Birding Delights with Nima Kharrazi | A Gentle Nature-Inspired Wind-Down

In Birding Delights with Nima Kharrazi, Marco welcomes guest Nima Kharrazi, host of the My Gastric Sleeve Podcast, for a softly meandering conversation about the peaceful art of birdwatching. Rather than focusing on health topics, this episode gently turns its attention to feathers, flight, and the quiet joy of noticing what’s overhead.
Marco and Nima reflect on favourite bird encounters and the calming ritual of identifying calls with the Merlin Bird ID app. They share which species leave them in awe and how birding offers a mindful pause in busy days. The conversation drifts into stories of territorial birds — including one making headlines in Toronto for its bold dive-bombing behaviour — all handled with light humour and curiosity. There’s even a nod to their shared appreciation of the board game Wingspan.
As always, this calming podcast unfolds at an unhurried pace, offering a relaxing conversation designed to help you fall asleep, ease anxiety, or quiet racing thoughts. It’s ideal for background listening at bedtime or during middle-of-the-night wake-ups — a gentle drift through treetops and quiet skies.

​Birding Delights with Nima Kharrazi
(
Original airdate: September 27, 2023) 
 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation that is meant to help you drift your way to sleep. Perhaps I'm your host, Marco Tim. Thank you for joining us. And today I have the special pleasure of saying hello and welcoming our guest, Nima Karazi, back to the podcast. Welcome, Nima.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, hey, Marco. It's so nice to be here again.

Marco:  It's wonderful to have you. And I want to thank you, because if you can't tell, I'm a little under the weather. And so when Nima found out, he's like, I'll record with you. Amanda's working. And I was like, this is wonderful. So from Los Angeles to Toronto, we bring you today's podcast. Kind of like a bird flying from one city to the other.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Hmm. M. Look at that.

Marco:  Look at that.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Right?

Marco:  Uh, that brings us to our topic today, which is birds and bird watching.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah.

Marco:  You have a fondness for that, right, Nima?

 Nima Kharrazi:  I have always appreciated birds, and I didn't know that it was a thing that you could do as a younger person.

Marco:  Oh, okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  I thought birding and bird watching and all that was. You had to be, like, a retired person. Sure. Go on trips to Costa Rica to go find the Quetzal bird and, you know, that kind of stuff. And then when I started talking to some people about birds, someone just mentioned the, uh, Merlin bird app. And yes, yes. Sparked everything for me. And then that was just the beginning of the. The new. My new life as a birder.

Marco:  So, um, all right, so tell us who introduced you, and tell us about the app.

 Nima Kharrazi:  You know, it was. I know you and I, Marco, are very, uh, people, uh, oriented, chatty, talkative, uh, very approachable. Sure. And I was just out somewhere in a park, and there was a lady holding her phone up to this bird that was chirping. And I asked her, I said, are you recording that so that you can figure it out later? And she said, no, it's this app. It's called Merlin. Now, at the time, and actually, for the first, like, six months, I thought it was named after the wizard Merlin from King Arthur, because it's spelled that way. It's spelled that way, yeah, sure. Merlin is a type of hawk, Right. There's like, a Merlin falcon or a Merlin raptor of some sort.

Marco:  Sure, sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So she tells me about this app, and she's like, you can take a photo or you can do a sound recording. It's pretty good about figuring out, you know, which bird you're listening to, and even if there's multiple birds and you can track them and you can have a life list of birds. And I was like, that's it. And so I Just spent the rest of the day, downloaded the app and just walking around and trying to capture as many digital. Digitally capture as many birds as I could, and then it just grew from there.

Marco:  And then sometimes you'll send me photos of the birds that you've captured, which I always love.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah.

Marco:  So what are some of your highlight birds that you've captured on your Merlin app?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, that's a good one. Yeah. So I. Okay. So this is a good. I have a question for you. Sure. You're into birds a little bit.

