The Joy of Robins with J. Drew Lanham

BirdNote^®
The Joy of Robins with J. Drew Lanham
Written by Ariana Remmel

This is BirdNote.

         [Music from the episode instead of usual theme]

J. Drew Lanham is a poet and ornithologist whose work intertwines his lived experience as a Black man in the American south and his love of wilderness. Both have taught him that joy is a source of strength.

J. Drew Lanham:  I find my joy on daily walks around the farm or just sitting and watching some bird. And it doesn't have to be a rare bird. This past spring, I was just enthralled watching robins. It was like they were so happy that spring was here. They would just sit in little shafts of sunlight.

         [American Robin]

J. Drew Lanham:  I can see that bird. I can just see it. Just sitting there in the middle of dooryard violets. I could see its eye blink and then it opened that yellow beak and, like, yawned. And it didn't move. That was just it! It was just being!

It’s easy to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of modern life that we forget how to be present — or even take for granted that we are free to choose joy.

J. Drew Lanham:  It sounds simple, but you have to grab it, you have to grasp it, you have to keep it, but however you get it, you turn to it as your superpower. And it's what keeps you alive from moment to moment.

         [American Robin]

Hear more from Drew in season 7 of our podcast Bring Birds Back. For BirdNote, I’m Jazzi Johnson.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Robin ML168300 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote November 2025
Narrator: Jazzi Johnson

ID# PodBBB-44-2025-11-17    PodBBB-44