34), an orca who is named in my song! We also met local educators, captains and researchers who are advocates of these beautiful and intelligent creatures and inspired us with their stories and dedication. They encouraged us to sign a petition to help save these orcas.      Needless to say, I feel more connected than ever to these animals; and I now have a new music video to share with you. This video weaves together my orca song with beautiful photos taken by my new friend, Captain James Maya, by NOAA and by me. Lyrics are included in the video, so watch and sing along with me with me as we celebrate the Orcas of the Salish Sea. With love, Birdsong

 

Watch Humpback Whale thank its rescuers!

Learn more about humpback whales in our kids song, “Humpback Whale Song”, from our CD IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs for Kids.

Hooded Orioles find a habitat in Birdsong’s backyard!

Hello my music fans and nature lovers!

I had the privilege of sharing my backyard with this Hooded Oriole family over the course of Spring and early Summer this year. Each morning I awoke to their songs, and through out the days I watched them display their catch of insects and berries, listened to at least two broods of babies chirping in the nest and caught glimpses of the fledglings after they left the safety of the place in which they were hatched. I even caught the adults starting their family as they mated in my backyard. I missed them when they left, and I hope they found my yard and palm trees worthy enough breeding grounds to return to next year!

Read More

Watch one of the gorilla videos that inspired my kids song, “BELLA THE GORILLA”.

Hello Fans and Primate Lovers!

This is one of the several gorilla videos I watched  while I was composing my animal song, “Bella the Gorilla”. Since I had never met a gorilla in the wild, I felt it was important to understand as much as possible about these remarkable primates to help me write an educational song about them. This video by BBC portrays the family life of gorillas and made their lives more real for me. My song “Bella the Gorilla” can be heard on our CD “EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids”. Watching this video and listening to this song today made me want to move like a gorilla!

With appreciation to all who work so hard to study and protect the Mountain and Congo Gorilla of Africa,

Birdsong

Learn about echolocation in “CLICKETY-CLACK”, our animal song video about dolphins.

Hello to all my dolphin-loving fans! 

I first posted this animal song video in 2009, and it has so far been the most-watched music video on our Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders YouTube channel. This song video for kids has photos of dolphins (thanks to NOAA), the song “Clickety-Clack” from our CD IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs for Kids, and the lyrics to the song so that you can sing along with me. 

I got my idea for this song “Clickety-Clack” when I learned that dolphins make clicking and clacking sounds to communicate with each other and to find objects in the ocean. This is how it works: They make a sound and the sound quickly travels through the water. When the sound hits an object in the sea, the sound then bounces back to the dolphin and makes a picture of the object in the dolphin’s mind. This is called “echolocation.”  The echoing sound and the picture it creates helps dolphins find food, other dolphins to play with, and boats and objects in the sea. As I learned about this, I kept hearing the words “clickety-clack” in my head, and before I knew it i was creating this song. 
Read More

Learn about wolves in our animal song video, “LEADERS OF THE PACK”.

Hello all you animal lover fans!
I’m excited to share my newest music video about wolves, featuring my song “Leaders of the Pack” from our CD EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids, as well as some fun performance footage. I absolutely love singing this song, and it makes me smile to think of you singing and howling along. So take a break, watch this with your family and have a howling good time learning about wolves!

With love,
Birdsong