Marco:  I am.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So let me ask you this. This is controversial here.

Marco:  No, no, sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  We in the birding community that digitally capture these birds, we have an understanding. I feel like, okay, if you see the bird or if you hear the bird in person, you may digitally capture said bird.

Marco:  Okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah. Does that count if you go to a zoo and they have an exhibit of puffins. Oh. And you take a picture of a puffin or an emperor penguin or some great build stork or great build something or heron or something. Yeah. And you didn't see it in nature, but you get to see it in captivity.

Marco:  That's a great question. So, um, first of all, if there was a puffin exhibit and you went to it, kudos to you. I was in Newfoundland recently, where puffins, you know, roam, and we were on a ship, and I said to Amanda, as we're on this, uh, we're on this ferry going from Newfoundland to St. Pierre Miquelon. And I said to Amanda, I said, the only thing I haven't seen on this trip is a puffin. I go, how great would it be if a puffin landed? We were out on the ferry, landed on this railing, uh, that was right in front of me. And as I said this Nima.

 Nima Kharrazi:  No way. No way.

Marco:  No, no. It didn't happen. I'm just gonna make sure everyone's expectations are managed here. As it happened, a wrapper for a chocolate bar that I had in my pocket had blown out of my pocket and flew up right in front, and it was white. And for a split second, for the smallest second in the world, my heart was full because I thought a puffin had landed on my command. Now, I captured the. The, um, wrapper. I put it, tucked it in my front pocket so it wouldn't fly away. But we both had a really good laugh. But all I wanted to do was see a puffin, and I didn't see them. So did you see the puffins?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, yeah, no, I saw that.

Marco:  So special. I say it counts. My Friend. Because you're not gonna. You're like, I was in puffin territory, and I didn't see a puffin. So I'm. I'm have a little teensy bit of jealousy that you saw puffin and I didn't. I'm going to give you credit. I'm going to give you your puffin credits here and now.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, I appreciate that.

Marco:  Is that a train?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah, there's. Your hearing is exceptional. I love that I'm here, and the train is just outside my window. Uh, and you're all the way over there, and you're like, wait, I think I hear.

Marco:  Yeah, but that. Because that's background noise for you right now.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah, that's just. Yeah, that's just every day. It's usually on every, like, half hour. 45 minutes.

Marco:  Earlier, when we were supposed to record. I didn't tell you this. There was steamrollers in front of my house. Steamrollers. The ones that squish. Like, uh, the coyote and the roadrunner.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Curtis.

Marco:  Like, I was. What is making all this noise? I can't. I absolutely cannot record. And there's just steamrollers steaming along on the street, putting the. The gravel down or whatever. And I was like, really? Of all things steamrollers. But anyways, back to you and your Merlin app and your captured birds. Some of your highlights.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So. Yeah, so some of my highlights, I captured. Speaking of roadrunners, I captured a roadrunner. Uh, that was really special for me because I'd never actually seen one in real life. I've only ever seen them in cartoons.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  I captured a grackle.

Marco:  Oh, grackles. We have. We have them here all the time. Grackles.

 Nima Kharrazi:  They're awesome, beautiful, and I love their sound.

Marco:  They're like the crow's glamorous cousin.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like a, uh, Like a skinny, sexy Hollywood crow.

Marco:  Yeah. Because they've got a shimmer of, like, green blue to them. Yeah. God, they're like sparkly eyes, and they're like koi. Yeah, I love them.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Also, I like a real simple. I'm a big raven guy. I love ravens. Like, they're so smart. They're so big. And there's this one raven, this male, by my house when I go on this walk that he does this sound that sounds like a wood block or shape hitting. Well, he has the, um, the feathers. Oh. Oh, I see. Okay. Like the mane of a. Whatever you call a feathery mane.

Marco:  Oh, see, I thought you only heard the sound so you aggressive.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah. Okay. He's a big guy and he just sits in top of the tree and he does that wood blocky sound. Sure. And you can see his throat vibrating when he's doing it.

Marco:  Wow.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Just like I play drums.

Marco:  Yeah.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And I've made that sound. And I always think, like, the amount of things it took for me to make that sound, I had to go buy a clave. I had to get the wood block to be the right wood block. I had to get the, you know, all these things to, in order, like, had to go to three different stores to make sure. And then he's just, he just does it.

Marco:  Right. What's, what's a clave?

 Nima Kharrazi:  A clave is like a wooden block that you hit with another wooden block.

Marco:  Okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So that's, that's a, uh.

Marco:  So it's an instrument. Oh, it's a percussionist.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Anything that you hit together to make a noise is percussive. So it's a percussion.

Marco:  I see.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So even this is the one that messes me up is a piano has strings on the inside.

Marco:  Right.

 Nima Kharrazi:  That the hammer hits the string. And because of that, it's considered a percussion because you're tapping the string with a hammer on the inside.

Marco:  Fascinating.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah.

Marco:  So here's one of my cool bird encounters.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, tell me.

Marco:  So, you know, Canada, um, has birds that are native to our area that often will. Will sort of shimmy down to the U.S. but, uh, you know, there's certain birds that we have that, um, you know, are often associated with our country. Like the Canada goose. That's not the bird I'm talking about. Those are the ones that we always kind of try to avoid. They're very messy birds. They poop everywhere and they. Yeah. And they, they clamor in large groups and they'll often, you know, be in front of you and you're trying to drive and you've got to wait for these geese to go.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Etc. Etc.

Marco:  But another bird that is, I think, Quebec's, um, provincial bird. Amanda and I are driving home from the cottage. And as we're driving, and this is a, A winter, a crisp winter afternoon, just to set the scene. Snow on the ground. It's bitterly cold. There's a snap of, you know, frosty breath that comes out of your mouth. But we're in the car, nice and toasty warm, driving. And as we're driving down a farm field road so you can just see nature for miles and miles. On a fence post is a snowy owl. Uh, and so Amanda turns, she goes, is that A snowy. And as she's saying it, the owl flaps its wings and starts to fly parallel with the car.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, my gosh.

Marco:  And the bird is a gorgeous. But B, it's a large bird. Larger than I would have expected.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Right.

Marco:  And so you're. I'm driving with this, like, pterodactyl sized bird next to me that's like, you know, uh, just stricken awe in me. And it's just so majestic and beautiful and like, just like, look at me. And then it was gone. And it was like. That was an incredible moment. So that I think is one of my favorite bird experiences.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, that's a really good one.

Marco:  Yeah.

 Nima Kharrazi:  I've, uh. There's a movie called My Cousin Vinnie.

Marco:  Oh, I love it.

 Nima Kharrazi:  With Joe Pesci and, uh, Marisa Tomei. Oh, God, Marissa Tomei won the Academy Award for that movie.

Marco:  Ralph Macho. Fred Gwynn, who played the Munster, the monster, was the judge. He was fantastic. Love that film.

 Nima Kharrazi:  It's great. Good movie.

Marco:  Great movie.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And, uh, when. When Vinnie goes to the cabin to go stay, there's a screech owl. Yeah. And I've never seen a screech owl before, but you hear this, like, it's. It screeches. Sure. It's so loud. And he gets so upset. He grabs his gun and goes and shoots in the middle of the night. And then the camera goes from the front door of the cabin where he just fired six rounds and goes back inside and zooms out in one shot and zooms out. The screech how is on the. The tree branch. And then just at that moment, it does one last streak. And I, I was like, I never knew you existed, but I'm in love with you.

Marco:  Yeah.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And that and the Kestrel falcon have been two birds that I've always had an adoration for.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And I met them both at. There was like a, uh, farmers market event in, you know, Redondo beach or some beach city. And there was a bird captivity rescue center.

Marco:  Okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  That had a tent and they had birds there, and they had a Castro falcon and screech owl.

Marco:  Wow.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And it was like, amazing. And I was like, can I take a photo? And they said no. And I said, I could put five bucks in your tip jar. And they're like, you could take as many photos as you want.

Marco:  There you go. That's nice. Um, that. That scene you just mentioned from my cousin Vinnie.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah.

Marco:  I don't know if it was you who told me this. That was a fluke. That the owl, like, they, they did not like it was. It was just a happenstance moment that when they panned that, the owl, on cue, knew it was on camera, knew it was its good side, hit its mark, did its action. That's, that's uh, you know, it was like, everyone was like thrilled with it.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah, I didn't know that. That's amazing. Yeah.

Marco:  If you look it up, there's the. I think the story's even better than how I'm telling it. But. Yeah, um, one of the birds that always impresses me when I see that, see it is the cardinal. Whenever I see a cardinal, I'm always like, struck by it because I'm like, oh, a cardinal. Like, you know, it's so, it's so impressive. Like this red bird out of nowhere. All.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Often it seems regal almost.

Marco:  There's something. And they say, you know, when you see a cardinal, it's the, um, memory of a loved one who's passed on. Right. So it's always a lovely. Yeah, the cardinal are associated with that. I mean, I see blue jays all the time and they're, they're, they're not the nicest birds when it comes to the bird. Not, not that birds need to be nice. I shouldn't try to humanize them, but they can be aggressive. And uh, and uh, so I see them all the time, but they're not as impressive to me as the cardinal. So I guess I'm a St. Louis fan versus Toronto fan.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, um, I actually my. I've all. I visited Toronto when I was a kid and my first. I have so many positive memories with Toronto. And then my. When I saw Niagara Falls, I saw from the Toronto side. I've never seen it from the New York side, nor will I because it's not. The good Toronto side's the better side.

Marco:  Anyway, we'll say the Ontario side because Toronto is about two hours from.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah. Yes. That's okay. It's all the same to me. Yeah, sure, sure.

Marco:  Or the Canadian side.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, yeah, I hear what you're saying. So I saw that. And then my first baseball game was a Blue Jays game.

Marco:  Oh, was it really?

 Nima Kharrazi:  And so this is it. This is a fun little story. Okay, so my father told me me and my co workers got four tickets for the Blue Jays versus the Angels. So my dad tells me I have these four tickets to the Toronto Blue Jays game. They're playing the Angels. Why don't you come down, me and two of my co workers, the four of us will go see this game. And I go, sure, let's Go. We. I get down there. I take the bus. I get down to his work, we drive over to the thing. We get there two hours early. My dad and his friends are like, all right, we're gonna, you know, have some drinks and, you know, eat some chips and then go inside in, like, an hour. So they drink a little tequila, whatever.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  We go to get into the game, and they. The. My dad comes back and goes, the tickets are for tomorrow.

Marco:  Oh.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So we ended up spending the whole game listening to it on the radio.

Marco:  Oh, my goodness.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Being in the parking lot, and they had a blast. And then we went back the next day. The next day we went back, and the Blue Jays were losing, I want to say, like, five to one against the Angels. And my dad goes, look, it's the seventh inning stretch. Let's go home.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And I'm like, dad, you never know. And he's like, no, no, no, I. I'm telling you, I know. And I'm like, you never know.

Marco:  Let's beat traffic.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Traffic. No one cares.

Marco:  Yeah.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Um, we get in the car, we drive home. I checked the next day, and the Blue Jays won 9 to 7. And I was like, I am m. Never leaving a game early ever again.

Marco:  Oh, my goodness.

 Nima Kharrazi:  But I've always had that. So every time I see a blue jay, I think of Toronto.

Marco:  Okay, sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And so every time I think of Toronto, I think of you.

Marco:  Thank you.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So now all the blue jays and also all the scrub jays. Because I don't. I can't really identify the difference unless they're standing right next to each other.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So every blue jay. And we have a ton of scrub jays out here.

Marco:  Are scrub jays blue, though? Are they blue in color? Oh, they are.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Okay. I think they're just a little smaller than a blue jay.

Marco:  Oh, I see. Okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, but they're very territorial. They're like. What's that Australian bird that attacks a bunch of. Um, it's with an M, I think, like a. Um. Uh.

Marco:  Does it make the big sound? That really big sound? I can't think of it now. Um, Amanda can do that sound. She does one bird, and it's an Australian bird. It'll come. Oh, no, it's the kookaberra. She does the kookaburra.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah, that's the licorice bird.

Marco:  Yeah, Licorice bird.

 Nima Kharrazi:  There's a kookaburra. Licorice. That's out of Australia. That has the picture of the kookaburra in the front.

Marco:  No, I can't. You know, we had a Bird this past summer. Oh, I wish I could remember it. It's like a, Looks like an oriole, but it's not. That was very aggressive towards people this, this, this year. And a couple of my friends were bombarded by them this year.

 Nima Kharrazi:  I have to.

Marco:  Yeah, let me, I'm gonna, as we're speaking, I'm gonna text my friend Trevor.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Thanks for asking. Because it might be the same bird, because that bird also exists in Denver, Colorado. It's just not as territorial or as aggressive when we're there. So it's just really pretty to look at. It's this beautiful black bird and it's got this, like, white stripe on its wing, and it's really, it's, uh. And they also, they, they're in, like, small groups of like three or four.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And they, they all just kind of hang out and mostly on the ground, which is weird. Like, you don't think about it, but most birds stay in trees. But when you see birds, you know, usually you're not looking up to see bird when you're walking around. Right. So you'll see like, a, uh, pigeon is on the street or, you know, and so when you see these birds, like ravens and crows and stuff, you hang out on the ground because they're, they're scavengers.

Marco:  Right.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So these birds are also on the ground too, but they're real pretty.

Marco:  Yeah.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah. But they can be real territorial. In Australia, they get, they get, they attack bicyclists and stuff. If they come by their nests under a tree, and they'll chase them for blocks.

Marco:  Wow. Wow, that's, that's nifty. Yeah, I've texted, I've texted Trevor. We'll see if he gets back to us before the end of the podcast. But, uh, but yeah, I'm just texting random friends about birds. They'll be like, what, what is this text you're sending me? Um, I, I, I know that we were talking about jays a second ago. The gray J is also called the Canada J, and I'm curious to see that one if I haven't already seen it. And, um, I'm, uh, just trying to think of other birds that I really enjoy spotting in the wild. Is there any bird that you have yet to see that's on your list?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Okay, so another little story for you.

Marco:  Okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Um, when my dad and I lived in La Habra with my mom and my sister, um, there was a little, um, Costa Rican restaurant that had a green quetzal bird on the side of it. And if you're not familiar with quetzal birds. They're like a little bird. They're like this. The size of like a. Like a. I don't know, a finch or like some. Like a small. Like a sparrow. Sure. But they have these really long, gorgeous green feather tails.

Marco:  Right. I know this about you. I thought you saw this at the farmer's market.

 Nima Kharrazi:  No, no, no. It was a restaurant that had the picture of this bird. Okay, Sorry. On the side of it. And so my dad looked and said, oh, what kind of bird is that? And I said, oh, dad, this is the most interesting bird in the world because there's a tribe in. In South America that in order to become a man in this tribe, you have to bring back a feather from this bird. And you can't kill the bird because it's a sacred holy bird.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So you have to track this bird from the age of 12 until you can find a feather. And sometimes you'll be walking, you'll be tracking this bird day and night, and then the bird will just fly across a waterfall and you'll just miss out. That's it. You. You lost your bird, you have to go back, and then you. You have to do remedial work, and you can never be considered a man in this tribe.

Marco:  Right.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And anyway, I went on and on and told all this great story, and years and years later, my dad was telling me. Oh, you know, uh, he was telling about me to somebody. You know, Nima told me this story about this bird in South America where the tr. And I had totally forgotten about it. And I said, dad, I. I made that up. And he goes, what part of it? And I said, all of it. I, uh, actually don't even know if that's a real bird. And then I looked it up, and it is the quetzal bird from Costa Rica. And it is a. It is actually somewhat sacred. It's actually endangered as well.

Marco:  Oh, okay.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And it's rare to find them or see them, but there's tours you can go on in Costa Rica and you could find this bird, and it's on their money then, so they. You can always get that. Uh, so I've. I would be so happy if I could see a quetzal bird in real life. I think it would be amazing. I think that would be one of the coolest things ever.

Marco:  That is awesome. Would you go on that tour?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, I think, you know, I have a really bad tendency when I travel where I want to do things that I really want to do. I want to save it like dessert and do it at the end of the trip. So if there's, like, I don't know, a special drive to some place I want to do, or if there's like a walk in nature that I'd like to do, I want to save that for the last. So that if there's anything not so great in the middle of the trip, at least we left on a high note. And the problem with that is, more often than not, that thing that you did that you had a really great time doing.

Marco:  Sure.

 Nima Kharrazi:  You wish you would have done earlier so that you could have done it twice, maybe if there was time allowing.

Marco:  I hear you.

 Nima Kharrazi:  So now I'm like, maybe we just do the dessert first. Like, that's one of the first two day things that we do. And then if we really like that, we can maybe schedule one more towards the end of the trip.

Marco:  Not a bad idea.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Not a bad idea.

Marco:  But it's also what makes it special, too, that you, you know, you did it once and that was it. Until next time. You know, that's true. Trevor did get back to me, but can I guess? No. He gave me the wrong bird.

 Nima Kharrazi:  What did he say?

Marco:  He said starling.

 Nima Kharrazi:  It's not a starling. I think if. I think if I'm not mistaken, Marco, it's a magpie.

Marco:  Maybe you're right. Magpie.

 Nima Kharrazi:  It's a magpie. Because those. Those look up birds in Colorado. Yeah. Are just as beautiful as the Australian version, but they're not aggressive. But the Australian ones are super aggressive. And there's even. They even have special. During magpie seat, like, m, um, nesting season, they have special bicycle helmets that have, um, wires on them to discourage the magpies from attacking bicyclists. And you have to be very careful. It's like there's signs and everything telling you in Australia that magpies might attack you.

Marco:  Okay. It's not the magpie. It's not the starling. I've looked it up.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yes. Tell, um, me.

Marco:  So it wasn't last year, but in 2021.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Okay.

Marco:  The red winged blackbirds were diving people in Toronto like it was going out of style. So. Yeah, the red. The red. I'm just gonna take a snapshot of it.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah.

Marco:  Oh. Did you hear that? I did. I didn't think I had that on. Uh, I'm gonna see if I can send it to you. Um, I'll see if I can send it to you just so you can see what it looks like. I'm gonna do it.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Old.

Marco:  Old School, So I'm gonna send it to the wrong person.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Now

Marco:  I'm sure everyone's like, this is really fascinating podcast right now. Marco's sending snapshots to Nima. So this is what the bird looked like. Uh, you know, part of the reason I got so into birds was, and I've said it on this podcast before, was the game Wingspan that we play, because I've learned so much about birds playing. And I've also realized the birds that I like and that I'll go for are, ah, birds that I'm like, oh, I really like that bird. I would like to see that bird. And there's other birds from the game that are probably really nice birds, but their powers in the game just irritate me. So I don't like the bird. You know, the bird on the box cover, the scissor tail. I don't like. Pretty, pretty bird.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, because he's a crummy card bird.

Marco:  Yeah, it's not a great card. And so I'm like, this bird, I can't stand it. And it's on the token. When you play, I forget what the name of the bird. I want to say scissor tail, something or other. And I'm like, I don't like that bird. And then there's other birds that I'm like, I love Nuthatch. I think they're great birds. The Thrasher. The Thrasher, yeah. The Thrasher bird's an incredible bird. Like, what it does. I'm not even going to say it on the podcast because it's.

 Nima Kharrazi:  It's.

Marco:  It's quite aggressive, but.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Wow.

Marco:  Some birds are just really cool birds.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah, we. We actually got lucky. Where we live, there's a magnolia tree in front of our house.

Marco:  Oh, beautiful.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Hummingbirds love to nest in magnolia trees. So two years ago in February, we had a hummingbird nest, and she had two eggs.

Marco:  Oh, wow.

 Nima Kharrazi:  And then last year, we had one that she had two eggs. And so in February, we should have. And I have this little thing where I share the video with all my friends. And so I. I, uh, I usually just up update that. Although last year I didn't do it, but I'll. I'll do it this year. But that's another bird I love a lot.

Marco:  Will you do it on your Instagram?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, yeah, I could do it on my Insta. Yeah.

Marco:  All right. So where can people find you?

 Nima Kharrazi:  So I'm across all social media. I am at Nima Speaks. So N I M M a S P E A K S or Nima's Peaks, you know. Sure, sure.

Marco:  That works too. Um, I think I heard your wife coughing in the background there in case anybody. It wasn't a starling that got trapped in the house. Um, why is it that hummingbirds like to nest in magnolia trees?

 Nima Kharrazi:  Because the leaves of magnolia trees are so large and they hang down. Then they give enough cover because there's a bunch of squirrels and stuff that come up and pester them. And then other birds also. Sure. Bigger than them. And unfortunately, there's. There's just, you know, people. There's animals that eat eggs.

Marco:  Right.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Of course they have to try to cover and protect, but they're just so beautiful. And they sit there and they. They. They're patient. And usually around February, it's a little bit rainy out here, but that mama bird just sits on that nest and is just so patient and waits, goes and gets real necked. Because we have, like, hummingbird feeders in front of our house, like, um, hanging. Yes. But she goes and gets. She never drinks from the feeder. She goes and gets it from real flowers. Right. She's organic. You know, she doesn't listen.

Marco:  When you live in California, it's part and parcel of what goes on. Well, Nima, I gotta thank you so much for, uh, you know, last minute, I just sent, uh, Nima a message, and he's like, yeah, let's do it. And I really appreciate it. I appreciate you and I appreciate all the bird talk that we've had, both on the podcast and listeners. I can tell you we have a lot of bird conversations off the podcast, too.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Yeah. Yeah. And thank you again, Marco, for teaching my wife and I how to play Wingspan. That was very, um, patient of you to. To take your time.

Marco:  I'm going to just, uh, you.

 Nima Kharrazi:  You.

Marco:  You cut out there when you said, I want to thank you, Marco.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, okay. So I want to thank you, Marco, so much for teaching my wife and I how to play Wingspan. It took a lot of patience on your end, but I really appreciate that. So, uh, it's a game that we still play, uh, every now and again, just the two of us. And she was actually playing solo. It's a great game. You could even play solo. And then every time, she would lose to the non existent player. And so we would call the non existent player nep, because that's non existent player. Sure. And I go, how'd it go? She'd go, nepal beat me again.

Marco:  Oh, my goodness.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Nap's a monster.

Marco:  Uh, we just got the Oceana expansion. Oh, nice with the nectar.

 Nima Kharrazi:  Oh, oh, okay.

Marco:  It's a different game, my friend. It's a different game. I'm just saying. Anyways, until next time, thank you for. And I hope you, uh, were able to listen to the podcast today and either get a little grain for yourself or at least fall asleep. Until next time, Sam.